Gluten Free Goodness

I didn’t do a menu plan last week, and I had to do a lot of last minute scrambling.  Lesson learned!  So here’s my plan.

This week’s ingredient is apples!  Thanks to our lovely host M-elle at Cooking and Uncooking. I love apples.  Since I grew up in NY, apples=Mc Intosh.  No negotiation.  I still eat Macs, but find that now I prefer apples better suited to VA.  When I’m in NY, I still love my Macs, though.  The plan is to make a good honey apple cake sometime between now and Rosh Hashana.  Given the whole gluten/dairy/egg/corn/soy/sugar free thing, it make take a few tries to get it right.  We shall see…

Last week I posted a recipe for my lemon poppy seed bread (or muffins), and also the winner for the fun give away I was hosting.  I also went on a baking binge of a sort.  I made some molasses cookies, a peach crisp, 7 layer bars and Karina’s Polenta Pear muffins (yes, I’m allergic to corn, no, they were not for me, and the corn meal I used was pretty icky, which is why they dodn’t turn out well.  The smell was awesome, though.).  Most turned out well, none turned out great, which is why you’re not reading more about them at this point.   And why, may you ask, am I baking like a madwoman?  Well, with my cranky ankle I can’t go out and canvass to register voters at this point, and people are a lot friendlier when you offer them a cookie or a muffin. 

Here’s my darling baby watermelon, too. I do understand that for most people “watermelon” does not usually follow the term “my daring baby” but that’s ok with me. Every year I grow them, every year, only one makes it due to storms, critters, illness, etc.

Monday:
Garden herbs:
Baked chicken breasts marinated in “garden goo” (a garlicky parsley rosemary marinade)
Roasted Asparagus

Tuesday
Vegan
Perfect Guac with crackers, tomatoes and red pepper slices

Wednesday:
East Indian
Coconut curry beef stew with roasted cauliflower and papadams

Thursday:
Home made pesto with quinoa or chicken (for DH)
Sauteed broccoli raab with pine nuts

Friday:
Grillin’
Grilled Buffalo burgers with herb-y peppers

Kitchen projects:

Roasting a gob of tomatoes
Banana mini bites, using Ricki’s recipe for Frosted Banana Bars

Sea’s Chai muffin-letts

Garden harvest:
Watermelon!
Tomatoes
Basil
Thyme, oregano, rosemary, etc.
Celery
Cilantro

From the market:

onions
peaches, last of the season
apples
pears
tomatoes
peppers

Another week, another menu plan.  I enjoy the planning because it helps me mentally organize, but usually, things don’t happen according to plan.  The days switch, something isn’t at the market and it gets bumped back, I opt for leftovers…but almost all of it happens in some form or another.

The past week was a busy one in the kitchen for me.  I made Banana Macadamia Chip cookies and Choco-cocoa clusters for my adoption/adaption of 101 Cookbooks.  I also posted one of my all time favorite recipes, Grilled herbed peppers.  DH got a beautiful birthday cake, which I will post soon…

Long story short, it’s a good time for a simple week in the kitchen.

This week’s food is tomatoes!  It’s a great time of year for them.  I went a little tomato overboard with the Roasted Tomato and Caramelized Onions soup, and I slow roasted a bunch this weekend, too.  Since I’ve been meaning to make Natalie’s Bombay Chicken for quite some time, so that works perfectly.

Monday:
East Indian inspired
Bombay Chicken (with adaptions for dairy, corn and alcohol free)with roasted panch poron cauliflower and papadams

Tuesday:
Vegan:
Steamed broccoli with a Malaysian brazil nut butter sauce

Wednesday:
Easy:
Roast turkey with sauteed fennel and celery in a chestnut sauce

Thursday:
Leftovers for E, tomatoes and avocados for me.

