Independent Day of Independence; or A Clean Eating 4th of July

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July 5, 2012 by jeremyrfranklin

Everyone has there own 4th of July traditions; so do I.  My tradition is to stay at home and exert my independence.  Some years this means that I take a hike; other years I walk over to campus to watch the city fireworks display.  Today, I just stayed home and cooked.

And what a wonderful feast it was!  I made a series of recipes from the July issue of Clean Eating Magazine.  First, I made Baked Corn Dogs – a cleaned up version of the traditional recipe with hand-rolled cornmeal batter and no deep-frier.  They were incredibly tasty (the recipe calls for a dash of cayenne pepper and a dose of onion powder) but were a bit involved, and in the end, I dried them out by over-cooking.  I don’t have an on-going craving for corn dogs, but every year or so, I would happily make this recipe.

Baked Corn Dogs
I cooked them a touch to long, and they ended up looking a bit “turd-ish” – but oh, so tasty!

Second, I made a Fresh Dill & Cucumber Salad.  This was a simple recipe – a couple of cucumbers tossed together with a 1/3 cup of roughly chopped dill fronds and a simple dressing (1/4 cup white wine vinegar, 1 tsp raw honey, 1 tsp safflower oil, 1 minced clove of garlic, and 1/4 tsp salt) and chilled for an hour.  Very fresh, very simple, very good – especially if you love fresh dill!

Fresh Dill & Cucumber Salad with Baked Corn Dogs
…again, not my best food photo for this blog; the corn dogs are a bit turdish, as is the odd squirt of mustard. My apologies; I know I’ll make up with the picture below!

To top off the meal, I made this perfect Clean Eating dessert recipe – Peach Cobbler with Almond Biscuits!  It is every bit as good as my favorite sweet and sticky southern versions of the summer treat, but so much simpler and cleaner with far less butter and sugar.  This one is going to get made again, and again, and again this summer before peach season ends; I hope you enjoy!

Peach Cobbler with Almond Biscuits
Mine is actually a tad bit prettier than the picture in the magazine!

Peach Cobbler with Almond Biscuits

6 firm peaches (about 2 lb), peeled, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

5 Tbsp sucanat

2 tsp potato starch

1/4 tsp pure almond extract

3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup almond meal

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter (I used coconut butter), cold and cut in 1/4 inch cubes

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp 2% milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

1/2 Tbsp sliced raw unsalted almonds

 

Preheat oven to 425.  Mix peaches, 3 Tbsp sucanat, potato starch, and almond extract in a large bowl.  Pour into 8-inch baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.

Prepare biscuits by combining flour, almond meal, baking powder, salt, and 2 Tbsp sucanat with a whisk.  Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until the mix is the consistency of sand.  Add 1/4 cup milk and stir just until moist and formed into a ball.  Knead dough on a lightly floured surface – don’t overwork it!  Divide into balls (the recipe said 6; I made 9) and flatten out into disks (2 to 2 1/2-inches diameter) and place on top of peaches.  Lightly brush 1 Tbsp milk onto top of biscuits and then divide almonds evenly onto the top of each biscuit.  Bake for 17 to 20 minutes and let cool for 10 minutes.

I served mine with vanilla-flavored coconut ice cream!  Enjoy!

Peach Cobbler with Almond Biscuits
…I had to take a bite out of the corner the second after it had cooled!