Don't Need no Stinkin' Wheat

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

2009-11-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

This is what I serve people when they say they don't like sprouts. Haven't received a complaint, yet.
Adapted slightly from here.

Serves 1.5
35 minutes
- large saucepan
- bowl
- laid out paper towels (for bacon)
Easy

INGREDIENTS
12 large Brussels sprouts
2 large shallots
5 garlic cloves
3 strips bacon
2 Tbsp. cooking sherry*
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

*Holland House cooking sherry is GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Remove ends form the Brussels sprouts; cut each in half through the 'stem'. Remove ends from the shallots and garlic; peel, then finely dice.
2. Spread Brussels sprouts around inside the pan with a little bit of water. Bring to a boil, let cook for about 2 minutes, then drain water (make sure you don't over-boil the sprouts). Remove Brussels sprouts; set them aside in a clean bowl. Now turn to the meat.
3. Rinse bacon, then place strips into the now-empty pan. Brown bacon over medium heat till just crispy-- about 5 minutes. Carefully move strips to some prepared paper towels to cool and wick away fat. Once cooled, tear meat into bite-sized pieces. Drain and discard all but 1 Tbsp. bacon grease.
4. Add the diced shallots and garlic to the retained grease (still in the pan). Saute over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes.
5. Add in the saved, partially cooked Brussels sprouts and the crispy bacon; cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure things don't burn. Once sprouts and garlic are somewhat toasted, pour in the sherry and balsamic vinegar. Cook till liquids are somewhat reduced, coating the veggies. Shouldn't take longer then a minute or two for vinegar to thicken.
Serve warm.

Broccoli Cheese Potatoes

2009-10-15T23:51:00.000-07:00

Potatoes! One of my 4 food groups (the others being rice, cheese and everything else). A quick and tasty little dish whipped up with a baked potato. Even involves broccoli with cheddar.

Serves 2
1 hr (bake potato the night before) + 20 minutes next day
- Al foil
- large saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 large russet potatoes
1 to 2 Tbsp. butter
1 large head of broccoli
1 (14 oz.) can of dark red kidney beans*
1/2 c. sharp cheddar cheese*

*Bush beans are GF; Kraft shredded cheese is both GF and contains "0" g. lactose (not enough to bother me!)

DIRECTIONS
The night before:
0. Wash, then stab a few holes in the potatoes with a fork (don't bother peeling). Wrap spuds in foil and throw into a 400 F preheated oven. Cook for an hour. Carefully take out the hot potatoes and place into the fridge to sit (and cool) overnight.
The next day, after work:
1. Wash the broccoli and chop into small pieces (as if for a salad bar). Place broccoli bits in the saucepan and throw in the butter.
2. Begin cooking over medium-high heat. Stir to melt and coat. Let broccoli cook for about 2 minutes.
3. Slice the baked potatoes into thick rounds, probably over 1/2" thick. Add soft potato slices to the sizzling broccoli/butter combo. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally; careful you don't turn the potatoes into mush. Remove the saucepan from heat when the broccoli is soft (but not mushy) and the potatoes are slightly browned.
4. Drain and rinse the kidney beans. Fold rinsed beans into the still-hot saucepan. Top mixture generously with sharp cheddar cheese. Stir to melt; eat warm.

Garlic Steak Fries

2009-09-28T01:44:00.000-07:00

Thick and hearty potato wedges roasted with lots and lots of garlic. A very easy side-dish that could also pose as a hot snack.

Serves 1.5
15 minutes prep + 60 minutes baking
- large baking pan or cookie sheet
- Al foil
- spatula
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 large russet potatoes
6 garlic cloves
1 large shallot
1 Tbsp. butter
salt and pepper
[1/2 c. favorite cheese, grated -- optional]

DIRECTIONS
0. Spread a sheet of Al foil over the baking pan. Preheat oven to 400 F.
1. Wash potatoes and cut in half lengthwise, then in half again long-wise (into 4 quarters, perpendicular to the first cut). Slice each quarter lengthwise into 4 wedge-like pieces. Peel garlic and shallots, discard ends, then coarsely dice.
2. Place potato wedges on the aluminum-coated baking pan. Try to arrange them all with peels facing downward, resting on the foil.
3. Place into 400 F pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from oven and carefully rub down with butter. Let butter completely melt and coat the wedges. Lay the potatoes out, but this time with an inside 'face' resting on the foil. Spread the diced garlic and shallot pieces out over the top.
5. Place back in to the oven and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes. Check frequently near the end to avoid burning. Remove before the garlic singes.
6. Let the browned wedges cook for 5 minutes. You might need a spatula to scrape the wedges from the foil. Sprinkle potatoes with salt and pepper; toss a little to mix. Eat warm, perhaps with a little bit of cheese melted on top.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

2009-09-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

Pretty good cake-- slightly on the dry side, but soft like white velvet. It is heavy, but, hey, it's a damn pound cake! Perfect, in my opinion, to soak up homemade strawberry or peach syrup drizzled over the top.
Another non-original; I picked it up from here.

Makes 1 shallow bundt cake
Preheat 310 F
- large mixing bowl
- handheld beater
- spatula
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 c. butter (2 sticks), softened
5.3333 oz. regular cream cheese* (2/3rds of an 8 oz. container), softened
2 c. white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour
2 heaping tsp. xanthan gum

*Kraft Philly cream cheese is GF (Tofutti cream cheese is also GF and does well in baked goods)

DIRECTIONS
0. Preheat oven to 310 F. Grease a large bundt cake pan.
1. Let butter and cream cheese sit at room temperature for an hour, until quite soft.
2. Place butter and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl and beat until soft and creamy, about a minute or so.
3. Add in the white sugar. Stir in till no longer powdery, then beat with mixer for about 30 seconds. Will look like paste.
4. Crack in the 4 eggs. Pour in the vanilla extract. Beat with mixer for a minute, until a uniform color. Batter should look like a thick custard.
5. Spoon in the flour, stirring with a heavy spoon or spatula. Also mix in the xanthan gum. The batter will get thicker, but should still have alot of 'body'-- much like dense whipped topping.
6. Scoop into waiting bundt cake pan (it definitely shouldn't pour!). Smooth top of the cake with the spatula.
7. Bake in middle of preheated oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Top will turn a nice golden-brown and crack a little. Toothpick inserted in the top should come out dry.
Enjoy this warm with ice cream or homemade fruit syrup. Cake freezes remarkably well, actually.

Salsa Risotto

2009-09-18T23:21:00.000-07:00

More risotto; creamy rice with a salsa kick. This is suppost to be rather spicy-- don't be shy about leaving the jalapeno seeds in when you dice the peppers!
Sorry about the sparse updates. Work has been hectic lately...hasn't left me much time to write things up.

Serves 2
35 minutes
- large saucepan with deep sides -or- large pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS
6 large green onions
2 cloves garlic
2 large jalapenos
1/2 of a large green bell pepper
1/2 of a large red bell pepper
1 Tbsp. corn oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 large tomatoes
1/2 of a large bunch of fresh cilantro
[1 large ear of fresh yellow corn-- optional]
1 c. aborio rice
1 tsp. corn oil
ground cumin
2 c. chicken -or- vegetable broth*
1/2. monterey jack cheese

*Swanson 14 oz. canned Natural Goodness chicken (and veggie) broths are GF, and hold about 2 cups of liquid

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and remove dangling root ends from green onion. Slice up the whole green onion, separating the white and green parts. Peel and dice the garlic. Remove stem from the jalapeno and dice it up, leaving in the seeds for extra heat. De-seed the bell peppers and chop into small pieces. Cut tomato up into 1" cubes (don't bother peeling tomatoes). Wash and cut up the cilantro. [Husk corn and rinse, set aside.]
2. Pour rice into the pan with the white parts of the green onion, 1/2 of the diced garlic and all of the diced jalapeno. Add in the corn oil and cook over medium-high heat until crackling, about 2 minutes; season with lots of cumin (~1 tsp).
3. When the rice has developed a tiny, opaque starch spot in the middle, add in 1/2 c. of chicken broth and stir. Reduce heat to medium.
4. Wait until broth is almost all absorbed-- about 5 minutes-- then add in another 1/2 c. of broth. Stir.
5. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, then add in another 1/2 c. of broth plus the red and green bell pepper bits. Stir, again.
6. Let cook for another 5 to 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Throw in the remaining broth, tomatoes, and cilantro. [Cut the fresh corn straight into the pan.] Stir well.
7. Cook till broth is almost all boiled off and tomatoes are just starting to fall apart. Rice should be soft and creamy, but not mushy. Remove from heat and fold in plenty of monterey jack cheese. Eat warm.

Tex Mex Chicken Tenders

2009-09-09T01:50:00.000-07:00

Very yummy, flavorful tex mex chicken strips. These turned out very very tender!! Needs more heat, though, so I added some here from the original recipe (it was so good I didn't have to change much else!). I did, however, cook them in a saucepan with the rest of the marinade instead of grilling.

Serves 2
20 minutes sauce prep + 1.5 hour marinate + 20 minutes cooking (2 hours and 10 minutes total)
- 2 heavy duty quart sized freezer bags (ziplock or similar brand)
[- meat mallet for pounding chicken breasts]
- large saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 cloves garlic
2 green onions
1/2 of a clump of fresh cilantro (um, about 4 Tbsp. chopped fresh)
1/4. c. corn oil
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
juice of one large lime
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. black pepper (for some heat!)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 lb. thin chicken tenders [-or- pounded chicken breasts]
1 cup precooked white rice

*Lea and Perrins original Worcestershire sauce is gluten free

DIRECTIONS
0. Open up a heavy-duty quart sized freezer bag and slip it inside the second heavy-duty freezer bag.
1. Peel and cut the tough end off of the garlic. Mince the garlic. Remove the root tips and finely dice up both the white and green part of the green onions. Pull off the cilantro leaves and finely chop them, almost into a paste. If you have a food processor, give it all a whirl before placing the pulp into the waiting hefty freezer bags. (I just diced everything up and it was fine!)
2. Pour in the corn oil and Worcestershire sauce. Split the lime and squeeze in as much juice as you can.
3. Add in the spices (cumin, chili powder, paprika and black pepper). Swirl to mix. Add in the brown sugar. Shake the bag well, and kneed with your fingers to break up any sugar clumps.
4. Rinse off the chicken tenders and place into the bag. [If you have chicken breasts, make sure you pound them down with a meat mallet to 1/4th inch thick and slice into moderately small chicken strips.] Close the bags tightly then squish the chicken around inside the bags, shaking and kneading to coat the breasts well. Lay the bag flat out in the fridge, making sure all the tenders are equally soaking up the marinade.
5. Marinate in the fridge for an hour and a half.
6. Pull out the bag and pour it's contents into the large saucepan, marinade and all. Arrange the tenders in the pan, forming a single uniform layer.
7. Cook chicken over medium heat, flipping after 10 minutes. Let cook 20 minutes total, or until the sauce starts to thicken and coats the chicken.
This was really really good served with regular, plain white rice or alongside some Salsa Risotto:

Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

2009-08-31T00:41:00.000-07:00

This is the best thing ever. Seriously.
The fruit in most cobblers turns out mushy and shapeless, here the fruit sits halfway into the batter, resulting in sweet, juicy fruit bites bursting with rich flavor. The spongy cake puffs up around the fruit and forms a butter-induced crispy layer on top. Incredibly good.
Recipe courtesy of my favorite college housemate, Reid. (adapted to be gluten-free, in a smaller pan)

Makes a 9 x 9" pan worth of cobbler
- 2 medium sized bowls
- 9 x 9" Al pan or glass pan lined with Al foil
Preheat to 365 F
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Fruit:
2 large peaches, sliced into 8ths
~3/4ths of a pint of fresh blueberries
1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
Butter:
1/4 c. butter
Batter:
1.5 c. sugar
pinch of salt
3/4 c. brown rice flour
1/4 c. + 2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour
1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum
1.5 tsp. baking powder
3/4 c. milk or non-dairy milk substitute

DIRECTIONS
0. Preheat oven to 365 F. Line a glass baking pan with aluminum foil.
Fruit:
1. Wash the peaches and cut into 8 wedges. Half each of the wedges if you want smaller peach pieces. Wash the blueberries. Place fruit into the medium bowl and toss with 1/2 cup of white sugar. Taste berries; add in another 1/4th cup of sugar if you desire sweeter fruit.
Butter:
2. Before you mix up the batter, place the butter into the lined 9 x 9 pan. Pop pan into the preheating oven to melt the butter. Remove once butter had completely melted; swish around to get a uniform layer.
Batter:
3. Mix dry ingredients together (1.5 c. sugar, rice and BRM flour, xanthan gum and baking powder) in another medium-sized bowl. Stirring, pour in the milk. You actually want a viscous, almost paste-like dough (too crumbly, add in another tsp. of milk until smooth). If the batter easily pours, it is way too liquid-y and will turn out soggy.
Assemble:
4. Before the butter solidifies again, spoon the batter over the liquid butter (still resting in the lined pan). DO NOT mix the butter/batter. You want the layers separate-- the oil might move aside as you drop batter spoonfuls in, that's okay. Try to get a semi-uniform layer of batter, though.
5. Press the sugar-coated fruit pieces gently down into the top of the batter layer; evenly space out the berries. Make sure you don't transfer too much sugar water along with the fruit.
6. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes in the oven. The cobbler is done when the fruit is tender and roasted and the cake part is nice and browned. The inside of the cobbler will be moist. This is best served fresh right out of the oven (it gets dense after refrigeration, but the taste is still fantastic!).

Light Pasta with Spinach

2009-08-29T21:19:00.000-07:00

Fast and easy. A very light meal with fresh tomatoes, spinach and little Parmesan cheese.
I highly suggest making some quick garlic bread while this is simmering on your stove; simply use some of the garlic-butter from the first cooking step!

Serves 1.5
25 minutes
- medium pot
- large saucepan
[-cookie sheet or baking pan for garlic bread]
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
8 oz. cooked GF pasta
8 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. butter [3 Tbsp. butter if making garlic bread]
1 medium white onion
1 large bag/clump of spinach
2 large tomatoes
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese &/or mozzarella cheese*
[4 slices favorite GF bread, laid out on a cookie sheet]

*Kraft shredded moz. cheese is both gluten and lactose free!

DIRECTIONS
0. Cook up the pasta (per instructions on the package) in a medium pot 'till al dente.
1. Cut the ends off, peel and dice up the garlic. Remove onion ends, peel and slice onion into thin rounds (as if making onion rings). Remove stem and chop tomato into 1" cubes (don't bother peeling tomato).
2. Melt the butter in the saucepan with the garlic. Cook the garlic over medium-low heat for 2-3 minutes; don't let the garlic burn!
[2.5. If you are making garlic bread, brush some of the garlic-butter on the GF bread slices laid out on a baking pan; place slices in 400 F oven for 5-10 minutes, or until golden brown, but not burnt.]
3. Turn butter up to medium and add in the onion slices; saute for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Add in the spinach. Mix to un-clump the wilted greens, then saute for another 3 minutes.
5. Add in the tomato. Stir to heat-- cook for only about 60 seconds or so.
6. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked pasta. Pour in an abundance of cheese. Stir to melt. Serve right away with the fresh garlic bread.

Sweet and Tangy Green Beans

2009-08-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Wasn't sure for awhile whether to post this one or not. It was almost too sweet for green beans, but the flavor of the bacon was fantastic (especially if you enjoy balsamic vinegar)! The meat ends up coated with a nice smokey, tangy, slightly-sweet glaze. I would recommend playing around with the sugar/Balsamic/Worcestershire ratio to suite your tastes.

Serves 1
30 minutes
- large saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 large shallots
1/2 lb. green beans
1/2 lb. yellow wax beans
2 medium red potatoes
3-4 strips thick cut bacon
2 tsp, Worcestershire sauce*
1/8 c. brown sugar (3 Tbsp)
splash (~1 tsp?) of balsamic vinegar*
salt and pepper

*Lee and Perrins original Worcestershire sauce is GF; I use an old bottle of Albertson's brand balsamic vinegar that must be GF cause I haven't gotten sick from it

DIRECTIONS
1. Peel and slice up shallots; don't chop too small. Cut ends off of green and wax beans. Cut potatoes into long pieces (think french fry)... aim to get them about as thick as the green beans.
2. Tear bacon into bite size pieces. Place bacon in the large saucepan with half of the chopped shallots. Cook for 5 minutes over medium heat, turning bacon frequently.
3. Add in potatoes, green and yellow beans. Cook for another 5 minutes. Be sure to stir things frequently to avoid burning.
4. Turn heat up to medium-high. Add in rest of shallots plus the Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar. Mix well. The sugar will begin to caramelize-- caution, it gets very very hot.
5. Cook long enough over medium heat to nicely toast the meat and vegetables. Will take another 3-5 minutes. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Gently (will be hot!) taste a potato once the sugar/vinegar starts to thicken. Further season with a little salt and pepper. Dish is done when the potatoes are soft and the beans are crisp tender.

Eggplant Stir-Fry

2009-08-12T03:15:00.000-07:00

Eggplant with red onion, zucchini and fresh basil/garlic infused olive oil. I enjoyed this over GF pasta. Sweating the eggplant takes some extra prep time, but it's worth it for a bitter-free 'meaty' dish.

Serves 2
30 min eggplant sweating + 25 minutes cooking
- large saucepan or wok
Easy

INGREDIENTS
6 to 8 oz. pasta*, precooked -or- 1/2 cup white rice, precooked

1 large eggplant
table salt
4 cloves garlic
1 large zucchini
1 medium red onion
1 medium red bell pepper
handful of fresh basil
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 mozzarella cheese

*Tinkyada rice pasta is GF and is very very good

DIRECTIONS
0. Cook the pasta or rice according to instructions on package. Make sure the pasta/rice does not become mushy.
1. Wash and peel the eggplant. Cut into wide thin slices (2" wide, by 1" long, 1/2" thick). Sweat the eggplant for 30 minutes: lay eggplant out on a plate and generously coat slices with table salt. Once the slices become wilted and spongy, squeeze out the brown, bitter juices by hand (the eggplant will bruise alot, that is good). Wash sweated slices thoroughly to remove all of the excess salt. Lay eggplant aside.
2. Peel and dice up the garlic. Remove ends and cut zucchini diagonally into 1/2 inch thick rounds (ovals, actually). Peel and remove ends, then slice onion into thin disks (like onion rings). Remove core and cut the bell pepper into long thin slices. Wash and dice up the fresh basil.
3. Place eggplant into saucepan with the oil, diced garlic and half of the fresh basil. Heat over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Make sure garlic doesn't burn.
4. Add in the zucchini. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, frequently flipping the eggplant and zucchini slices over, as to not burn..
5. Add in the onion rings and bell pepper slices. Also throw in the remaining basil. Cook until onion slices have separated and are wilted-- so another 2-3 minutes. Zucchini and bell pepper should be crisp tender.
6. Remove veggies from heat and stir in mozzarella cheese. Spoon over rice or pasta.

Summer Vegetable Risotto

2009-08-02T22:06:00.000-07:00

Recipe for a busy weekday evening. I like corn in my risotto. I'm also fond of scooping this into GF corn tortilla chips*.

Serves 1.5
35 minutes
- medium saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
8 medium okra fruits
1 medium red onion
1 large tomato
1 large ear of sweet corn
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 c. aborio rice
[1/4 c. white wine -- optional]
1 (14 oz.) can Swanson Natural Goodness chicken -OR- veggie broth -- about 2 cups
1/2 Parmesan cheese

*Tostitos crispy rounds, restaurant style and scoops corn chips are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Remove stems from the okra and slice into 1/2" pieces. Remove ends of the onion and chop into small pieces. Cut the tomato into 1 inch pieces (don't bother peeling) and remove the corn husk.
2. Place onion into the saucepan with the olive oil and rice. Stir. Cook over medium heat until the rice is mostly translucent (will have a dot of starch in the middle)-- about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add in a splash of white wine (if you desire) and 1/2 c. of chicken broth. Stir until rice starts to simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the broth is almost all absorbed.
4. When broth is almost gone from the saucepan, add in another 1/2. c of chicken broth. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Make sure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. Once again, when broth is nearly all absorbed, add in another 1/2 c. of broth AND the okra slices. Stir; let simmer gently. The okra will thicken the rice, watch to make sure things don't stick and burn.
6. Cook for another 5 minutes, add in the remaining 1/2 c. of broth. Throw in the tomato pieces and cut the fresh corn straight from the cob into the saucepan. Cook until rice is nice and creamy. The corn should also be crisp-tender and tomato nearly broken down. If the rice needs an additional 3-4 minutes after broth boils off, add in a splash of water.
7. When rice reaches desired creamy texture, remove from heat and stir in Parmesan cheese. Serve warm. Suggestion: Eat with corn tortilla chips.

White Top Cupcakes

2009-07-29T02:37:00.000-07:00

These were incredibly tender and moist inside. Like little bites of brownie heaven. Soft, not too dense, and full of chocolate with a creamy white topping.
This recipe has definitely been around; I found it here.

Makes 16 cupcakes
25 minutes prep + 30 minutes baking (or 60 min, depending on #cupcakes in your pan)
- electric hand mixture
- medium bowl for cream cheese
- large bowl
- muffin tin with liners
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Cream cheese 'Filling'
8 oz. cream cheese*
1/2 c. fine grained white sugar
1 large egg
1 c. mini chocolate chips*
Chocolate Cupcakes
1. 5 c. flour ---> [1 c. brown rice flour + 1/2 c. Bobs Red Mill All Purpose Flour + 1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum]
1 c. sugar
1/4. c. cocoa powder*
1 tsp. baking soda
1 c. water
1/3 c. corn oil
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla*

*Kraft cream cheese is GF; Toll House s.sweet morsels are GF; Hershey's cocoa powder is GF; McCormick vanilla extract is GF

DIRECTIONS
0. Preheat 350 F. Fit a standard size muffin tin with paper liners.
Cream Cheese
1. Whip the cream cheese, sugar and egg with an electric hand beater for 1 minute, until creamy. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Place aside.
Cupcakes
2. Combine the flour(s), xanthan gum, sugar, cocoa powder and baking soda in a large bowl.
3. Push the dry ingredients to the sides of the bowl (making a 'well' in the center for the wet ingredients). Add the water while stirring. Pour in the water, corn oil, apple vinegar, and vanilla extract.
4. Stir well to incorporate the oil-- it won't mix well at first. Keep stirring until the batter is smooth and silky. The gluten-free batter will be quite thick. Spoon into prepared muffin tins, filling half way.
5. If you want cream cheese inside the cupcakes, (as opposed to just the tops) you will need to sandwich it between the chocolate layers or pipe it in. Me, I just plopped the cream cheese on top of the chocolate batter. During baking, the cream cheese spread out and sat nicely on top of the cupcake, like baked-on icing!
6. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes. Check often near the end so that the cream cheese doesn't burn. You want it slightly tanned when removed from the oven. Cool slightly before removing them, they were quite impressionable when warm. I don't think these freeze very well, so enjoy then while fresh!

Ratatouille

2009-07-25T01:18:00.000-07:00

My first time making ratatouille. I envisioned something hearty, a cross between vegetable stew and gumbo. This was really good; rich and tomato-y with large, distinct chunks of eggplant and zucchini. Wonderful as pasta sauce. Serve over polenta if you're lucky enough to find some certified gluten free.

Serves 3 to 4
45 to 50 minutes
- extra large saucepan
- pot to cook up polenta or pasta or quinoa
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1.5 large eggplant
6 cloves garlic
1 large yellow onion
10 fresh okra fruits
1 large red bell pepper
1.5 large zucchini (+ half of onion)
2 large tomatoes
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 of a (6 oz.) container tomato paste*
1/3 c. red cooking wine*
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. herbs de providence (-or- fresh rosemary and thyme)

10 oz. cooked pasta, or corn polenta or quinoa

*Hunts and Muir Glen tomato paste is GF; Holland House cooking wine is GF.

