Hippie Dinner

Why hello! It's been a long time since I've posted. Sorry to disappoint my 4 fans. I've been tied up in grad school stuff.

Tonight I'm actually cooking. With fresh ingredients. I know, right?! But this is so easy - I whipped this up in less than 30 minutes (Rachel Ray would be so proud). This is so full of vegan protein that the angels are crying with joy. I served the following with a simple green salad and a red wine. Behold, I give you  

Hippie Dinner: or, Baked Portabello Mushrooms with Quinoa Salad

Baked Portabello Mushrooms
1. Wash caps and remove stems.
2. Put the mushroom tops down on a baking dish.
3. Top with sliced kalamata olives and this tofu mixture from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Vegan with a Vengeance.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes

Quinoa Salad (Gluten-Eater Approved by my husband)
1. Sautee one bunch scallions with one to two cloves of garlic.
2. Cook quinoa according to directions.
3. When quinoa is finished cooking, add the scallions, garlic, and 3/4 of a cup of shelled edamame (already thawed - I throw the frozen edamame in a bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes before adding to the quinoa)
4. Let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

Enjoy!

Party in My Tummy

Lunchtime Adventures

Who doesn't love lunch? I love lunch. Look how much these guys love lunch. I love to EAT lunch, but figuring out WHAT to eat for lunch can be an altogether different story. I was never a fan of sandwiches even before I went g-free, and I've found that good g-free bread is hard to come by. (Blog post about bread coming soon.) You can't blindly trust that soups are safe, since the broth might have a hidden gluten ingredient. People who don't know me think I must eat a lot of salad because I can't eat gluten. I tip back my head and laugh. I may be a petite gal, but I cannot live on salad alone. I'm usually a hungry girl by noon (who am I kidding - by 10:30!), so if I eat a salad for lunch, you bet your ass I'm looking for naughty foods like crackers/chips/chocolate/whatever I can get my hands on to feed the beast within. And those foods just end up giving me that "shouldn't-have-eaten-that" feeling.

Oftentimes I try to make enough dinner so I have leftovers the next day. But since my dinner-making skills are minimum, I don't always have leftovers. So what's a sexy gluten-free gal to do? Here's a few things that have helped me:

• This enterprising person provides ideas for what he/she calls "toppers" - use some kind of flat carb for a base (g-free English muffin, rice cake, bagel, etc.) and top with veggies (and/or meat if you're into that).
• Lately my go-to lunch consists of a gluten-free bagel topped with hummus, raw veggies on the side, and maybe a yogurt or cottage cheese and fruit on the side.
• Harmon's sells a new line called Gluten Free Cafe. With frozen entrees and canned soups, it is easy to grab one of these babies when I'm on my way out the door.
• Amy's Kitchen has a great line of gluten-free foods. I love the palaak paneer, and the rice mac and cheese is good if I'm going to be naughty. The kids' entrees are actually pretty good too.

Feel free to share your ideas!

Cheese Bread Mania!

Cheese Bread Mania is my new favorite thing. This Brazilian cheese bread is traditionally made with tapioca flour, making it naturally gluten-free. The cheese bread comes frozen - simply pop the rolls in the oven and 25 minutes later you have golden cheese rolls that are slightly crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Check out this article from The Salt Lake Tribune to find out where you can get your hands on some of this crazy-delicious goodness.

Teriyaki Sauce

Gluten free teriyaki sauce?! Get out of town! Last night I used Seal Sama Gluten Free Teriyaki Sauce on some tofu with rice and veggies and it was crazy good. My 4-year-old - who can be a fussy eater - couldn't get enough. In fact, some of the sauce dripped onto the counter, and she wiped it up and licked it off her fingers. Not too salty, not too sweet, this is my new go-to for marinades, stir fries, and barbecues. Get some!

Gluten Free Noodles

I'm fixing pasta for dinner tonight. It's quick and it doesn't take too much energy to make after I've had a long day, and I'm pretty sure pasta is one of the major food groups for graduate students. However, there are a lot of icky gluten-free noodles out there. They can be too starchy, mushy, mealy, or just plain difficult to chew. Since my job is to make your gluten free life easier, here's the short list of my favorites:

* Tinkyada products - particularly the shaped pastas - have given me consistent results. Never mushy or starchy, these noodles are great for baked macaroni and cheese or pesto sauce.

* DeBoles noodles aren't nearly as good - they tend to be overly starchy - though I prefer the brown rice angel hair pasta to the Tinkyada spaghetti noodles. I don't care for the corn noodles however - they are bright yellow and impossible to break down with your teeth.

Buon appetito!

Gluten Free Pancakes

They're not listed on the online menu, but gluten free pancakes are listed on the print menu at The Original Pancake House in Sugarhouse. And they actually taste good.