Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Can I confess something?  I've never actually eaten a garlic cheese biscuit from Red Lobster.  I know, I know.  They're supposed to be legendary - supposedly epic biscuits. 

These are pretty darn good, too, although I can't compare them to the original.  It was my first time to use the new gluten-free Bisquick mix, and rather than make pancakes, I dove straight in with biscuits, which I have not eaten in two and a half years.  The results?  Pretty tasty!  The mix uses rice flour and potato starch, so don't go into this thinking you'll get a whole grain biscuit.  But for the occasional dinner sidekick and a Red Lobster craving (if you enjoyed their biscuits in your former, glutenful life), they'll hit the spot.


Garlic Cheese Biscuits

2/3 cup Gluten-free Bisquick mix
2 tbsp. Spectrum Organic Shortening
4 tbsp. hemp milk (almond, whole grain, or soy would also work - try for a thicker kind)
1 egg
1½ tsp. garlic powder (more or less depending on your own taste)
1/3 cup Daiya Vegan Cheese (Mozzarella or Cheddar)

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Place the Bisquick mix into a bowl and cut the shortening into it, using a fork to mash it into the dry mix until the mixture is reduced to small crumbs.  Add the hemp milk and the egg and mix well until the dough is smooth and soft.  Add the garlic powder and the Daiya cheese and stir to combine.

Line a cookie or other baking sheet with parchment paper.  Drop the dough onto the lined baking sheet by large spoonful (mine made 6 smaller biscuits).  Bake for 10 - 13 minutes for smaller biscuits, or 13 - 16 minutes for larger biscuits, or until they are golden brown on top.

Serve warm from the oven.

Decadently Chewy Granola Bars

Yes, that's right.  I'm going to call these decadent, even though they are also healthy.  I haven't had a lot of luck in the past with granola bar recipes, with the main problem being how they tend to fall apart right away, crumbling sadly into a chunky granola the moment I remove them from the pan.  Still delicious?  Yes - but not the point!  What I have wanted for so long is a healthy and convenient gluten-free snack on-the-go.  True, it's something that has become commercially easier to find in recent years, but the store-bought gluten-free granola bars leave a lot to be desired, in my opinion, between the slightly-off texture and more-than-slightly off taste, often evocative of cardboard.
 

These don't resemble cardboard.  Not even a little bit.  They're chewy, full of flavor, and you can tailor them to whatever ingredients you want and/or have on hand.  Don't have coconut?  No problem!  Add more oats or almond meal.  Don't like cranberries?  Add whatever fruit you DO like.  As long as you keep the basic ratio of dry ingredients to wet ingredient roughly the same, it shouldn't matter what you substitute here.  (Just try to avoid super absorbent flours like coconut flour without adjusting the liquid ingredients, too).  Get ready to snack!


Decadently Chewy Granola Bars

1 ¼ cups gluten-free oats (remove 1/3 cup to grind into oat flour)

½ cup buckwheat flakes (or substitute more oats if you don't have buckwheat flakes)

½ - ¾ cup sugar (I used a little less than 2/3 cup, but follow your own taste)

1 cup almond meal*

½ cup dried cranberries (or any other dried fruit)

½ cup coconut flakes**

1/3 cup mixed seeds (sunflower, sesame, and linseed)

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup + 2 tsp. honey, agave, or maple syrup (I used half honey/half agave, but you can use all of one or the other)

¼ cup Sunbutter***

3 tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread

3 tbsp. applesauce (I used my homemade applesauce)

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tbsp. water

*You can substitute another kind of nut meal, like hazelnut meal.
**If you hate coconut, substitute more almond meal or more fruit/nuts
***You can substitute any other kind of nutbutter here.

Preheat the oven to 325 F.  Line an 8 x 8 pan with parchment paper and coat with non-stick spray. (Warning: if you use wax paper, it will probably stick to your baked granola bars, so beware!)

Measure out the 1 1/4 cups oats first, and then remove 1/3 cup of them and grind them into oat flour (you can use your coffee grinder - I did!).  Place the oats and oat flour in a large bowl, and then add the rest of the dry ingredients, including the cinnamon and salt.  If you don't like cranberries and almond flour, don't worry - just add your own favorite nuts/seeds/dried fruits in the same amounts and you will be fine.  

Place the Sunbutter, honey/agave nectar, Earth Balance, applesauce, vanilla, and water.  Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to avoid burning, and when it comes to a simmer and everything has melted together, remove from heat and pour over the dry ingredients.  Mix well until all dry ingredients have been moistened.

Pour into the prepared pan and, using a spoon or your fingers, press down firmly and evenly into the pan.  Place in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the edges and top are browned.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting (if you can stand to wait that long).  When they are completely cooled, place them in the fridge for another hour or so before cutting them so they'll stick together even better.

Remove from fridge and cut into whatever shape your heart desires.  I cut mine into thirds, and then into sixths the other way, for slightly smaller bars.  Store in an airtight container and return to the fridge for maximum shelf life.