DIRECTIONS
0. Sweat the eggplant. Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/2 inch rounds. Stack the pieces inside a bowl, generously salting each layer. Let the eggplant slices sit for 15 to 20 minutes. Once soft, squeeze the eggplant slices with your hands to remove the bitter, brown juice (should act just like a sponge). The vegetable flesh will become rather bruised, but not tear too much.. this is good. Rinse the squeezed eggplant slices several times to remove the salt.
1. Wash, peel and dice the garlic. Peel and dice up half of the yellow onion. Group the diced garlic and onion together.
Wash and cut the ends off the okra. Slice the okra into 1/4 inch rounds. Wash and core the red bell pepper. Chop pepper up into 1 inch pieces and group with the sliced okra.
Cut the sweated eggplant slices into rather large cubes (1/2" chunks). Set cubes aside.
Wash and remove ends of the zucchini. Slice into 1/2" round, then quarter each disk. Coarsly chop up the remaining 1/2 of the yellow onion. Group zucchini quarters with the large yellow onion pieces.
Chop the tomato into 1/2" chunks; don't bother peeling them. Set tomato apart from the other chopped veggies.
2. Place the garlic and diced onion into the large saucepan with the 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Cook over medium heat until the oil is sizzling and aromatic-- about 2 minutes.
3. Add in the red bell pepper and okra slices. Throw in a dash of herbs de providence and maybe a little water. Stir well. Let cook for 5 minutes
4. Add in the eggplant cubes and cook for another 5 minutes
5. Now add in the zucchini and (coarse) onion. Let everything cook for an additional 5 minutes.
6. Stir in the fresh tomatoes. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
7. When the tomatoes begin to break down, mix in the tomato paste, cooking wine, black pepper and remaining herbs de providence. Heat for an additional 5 minutes, or until the veggies are nice and mushy.
Serve over prepared pasta, polenta or quinoa.

Roasted Artichoke

2009-07-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

A painless, flavorful way to prepare this wonderful vegetable. Cut it, season it, then throw in the oven until tender and juicy. Quite satisfying.
Watch the great, original video for easy directions.

Serves 2
10 minutes prep + 1.5 hours roasting
- cookie sheet or baking pan
- Al foil
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 large artichokes
4 cloves garlic
juice of 1 medium lemon
1 tsp. olive oil, split between two artichokes
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
0. Preheat oven to 400 F.
1. Wash and cut the stems off of the artichoke (so that they sit comfortably upright on a flat surface). Slice off the very top of the bloom-- a fair amount, about an inch on upward. Also remove the prickly tips of the remaining further-down petals (but don't slice all the way through).
2. Set the lobotomized artichoke upright and spread the petals apart with you hands, opening up the vegetable.
3. Peel and cut the ends off of the garlic. Slice each clove into 3 or 4 long, skinny pieces. Slip the garlic inside the artichoke so that about 8 pieces rest between petals equally around the bulb.
4. Drizzle with freshly squeezed lemon juice and a little bit of olive oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper
5. Wrap the artichokes securely with aluminum foil. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 F for about an hour and a half. Remove** and eat promptly, either plain or dipped in mayo. **Careful of steam when opening up the hot Aluminum packets!

Penne with Zucchini and Black Eyed Peas

2009-07-15T00:42:00.000-07:00

Another simple veggie dish. I used canned black-eyed peas to save time, but fresh soaked/boiled ones would be better. Using half of the onion with the garlic at the begining flavors the oil nicely.

Serves 1.5
25 minutes
- large saucepan or pot
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
6 oz. cooked GF penne pasta-- I used half of a bag of Tinkyada
5 cloves garlic
1 medium yellow onion
2 medium zucchini
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 of a 14 oz. can of black eyed peas
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese
Dash of dried oregano, dried parsley leaves, salt, and black pepper

DIRECTIONS
0. Cook up 6 oz. of pasta; actually, undercook it a bit, you don't want it mushy. Set pasta aside.
1. Wash and peel garlic and onion. Dice garlic and half of the yellow onion. Chop the remaining half of the onion into larger pieces. Cuts ends off of the zucchini and slice each into 3 large ~2" sections. Then half each section lengthwise and cut into 2" long 'strips' (not rounds).
2. Place diced garlic and diced onion into the saucepan. Saute with oil over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes. Don't let the garlic singe.
3. Add in the zucchini and remaining (larger pieces) of onion. Turn heat up to medium-high and cook for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain the black-eyed peas. Add in a little bit of dried oregano, parsley, salt and pepper.
4. When large zucchini slices are barely tender, stir in the drained black eyed peas and cooked penne pasta. Mix gently, try not to mush the peas up too much. Heat for 2 minutes. Can turn heat up to high (or add in a little more oil) if the pasta and veggies aren't browning enough on the bottom.
5. Remove from heat and stir in Mozzarella cheese. Eat warm.

Frito Chili Pie

2009-07-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

Another quick almost-a-snack meal. Hooray for corn being gluten free!

Serves 2
25 minutes
- large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
3 large green onions
6 large fresh tomatoes
1/2 lb ground beef
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 (14 oz.) can pinto beans*
A handful of corn chips*;enough for two people
Cheddar cheese to melt on top; sour cream (dairy or otherwise) would be a good decision

*Bush beans are GF, so are S&W and Eden Organics
*Fritos are gluten free

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash the green onions and remove the end roots. Dice up the white parts; chop the green stems into larger pieces. Separate the green and white parts. Cut the stem off of the tomatoes. Cut them into rather large 1.5 inch pieces, don't bother peeling them. Save as much tomato juice as you can.
2. Rise off the ground beef and place into the large saucepan. Throw in the diced white green onion bits. Begin cooking over medium heat. Once the meat starts to brown and releases some fat, remove the oil by dabbing it out with a paper towel or carefully pouring it into another container to toss. At the five minute mark, the meat should be nice and browned. Add in 1 Tbsp chili powder; stir well.
3. Add in the green green onion parts and tomatoes (+ juice). Cook for another 5 minutes. You want the tomatoes to somewhat break down, not not dissolve completely.
4. When the beef looks totally done, add in the another 1 Tbsp. of chili powder. Drain the pinto beans, then carefully stir the beans into the tomato/bean mixture. Add in some more spice if you think the sauce needs it. Heat for another 2 minutes or so, perhaps turn the heat up to med-high to boil off any excess water. The chili shouldn't look like soup, but it should be moist enough to slop over a big helping of corn chips. Top with cheese and sour cream. Eat warm, while the chips are still crunchy.

Saucepan Bratwurst

2009-07-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't own grills but want crispy, juicy bratwurst: a bare-bone recipe for sausage with some caramelized veggies. Probably also a good recipe to try while traveling (Oscar Meyer franks are GF). If I'd planned ahead better I would have made fresh hotdog buns. Next time, maybe.

Serves 2
25 minutes
- medium saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
4 bratwurst sausages-- Niman Ranch has really good sausage links that are GF
1 large yellow onion
1 large red bell pepper
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and peel the onion. Slice into thin rounds, as if making onion rings. Half each disk, getting semi-circles. Slice the bell pepper into long, thin pieces.
2. Rinse off the bratwurst and place in frying pan alongside the onion and bell pepper. Begin cooking over medium heat. You want the onions to slowly caramelize-- so make sure the burner isn't hot enough to singe the veggies straight out.
3. Slowly cook the bratwurst, onion and pepper, tossing and turning pieces as needed. Once meat heats up enough, poke holes in the bratwurst with a fork to let the juices out. Stir. If things look to be burning, turn stove down to medium-low. Tend often or things will stick and char. Heat until the sausage is browned and sizzling and the onions are dark and caramelized. Mine took about 15 minutes to get nice and 'grilled'.
Enjoy alone or with buns.

Blueberry-Strawberry Cobbler

2009-07-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

Has a nice mixed-berry taste. Was shooting for red and blue-- came out more like purple-pink, but that's okay. The topping here is fluffy and spongy, reminiscent of muffin; definitely not a crisp.

I did just blueberry last week while on vacation using Bobs Red Mill pancake mix as pre-leavened, pre-xanthaned 'flour'. Fairly easy dessert to make while visiting a friend with a kitchen. All I needed, in addition to the pancake mix, was some extra white sugar, cream (use slightly less cream and less sugar in the batter), a lemon, an egg and a few berries. Didn't even require an electric mixer. Just as good!
Adapted from this recipe.

Make one 9" pie
65 minutes (15 min for fruit + 10 min for topping + 40 minutes baking)
- medium bowl
- 9" pie pan with deep sides; Al pan works fine
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Fruit Filling:
18 oz. of blueberries (-or- ~10 oz. blueberries + ~8 oz. strawberries)
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. GF flour (don't add xanthan gum!)
1 tsp. almond extract (use 1 tsp. lemon juice if you don't have almond extract)
Bread Topping:
1 large egg
3/4 c. heavy cream (try coconut cream if you can't do dairy)
1 c. GF flour ---> [I used Bobs Red Mill all-purpose flour + 1 level tsp. xanthan gum]
1/2 c. white sugar
1 tsp. baking powder

DIRECTIONS
0. Preheat oven to 375 F
Fruit:
1. Wash blueberries. If you're adding strawberries, remove the green end bit and cut the large ones into quarters (leave the strawberries as fairly big chunks).
2. Place berries into a medium-sized bowl and add the 1/4 c. sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour and almond extract [fresh lemon juice is good, too]. Stir gently with your hands to mix. Scoop berries into the waiting 9" pie pan and spread evenly along the bottom.
Topping:
3. Crack the large egg into the rinsed bowl and mix with the heavy cream. [If using a pancake or cake mix, use less cream and sugar]. Whisk with a fork to break up the egg yolk. Pour in the flour, add xanthan gum, white sugar and baking powder. Stir the flour mixture to incorporate with the wet-- the dough should be thick, stretchy and soft.
4. With your hands, scoop the dough over the sweetened berries. You might need to stretch or squish the dough into thinner sections to evenly coat the top. Once the topping is uniform and covering, place into the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. [I believe the pancake batter was slightly thinner and needed to be cooked for almost 45 minutes to brown.] The cobbler is done once the top is golden-brown and berries are bubbling. Serve warm with ice cream.

Asparagus Penne Alfredo

2009-06-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Oh so so creamy and delicious. Not entirely low in fat, but the asparagus, tomatoes, Parmesan and cream combo are well worth the calories. The little red boiler onions were fantastic, but if you can only find white boiler onions, I'm sure those will work, too.

Serves 2
10 minutes to cook pasta + 25 minutes for veggies
- large pot
- large saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 c. cooked penne pasta; I used a whole bag of Tinkyada GF pasta
12 to 15 stalks of asparagus
10 to 15 red pearl onions
6 cloves garlic
10 to 15 cherry tomatoes
1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. grated Parmesan-regano cheese

DIRECTIONS
0. Boil the pasta over high heat until barely al-dente (slightly chewy). Drain. Stir in a bit of butter or olive oil so the pasta doesn't stick.
1. Wash the asparagus and chop off the tough bottom of each stalk. Cut into 1.5" long pieces. Peel red boiler onions and remove ends. Leave the onions fairly 'whole'. Peel and remove the ends of the garlic cloves. Mice the peeled garlic cloves. Wash and half the cherry tomatoes.
2. Place the asparagus pieces, red boiler onions, and diced garlic into the large saucepan. Add in 1 Tbsp. butter or olive oil. Begin cooking over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Saute the veggies for about 10 minutes. Near the very end, turn the heat up to medium-high in order to brown the onions a little.
3. When the asparagus and onions just become tender, remove from the heat and stir in the cherry tomatoes. Leave the veggies and turn back to the pasta.
4. Stir the cooked pasta to break up any clumps. Place pasta back over low heat and add in the heavy cream. Stir to coat pasta and thicken the cream. Once the pasta and cream are heated, pour in the parm. cheese. Stir well to mix and melt the cheese.
5. When the cheese has melted and the sauce thickened, stir in the asparagus/tomato mixture. Mix till thoroughly heated. Add in some fresh black pepper and serve warm with a salad or fresh bread.

Zucchini Bacon Mac and Cheese

2009-06-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Yellow summer squash with sweet orange bell pepper and crispy bacon. Plenty of melted cheddar to make this mac and cheese. Really good.

Serves 2
30 minutes
- large saucepan
- large pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1.5 to 2 c. cooked GF spiral pasta; I use Tinkyada
1 medium orange bell pepper, chopped
1 large jalapeño, minced
2 large yellow summer squash
6 pieces of thick cut bacon*
1/2 to 3/4 c. sharp cheddar cheese

*Oscar Meyer thick-cut bacon is GF

DIRECTIONS
0. Boil pasta in a large pot until barely tender. Drain water. Stir in a bit of butter to keep it from sticking while you prepare the veggies.
1. Wash and slice the orange bell pepper. Chop into 1/2" square pieces. Wash and dice the jalapeño, removing seeds. Slice the yellow squash into 1/2" thick circles. Half each circle.
2. Rinse off the meat. In the large saucepan, cook bacon strips over medium heat. Flip as needed to avoid burning. Once they are well browned (takes about 10 minutes), remove from pan and place on paper towels to drain and cool. Pour out excess bacon grease, reserving 2 Tbsp. of oil.
3. In the same large saucepan (minus cooked bacon), add in the orange bell pepper and jalapeño. Raise heat to medium-high. Saute the peppers for 2 minutes, then add in the yellow zucchini slices. Saute the veggies in the bacon grease, stirring occasionally to avoid burning. Cook until zucchini and bell peppers are soft, but not mushy-- should take around 5 minutes.
4. Stir the cooked noodles into the sauteed veggies. Crumble the cooked bacon strips over the top. Mix well, then, pour in the cheddar cheese. Reheat the pasta over medium-low heat just enough to melt the cheddar. Serve warm.

Spicy Bok Choy and Broccoli Stir-Fry

2009-06-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

More bok choy. It's really good with a spicy kick. I really liked the green onion taste in this dish. Makes a nice rice bowl.

Serves 2
30 minutes
- wok or large saucepan with deep sides
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 large head broccoli
1 large red bell pepper
5 cloves garlic
1 to 1.5 inch piece fresh ginger
3 green onions, white and green parts separated
4 heads baby bok choy
1 + 1 Tbsp high heat oil -- I use peanut oil
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper (or adjust amount to suit your spiciness level)

about 2 cups cooked rice
[pan-fried firm tofu-- optional]

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and cut the broccoli into large bite-sized pieces; leave some of the stem intact. Wash and slice the red bell pepper into long, thin strips. Peel and cut the ends off of the garlic (smash the cloves with a meat mallet for easy de-peeling/cutting). Cut the paper-y skin off of the fresh ginger root. Finely dice both the garlic and ginger. Separate the white and green parts of the green onion. Finely slice the white parts of the green onion, then dice. Collect the minced garlic, ginger and white green onion parts into a large pile. Leave the green leaves of the green onion as long 3 inch pieces. Wash and cut the tough ends off of the bok choy leaves; slice leaves into 1 inch long pieces. Likewise, separate the light green bok choy stalks from the dark green leaves.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. peanut oil over medium-high heat in the wok. Add in half of the garlic, ginger and diced white green onion pieces. Let the oil and spices saute for a minute.
3. When the oil is aromatic, add in the broccoli pieces. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add in the red bell pepper pieces. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes.
4. Add in the remaining 1 Tbsp. peanut oil, minced garlic, ginger and white green onion. Also throw in the light green parts of the bok choy. Shake in some cayenne pepper; this stuff is hot, so be sure to taste the dish and adjust amount to desired spiciness. Stir-fry for another 3 minutes. Make sure to stir often, or else things will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
5. Throw in the green leafy parts of the bok choy. Mix well. Stir-fry for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the green parts are wilted and the broccoli and light green bok choy stalks are crisp-tender.
6. At the very end, add in the long green green onion pieces. Stir to heat through. Serve alone, or tossed with spiced tofu or over cooked white rice (this will help reduce the dish's spiciness).

Zucchini and Kidney Bean Cheesy Rice Bowl

2009-06-09T17:27:00.000-07:00

Definitely made in one small pan with minimum kitchen supplies. Very celiac travel-friendly. The jalapeño bite and zucchini pairs well.

Serves 1.5
25 minutes
- small/medium saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 large zucchini
1/2 c. long grain white rice
Half of a 15 oz. can kidney beans*
Shake of onion powder
1/2 c. cheddar and pepper jack shredded cheese *; you want spicy jalapeno cheese!

*Bush beans and S&W beans are GF, Kraft cheese is GF and their shredded cheese is basically lactose free!!

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and remove ends from the zucchini;cut it into 1/2" slices.
2. Cook rice in the medium saucepan with 3/4 c. water for 15 minutes over high heat (Once it begins boiling, reduce heat to medium, but don't 'reset' the time).
3. At the 15 minute mark, add in the zucchini slices. Simmer everything for another 3 to 5 minutes., stirring occasionally. By the end of 20 minutes, you want all of the excess water to be almost gone.
4. Add in onion powder and half a can of kidney beans. Mix to heat through.
5. Remove from heat and pour in cheese. Mix to evenly melt the cheese and coat the beans and zucchini.

Green Beans and Yellow Squash with Sausage

2009-06-07T15:43:00.000-07:00

Crisp-tender green beans with yellow summer squash, onions and juicy chunks of sausage. Fast and good. Probably a side dish, but it's also a quick, filling dinner for one.

25 minutes
- large saucepan with deep sides -or- a wok
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. green beans
2 large yellow summer squash
1 large white onion
1/2 lb. sausage (I used Hillshire Farms Polska Kielbasa sausage link)
[1 tsp. peanut oil-- optional]

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and remove ends from the green beans and summer squash. Leave the green beans nice and long, but cut the squash into 1/2" thick slices. Halve (or even quarter) the slices if the circles are not bite-sized. Wash and peel onion. Slice the onion into this circles (as if you were making onion rings), then half each 'disk' into semicircles. Rise the sausage and cut it into 1.5" pieces. Quarter each piece lengthwise, so you have bite-sized 'links' of meat.
2. Place the green beans into the large saucepan with about 2 Tbsp. water. Boil the green beans over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally to uniformly cook the beans.
3. Once the water has almost all boiled off, add in the sausage and yellow squash. Cook for 5 more minutes, stirring well. You don't need any more water.. the squash will give some up.
4. Add in the onion slices and, if needed, the peanut oil. Turn the heat up to high and stir-fry the veggies+meat for 2 to 3 more minutes. Stir often, scraping the bottom of the saucepan-- you want the veggies to sizzle and brown, but not get burnt. Serve when the beans and zucchini are crisp-tender, the onions are wilted and sausage browned.

Spinach, Sausage and Potatoes

2009-06-04T17:10:00.000-07:00

Another easy hearty side-dish. Spuds with garlic, sausage and spinach. Spice it up some with more black pepper or red pepper flakes.

Serves 2
40 minutes
- large saucepan or wok
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
10 to 15 small red boiler potatoes
1/2 lb. beef or pork sausage (I used half of a Hillshire Farm Polska Kielbasa Sausage link)
1 large shallot
5 cloves garlic
[1 Tbsp. fresh parsley- optional]
[1/2. Tbsp butter- optional]
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
dash black pepper &/or crushed red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS
1. Scrub and half the red potatoes. Place potato halves into the large saucepan. Peel and dice the shallot and garlic cloves. [Chop up parsley.] Wash the spinach and set it aside.
2. Rinse and slice the sausage into half inch slices. Half each slice.
3. Begin boiling potatoes in a quarter inch of water over medium heat. Stir occasionally. Let it boil for about 10 minutes (over medium heat), then add in the sausage. Continue boiling/simmering for another 5 minutes. Test a spud. If they are still hard and starchy, then add in a bit more water and boil for another 3 to 5 minutes. Don't let the potatoes get too soggy (so no more than 20 minutes, tops).
4. When water is about to evaporate, add in the diced shallot, garlic, [and parsley]. Stir to coat.
5. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Let the potatoes sizzle and brown a bit. If the sausage you use isn't greasy enough, add in .5 Tbsp butter. Flip the spuds every minute or so-- you don't want them to burn badly.
6. Once they've sauteed for about 5 minutes, add in the spinach leaves. Stir till wilted. Let the dish saute for an additional minute or two then remove from heat and serve.

Rocky Road Fudge

2009-06-01T22:46:00.001-07:00

The EASIEST gluten-free dessert ever. Seriously, it has 3 ingredients and all are 'naturally' GF.
Plus, it also tastes good; rich chocolate and crunchy peanut butter alongside puffy marshmallows. I whip this up if I suddenly need a hassle-free GF treat.

9 x 9 inch pan of fudge (so about 20 squares worth)
15 minutes mixing + 45 minutes solidifying
- medium saucepan
- 9 x 9 " baking pan, lined with Al foil
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 (10 or 12 oz.) bag of semisweet chocolate morsels* (find some DF chocolate chips for all those with lactose problems)
Half of a 14 oz. container of extra crunchy peanut butter*
Half of a 10 oz bag of miniature marshmallows*
*Toll House (nestle) chocolate morsels are GF (so are Enjoy Life and Tropical Source GF, DF choc chips), Jiff PB is GF, Kraft mini marshmallows are GF

DIRECTIONS
0. Line 9 x 9 pan with aluminum foil.
1. Pour the bag of chocolate chips into the dry medium saucepan. Begin heating over medium heat, stirring constantly as they start melting. Stir until the chips are nice and creamy.
2. Remove from the heat and spoon in half of the 18 oz. container of peanut butter (I just eyeball it, accurate measurements aren't important here-- go ahead and add in more if you really like PB). Mix well, until the chocolate/peanut butter is fully smooth and melty.
3. Let the saucepan cool further for about another 2-3 minutes-- you DON'T want the marshmallows to melt once you stir them in.
4. Add in a bunch of marshmallows (a little more than half of the 10 oz bag). Mix marshmallows in carefully, being sure to coat each one. Don't overstir, though, and make them shapeless and gooey.
5. Spoon the fudge into the waiting pan, spreading evenly. Cover lightly with foil and place fudge into the fridge or freezer to cool and harden, no shorter then 45 minutes. Once they've solidified, take out and cut into 2 x 1 " pieces (these babies are rich). Serve chilled, they will become rather messy once they warm up a bit.

Steamed Broccoli with Carrots and Parsnips

2009-05-31T07:04:00.000-07:00

Simple simple steamed veggies. Enjoy as a side dish or splash with balsamic vinegar and stir into some fluffy white rice.

Serves 2
20 minutes
- medium pot
- veggie steamer 'basket'
- lid or some Aluminum foil to use as a lid
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 large head of broccoli
2 large carrots
2 large parsnips
dash of salt and pepper
splash of balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and cut broccoli into large-ish bite size pieces; leave some of the stem on if you can. Peel and julienne both the carrots and parsnips (cut root 'sideways' into ovals about 1/4 inch thick, then slice each oval into 2 or 3 long pieces) .
2. Place steamer 'basket' into the pot. Fill pot with water until it barely brushes up against the bottom holes of the steamer. Add in broccoli florets and carrots. Cover the pot with a lid (or a piece of foil). Bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Steam for 3 minutes.
3. Carefully uncover the pot (watch out for hot steam) and throw in the parsnips. Replace the lid and steam for another 2 to 3 minutes. Check on the broccoli at the 3 minute mark. If it's still too tough, then let it go a minute more-- however, don't let the veggies go mushy. If you boil away all of the water, add in some more.
4. Remove veggies from heat once crisp-tender. Season with salt and pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Lasagna Roll-Ups

2009-05-30T00:31:00.000-07:00

More really good vegetarian things. These will impress your guests.
I tried the rolls with both cottage cheese and ricotta based filling. Both versions were excellent-- the main difference was texture (plus, I thought the cottage cheese added a little more 'cheese' taste). If you want Italian manicotti-style rolls, use the ricotta. If you want a slightly more 'American' version, use the cottage cheese. The rolls weren't that hard to make, but it did have several steps and dirtied quite a few pans.
Based off of this recipe.

