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Lemony Mint Quinoa

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

mintquinoaQuinoa is just a perfect food for a summertime dish.  Quick, easy, delicious, naturally gluten free and high in protein and fiber…and easy to take along.  Consider me a big fan.  Generally, I’m partial to my Quinoa Italiana or Southwestern Quinoa Salad, but this is the epitome of simple and delish.

This can be easily dressed up or kept basic.  Sauteed garlic is a nice touch, and grated lemon zest works, too.  The mint provides a nice and fresh taste, and I always have much more mint than I can handle!  In the summer, I add in baby tomatoes, in the winter, steamed broccoli is a great compliment and I use thyme instead of mint.  Like all simple recipes, fresh ingredients make all the difference.mint

If you’ve ever grown mint, you know that it’s quite an assertive plant.  It’s an invasive plant, and I planted it in a container to keep it from getting too aggressive.  But it actually grew out of the pot somehow, and has continued on its quest for world (or garden) domination.  Good thing it’s tasty, or we’d have to do battle and I’m afraid it would win.

Lemony Mint Quinoa

1 cup quinoa, toasted
2 cups broth
juice of 1/2 lemon
15 mint leaves, coarsely torn
salt and pepper, to taste
2 cups halved grape tomatoes

Toast quinoa in a dry large skillet over medium heat until it starts smelling toasty and browning a bit (10-15 min). Note: this step can be done in advance or skipped altogether, but it does enhance the yum factor in a big way. Add broth to the pot, bring to a boil and simmer 10-15 minutes or until done. Stir halfway through and add in 1/2 the mint leaves. Squeeze in lemon juice, season with salt and pepper to taste. Add in tomatoes and the rest of the mint leaves when cooled.

This ode to mint is my weekly submission to Weekly Herb Blogging, the brainchild of Kalyn, who passed the torch to Haalo. I’m this week’s happy host!

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Posted in main meal, recipe, weekend herb blogging | 8 Comments »

Yum-e-baby shower

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Sea, of Book of Yum, and her DH expecting a beautiful baby boy. Since it’s quite a trek to CA, a virtual baby shower seems a wee bit more practical. And oh, the dishes everyone is bringing!

gfgobsmackedkoreanpancakesKate of GF Gobsmacked has had a lot of practice welcoming a new one as of late! If you need a smile, check out her blog for pictures of her little sweetheart. She is bringing along her Korean Mung Bean Pancakes. They’re even kid approved, although Sea will have to wait a while until her sweetie is big enough!

appetizersall3Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs is bringing along a variety of appetizers: almond feta cheese and Raw carrot and sunflower seed pate. Not only do they look amazing, but they’re even vegan, and the cheese is soy free, too.

Jenn, of Gluten Free Food Storage is bringing along Lentil Tacos! I don’t have a picture for this one, but it looks like a simple and tasty recipe, perfect for when you’ve got a new baby.

quinoacakeWendy of Celiacs in the House is making sure we get our fill of protein with quinoa cakes. She knows Sea well enough to know that she’ll surely whip up one of her fabulous sauces to go along with it.

garlic-asparagus-quinoaEmily was eager to recreate a quinoa recipe she had in San Diego, and she brings us her Garlic Asparagus Quinoa, which is perfect for Springtime.

choc-orangeCould I really be the only one who brings along dessert? Well, Chocolate Strawberry (or chocolate orange) mini cakes all around!

divHeather of Celiac Family is bringing Raspberry Divinity Tarts that look totally delish. AND her rubber ducky meringues cookies are just beyond cute in my book. Heather, you get points for being super artistic and creative!!!

pumpkin

Angela of Angela’s kitchen sent in a great post for Hanana Banana Bread or mini muffins and even a pumpkin version of the same.  The banana bread was from her baby was little, and she’s got such cute flower shaped versions on her blog header!

Here’s to Sea and new beginnings! Much love as you start out on this exciting new chapter of life.

If by chance I have missed your submission, please send me an email and let me know.

Posted in adopt a gf blogger, appetizers, baked goods, dessert, main meal, recipe, side dish, vegetables | 7 Comments »

Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!

Wednesday, October 29th, 2008

Our fabulous host for this months’ Daring Baker challenge is Rosa of Rosa’s Yummy Yums. Our recipe this month is pizza! I was quite excited. I hadn’t had pizza in a LONG time, maybe 4 years or so, so I figured I was due. I was also determined to do a way that would work for me, and also a way that was semi-faithful to the recipe we were given. I’ve been SO busy lately, since we hosted a big pumpkin carving party last weekend, that this almost didn’t happen. My head GF taster was busy, and it seemed silly to cook a GF pizza for my glutenous DH. But I discovered that another friend has gone GF and was craving pizza, so the dishes are still in the sink as I type away, and this is just under the wire.