Friday:
Vegan
Quinoa in a lemony thyme broth
Crispy kale Chips

Baked good:

There is currently a chocolate overload in the house (strange as this may sound) There’s a Chocolate orange cake and chocolate covered orange peels, so I’ll be sticking with something savory, most likely Hazelnut flatbreads

From my garden:
Tomatoes
Peppers
Parsley
Thyme
Ground cherries
Garlic (frozen from my garden)

From the market:
Onions
Kale
Fennel

What a busy week of blogging! It’s the deadline for the seasonal veggies version of Go Ahead Honey, it’s GF, and I submitted one of my favorites, Roasted tomato and Caramelized Onion soup. It was also the day to post the latest Daring Baker challenge, which went a wee bit less than perfectly. Earlier this week, I posted a Thai-ish Red Pepper Curry Paste, which has amazing flavor.

I’m happy to host MPM this week, which was originated by Gluten Free Mommy. This week is devoted to one of very favorite foods, peppers. I love peppers, I would say a freshly roasted, marinated red pepper is up there with chocolate on my list of heavenly foods. I’ll be posting my roasted pepper recipe later this week, but the picture above should help to get your mouth watering. About half of the peppers are even from my garden, which makes them even more special to me.

I hope everyone is having a great Labor day weekend! I’m looking forward to a busy week, with my in-laws coming to visit next weekend, too. Both DH and his mom have recently celebrated their birthdays, which calls for a massive chocolate cake. I’ve got a gorgeous one in my head, hopefully it comes out as well as I imagine it. On the main meal front, DH was requesting pork chops, but pork is just way beyond my willingness for flexibility, so as a compromise, I’ll be brining and making lamb chops. I haven’t a clue of what I’m doing, but that’s the best way to learn. We’ll see how that goes

Monday:
Grillin’
Roasted salmon with rosemary and grilled marinated peppers with thyme

Tuesday:
Experimental
Brined lamb chops with plum sauce and broccoli

Weds:
vegan:
Quinoa italiana with broccoli raab

Thursday:
Leftovers!

Friday:Ode to Southeast Asia
Vegan spring rolls, Malasian curry dipping sauce, grilled shrimp (I think), lemongrass iced tea and Thai spiced black pudding for dessert

Saturday:
Out to dinner with a Chocolate cashew cake for dessert. If it’s as good as I hope, I will post a recipe.

Baked good:
Chocolate cashew cake
Banana chip cookies (modified to be gluten, dairy, egg, corn, soy, and sugar free and vegan)

Garden Harvest:
My garden:
Peppers
tomatoes
lemongrass
ground cherries
thyme
rosemary
stevia
basil

From the Farmer’s market:
more peppers
plums
apples
cabbage
garlic

Manda of Asparagus Thin is settling into her new surroundings, and trying to juggle different food preferences, work schedules and the like. On the up side, she’s now got amazing Farmer’s Markets nearby! There may be a peppermint/peach cupcake in the lineup, which certainly has me curious.

Kimberly, of Cooking Free, is working on adding more animal protein back in her diet, and dealing with her daughter’s rice and corn intolerance. Maybe she’ll share her acorn squash stuffed quinoa recipe with us if we’re lucky!

Sarah at Everyday GF is joining us with a fun and thrifty menu plan. She’s got salsa chicken on the menu, and some thoughts on the history of Labor day.

Karen, of Gluten Free Sox Fan is starting a new job tomorrow. Best of luck, Karen! She’s got a good bit of grilling planned, and a triple chocolate cheese cake. Wow.

Angela is ready for the week, but having more trouble with how big her kids are getting. Time files…She’s got a lovely sounding menu, including a lot of garden fresh produce, like watermelon and corn. Quite honestly, her “to do” list for housekeeping chores makes me feel guilty for being such a slouch!

Kim at Gluten Free is Life has a yummy menu and some luscious pizza pictures to get me drooling. She’s a big pumpkin fan, and will soon start baking pumpkin everything. She had a great experience where someone actually knew what Celiac Disease is! (wow)

Ginger, of Fresh Ginger, has a range of global cuisine planned. She’s also got a lot of peppers on the menu. She’s been making her way through cookbooks at the library, and it shows!