Serves 3 (around 15 rolls)
15 minute noodle prep + 35 minutes for sauce + 10 minutes for filling + 15 for assembly + 40 min for baking (almost 2 hrs total)
- large saucepan
- small saucepan
- large baking pan (cookie sheet will work) covered in Al foil
Involved

INGREDIENTS
Noodles
~10 oz. box of lasagna noodles (around 14 noodles) --> I used Tinkyada GF rice noodles
Sauce
6 cloves fresh garlic
1 medium white onion
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 (15 oz.) can crushed or finely diced tomatoes
Handful of fresh basil -or- 1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
dash of salt and pepper
Filling
4 cloves fresh garlic
1 tsp. olive oil
half of a 6 oz. bag of fresh spinach (quite a large handful of spinach-- it wilts alot)
1 tsp. fresh parsley
1 tsp. onion powder
1/4 c. mozzarella cheese
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1.5 c. cottage cheese -or- ricotta cheese
1 large raw egg
Topping
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
Noodles:
1. Lay the full lasagna noodles into the large saucepan with enough water to cover them by 1 inch. If they don't all fit, do them in batches. On an empty counter, lay down a large sheet of foil.
2. Bring the noodles to a rolling boil over high heat, then reduce to medium and simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until noodles are barely tender... you want them flexible enough to roll and bend without breaking, but DEFINITELY not fully cooked. They should be chewy on the inside.
3. Place the al dente noodles flat onto the aluminum foil. Don't overlap them too much... they'll stick together once cool.
4. Continue to cook the noodles and lay them out flat; add more boiling water as needed. Let the noodles be for awhile as you prepare the filling and sauce (they won't loose elasticity if they cool). Go ahead and rinse and re-use the large saucepan for the sauce.
Sauce:
1. Peel and mince up the (total) 10 cloves of garlic. [Hint: I like to mash the cloves slightly with a meat mallet so they'll slip right out of their peel and lie flat for easier dicing!] About half of the garlic will go in the sauce, the other half will season the filling. Peel and remove ends of the onion, then dice it up. Wash and coarsely chop up any fresh basil, oregano or parsley leaves. Set them aside.
2. Throw about 6 cloves worth of diced garlic into the waiting large saucepan. Add in all of the onion and 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Saute the garlic and onion for 3 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Don't let the garlic burn.
3. Open the can of diced tomatoes and pour right into the saucepan (DON'T drain!). Go ahead and add about 1/4. cup more water to the sauce. Season sauce with basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
4. Let the sauce simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes. Stir it every once in awhile. If too much water boils off, add a little more in (it's a sauce, after all).
Remove from the heat and focus on the filling
Filling:
1. In a small saucepan, place the rest of the diced garlic with 1 tsp. olive oil. Begin heating over medium-low heat. Rinse off the spinach leaves and stuff about half into the saucepan with the garlic/oil. Stir the leaves until they wilt, then add in the rest. Let the garlic, oil and wilted leaves sizzle for a minute or two. Add in and chopped parsley and onion powder and stir well.
2. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add in the 1/2. each of mozz. and Parm. cheeses. The mozzarella will melt-- that's okay-- stir it vigorously to significantly break up and incorporate the spinach leaves.
3. Allow the concoction to cool to lukewarm (not hot enough to burn anymore), then add in the cottage (-0r- ricotta) cheese. Stir well. The spinach leaves should speckle the filling with green. Tast the cheese mixture and add in salt/pepper/more onion powder or cheese as needed.
4. Stir in the raw egg. Mix everything thoroghly; you don't want the egg to scramble (it definitely shouldn't be that hot anymore). The cheese filling should be a nice paste consistency and easily spreadable.
Assemble and Bake:
0. Preheat the oven to 380 F. Line a 9 x 12 baking dish or large cookie sheet with Al foil.
1. Starting with one flat, cooked lasagna noodle, smear about 2 tsp. of cheese filling evenly over the entire face, leaving a small space at one end. Start from the end with full filling and gently roll the lasagna noodle up-- don't press to hard, if done properly the filling won't squeeze obnoxiously out of the ends of the roll.
2. Place the 2" thick roll onto the Al lined baking dish, seam side down. The noodle should stick nicely to the foil and not unravel on you. Continue filling and rolling the noodles until they are all completed. Spread any remaining filling out over the tops of the rolls.
3. Spoon the tomato sauce evenly over the top of the noodles, then place them, uncovered, in the preheated over to bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the ruffly, exposed edges of the noodle start to tan and the sauce is bubbly. Remove rolls from the oven and top with a generous amount of extra mozzarella cheese. Return the pan briefly to the oven to melt the cheese (around 2 to 3 minutes should do). Serve immediately with more veggies or favorite GF bread.

Meyer Lemon Ricotta Muffins

2009-05-26T17:48:00.001-07:00

Meyer lemon has a softer, sweeter flavor than 'regular' lemons. These muffins are tender and moist with a hint of lemon. The glaze is super easy to make and adds even more citrus-y goodness. Also, don't skip on the almond extract-- it tastes great with the lemon.
Inspired by these two recipes and the meyer lemons I found at the farmer's market.

Question: Anyone else notice sour cream and ricotta cheese seems to make GF baked goods fall after baking? They rise okay in the oven, but fall while cooling. Muffins seem to fare better than cakes, but fluffiness still takes a hit. Maybe I should investigate this...

Makes 12 medium muffins
20 minutes prep + 20 minutes cooking time + 40 minutes glazing/drying
Preheat 350 F
- large mixing bowl
- electric mixer
- large spatula or spoon
- muffin pan; lined with paper or butter
- small bowl
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Muffins
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter
1 c. white sugar
Lemon zest from 2 lemons (~1 Tbsp.); you will also need the juice of said lemons, so keep them!
1 egg
1 c. ricotta cheese
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Lemon juice from 1 to 1.5 lemons (~1 Tbsp.)
2 c. GF flour --> [1 c. Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour + 1 c. white rice flour + 2 heaping tsp. xanthan gum]
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
pinch of salt
Lemon Glaze
1/2 c. powdered sugar + more
Juice from 1/2 of a fresh lemon

DIRECTIONS
Muffins

0. Let butter come completely to room temperature. This should take about an hour if the butter isn't frozen. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line the muffin tins with paper or grease with a little butter.
1. In a large mixing bowl, briefly hand mix the soft butter and sugar. Scrub the outside of 2 large lemons and add in their zest. Place the zested lemons aside (you will use their juice later). Beat the butter/sugar mixture with an electric mixer until white and very fluffy-- around 3 minutes.
2. Add in the egg, ricotta cheese, and almond extract. Cut your fresh lemons in half and hand squeeze them to produce around 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice. Be sure to remove any errant seeds. Briefly beat in the egg, cheese, almond extract and lemon juice with the mixer until well combined with the butter/sugar mixture.
3. Add in the flour mix [BRM All-P flour, white rice flour, xanthan gum], baking powder, baking soda and salt all at once. Gentry stir the dry ingredients over the top of the wet (you could mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl if you wish). Once the dry ingredients are combined, start mixing them with the wet ingredients sitting below; I use a spoon for this. Hand stir until the dough is well mixed. It should pull away from the sides of the bowl and will be almost spongy in texture.
4. Plop the dough into the waiting muffin tins. Equally distribute the fluffy dough; 12 muffins will be filled almost to the top. Place muffins into the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the tops are lightly golden. Take them out and let cool before glazing.
Lemon Glaze
1. Spoon 1/2 c. powdered sugar into a small bowl. Squeeze in fresh lemon juice. Whisk with a fork until clumps disappear. You want the glaze to just drip from the fork. If mixture is too thick, add in more juice... to watery, use a bit more sugar.
2. Clump the cooled muffins close together on a tray. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the muffins until they are well-covered. Let the muffins sit out for over a half hour, or until the glaze dries. Eat immediately or store in the fridge for a cool treat.

Oreo Cookies

2009-05-23T18:04:00.000-07:00

These were GREAT!! Nice rich chocolaty crunch and smooth vanilla filling. Just like I remember them (granted, it's been over three years since I had a 'real' oreo). In fact, they were better... everything is better extremely fresh. Try to ignore the fact that the filling is basically sugar and Crisco and just enjoy these babies.
I bet these wafers would make GREAT thin mint cookies if covered in melted peppermint-chocolate.
Original recipe from here. She has much better pictures (sorry-- I'm terrible with icing).

Makes ~18 2" diameter sandwich cookies (around 36 chocolate wafers)
15 minutes mixing + ~70 minutes baking + 20 minutes whipping icing and assembling cookies
Preheat 375 F
- large mixing bowl
- wire whisk or electric beater
- cookie sheet lined with Al foil or parchment paper
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Chocolate Wafer
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter or dairy-free alternative
2. Tbsp. vegetable shortening*
1 egg
1.25 c. flour --> (3/4 c. brown rice flour + 1/2 c. Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Baking Flour + 1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum)
1/2 c. cocoa powder*
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 c. white granulated sugar
dash of salt
Vanilla Icing
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp. vegetable shortening*
~1.5 c. powdered sugar
~1.5 tsp. vanilla extract

*Crisco is GF, Hershey's cocoa powder is GF,

DIRECTIONS
Chocolate Wafer
0. Place stick of butter on the counter to reach room temperature. Make sure it is very soft before continuing. Preheat oven to 375 F.
1. Mix 1/2 c. butter, 2 Tbsp. shortening and 1 egg in a large bowl with a wire whisk (or electric beater) until well combined. The oils and egg don't have to be whipped or anything, just stirred till a uniform color.
2. Add in the brown rice flour, BRM All Purpose Baking Flour and xanthan gum over the top of the oil/egg mixture. Stir the flours together lightly with a large spoon, then add in the cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Again stir dry ingredients without incorporating the 'wet' below. When it looks consistent, mix deeper to include the wet ingredients. Stir entire contents of bowl; the cocoa will start out light brown, then get a nice dark chocolate look once mixed well with the egg/oils. Continue to mix by hand until no more clumps appear. The dough will be soft and have a shiny chocolate look to it.
3. Pinch off about a teaspoon of dough and roll it into a 1 inch diameter ball. The dough should yield about 36 spheres. Place spheres onto an aluminum foil coated (or parchment paper coated) cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Use a level-bottomed drinking glass and squish each ball flat out to about a 2" diameter (around 1/4" thick).
4. Place cookies into the oven and bake for exactly 10 minutes at 375 F. They will come out soft, but will harden after cooling; wait at least a minute to transfer wafers to a cooling sheet. Continue baking; it took me a little over an hour to bake all of the balls-- I placed the waiting dough back into the fridge while cooking.
Vanilla Filling
0. Again, be patient and let the butter fully come to room temperature. Watch a Daily Show or something.
1. Place 3 Tbsp each of butter and shortening in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Add in the powdered sugar, mix by hand until the sugar is not as volatile.
2. Add in the vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. at a time, beating with the mixer after each addition. You are looking for a thick, creamy consistency here-- it IS oreo filling. Basically you want to add vanilla extract until the mixture just turns from 'grainy' to smooth. Compensate for too much liquid with a little more sugar.
3. Beat the filling for 2 to 3 minutes to get it extra creamy.
Assembling
Place around 1 tsp. filling between two chocolate wafers. Press and twist the cookies together to mechanically bind the sandwich. If you want to add more icing, they'll come apart okay to do so. I suggest storing the cookies in the freezer, it makes them hold together better. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Spicy Sweet Bell Peppers (w/Beef)

2009-05-21T22:10:00.000-07:00

A zesty, tasty beef fajita filling. The yellow bell peppers help tone down the heat of 2 large jalapeños. This was even better the next day inside a tortilla with melted colby jack cheese.
It's still satisfying to throw a few fresh things into a pan (without need of any GF 'substitutes') and get something good.

Serves 2 easily
40 minutes
- large saucepan with deep sides or a wok
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 large jalapeños
3 cloves garlic
1 large sweet yellow onion
1 large red bell pepper
1 large orange or yellow bell pepper
small bundle of fresh cilantro
1/2 to 1 pound beef steak (I used pre-cut stew meat because it was way cheaper than New York Strip)
1 tsp. Chili powder*
1 tsp. ground cumin*
sea salt + pepper*
1 tsp. corn oil

*McCormick spices are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut tops off of the jalapeños and remove the seeds. Finely dice the chilis. Peel the garlic and finely dice. Set garlic and jalapeños aside. Peel the yellow onion; cut into quarter inch thick disks (as if you were making thin onion rings). Cut tops off of both of the bell peppers and remove the seeds. Cut them in half first, then slice into quarter inch thick pieces. Cut the long pieces in half once to make them more manageable. Wash and chop the cilantro leaves.
2. Rinse off the meat and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place them into the large saucepan and partially fill with water (no more than 1/2" deep in the pan). Simmer uncovered over medium heat, stirring meat occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
3. When the water is all but boiled off, add in the diced jalapeños and garlic, plus another 1/4 c. water. Stir in the chili powder, ground cumin and a dash of salt + pepper. Cook meat for another 5 minutes; it should be nearing done-ness by the end (juices running clear).
4. Pour in the corn oil right before all of the water boils off. Add in the onion rings, red bell pepper and yellow/orange bell pepper. Stir to coat the pieces with oil. Continue to cook the entire dish until the peppers are about crisp-tender and the onion has just 'wilted' (should take around 5 minutes). Things shouldn't be burning if left unattened, yet.
5. Add in the chopped cilantro leaves and turn the heat up to medium-high. Stir fry the meat and veggies for about 3 minutes, or long enough for the onion to become translucent and the peppers to brown and soften a little.
Serve inside GF rice tortillas or over a little bit of white (perhaps brown??) rice.

Sticky Rice with Bok Choy

2009-05-19T23:30:00.000-07:00

A simple, refreshing dish to make on a busy day. Good as a light side dish, or as a veggie main dish for one. Really easy to make.

Serves 1-2
35 minutes
- large saucepan or pot
Quick & Simple

INGREDIENTS
5 cloves fresh garlic
1 inch piece fresh ginger
1 large carrot
1 large white onion
2 to 3 heads baby bok choy
3/4 c. dry rice-- use sushi rice or jasmine rice
[dash of GF soy sauce; optional, I liked the taste of the veggies and ginger]

DIRECTIONS
1. Peel ginger and finely dice. Remove flakey, outer skin from the ginger to reveal the yellow root. Finely dice the ginger. Peel the carrot and cut into oblique pieces (as if you were cutting circular pieces, but do it at an angle). Slice each carrot oval into thirds to create matchsticks. Peel and chop the onion. Separate the individual leaves from the bok choy 'stalk'. Keep both the green and white parts intact, but you can cut off the tough white part at the very bottom. Wash the leaves well.
2. Place rice into a large saucepan or pot cover with about 1/2 inch of water. Bring rice to a rolling boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium and simmer for around 5 minutes.
3. Add in the diced garlic and giner. Stir well and simmer another 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Add in the carrot matchsticks. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes, adding more water in if necessary (like if the rice starts sticking to the bottom of the pan).
5. Add the whole bok choy leaves and the chopped onion to the pot. Cook until green part of bok choy leaves are wilted and white parts are crips-tender (shouldn't take longer than 5 minutes). Rice should be a little overcooked-- but nice and sticky. Add some salt, or a dash of soy sauce, if you so wish.

Lemon Coolers

2009-05-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

These small little cookies ended up crumbly, fat and wonderfully tinged with lemon. Almost like dry, fruity bon-bons. Coat these with tart powdered sugar-- I found them rather novel and very easy.
Original recipe here, but this one is GF.

Makes 50 bite-sized cookies
20 minutes preparing + almost 2 hours baking total
Preheat 330 F
- large mixing bowl
- wire whisk -or- electric beater
- cookie sheet lined with Al foil
- large heavy duty gallon sized ziplock baggie
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1/2 c. + ~3/4 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. white (granulated) sugar
1/3 c. butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1.5 c. GF flour mix --> [1 c. white rice flour + 1/2 c. Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Mix + 1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum]
1.5 tsp. baking powder
zest from 1 fresh lemon
juice from 1 fresh lemon (about 1 Tbsp.)
1 tsp. powdered lemonade drink mix*

*Country Time Lemonade mix I think is GF; I used it and didn't get sick

DIRECTIONS
0. Preheat oven to 330 F. Place the butter on the counter to soften for awhile.
1. Wait till butter is room temperature (soft!) to begin mixing ingredients. In a large bowl, briefly mix the sugars (1/2 c. powdered and 1/3 c. granulated) with the butter, egg , vanilla and salt by hand. Once incorporated, cream together with a wire whisk or electric beater. The mixture should be creamy and consistent, but not fluffy.
2. Add in the GF flour mix and baking powder. Scrub the lemon well and add entire lemon zest into the bowl. Cut the lemon in half and easily squeeze its juice into the bowl, careful to remove renegade seeds.
3. Stir the entire mixture well. As usual, the dough will be thick, so I normally just hand mix it. Stir until the dough is slightly moist and easily forms a ball.
4. Roll dough into small little balls, no bigger than an inch-- I tried for about 3/4". Place balls onto the lined cookie sheet and press each one down slightly with your thumb; not too much. They will spread and puff out a little more in the oven, but you can get them fairly crowded on the sheet with no problems.
5. Before finishing the first batch, pour the remaining 3/4 c. powdered sugar into the heavy-duty plastic bag. Add in some of the powdered lemon drink mix and shake well to mix. Taste.** Add in more sugar or lemon drink if necessary (depends on how tart you want the powder!)
6. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes. They will get slightly tan on the top when done. Remove cookies and let cool for about 1 minute on the sheet. Before they cool ALL the way (they should still be warm, but not burning hot), plop the cookies into the bag and shake well to coat.
7. Continue baking and then coating the cookies. It took me about 5 rounds to finish the whole batch. I ended up just leaving them in the bag, there was enough sugar to go around.

**If you want more adult-like morsels, don't coat them with powdered sugar-- they have a good lemon taste on their own. I did prefer the melt-away lemon tang, though, and I'm in my 20's!

Mexican Chicken Rolls

2009-05-18T00:11:00.000-07:00

My mother's recipe. Tender chicken covered in a toasty breaded exterior and filled with melted, spicy cheese. Excellent.
It takes a little more time with the make-your-own breadcrumbs and the pounding and rolling, but it's worth it. My mom suggests making quite a few at once while you're at it since the rolls freeze so well.

Serves 8
2 hr for breadcrumbs + 1.5 hours of pounding/rolling/dredging + overnight freezing + 1.5 hr baking (obviously these take awhile)
- blender or food processor
- Al foil
- 9" x 12" baking dish
- meat tenderizer (or a hammer)
- small saucepan
- 16 toothpicks
Difficult/Involved

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c. fine, dry prepared GF bread crumbs -OR- make your own with 4 slices favorite GF bread (I used Glutino corn-based frozen white sandwich bread and the crumbs turned out very fresh)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese*
1 tsp. chili powder*
1/2 tsp. cumin*
1/4 tsp. pepper*
8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 Tbsp. butter
1 (8 oz.) cube spicy Pepper Jack cheese

*Kraft Parm. cheese is GF (and low in lactose), McCormick spices are GF

DIRECTIONS
Homemade Breadcrumbs:
0. Preheat oven to 180 F.
1. Arrange 4 slices of bread onto a cookie sheet and place in the warm oven for 1 hour.
2. Flip the bread to the other side and return them to the oven for another 40 minutes of drying.
3. Take dried (not burned) bread out of oven and break into pieces with your hands. The bread should be very stiff and you will get crumbs everywhere.
4. Place breadpieces into a blender or food processor and pulse several times until they become fine crumbs. 4 slices should get you around 3/4 cups of crumbs.
5. At this point I just mixed the Parm cheese and spices into the bread crumbs while still in the blender.. saved me from having to wash another bowl. Place spiced crumbs aside and skip to preparing the chicken.
Store-bought Breadcrumbs:
1. Mix prepared breadcumbs with Parmesan cheese, chili powder, cumin and black pepper. Place breadcrumbs aside.
Preparing Chicken:
0. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil (the chicken makes a mess when cooking).
1. Wash the 8 pieces of chicken and remove excess fat. Place 2 pieces of chicken into a heavy duty gallon size freezer bag. Place that bag into another freezer bag (double bag them). Lay the bagged chicken onto a counter and pound to 1/4" inch with a meat tenderizer mallet (or a wide hammer). The breasts will almost double in size. Take the flattened chicken out of the bags and lay onto the baking dish. Continue beating meat, 2 per bag, until all 8 pieces are pounded.
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Bring the seasoned breadcrumbs over to the same area.
3. Cut the cheese cube crosswise (as opposed to lengthwise) into 8 equal pieces. Place each cheese slice onto the middle of a chicken breast. Start from the short side and roll the chicken breast up around the cheese. Secure the chicken roll tightly with two toothpicks at the seam of the roll.
4. Once all of the chicken is stuffed and secured, dip each roll into the melted butter, covering evenly with oil. Then dredge the chicken in the waiting breadcrumbs. Make sure they're well coated with crumbs (the homemade crumbs were so dry that they easily stuck to the chicken).
5. Arrange the breaded rolls onto the baking dish, cover and freeze until solid. I let mine freeze overnight and cooked them the next day. Alternatively, you could place the rolls into another freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months.
Cooking the Rolls (the next day):
0. Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
1. Place frozen rolls (arranged on the prepared pan) into the oven, uncovered.
2. Cook for 1 hour, or until the breadcrumbs are golden brown, cheese is bubbling and chicken reaches an inside temp of 175 F. Mine needed 1 hour and 30 minutes.. best to just check at the hour mark and adjust from there. Serve warm with something good, like Rich Asparagus Risotto (pictured) or Spanish Rice.
**CAUTION!! Remind your family and friends about the embedded toothpicks!!!**

Rich Asparagus Risotto

2009-05-14T19:20:00.000-07:00

Asparagus is in season! Big bundles of fresh, vibrant green stalks. I suggest you make this... it was the absolute creamiest version or risotto I've had yet (richer than the version I posted a year ago). The blending part makes this more involved than usual, but it's well worth it. I followed the recipe almost exactly from here, but I'll re-write it below with the slight changes I made. I served this alongside Mexican Chicken Rolls (recipe coming soon).

Serves 4-5 (as a side dish)
50 minutes
- large saucepan with deep sides
- blender or food processor
Involved

INGREDIENTS
1 big bunch of asparagus (about 20 stalks)
1 large red onion
6 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp. + 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1.5 c. dry Aborio rice*
1/4 c. white cooking wine*
2 (15 oz.) cans Swanson Natural Goodness Chicken broth (or about ~4 cups of other GF broth)
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese*
salt and pepper to taste

*Lundberg has some good Aborio rice that is for sure GF, Holland House cooking wine is GF, Kraft Parm. cheese is GF (and low in lactose!!)

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash asparagus and onion. Break off and discard the tough ends of the asparagus stalks (bend them with your hands until they naturally break-- you will loose about 2 inches, but that's okay). Cut the asparagus into pieces about 1.5 inches long; separate the asparagus tips from the stalk pieces. Slice the ends off the red onion, discard outer layers and chop into small pieces. Peel the garlic cloves and finely dice.
2. Place roughly half of the cut asparagus pieces into the large saucepan. Don't use the tips, they will remain whole and be cooked later. Add water until the pieces are barely covered. Boil asparagus until tender, around 8 minutes.
3. Scoop the cooked asparagus pieces out of the saucepan and place into a waiting blender or food processor with a little bit of the cooking water. Blend until smooth and creamy. Place aside. [If you don't have a blender, try mushing the soft asparagus well with a fork.]
4. Rinse out the large saucepan and pat dry. Melt 2 Tbsp. of butter in the saucepan over medium heat; mix in the olive oil. Add the diced red onion and garlic when oils are hot. Saute onion and garlic for about 2 minutes.
5. Add in dry rice, stirring well. Continue to saute rice, onion and garlic until the rice becomes partially translucent (about 3 minutes; can see a dot of white in the middle of each grain) and onion and garlic are slightly golden tan. Stir frequently as to not burn the rice.
6. Pour in a splash of white wine and stir vigorously while the alcohol evaporates. Now add chicken stock (or veggie broth) 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well with each addition. Let the rice soak up the broth before adding in another 1/2 cup. You should be adding broth periodically for about 15 minutes. Make sure you stirring occasionally (you don't have to be there continuously). At the 15 minute mark, you should have gone through 1.5 cans (about 3 cups) of broth.
7. Now add in the reserved asparagus tips and stalks. Stir well to incorporate. Taste the rice and asparagus as they continue to cook and soak up broth (still adding stock as necessary). It should take about 5 to 8 minutes for the asparagus to become slightly tender and the rice to be chewy.
8. When the asparagus and rice is nearly done, spoon in the blended, cooked asparagus puree and all the remaining broth. Mix well for another minute or two, until the rice is no longer soupy, but nice and creamy.
9. Remove from the stove and stir in 1 Tbsp. butter and the Parm. cheese. Stir to incorporate. The rice should be rich and creamy (almost sticky), with bits of asparagus and a hint of cheese. Serve hot alongside meat of choice.

