Life, Gluten Free

Easy Dinner Pilaf with Cumin

This dish is even easier to create if you have some brown rice already cooked and in need of attention. I made this dish in about 10 to 15 minutes and it was really good.

Easy Dinner Pilaf with Cumin

NO: gluten, eggs, dairy, soy, nuts

Ingredients:

3 cups of cooked brown rice

3 carrots

5 scallions

1-2 cups of fresh spinach

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon herbamare

sea salt to taste (if you need more salt than the herbamare provides, or if you don't have herbamare)

Preparation:

Chop the carrots and scallions and start sauteing them in olive oil. 

Chop the spinach and add it to the carrots and scallions. 

After the vegetables are almost done, add the brown rice. 

Stir well and then add the spices and mix all the ingredients thoroughly.

This goes well served with a nice side salad. After a weekend of festivities, I needed something simple and nourishing :)

-heather

Ener-G Pizza Crust Review

We made pizzas with the Ener-G 10 inch PIzza Crust. We also made some pizzas for Sophie with the Energ-G 6 inch Yeast-Free Pizza Crust. The yeast-free one doesn't have sunflower oil, while the one with yeast does.

There was a notable but nominal taste difference between the yeast and yeast-free pizza crusts. Both pizza crusts were a bit bland and needed salt, which is okay because you can lightly sprinkle some sea salt on the crust before adding your toppings. I recommend sprinkling a small amount of sea salt and herbs of your choice, like: basil, oregano, parsley, etc. The cheese for our pizza was dairy-free Vegan Gourmet.

Overall, it was a decent pizza crust and we would use them again. It is definitely chewable, unlike other crusts we have tried, where they are almost too hard to chew.

It was, as Sophie would say, "tastey."

Let me know if you've tried them and what you think. Got any other pizza crust recommendations? Leave a comment and let us know!

-heather

Potato Lasagna

Potato Lasagna

NO: gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts

Ingredients:  

6 large sized potatoes
1 pack tinyada lasagna noodles

2 medium sized tomatoes

2 yellow onions

2 cups frozen broccoli 

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon basil

Preparation:

Boil potatoes until done.

Blend potatoes with a hand mixer to make mashed potatoes. 

Add salt to taste. 

Add 1 tablespoon of earth balance (or your choice of butter or oil) and continue to blend the potatoes.

Saute onion and broccoli in olive oil and add to the mashed potatoes.

Add herbs. Taste and adjust to meet your taste buds!

Boil the lasagna noodles per the directions on the box.

In a glass dish, layer the noodles with mashed potatoes and diced tomato.

Spread earth balance or oil on top of the last layer of noodles.

Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes.

You can also top with cheese and add olives.

This is really good variation on lasagna. It is dairy-free but still creamy and good!

-heather

Pasta with Lemon Chive Sauce

Pasta with Lemon Chive Sauce

NO: gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, soy

Ingredients: 

1 cup chopped scallions 

1 cup chopped spinach 

4 carrots, cut into round pieces 

2 tablespoon dried chives 

1 teaspoon himalayan salt 

1 tablespoon lemon juice 

Preparation: 

Chop carrots into rounds. 

Begin to saute them in a nice coating of organic safflower oil or oil of choice. 

Make sure there is enough oil to saute the carrots, leaving somewhat of a sauce. 

Chop the scallions and spinach. 

Once the carrots are softened, add the scallions and spinach. 

Continue sauteing, and add the rest of the ingredients - including the lemon juice.

Top over gluten free pasta and enjoy! 

-heather

Penne with Sundried Tomato Sauce

The recipe came from my friend Kelly at The Spunky Coconut. I made her recipe for Penne with Tangy Tomato Sauce but I used onion powder instead of garlic powder. I also decided to use Golden Balsamic Vinegar instead of regular balsamic vinegar. 

This sauce is a great alternative to the usual tomato pasta sauce. I have been on a kick lately, making a lot of homemade pasta sauce. But this sauce was a nice change, and it was very quick and easy to make.

If you like tangy, sweet and a little salty, then this is definitely a must-try sauce. I am going to be making it again soon! I already stocked up on the penne! You could even use both onion powder and garlic powder. We have an allergy to garlic, unfortunately.

Ingredients:

10 sundried tomatoes

1/2 cup of organic extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon raw honey

1/4 teaspoon himalayan salt

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

Puree until sauce is mixed well.

Top over gluten-free penne pasta or your favorite pasta! We used Tinkyada Penne.

We enjoyed this with some green olives and a salad. Thanks Kelly! Great recipe!

-heather

Tortilla Lasagna

Tortilla Lasagna
NO: gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, nuts

Ingredients:

3 brown-rice tortillas (by Food For Life)

Pasta sauce (we used our own homemade)

Half a package of organic frozen vegetables (5oz)

Olives

Tempeh

Organic Earth Balance (or your choice of butter or butter substitute)

Preparation:

Slice tempeh and boil for 15-20 minutes.

Lay one tortilla down in the bottom of an 8x8 pan. 

Add to that layer some of the pasta sauce, olives, tempeh and 1 tablespoon of earth balance.