The great news is that the pizza challenge (as written) was quite successful! DH and Natalie pretty much inhaled the first one, and the second one vanished as well. Both gave glowing reviews, and DH is picky, so I know I can trust him. I even changed the flours to make it amylose free so I can share it with people that I work with, so I was very glad. It was very simple to make. Since I no longer have a baking stone, I opted to use the back of a cast iron skillet. It’s not the most graceful way to get the job done, but especially if you give it time to heat up, it does help the crust get nice and crispy. You could even pick up a piece and eat it like pizza!

My Cheryl-friendly pizza wasn’t so successful. I made a few attempts at a grain free, vegan and yeast free pizza for me. One was a socca pizza (YUM!) but it got overly soggy. I did, however, eagerly devour every crumb. The other was a vegan/grain free/yeast free foccacia-ish bread I was working on. It looked beautiful, and tasted awful. I finally realized I’d forgotten the lemon juice and the baking soda taste was quite prominent. Whoops! I will surely experiment with both in the future, though.

I did a half batch and used it for 2 pizzas instead of 3 as we were advised. The flour combo I used was 1/2 cup almond, 1/2 cup corn flour, 1/4 cup chestnut, 1/4 cup amaranth flour, 1/4 cup quinoa flour, and 1/2 cup corn starch.
I added herbs and minced onion to the crust, but aside from that, I followed the instructions as given.

What a nice treat to do something different! To see more, lovely pizza creations, check out my fellow Daring Bakers.

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Posted in baked goods, daring bakers, main meal | 16 Comments »

Pesto time!

Saturday, October 18th, 2008

As always, I leave things to the last minute, and this is pretty much the last hurrah for my basil.   I’m just lucky that the weather has cooperated and that my basil is still around!  I love pesto, and it’s just so easy to do.  It’s even better because the basil and garlic are from my garden (the garlic was harvested and roasted months ago).

And, as an added bonus, pesto is part of my sneaky agenda to add vegan meals to the menu without DH noticing.  Pesto is so hearty and filling, especially with a great protein like quinoa, and I think it somehow escaped his attention.  Whenever he notices, he feels the need to compensate by eating a big bowl of ice cream…which entirely defeats the purpose.  He says it’s not intentional, but I don’t buy it.  We had a deal when we married.  I wasn’t moving to Rochester, and he wasn’t going vegetarian.  So far, we’re living in Virginia, and still have a mixed diet.  But that doesn’t stop me from trying to push the envelope.  Ah, the things we do for love…

But onto the pesto!

I make a bunch at a time and freeze it so I can enjoy in the winter. I tend to make a pretty dry paste to freeze, and then just thin out with more olive oil as needed when I’m ready to use it. And there are so many ways to use it! Stir it into quinoa, as above, or use it as a pizza topping. Use it as a dip, pesto your fish….you’re only limited by your imagination!

You may also notice that there’s no cheese in this recipe, since I’m allergic to dairy. You can certainly add in some parm, but between the pine nuts and walnuts, there’s a delightful creaminess and I never miss it.

3 cups packed fresh basil, washed at the last minute
4 cloves roasted garlic (optional)
1 clove raw garlic
1/2 cup olive oil*
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts and walnuts
Big pinch sea salt
good squirt of lemon
1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives (optional)

*more as needed or desired

Toast pine nuts and walnuts over medium heat in a dry skillet, shaking to prevent burning. Set aside.
Process basil, garlic and oil until smooth-ish. Add in salt, nuts and lemon and pulse. I like to leave chunks, but that’s a matter of personal taste!

Since I’ve been missing the “Grow your own” deadlines for a while, I’m reversing the trend and submitting early! The host for this round is Andrea, of Andrea’s Kitchen, who also was the founder of this event.

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Posted in main meal, recipe, weekend herb blogging | 9 Comments »

Menu Plan Monday: Pears

Sunday, October 5th, 2008

I was torn between pears and cinnamon for this week’s menu plan ingredient.  Both are such autumn foods.  I love pears, and their lush, juicy sweetness.  The Farmer’s Market is overflowing with pears, and I plan to make a pear cake this week.  If it works, you’ll hear more.  If not…

Speaking of things that worked and didn’t, I’ve been busy in the kitchen this week.  As I’m now officially grains and sugar (and honey) free until further notice (phooey!!!) I decided not to attempt an apple cake for Rosh Hashana. Instead made agave caramels sauce to dip my apples in.  It was tasty, but not perfect, and I’m still tweaking the recipe.