Reclaiming My Life

2009-05-11T02:18:00.004-07:00

Hi. After a grueling 1.5 years I finally have time to post recipes again. Right now I have a backlog of things I made months ago, so there will be a few items that appear out-of-season (such as the 'Valentine's day' cookies below).

Really, though, just change the icing from pink to yellow and they're in season again.
Cheers!
-Ashley

PS-- I'm starting another blog soon. I wanted a place to talk about science and politics and other random stuff. All full recipes will remain here.

Sugar Cookies with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

2009-05-11T01:18:00.008-07:00

My mother would make these for Valentine's day when I was growing up. To this date, I still associate Valentine's day with these cookies. They are light and crisp, but still have some 'body'... even translated over to Gluten free. The lemon icing is wonderful.

Makes 25 huge (~3" diameter) cookies
25 minutes + 3 hours of chilling time + 30 minutes rolling and baking
375 F
- electric beater (or whisk)
- cookie cutters
- rolling pin
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Cookie:
1 c. butter, softened
1.5 c. confectioner's (powdered) sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract*
1 tsp. Almond extract*
2.5 c. flour mix ---> [1.5 c. white rice flour + 1/4 c. potato starch + 1/2 c. tapioca starch + 1/4 c. cornstarch + 3 heaping tsp. xanthan gum] feel free to use your own favorite GF mix
1 tsp. backing soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar*
Lemon Frosting:
1/6 c. room-temperature soft butter
1.5 c. confectioners sugar
3/4 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 Tbps. milk (or water, for dairy free)
zest of one lemon (preferably the one you just juiced)
GF food coloring*
*McCormick spices and extracts are GF

DIRECTIONS
Cookies:
0. Set the butter out on the counter to warm. Go watch TV or something while it softens.
1. In a large bowl, mix soft butter, confect sugar, egg, vanilla and almond extracts till smooth. I normally use an electric beater for this, but a wire whisk will work okay.
2. Hand blend in the flour mixture (white rice flour, xanthan gum, tapioca, corn and potato starches), baking soda and cream of tartar to the butter/extract. The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky. Like most GF dough, it will also be dense; I suggest using a strong spoon.
3. Split the dough into two 'lumps'. Cover both with saran wrap and chill for 3+ hours. You want to do this... the dough is horrible to work with if you don't chill it first.
3.50. Heat oven to 375 F.
4. Place half of the cool dough onto a clean countertop and try to press it down a little by hand (it should be fairly hard). Cover the dough with a large piece of saran wrap and roll the dough out with a rolling pin to about 1/8th of an inch thick.
5. Cut the rolled dough into shapes. I like circles.
6. Place on parchment paper and bake 7 to 8 minutes until the cookies are light bown on the edges. Pull out and let cool for a minute or two before scooping them up.
Frosting:
0. Let the cookies TOTALLY COOL before icing them!
1. Blend softened butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice, milk and zest in a bowl until soft.
2. Add in dye. Frost the cooled cookies gererously.

From One Coast to the Other

2008-09-07T20:59:00.003-07:00

Back in silicon valley after a 2 month romp in Virginia. Will continue to post as I make things worth writing about.
-Ashley

Zesty Quinoa

2008-05-16T22:17:00.000-07:00

More quinoa, this time with a slightly tex-mex taste. Creamy tomatoes with hearty zucchini and a hint of jalapeño heat. Cooks up fast, tastes good.

Serves 2
35 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 (14 oz) can Swanson Natural Goodness Chicken broth
2 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow or white onion
2 medium jalapeño chilies
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 medium tomatoes

DIRECTIONS
1. Chop zucchini up into 1/2 inch thick slices. Quarter each slice and set zucchini aside. Wash and finely chop up the onion. Remove top and seeds from jalapeno, then dice up the chilies.
Remove skins from tomatoes, either with your fingernails or carefully with a paring knife.
Chop tomatoes up into bite-sized chunks. Set tomatoes aside from rest of veggies, retaining as much juice as possible.
2. Pour quinoa into saucepan. Add in 3/4 can of Swanson chicken broth. Begin boiling quinoa over high heat.
3. Once broth comes to a rolling boil, decrease heat to medium high and add in zucchini quarters.
Boil for an additional 5 minutes.
4. At the 5 minutes mark, add in chopped onion and diced jalapeños. Season with ground cumin and sea salt. Also add in the olive oil; stir. Continue simmering for another 5 to 10 minutes. Pour in remaining chicken broth when necessary (will eventually use the entire can of broth).
5. Taste quinoa. When the grain is swollen and tender and liquid almost all absorbed,
turn off heat, but don't remove from the stove.
6. Stir in the tomato pieces. Continue stirring until the tomatoes are heated through.
You want them slightly cooked by the still-hot quinoa, but not falling apart.
Serve warm, in bowls.

Navy Bean and Asparagus Hash

2008-05-04T12:56:00.001-07:00

More asparagus with potatoes. I'm a fan, if you haven't noticed. Be sure to add lots of garlic powder, it tastes great with the white navy beans. Also, let the large potato slices saute long enough in the oil (on the bottom of the pan) such that they become golden brown.

Serves 2
35 minutes
-large saucepan, with tall sides
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
10 asparagus stalks
3 medium-sized red potatoes
1 medium white onion
1 small red bell pepper
1 (15 oz.) can white navy beans*, drained
2-3 Tbsp. peanut oil
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
2 tsp. garlic powder
sea salt

*Bush navy beans are GF; S&W navy beans are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut asparagus into 2 inch long pieces (chop stalk into thirds). Cut potatoes into larger, 1 inch cubes, don't bother peeling. You want the potato pieces large, since they'll boil for awhile. Place asparagus and potato aside. Coarsely chop white onion into large-ish pieces. Wash and remove core/seeds from the bell pepper. Chop red bell pepper likewise into larger pieces (about 1.5 inches long).
2. Place spuds and asparagus into large saucepan. Bring potatoes and asparagus to boil in 3/4 cup water over high heat. Continue to boil spuds and aspargus for 12 - 15 minutes, or until water just about boiled away.
3. Add in onion and red bell pepper. Stir in 3 Tbsp. peanut oil. Saute over medium-high heat for an additional 5 minutes. Stir only intermittently, let the potatoes and asparagus on the bottom of the pan toast and become golden.
4. Once the onions have turned translucent, drain the can of navy beans and add beans to the pan. Season with thyme leaves and lots of garlic powder. Add in ample amound of sea salt (it tastes so good with the beans).
5. Heat for another 2-3 minutes, or until the beans are heated all the way through.
Serve hot.

Zucchini Boats

2008-04-19T13:43:00.009-07:00

A.k.a. Stuffed Zucchini.
These were great; egg-free, gluten-free, vegetarian side dish. (even oil free and dairy-free, if you wish) By squeezing most of the water out of the cooked zucchini pulp, and baking the empty shells beforehand, I managed to keep these from getting soggy. Cooked on the inside and crispy on the outside; bursting with garlic, Parmesan, parsley and tomato.

Makes 8 'boats'; enough to feed 2-3 people
10 + 15 + 30 minutes (about an hour total)
-large pot and mesh sieve for steaming vegetables
-medium mixing bowl
-Aluminum foil lined cookie sheet
Involved

INGREDIENTS
4 thick, large zucchini
1/2 medium white onion, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium tomato, peeled
handful of fresh parsley
[1 egg, slightly beaten; optional]
[1 Tbsp. olive oil; optional]
3/4 to 1 cup finely crushed Original Baked Lay's potato crisps
1/4 Parmesan cheese-- or non dairy-alternative (Galaxy Nutritional Foods has some good ones)
dash of black pepper
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
dash of dried thyme leaves

DIRECTIONS
Steaming
0. Steam whole zucchini over boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes, or until soft enough to 'give' slightly when pressed (not mushy). I use a metal sieve large enough in diameter to 'sit' over the top of my pot, then covered with a lid. You might have to steam them 2 at a time.
Cool before handling. (I chilled mine overnight.)
Filling and Baking
-Preheat oven to 350 F
1. Once zucchini is cool enough to touch, cut off both ends and scoop out the inner zucchini 'meat' with a small spoon, leaving a firm shell (don't make shells too thin). Squeeze the pulp to remove excess water. Discard the water, but place the zucchini meat in a medium bowl. Don't expect lots of zucchini innards.. I barely had 2 Tbsp. total.
2. While oven is warming up, line a cookie pan with Aluminum foil. Arrange empty shells on the pan and place into the preheating oven. Let them cook for around 15 minutes. They should be dry when you pull them out.
3. Peel and dice the white onion. You need the onion pieces small. Also, remove ends, peel and mince the garlic cloves into very small pieces. Remove the tomato skin with a paring knife, then dice up the tomato, but don't turn it into mush. Wash and chop up the fresh parsley.
4. Using your hands, mix the onion, garlic, tomato and parsley in with the zucchini pulp. [If you want eggs in this, you may add in one slightly beaten large egg to the bowl at this time. Likewise, if you want to add in the oil, do so now. I didn't use either egg or oil and it tasted fine and held together okay.]
5. Crush the last 1/4th of an open bag of Baked Lay's original potato crisps until the chips are reduced to small pieces (use a hammer if you wish). Toss the chip pieces in with the veggies, adding more if the mixture still seem too moist. Add in the Parmesan cheese, oregano leaves, thyme leaves and black pepper (DON'T add in extra salt.. the chips are salty enough!). Mix evenly.
6. Fill slightly-cooked shells with mixture-- really be generous, it at first looked like I had too much filling! Top with another dusting of Parmesan cheese.
7. Bake zucchini boats in the oven for 30 minutes, uncovered. The tops should be toasted and crispy once removed; the boats should be cooked all the way through, but not mush.
Eat warm as a side dish, or serve as the main dish with enough fresh steamed white rice.

Zucchini Boy-R-De

2008-04-08T17:29:00.005-07:00

It's been a long time since I ate pasta out of a can, but this vaguely reminded me of those spaghetti-O's-- only better, due to the fresh zucchini and garlic.
Another fast fast (although far-from-gourmet) dinner that actually tasted good!

Serves 2
25 minutes
-large pot
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
6 oz. uncooked GF pasta spirals (I use half of a 12 oz bag of Tinkyada brown rice spirals)
2 to 3 large zucchini
1 large white onion
8 to 10 lobes of fresh garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 (14 oz.) can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Crushed Tomatoes
2 Tbsp. dried (or fresh) basil leaves
1 Tbsp. dried (or fresh) oregano leaves
sea salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Place spirals into the large pot. Add in water until the water level rises 1/2 inch above the pasta sitting in the pot. Place over high heat and chop up the veggies while waiting on the water to boil.
2. Veggies: Wash the cut the zucchini into 1/2 inch thick slices. Don't half the circles, leave them big. Place zucchini near the range (aside from the garlic and onion). Peel and chop up the white onion. Peel, remove ends, then and dice up the garlic.
3. Once the pasta comes to a rolling boil, begin timing, stir, then reduce heat down to medium-high. Cook spirals for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Taste a spiral, it should be very al dente (slightly soft on the outside, yet still firm and chewy on the inside). Add in the zucchini slices. Stir. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5. By this time, almost all of the water should have boiled away. Just before the pasta starts to stick on the bottom of the pot, add in the onions, garlic, olive oil and full can of Muir Glen Crushed tomatoes, liquid and all (do NOT drain tomatoes!!). Stir well to mix. Add in a fair amount of seasonings: basil, oregano, sea salt and pepper.
6. Turn the heat down to medium. Let the 'soup' simmer, uncovered, until the onions become translucent and the tomato sauce becomes thick, coating the spirals (around 3-5 minutes). The pasta and zucchini will be tender by this point.
7. Remove from the stove; let sit 5 minutes, but serve warm.

Christmas Quinoa

2008-04-05T20:02:00.008-07:00

This was my first taste of Quinoa (keen-wah), despite the GF community raving about this wonder grain for months now. Now I understand what all the 'raving' was about. Light and textured, with a hint of chewiness-- a perfect break from rice. I'm so happy!!
Of course this dish has nothing to do with Christmas. The color scheme just reminded me of such.

Serves 1.5
25 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1.5 cups water (or GF chicken broth)
5 asparagus stalks
1/2 of a head of cauliflower
1/2 of a large red bell pepper
1 medium white onion
1 to 2 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Place rinsed quinoa into the large saucepan. Cover grains with water and begin cooking over high heat. Keep an eye on the stove, but start cutting up veggies:
2. Wash and cut asparagus stalks into 1 inch pieces. Wash and cut cauliflower into bite-sized chunks. Set asparagus and cauliflower aside near range. Wash and slice red bell pepper into 1 inch pieces. Also evenly chop white onion into 1/2 inch squares.
3. Once the water reaches a rolling boil, turn heat down to medium-high and continue cooking (start timing from onset of rapid boiling). Stir occasionally.
4. At the 5 minute mark, add in the asparagus and cauliflower pieces. Stir, continue cooking.
5. At the 10 minutes mark, add in the red bell pepper and onion. Stir, then season with salt and pepper. Also stir in a bit of olive oil.
6. Continue cooking (stirring occasionally) until the outside of the quinoa grain becomes translucent and the grain itself (and accompanig veggies) are tender, but not soggy. All water should have boiled away by this point.
7. Let the veggies and cooked quinoa sit undisturbed in the pan for 2-3 minutes right before removing from the heat. This will slightly toast the bottom grains if you added enough olive oil. Serve warm.

Cowboy Hash

2008-03-21T00:01:00.000-07:00

Tried this once before with potato slices, then grated potato, but this is the best version yet. I love the corn with the beans and the spuds.
I prefer fresh potatoes in this, but if you don't want to go through the trouble of slicing up potatoes, simply cook this up without the spuds and pop some GF frozen french fries into the oven before you begin. Spoon baked, crispy french fries into a bowl and top with the hamburger and beans. Yummy.

Serves 2
35 minutes
-large saucepan with tall sides
-mandolin slicer
Easy

INGREDIENTS
3 medium red potatoes [-or- OMIT fresh potatoes and bake up a handful of frozen french fries* separately in the oven]
1/2 of a red bell pepper
1 medium yellow onion
10 green onions
handful of fresh cilantro
1/2 lbf. hamburger meat
2 + 2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 tsp. chili powder*
2 tsp. ground cumin*
sea salt and garlic powder*
1 (15 oz.) can sweet corn* (not creamed corn) [-or- 2 ears fresh corn]
1 (15 oz.) can black beans*, drained

*Most all varieties of Ore-Ida french fries are GF!! Cook till golden and crispy (~20 min at 500F, if you place them in the oven while preheating). I suggest 'golden crinkles' for this.
McCormick spices are GF.
All DelMonte canned veggie are GF.
S&W and Bush's beans are GF.

DIRECTIONS
Cut up all veggies:
1. If using fresh potatoes, use a mandolin slicer with to cut potato into semi-thin strips (like you would for french fries). Soak in cold water for 3-5 minutes, then place into large saucepan.
[If using frozen potatoes, turn your oven up to 500 F and spread frozen spuds out on an Aluminum foil-covered pan (single layer). Place into oven while it's preheating. Cook till golden and sizzling (check often near the end of 20 minutes).]
2. Wash, de-seed and chop up the red bell pepper into squares. Wash and peel the yellow onion; also chop up (not too small). Set bell pepper and yellow onion aside.
3. Wash and dice up the green onion. Use both the green stalks and white bottoms, removing the little roots at the end. Wash and dice up the fresh cilantro leaves, removing any excess stem.
4. Turn back to the saucepan. Crumble the half pound of ground beef into the saucepan with the potatoes. Add a splash of water (not too much, just moisten the bottom). Begin cooking on medium-high. Stirring occasionally for about 5 to 8 minutes.
5. Once the meat is thouroughly browned (and water nearly evaporated), add in the chopped bell pepper and yellow onion. Stir. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until onion becomes translucent. If you are using lean hamburger, you might need to add in 2 Tbsp. olive oil.
6. Add in the diced green onion and cilantro. Season generously with chili powder and ground cumin. Also throw in a little sea salt and garlic powder. Stir and let saute for an additional 5 minutes.
7. Open and thoroughly drain both the canned corn and black beans.
8. Once the potatoes are tender and browned (if you're using fresh potatoes) gently stir in the corn and beans and another Tbsp. of olive oil. Turn head down to medium and cook until heated through -- another 3-5 minutes. Serve warm in a bowl, perhaps topped with cheddar cheese or ketchup.
[9. If baking up the frozen fries, remove from oven. Serve topped with bean mixture.]

Fusilli with Kidney Beans

2008-03-16T00:10:00.006-07:00

Don't be fooled by the fancy name. This is just one above plain old Mac & Cheese.
I thought spirals were my favorite Tinkyada pasta until I discovered their Fusilli. Undercook it slightly and you will retain the hollow center of the long, loopy 'curls'. For some reason I think the Kidney beans go best with this type of pasta.
Super super quick. I whip this up all the time on 'crunch' days right before problem sets are due.

I'm trying to post more often, despite not having time to cook up anything better than rice or potatoes with _(insert random vegetable)_.

Serves 1
15 minutes
-medium pot
-can opener
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
8 oz. Tinkyada brown rice Fusilli pasta (1/2 of a regular bag)
1 (8 oz.) can Kidney beans (S&W and Bush are GF)-- could use full 15 oz can if you want tons o protein
1/2 c. grated cheddar cheese (or good dairy substitute; I use Galaxy Nutritional Foods Rice shreds)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese (Galaxy N.F. also has good Parmesan substitutes)

DIRECTIONS
1. Bring Fusilli pasta to a rolling boil in 2 cups water. Cook until Al dente (tender, but not mushy; around 8 to 10 minutes).
2. Pour out most of the excess water, reserving about 2 Tbsp (roughly) in the bottom of the pot. Turn heat down to medium low.
3. Open and thoroughly rinse kidney beans. Add to the pasta and gently mix. Heat through (just place back on the burner for an additional 1 to 2 minutes)
4. Once heated, add in the cheddar and Parmesean cheese. Stir well to mix and melt the cheese, fully coating the Fusilli. (Don't break up the pasta!) Eat warm right out of the pot.

Asparagus Fried Rice

2008-02-28T20:16:00.005-08:00

More fried rice, this one with an Italian twist; not Asian. A nice change from my normal egg-and-soy-sauce fried rice. I think refrigerating the pre-steamed rice overnight helped make this super not soggy. Very easy.

Serves 1-2
25 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups pre-cooked long grain white rice (I used a rice-cooker and placed the rice in the fridge to chill)
10 asparagus stalks
1/4 c. water
1/2 of a large red onion
1 large red bell pepper
1 + 1 Tbsp olive oil
Oregano and basil.

DIRECTIONS
0. Precook the white rice in another pot (or rice cooker), use a little less water than normal. Place cooked rice into the fridge to chill (overnight works best, but a few hours is fine).
1. Break off tough bottoms of each asparagus stalk, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces.
2. Place cut asparagus into large saucepan. Add in 1/4 cup water (just enough to wet the asparagus pieces). Bring asparagus to a boil for 5 minutes (start-up included).
3. Peel and coarsely dice the red onion. Rinse and deseed the red bell pepper, then cut into small-ish 1/2 inch squares.
4. Once the water in the saucepan has diminished significantly (around the 5 minute mark), add the onion and red bell pepper to the asparagus. Stir and reduce the heat to medium-high.
5. Let the remaining water boil off completely, then add in 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Stir. Sprinkle generously with dried oregano and basil leaves, to taste. [Use fresh leaves if you have them!].
6. Saute the asparagus, bell pepper and onion for 5 more minutes, browning the veggies.
7. Once they are nice and browned, add in the chilled, cooked white rice. Break up any rice clumps and add in another Tbsp. of olive oil. Stir-fry the rice (with veggies) for an additional 3-5 minutes, tanning it, too.
Serve warm.

Thick Chicken Noodle Soup

2008-01-26T21:46:00.005-08:00

It's been wet around here... very wet. Nothing like biking to class in the steady rain to make you want soup. I like my soups thick.. very very thick. This was wonderful, with big fettuccine noodles, fresh parsley and big chunks of chicken.

Lately, I've been bartering: Soup for homework help. So far it's worked out well.

Makes about 5 to 6 cups of thick soup.

35 minutes
-large large soup pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS

3 heaping Tbsp Earth Balance butter
1/3 c Bob's Red Mill all-purpose flour (sorghum?)
3 (15 oz) cans Swanson natural goodness chicken broth
1 can water (fill up empty chicken broth can)
1 (or two) large chicken breast
2 thick carrots, peeled
1 large white onion
handful of fresh parsley
fistful (about 1/3 to 1/2 of a package) of Tinkyada fettuccine noodles, broken in half
1/2 c. frozen peas
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. celery flakes
sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Melt butter in the wok over low heat. Once butter is fully melted, add in the flour, one tablespoon at a time. Stir well to mix, breaking up any flour clumps. Mixture should be thick and sticky, like a paste.
2. Continue to heat the butter/flour roux, stirring frequently. Add in a little more butter if necessary to aid stirring. When flour in the roux just starts to tan/brown (around the 5 minute mark), add in the chicken broth + 1 additional can of water. Mix well. Don't be discouraged if lumps occur at this point; they should break up later upon boiling (the end product is silky smooth).
3. Rinse off the boneless/skinless chicken breast(s). Tear into bite-sized chunks and add to the broth/roux. Turn heat up to medium high. Cover and let simmer softly while you chop up veggies.
4. Wash and peel the carrots. Slice into thin-ish circles. Half the larger circles if they get too big in diameter. Peel and chop up the onion; pieces don't have to be super small. Wash and dice the fresh parsley.
By now the soup should have boiled for around 10 minutes, cooking the chicken pieces.
5. Add in the chopped carrot, onion and parsley to the boiling soup. Take a handful of Tinkyada flat fettuchini pasta and break in half lengthwise. Add pasta to the soup pot (it will be awkard). Cover and let simmer for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. **Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pot during stirring. The soup will become very thick and might stick to the bottom and burn if left totally unattended. Add in more water to alleviate this problem.**
6. Once the pasta becomes tender, wash off the frozen peas and add them to the pot. Season soup generously with garlic powder, black pepper, oregano and celery flakes. Turn heat down to medium. Stir to mix. Add in extra water as necessary.
7. Simmer gently for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until veggies are tender (but not shapeless) and pasta and chicken are fully cooked. Soup should no longer have any large clumps, but it will be quite viscous, coating spoons and pouring slowly.
Serve warm with favorite gluten free bread.

Pan-Roasted Baby Red Potatoes

2008-01-26T21:09:00.001-08:00

Tender spuds, covered in garlic butter, pan-roasted with pearl onions.
I've always wanted to make these. Over winter break, I found time to experiment. I really liked the garlic-infused butter, but you can tune down both (garlic or butter) if you see fit.

Serves 3 (as a side dish)
40 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
10 to 15 small baby red (boiler) potatoes ; no bigger than 2 inches in diameter
10 to 15 small white pearl onions
1 whole garlic (more than 8 cloves, at least)
4 Tbsp. butter or non-dairy alternative (I used Buttery Sticks)
5 green onions
sea salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Half each baby red potato; don't bother peeling them. If still too big, quarter each potato. Place in bowl of cold water to sit while peeling the onions.
2. Carefully cut the ends off of the pearl onions. Remove the outer cover by slicing into the side. However, keep the onions whole-- don't half them (they'll fall apart).
3. Remove the spuds from the water-bath and place in large saucepan. Add in the peeled pearl onions. Pour in enough water such that the potatoes and onions are halfway covered (not too much).
4. Start the pan boiling over high heat. You want the potatoes and onions to boil rapidly for at least 10 minutes. Turn to the garlic and green onions while waiting.
5. Peel entire garlic, removing the hard bottom parts from each clove (this, like the onions, takes awhile). Coarsely dice. Keep watch on the potatoes.
6. Once the potatoes are pierced easily with a knife, carefully pour out most of the extra water; leave about a tablespoon of water in the bottom of the pan. Add in handful the diced garlic. Stir.
7. Place saucepan back on the hot range. Boil off the rest of the water-- should take less than 3 minutes. When the water has completely boiled away, turn the heat down to medium-high and add in the butter. Stir to melt and coat.
8. Let the potatoes, garlic, and onions saute in the butter for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the potatoes to brown a little.
9. Coarsely cut up the green leaves of the green onion. Add to the saucepan. Mix well.
10. Saute for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the potatoes and white onions are tender, but before they get too mushy. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve generously with ham.