Roasted Red Pepper Mini-Meatloaves

I can't believe how well these turned out.  I have this habit of going grocery shopping without any real plan for what I want to make, which is a bit like going to a hardware store and buying a few nails and some wood and then coming home to draw up a blueprint.  But, you know what?  Sometimes that means you end up with something amazing that you never would have planned for.

These mini-meatloaves were born out of a perfect storm of leftovers.  2 lonely roasted red peppers left in a jar.  Some brown rice from the week before.  Half a pound of ground turkey.  Random condiments in the door of my fridge.  You might not think that could amount to much - but - it did.  These turned out to be so perfectly moist and full of wonderful flavor!  You can stick with eating them as meatloaves, or add a little more rice/oats and make them into meatballs to serve on top of some marinara-coated pasta.  You could even just cook this as a hamburger and put it into a gluten-free bun, topped with your favorite gluten-free (and/or vegan) cheese.  But no matter how you serve it, the flavor will win you over with the first bite. 

Roasted Red Pepper Mini-Meatloaves
Makes two mini-meatloaves.


1/2 lb ground turkey
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup cooked brown or white rice (if you don't have rice, you can substitute gluten-free oats)
1 roasted red pepper, diced
1 1/2 tbsp. jam
3 tbsp. gluten-free barbecue sauce (Trader Joe's Kansas City Smokehouse is gluten-free)
3 tbsp. gluten-free marinara sauce (optional)
1 tsp. minced onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Spray two mini-loaf pans with cooking spray.

Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl and mix well.  Spread into two mini loaf pans.  Bake for at least 40 minutes or until the meatloaves are cooked all the way through.  Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetables, cornbread, or slice and make into a sandwich.

Roasted Acorn Squash with Apple-Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing

Don't let the length name of the recipe fool you.  This is actually pretty easy to make, as long as you have some time for the squash to roast.  And the end product?  It is so good.  So, so good.  I actually kept nipping away at the stuffing as it baked in the oven because it was so delicious, leaving me with a little less to actually stuff the acorn squash with.  So that's my warning to you, although I'm not saying don't eat along the way - I'm just saying, perhaps plan ahead and make a little extra stuffing specifically for the purpose of gnoshing.

I got the idea for this recipe on the Gluten-free Goddess's website, although my disclaimer is that I did not look at her recipe - only the picture - and went from there.  So I credit her for the idea for this fantastic bit of cooking - thanks, Karina! And since I still have quite a few of the Pumpkin Corn Muffins from last week in a freezer holding pattern, this was the perfect way to use some of them up.

The most contentious part of any Thanksgiving is arguably the stuffing.  Whose recipe is best?  I, of course, believe firmly that my mom's stuffing is the best in the world and would never consider another option for a moment.  So, I used my mom's stuffing recipe here - but if you feel the same way about your mom's recipe, go ahead and use it instead!  Just substitute the cornbread for the regular bread and you should be good to go.  This was a perfect pre-Thanksgiving dinner, full of harvest goodness and filling the house with familiar and comforting aromas. 

Roasted Acorn Squash with Apple-Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing

1 medium acorn squash, cut in half
3 tbsp. maple syrup or agave nectar
2 tbsp. brown sugar, divided
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped leeks (I used frozen chopped leeks from Trader Joe's)
1 stalk celery, diced
1/2 large apple, peeled and diced
1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
1 1/2 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
dash of cayenne pepper
dash of smoked or regular paprika (optional)
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme (optional)
1 tsp. dried parsley
Ground pepper and salt to taste
1/3 cup dried cranberries
3 pumpkin corn muffins (or your favorite cornbread or corn muffins) - best to use ones that are a little dried out or which have been frozen

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Slice the acorn squash in half, scoop out all of the seeds, and place in a baking dish.  Sprinkle with 1 tbsp. brown sugar and drizzle with maple syrup.  Place in the oven to bake.

In a saucepan, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil.  Add the leeks, celery, and diced apple and cook over medium heat for at least 5 - 7 minutes. Add the spices, cranberries, and broth and continue to cook until the leeks and celery are quite tender and the broth has reduced by about half (about 7- 9 more minutes).

On a cutting board, chop up the corn muffins into small pieces and place them in a large bowl.  Pour the leek mixture over the cornbread and mix well, coating all pieces of cornbread with the liquid.  Pour into two small mini-loaf baking dishes and place in the oven with the acorn squash to bake.

Bake the cornbread for about 20 - 30 minutes (depending on your oven temperature) or until the edges start looking crispy.  Remove from oven and set aside until the acorn squash has finished baking.  It's done when a fork goes in easily and the flesh of the squash pulls apart easily.  If desired, you can baste the squash in the maple syrup/agave nectar as it bakes.

When the squash is done (and times will vary based on your oven temperature and the size of the squash), remove from the oven and stuff with the cornbread stuffing.  Place back into the oven for 5 - 10 minutes, or long enough for the whole thing to heat through again.  Drizzle a little more maple syrup over the top, if desired.  When the cornbread starts getting crispy again, remove from the oven.

Serve on its own as a delicious, hearty vegan meal, or as a side dish to turkey.