Kate, of GF Gobsmacked is gracing us with a healthy lunch menu plan for a busy week! She’s a teacher and so this will be a bit of an adjustment. Her apple crisp sounds super yum.

I’ve also just put up my September GF newsletter on breakfast.

Have a great week!

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.

This is huge for me.  I loathed eggplant as a kid.  My family loved it, and as any of you who have kids (or have been a kid) know, the more someone pushes you to eat something, the more you detest it.   Eggplant and okra were the only veggies that I refused to eat because of taste.  However, our fine host for MPM this week, Fresh Ginger, has chosen eggplant as the ingredient of the week.  I felt like this was a good opportunity to reevaluate my (lack of) relationship with eggplant.  I’ll keep you posted.

BTW, I’m also giving away some fun stuff (Larabars, Salba, cookies, etc)

Monday:
Out for a belated celebration of DH’s 30th B-day.  Here’s a picture of his birthday chocolate cashew mini-tart (gluten free, of course).  He’s eating it as I type and hasn’t paused yet.  I assume that means it’s good.

Tuesday:
Millet-thyme crusted turkey cutlets (didn’t get to them last week!)
roasted eggplant with thyme

Weds:
Vegan
Tomato soup with caramelized onions and cashew cream (will post later this week for this edition of GAHIGF), focusing on seasonal veggies

Thursday:
Grillin’
Salmon and roasted marinated peppers

Friday:
East indian
Beef curry, papadams and caramelized cabbage with chaat masala

Baked good of the week:

Caramel-y quinoa cookies
Rosemary cake (maybe)

From my garden:

Peppers!
tomatoes
basil
ground cherries
thyme
oregano
rosemary

From the market:

cabbage
eggplant
arugula
onions
more tomatoes

Really, I’m in awe of my garden.  It starts so small and by August I have a jungle overrunning the bounds of the garden plot!  I still am learning about proper care, and much of the bounty is due to the nice rainy summer we’ve had.  At this point, I’m growing tomatoes, peppers, artichokes, watermelon, ground cherries, celery and a gob of herbs and a few berries. But isn’t it just lovely to see something go from a seed to something luscious you can eat?

DH is heading out of town part of the week, which frees me to play a bit more. I go through periods where I need more protein, and others where it doesn’t seem to matter. Lately, I’ve felt great when eating vegan, so I’m leaning that way when possible while balancing family harmony and time.

This week’s menu swap is hosted by Mary Francis of GF Cooking School.  Thanks for hosting!

Monday:
Vegan:
My favorite arugala salad (I will probably post the recipe sooner or later!)
Oven roasted tomatoes

Tuesday:
Vegan
Kalyn’s Summertime the Tomato salad (minus the tuna)

Wednesday:
Quick and easy
Millet crusted turkey cutlets with thyme, steamed artichokes in a lemony sauce

Thursday:
Freezer diving (vegan):
African Inspired Almond Collard stew

Friday:
Grillin’
Buffalo burgers with marinated peppers from my garden!

Saturday:
Vegan/batch cooking
Tomato soup with caramelized onions

Baked good: this month’s Daring Baker challenge
and I also just finished making
David Lebovitz’ Chocolate Idiot cake with Valrona shavings (GF, but NOT dairy or egg free…birthday cake for a friend)

I’m also working on GF, vegan, yeast free, sugar free hamburger buns/rolls. They’re getting better, but are not ready for prime time yet…

Garden harvest:

From my garden:
Red and green peppers
ground cherries
tomatoes
thyme
rosemary
oregano

From the market:

plums
peaches
apples
arugala
corn (for DH)

Cat says: Lizard watching is better than the Olympics.  To each his own…

This week is hosted by Wheatstate Celiac and the food is tofu.  Since I’m allergic, it’s not on the menu.