Creamy Green Bean Casserole

2007-12-06T15:50:00.001-08:00

While spending thanksgiving at my Aunt and Uncle's place, we couldn't help but notice all the TV ads for that nasty-ass canned green bean/condensed soup/fried onion casserole. It got my Aunt and I thinking-- fresh green beans don't sound too bad... what about a casserole thickened with a roux, packed with cheese and bacon? Well, I finally tried it (changed the bacon to ham; I didn't want to overpower the green beans) and it's mighty fine! So utterly creamy, with a topping of crunchy potato chips. Gluten-Free AND Condensed-Soup Free!

Serves 2 (3 as a side dish)
40 minutes
Pre-heat oven to 425 F.
-large saucepan
-9" cake pan (-or- favorite casserole dish; no need for a lid)
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 cups fresh green beans, ends removed
1 medium white onion, halved then thinly sliced
3 Tbsp. butter or non-dairy alternative (I used Galaxy Nutritional Foods buttery spread)
1.5 Tbsp. GF flour (I used Bob's Red Mill all purpose flour-- I think it's mainly sorghum)
6 slices of honey ham, cut into bits/squares (I'm a cheap grad student and used Oscar Mayer cold cut slices, cut into squares
1 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese, or non-dairy alternative (GNFoods soy Parmesan)
1/4 cup. grated cheddar cheese, or non-dairy alternative (GNFoods rice slices)
1 cup Swanson Natural Goodness chicken broth (one half of a 14 oz can)
3/4 cup smashed Original Wavy Lays potato chips

DIRECTIONS
0. Pre-heat oven to 425 F. Set out your casserole dish... I used a 9" non-stick cake pan because they're way easy to clean.
1. Wash the fresh green beans. Remove the ends and cut the longer beans in half (so none are over 2 inches long). Place cut beans in the large saucepan and cover with water.
2. Bring the beans to a rolling boil over high heat. Boil the green beans in for 5 minutes; don't overcook, you want them to be crisp-tender. Drain the beans (discard the water) and set beans aside in the waiting casserole dish. Now on to the sauce...
3. Peel and wash the onion. Slice into thin O's. Half the onion rings so you have half-circles. Set aside.
4. Melt butter in same, emptied, large saucepan over low heat. Stir in GF flour until smooth. Raise temperature to medium-low. Cook flour mixture, barely bubbling, for a minute. Add in cut white onion. Stir to coat (roux should be thick and sticky).
5. Get out your ham slices and tear off small pieces (I used my fingers). Add ham pieces to the saucepan. Mix well to coat. Cook onion and ham for 5 minutes, or until onions begin to turn translucent.
6. Add in parmesean cheese and cheddar cheeese. Stir well . Also add in chicken broth in 1/4 cup increments, stirring between each broth addition. The roux should thin a little, but not clump up. It should be smooth and creamy. Taste; add more cheese if you wish.
7. Combine onion/cheese sauce with cooked green beans-- I spooned the waiting beans from the casserole dish back into the saucepan, but if you have a large casserole dish, mix everything together in there instead. Mixture should be thick, coating the beans.
8. Spoon beans/sauce into waiting casserole dish (cake pan). Crumble smashed Wavy Lay's Original potato chips over the top.
9. Cook, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes in preheated 425 F degree oven; or until the top browns and the sauce is bubbly. Let cool 2-3 minutes before serving.

Roasted Rosemary Turkey Legs

2007-11-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

Problem:
A single college student living alone wants turkey for thanksgiving, but a whole turkey is many lbs too big. Consider a celiac student meeting up with his or her family who cooks bread-stuffing inside the big bird. They can't just mooch off the gluten-tainted turkey. Find a solution that reasonably satisfies both conditions.
Answer:
Turkey legs!!
Roast your own! Right at home in your own small pan, then take with you!
Easy easy easy! Two ingredients!

(Sorry my picture sucks.. I'm in a hurry)

Serves 2
1.5 to 2 hours
Preheat oven: 375 F
-cookie sheet, or other flat metal pan
-disposable Aluminum pan (I used a pie pan, but a square one would be better, I think)
-Aluminum foil sheet for baking
Easy

INGREDIENTS
4 turkey drumsticks -or- 2 large turkey legs (the whole leg, like I have pictured above); fully defrosted
bundle of freshly cut rosemary-- about 8 to 10 'clippings'; each 5 " long

DIRECTIONS
1. Place the flimsy, disposable Al baking tin on the sturdy cookie sheet. Always use the cookie sheet to move the baking tin, or else you will potentially have major problems.
2. Rinse off the freshly cut rosemary clippings. Lay a third of the twigs down on the bottom of the Al baking pan.
3. Rinse off the thawed turkey legs and arrange them inside the disposable Aluminum baking tin over the top of the rosemary.
4. Place remaining rosemary around and on top of the legs.
5. Cover pan with a sheet of aluminum foil, then slide the legs (via the cookie sheet) into the pre-heated 375 F degree oven.
6. Cook covered for an hour.
7. Remove the aluminum foil sheet after the first hour and pour out most of the grease into a scrap container. Continue cooking, uncovered, (still at 375 F) for another half hour to an hour. Watch the bird and take out when the skin is golden brown. When fully cooked, the turkey meat pulls easily away from the bone-- internal temperature of 180 F.
8. Turn off the oven and pour the rest of the drippings into a waiting saucepan and use to make gravy**. Crumble a bit of the roasted rosemary into the oil for extra gravy flavor.
9. Wrap turkey legs up and refrigerate or freeze for later, or serve hot with Spinach-Garlic Mashed Potatoes. Discard the disposable pan.

**I forgot this step and don't have any gravy to show. You can find gravy recipes online elsewhere, such as gluten-free girl. (Use drippings instead of the chicken broth in her recipe).
(*Note* Rice flour is actually better than wheat flour for gravy making.. gluten flours clump too much. My non-celiac mother now makes all gravy with rice flour!)

Spinach-Garlic Potatoes

2007-11-20T10:00:00.000-08:00

This doesn't have much color, but d*mn, these are soooo good... my all-time favorite way to make mashed potatoes. Super creamy and cheesy, bursting with garlic and peppered with butter-soaked spinach leaves. My mother used to use these spuds to trick me into eating greens when I was younger. It worked every time. A perfect, fast side dish to any meat.

Serves 2 to 3

35 minutes
-large pot, non-stick is best

-medium saucepan

-potato masher

Easy

INGREDIENTS

6 to 8 medium small red potatoes
6 to 8 garlic cloves
1 cup fresh spinach
1 to 2 Tbsp. butter (or lactose-free alternative)
1/3 c. heavy cream -OR- 1/4 c. sour cream-- I used Tofutti better than sour cream
[~1/3 c. Parmesan cheese; optional... I used a little Galaxy Nutritional Foods mozzarella rice shreds]

DIRECTIONS

1. Scrub, then cut potatoes into coarse,1 to 2 inch chunks (they don't have to be exact.. ). Don't bother peeling the potatoes unless you have russets and not red potatoes.
2. Peel the remove the 'bottom' part of each garlic clove. Don't bother dicing... like the potatoes, they will be mashed, too.
3. Place potato pieces and whole garlic cloves into a large pot. Fill with water until potatoes are well covered. Bring water to a rolling boil over high heat, then cook until potatoes are tender-- about 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Wash the spinach while the potatoes are boiling. Place spinach in the medium saucepan with the butter. If using heavy cream.. add in the heavy cream here. Heat over medium-low heat until the butter melts (shouldn't take more than 5 minutes); the spinach should also wilt. Don't scorch the heavy cream. Stir well, then turn off the heat.
5. Turn back to the potatoes: drain the cooked spuds, reserving a little bit of the cooking liquid. Place potatoes and garlic into another bowl (just make sure they are out of your non-stick pot) and mash coarsely by hand. Stir in the spinach and butter [and heavy cream] mixture. If using the sour cream, now is the time to stir in the sour cream.
6. Add in the Parmesan cheese and continue mashing until it's the consistency you want. If the spuds are too stiff, add in a little more of the reserved cooking liquid (or heavy cream.. whatever you feel comfortable doing!). Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm alongside turkey.

Autumn Fried Rice

2007-11-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

It's finally starting to feel like fall around here. I keep waiting for it to drop below 40 degrees during the day, then I remember I am no longer in Illinois...
With the sweet butternut squash and nutty zucchini, this just tastes like autumn. The garbanzo beans were a last minute addition and I must say they're a keeper. Makes alot... be sure to bust out your trusty wok.

Serves 4
25 (rice) + 40 minutes
-large, sharp cutting knife
-stainless steel wok
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 cups pre-cooked brown rice (slightly undercooked)

1/2 of a large butternut squash
1 large stripped zucchini (I don't know the name.. it's a green zucchini squash with prominent ridges and a 'marbled' greenish-white coloring.. check out the picture; I found mine at the farmer's market)
1 medium white onion
5 cloves garlic
2 + 1 Tbsp. peanut oil
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
sea salt
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes (-or- a small bundle of fresh parsley, chopped)
1 (14 oz.) can garbanzo beans*
1 to 2 tsp. red wine vinegar
*S&W Fine foods garbanzo beans are GF; Bush's and DelMonte garbanzo beans should also be GF.

DIRECTIONS
0. Prepare brown rice as directed on package to make 2 cups cooked rice. However, use slightly less water and shave about 5 minutes off of the regular cooking time. This will help the rice to not become mushy when stir-fried. Place rice aside once done (in the fridge is best).
1. Wash off the butternut squash. I found my squash very very hard to cut (I didn't even try peeling with a normal peeler). Be sure to use a large, sharp knife and cut the squash in half right above the 'bowl' part (into two smaller 'cylinders'); place the top into the fridge for another day. 2. Scoop out the seeds and innards. Carefully slice off the outer skin while the vegetable is sitting upright like a bowl. Once the squash is crudely 'peeled' and gutted, cut squash into 1 inch cubes. Set cubes aside.
3. Wash and cut the striped, ridged zucchini squash into 1/2 inch slices. Half or quarter each slice. Place the zucchini with the butternut pieces. Coarsely cut up the white onion into about 1/2 inch squares. Set onion apart from the squash/zucchini. Peel and dice up the garlic cloves. Place garlic cloves directly into you seasoned wok.
4. Add 2 Tbsp. peanut oil to the wok. Stir the garlic cloves and begin cooking over medium-high heat. Once the garlic pieces begin to tan (should take between 3 to 5 minutes), add in the zucchini and butternut pieces. Stir to mix well. Continue cooking for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
5. Add in the white onion pieces. Stir well. Also season generously with white pepper, sea salt, thyme leaves and parsley. Stir well, again. Continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and the butternut squash/zucchini pieces are tender (you might need a bit more time for the squash and zucchini). Toss and stir well while cooking. Add in a little more oil if you think it's necessary to keep things from sticking and burning.
6. Open and drain a can of garbanzo beans, add to contents of the wok. Stir well and heat through, an additional 3 minutes.
7. Once heated, spoon in the prepared rice. Pour an additional 1 Tbsp. peanut oil over the rice, then stir well, breaking up any rice clumps and incorporating it thoroughly with the veggies. Heat the rice through, slightly browning (stir-frying) the grains-- for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Don't let the rice burn, though, keep stirring.
8. When rice is golden and steamy, remove from the heat and splash with a little red wine vinegar (taste it to see how much you want.. it's good with the nutty zucchini and garbanzo beans). Serve warm.

Asparagus Pesto

2007-11-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

Had leftover asparagus, wanted pesto with pasta, this was the result.
If I owned a food processor, I would have used that to whirl up the sauce till smooth.. dicing vegetables only goes so far. However, this was good despite it's inhomogeneity.

Serves 2, with a side dish
25 minutes
-medium saucepan
-medium pot (or pasta cooker)
-fine vegetable grater and good knife -OR- use a food processor
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1.5 cups cooked pasta

10 to 12 asparagus stalks
1 medium zucchini
6 to 8 garlic cloves (you can't have too much garlic)
2 to 3 green onions
1 half of a (14 oz) can Swanson vegetable broth -or- can Swanson Natural Goodness Chicken broth
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. dried basil (or a bunch of the fresh stuff!)
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. onion powder
black pepper
sea salt
1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese -OR- 1/4 cup cream cheese -OR- (as I used) 4 slices Galaxy Nutritional Foods Mozzarella flavored cheese slices

DIRECTIONS
0. Prepare the pasta shells as directed on package to make about 1.5 cups cooked pasta. Don't let the pasta get soggy. Drain well and set aside.
1. Wash asparagus and (choose one from below):
a) mince each stalk into very fine pieces using a knife
b) carefully grate the stalks using a coarse cheese grater <--- my option c) toss in a food processor and dice Set asparagus mush aside. 2. Remove ends and grate the zucchini (or whirl in processor). Go ahead and add grated zucchini with the asparagus. Peel and mince up the garlic; place with zucchini and asparagus. Remove root ends, then dice up entire green onions (not too hard to do).
3. Place asparagus, zucchini and garlic in a saucepan. Pour one half (about 1 cup) of the can of broth over the veggies. (Store remaining half of broth in the fridge for another day.) Add olive oil. Stir well.
4. Begin cooking veggies and broth up over medium-high heat. Once the mixture comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium. Add spices: basil, parsley, oregano, onion powder, black pepper and sea salt. Stir and continue cooking for 5 more minutes (taste sauce to make sure vegetables are tender-- it shouldn't take long to cook!).
5. Once mixture begins to thicken, turn heat down to medium low and add cheese. Stir well once cheese is added. The cheese should help further thicken the mixture into a sauce.
6. If you have a food processor, whirl the sauce for about 20 seconds, or until creamy enough for your taste. Warm up pasta and reheat sauce... Serve warm tossed with cooked pasta.

Pepper, Chili and Potato

2007-10-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

Pretty good for spuds and lunch meat. Use 'real' ham slices (or bacon) if you have the money; thin ham slices are better than thick. I envisioned this to have a little bit of a 'kick' to it, but the anaheim peppers were more sweet than spicy. Oh well.

Serves 2
30 minutes
-large saucepan
-mandolin slicer (or a good, sharp knife)
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
2 to 3 medium red potatoes
1 small green bell pepper
1 large anaheim pepper (or spicy-er variety)
2 to 3 green onions
1 Tbsp. peanut oil
3 to 4 slices of ham (I used lunch meat*)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. parsley flakes --- or Tbsp. of chopped fresh parsley!
sea salt
*Oscar Mayer cold cut lunch meat is gluten free

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash the potatoes, don't bother peeling. Cut them into 1/4th inch thick slices-- about as thin as you can get them.. I used a mandolin slicer. Half the wide slices to make them a little more manageable (length-wise, not widthwise; see picture).
2. Wash and core both peppers. Slice green bell pepper into 1/2 inch strips. Cut each strip into thirds. Dice up the anaheim pepper (some say you must remove the thick skin beforehand, but I didn't have a problem with it). Place pepper pieces together, but not with the potatoes.
3. Remove the roots from the onions. Slice the green onions into 1/2 inch pieces (both the green and remaining white part). Set onion pieces aside apart from peppers.
4. Place potato slices into the large saucepan. Begin cooking potatoes over medium-high heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until all water is removed from the outside of the spuds (don't want the oil to splatter).
5. Drizzle with peanut oil just before potatoes begin to stick to the bottom of the pan; mix to evenly coat slices. Take out the ham slices and tear into medium, bite-sized pieces with your fingers. Add directly to the pan. Mix with spuds and oil.
6. Cook ham and potatoes for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, just often enough to brown the spuds and meat, but not burn it.
7. Turn the heat down to medium and add in the bell and anaheim pepper. Season liberally with garlic powder, sea salt and parsley flakes (fresh parsley would rock!). Stir well. Cook for another 3-5 minutes, or until the peppers are crisp-tender.
8. Add in the green onion pieces. Stir to distribute. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until the green onion wilts and potatoes are tender-- if you have thick slices or used Russet potatoes, you might want to make sure the potatoes are done. Serve warm alongside something else yummy.

Italian Asparagus Rice Bowl

2007-10-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

Asparagus with crisp red bell pepper, sauteed with chicken and tossed with toasted white rice. This actually made quite a bit. I'll stuff this in rice tortillas for lunch tomorrow.

Serves 2
20 (for rice) + 35 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 cup pre-cooked long grain white rice

10 to 15 asparagus stalks? spears?
1 small to medium red bell pepper
1 medium white onion
6 cloves garlic
1 to 2 chicken thighs (or breasts-- but I think the darker meat is better with the beans)
1 + 1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. dried basil leaves
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 (14 oz.?) can dark red kidney beans*
salt and pepper to taste
*Bush's kidney beans are GF; so are S&F fine foods kidney beans.

DIRECTIONS
0. Cook up enough white rice to make 1 cup prepared rice. Decrease the cooking time by about 2 minutes to avoid the rice getting soft in the final dish. Set rice aside.
1. Remove the tough end of each asparagus stalk. Cut up the asparagus into 2 inch long pieces. Set asparagus aside.
2. Wash and remove the seeds and core of the red bell pepper. Slice into thin strips, then half (the pepper strips should be about the same length as the asparagus pieces). Coarsely cut up the white onion-- these pieces don't have to be uniform or small. Finely dice up the peeled garlic.
3. Wash off the chicken thighs. Cut or tear the meat into bite-sized pieces. Place chicken into large saucepan. Add a tsp. of water (just a very little bit). Begin cooking the chicken over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken, stirring occasionally, until all the water boils off (should happen under 5 minutes).
4. Once water is gone, before the chicken starts to stick to the pan, add in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil. Mix to coat. Saute chicken for an additional 2-3 minutes, turning frequently. The pieces should be about fully cooked.
5. Add in the asparagus pieces to the saucepan (might spit a little, be careful). Turn the heat down to medium. Mix. Cook asparagus pieces for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so that neither the asparagus or chicken start to brown too much on one side.
6. Add in the bell pepper, onion and garlic to the saucepan. Season liberally with basil, oregano, black pepper and sea salt. Stir. Cook over medium heat for an additional 5 minutes, on until the onion becomes translucent.
7. Open the can of dark red kidney beans. Drain and wash the beans thoroughly. Once the bell pepper and asparagus pieces are tender (not soggy!), add in the kidney beans. Stir well, then add in the prepared, cooked white rice. Add in the other 1 Tbsp. olive oil (and more spices, as you see fit). Stir well, making sure everything is mixed.
8. Heat rice, beans and veggies for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid burning the rice (it should be browned a little, though). Turn down the heat to medium-low if the rice is sticking too badly instead of adding any more oil. Heat until the beans are warm and the rice is toasted. Serve warm by itself or wrap inside a big rice tortilla.

Eggplant-Zucchini Toss

2007-10-25T22:32:00.000-07:00

So damn good! I absolutely love eggplant (zucchini isn't half bad, either). I wanted to try a saucepan dish with eggplant, so I sliced it up into wide, pseudo-thin pieces. The slices turned into wide egg-like noodles. I was very happy.

Serves 2 (as a side dish)
35 minutes
-large saucepan
-spatula for tossing
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1/2 to 1 whole eggplant, peeled
1 to 2 medium zucchini
1 Tbsp. olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 medium white onion
1 Tbsp. dried basil leaves (or fresh, if you have them)
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash and peel the eggplant. I cut off the very top portion first, that seems to make it easier to 'catch' the skin. Cut off the bottom, then slice vegetable in half (perpendicular to the length). You should now have two 'cylindrical' sections, each about 3-4 inches long. Stand a section upright, and slice into the eggplant, creating wide sheets about 1/2 of an inch thick (they will shrink alot, don't worry). Cut the sheets in half length-wise to form rectangular eggplant-noodles. Repeat with the second half of the eggplant if you wish.
2. Do the same with the zucchini (but don't peel it). Chop off the ends, slice into two cylinders, then cut into strips, these are about 1/4th of an inch thick-- it's easier to cut the zucchini when it's lying on it's side instead up upright (duh). Don't half the zucchini strips, each should be the full width of the vegetable.
3. Slice the white onion into 1/4th inch disks, as if you were making thin onion rings. Leave the onion pieces as O's. Wash, peel and dice up the garlic cloves-- lots of garlic!
4. Place the zucchini strips into a large saucepan. Begin cooking over medium heat. When they start to sizzle, right before they begin to stick to the pan, add in the olive oil. Toss to evenly distribute the oil. Cook eggplant for 2-3 minutes more-- the vegetable will begin to wilt and turn a wonderful greenish-grey, don't be alarmed.
5. Add in the zucchini strips and garlic pieces. Mix. Cook for 5 more minutes, making sure to flip and rotate the pieces so they cook evenly.
6. Add the onion rings, breaking the layers apart a little. Sprinkle generously with basil and oregano. Season with sea salt and pepper. Mix well to coat. Add in a little more oil if you see fit.
7. Cook the entire dish for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until the onion, zucchini and eggplant are wilted, tossing frequently. Stop cooking before they fall apart, however. Serve warm alongside meat, or with a generous helping of rice.

Homemade Kettle Corn

2007-10-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

You know that irresistible, hot and crispy kettle corn from the local fair? I've always loved the fresh stuff, but hated those nasty, chemical-filled microwave popcorn substitutes. Well, now you can make it yourself, on your own range, with nothing more elaborate than a regular large pot (+lid) and a small piece of aluminum foil.

To get this right (i.e. no burning of sugar), you MUST first test the head capacity of your range and pot. Once you get this down, you can cook up a batch of fresh kettle corn in less than 2 minutes. I'll guide you through the process below...

Makes about 2 cups
3 minutes
-large pot with lid
-small piece of Al foil
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp. corn oil
1/8th c. loose yellow popcorn kernels (they are so cheap!!). White popcorn kernels will also work, but I prefer the bigger yellow puffs.
1/8th c. white sugar
fine salt

DIRECTIONS
Kettle corn (once you've got the timing down-- see below if this is your first attempt):
1. Pick out a nice big pot with a lid. Rinse it briefly with water, then pour out the water, leaving a few droplets on the inside. Place the pot on the range and collect the pot lid and a small piece of aluminum foil. (The aluminum will go between the pot and the lid so you won't have to scrub oil and sugar droplets off of the lid when you're done-- easy easy cleanup).
2. Measure out the corn oil, a portion of popcorn and the white sugar. Place right near the stove, where you can get to it quickly. You must beable to get to these ingredients fast. Also turn on the fan above the range, just in case.
3. When everything is in place, begin heating the pot over medium-high heat (I use level '7' on my crappy electric range). Watch the pan closely... you need to know when all the water has boiled off.
4. As soon as the pot is completely dry -- make certain of this, you don't want to add oil to hot water-- pour in the oil, swirling slightly. Start timing... wait exactly 30 seconds, then add in the popcorn. Keep timing-- watch your clock-- you should know how long it takes for the kernels to start popping (say the time is 'X' seconds)! Don't cover the pot, but still shake to mix the corn. When X number of seconds pass (should be just before the popcorn really starts to pop!), quickly pour in the sugar and cover the pot with the foil and then lid. Shake vigorously.
5. It will take a little longer for pops to continue, since the addition of sugar will bring the temperature down some. Once the popcorn pops rapidly, turn off the range, but leave the pot on the hot burner. When the pops are parted by more than 2 seconds, remove the pot from the burner and place on a range (or other metal surface). This conducts heat out of the pot, to keep the sugar from burning.
6. Pour the kettle corn out into a metal bowl-- careful, the melted sugar is hot. Hopefully the worst is you have a little bit of 'caramel corn' on the bottom and no singed pieces. Sprinkle with salt, to taste. Enjoy your fresh, warm, sweet-and-salty kettle corn.
Kids will love you. So will engineers at late-night homework sessions.