Spaghetti Squash with Vegan "Meat" Sauce

Spaghetti squash is kind of the best of both worlds.  You get the illusion of pasta with only 1/4 the calories, not to mention the extra vitamins and minerals.  While it takes a little longer to make than regular pasta, it's incredibly easy to prepare; all you have to do is cut it in half and stick it in the oven, and then - magically - the long, stringy pieces practically fall onto your plate in a twirled pile when it comes out of the oven about 40 minutes later.

But I can't take credit for the idea to make spaghetti squash this week.  A friend of mine was practically glowing with her recent first experience with it, and, inspired, I picked one up during my next visit to Trader Joe's.  It was definitely worth it.  Not only did it literally feed me for six meals, it was delicious, light, and remarkably like pasta (with a slightly different, but good, texture - and really wasn't terribly far off from some of the gluten-free pastas I've tried).  For the sauce in this recipe, I wanted to make something that was chock full of vegetables, so I basically pureed/grated what I had in my fridge and mixed it with some marinara sauce (the grated mushrooms give this sauce its "meaty" texture). 

Feel free to improvise - I definitely did, and it turned out deliciously.

Spaghetti Squash with Vegan "Meat" Sauce

1 spaghetti squash, sliced in half

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara)

1 cup baby carrots

1 cup mushrooms (I used baby portabellas)

1 roasted red pepper

Handful of fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1 - 2 tsp. minced garlic

Salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil, and oregano to taste

Dash of cayenne pepper

Daiya Vegan Cheese (or your favorite non-dairy cheese) to top

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Place the spaghetti squash in a pan lined with parchment or wax paper (to avoid sticking) with the rind up, and bake for 35 - 45 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the rind goes in easily.  Remove from oven, and set aside to cool (now with the rind side down).

In a food processor, place the carrots, mushrooms, roasted red pepper, and basil leaves and process until they have the consistency of being finely grated.  Place in a saucepan over medium-low heat with 1 - 2 tsp. minced garlic and saute for 3 - 5 minutes, stirring often.  You want to sweat the vegetables, not burn them! Add about 3/4 of the jar of marinara sauce to start with and stir well.  If you want a thinner sauce, add more; if you want a chunkier sauce, leave it the way it is.  Add the seasonings to your own taste and simmer for another 10 minutes.

Scoop out the "noodles" from the spaghetti squash and top with the sauce and Daiya Vegan Cheese, if desired.

Pumpkin Corn Muffins

What a perfect treat for an overcast, chilly November afternoon.  These are a breeze to throw together (assuming, that is, that you have gluten-free cornmeal on hand, which I did not), and they bake up perfectly moist and tender, yet not too crumbly.  I got this recipe from Jules Gluten-free blog and used hemp milk (because, really, what else do you use hemp milk for?) and added about 1 tsp. gluten-free vanilla, but otherwise followed her recipe exactly.  Mine did not turn out to be overly sweet like some corn muffins, so keep that in mind so you can adjust the sugar to your own taste if you prefer a sweeter corn muffin.  If you make them as muffins, and not cornbread, bake them for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  You can find it by clicking here.  So, go to her blog, grab your cornmeal, and get ready for some autumn deliciousness.

Gluten-free Pantry Muffins - Blueberry and Chocolate Chip

I have had a box of Gluten-free Pantry Muffin and Scone mix for a long time now.  I don't know what I was waiting for, exactly.  Some moment of revelation when it would become clear to me that this was the time to make them?  Probably not.  Probably it just got hidden behind all of the other ingredients in my pantry.  Sad and forgotten on the back of the shelf.

But now it has its time to shine.  Instead of following the directions exactly as they were written, I substituted applesauce for some of the fat, used Pumpkin Spice soy milk instead of regular milk, upped the vanilla, and tossed blueberries into half the batter and chocolate chips into the other half.  Of course, this meant I had to sample one of each muffin when they came out of the oven, just to ensure the highest quality.  And highest quality they were - moist, but not too crumbly, and with a wonderful vanilla flavor that was perfectly complemented by the blueberries and chocolate chips.  I can absolutely recommend this mix - these muffins came together quickly and were completely delicious.  I have since been defrosting the ones that I froze, and they taste just as good as they did when they were fresh from the oven. 

Gluten-free Pantry Muffins Two Ways

1 package Gluten-free Pantry Muffin Mix
4 tbsp. Earth Balance Buttery Spread
3 tbsp. applesauce
2 eggs
1/2 cup Silk Pumpkin Spice Soy Milk (or plain)
1/2 cup rice milk or Trader Joe's Whole Grain Drink
1 tsp. gluten-free vanilla
1/2 - 1 cup blueberries (more if desired)
1/3 cup chocolate chips (more if desired)
Durkin Maple Cinnamon Spice (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the Earth Balance buttery spread, applesauce, and the package of muffin mix.  Using a pasty mixer or a fork, cut the mix into the butter until a crumbly mixture forms.  Add the 2 eggs, the Pumpkin Spice soy milk, the rice milk, and vanilla and mix with an electric mixer on medium-high speed for about 2 - 4 minutes, or until all the lumps are gone.