Place the second tortilla on top of that layer.

Add pasta sauce, vegetables, olives, tempeh and another 1 tablespoon of earth balance.

Lightly spread some earth balance onto the third tortilla and place it on top of the previous layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes, until the top tortilla begins to turn golden brown around the edges. 

Be sure to not let it burn or get too crispy.

You can vary this recipe by leaving the tempeh out or replacing it with another protein source. And if you eat cheese, you can of course add that on too.

It is really good, and the middle tortilla is just like a lasagana noodle after it bakes. My husband made this, and I asked him if he was trying to "fatten me up" by adding all that earth balance :) 

It will look like this, before you add the third tortilla to the top:

enjoy!

-heather

Greek Salad

All I knew was that I love greek salad, and the last time I had one was too long ago. I decided to do some research on Google to see what constituted greek salad dressing, and I found Karina's Kitchen. She has a post featuring greek salad: Three Ways to Dress a Naked Salad. And although I changed it a bit, I wanted to give credit where credit is due! One ingredient that her recipe calls for is garlic, and since my daughter is allergic, we don't use it anymore. 

And because I do so love greek salad, I made a double batch of the dressing because it stores nicely (preferably on the counter, as the oil will solidify in the refrigerator). It only lasted a few days though, because we had greek salad every chance we got :)

Greek Salad Dressing

NO: gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

4 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar

1-2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 tablespoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon agave nectar

Dash of salt

Preparation:

Add ingredients to a glass jar (that has a lid, for storage) and whisk until all ingredients are mixed in and the oil is mixed well. Taste test and add more salt or oregano if needed.

It is best to let the dressing set for a few hours before use.

I like to roughly chop the lettuce and add it to a glass bowl. Mix in chopped tomatoes, cucumbers and olives of your choice. I was fortunate enough to receive a nice container of olives from the Whole Foods olive bar, and I used those. You can also add onions - particularly red onions - but my husband eschews raw onions, so there you go :)

-heather

A Valentine's Dinner

Back when we were in college, my husband and I used to go to a restaurant that served greek food. What was it called? The Pita Pit... something like that. It was in Arizona. I always ordered the greek salad (no feta) and we always shared some dolmas. I was definitely missing the greek salads that I used to get, so I decided to make a large one for Valentine's Day.

I made:

Greek Salad (with tomato, cucumber and lovely olives)

Spinach Artichoke Dip (dairy-free)

Penne (rice) Pasta with Basil Pesto (nut-free)

Check back later for the recipes. I probably won't be posting the Basil Pesto, at least not yet. I need to perfect it some more. It was pretty good, but not quite like pesto made with pine nuts.

Sorry for the sneak peek, I don't have time to post the recipes right now. :)

-heather

Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger: Jeera Aloo

I adopted Sea at the Book of Yum and made her Jeera Aloo Potato with Cumin dish. Actually, I've made this dish several times since then! 

I made the Jeera Aloo basically as the recipe stated. I did not, however, use peanut oil due to my daughter's severe nut allergies. I served the dish along side a salad. Another recipe on her blog that is on my list to try soon is her Thai Coconut Chickpea recipe.

One of the reason's that I chose the Jeera Aloo is that I love indian food and this recipe did not call for chili peppers, of which I am allergic to. My husband - and our guests - loved the dish and I was of course, poked and prodded to make it again :) and again. Although, not very much prodding was necessary, because I couldn't get enough of the dish myself. I was raised on indian food, burritos (sadly, not gluten free) and thai food. My dad always made lovely, succulent indian dishes. Most, if not all, were laden with chili peppers. So when I found out that I was allergic to them, I thought that my days of indian food and thai food were pretty much over. But because there are so many wonderful spices to choose from, you can make indian and thai dishes without chili peppers! Thanks to Sea for reminding me of that.

And now, a little about the blogger behind Book of Yum!

Sea has been gluten free since the age of three! Her husband also contributes to the blog, and you will also see photos of their two lovely cats. On her blog, you will find a variety of dishes that focus on different dietary needs (vegan, low-sugar, dairy-free, to name a few).

She also shares information on restaurants that offer gluten free menu options. Be sure to visit Book of Yum if you haven't already!

-heather

Spiced Chickpeas with Basmati Rice

Spiced Chickpeas with Basmati Rice

NO: gluten, dairy, nuts, eggs

Ingredients:

1 large onion 

1 teaspoon cumin powder 

2 small kaffir lime leaves 

1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds 

1 1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds 

3 cups chickpeas (already cooked)

Dash of turmeric

Preparation:

Chop onions and saute in a pan with extra-virgin olive oil.

Allow onions to begin to brown and caramelize.

Add a very small amount of water if onions begin to stick.

Add the cumin, fenugreek, mustard seeds and kaffir lime leaves.

Cook for several more minutes before adding the chickpeas.

Stir in a dash of turmeric and add a small amount of water if the mixture is too dry.

Serve on top of some brown or white basmati rice.

You can also serve it with a side of salad. Try eating this dish with some brown rice tortillas lightly coated in oil or butter of your choice. Put them in the oven for a few minutes to get crisp.

-heather