Gluten Free Goodness

Ah, made you look.  That lovely blueberry cheesecake is part of today’s Daring baker post.

Do you want to host a menu plan?  Come on, you know you do.  Drop me a line at cheryl(at) eharrishome (dot) com if you’re interested, with your food of choice.

I’ve opted for carob this week, which I’ve really grown to like.  I do think there’s something really wrong with pretending that carob is, or tastes like chocolate.  But if we’re being honest, and appreciating what it is, it’s pretty darned yummy.  Most of the incentive for this week’s ingredient is Ricki’s recipe for Carob Coconut Sweeties.

It’s been a fun week of baking, including these cookies, my Nana Skillet Bread, and the Daring Baker challenge, which was a whole bunch of luscious cheesecakes.

Monday:
Salmon and herb-y roasted peppers

Tuesday:
Avocado and crispy herb crackers

Weds:
Mint Chicken and roasted asparagus

Thursday:
Freezer diving: turkey chili

Friday:
National Foundation for Celiac Awareness GF cooking spree

Treats:
Hazelnut chai cookies

And everyone else?

Sea from Book of Yum joins us with a great menu with a wide range of global cuising.  She shares a recipe for Tahini beet salad, and plans to make a carob-rice milk concoction that sounds delicious!

Elizabeth of A Modern Gal shares about her kitchen philosophy.  She has garlic ginger chicken on the menu, which sounds great, and many of her recipes have unexpected extras, like cabbage in the sauteed spinach.

Angela has a busy week in store, between orchestra practices, classes and all sorts of running around, including the Breast Cancer 3 day.  Her almond crusted chicken sounds yummy.

Kim from Gluten free is life is enjoying the warm weather, and has a variety of yummy baked goods on the menu, like bread, brownies and PB cookies!  She’s even got some real food, like bourbon chicken, too. 😎

Ginger of Fresh Ginger has an exotically flavored menu as well.  I’m all about the Chimichurri sauce and hope she shares her recipe.  Stop by her site to see the pics of her morels!

I planned on sitting this one out for time reasons, but changed my mind when I was at the grocery store and realized I didn’t know what was on the menu, because I hadn’t planned…

Above is a pic of my sweetie and his kitty. They seem to master the art of sharing. When it’s me and my cat, we’re both shoving away until one of us up and leaves (usually me…) So I share this photo in the spirit of a peaceful week.

I’ve been busy in the kitchen last week, making my Easy Almond Cookies, and also pralines, both for my sister and for Mamafish (Shellyfish’s mama) as part of her 60 day project. I just need to inspire my tush to the post office…

Manda of Asparagus thin is our kind hostess for this week, and she’s chosen rhubarb. I LOVE rhubarb. I wasn’t able to find the good stuff at the store, so I’ll be using rhubarb from the freezer. Rather tasty, rather un-photogenic.

Monday

Spice rubbed butterflied leg of lamb with kale

Tuesday:
Arugula pesto with broccoli and pine nuts, an avocado

Weds:
Chicken with a red curry coconut sauce (using Red Curry paste from my freezer) and bok choy

Thurs:
Turkey and rhubarb compote and celery in a chestnut sauce

Friday:
Darned if I know! most likely leftovers

Baked goods:
the daring baker challenge
Nana skillet bread
cookies (maybe)

I hope everyone had a good holiday! We had a good time–great to see family, and of course, great food

This week’s ingredient is flax. To be quite honest, I don’t use flax as much as I’d like to, so I was hoping for a little inspiration! I’ve been meaning to make the cookies and flax coating, and now I have a good excuse. Often I use salba (chia seed) instead, but both have a lot of benefits in terms of fiber and lignans, and, of course, it’s great to get variety. If you’re interested in learning more, I have some info on flax and its benefits here.

Monday:
Trout with slivered almonds and roasted peppers

Tuesday:
Quinoa in a lemony thyme sauce, probably with an avocado

Wednesday:
Roast turkey with celery in a chestnut sauce

Thursday:

Chicken with Cajun Flax coating from Shelly Case’s book and steamed broccoli

Friday:
Leftovers!

Baked good:
Almond 5 spice cookies (using a lot of flax)

And everyone else???

I’m very jealous of Wendy, who has a clean kitchen. That makes her queen in my book! She’s got a lovely looking menu, with fun stuff like GF ravioli.

Sea, of Book of Yum has a new camper and so she’s mobile! Obviously, she’s still got a great menu plan, and shares a quiche recipe. She’s even got instructions on dying Easter eggs naturally with cabbage.

Elizabeth has a lovely baked oatmeal dish with flax on her menu, and chipotle sweet potatoes sound delish.
Hooray for Kim! She’s officially going to be the mom of a teenager very soon. Check out her menu, she got a lot planned and her Easter menu, and had me drooling at the thought of lemon bundt cake.

Patti has me intrigued by her cocoa mint lamb. There’s a great variety in her menu, and she’s got some really lovely pictures on her website.

I just love Spring. It’s such a beautiful time of year when I know I have as big a gap as possible between now and Winter. And, of course, it’s lovely to watch the plants start to poke up their heads. I’m behind on starting my own plants, but I’ve got a few (pictures next week, I guess!)

I haven’t given Passover enough thought yet. But since I don’t eat grains and can’t eat dairy, it’s pretty safe to say that whatever is on the menu is kosher for passover. That makes it pretty simple!

Our kind host of the week is Wendy of Celiacs in the house. I’m making on of my favorite salads in honor of her pick, a hearty quinoa salad.

Monday:
Chicken in a marinara sauce, with broccoli in sauteed garlic
or, a white sauce using a cashew base. We shall see!

Tuesday:
Southwestern Quinoa Salad
Pineapple for dessert

Weds:
Turkey cutlets breaded in quinoa flour with thyme
Roasted asparagus

Thursday:
Leftovers. Late night!

Friday:
I know salmon is on the menu, and I’ll likely find something yummy to take along…I haven’t figured out what to do about matzo, yet, thought. I used this recipe last year

Baked good:
Hazelnut cookies (experimental, fingers crossed)

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