If you want to make two different kinds of muffins, divide the dough in half.  Add the blueberries to one of the bowls, and the chocolate chips to the other. Pour the batter evenly into the muffin tins, filling them almost to the top (but don't overfill or they will spread too much onto the pan!).  Sprinkle the Durkin Maple Cinnamon Spice over the blueberry muffins.

Bake muffins for about 14 - 17 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean and they are slightly browned on top.  Remove from oven and leave in the muffin pan for about 2 - 3 more minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Eat warm from the oven or wait until they are cooled.  Freeze the muffins you don't eat right away and defrost as needed.

Tip:  The blueberry muffins, when spread with maple butter or drizzled with a bit of maple syrup, taste exactly like a blueberry pancake!

Creamy (vegan!) Roasted Red Pepper Cashew Sauce

Tonight, exhausted from a full day of babysitting and with the prospect of another several hours of babysitting after dinner, I was looking for a new recipe to try that would be simple. Simple, but delicious.  

There is a place in Boston called Veggie Planet, which has a dish with some sort of amazing roasted red pepper and nut sauce.  I had a bag of cashews, and a jar of roasted red peppers I've had forever.  And I have a food processor.  What resulted was a rich, creamy, and thick sauce - I had to refrain from eating up every last bite of it.  When I started making it, I wasn't sure yet how I wanted to use this sauce, but as I stood over the stove, stirring and thinking, I decided that it would be an excellent base for a pizza.  And oh, was it ever.  But this sauce is so versatile that you could use it for all kinds of other things.  With pasta, on a sandwich - so many ways!  (See below for suggestions.)  So give it a try - it's vegan and gluten-free and full of flavor.  You'll love it.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Cashew Sauce

3 roasted red peppers

1/3 cup unsalted or lightly salted cashew nuts (I used the "50% less salt" kind from Trader Joe's)

1/4 - 1/2 cup almond milk (depending on how thick you want your sauce)

1 tsp. minced/crushed garlic

1/4 tsp. salt (or to taste)

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. ground cumin (or to taste)

dash of cayenne pepper (optional; to taste)

dash of black pepper 

1 tsp. agave nectar OR 1 tsp. sugar 

1/4 tsp. lemon juice

In a food processor, combine the roasted red peppers and cashews and process on highest setting.  After about 1 minute, add 1/4 cup of almond milk and continue to process until it is very smooth.  

Put the processed mixture into a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat.  Add more almond milk if desired, the salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, agave nectar, and lemon juice and heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until the mixture becomes as thick as you want it to be. Tweak the spices as you stir to your own taste - the recipe above is just an approximation!  When you are happy with the taste and consistency, remove from heat.  Use immediately (see below) or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Ways to use this sauce:

-as a pasta sauce or (if you let it get thick enough) as a pesto to toss with angel hair pasta

-spoon hot over sauteed mushrooms, spinach, and brown rice

-spread over chicken and bake in the oven, covered OR spread over grilled chicken

-as a sandwich spread (would complement pesto extremely well)

-as a dip for crackers or pretzels (gluten-free, of course)

-as a delicious replacement for regular pizza sauce (see picture below!) with your favorite toppings (I sauteed a Spicy Jalapeno chicken sausage from Trader Joe's and topped two corn tortillas with a layer of the roasted red pepper sauce, the sausage, and then Daiya vegan cheese, and it was phenomenally good, and extremely fast)

Roasted Red Pepper and Sausage Pizza

Low(er) Fat Pumpkin Bread

I'm on a low(er) fat kick these days.  I guess I figure, with how terrible of a stress eater I am, and in my first semester of graduate school, I'd better at least mitigate how badly this could turn out.  And I think I've made myself feel less guilty for eating these treats.  Which, unfortunately, will probably just lead to my eating more of them.  But, shh.  Let's just say it's healthier this way.  

After the how well my low(er) fat banana bread turned out, I've been substituting applesauce for oil all over the place, and with great success.  You won't be able to tell that anything is different about this bread, except perhaps that there is less oily residue on your hands after you eat it.  But that's it.  No difference in taste or texture - it's just as good as you remember it.  And vegan friends, you can take it a step further, if you wish.  Go ahead and substitute Egg Replacer for the eggs to make this a delicious, completely animal-product-free dessert.  It will still taste fantastic.

Low(er) Fat Pumpkin Bread

Makes 1 loaf

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup applesauce (use smooth or chunky depending on your own preference)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

 2 eggs (can replace with Egg Replacer for vegan bread)
1 cup Libby's pumpkin puree (*see note)
1/2 cup rice flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour

1/4 cup chestnut flour (can substitute sorghum flour)

1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum
2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (or more to your own taste)

Combine the oil and sugar well, and then beat in the eggs. Add the pumpkin puree and mix well. Combine the flours, salt, baking powder, xanthan gum, and spices in a separate bowl and then add slowly to the wet mixture. Mix well and then pour into a greased or sprayed bread loaf pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for at least 15 - 20 minutes, and then remove and continue to cool on a baking rack. Or, if you're like me and can't wait that long, serve warm from the pan with cup of hot, black coffee.