To first test your pot/range system (only needs to be done once)-
Okay, in order to not burn the sugar, you need to figure out hot long it takes for your popcorn to start popping using a certain pot. Once you get the times down, make sure to keep using that same pot and start at the same temperature.
1. Pick out a nice big pot with a lid. Rinse it briefly with water, then pour out the water, leaving a few droplets on the inside. Place the pot on the range and collect the pot lid and a small piece of aluminum foil. (The aluminum will go between the pot and the lid so you won't have to scrub oil and sugar droplets off of the lid when you're done-- easy easy cleanup). Also make sure you have access to a clock with a seconds hand.
2. Measure out some oil and a portion of popcorn. Place right near the stove, where you can get to it quickly.
3. When everything is in place, begin heating the pot over medium-high heat (I use level '7' on my crappy electric range). Watch the pan closely... you should see those leftover water droplets first fan out, form bubbles and start evaporating. Right before all the droplets boil away, you should see them start to dance in the pot (you've hit the Leidenfrost point! ~220 C). Doing it this way guarantees you'll have the same temperature each time you start a batch.
4. As soon as the pot is completely dry -- make certain of this, you don't want to add oil to hot water-- pour in the oil, swirling slightly. Start timing... wait exactly 30 seconds, then add in the popcorn. Keep timing! Cover the pot first with the foil, the the lid; shake the pop vigorously to mix the kernels. Note how many seconds it takes for you to hear the first small *pop* inside your pot. Remember this number, it will vary slightly from range to range and pot to pot-- for me it was around 30 seconds.
5. Go ahead a pop up the rest of this regular popcorn. Make sure to remove from the heat once the pops are parted by more than 2 seconds.

Dirty Rice with Turkey Sausage

2007-10-18T21:49:00.000-07:00

[It's difficult being a graduate student. I don't think you'll see anything besides 'quick and simple' on here for awhile.
Anyone near Palo Alto, CA know where I can find some GF cereal and rice tortillas?]

Rice with black beans and turkey sausage. I steamed the rice up beforehand in my new microwave rice cooker. (So easy!) The turkey really brings a new flavor; I normally use beef sausage, but I think this compliments the beans much better.... not so greasy and overpowering.

Serves 1.5 (2 if used in a wrap or as a chip dip)
15 + 25 minutes (only 25 if you have some pre-cooked rice on hand)
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1.5 cups COOKED white long grain rice-- cook up with less water than directed on bag
1/2 c. chopped fresh chives -OR- 1/2 of a large white onion
1/2 of a Hillshire Farms Polska Kielbasa Turkey Sausage link (the big U shaped sausage)
1 tsp. peanut oil
1 can black beans*
1 tsp. garlic powder
sea salt and white pepper
* S&F black beans are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook up enough white rice to yield about 1.5 cups. Follow directions on package, EXCEPT, use 1/8th cup less water than instructed AND cut ~2 minutes off the cooking time. This will leave the rice nice and crisp.
2. While rice is cooking, wash and coarsely chop up the white onion. Set chopped onion besides range. Wait until the rice is done and stirred to start next step.
3. Cut the turkey sausage up into 1/2 inch slices. Quarter each slice and place in large saucepan. Begin cooking meat over medium-high heat. Saute for about 5 minutes, then add in white onions. Turkey should begin to brown a little.
4. Cook onions for an additional 3 minutes. Add in a little peanut oil at this point if turkey sausage is not providing enough grease. Spoon cooked rice in saucepan. Stir well to mix.
5. Saute rice with sausage and onions for another 3 to 5 minutes. Rice should darken and soften a little. Add in more oil if necessary to brown rice. Sprinkle liberally with garlic powder, white pepper and some sea salt.
6. Turn heat down to medium. Open and drain a can of black beans. Rinse beans off well, then stir them into the turkey-rice mixture. Heat beans through-- shouldn't take more than 2-3 minutes. Serve hot alongside your favorite rice chips.

Baked Chicken with Veggies

2007-10-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I just want some spiced spuds baked golden-brown from the oven (think Lipton onion potato mix, but with 75% less oil). Every once in awhile, I throw in some broccoli. Today I had both chicken and onion on hand, so in it went. Very good, little cleanup, and of course quick. To feed 2 people, this needs to be served with a side dish (bread? rice? steamed veggies?).

Serves 1.5
50 minutes
Preheat oven to 475 F
-large cookie sheet with sides -or- a 9x12 inch glass pan
-Al foil to line pan for easy easy cleanup
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
2-3 medium red potatoes
1/2 of a large onion (white, yellow, red.. they'll all work)
1 large head of broccoli
2-3 chicken tenders -OR- 1 large chicken breast
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Clean the veggies. Cut potatoes into small-ish 1/2 inch cubes. Cubes over an inch thick might not bake all the way through. Slice the onion into large, 1/2 inch thick rounds, then slice each circle in quarters (you want large wedges). Cut up the broccoli into bite-sized pieces.
2. Cover your pan/cookie sheet with a large piece of Aluminum foil. Arrange the veggies on the sheet, one layer thick.
3. Tear chicken into bite sized pieces (not too large, but not too small, either). Place the chicken among the veggies on the Al-covered pan.
4. Carefully drizzle olive oil evenly over the chicken and veggies-- it's easy to pour to much in one spot. Sprinkle liberally with garlic powder, salt and pepper.
5. Gently toss the veggies and chicken pieces around on the pan. Make sure the veggie/chicken pieces are semi-coated in oil, or else they won't brown nicely.
6. Slip into a 475 F pre-heated oven. Cook uncovered for 35 to 40 minutes, checking that the edge pieces aren't getting too singed. Eat right out of the oven (it cools fast) with GF bread slices or a side dish.

Creamy Chicken Ole

2007-09-27T15:55:00.001-07:00

This dish first came into existence way back in August, while I was visiting Denver. The markets there had TONS of fresh chilies to choose from, so I made up a creamy, spicy chicken dish. Really, this can be used as a dip for chips or burrito filling or a spread for the ever-useful ricecake. Make sure to really shred the chicken, you don't want huge chunks of meat in your dip.

Serves 3
35 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and easy

INGREDIENTS
1 to 2 chicken breasts
1 medium white onion
1/2 of a medium red bell pepper
1 to 2 favorite chilies.. I used jalapeños the second time around
3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 ears of fresh sweet corn (or a can of sweet yellow corn)
4 to 5 medium-small fresh tomatoes, unpeeled
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 to 3 heaping tbsp. favorite cream cheese [-or- sour cream] -- I used Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese
[1/8 cup mozzarella or cheese, optional]

DIRECTIONS
1. Rinse chicken breasts off and place in large saucepan. Fill saucepan with enough water to cover the breasts. Begin cooking the chicken over high heat.
2. While chicken is beginning to boil, cut up veggies: coarsely chop up white onion. Cut the red bell pepper into 1/2 inch squares. Slice open the chilies and remove the seeds. Finely dice up the de-seeded chilies. Place cut veggies aside.
3. Once chicken has boiled for 10 minutes, temporarily remove breasts from the saucepan (leave the water). Shred the chicken -or- cut into small 1/4th inch cubes, then place back into the pan.
4. Measure out 3/4 cup rice and pour into the saucepan along with the shredded chicken/water. If you don't have enough leftover water already in the dish to cover the rice by about a half inch, add in a little more water.
5. Bring the rice to a boil over high heat. When the rice has boiled for 5 minutes, add in the chopped veggies. Stir to mix. Turn down the heat to medium and continue simmering the dish.
6. Again, while things are boiling: Shuck and rinse off the fresh corn. Wash off the tomatoes, don't bother peeling. Coarsely cut up the tomatoes.. large pieces are fine, since they will disintegrate when cooked.
7. By this time the veggies and rice should have simmered for an additional 5 minutes. The rice should be pretty tender and not much water should be left (pour out any overly-excess water). Add in the corn (cut it right off the cob and into the pan!) and chopped tomatoes. Mix. Add in the olive oil and garlic powder. Stir well. Continue to simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally to help break down the tomatoes.
8. Now the dish should resemble thick rice soup/casserole. Remove saucepan from the heat. Measure out 2 to 3 heaping tablespoons of cream cheese and quickly stir into the hot rice dish. Also add in the white cheese if you desire extra-creamy rice. Serve warm over crackers, ricecakes, inside wraps or as a tex-mex rice bowl.

Gah!!

2007-09-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Packing my life into boxes!
I'll be back, I promise, once I move into my new kitchen.

Goodbye Oklahoma.
Hello California.
-Ashley

Ham, Rice and Beans

2007-08-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

Another one-pan rice dish. The rice in this turned out slightly overcooked-- the result being a wonderfully mushy ham and bean dinner. If you want distinct rice grains, decrease the rice simmering time. I used Natural Goodness Swanson canned chicken broth to cut down on the salt (the ham is salty enough).

Serves 2 or 3
35 minutes
-large saucepan or pot
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
2 (15 oz.) cans Natural Goodness Swanson Chicken broth
1 c. uncooked long grain white rice
1 medium head of broccoli
1 medium yellow onion
1 c. cubed Hormel Honey ham (the meat I used was not pre-sliced)

1 (14 oz.) can Bush navy beans

DIRECTIONS
1. Pour both cans of chicken broth into the large saucepan or pot. Add in the white rice. Turn heat up to medium-high. While waiting for the broth to boil, tend to the veggies and ham. Keep an eye on the broth, don't let it boil over (you should have about 8 to 10 minutes to chop and cube).
2. Wash and cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Dice the onion into small-ish pieces. Set veggies beside the range.
3. Unwrap your ham chunk. Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices, then 'cube' each slice. You should have about a cup of 1/2 inch thick cubes. Place besides range.
4. When broth comes to a rolling boil, turn the heat down to medium; keep the broth simmering gently (don't cover with a lid). Add in the ham cubes. Mix, then continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Add in the chopped broccoli and onion. Stir, then continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Add in a bit more water if it's getting too dry. However, by the end of 10 minutes, the rice should have absorbed most all of the liquid and the dish should be fairly thick.
6. Open, drain and rinse the navy beans. Gently stir them into the sticky rice dish. Turn down to medium-low. Heat beans through for about 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, making sure the rice is not burning on the bottom. It's done when the rice is very tender and the broccoli is cooked. Serve warm in a bowl alongside GF bread.

Southwest Chicken

2007-08-12T22:19:00.000-07:00

Cumin and chili powder seasoned lightly breaded chicken strips. Another one that's super quick. Good with Spanish rice.

Serves 2
25 minutes
-medium saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
6 long, thin chicken tenders
1/4 to 1/2 c. GF flour (I used white sorghum flour)
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 to 2 tbsp. olive oil

pepper jack cheese, for topping

DIRECTIONS
1. Rinse off the chicken tenders. Place the chicken pieces into the saucepan. Sprinkle the GF flour over the top of the chicken. Flip the chicken and coat both sides well with the flour.
2. Sprinkle the coated chicken pieces with chili powder and cumin. Flip and mix chicken again, evenly seasoning the chicken.
3. Drizzle the olive oil over the coated, spiced chicken. Carefully turn and mix the chicken with the oil. Be sure to scrape the loose flour from the saucepan and press onto the chicken.
4. Begin cooking the chicken over medium heat. Cook chicken on one side for 5 minutes, then flip and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. The oil should be sizzling. Keep cooking and flipping the coated chicken from one side to the other until it's fully cooked and outside a crunchy golden brown-- not more than an additional 8 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat, sprinkle chicken with pepper jack cheese (if desired) and serve warm.

Spanish Rice

2007-07-27T22:16:00.000-07:00

This is not very authentic, but sure tastes good. Tomato, green bell pepper and bacon make this one flavorful side dish. Fast to make, too.

Serves 3 to 4
25 minutes
-large saucepan
-medium pot with lid
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 c. cooked white long grain rice
1/2 of a medium white onion
1/2 of a large green bell pepper
4 to 6 slices thick-cut bacon* ----> reserve 1 to 2 tbsp. bacon drippings
3/4th of a can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes* (not petite diced), undrained
salt and pepper, to taste
*Oscar Mayer bacon is GF; DelMonte canned diced tomatoes are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Cook up rice according to directions on the package; you will need 2 cups cooked rice for this dish. Set cooked rice aside near range.
2. Veggies: Coarsely cut the onion into half inch squares. Also coarsely cut the green bell pepper into larger square pieces (inch). Place both onion and pepper pieces beside range.
3. Rinse off the bacon slices. Lay bacon into the large saucepan. Begin cooking bacon over medium heat, flipping and re-arranging frequently. Fry bacon until fully cooked, but not totally crispy-- about 5 minutes. Remove bacon pieces from pan and place on doubled paper towels to soak up some grease. Pour out all excess drippings from the pan except for 1 to 2 tbsp. bacon fat.
4. In the reserved bacon grease, saute up the onion and bell pepper over medium-high heat, until the onion is just translucent and pepper is tender (5 minutes).
5. Turn the heat back down to medium. Stir in the bacon and cooked white rice. Heat thoroughly for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently to keep rice from sticking.
6. Add in 3/4ths of the can of diced tomatoes, don't drain the can before adding to the saucepan... you want a little tomato juice. Mix the tomatoes in well with the bacon/rice.
7. Turn down the heat to medium-low. Cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, or until the juice thickens, but before the tomatoes fall apart. Serve warm alongside your favorite Mexican dish.

Artichoke

2007-07-25T00:29:00.000-07:00

My favorite vegetable. The cooked bud becomes soft and edible-- dip in mayo, then remove the 'meat' from the inside of the leaves by scraping each leaf with your front teeth. It's totally fantastic.

Serves 1
55 minutes
-large pot
[-vegetable steamer- optional]
Quick and Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 fresh globe artichoke

Dipping:
2 tbsp. mayonnaise*
-OR-
2 tbsp. melted butter
*Hellman's mayo is GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash off the artichoke. With a sharp knife (or pair of kitchen scissors), cut the first inch clean off the top of the thistle. You should see the yellow-ish leaves now revealed in the top opening, as shown above.
2. With same knife/scissors remove the thorns from the tough outside leaves by clipping off the tops of each leaf. Your artichoke should now look like my picture, top and outside leaf tips removed.
3. Shorten the stem if you desire, but I normally leave it long. Remove any small or discolored leaves from the bottom of the artichoke.
4. If you don't have a veggie steamer (I use a small strainer that sits on the rim of a pot), place the artichoke inside the pot and fill with water so the veggie is totally submerged. If you DO have a veggie steamer, fill pot halfway with water, then place artichoke in steamer so it sits slightly above the water level.
5. Bring water to a rapid boil over high heat (covered, IF you are steaming the artichoke). Turn down the heat slightly to medium-high once you reach full boil and cook for 30 to 45 minutes-- older 'chokes will take longer to cook. It's done when a middle petal pulls out easily.
6. Pour out the hot water and carefully (they are hot!) remove a petal, starting from the outside and working in. Dip the fleshy part of each leaf in mayo or melted butter before eating!! Amazing!

7. To eat: orient the leaf so that the inside part-- the side once facing the bud body-- points to the roof of your mouth. Place leaf halfway into your mouth. Gently grip the leaf with your front teeth, bite down slightly, and pull the leaf outward, scraping off the top flesh with your front teeth. Discard the remaining part of the leaf. The first couple of outside leaves will be tough, but the leaves will become softer and 'meaty' as you work your way inward.
8. To the heart!: Once you reach the innermost leaves (they look thin, wilted and purple-tipped) pull off those under-developed leaves with your fingers. Discard. You should now see a bunch of pale yellow-green strings. Scrape this choke out with a teaspoon or your fingers; discard this mess of fuzz. You have now uncovered the HEART-- when done properly, it looks like a shallow bowl with dimples (no more fuzzy strings) attached to the stem. Eat the entire heart. Groan with veggie pleasure.

Sausage-Spinach Penne

2007-07-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

A quick, hot, pasta dinner. The spinach/tomatoes make a grand combination. The sausage in this makes it a little on the greasy side, but it's not overpowering-- drain some if you wish before you add in the veggies. I like this spiced up with ample ground black pepper. Coat with cheese if you can handle dairy, but I leave it off and the dish doesn't lack too much.

Serves 3
20 minutes
-medium pot
-large saucepan or wok
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
5 oz of uncooked Tinkyada brown rice Penne pasta (little less than half of a bag)

6 cloves garlic
3 cups fresh spinach
10 cherry tomatoes
5 Hillshire Farms Beef Smoked Sausage hotdogs (or half of the large Hillshire Farms sausage link)
[1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese-- optional]
Enough ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Place pasta into the medium pot. Fill pot with water such that it covers the pasta by about an inch. Bring pasta to a rolling boil over high heat, then turn down to medium-high heat; boil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. When pasta is al dente (barely tender, not yet soggy), rinse and drain cooked pasta with cold water. Set aside.
2. While has begun cooking, prepare veggies: Wash and peel garlic. Dice into small pieces. Rinse off spinach leaves, removing long stems. Half cherry tomatoes down the center.
3. Now cut the sausage hot dogs into half inch slices (if using the larger sausage link, half each slice). Place cut sausage into the large wok or saucepan. Begin cooking over medium-high heat. 4. Cook sausage for 2 minutes, then add in diced garlic. Cook garlic and sausage for an additional 1 to 2 minutes-- you want the sausage the brown a little. Drain excess grease at this point, if you desire, leaving around 2 tbsp still in the pan.
5. Turn the heat down to medium. Throw in the spinach. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring and tossing frequently. The spinach will quickly wilt and 'shrink' in size (it looks like alot at first).
6. Now add in the cut cherry tomatoes. Cook for another 1 minute, then throw in the prepared cooked penne pasta. Heat tomatoes and pasta for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or just until the tomatoes begin to break down. DON'T overcook the tomatoes.. you want them whole, but tender, with their skins about to come off. The pasta will be warm enough.
7. When the tomatoes and pasta are soft, but not yet soggy, remove dish from heat. [Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and toss to coat.] Serve warm.

Anise Biscotti

2007-07-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

"Biscotti" is Italian for "twice-baked". These cookies are baked once as a slab, cut into slices, then, returned to the oven to acquire a crispy exterior. Because they are dry, they are perfect for dunking into coffee. I'm not fond of black liquorice but enjoy these cookies, so don't be scared off by the anise!

The traditional method does not involve either oil or a leavening agent, but I experimented with both when adapting my mother's recipe to be gluten-free. I would leave in the baking powder, but exclude the butter-- turns out the oil makes these just a little too moist (never thought I would say that about GF flours!). Anyway, enjoy, soft or crunchy.

Makes 2 dozen long cookies
20 + 30 + 15 (65 minutes total)
Preheat oven: 350 F
-electric mixer
-large mixing bowl
-large cookie sheet
Easy

INGREDIENTS
[¼ c. butter, softened—optional; makes the cookies softer/moister]
1 c. white granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract*
1 tsp. brandy*, or brandy flavoring
½ of a (1 oz) bottle anise extract*
2 c. leavened GF baking mix (I used Kinnikinnick All Purpose Mix—if you don’t have a pre-made mix, use this: 1.5 c. brown rice flour, ¼ c. potato starch, ¼ c. tapioca starch, 1 tsp. baking powder)
1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum
1 c. chopped walnuts
*All McCormick extracts are GF; Brandy is made without gluten-grains.

DIRECTIONS
1. Place butter into a large mixing bowl. Let it sit and warm up until it’s soft enough to ‘stir’. Beat the soft butter with the white sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, around 2 minutes.
2. Add in the 3 whole eggs to the beaten sugar(&butter). Beat again with mixer until fully combined, around 1 minute. The egg/sugar mixture should be thick and soupy.
3. Add in vanilla, brandy and anise extracts, mixing by hand to fully incorporate.
4. Pour 1 cup GF baking mix into the large bowl; don’t yet stir in the flour. Sprinkle xanthan gum over the top of the flour (as it’s sitting on top of the eggs/sugar); swirl the gum and flour a little bit. Now, carefully mix flour/xanthan gum into the wet ingredients, first by hand, then again with the electric mixer. Dough will be very viscous.
5. Add in the second cup of GF baking mix. This dough is waaay too sticky and dense to mix with an electric beater, so use your arm muscles and ridged spoon. Stir mixture until flour and eggs are well combined.
6. Fold in the chopped walnuts. Dough will look like taffy.
7. Line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper (you will be very sorry if you don’t line the sheet!!). Spoon dough out onto the parchment paper, spreading it out to form two long ‘loaves’ down the length of the cookie sheet. Each flat loaf of dough should be about 4 inches wide and 1 inch thick.
8. Place cookie sheet into the preheated oven (350 F). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cookie loaves are slightly browned on top. Remove sheet from the oven and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes.
9. Cut cookies at a slight angle (makes them longer) across the width of each loaf, forming 1 inch thick ‘candy bar’ cookies. These biscotti are soft enough that you should have no real problems cutting them.
For soft, moist cookies:
Stop now and turn off the oven. Refrigerate the cookies. Serve warm or cold with coffee.
For crunchy-on-the-outside cookies (my favorite):
10. Turn cookies over on their side, displaying the ‘cut’ part up. Return cookies to the hot oven. Bake 10 more minutes on one side, flip, then bake another 5 minutes on the other side. These cookies will be an amber, toasted brown—nice crunchy exterior with a moist center.
11. Once cooled, remove from cookie sheet and refrigerate. Melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and apply to the bottoms of cookies, if desired.

Breakfast Burrito

2007-07-13T10:21:00.001-07:00

I remember these from summer lake trips, way back in high school. We'd all wake up around noon and eat breakfast burritos before heading back out to the dock. Terry made ones up for us with slices of honey ham, but I think sliced lunch meat is an okay (and cheaper!) alternative. Fast and easy and so versatile.. fill and top with your favorite veggies and sauces.

Serves 3
30 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
2 medium red potatoes
1 medium yellow or white onion
1/2 of a medium red bell pepper
1/2 of a medium green bell pepper
4 to 6 slices cold cut honey ham slices*
2 tbsp. peanut or olive oil
salt and pepper
1 to 2 eggs
[1/2 tsp. parsley-- optional]
3 large GF tortillas-- I used La Tortilla Factory's dark teff tortillas

1/2 c. cheddar cheese
top with favorite GF salsa, ketchup or sour cream
*Oscar Meyer ham lunch meat is GF

DIRECTIONS
1. First cut up the veggies: Either cut scrubbed red potatoes into small, 1/4th inch cubes -OR- cut them into thin slices (depends on what you prefer, the cubes turn out more like hash browns); half the slices so they won't be too wide. Place potatoes into a bowl of cold water to take out excess starch.
2. Coarsely chop up onion and bell peppers into pieces not bigger than an inch (you want them to be bite sized). Place onion, red and green bell peppers beside range next to 'soaking' potatoes, but don't mix in with the spuds.
3. Cut ham slices into 1 inch squares. Place meat into large saucepan and add in the oil. Begin sauteing meat over medium heat. Cook meat for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the pieces start to slightly curl and toast.
4. Drain the potatoes well then add them into the saucepan; oil will spit a little. Mix potatoes in with the ham, spreading the spud pieces evenly out over the bottom of the saucepan. Cook potatoes and ham for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally-- you want the potatoes to cook evenly, yet toast a little in the oil.
5. Add in the rest of the veggies (onion, red and green bell peppers). Mix, then cook for another 5 minutes, again, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
6. When bell pepper bits are crisp tender, push the ham/veggie mixture to one side of the saucepan. Crack the eggs into the remaining 'empty' half of the pan (tilt a little to gather any left over oil). Quickly break the yolks by mixing, scrambling the eggs. [Mix some parsley into the scrambled eggs before they are fully cooked, if you have some.] Be sure to flip and mix the eggs; don't let them burn.
7. Cook the scrambled eggs until they are moist, but fully done (no longer runny), about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir scrambled eggs in with the rest of the ham/veggie mixture.
8. Spoon hot filling into warm GF tortillas (large rice or teff ones work best). Top with a generous helping of cheddar cheese. Spread with your favorite salsa or ketchup or sour cream, then roll up and eat. Be sure to eat these right off of the range, since the filling will cool quickly-- I suggest popping the filled, rolled tortilla into the microwave on "high" for 30 to 40 seconds to melt the cheese and warm up the eggs.

Honey Garlic Chicken Drumsticks

2007-07-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

This makes incredibly juicy and tender chicken legs smothered in a sweet-garlicky glaze. Make the simple sauce up while the legs are baking in the oven, then drizzle over the chicken for the last 15 minutes, letting the sauce caramelize over the meat. Easily doubled to feed a crowd of people.