Ricki, from Diet Dessert and Dogs, is putting out a cookbook soon called Sweet Freedom.  Ricki’s been kind enough to let me be a “recipe tester”, which has been great fun.   Just check out this Gluten Free, sugar free, soy free buttercream frosting… and since it’s vegan, that means no dairy or eggs, either.   Yahoo! I’ll post more about it soon.

We had actual food this week, too, and I posted one of my favorite recipes for tilapia which is quick, easy, healthy, and totally delicious.

Last, but not least, I’ve got raspberries again, so I’ve been working on a raspberry chocolate cream filling, and here’s the latest effort.  I’m still working on getting the creaminess, but oh, it was yummy.

Funny, I didn’t realize how many treats I made this week until now!

Monday

Grillin’
Turkey Garden Burgers
Herb-y grilled red peppers

Tuesday:
Vegan
Basil pesto with quinoa

Wednesday:
Here, fishy fishy
Orange roughy baked in packets with Old Bay spice and peppers from my garden

Thursday
Leftovers!

Friday:
Kalyn’s Grilled Chicken with Rosemary and sage and grilled onions

Saturday:
Vegan
Arugala salad with avocado and pine nuts

Kitchen projects:
Pear skillet cake, a grain free riff on one of my absolute faves, my Nana Skillet Cake
we shall see if it works!
Slow roasted tomatoes

From my garden:
Raspberries. Yes, they’re back!
garlic shoots
peppers
lemongass
tomatoes
basil, thyme, sage, oregano, rosemary

From the market:
apples
pears
kale
tomatoes

One more thing: If you are a US citizen, please GET OUT AND VOTE! Or get out and register. Here in VA, you can vote already. I think we all owe it to ourselves/our family/future generations to get educated and get out there. I’m stepping off my soap box now…

So what’s everyone else having?
Well, Kim of Gluten free is life has a busy week with her children, and so she’s got some quick and easy things planned, and even a breakfast as dinner. I hear talk of snickerdoodles!

Karen of Gluten Free Sox Fan is resolving to get more organized and make her health a bigger priority. Yay Karen! She doesn’t have pears on the menu, but apples are a close enough cousin. She’s going to let us know about her Beef Wellington soon, too.

Sally of Aprovechar graces us with a seasonal, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, and egg-free menu. Since I avoid all of those things too, I’m always a big fan! It looks like she has a busy week of fun outings and delicious foods, and I’m glad to hear of her vegan lasagna success.

Sea of Book of Yum just helped celebrate her DH’s 30th birthday, and she made him a feast! She’s got her veggie pot pie planned for this week, and I’ve been eyeing it for months now. Looks delish!

Manda is on her newly engaged cloud of bliss. Congrats, Manda! I certainly understand, and share, her passion for feeding other people, but I do draw the line at using gluten. She has a fun week of international foods planned.

Let’s give a warm welcome to Lori, of the Gluten free week. She’s got Szechuan peanut noodles with broccoli planned–YUM!!!

Kim at Living free is now officially on the SCD diet and feeling much better. Go Kim! She is working on learning to make yogurt, too.

Ginger joins us, too. She teases me with talk of a pear almond tart, and I hope too hear more, soon! She’s got a lot of locally grown and raised foods on the menu, which is just wonderful. As usual, she checks out a bunch of cookbooks for inspiration.

Sarah at Everyday GF has the double challenge of GF on a budget AND GF on the road. I’m looking forward to seeing her suggestions, and her tomato soup sounds great.

Last but not least we have Angela and her crew over at Angela’s Kitchen. Boy has she got a busy week! The forbidden chicken and the quinoa pilaf both sound great, and she has info on GF coupons, too.

Posted in main meal, menu plan | 13 Comments »

Parchment Tilapia, lazy style

Saturday, October 4th, 2008

The criteria for a good weeknight recipe are: yummy, easy, quick, and main meal and veggie all in one.  This tilapia is all of the above!  I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a long time.  It’s an old standby, perfect for when I’m not going to be home and I can just put everything together quickly and have DH pop it in the oven.  It also makes good use of the lemongrass from my garden, and is perfect for green peppers that just are too harsh tasting to have raw.  I freeze some of the long lemongrass stalks to make this recipe in the winter months.