**If you want to make your own pumpkin puree, here's how:  simply take large slices of fresh pumpkin and bake at 350 for 1 - 1 1/2 hours in the oven. When it is very, very soft, remove from oven, scoop out the pumpkin flesh, and remove to a large bowl. If it is soft enough, you don't need to puree it (I did not puree mine because I don't have any electric mixing devices), but if you do have a way to do it, it would be best to puree it to remove all chunks. Store in the refrigerator if you will use it that day, and otherwise, store in 1 cup portions in the freezer until you need to use them.

Sweet and Spicy Thai Skillet with Brown Rice

This is a lovely quick meal, with both sweet and spicy flavors, and it's a perfect way to use leftover cooked rice you may have in your fridge.  You can have it ready in less than 10 minutes!  You can play around with the ingredients, easily adapting it to any dietary requirements - leave out the meat, or use a different kind, and add any other vegetables you like.  I just added what I had in my own fridge.  So save this one for one of those nights when you are pressed for time, or are just too hungry to wait for a full meal to cook. 

Sweet and Spicy Thai Skillet with Brown Rice

Cooking spray or cooking oil
1 Spicy Jalapeno Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe's, sliced
1/2 cup sliced mini Portobello mushrooms
1/2 cup fresh broccoli, chopped
Chopped bell peppers, if desired
3 - 4 tsp. Thai Curry Paste (I used half Panaang, half red - but use your own favorite!)
1/2 cup boiling water
1 - 2 tsp. brown sugar
dash of salt
3/4 cup cooked brown rice

In a small saucepan, cook the broccoli florets in boiling water for about 5 minutes, or until tender (but not too tender).  Drain and set aside.

Coat a skillet with the cooking spray and spread the sliced sausage and mushrooms onto the bottom of the skillet.  Cook over medium-high heat until the sausage and mushrooms are browned to your liking (5 - 8 minutes).  While they are cooking, prepare the sauce:  place the curry paste into a small bowl and pour the 1/2 cup of boiling water over it to dissolve it.  Add the brown sugar and a dash of salt, and stir well.  When the sausage and mushrooms are cooked, pour the sauce over them and allow to simmer for about 5 more minutes.  Add the broccoli and toss to coat, and then add the cooked brown rice and continue to cook until it is all heated through.  Adjust seasonings as desired, and voila!  Dinner is served.

Low(er) Fat Banana Bread

Old habits die really, really hard.  It turns out that with me, procrastination always manifests itself in baking.  I can't get away from it.  I find it particularly hard to stay out of the kitchen when I have a looming reading assignment, or a tedious paper to write.  And as a new graduate student, I am very quickly lapsing back into the ways of my undergraduate days.  Thus, the result of homework assignments for me often look like this (see above picture).

I don't know if you can really make something like banana bread truly healthy unless you pare it down to just the banana, but with this recipe, I tried to make it less atrociously fattening.  I replaced half the oil called for in the original recipe with my homemade applesauce, and I used olive oil instead of butter or shortening, which is the good kind of fat (monounsaturated fat).  So yes - you have free license not to feel guilty about eating this one.  This was also my first attempt at using chestnut flour.  Chestnut flour looks a bit like sorghum, but perhaps a bit finer grind, and has a lovely nutty smell and flavor that can be a delicious addition to baked goods.  A bag of it was given to me by a friend, who tried making a cake with only chestnut flour and found it to be far too overpowering.  So, heeding her advice, I used only a small bit in this recipe, and I think it was a success!

And oh, my goodness, this was good.  If the pictures look good, it tasted 100 times better.  My apartment smelled like fresh banana bread long before it was actually done, leading to a fairly torturous 40 minute wait until it was finished baking and I could try a piece hot from the oven.  It tastes just like I remember banana bread tasting, and it didn't crumble apart like so many other sad attempts at gluten-free baking. It baked beautifully all the way through, with a lovely brown crust on top and perfect moist consistency on the inside, and no mushy, forgotten wet pockets.  I made mine plain, but this would be delicious with chocolate chips, nuts, or coconut mixed into the batter, too.  You could even go crazy and swirl in some peanut butter or sunflower seed butter right into the bread!  (Disclaimer:  all of those suggestions would totally negate the effort to make this a "lower fat" banana bread - but - would make it taste even more amazing.)

So if you have a deadline coming up, this is the project for you.  Set those books aside, roll up your sleeves, and start mashing some bananas.

Low(er) Fat Banana Bread

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 ripe bananas, mashed well
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (make sure it's gluten-free!)
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup chestnut flour (can substitute sorghum flour if desired)
2/3 cup white rice flour
2/3 cup potato starch
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. sea salt (optional)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

2 - 3 tbsp. non-dairy milk
Optional additional mix-ins:  chocolate chips, flaked coconut, your favorite kind of nut or dried fruit

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray a standard bread pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Combine the olive oil, applesauce, and sugar.  Beat in the eggs, and then the mashed bananas until the batter is fairly smooth (your odd chunk of banana or applesauce is fine).  Add the vanilla extract and stir to blend.  You can beat with a handmixer, but it works just fine if you mix by hand, too!