I have an un-plan for this week. I’ve had more and more stomach discomfort for the past week, and no matter what I ate, my stomach would hurt or I’d get nauseous. This happens on and off, usually with stress, and generally it goes away after a few weeks.  And yes, I’ve done the conventional doc and alternative medicine route.  Then I had one of those light bulb moments. Why, exactly, am I continuing to eat when it causes discomfort? So I fasted for most of day, and now am having blended veggies, coconut water and broth and I must say, my GI tract is much, much happier. I can’t believe that in the last 4 or 5 years that never occurred to me before!  I do make a point of eating mindfully, but usually, I feel that *of course* I have to eat. But now I’m leaving it up to my body for the next few days. I am feeling better and so I will probably start more typical food soon, but I’m making a point to plan NOT to plan. It feels really liberating to not have to follow any rules about making something because it’s dinnertime. Fortunately, DH is out of town, so I’m free to eat as strangely as I please.  It’s not in any way a long term solution, but it’s nice to find another way of approaching the situation.

But since DH is away, I hope I’ll be making some of the things that he’s not really a fan of in his absence:

• Broccoli raab with sauteed garlic and pine nuts
• Seared tuna steak with caramelized onions

I’ll also be doing a remake of Ricki’s Spicy Cauliflower soup for Adopt a GF blogger, since my camera ate the last round of pictures.  At least someone in this house currently has a healthy appetite!

So instead of a real meal plan, feast on a roundup of GF news.  As a dietitian and someone who is GF, I’m always immersed in the GF world of events.

News:

There’s new research by Dr. Fasano on where and how gluten causes damage in the intestines of people with Celiac Disease. Here’s an article summarizing the findings.

There’s also an interview from one of the top Celiac docs on the differences between CD and Gluten intolerance

The rules, they are a changin’

In the past, traveling abroad poses some challenges, since many countries follow guidelines known as the Codex Alimentarius, which defines under 200ppm as gluten free (most experts in this country recommend under 20 ppm). However, it’s been reported that they’ve decided to lower their limit to 20 ppm.

Canada has become more proactive as well, and has announced new proposed regulations that all gluten sources must be labeled.

Speaking of the new limit, the official ruling on what can, and can’t, be labeled GF in the US is due out in August, 2008, so stay tuned! However, unlike Canada and abroad, in the US the new ruling is ONLY voluntary. Essentially, if a company wants to label something as GF, they must comply with the rules, but most of our food supply will still not be required to have gluten information on the label.

Local Events:

The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NCFA) is hosting a special Celiac Awareness Night on Saturday, August 16th for a game against the Colorado Rockies.

Products, etc.

Triumph Dining is giving away their dining cards. But it gets even better! If enough people take them up on it, they’ll donate to a Celiac related charity.

Good news for multi-allergic chocolate lovers! Enjoy life has new gluten/dairy/soy/nut free chocolate bars that will be at Whole Foods in August. There’s even a crispy rice bar!

Heartland’s finest has closed!  If you are a fan of their pasta or Cereos, you’ll have to act quickly to stock up.  Allergygrocer has some in stock, and you may be able to find in other places, too.

Recipe and info round-up:

We’re seeing GF recipes in the mainstream more and more! Emeril had a recent episode, with recipes that are gluten free, dairy free, egg free and nut free! The included a brownie, wraps and more.

And, of course, Adopt a GF blogger for July is coming to a close, so please send me your pictures and links.

Gluten Free Mommy is the generous hostess and, of course, the originator, of this weeks’ Menu Plan Monday. It’s a mint flavored week!  Not only do I have “normal” mint in the line up,  but I can’t see going through a week without other kinds of mint, like thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc.

Also, if you haven’t already, please consider joining the fun and participating in this months’ Adopt a GF Blogger, which is now through Aug 11th.

Monday:

Grillin’ Rosemary Salmon with grilled marinated peppers

Tuesday:
Quick and easy:
Baked turkey cutlets in a tomato basil sauce with roasted asparagus

Weds:
More grillin’
Grilled mint-stevia chicken with roasted corn (for DH) and broccoli for me (I will post this recipe if anyone is interested)

Thursday:
Vegan:
Southwestern Quinoa and black bean salad, featuring my very own tomatoes

Friday:

Leftovers =)

Saturday:

East Indian
Beef and coconut curry with Spicy Cauliflower soup (my adoption of Diet, Dessert and Dogs) and maybe even papadams, if I get some energy!