Lemongrass is used as an herb, but it’s actually a grass. Usually, it’s not eaten and just added for flavor, but if you have tiny pieces in a dish, it’s certainly edible. It’s commonly used in Thai and other East Asian dishes. If you have a cat and intend to grow lemongrass, beware. Not only will they devour the whole darn plant, but then they will regift you with the lemongrass, pre-chewed. Do not ask how I know this.

From a nutritional perspective, tilapia is a wonderful source of omega 3 fatty acids, and garlic and ginger are both fabulous anti-inflammatory herbs.  They also freeze really well, and I chop them when I have the time, and then thaw mini cubes of chopped ginger and garlic when needed.

I used to make fish wrapped in foil, and it takes a heck of a long time to wrap them individually in tilapia and then re-wrap in foil.  There’s a simple solution, though: make one big foil envelope, and save the trouble!

4 tilapia fillets
5 bell peppers, sliced in rounds
2 Thai peppers, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, minced
6-7 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 chopped green onions
4-foot long green outer leaves of lemongrass, finely minced (I’m sure you can use dried, but I never have)
2 Tablespoons oil
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, OR a splash of soy sauce
1.5 tablespoons maple syrup, or 3-4 Tablespoons fruit juice, or a pinch of stevia
sesame seeds (optional)

Line a 9X13 pan with foil, and then also line with parchment paper, if desired.  Put tilapia in the dish.  Combine ginger, garlic, chopped lemongrass, salt, oil and sweetener, stir to combine.  Pour over fish, sprinkle peppers on top.  Cover pan tightly with a second piece of foil and crimp the edges.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until done. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, serve and enjoy.

I’m serving up this tilapia as an ode to lemongrass for this week’s edition of Weekend Herb Blogging, the brainchild of Kalyn’s Kitchen. Our hostess this week is Valentina of Trembom, English Version

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Posted in main meal | 10 Comments »

Salsa-mole

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

I was fully prepared to make guacamole, but there were all of these tomatoes and I was craving salsa, too. Problem solved: salsa-mole.

This made a great, quick, vegan lunch that I enjoyed most thoroughly! If you’re a big fan of cilantro, like I am, you may want to increase it. You can enjoy this on tortilla chips, crackers or just with a spoon. Yum!

Cilantro, or coriander, is a member of the same family as carrots, celery and parsley, and yet the neighborhood rabbits leave it alone. Come to think, they’re not too clever, they rarely munch on my garden. Usually they have grass instead. Hey, I’m not complaining but grass instead of veggies? You must be kidding! Now that the weather is getting cooler, I’ve planted some again and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Many culinary traditions make good use of cilantro, such as in Mexican, Indian and many others. However, there are some misguided people out there that can’t abide the taste or smell. Regretfully, DH is one.

1 avocado, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 heirloom tomato, diced
1/2 sweet pepper, diced
small shallot, finely minced, or a Tablespoon sweet onion
small handful of chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
good squeeze of lime

Add everything together, mix and enjoy!

This is my weekly offering to Weekend Herb Blogging, the baby of Kalyn’s Kitchen. This week’s host is Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once is our host, and that’s a motto that sounds like fun. Her photos are stunning!


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Posted in main meal, recipe, side dish, vegetables, weekend herb blogging | 12 Comments »

Thai-ish Red Curry Paste

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008

Sometimes I choose my menus, sometimes they choose me.  I meant to make red curry paste with my lovely Thai red peppers (shown here while still green!) but kept putting it off.  Then I happened upon galangal at Wegman’s, and it was a done deal.  Ginger is good in a pinch, but galangal is the real deal, and it’s hard to come by around here.

The recipe is an amalgamation of a bunch of recipes, with more than a few twists to accommodate my inherent desire for maximum taste with minimum work.  I didn’t want to bother seeding peppers, so I made up for it by adding in a mild pepper.  I used garlic scapes (frozen from my garden a few months ago) in the recipe because I couldn’t find shallots that looked good and was out of garlic.

The taste was quite delightful, and we had a lovely dish with coconut milk, the paste, of course, and stir fried veggies.  This recipe makes a lot of paste, so I’ve got a bunch in my freezer in ice cube trays to last me much of the winter!

I saw Kalyn’s Entry for “Grow your own” and I knew I had to participate. Especially since our host, Andrea of Andrea’s recipes is actually a neighbor of sorts. I love my garden, and always welcome the chance to show off my goodies. And besides, doesn’t it just taste better if you grow it? So the lemongrass, Thai peppers, garlic scapes and mild peppers are from my very own garden.