In a separate bowl, measure the gluten-free flours and mix them together with the baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, and cinnamon (if desired) until well-blended.  Add about one quarter of the flour mixture at a time to the wet ingredients, stirring well each time.  Finally, add 2 - 3 tablespoons of non-dairy milk (I used Trader Joe's Organic Whole Grain Drink) and mix well.

Pour the batter into the bread pan and place in the oven immediately.  Bake for about 1 hour, but start checking it after 45 minutes to see if it is done (ovens may be hotter than the temperature you set them for!).  When a toothpick or knife comes out of the tallest part of the loaf clean, it's done!

Serve warm or chilled.  With gluten-free baked goods, you will usually preserve the freshness better by freezing individual slices and then defrosting/reheating as needed.

Tip:  If you like peanut butter, there is probably no better snack than peanut butter on banana bread!

"Cheesy" Chicken Parmesan

Remember chicken parmesan, fellow dairy- and gluten-free friends?  Remember the cheesy goodness that melted onto the chicken, and the delightful sprinkling of parmesan cheese that danced across the pasta?

Well, remember no more.  Taste.

Well, I won't go so far as to claim that this tastes exactly like the "real" thing.  I don't even know that I can fully remember what the "real" thing tastes like at this point.  But - what I can claim that this is really, really good.  Daiya Vegan Cheese is, in my opinion, the best cheese substitute out there right now, at least of the ones I have tried.  And I have tried a lot of them, friends.  This is so simple to throw together, it will be done before you know it.  But it won't taste that way.


"Cheesy" Chicken Parmesan

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast per person
Marinara sauce (your favorite brand - I used Prego Tomato Basil Marinara)
Daiya Vegan Mozzarella Cheese
Thai Kitchen Rice Noodles

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

In a frying pan, saute the chicken breast until both sides are browned.  Place in a small baking dish, and spoon marinara sauce over the top, and then sprinkle with a generous topping of the Daiya cheese.  Place in the oven for about 10 - 15 minutes, until the chicken is done and the cheese is all melted.

Bring about 3 cups of water to a boil.  Place your dry Thai Kitchen noodles in a glass bowl, and pour the boiling water over them so they are completely covered.  Let the noodles soak for at least 4 - 6 minutes, or until they are done to your liking.  Drain, then remove to a pan and toss with heated marinara sauce.  Sprinkle in a bit of the Daiya cheese and stir until it melts into the sauce. 

Serve pasta next to a baked chicken breast.  Most fun is to eat pasta by twirling with a spoon.

Blueberry Applesauce

It's apple season.  That means weekend trips to apple orchards to take a hayride out into the tree thickets, munching on delicious fruit straight from the tree as you forage for apples that have somehow escaped the notice of apple-pickers past.  A breeze drifts by and you notice a slight chill in the air.  There are children and parents carefully selecting large pumpkins from a hay-strewn patch.

This story almost always ends the same way.  Caught up in the romantic notion of autumn, surrounded by flowering trees and with apples practically falling at your feet, you buy a bag.  Perhaps you buy a 20 pound bag.  And then you get home, and you stare at the bag of apples you've bought, and you think:  What the heck am I going to do with these?

I have yet to finish my own apples from last weekend off, and I only took one-third of the bag that my cousin, her boyfriend, and I bought.  But for a start, I decided to try making applesauce.  And then, halfway through cooking it, I decided to make half of it blueberry applesauce because....well, just because.  Because I had blueberries, and I was curious.  And oh, am I glad I did... 

Both versions of this turned out to be delicious.  You can add more or less sugar (even no sugar!) depending on your own taste and how sweet your apples are on their own.  Mine were a bit tart, so I went the sugar route.  But you don't have to follow this recipe exactly.  Let it tell you what to do.  And if you don't want the blueberries?  Leave 'em out!  Or add your own favorite fruit, and see what happens.

Blueberry Applesauce

6 medium-large apples, peeled, cored, and quartered
1 cup water
up to 1/4 cup brown sugar
up to 1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbsp. lemon juice OR 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3 sticks cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
dash of vanilla extract (if desired - make sure it's gluten-free!)
1 cup frozen blueberries, rinsed

Place everything but the blueberries into a large pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes, or until the apples are becoming very soft.  Adjust the spices and sugar to your own taste.  Add the blueberries and stir well.  Continue to simmer for another 10 - 15 minutes until the fruit is falling apart.  Remove from heat and mash with a potato masher or a fork.

If desired, serve warm over ice cream or cake, or serve chilled.

Sauteed Asparagus with Dill

A breezy summer evening.  Grilling in the shady warmth of a patio overflowing with thriving green plants.  The smell of hickory almost hugging you as it bastes your dinner in its aroma.  Fat pieces of chicken sizzling under a thick, red, homemade barbecue sauce, which caramelizes slowly over the heat of the coals.

