Gluten Free Goodness

Manda of Asparagus Thin is our kind hostess this week, and her food of choice is rice.  Rice is such a versitile food, and probably the mainstay of most GF diets.  Most regretfully, I’m quite sensitive to rice.   Despite my repeated requests, my body is quite insistent that rice stays on my “to avoid” list.  But I have posted my favorite rice recipe from the past…and hopefully future, Spiced Forbidden Rice pudding.

This isn’t a glamorous, snazzy menu, it’s much more one of those utilitarian, how do I get by kind of weeks.  I get the joy of a colonoscopy, and thus will be on a liquid diet Thursday and Friday and no nuts OR seeds between now and then.  I can’t say I’m looking forward to any of it, but I did make a ginormous vat of turkey broth for the occasion.

Monday:
Sea’s Chickpea and Spinach Curry

Tuesday:
Tuna in lettuce cups with avocado
Roasted Red peppers

Weds:
Chinese 5 spice chicken with broccoli

Thursday:
Coconut water and turkey broth

Friday:
Coconut water and turkey broth

Baked good of the week:
I’ve been experimenting with a dairy free frozen almond mousse…and hopefully will revisit the crackers, too.

Many thanks to Elizabeth at Weird and Surprisingly Good for choosing Latin foods as our weekly theme! Love it. I’m assuming we’re including all of Central and South America.

Quinoa, a Peruvian grain, is always a staple in my diet because it’s such a great source of vegetarian protein and fiber (and super yummy!). And cassava crackers, or Casabi, are from the Dominican Republic and just about perfect for someone who is allergic to most things because the ingredients are…cassava. Too bad they’re so hard to find in the US now.

And, of course, this is a perfect opportunity to make Jude’s Braised Chicken with Ancho Chilis because I’ve been eying it for ages!

Last week was a tasty one. I made a chocolate sweet potato cake which had great consistency…but still had a slight funky taste, so it needs more work. My new project is also perfecting crackers, because I’m a woman on a mission.

Monday:
Vegan
Quinoa Black Bean Salad with avocado

Tuesday

Coconut curried collardswith turkey

Weds:
Chicken with Ancho Chili Sauce

Thursday:
Sea’s Spinach Chickpea Curry

Friday:
Avocado and Tomato soup

Baked goods:
Chickpea crackers

Something chocolate =)

Nuts happen to be among my favorite foods, so I am very glad that Sea of Book of Yum has chosen them as this week’s ingredient.   There’s so much you can do with them, and they add such great flavor (and nutrition!) to any dish. Almost all of my baked goods contain nuts, from Brazil nut butter brownies to Macadamia nut cookies and they’re pretty much a daily snack.  In fact, I made hazelnut butter this weekend, and am using a Nutella like concoction to bribe me to finish my taxes. The nut butter will probably be devoured before I finish this post, but the taxes…well, that’ll take a heck of a lot longer

Last week was a tasty one, with black bean brownies from Sally (more details to come from her soon, I’m sure!) and, in honor of National Nutrition Month, I posted on how much I love my job as a nutritionist!

Monday:

Gumbo (with a quinoa flour roux) with cornbread

Tuesday:
Slow cooker beef in a tomato fennel herb sauce with crispy crackers (featuring brazil nuts)

Weds:
Ginger Cinnamon Turkey and roasted cauliflower with cumin seeds

Thursday:
Leftovers

Friday:
Avocado and Tomato soup with cashew creme

Baked goods:
I’ve been thinking about a chocolate sweet potato cake for a good long time. I am so curious to see how/if it’ll work! And it contains hazelnut meal so it should fit well with the nut theme

We’re having a free for all this week, since I didn’t post an ingredient earlier. Since it’s one of my favorites, let’s say the magic ingredient is garlic, because that’s an easy one to work in! If you’d like to host future weeks, please do drop me a line!

Last week was a tasty one, and I posted Curried Coconut Greens and made a tweaked version of my Nana Skillet Bread, too. As a treat to DH, I made a few mini chocolate hazelnut cakes (AKA Erik’s Cake) I will post the recipe soon, and shrimp scampi was even on the menu! What can I say, I’ve missed playing in the kitchen and enjoyed playing again.

Monday:
Grillin’
Chicken in green goo (a parsley/garlic/rosemary marinade) with grilled peppers

Tuesday:
Vegan
Southwestern Quinoa with avocado

Wednesday:
Baked thyme salmon and roasted asparagus

Thursday:
Vegan
Malaysian Sunflower Curry with broccoli

Friday:
“breaded” Turkey cutlets and celery in chestnut sauce

Dessert:
Chocolate coconut “pudding”

And everyone else?
Sea shares a creamy pasta dish with a lovely looking tahini and basil sauce, and there’s a great East Indian Chili on the menu that looks great, too!

Kim at Gluten Free is Life says she has a simple menu plan, but don’t believe her! Butterscotch brownies? Carob fudge? if that’s being a slacker, I’m not sure where that leaves me!!

Wendy at Celiacs in the house makes good use of garlic this week, and has some great crockpot dishes on the menu. But what really caught my eye is her Kale pizza…hopefully we hear more!

Elizabeth and Weird and surprisingly good is focusing on getting more protein while staying on an allergen free menu. She’s got Catfish chowder in the works, and it sounds yummy.

Elizabeth at A Modern Gal has a great looking, vegan recipe for Banana Oat Bars.  She’s also got a bunch of nice looking bean dishes in the line up, and plans to try tempeh.

Last but certainly not least, we have a Gluten free and vegan menu from In My Box.  Not only is she hosting Sugar High Fridays this week, but she’s got a bunch of Moosewood recipes in the lineup, too.  Seems like everyone is having black eyed peas this week!

