Gluten Free Goodness

I’m a pretty free spirited gardener. So when I plant things, (like onions for example) I don’t label them because I can tell the difference between carrots and onions, right? I also (apparently) tend to forget what I planted from season to season. So when these big plants came up, I thought, great! Garlic. I’ve never seen them so big. Awesome!

Then I went groping around, and realized there was no bulb. I know, where are my manners. And then I thought, oh no! A bed of leeks. I don’t even like leeks that much! And then when I pulled them up, there was a bulb, and they looked just like spring onions at the Farmer’s Market. Here’s a pic.

It’s important to me to find something exciting to do with everything from my garden. And so I tried them creamed, and the results were a little boring. Then I figured, I really can’t go wrong roasting, I think the only veggie I haven’t ever roasted is rhubarb.

And so I did. The results were good, not great. Yet when I cut them open, bulbs looked strangely like garlic…because they were. Hard and soft neck garlic really don’t look much alike, and that really threw me All I have to say is that vampires ran at my approach for a few days.

But I did have spring onions, too, and I roasted them on the second round. They are absolutely, plate-lickingly, sugary sweet and delicious when roasted. Next year, I think I’ll only be planting spring onions.

So the moral of the story is that spring onions are, indeed, yummy when roasted, and time spent labeling is probably a good idea. I figured I’d share these pearls of knowledge with Weekend Herb Blogging, the brainchild of Kalyn’s Kitchen. Our kind host this week is
Joanna, of Joanna’s Food.

Oh…and if you’re a garden lover, please check out my “Cute Fruit” round-up. for what’s growing this week.
Roasted Spring Onions

6-8 spring onions
2-3 tablespoons oil
sea salt and pepper, to taste

Line a rimmed cookie sheet or 9X13 pan with parchment paper. Trim the spring onions, leaving 4 or 5 inches of the green parts if desired. Coat onions with oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 350, turning every 15 minutes or so, until well browned and oozing yummy juices.

Very simple, but very yum.
Enjoy!

Rhubarb is one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss it foods. It’s really only in season the tail end of April through middle May, although I occasionally see it at the Farmer’s Markets in the fall. And I’m so jazzed that I saw it so many places at the market this weekend, because last year I couldn’t find it anywhere!

So here’s my ode to rhubarb. In my humble opinion, there’s nothing quite like it. I love the tart tanginess, the crimson color, and how it often cooks down to an unreal looking pink. It’s a fruit, but unlike most fruits, it’s very low glycemic (i.e. doesn’t affect blood sugars much).

You know when you think about lemons and your lips start to pucker? I could feel the same thing happening when I was cooking the rhubarb–you can almost smell the sour. This bunch cooked up more a yellowy-green color, as you can see in the picture. It must be another variety of rhubarb that is pink. And I’ll have to get my hands on some more, because I gobbled it all down and didn’t share with my husband.

You can, of course, add gobs of sugar to rhubarb and put it in a pie, or mix some into a strawberry pie. But I like making it simple and cooking the rhubarb down to a compote.

4-5 big stalks rhubarb
1/2 cup pineapple or chopped apple
sweetener, to taste

optional add ins: crystalized ginger, powdered ginger, cinnamon, etc.

Trim edges and leaves, discard. Slice rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces (the smaller the pieces, the quicker it goes).

Combine 1/2 cup of frozen pineapple pieces or chopped apple. Add rhubarb and cook over medium heat. Cover partway, and stir every 2-3 minutes until the rhubarb dissolves.

Sweeten with a pinch of stevia, agave, or sugar.

This freezes very well, because it’s mush! Freezing is not going to change that any.

This tribute to rhubarb will be submitted to Weekend Herb Blogging, which was started by Kalyn’s Kitchen. This week’s host is Gay at A Scientist in the Kitchen

~from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008. Please do not replicate without crediting/permission.

At a glance, charoset is a brown, unappealing looking dish served at Passover to commemorate the bricks and mortar of slaves. But looks are deceiving, it’s actually a super yummy apple/cinnamon/walnut/wine sweet combo that disappears within minutes at every Seder I’ve been at.

For starters, wine is out for me, as is grape juice, as I can’t do grapes or anything fermented. So I got a little creative, and used pomegranate instead. I think apricots would be a wonderful addition, but didn’t have any on hand. Next time!

2 mildly tart apples, cored (I like Macintosh)
1/2 cups walnuts
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon or more, to taste
3 Tablespoons succant or sugar (or 3 T agave nectar, if you’re not strictly following Kosher for Passover guidelines)
a pinch cardamom
a pinch stevia (or you can add sugar to taste)
3/4 cup pomegranate juice

Simmer the pomegranate juice over low heat until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Do keep an eye on it, as it seems to disappear to nothing at the end!

Chop apples coarsely and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times. Add all ingredients except reduced pom juice and pulse until you have small chunks of everything. Add the thickened juice and stir. Add sugar and or spices to taste.

It doesn’t taste the same, but it IS delicious in its own right. It’s even better after sitting overnight.

The first night Seder, I had
Turkey vegetable soup
Roasted cauliflower with garlic
Roast turkey
Mock Matzo from GF Bay. It was quite tasty, but I needed much less water.
Charoset (see above)
and chocolate chips for dessert.

I will have the Tropical bananas for dessert next time.

Some people call them spring rolls, some people call them summer rolls. Either way, they’re yummy and surprisingly easy to make, once you get the hang of them.

They’re totally customizable, depending on what you like and what’s around in the fridge. You can put the sauce in the roll, or do the dipping thing.