Makes enough to cover ~18 chicken legs. Feeds 4 people.
1 hour baking time
Preheat oven: 375 F
-9 x 12 inch baking dish
-medium pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS
18 or so chicken legs (preferred skinless)
Sauce:
4+ garlic cloves
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
3 tbsp. soy sauce*
1 tbsp. honey
3/4 c. water
*Argo cornstarch is GF; La Choy soy sauce and Eden Organic Tamari soy sauce in GF (purple-red wrapper)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Wash off the chicken legs. Lay the legs out in a single layer on your baking dish. Place chicken into the preheated oven and bake covered for 45 minutes.
Sauce:
--This doesn't take long at all, start making the sauce once 30 minutes has gone by.--
2. While the chicken legs are baking, wash and peel the garlic cloves. Either finely dice the garlic, or crush it into small pieces (I place the chopped cloves into doubled-up sandwich baggies, then whack with a hammer until they are crushed into pulp). Place garlic aside.
3. In a medium pot, without heat, add in the 1/2 c. pressed brown sugar and mix lightly with the cornstarch. Pour in the soy sauce and honey, stirring the slightly damp mixture until well combined and smooth.
4. Pour in the water and mix well. Also add in the diced/crushed garlic.
5. Begin cooking the sauce over medium heat, stirring constantly. It will take less than two
minutes for the concoction to start boiling (small, rapid bubbles); keep stirring.
6. Turn the heat down to medium-low and let the sauce mildly bubble for 2 to 3 minutes. It's done when slightly thickened and a darker brown.
--At this point the chicken should have cooked for 45 minutes.--
7. Pull the covered chicken legs out of the oven and pour out the drippings; discard grease. Spoon the sauce over the top (may reserve some for dipping). Return the chicken to the oven and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, uncovered. The chicken is done when fully cooked and the glaze clings to the meat. Eat warm, right out of the oven-- these don't taste very good cold.

Cottage Pie

2007-07-08T12:40:00.001-07:00

Kind of like chicken-pot-pie, but beef instead of chicken and mashed potatoes for the topping. I loaded this down with lots of veggies, since meat is more expensive. Moist rosemary/thyme meat filling topped with cheesy, garlic mashed potatoes. Not bad for a casserole.

Serves 3

25 + 15 + 30 minutes (meat, potatoes, baking; total: 1 hour 10 minutes)
-large saucepan
-9" round cake pan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Filling:
1 medium white onion
3 carrots, peeled (~1/2 cup, chopped)
2 celery stalks
¼ c. frozen peas, defrosted
¼ lb to ½ lb ground beef
½ tsp. dried rosemary leaves
½ tsp. dried thyme leaves
Salt and black pepper
½ of a (14 oz.) can Swanson Beef Broth – about 1 cup broth
3 heaping tbsp. of GF flour— I used white sorghum
Spud Topping:
4 medium red potatoes (-OR- 2 large russets)
4 garlic cloves
¼ to ½ c. cheddar cheese
3 to 4 heaping tbsp. sour cream—I used Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream (try a bit of vegan butter if both soy and dairy intolerant)
[2 tsp. chopped fresh chives- optional]

DIRECTIONS
Filling:
1. Chop up the white onion into small-ish pieces (1/4th inch; not too coarse). Peel and cut the carrots into small-ish pieces. Slice and chop up the celery into likewise small pieces. Defrost and drain the 1/2 c. frozen peas. Place veggies near the stove.
2. Rinse off ground beef and place in large saucepan. Start cooking the beef over medium heat, breaking the meat into small pieces (don't pulverize it). Cook beef for 5 minutes, until it's fully grey on the outside. At this point, drain out all but 1 to 2 tbsp. meat grease. Discard excess grease.
3. Add in all of the chopped veggies (onion, carrots, celery, peas). Also add in the rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
4. Pour in half the can of beef broth to the saucepan. Stir. Boil/cook for another 5 minutes. At this point the meat should be fully cooked and the onions transparent. There will still be some broth pooled at the bottom of the saucepan.
5. Turn off the heat, and tilt the pan to one side to separate the broth and the solid beef/veggies. Sprinkle the GF flour over the MEAT portion (it will clump if you add it directly to the liquid). Stir carefully to coat the beef/veggies, then slowly in with the liquid to thicken the broth. You should now have a gravy covering you meat mixture. Add in a little more GF flour if need be-- you don't want it too runny, more like a sauce.
6. Spoon meat mixture into the 9" cake pan (baking dish); make sure to evenly distribute. Leave on the stove, or place temporarily into the fridge why you boil up the potatoes.
Spud Topping:
-Preheat oven to 400 F-
7. Scrub the red potatoes-- don't bother peeling them, unless you have russets and don't care for the thicker skins. Cut potatoes up into 2 inch cubes; these don't have to be pretty, since they are about to get mashed. Wash and peel the 4 garlic cloves. Leave the garlic whole.
8. Quickly wash out the saucepan you used for the meat and return it to the range. Throw the potato pieces and garlic cloves into the saucepan. Add enough water to the pan to mostly cover the potatoes.
9. Bring the potatoes to a boil over high heat. Make sure to stir the spuds a little to evenly cook. Once the potato water is boiling, turn heat down to medium-high and boil for 10 minutes.
10. Remove potatoes promptly from the heat and carefully drain the hot water. I was able to mash the potatoes in my non-stick saucepan without scraping it, but I had to be very careful. However you do it, mash the potatoes and garlic until they are as creamy as you want (they will be soft and kinda dry).
11. Once they are mashed, fold in the cheddar cheese; spuds should be cool enough now to not totally melt the cheese on first contact. Stir in the sour cream [and chives] . The potatoes should be creamy.. add in a bit more sour cream if still too dry/starchy.
12. Spoon the spuds evenly over the meat layer. Use a fork to 'rough up' the top a little, if you wish. Place the pie into the 400 F preheated oven. Bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove when the potatoes develop a nice crispy top.
13. Let the pie sit for 10 minutes.. it tastes way better slightly cooled. Eat warm.

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

2007-07-05T14:23:00.000-07:00

A summer treat! This is perhaps one of my all-time FAVORITE recipes! These are much much easier than you would expect: pre-boil the cut ribs, make a quick sauce, then cook over a fire. Juicy, tender and exploding with flavor. This BBQ sauce is absolutely perfect for grilled pork ribs; don't buy a store-brand, this sauce is so wonderful and easy. If you are making these for a crowd, be sure to buy enough meat. Normally people consume 5 ribs, minimum.
From "Gooseberry Patch" Summer? Cookbook.

As you can see, I grill with gathered dried sticks and firewood.. heck with 'natural' store-bought charcoal.
**Most all 'regular' charcoals are bound with wheat. Beware!**

Sauce covers 16 ribs, give or take a few.
25 + 25 + 10 minutes (boil, sauce, grill: total 60 minutes)
-large large pot with lid
-long tongs suitable for grilling
-dried sticks or GF charcoal, for grilling
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 to 3 lbs uncooked pork ribs -- my 2.4 lb rack cut into 14 ribs. (That's about 6 ribs per pound).

Sauce:
1 medium white onion
2 large celery stalks
2 to 3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. ketchup*
1/4 c. red wine vinegar*
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce*
1 tbsp. mustard*
*Heinz ketchup is GF; Heinz gourmet Red Wine Vinegar is GF; Lea and Perkins worc. sauce is GF; French's original mustard is GF.

DIRECTIONS
1. Cut apart the rib meat into 'singles' (separate between each rib bone). Place cut pork into a large large pot and add enough water to cover the ribs. Cover pot with lid and begin cooking over high heat.
2. When water finally comes to a rolling boil (this will take awhile, since Vwater is so large), turn heat down to medium-- the water should now simmer gently. Start timer from this point and cook covered for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure all meat is cooking.
--Start making sauce at this point in another pan such that everything will come out at once. I used the same pot for the sauce to save dishes.--
3. Once time has passed, carefully pour out the hot water. Line a small cookie sheet, or platter, with Aluminum foil. Place still-hot boiled ribs onto the foil. Let cook slightly, then place in fridge until sauce is done.
Sauce:
4. Wash and finely dice the white onion. Also thinly slice, then dice, the washed celery. Peel and wash the garlic, then equally dice. You want these piece as small as possible (I don't have a food processor).
5. Wash out the large pot. Pour in 1 tbsp. olive oil then stir in the small pieces of onion, celery and garlic. Mix well.
6. Saute veggies over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until onions become translucent. Stir frequently. Turn down heat slightly if pieces begin to burn on the bottom of the pot.
7. Add in packed 1/4 cup of dark brown sugar and 1 cup ketchup; stir well. Now definitely turn heat down to medium-low. Mix in the red wine vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard. This should already look 'sauce-like'.
8. Let the sauce lazily bubble on the stove for 10 minutes-- it will throw sauce around a little, since the mixture is so thick. Stir occasionally to re-mix in the vinegar; don't let the brown sugar caramelize. Sauce is done when it becomes a darker red and thickly coats your mixing spoon.
(--Could now temporarily remove sauce from the stove and run through a food-processor to really make it creamy.--)
9. Turn off the heat, then take out your cooked ribs. Place ribs into the sauce-filled large pot, three at a time. Stir ribs around in the sauce to thoroughly coat them, then remove and re-place back on Al-foil lined platter (no fear of contamination, since the meat is fully cooked!).
10. Take ribs outside and GRILL them over a fire... 5 minutes on each side. Done when ribs are heated through, slightly charred and sauce is caramelized and sizzling. Serve warm alongside beans; eat with fingers and make a big, wonderful mess.

Steak Risotto

2007-07-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

Another mirage of veggies-- I was surprised how good this was. It had the distinct texture and flavor of vegetable-beef stew, captured in a creamy rice dish. Simple. Add a single small tomato (diced) at the very end, if you wish.. I didn't have one on hand.

Serves 2
35 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 to 1/2 lb. thick-cut tender beef steak (-OR- lamb), uncooked
1 medium white onion
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. uncooked Aborio rice
1 (14 oz) can Swanson Natural Goodness Chicken (or veggie) broth
1/2 c. fresh snap peas
1 ear fresh corn, cut off the cob -OR-- 1/2 of a (15 oz) can Del Monte corn
1/2 tsp. ground sage
1 tsp. white pepper-- black would work, too

DIRECTIONS
1. Wash off steak and place in large saucepan. Cut into 1 inch cubes and begin cooking over medium heat. Brown the meat.. takes ~5 minutes.
2. Quickly, while the meat is heating, coarsely chop up the white onion. When the steak is browned (outside no longer pink), add in the cut white onion. Also mix in the olive oil and Aborio rice. Stir well to coat the rice with oil.
3. Continue cooking the meat and 'tanning' the rice for another 5 minutes; stir frequently.. don't let the rice burn. When the rice forms a white 'dot' in the middle of each grain, it's time to add the broth (the onions should begin to be translucent).
4. Stir in 1/3rd of the broth when rice is ready. Mix well, but let the rice begin to simmer slowly. Continue stirring frequently.. the rice will soak up all the broth (takes another 5 minutes). Once there is no longer any 'liquid' broth in the pan, temporarily turn down the heat and quickly wash and remove the ends from the fresh snap peas.
5. Add in another 1/3rd can of broth along with your prepared snap peas. Return the heat to 'medium'. Simmer the rice/meat/pea mixture for another 5 minutes, or until the broth is soaked up.
6. Add in the remaining broth and fresh (or canned) corn. Sprinkle with sage and white pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, still gently simmering until the broth becomes a thicker sauce ~ 5 minutes. Rice should be tender, but not mushy. Snap peas should be crisp-tender. Remove from heat and serve warm.

Black Bean Wraps

2007-07-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Truly travel-friendly.. all you need is a can opener, cheese and tortilla. If you can't tell, I've been excited about wraps ever since I discovered teff tortillas (La Tortilla Factory)-- they actually hold together and taste great warm. Heat these up for a hot lunch or quick snack. I loved the black beans/cumin combo.

Serves 3
15 minutes
-can opener
-medium saucepan or pot (-OR- just a bowl if mixing cold)
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 (15 oz) can Bush Black Beans
3/4th of one (15 oz) can DelMonte whole kernel corn
1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cumin
[1 tsp. chives-- optional]
3 GF tortillas (rice or corn or teff)
Enough cheese for topping-- cheddar or mozzarella

DIRECTIONS
1. Open and drain the can of black beans. Rinse beans several times with cold water before placing in the saucepan.
2. Open and drain the can of corn. Pour 3/4th of the corn into the saucepan with the beans-- I think the whole can of corn would overbalance the beans.
3. Heat beans and corn over medium-low heat. Stir in ground cumin and washed, diced chives. Don't let the beans burn to the bottom of the pan; these don't need more than 10 minutes of heating.
4. Heat up GF tortillas until they are pliable; microwave will work: 20 seconds on 'high'. Fill with hot beans and corn. Sprinkle with cheese of choice. Roll up and eat warm or cold**.

** These freeze really well... make a couple wraps in advance, then roll up finished product in tin foil. Take frozen wraps with you on a trip and eat chilled when they finally defrost. I've had these keep cold for ~5 hours before when I covered the tin foil in a towel (or newspaper) to reduce the heat transfer.

Chicken and Egg Pie

2007-06-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit this isn't the most health-friendly dish I've made, but it sure tastes good. Moist chicken casserole topped with crisp, salty potato chips. Simple to assemble and bake-- however, it was sort of a hassle to cook up 3 of the main ingredients beforehand. I'd suggest cooking up the chicken, rice and eggs the day before, or using 'leftover' rice and chicken. Serve hot or cold, it's still yummy.
Adapted from a "Gooseberry Patch" Summer? Cookbook.

Serves 3
45 + 40 minutes
Preheat oven: 375 F
-large pot for chicken/egg/rice
-9" round cake pan -OR- 8 x 8 square pan
-large-holed grater
-peeler
Easy

INGREDIENTS
2 large hardboiled eggs
1/2 c. cooked long grain white rice
1 to 2 large pre-cooked chicken breast (-OR- chicken thighs)

1 medium red potato, grated
2 celery stalks
2 carrots, peeled
1 medium white onion

1/2 of a (14 oz) can Swanson Natural Goodness chicken broth (-OR- reserve 1 cup of the liquid used to cook up the chicken; seasoned with onion, garlic and parsley)
1/2 c. GF mayonnaise*
[Juice of 1 small lemon-- optional]
1 c. crushed potato chips*
*Both Kraft and Hellman's mayo is GF; wavy Lays potato chips are GF

DIRECTIONS
Precooking (day before?-- I used the same large pot for each item to cut down on dirty dishes):
1. Place whole raw eggs carefully into the large pot. Submerge eggs totally in cold water. Add a bit of salt (amount doesn't really matter).
2. Bring the eggs to a rolling boil over high heat. Immediately turn down the heat to medium and continue simmering eggs for 10 minutes. Carefully pour out hot water, and replace with cold tap water. Keep rinsing (soaking?) hard-boiled eggs in cold water until they are cool enough to touch, bag, and place in the fridge.
3. Cook up enough rice to yield 1/2 cup cooked rice in same, rinsed out, pot. Just follow the directions and water amount directly from the package (should be something like 1/2 c. uncooked rice and 1/3 c. water). Stir cooked rice and store in the fridge.
4. Rinse out your handy pot. Place washed raw chicken breasts into the pot and cover with water. Bring water to a rolling boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling chicken for 15 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle.
5. Pour out water **you MAY WANT TO KEEP 1 cup of this broth for the dish instead of using the canned broth. If that's the case, season broth with onion powder, garlic powder and parsley,
then refrigerate**. Cut boiled chicken into bite-sized pieces; store in the fridge.
To assemble and cook:
-Preheat oven to 375 F-
6. Scrub red potato; don't bother peeling it. Coarsely grate potato over a bowl of cold water; let it soak. Slice washed celery stalks into smallish 1/4th inch pieces. Peel carrots and likewise slice into smallish pieces. Chop up white onion. Set all aside.
7. Take out round or square baking pan. Pour 1/2 of the canned chicken broth into the pan (-OR- 1 cup 'homemade' broth). Measure out 1/2 cup of GF mayonnaise and drop into the broth; stir well till lumps disappear.
8. Drain grated red potato and place all veggies (potato, chopped celery, carrot and onion) into the 9" cake pan along with the chicken broth/mayo. Add in lemon juice if you desire. Mix well.
9. Remove the cooked eggs, chicken pieces and rice from the fridge. Peel the hardboiled eggs and cut into small pieces (yolk and all). Place chopped egg, chicken pieces and rice into the baking pan-- mix well.
10. Crush up several , ~1 cup crushed, handfuls of potato chips (I used thicker Wavy Lays). Top chicken-egg mixture with crushed chip pieces. Place casserole into the pre-heated oven. Bake for 40 minutes-- the chips should be golden-brown and sauce bubbling when done. Serve hot or chill in the fridge (flavor is enhanced after chilling, but chips loose all of their 'crunch'). Enjoy for lunch.

Simple Shell Alfredo

2007-06-27T20:01:00.001-07:00

Another fast and super easy 1-person meal. This is more of a mock-Alfredo, since true Alfredo sauce contains butter and heavy cream. The good news is this still tastes good even without all the fat. I made this with zucchini, but broccoli would be a good substitute.

Serves 1
20 minutes
-medium saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1/2 of a medium zucchini (-OR- a small head of broccoli)
1/2 c. uncooked Tinkyada small shell brown rice pasta
1/4 to 1/2 c. mozzarella cheese-- I used Galaxy Nutritional Foods Moz. Rice Shreds for a LF option
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. parsley flakes

DIRECTIONS
1. In small saucepan, pour in the shells and enough water to cover pasta by about 1/2 inch. Cut zucchini into 1/2 inch thick slices, then quarter each slice. Set aside near range.
2. Bring shells to a rolling boil over high heat, stirring occasionally. Turn heat down to medium-high and let the pasta simmer for another 5 minutes.
3. At the 5 minute mark, add in the zucchini quarters. Cook the pasta and zucchini until both are tender (about another 5 minutes).
4. Carefully pour out most all of the excess cooking water from the saucepan-- the trick is to keep a little bit of water to make the sauce. Place pan back on the range to boil off the water pooled at the bottom of the pan (there will be some still caught in the shells). Turn off heat before the pasta begins to stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. Quickly sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pasta and zucchini while still hot. Stir to melt the cheese and evenly coat (add it bit more water if need be). Season with lots of garlic powder, onion powder and parsley flakes. Eat warm, while cheese is still melted.. use GF bread crumbs as a topping if you have 'em.

Thai Fried Rice

2007-06-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

I feel cheeky for posting another fried rice recipe, since I already have one here. I've been trying to capture more of an Asian taste with my fried rice and I think I've found the missing ingredient: fish sauce. A few drops of Thai Kitchen's Fish Sauce (GF) and a squeeze of fresh lime juice really makes this fried rice tasty. I'll also describe a better way to soften the white rice so you can cook it all on the same day. Plus, this is cooked over HIGH heat, so the veggies and rice are 'crispier'.
So.. new and improved Fried Rice:

Serves 2
20 + 15 minutes
-large pot (without lid) for rice
-large saucepan or wok-- needs to be non-stick/well seasoned for HIGH heat
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
Rice:
3/4 c. uncooked white long grain rice
water

1 + 2 tbsp. peanut oil (-or- sesame oil).. HIGH heat oil

8 baby carrots, pre-peeled (-or 2- 'regular' carrots)
1/2 of a medium zucchini
1/2 of a medium yellow zucchini
1 medium white onion
1 cup sugar snap peas (-or- snow peas)
1 egg
1 tbsp. garlic powder
juice of one small lime
1 tsp. Thai Kitchen Fish sauce
2 tsp. soy sauce*
*LaChoy soy sauce is GF; I used Eden Organic Tamari Soy Sauce

DIRECTIONS
Rice:
1. Pour uncooked rice into a large pot. Add enough water into the pot such that it rises about 1/2 inch above the rice. Begin cooking rice over high heat. Once it comes to a rolling boil, turn heat down to medium-low, but continue to simmer-- lid off (we want this rice to be dry and undercooked). Sir occasionally, watching the water level.
2. When water completely boils off (should take around 10 to 15 minutes, once you turn the heat down), quickly remove pot from heat and stir well. Rice should be slightly tender, but not at all mushy. Add in 1 tbsp. of peanut oil.. this keeps the grains from clumping (important!). Mix well and place rice aside to cool.
Rest:
3. Wash carrots (peel if need be) and carefully cut into 2 inch long matchsticks. Place carrots aside. Cut zucchini and yellow zucchini into 1/2 inch slices; half each slice. Coarsely chop up white onion. Bunch zucchini and onion together besides range (but not with the carrots). Wash snap peas and remove ends of the pods. Place peas alone beside the range.
-Also make sure the lime, fish sauce and soy sauce are right next to the range.-
4. Heat 2 tbsp. oil up into large saucepan or wok over HIGH heat-- must make sure veggies are cut and dried, or else things will burn!! Wait a minute for the oil to heat up (almost to the point of smoking), then throw in the carrot-- be careful, oil might splatter/spit. Stir carrot around in wok for a 1 minute.
5. Add in both zucchini and yellow zucchini. Keep stirring veggies around constantly for another minute. Add in the onion. Cook for an additional 1 minute, then add in the snap peas. Stir the entire combination for an additional 2-3 minutes... carefully taste a snap pea and zucchini to make sure they are crisp-tender.
6. Push veggies aside, making room, and break egg over the wok. Quickly scramble the egg and cook for a 1 minute. Stir cooked egg around till well mixed with the veggies.
7. Turn heat down to medium-high. Season all generously with garlic powder. Add in the oiled rice-- keep stirring! Squeeze lime over rice and veggies. Dash with fish sauce and sprinkle with soy sauce. Stir-fry rice until it's tan and tender (no more than 2-3 minutes). Remove from heat; serve warm.

Black-Eyed Peas and Brown Rice

2007-06-22T18:59:00.001-07:00

Mild rice dish, full of black-eyed peas and veggies with a hint of spicy cheese sauce. These was wonderful rolled up in a tortilla and eaten as a wrap. I really like the squash/black-eyed peas combination.
Loosely adapted from a Williams-Sonoma recipe.

Serves 2 (4 in a wrap)
35 minutes
-peeler
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
3/4 c. uncooked long grain brown rice
1 (14 oz) can Swanson Natural Goodness chicken broth -OR- veggie broth
3/4 c. frozen uncooked black-eyed peas,* thawed
1/2 of a medium spaghetti squash (just the neck part will do)
2-3 cloves garlic
2 celery stalks
1/2 of a medium red bell pepper
1 medium white onion
Dash of red pepper flakes (to taste)
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
*Any brand should work.. be sure to wash these well, though.

DIRECTIONS
-Defrost, rinse and drain black-eyed peas.-
1. Measure out uncooked brown rice and pour into a large saucepan along with the full can of broth. Begin cooking over high heat. Once broth comes to a rapid boil, add in defrosted black-eyed peas; stir and reduce heat to medium-high.
2. While rice and peas are simmering, cut up veggies. Peel the neck of the spaghetti squash and cut slices into 1 inch cubes-- should have about 3/4th cup of cubed squash. Set squash aside near range. Peel and dice the garlic. Cut the celery into thin slices. Coarsely cup bell pepper into 1/4th inch squares. Coarsely cut up the white onion.
3. By this time, the rice and peas should have cooked for about 5 minutes. Add in the cubed spaghetti squash and simmer for another 5 minutes. Also throw in the diced garlic and season with spicy red pepper flakes.
4. Carefully add in the rest of the veggies: celery, bell pepper, and onion. Stir well; cook for an additional 15 to 20 minutes (25 to 30 minutes total simmering for peas and rice). Veggies are done when both black-eyed peas and black rice are tender.
5. Remove from heat. White still hot, push veggies and rice to the side and tilt saucepan slightly to pool the remaining broth (add in 1 to 2 tbsp. of water -or milk- if low on liquid). Sprinkle mozzarella cheese into the pooled broth and stir well-- cheese should promptly melt and form a thick sauce. Mix well to coat rice and veggies with sauce. If not spicy enough, add in more Cayenne pepper. Serve warm as a rice bowl or rolled up in a GF wrap along with lettuce shreds and more cheese.