20 fresh red Thai peppers (2-3 inch long)
1 heaping Tablespoon of coriander seeds, toasted
2 big fresh lemongrass stalks, 1 or 2 outer leaves discarded
1 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
4 teaspoons galangal
8 fresh or frozen Kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro roots or stems
1 mild or small bell pepper
1/2 cup garlic scapes
5 serrano peppers
2 anchovies* (more traditional is fish sauce or shrimp paste, but due to allergies, those don’t work for me) OR vegan fish sauce OR extra salt and a little soy sauce
1/3 cup of water, or as much as it takes to run the blender.

Toast the coriander seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat for a few minutes.  Put all ingredients in a Vitamix and blend for 2 minutes or until smooth.

If you don’t have a vitamix, regretfully, there’s a lot of chopping, pounding, and grinding in your future.  Pretty much you have to chop everything finely, then toss into a food processor.

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Posted in main meal, menu plan, recipe | 8 Comments »

Minty Chicken

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

Mint was the food of the week for Menu Plan Monday, and so I figured it was a good excuse to make this.  This dish is in our standard rotation, sometimes done with chicken pieces and sometimes with chicken breast, and it’s always delicious and easy.  I use chocolate mint from my garden, which doesn’t even taste remotely like chocolate.  False advertising!  The stevia leaves give a subtle sweetness, but don’t worry, they’re not super sweet like powdered stevia.

Mint tends to be a potent tummy soother, and is a good source of fiber. It’s even got a neat story from Greek mythology about its origins. And, of course, if you grow it, you know that it’s very plentiful and a perennial, so I’m always looking for ways to keep up with my plant.

I enjoy this dish because it’s low carb, quick, easy, and using mint is a nice way to add a little variety. The chicken is yummy on a bed of lettuce with cucumbers and tomatoes, and I also like it with apple. We grilled a few ears of corn to go with it as well. And, of course, what I like most is that DH grills it and I can be lazy. For winter months, we just bake it in the oven.

1.5 cups of mint leaves, loosely packed
6 large stevia leaves
several good squeezes of lemon, or a pinch of unbuffered vitamin C powder
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram leaves
1/4 cup oil
2-3 tablespoons water

Either put everything in the blender or chop the mint leaves and combine. Marinate chicken for 2-3 hours (I tend to do all day for chicken pieces). Drain marinade, grill and enjoy!

This is my weekly “Weekend Herb Blogging” submission, founded by Kalyn’s Kitchen. Our host this week is Divya of Dil Se, a yummy blog chock full of East Indian dishes. I’ve bookmarked it and plan to try some!

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Posted in main meal, weekend herb blogging | 4 Comments »

Garlic Scape Pesto

Friday, June 27th, 2008

My hardneck garlics had scapes a few weeks ago, and now the soft necks are doing their thing. So it’s the perfect time for garden pesto. The scapes and tops are much milder but still have the garlicky zing that I love.

I’ve used both hazelnuts and brazil nuts depending on my mood, and I must say they’re both yummy. I leave the nuts a little chunky, but you can blend, depending on taste. I like it thick. Not A thick sauce does it give flavor, but it keeps the fish from drying out. You use the pesto on pasta, on quinoa, on veggies, or pesto any thick fish. We used halibut, and the leftover sauce went on broccoli, carrots, and (in the interests of honesty) straight into my mouth.

And, of course, you can eliminate the water and do more oil for a more traditional pesto.  But with water it has a fresher taste about it, you’re not missing out at all on the flavor, and of course, it’s a bit kinder to your waistline, too.

1 cup garlic scapes or tops, pushed down
1 3/4 cups fresh parsley, packed down
2/3 cup brazil nuts or hazelnuts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)
squeeze of lemon (optional)
handful of chopped Kalamatas (optional)
sea salt and pepper

Using a food processor, grind nuts very coarsely. Toast at 300 until starting to brown, about 10-15 minutes. Blend parsley, garlic scapes and olive oil, scraping down the sides as needed. Add water (or broth) and other seasonings if desired. Add in nuts and pulse until it is the desired consistency.

Marvelous on veggies, fish, or anything that needs a little jazzing..

This is my submission for weekend herb blogging, which is hosted by none other than the lovely Kalyn herself from Kayln’s Kitchen!  She is also the originator of WHB, and I’m quite grateful, because it encourages me to post about by garden babies.

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Posted in main meal, recipe, weekend herb blogging | 9 Comments »

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