And inside, the smell of asparagus filling the room as it jumps lightly in the pan, hopping with bursts of heat.  The perfect green complement to the deep red of barbecued chicken and light, summery yellow of roasted corn.  All tasting delightfully of hickory.

My cousin Erin used a simple recipe for this asparagus, and one that can pretty much entirely made to your own taste, so the measurements are not exact.  It's what you want it to be. 

And on top of being delicious, asparagus packs a nice punch of nutrients, being high in magnesium, zinc, and iron.  It's also rich in protein, fiber, and an array of vitamins, including vitamins A, C, E, and K.  It's a wonderful weight-loss food, too, as it's very low in fat.  Can it get any better?

So, enjoy!  Saute up some of this asparagus to go with any meal, and adjust the seasonings to your own taste.  You can't go wrong - I promise.

Sauteed Asparagus with Dill

Trimmed asparagus tops

Olive oil to taste

1 tsp. dill (or to taste)

Salt and pepper to taste

Wash the asparagus in cool water.  Trim by removing the bottom third of each stalk, which is the toughest part.  If you bend the asparagus, it will break naturally at the point at which it goes from tender to tough.  How convenient!

In a large nonstick pan, heat the olive oil.  Add the asparagus (add only enough at one time to create a single layer) and turn to coat with the oil.  Sprinkle about 1 tsp. of dill and salt and pepper over the entire layer (or more or less depending on your own taste) and continue to saute for another 5 - 10 minutes, or until the asparagus is tender but still slightly crispy.  It should be bright green in color still.  Serve immediately, or if you are serving it later, cover until ready to eat. 

Check out other recipes that use asparagus on Foodista:

Asparagus

Fresh Summer Vegetable Marinara Sauce

Talk about a fresh dish for a warm summer evening.   You will feel healthy after eating this sauce - trust me.  All of the ingredients for this sauce came straight from the farmer's market and their colors - and flavors - burst out of the sauce.  I recently discovered my food processor buried in the basement, kept in storage during my year away in Swaziland, and - feeling inspired - I used it to grate all of the vegetables that went into this sauce, making it more uniformly delicious with every bite.  I also used only minimal spices so as not to overwhelm the natural freshness and flavors of the veggies.  This became a rather dry sauce, as I let most of the liquid boil off of it, and it ended up with the consistency of a very thick pesto more than anything else (which I enjoyed).  Keep it covered if you want it to be soupier.  But have faith.  Let it do its thing.   Let it simmer away and voila - a beautiful sauce will emerge, one that is slightly sweet from the carrots, a bit tart from the tomatoes, and all around delicious.  

Fresh Summer Vegetable Marinara Sauce

1/2 white onion

1 large carrot

3 cloves garlic, minced

5 juicy and ripe tomatoes

4 stalks bitter greens (kale, turnip greens, spinach, etc.)

1/2 red bell pepper

1 tbsp. olive oil (or less if you can get away with it)

Handful of fresh basil, chopped, or 1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1 - 2 splashes of gluten-free balsamic vinegar to taste (I used Trader Joe's brand)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Prepare your favorite pasta as directed (I used Tinkyada Whole Grain Spaghetti Noodles).

Cut the carrots and onion into large chunks and feed into the food processor to grate (or, if you don't have one, grate them by hand).  Grate the bell pepper and set aside.  Heat the olive oil in your pan and add the carrots and onion; stir to coat well.  Cook over medium heat for about 5 - 7 minutes.  After about 2 minutes, add the minced garlic and stir.

Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into large chunks and place directly into the food processor.  Blitz them a few times until you have a chunky sauce, and add this to the carrot and onion mixture.  Rinsing out your food processor between batches, chop the bitter greens the same way. 

If you are using fresh basil, chop it into rough pieces and add them to the pot, along with the oregano, salt, and pepper.  Add one splash of balsamic vinegar to taste, and taste it again after about 2 minutes.  Add some more if you feel it needs it. 

Continue to cook over medium-low heat, uncovered, for about 5 - 7 more minutes, or until you are happy with the taste and/or your pasta is done.  

Serve over your favorite pasta and top with Vegan Parmesan Cheese or Daiya Vegan Cheese, if desired.  

Suggestions for using leftovers:   

-Place a corn tortilla on a nonstick pan and spread half with the marinara sauce and half with Daiya Vegan Cheese.  Cook until cheese is melted, then fold and enjoy!

-Mix with shredded turkey or chicken and eat over a bed of lettuce as a salad or in a sandwich.

Raspberry Jelly Roll

This is the beautiful cake that was waiting for me when I arrived home on my birthday.  My mom had sent me a flurry of text messages while I was out with some friends celebrating.  It turned out that she was asking me what kind of jam I wanted in my birthday jelly roll.  After a rapid back-and-forth of flavor discussions, we finally settled on raspberry.  And it was a good choice, and the jam was even homemade!  This is a lovely, light cake that looks fancy and tastes even better!