Candied Yams

2007-06-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

Another recipe from my mother-- she'd make this sweet vegetable side dish for thanksgiving. I can't have heavy cream, so I substitute in a little some vanilla extract instead of the dairy. The cream makes a smoother, richer coating, but just the brown sugar and butter tasted fine as a caramel glaze.

Serves 4
50 minutes
-large pot
-large saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
3 large yams (sweet potato)
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
heavy cream (soy or dairy) -OR- 1 tsp. vanilla extract + 1 tsp. water

DIRECTIONS
1. Scrub yams; don't bother peeling them. Place in large pot and add water until yams are fully submerged.
2. Bring pot of yams to a rolling boil (high heat). Let the yams cook for a good 25 to 30 minutes, but don't overcook. They are done when a knife can be easily inserted into the potato.
3. Let the yams cool, then "peel" them-- the skin should easily scrape right off. Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices. I prefer to half each slice (greater surface area), but you can leave them big.
4. Place butter into large saucepan. Turn on low heat and push the butter around till fully melted. Stir in 1/2 cup brown sugar and cream-- don't let the butter scald. Use vanilla extract and a little bit of water (or soy cream) if dairy intolerant Continue heating butter/sugar over low heat until thick and bubbling.
5. Add in yam slices. Stir to coat with sugar/butter. Continue cooking over low heat for an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Serve warm alongside turkey or place in the fridge for later (I prefer these chilled!)

Tex-Mex Lasagna

2007-06-13T19:22:00.000-07:00

This was GREAT! One of those dishes where you can add and subtract ingredients. I went 'all out' (extra 5 minutes) and made up my own refried beans, but if you were in a hurry, go ahead and use the canned version. Could use a square 9 x 9 pan and extra layers of tortillas, but I opted for a 9" pie pan (since the tortillas were round). Any tortillas would do, rice, corn.. I tried 'new' dark teff tortillas and liked them. Be sure to keep the first step, with the tortillas in the oil.
Adapted from "Simply Recipes".

Serves 4
10 + 30 + 5 + 15 minutes (1 hour total)
preheat 400 F
-large saucepan
-9 inch round pie/cake pan
-small pot
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Tortillas
4 large corn or rice or teff tortillas
2 tbsp. peanut oil (or olive oil)

Meat
1 medium white onion
½ of a red bell pepper
½ of a green bell pepper
1 fresh tomato
[Handful of fresh cilantro; optional]
¼ lb. ground beef
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. ground cumin

Refried Beans
**skip this if using a can of pre-made refried beans
1 can drained Bush pinto beans
1 tsp. peanut oil
1 tsp. water
Garlic and onion powder

½ c. cheddar cheese
½ c. mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
Tortillas
1. Defrost your tortillas and place your pie/square baking pan besides the range. Heat up 2 tbsp. of oil, over medium heat, in the large saucepan. Drop one tortilla at a time into the hot oil. Allow the tortilla to soak up a little oil on both sides (flip; no more than a minute on each side). Remove softened tortilla and place in the baking dish. Repeat for remaining 3 tortillas. Let them all sit in the baking dish.
Meat
--At this time, be sure to pre-heat your oven.--
2. Cut up vegetables: Coarsely chop the white onion. Wash and core both the red and green bell peppers. Coarsely chop up the bell peppers and set aside with onion. Coarsely dice up the tomato (don't bother to peel it). Wash and cut the fresh cilantro, if you have it on hand. Keep the tomatoes and cilantro separate from the onion/bell peppers.
3. Rinse off the ground beef. Place beef into the empty large saucepan used previously for the tortillas. Cook beef over medium heat for 5 minutes, or until the outside of the meat is no longer pink.
4. Add in the onions and bell peppers. Cook the meat and veggies for another 10 minutes. Add in a generous amount of chili powder and cumin. When the beef is cooked and the onion pieces are translucent, stir in the tomatoes and cilantro. Cook tomatoes for an additional 3 minutes-- don't let them break apart. Remove pan from heat when tomatoes are heated through.
Refried Beans
5. Open and drain can of pinto beans. Place beans into the small pot and mash with the back of a large spoon as best you can (mine still had bits of pinto beans). If you want totally creamy refried beans, use a potato masher. Begin heating beans over medium-low heat. Stir in the oil and the little bit of water. Season with whatever you want-- I used garlic and onion powder, but feel free to add chilies or cilantro. Heat through until beans are nice and spreadable ~5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Assemble
6. Remove top two tortillas from the baking dish (I used 2 tortillas per layer). Spread half of the refried beans evenly over the bottom layer of tortillas. Spoon half the meat/veggie mixture over the beans. Sprinkle generously with half of the cheddar and mozzarella cheese.
7. Place the last two tortillas on top of the cheese. Spread with beans, meat and top with a bunch of cheese.
8. Slide the dish into the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes-- just want the cheese layer to melt and flavors to blend. Remove from the oven, serve hot; top with sour cream or avocado and serve alongside Spanish rice.

Mandarin Orange Chicken

2007-06-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

Slightly sweet, but good. The lemon and Cayenne pepper flakes add a mild tang to this dish. Mild and delicate fruit flavor tinged with lemon.

Serves 2
30 minutes
-large saucepan
-small pot for rice
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 cup cooked white long-grain rice

1 tsp. diced ginger

3 garlic cloves

1 to 2 chicken breasts

¼ c. sorghum flour
1 tbsp. sesame -or- peanut oil
¾ c. mandarin orange light syrup (buy a ~12 oz. can of mandarin oranges and reserve liquid)
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. honey
Juice of 1 medium lemon
Dash of red pepper flakes
1 medium head of broccoli
1 medium white onion
½ c. mandarin oranges

DIRECTIONS
-Start cooking white rice as indicated on the package in a small pot.-
1. Wash, peel and finely dice up the fresh ginger and garlic. Place small pieces into the large saucepan.
2. Rinse off chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place into saucepan with garlic and ginger. Shake sorghum (or other GF flour) over cut chicken chunks. Toss pieces in pan until the moist meat is fully coated with flour. Drizzle preferred Asian oil over the battered chicken. Gently mix.
3. Cook chicken and garlic-ginger over medium-high heat for 5-8 minutes, or until chicken coating starts to toast and garlic-ginger sizzles in the oil.
4. Turn the heat down to medium. Open up can of mandarin oranges.. a 12 oz can will do... and collect about 3/4 c. mandarin orange juice. Pour juice into saucepan with chicken. Add soy sauce, honey and the juice of 1 fresh lemon. Shake red pepper flakes over the chicken. Mix well. 5. Cut up broccoli into bit-sized chunks. Coarsely chop up white onion. Add both veggies to the simmering saucepan.
6. Cook chicken, sauce and veggies for 10 minutes, uncovered. When the sauce thickens, taste to see if you want more pepper, then remove from the heat.
7. Once the sauce is no longer boiling, gently stir in the mandarin oranges; be careful not to break up the fruit too badly. Serve warm over freshly steamed white rice.

Cherry Crisp

2007-06-09T18:50:00.000-07:00

Fresh cherries = good. Pitts = bad. It took me a good 40 minutes to de-pit these cherries by hand, but it was worth it. Really no-hassle once the pits are removed. Old fashioned crisp.. this 'oatmeal' topping is crumbly and crunchy, not cobbler. Add in more white sugar if you wish, I liked this dessert slightly on the tart side.

Serves 4

40 + 15 + 55 minutes (total 1 hr 50 minutes)

preheat 375 F

- 9 x 9 inch pan

-medium bowl

Easy

INGREDIENTS

Fruit:

2 c. cherries, pitted-- could use thawed and drained frozen cherries and cut 40 minutes off of the preparation time
½ c. white sugar
1 ½ tbsp. cornstarch

Crisp topping:

¾ c. brown rice flour
½ tsp. xanthan gum
¼ c. brown sugar
½ c. crushed Enjoy Life Very Berry granola cereal
Pinch of salt

1/3 c. butter, cut into batter

DIRECTIONS

Fruit:

1. Find yourself some pitted cherries. That means defrosting a bag of frozen, pitted cherries -OR- using fresh cherries and taking the pits out by hand. I used a paring knife and cut into each cherry, removing the pit.

2. Place the DRAINED, pitted cherries into the 9 x 9 inch pan, spreading evenly. Sprinkle fruit with 1/2 c. white sugar. Also sprinkle with cornstarch. Toss/stir to evenly coat the cherries. Make sure the fruit is evenly distributed in the pan; fruit layer should be at least 1 inch thick.

Crisp:

-Preheat oven to 375 F-

3. Pour brown rice flour into a medium bowl. Add in the xanthan gum and stir well. Add in the brown sugar. Mix again.

4. Place Very Berry granola cereal into a heavy duty sandwich baggie and smash with something hard (I use a nice hammer) until the granola resembles small oatmeal chunks. Add smashed granola bits into the medium bowl with the rice flour mixture.

5. Cut butter into flour/cereal mixture (make sure it's room temperature); cut small bits of butter at a time. The topping should look like coarse, crumbly, cornmeal when completed. Mix well.

6. Spoon crumbly butter topping over the fruit in the 9 x 9 inch pan. Distribute evenly. Place pan into the oven and bake for 55 minutes at 375 F. Crisp is done when fruit juices are dark red and bubbling and topping is crispy and browned. Enjoy hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Italian Pizza

2007-06-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

I like pizzas without greasy meat. Pepperoni-oil lakes are just plain gross, so whenever I make pizza, it's normally with chicken. The 'sauce' is actually sliced tomatoes sauteed in garlic infused olive oil; this makes for a light pizza without overpowering red sauce. Loaded with Italian herbs, fresh veggies and topped with cheese... find yourself a good GF pizza crust and enjoy.

Serves 3-4
preheat 450 F
40 + 20 minutes
-9" round cake pan or medium cookie sheet for pizza
-large saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 medium yeast-based GF pizza crust (I used half of a Gluten-Free Pantry Pizza/French bread mix); needs eggs, sugar, apple cider vinegar, oil

2 medium Roma tomatoes
4-6 cloves garlic
2 + 1 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium chicken breast
6 asparagus stalks
1/2 of a medium zucchini
1/2 of a medium yellow zucchini
1 small white onion
2 tbsp. basil leaves
1 tbsp. oregano leaves
salt and pepper

Cheddar cheese, for topping
Mozzarella cheese, for topping

DIRECTIONS
1. Mix up pizza crust as directed on package (use 110 F 'warm' water for yeast-- it actually feels kinda hot). Spread raw dough evenly into round pan or onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Leave to rise in warm oven (lowest possible setting) for 40 minutes; pizza dough should be doubled in thickness.
--Cook chicken and Saute veggies while pizza is rising.
2. Cut Roma tomatoes into large 1/2 inch slices, as if making for a sandwich; peel them if you wish, I didn't and it was fine. Peel and dice garlic cloves. Place tomatoes and garlic into a large saucepan. Let sit while you cut up the other veggies to bide time.
3. Cut asparagus stalks into 1.5 inch pieces. Slice in half if too thick. Cut zucchini and yellow zucchini into 1/2 inch slices; half each slice. Cut onion into thin strips. Place veggies beside the range, keeping the asparagus separate.
4. Begin cooking up the tomato slices and garlic with 2 tbsp. olive oil inside the saucepan over medium heat. Saute for 2-3 minutes, or until tomatoes just start to get tender, but not falling apart.
5. Spread tomato/garlic/oil mixture over rising dough. Don't press down, but evenly spread evenly. Place pizza back in the oven, if 40 minutes has not passed.
6. Turn back to the 'topping': Cut washed chicken breast into bite-sized pieces. Place raw chicken chunks into the large saucepan (now empty of tomatoes); don't bother to rinse it out. Cook chicken over medium-high heat until the pieces are no longer pink in the middle ~ 5 minutes.
7. Turn down the burner to medium. Add in the asparagus, pouring in more olive if needed. Cook for another 5 minutes, then add in rest of veggies (zucchini, yellow zucchini and onion). Sprinkle toppings with plenty of basil and oregano. Saute zucchini/onion for an additional 10 minutes. Total cooking time for topping (including chicken) is about 20 minutes. Remove veggies and chicken from the range and tend to the crust.
8. By this time, your pizza should have risen enough. Turn oven up to 450 F. Look on package/pizza dough recipe for total cooking time. Place crust+tomatoes into the oven and bake 'untopped' for the first 10 minutes.
9. Pull half-cooked crust out of oven. Sprinkle tomatoes with a layer of cheddar cheese, then pile on the sauteed veggies and chicken. Top with a generous amount of mozzarella cheese. Place loaded pizza back into the oven for the remaining baking time. Crust should be tan with bubbling cheese. Serve hot.

Vegetable Beef Kabobs

2007-05-29T12:11:00.000-07:00

Full of vegetables, I wanted a mild beef flavor that wouldn't overpower the combination. I settled for a slightly sweet honey-beer marinade and was fairly happy with the result. The really good part was (of course) the grilled, juicy vegetables dipped in olive oil and thyme.

Makes 6 long kabobs (15 inch skewers**)
2 hours + 30 minutes + grilling time
-small saucepan for meat
-6 long metal or bamboo skewers
-gallon size plastic baggie
-tongs for grilling
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Beef and Marinade
1/2 of a bottle of light-colored GF beer (I used New Grist)
1-2 tbsp. honey-- to taste
dash of dried ginger
1/2 lb. thick-cut steak, any kind
Veggies
1/2 of a medium red onion
8-10 cherry tomatoes
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow zucchini squash
1/2 of a medium green bell pepper
1/2 of a medium red bell pepper
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Beef and marinade
1. Into the saucepan, pour the beer and mix with the honey. Add a dash of ginger, then taste your marinade. If not sweet enough, add in more honey. Could also try some Cayenne pepper for a kick.
2. Wash the steak and cut into 1 inch cubes. Place meat into the marinade. Cover and let sit for 2 to 3 hours in the fridge.
** If using bamboo or wooden skewers, don't forget to soak them in water for a good hour or so before threading and placing on the grill.
Veggies
3. Once the meat has soaked long enough, begin coarsely cutting up the vegetables. Thickly slice the red onion and cut into 1 inch 'squares'. Half the cherry tomatoes. Cut both the zucchini and yellow zucchini into 1/2 inch slices, then half each slice. Thickly slice both the green and red bell peppers and cut into 1 inch 'squares'.
4. Place cut veggies into a large gallon-sized freezer bag. Drizzle with 2 tbsp. olive oil; shake to coat veggies. Add thyme and oregano (plus salt and pepper) into the bag. Shake until spices are well distributed. Let sit.
5. At this point, either pre-cook (boil) the beef pieces in the beer marinade for 5-10 minutes. Discard the honey-beer, either way.
6. Skewer the vegetables and meat, alternating and varying along the kabob. There will be much more veggies than meat.
7. Cook kabobs on the grill over open flames until the veggies and meat are toasted and sizzling. My pre-cooked meat kabobs were done within 5-8 minutes over a hot wood-burning fire. Make sure the beef is fully cooked, if you did not pre-boil it. Serve hot, right off the grill, with beans or salad. EDIT: These are not so good re-heated, even in the oven; make sure you eat them hot off the grill.

Cookie Dough Layer Brownies

2007-05-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Someday, I will learn how to make lactose-free caramel, so I can concoct a GF version of my mother's caramel brownies. For now I will settle for this treat, which features a layer of brown-sugary goodness sandwiched between rich dark chocolate brownies and a layer of melted chocolate. I don't feel at all deprived.
From Pillsbury's "Best of the Bake Off" Cookbook.

Makes a 9 x 12 pan of bar cookies/brownies
20 + 40 + 10 minutes (plus 2 hours chilling time)
-large mixing bowl
-9 x 12 inch pan
-electric mixer
-spatula
-small pot for melting chocolate
Easy

INGREDIENTS
Middle Cookie Layer:
1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. brown sugar, packed
1/2 c. white sugar
1 tbsp. water
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. potato starch
3/4 c. white rice flour (don't use bean flour; this part won't be baked and will retain its 'raw' flavor)
1 heaping tsp. xanthan gum
Bottom Brownies:
1 box favorite GF brownie mix-- I used the 16 oz. Gluten Free Pantry Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix (requires 2 eggs and 6 tbsp. corn oil)
Top Chocolate Glaze:
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate morsels-- I used Enjoy Life's lactose-free chips
1 tbsp. shortening (NOT butter or oil)

DIRECTIONS
**I made the middle layer before the bottom layer so to use my same big mixing bowl without raw egg contamination
Middle Cookie Layer:
1. Bring butter to room temperature. While butter is sitting out inside your big mixing bowl, gather sugars and flours.
2. With an electric mixer, beat the butter till smooth. Add in brown and white sugars. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy (no longer than 2 minutes). Pour in 1 tbsp. of water and vanilla extract. Beat more to combine ; mixture should be a little less crumbly.
3. Add in 1/4 cup potato starch flour and 1/4 cup white rice flour. Mix gently by hand to combine, then add in remaining 1/2 cup white rice flour and heaping tsp. of xanthan gum. Beat for another minute with the electric mixer to make sure everything is well combined.
4. Scoop 'cookie dough' out of bowl and place on a piece of Al foil (use this piece to cover the 9 x 13 pan later on). Set in fridge while you mix and bake the bottom layer.
Bottom Brownies:
5. In same large mixing bowl, combine brownie mix as directed on package.
6. Pour/scoop brownie mix into greased 9 x 12 pan-- I used disposable Aluminum pan. Bake as directed on package, but DON'T overbake. You don't want the edges burnt.
7. Remove brownies from the oven and let them cool. (10 or so minutes; want brownies to be 'firm'.. place in fridge to speed up). Turn off oven. While the brownies are cooling, take 'cookie dough' layer out of fridge to soften.
8. Press soft cookie dough layer onto the top of the cooled, cooked brownies with your fingers. Evenly spread 'dough' out over the entire pan.
Top:
9. Pour 1 cup chocolate chips into a small pot. Add in 1 tbsp. shortening. Begin heating over LOW heat, stirring constantly with a heat-proof spatula.
10. When chips are fully melted and creamy, remove from heat and let cool a minute or so. Spread chocolate glaze evenly over the cookie dough layer with the spatula.
11. Cover pan with Al foil piece and place into the fridge until top chocolate glaze has hardened. To cut into bars: remove from fridge and let them warm up slightly (5 minutes). Cut and serve when bars are still chilled, but glaze is no longer rock-hard. Store in the fridge.

Super-Quick Chili Topping

2007-05-23T17:25:00.001-07:00

Whipped this up the other day to top off a loaded baked potato. Perfect for when you need a chili 'spread' but don't want to go all out and make a full batch. Great wrapped inside tortillas or as a Mexican-style chip dip. Could also spice up a hot dog or use for chili french fries.
Trade the fresh onion for 1 tsp. onion powder if really in a hurry.

Serves 3-4 (as a thick spread)
20 minutes
-large saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
1 medium white onion --OR-- 1 tsp. onion powder
1/3 to 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 (14.5 oz) can finely diced tomatoes*
1 (16 oz) can pinto beans*
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin

cheddar cheese, to melt on top
*DelMonte diced tomatoes are GF; Bush's pinto beans are GF

DIRECTIONS
1. Finely dice up the white onion. Set onion beside the range.
2. Rise off the ground beef and place into the large saucepan. Begin cooking the meat over medium heat. When the beef is browned (no longer pink on the outside), add in the diced onion. Cook until the meat until done, but still moist, about 10 minutes total cooking time.
3. Open and drain both the tomatoes and pinto beans, then add to beef/onion mixture; stir well. Season with chili powder and cumin. Add in a dash of cayanne pepper if you want more of a kick. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until heated through. Serve with melted cheddar cheese over a baked potato, as a dip, in a tortilla wrap, or over a hot dog and french fries.

Honey Carrots (with Snow Peas)

2007-05-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

Originally this came straight off of AllRecipes (to use up the rest of my snow peas). I changed it by adding in potato pieces and then decided this might be better without. If you do use red potato in this -- it's not bad at all -- be sure to cut the potato into french-fry like pieces instead of cubes. I'll try this again with just lots of baby carrots and snow peas.
Buttery and tasty with just a slight hint of sweetness. Easy veggie side-dish.

Serves 2
25 minutes
-medium saucepan
Quick and simple

INGREDIENTS
6 large carrots, peeled and cut -or- 1 c. baby carrots
[1 medium red potato -- optional]
1 c. snow peas, ends removed
1/2 cup water
1-2 tbsp. butter*
1/2 tsp. honey
salt and pepper
*Earth Balance Buttery Sticks make this lactose-free

DIRECTIONS
1. Peel and wash large carrots. Cut into 1.5 inch long pieces. Slice each piece in half lengthwise if carrot diameter is too thick. If using baby carrots, you don't have to peel or cut.
(2. Wash red potato, and cut into french-fry-like pieces, about 1.5 inches long, 1/2 inch thick.)
3. Wash snow peas and remove the ends. Leave the peas long-- don't snap them in half. Set aside beside range.
4. Place carrots (and potatoes) into saucepan. Pour 1/2 cup of water over veggies and begin heating over high heat. Once the water has come to a rolling boil, let the carrots and potatoes boil for 4 minutes, then pour in snow peas. Cook for an additional 1 minute (5 minutes total of rolling boil; total time on the stove should be around 10 minutes).
5. Pour out any unused water and turn down the heat to medium-low. Place 1 tbsp. of butter into the drained saucepan. Heat up veggies for another 3 minutes or so.
6. Stir in 1/2 tsp. of honey. When done, veggies should be hot, tender and thinly coated with a sweet buttery glaze. Serve warm, as a side dish.

Green Beans with Penne

2007-05-21T13:14:00.000-07:00

Inspired by GF Mommy's "Vegetable Pesto Pasta", I wanted some of my own, however, I also needed to make the mild tomato pesto along with it. Unsure at first about potatoes with pasta, but this turned out just fine. Ground beef could be a welcome addition**; I just preferred vegetarian today. Here's my adaptation:

Serves 2
25 minutes
-medium pot to cook pasta
-wok or large saucepan
Easy

INGREDIENTS
1 c. uncooked Tinkyada Penne brown rice pasta (about 1/4th to 1/3rd of the bag)

1 + 2 tbsp. olive oil
3-5 large cloves of garlic
3/4 c. fresh green beans, ends removed
1 medium red potato
1 small zucchini (or half of a large one)
1 medium white onion
1-2 tbsp. dried basil leaves (use fresh leaves if you have them)
1/2 tbsp. dried oregano leaves
1/2 of a 14.5 oz can DelMonte finely diced tomatoes, drained

Parmesan cheese, for topping

DIRECTIONS
1. Begin cooking up pasta according to directions on the bag. Once al dente, rinse pasta several times with cold water. Drain, then stir in 1 tbsp of olive oil and set pasta aside.
2. Once the pasta has begun heating, begin cutting up veggies: peel and mince the garlic. Set the garlic into your large saucepan or wok. Add 2 tbsp. or olive oil to the garlic. Let it sit.
3. Wash and remove ends from the green beans. Snap the longer ones in half, so they will be about the same length as the penne noodles. Dice the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes, don't bother peeling if you use red potatoes. Rinse the potatoes in cold water. Set prepared green beans and potatoes aside.
4. Cut the zucchini into thicker matchsticks, about 1.5 inches in length. Coarsely cut up the white onion. Set sliced zucchini and onions aside, apart from potatoes and green beans.
5. Once all veggies are prepared, begin cooking up the garlic/oil mixture in the wok over medium-low heat. Let the olive oil infuse with garlic... this only takes 3-5 minutes. Don't let the garlic pieces singe; heat them until they are a lovely light tan.
6. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the green beans and potatoes to your wok-- be careful, my potatoes were still wet and the oil spit alot. Fry the beans and potatoes for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, but not too often, so as the potatoes crisp a little.
-- by now your pasta should be done--
7. Add in the onion and zucchini slices. Season generously with basil and oregano leaves. Stir-fry the entire veggie-mixture for another 5 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
8. Turn heat back down to medium-low. Stir in cooked and drained penne noodles. Also drain the tomatoes and pour in ~ 1 cup of diced tomatoes. Mix well. Heat pasta and tomatoes through, but don't let the tomatoes start falling apart. Serve warm with garlic bread and a nice summer salad. Top with some Parmesan, if you wish.

** EDIT- I cooked up some ground beef and added it to my leftovers. It indeed tasted great!