We’ve gone a little exotic this week with our theme, “Umami”, as chosen by Asparagus Thin. And who doesn’t love savory goodness?  We had a great quinoa dish with kalamatas this weekend, and I’m hoping to work in some stock next weekend to celebrate.  I can’t wait to see what others do!

This week will be a busy one, so I’ll be focusing on what I can do easily.  But I’m also hoping to return to baking this weekend with totally decadent vegan brownies that are just amazing.  I had quite a few bouts of the stomach flu over the last few weeks and now I’m supposed to gain some weight.  What can I say, the brownies should help!

Oh, and last call for the healthy recipe contest! There are really some amazing prizes donated, like a $75 tote from BRM, Carol Fenster’s new book, etc.

Monday:

Beef coconut curry with collards

Tuesday:
Turkey with celery in a chestnut sauce and cornbread for my DH
Rhubarb ginger compote

Weds:
Avocado and tomato soup with caramelized onions (last jar…sniff sniff!)

Thursday:
Thyme salmon with roasted mini peppers

Friday
Chicken in a parsley/garlic marinade with broccoli

Saturday:
Turkey soup!

Baked good:
Decadent brownies
Sweet potato cornbread–it didn’t happen last week, but DH really deserves a treat. Fingers crossed.

Have a great week!

Ah, comfort foods, what a fabulous choice in the winter months.  Or any months, really.  This week the gluten free Menu swap is hosted by Celiacs in the House and I love her food selection!  To me, comfort food is soup.  Or chocolate. Chili?  Anything warm, really.  But I know for my DH, it’s cornbread, and so I’ll do my best to work that into the rotation this week.

I’m still getting back in to the swing of functioning, so it’ll be a basic week:

Monday:
Salmon with a lemony thyme sauce for me/ Asian ginger marinade for DH with broccoli

Tuesday:
Chicken with arugula pesto

Weds:
Tomato soup (from my freezer) and avocado

Thursday:
Nightshade stew

Friday:
Chicken in a coconut/garam masala sauce and Cumin roasted cauliflower

Saturday:
Teaching a GF and healthy class and making Garlicky quinoa with broccoli

Baked goods:
Sweet potato cornbread (maybe)
Chocolate covered strawberries–I’m delayed from V-day

This week’s theme is pineapple, and boy am I excited!  I do try to eat locally grown foods, but some things are too good to give up, and besides, that’s hard during the winter months.  Perhaps that means I should move to somewhere like Hawaii and to get a year round pineapple fix.  In addition to being thoroughly yummy, pineapples are a great source of manganese, Vitamin C, and fiber.

I generally have pineapple plain, because really, can you get any better than fresh pineapple?  I do use them in baking, such as in these Carrot Muffin Cakes, and sometimes use it as a tenderizer for chicken, too.  I’d love to see how everyone else uses pineapple!

Monday:

Homemade chicken veggie soup

Tuesday:
Quinoa with arugula pesto

Weds:
Baked salmon and roasted peppers
Pineapple for dessert!

Thursday:
Garam Masala chicken with roasted cauliflower and papadams (or dal and papadams from the freezer if I’m feeling super lazy)

Friday:
Leftovers?

Baked good of the week:
to be honest, I haven’t been feeling that well and so I haven’t been doing much baking myself. DH has requested a cake, so who knows what will happen. A chocolate orange cake could be in the forecast.

Fun stuff:

Just an FYI, I’m hosting a healthy recipe contest, so if you’re interested in submitting a recipe and winning some fun prizes, go on over and check it out! Due to the cost of shipping, winners must be in the US or Canada (sorry!)

Now, what about everyone else?

Book of Yum graces us with an international menu, of course, but with a twist from our very own back yards (more or less)…sweet potato biscuits. She’s promised us a veganized version in the future, and I for one can’t wait!

Fresh Ginger joins us with a local menu, as usual.  Her Moroccan chicken looks amazing, and mac and cheese…really, do you need to say more?

Asparagus Thin has a very cute Superbowl commercial on her page, and she teases us with mention of a breakfast pineapple curry, too.

Thrifty GF mom joins us through the cold and snow.  She’s got a Kale Potato soup on the menu, and maple salmon, too.  Sounds healthy and delish, too!

Esther of Lilac Kitchen has been hit by the weather, too.  She shares her “best stir fry ever”, which is quite a title to live up to!  And the pineapple upside down cake sounds worth trekking across the pond.

Sorry it took so long to get the posts up.  My internet was down much of the day.

I got Manda's email saying that this week's food was licorice as I was eating bunch of sauteed fennel. If I had realized, I would have waited! I didn't want to repeat it again this week, so I will do my best to make anise flavored cookies (fingers crossed!!). If not, there IS some fennel in the garam masala, although I do understand that's pushing it a bit.

I really love the flavor of licorice, and you can buy a wide range of GF licorices. Yum!

Never in my life did I think I’d say this, but here goes…for a millisecond, I wished I lived in Toronto. For someone like me who hates the cold, that’s beyond Why, you may ask? Because Ricki is giving away home baked goodies from her new cookbook, but only to locals. Those further out may have to
“settle” for Ritter sport bars.
Monday:
Garam Masala chicken and Gingery Soup

Tuesday:
vegan
Crunchy and Creamy Beans and greens (for the monthly Adopt a GF Blogger event)

Weds:
quick and easy…
Turkey cutlets in tomato sauce with steamed broccoli

Thursday:
vegan
Quinoa with arugula winter pesto

Friday:
I dunno…leftovers?

Baked good:
I will definitely be making the Daring Baker challenge (but alas, not for me…making it vegan/grain/sugar free seems to be way too hard)
Anise cookies (maybe)