Life, Gluten Free

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

Tomato Sauce with Balsamic Vinegar

Tomato Sauce with Balsamic Vinegar

NO: gluten, dairy, nuts, soy

Ingredients:

2 small yellow onions

extra virgin olive oil to saute onions (about 1-2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 can of organic fire roasted tomatoes (14.5 ounces)

Preparation:

Saute onions until translucent and slightly browned. 

Add balsamic vinegar and continue to saute. 

Allow the balsamic vinegar to reduce slightly, to decrease the liquid.

Add the herbs and continue to cook, allowing the herbs to release their aroma.

Add the tomato sauce and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve sauce, warm over rice noodles of choice. Have chocolate rounds for dessert!

We used the fettucini noodles by tinkyada.

You can also enjoy with a side of toasted gluten free bread. We had some tempeh sausage left over from breakfast, and so we crumbled some on top:

My husband made the sausage, and he doesn't measure! We will be sure to make it again and put the recipe up. He made the sauce too, but luckily I was standing there with a pen in hand, making him measure each ingredient! :)

-heather

BBQ Tempeh & Beans

BBQ Tempeh & Beans

NO: gluten, eggs, dairy, nuts

Ingredients:

1 large onion

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

6 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon molasses

1 tablespoon mustard*

1-2 cups of cooked pinto beans

grapeseed oil

salt to taste

Preparation:

Chop onion and saute in grapeseed oil.

When onion is fully cooked and translucent, add crumbled tempeh.

Continue to cook, stirring in tempeh. 

Cook for approximately 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring.

Add pinto beans.

Stir in vinegar, ketchup, mustard and molasses.

Add salt if needed.

Serve warm!

*For mustard, I used organic horseradish mustard by True Natural Taste. You can use mustard of your choice.

-heather

Rice Veggie Rolls with Miso Dill Dressing

Suggested filling for rice wraps:

finely chopped:

scallions

celery

bok choy

dill

grated carrot

thin rice noodles 

Miso Dill Dressing:

1 cup of miso dressing

2-3 teaspoons chopped fresh dill (you can use dried)

1 tablespoon chives dried

I used these products:

Thai Kitchen Thin Rice Noodles
Spring Roll Wrapper

Sophie even got to have one. We found wraps that are made just out of tapioca. Her wraps were filled with bok choy, gluten-free corn noodles, and avocado.

She was pretty excited. These are easy to make and fun to eat! I hope you try them.

enjoy!

-heather

Butternut Squash Soup and Mesquite Corn Cake

Thanks to Vittoria at Deliciously Gluten Free for hosting this month and asking me to join in. I started doing research on what is indigenous to Colorado, since her chosen theme was native food to our area. 

I found out that corn in Colorado can be traced to the ancient Anasazi. They farmed at Mesa Verde in Cortez, Colorado. Corn, along with squash and beans, served as their staple foods (Source: Corn is King in Colorado).

Mesquite grows wildly in Colorado. Native's in the Southwest depended on mesquite. Mesquite provided food, fuel, shelter, weapons, medicine, and cosmetics. As time went on, the dependency on mesquite diminished as refined sugar and wheat flour became staples (Source: Mesquite as a food).

Butternut Squash Soup:

1 medium to large butternut squash (peel with knife and chop into pieces)

2 large yellow onions

3 carrots

1 large potato

4 stalks of celery

1 leek (optional)

Chop veggies, add to a soup pot and sauté in olive oil

Add your preferable amount of Herbamare, salt and black pepper

1 tablespoon dried chives

1 teaspoon fenugreek

2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon cumin seed

Continue to sauté for another few minutes.

Add water to cover 2 inches above vegetables. Cook with lid on. Simmer for about 45 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

Cool soup and then blend until creamy. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Heat and serve topped with chives. This soup is decadently creamy and warms the soul. I hope you try it!

Products I used: Bioforce Herbamare Seasoning

Mesquite Corn Cake: (Adapted from Mesquite Cornbread)

3/4 cup corn meal

3/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour mix

3/8 cup mesquite flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup of coconut milk mixed with 1 tbls. apple cider vinegar (replaces yogurt)

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon maple syrup

3 tablespoons grapeseed oil

4-6 tablespoons of water

1/4 cup rice milk

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and mix wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add egg replacing ingredients to the wet and slowly combine the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing well.

---

egg replacing ingredients: (or use 1 egg)

3 tbls. apple sauce

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. egg replacer

---

Transfer to a 8 X 8 greased glass baking dish (grease with coconut oil or your preferred oil)

Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for approximately 30 minutes or until done.