Garden harvest:

From my garden:
Ground cherries
green peppers
garlic
Chocolate mint!
tomatoes
basil
rosemary
stevia

From the Farmer’s Market:
Peaches
Apricots
Cabbage
Summer onions (very yummy)
Red peppers

Dessertof the week:
some variant on chocolate cherry pudding, and possibly something else. I have been a baking fool lately, but most of my endeavors have fallen a little flat (no pun intended)

This week’s ingredient is coconut. Yay! I LOVE coconut, particularly young coconut water. I have a Latino grocery store nearby, and they sell inexpensive coconuts, so they’re often in my cooking. Not only is there coconut in the super yummy secret dessert I’ll be posting for Daring Bakers soon, but there’s also coconut milk in my UNCOOKING recipe AND the coconut curry. Our host this week is M-elle of Cooking and Uncooking.

Speaking of which, you have until July 31st to post your “Uncooked” recipe for Go Ahead Honey, It’s GF (details here). I haven’t posted mine yet, because I made something that sounded like it would be awesome….and it was *okay*. I don’t like posting “eh” recipes, so I’ll be giving it another shot on Tues (fingers crossed).

AND I’m also hosting Adopt a GF blogger. Claim a blog now and post between July 28 - Aug 11!

Monday:
Thai style
Turkey cutlets in a coconut curry sauce, probably with bok choy, broccoli and carrots

Tuesday:
Vegan delight:
Quinoa Italiana (quinoa with tomatoes, kalamata olives, basil and more!) with broccoli raab and sauteed garlic
Uncooking: Peach ice cream! a dairy free delight.

Wednesday:
Here fishy fishy:
Tilapia baked in parchment with a ginger sauce with TBD veggie

Thursday:
East Indian inspired:
Roasted garam masala chicken with roasted cauliflower with cumin seeds and papadams

Friday:
Some kind of leftovers. TGIF!!

Garden harvest:
From my garden:
GARLIC!
Thai hot peppers
tomatoes
ground cherries
green peppers
blueberries
raspberries (maybe)

From the market:
Peaches!
cherries
onions
cabbage

I love peaches so much that I actually got a peach tree for my birthday last year. This was her first year, so she only had 3 peaches, largely due to my own ignorance in how to care for peach trees. But either way, peaches are the ingredient of the week from the MPM swap, hosted by Natalie at Gluten Free Mommy.

I will have to stick with “plain” peaches, (as if there is such a thing!) since I already went food shopping and we’re heading out of town half way through the week for a conference in Boulder. It seems that Boulder is very GF friendly and I am crossing my fingers and hoping that the stars align and that I get yummy safe food.

Also, this is the Adopt a GF Blogger headquarters for July, AND I am the hostess of Go Ahead Honey, it’s GF–Uncooking edition.

Monday:
Grillin’
Moroccan Kebabs with sweet onions skewers for me and roasted corn (for DH)

Tuesday:
Vegan
Quinoa with a lemony thyme sauce,pine nuts and broccoli and a side of avocado

Wednesday:
Plain and simple:
Roasted turkey with celery in a chestnut sauce
Sauteed onions, garlic and green peppers–my newest obsession

Thursday:
Travel food
Something from my freezer
Canned tuna and carrots and whatever else I can find!

Friday:
Out to dinner

Garden roundup:

From my garden
Tomatoes
garlic
ground cherries
raspberries
blueberries
green peppers
parsley
basil, oregano, thyme, etc.

From the market:
Onions
cherries
peaches
broccoli
cabbage

Baked good of the week:
I made a “whole foods” version of Nanaimo bars, and those will keep me all week, for sure! I’ll post the recipe soon.
Dried cherries: I’m putting my dehydrator to work, which is very new for me.