I’ve gone for a veg/vegan roll because a) I like sneaking more veggies into unsuspecting husband and b) I’d rather avoid the fuss of precooking non-veggie stuff. But you can always add in cooked shrimp, chicken, rice noodles or whatever strikes your fancy.

Go for the 8 or 9 inch rice paper rounds. I’ve seen them at Whole Foods and Asian markets. I’ve never seen one with gluten, but check the label just in case. The 5 inch are way too small, and you could wrap a small dog in the big ones. Massive overkill, I think.

You can premix your “filler” veggies, which is easier, unless you have a picky person who doesn’t like one of the ingredients. In our house, that’s DH who doesn’t like cilantro. I know, hard to believe, but somehow, I love him anyhow.

These are great party foods and can be made ahead of time. Just wrap these babies up in wax paper and put them in a sealed baggie with a moist paper towel.

Ingredients:
12 lettuce leaves
2 cups shredded carrots
about 1/3 napa cabbage, sliced very thinly
1/2 yellow, red or orange pepper, sliced thinly
1 cup bean sprouts
1/3 cup mint leaves
1/3 cup cilantro or basil
15 rice paper wraps (a few extra in case of mistakes)

So here’s the general idea:
Have a large dish of warm water and all of your veggies arranged. Put the rice paper in warm water. Grab a piece of lettuce. Fish out your rice paper and arrange it on the plate. Put down the lettuce leaf and a small handful of the “filler” veggies. Roll up! If the paper rips, you can double wrap.

It takes a few tries to get the hang of it, and often less is more. Don’t overstuff! For a crash course, you can always come to my GF and healthy class in Alexandria, VA.

Serve with Thai dipping sauce or peanut sauce. I’ll post a soy free almond sauce recipe I use when I figure out what I put in it. It’s based on a modified recipe from the Spice and Herb Bible, one of my favorite reference books.
Book of Yum has a peanut agave sauce that looks intriguing, too.

These are my finger food entry for April’s “Go ahead, honey, it’s gluten free!” as hosted by Glutenagogo

from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008

Someone mentioned going on a nightshade free diet (i.e. avoiding potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, etc.) and I got to thinking about my favorite potato-like veggie: celery root, or celeriac.

This bizarre looking vegetable has a mild, celery like flavor and is delicious roasted with a little oil and thyme. As with many things, its beauty lies within… Just cut off all of the dirty/hairy looking stuff, then cut into 1 inch cubes, toss with fresh or dried thyme and a little sea salt and oil at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

Personally, I think celeriac is much tastier than potato and has a much more complex flavor. It’s certainly much healthier and lower glycemic. It works well in many soup recipes as a faux-tato, but is a winner on its own, too. Whenever I roast it, I freeze a cup or two for use in last minute soups, like this one.

2 cups GF chicken or veggie broth (I like Pacific brand)
1/2 cup thyme roasted celeriac
1/2 cup steamed broccoli (fresh or frozen)
a pinch of dried thyme, or a sprig of fresh thyme

Heat broth and celeriac on the stovetop or in the microwave. Blend 2 cups broth and celeriac on high until creamy (4-5 min unless you have a vitamix). Add a pinch of dried thyme, to taste. Add in broccoli and pulse, leaving chunks if desired.

Serves 4 as a starter.

As an added bonus, I submitted this to Susan from the Well Seasoned Cook as part of my first foray into the Weekend Herb Blogger (WHB) event. They have lovely recipe roundups with all sorts of creative veggie and herb recipes.

from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008

Ok, I know there’s nothing Italian about quinoa, but boy, does quinoa go well with traditional Italian flavors like tomato, basil and pine nuts. I’ve enjoyed quinoa for years, but usually did it with a southwestern twist. But I wanted to do something totally different, and use familiar flavors to introduce quinoa to the uninitiated…and it worked!

Toasting the quinoa is key. It takes a while (15 min or so) over medium heat in a dry skillet, but most of the time you’re ignoring it and free to do whatever else. It really helps the nutty flavor of quinoa shine. You can toast it ahead of time and keep in a jar for a month or so.

Raw pine nuts are delicious, but roasted…they’re a symphony.

I played with using half regular quinoa, and half of the Inca Red quinoa. And it looked lovely! But the regular quinoa cooked quicker, and the red remained a little crunchy. Everyone seemed to like the crunch factor, but I think I’d stick to one or the other in the future.

Also pictured in the photo are roasted asparagus and red pepper chicken. I’ll have to post those recipes when I get a chance, but to me, the quinoa is the rock star… and many thanks to Natalie, the photographer.

Enjoy, let me know what you think.

Quinoa Italiana (quinoa with an Italian flair)

1 cup quinoa
1/3-1/2 cup of pine nuts
3 Tablespoons oil
8 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 cups chicken or veggie broth
2-3 sprigs thyme (optional)
½ cup kalamata or other olives, pitted and chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup fresh basil, torn or coarsely chopped
sea salt
black pepper

Toast quinoa over medium heat in a dry skillet until it starts to smell toasty (about 15 minutes). Stir occasionally or shake skillet. Remove.

Toast pine nuts until slightly browned. Remove to a plate.

Add oil, garlic and a pinch of salt, sauté until the garlic is golden. Add quinoa and stir, add broth and thyme. Bring to a boil and cover, let simmer for 10 minutes. Add olives and pine nuts in after 10 minutes. In about 5 more minutes, the broth should be absorbed. Add tomatoes, black pepper and basil. Enjoy!

~from Cheryl’s kitchen ©2008