Mesquite has a somewhat nutty and chocolate like flavor. Its aroma even resembles cocoa. This dish came out almost like chocolate cake. And while it would be good along side the Butternut Squash Soup, it is also fantastic drizzled with blueberry syrup. We made this blueberry syrup for our pancakes and I hadn't anticipated pouring it onto the cake. I don't have the recipe for the syrup exactly, but I can tell you that we basically cooked down organic blueberries with a little bit of maple syrup and apple juice.

Enjoy!

-heather

Swiss Chard Tacos

Swiss chard is an amazing green. One mere cup of swiss chard has over 300% of the daily value of Vitamin K. You also get a hefty dose of Vitamin C to boost your immune system (Source: The World's Healthiest Foods).

8 leaves of swiss chard, roughly chopped

5-8 stems of scallions, chopped

1 small yellow onion, diced

salt to taste

red or black beans (cook 1 cup)

taco shells

garnish with avocado and yellow or red tomato

Sautee the chard and onions in grapeseed or olive oil. Warm the taco shells in the oven or toaster oven. Fill with the swiss chard mix, top with beans and garnish.

These are so good, and so healthy. I hope you try them.

Products I used:

Garden Of Eatin' Taco Shells

Enjoy!

-heather

Red Lentil Coconut Soup

I got the idea for this soup from the Holistic Chef. I used her recipe and changed it a bit to suit my tastes. 

Ingredients:

Coconut oil for sauteing 

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 medium yellow carrots, chopped (you can use orange ones)

3 stems of scallions, chopped

1 3/4 cups red lentils, rinsed well

4 cups of water (or vegetable stock if you prefer)

1 can of coconut milk

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Salt to taste

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium low heat. Add onion and carrot. Saute until onions are soft.

Add lentils, water, coconut milk and salt to the pot. Stir well.

Bring to a boil, stir, reduce heat and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes or until lentils are soft and done. Remove from heat once the lentils are done.

Serve in a bowl with gluten-free biscuits. We made some pumpkin biscuits with Bob's Red Mill GF biscuit mix, adding our own pureed pumpkin. We had this on Labor Day. It was good, and the day was perfect for it too. It was a taste of Fall.

Next up will be my cucumbers that I promised in an earlier post. I am going to be starting another giveaway soon, this time for a gluten-free product. So check back!

-heather

Indian Rice Pilaf

To prepare:

Chop 3 small organic yellow onions

Dice 2 organic carrots and 2 organic celery stems

Chop several basil leaves

Saute carrots, celery and onions in oil of choice. Add basil towards the end.

Rinse and drain 1 cup of organic rice

Soak rice for 15 minutes prior to cooking

I soak my rice for 15 minutes because it cuts down on cooking time, which saves on energy consumption. 

Add cooked rice to the pan with the sauteed vegetables. 

Stir well and add salt to taste. 

Add 1 teaspoon of Garam Masala

Stir well and serve.

Enjoy!

-heather

Pizza with Sauteed Onions in Balsamic Vinegar

This pizza was so good. I am looking forward to making another soon.

My husband made the sauteed onions, which were fantastic. He was going to make his pizza sauce - where he takes the sauteed onions with balsamic vinegar - and blends it to a sauce consistency. But, we were so hungry, that I said let's just pile the onions on the pizza. It was great.

Pizza crust:

A mix by Chebe
Add wet ingredients (as detailed on back of pizza crust bag)

This crust is dairy free.

Sauteed onions:

1 yellow onion and 1 red onion
Sprinkle of salt
about 4 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
Olive oil to sautee in

-heather

Chives and Basil Rice

Some of my favorite things: onions, fresh basil, and chives. This sauce is simple to make but very piquant.

All you need:

1 or 2 cups of rice

Yellow onion

Chives (fresh preferably)

Basil (fresh preferably)

Chop, dice or otherwise slice:

1 Large Onion

7 or so stems of Chives

7 leaves of Basil (fresh from outside your door, if you can!)

Add a generous serving of organic extra-virgin olive oil to a sauce pan.

Add the onions, chives and basil

Sprinkle some himalayan salt (or other)

Saute until onions are translucent but not brown. Serve over organic white or brown rice.

To expand the recipe you can add vegetables of your choice, if you wish. I enjoyed this, however, because I got to relish the taste of basil and onions. Mmmm.

-heather