Tis the season--almost::-)

As the wind howled outside and the gray skies loomed, I embarked on a new recipe in the Gluten-free Almond Flour cookbook--a pecan pie! I had lots of pecans and just bought a new thing--agar powder. Weird stuff--made out of algae but has the properties of gelatin. Supposed to be a good source of protein and iodine.

Anyway, I felt like making a pie and wanted to use my new stuff:-) The recipe in the book called for a chocolate crust which was simply almond flour, grapeseed oil, a bit of agave and melted chocolate. It turned out ok although I think I would decrease the grapeseed oil. It was a bit on the wet side so hard to spread around in the bottom of the dish.

I heated the agar powder up in boiling water which thickened almost immediately. I then poured the agave nectar in, a bit of salt, cinnamon and some vanilla then let it cool.

Of course I had to taste the filling to see how it was--WOW! It tasted just like regular pecan pie! The cinnamon was a little bit strong so I might decrease that a bit next time but it was fabulous. And so much better for you than the normal corn syrup, sugar and egg version of pecan pie.

I also made a spinach and sun-dried tomato tart which turned out quite nice. I made a crust using almond flour and Italian herbs (dried). The filling consisted of eggs, sun dried tomatoes, baby spinach, browned onion and a bit of grapeseed oil. Very flavorful! Had it as a side to a chicken dish. I highly recommend it.

I took a photo of both of these recipes for your viewing pleasure:-)