Raspberry Jelly Roll (Adapted from "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma Rombauer)
1/2 cup white rice flour
1/8 cup tapioca starch
1/8 cup potato starch
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 large eggs, separated
3/4 cup white sugar, divided
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (optional - we didn't use them)
Confectioner's sugar
3/4 - 1 cup raspberry jam (other flavor suggestions: blackberry, strawberry, apricot, blueberry, etc.)

Preheat the oven to 375 F.  Grease a 15 ½" x 10 ½" x 1" rimmed baking sheet (jelly roll pan) and line the bottom with wax or parchment paper.  Do not grease the top of the wax/parchment paper.

Sift flours together with baking powder and salt and whisk in a bowl until thoroughly blended.

Separate the eggs and set the egg whites aside.  Beat all four egg yolks at medium-high speed for 1 minute.  Gradually add 1/2 cup of the sugar and beat until pale and thick.  Gradually add the flour and beat on low speed until smooth.

Using clean beaters, beat the 4 egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl at medium-high speed until soft peaks form.  Slowly add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat until stiff but not dry.

Using a rubber spatula, fold one-quarter of the whites into the batter, and then carefully fold in the remaining whites.  If desired, fold in the 1/2 cup nuts.

Scrape the batter into the prepared jelly roll pan and spread evenly.  Bake until the top is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed, about 10 - 12 minutes.  Run a knife along the edges to release the cake from the pan.  Remove the browned crust from the top (it will become crumbly if rolled up with the jam).  Invert the cake onto a sheet of aluminum foil that has been sprinkled with confectioner's sugar (to ensure even distribution of sugar, use a sifter to sprinkle it onto the foil).

Let the cake cool completely before peeling off the wax/parchment paper.  Once it has been removed, spread the entire top of the cake evenly with the jam of your choice. 

To roll the cake up (quoted from "The Joy of Cooking"):

"Starting at a short end, fold and press and inch or so of the cake firmly up over the filling to get started.  Keep these first turns tight; cracking will diminish as the diameter of the roll increases.  Use the sheet of foil under the cake to help roll the cake.  Once the cake is rolled, use two hands to move the roll carefully back to the center of the foil.  Wrap the back of the foil over the cake so that it overlaps the front portion of foil, covering the roll completely and tightly.  Place in the refrigerator to firm the roll before unwrapping and serving."

Notes:  

-Other fillings could include gluten-free custard, buttercream icing, poppy seed filling, chocolate spread, espresso/coffee spread, ganache, or your favorite nut butter.
-The jelly roll became more moist on the second and third days.  If you are keeping it beyond 2-3 days, slice into individual portions and keep in the freezer until ready to serve.

Cheesy Turkey Quesadilla with Mango-Ginger Chutney

My mom has been trying to clean out the shelves in our freezer now for the last few weeks to make room for our frozen fruit order, which we use to make a huge amount of jam each year.  The biggest obstacles to achieving that goal were two fat, frozen turkeys that sat perched on one of the shelves.  Mocking her with the exorbitant amount of space they were taking up. 

So we cooked them.  Both of them...on the same day.  These were not small turkeys, mind you.  Their combined weight was just shy of 50 pounds, and we roasted them all day, one after the other, filling the house with the delicious smell.  I woke up and for a moment, thought it was Thanksgiving.  We cut away the meat for what seemed like hours, never quite seeming to find the end of it, filling up containers and gallon freezer bags with the succulent and tender meat.  About 20 people came to the gathering at which this turkey was served, and while they did their part in helping us consume it, we are still swimming in the leftovers.  I don't mind this, as I love turkey and haven't eaten it in over a year, and hey - it's a chance to get a bit creative with how to use it.  This is what I came up with today.

This is very quick to make, perfect for a dinner or lunch where you don't have a lot of time to prepare a full meal.  And while I don't usually like the texture of corn tortillas when they haven't been cooked, these puff up into a lovely soft shell for the toppings, and the light sprinkling of garlic, salt and pepper on the outside might make you forget that you're eating one made from corn.  I happened to have Trader Joe's Mango Ginger Chutney on hand, but you could really use any chutney you like for this. 

Cheesy Turkey Quesadilla with Mango-Ginger Chutney


For each quesadilla:
1 - 2 tbsp. of your favorite chutney (I used Trader Joe's Mango Ginger Chutney)
~1/3 cup Daiya Vegan Mozarella Cheese
~1/3 cup shredded turkey (or shredded chicken)
1 gluten-free corn tortilla
Any other toppings you like! (sliced bell peppers, mushrooms, red onions, etc.)
Cooking spray
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Spray a small nonstick pan with the cooking oil, coating well.  Sprinkle a generous amount of garlic powder over the cooking spray evenly, and then add a little salt and pepper as well (to your own taste).  Place 1 corn tortilla in the pan and push it around the pan a bit to coat it well with the cooking spray and spices.

Spread about 1 - 2 tbsp. of the chutney over the tortilla.  Sprinkle cheese over the chutney, and then evenly place the rest of your toppings on top of the cheese.  Cook over medium-high heat for about 4 - 6 minutes until the cheese is melted, and then fold in half and continue to cook for another minute or so to brown both sides.  Serve immediately.