"Can-Can" Sauce with Pasta

This recipe is adapted from The Complete Encyclopedia of Vegetables & Vegetarian Cooking

Serves Three to Four

INGREDIENTS

8 oz. pasta GF or regualar (use a larger pasta like penne, rigatoni, etc.)
1 can (14 oz.) diced fire roasted tomatoes with garlic 
1 can (14 oz.) chickpeas (I didn't try it but I think cannelini beans would be good too)
2 TB. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. lemon juice
Salt/Pepper to taste

1. Boil pasta per their instructions.
2. As pasta cooks, in a seperate pot combine remaining ingredients.
3. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes.  Add the pasta in and reheat it if neccessary

If you would like I also like to top the pasta & sauce with a poached egg. Quite yummy as well!

Another day, another gluten/lactose free recipe

This Ain't Yo Momma's Chicken Divan ('cause its Gluten & Lactose Free)
Serves 2-3

 

• 2 C. Cream of Chicken soup (see recipe below)
• Head of broccoli
• 2 chicken breasts (cooked and shredded)
• 1/2 C. shredded dairy free cheddar cheese
• 1 TB. Mayo
• 1/2 C. rice or corn Chex cereal, crushed
• Cooked rice (optional)

 Cream of Chicken soup:

• 1/2 C. coconut milk
• 3 TB. canola oil
• 3 TB. potato starch
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 1/4 C. chicken broth (make sure it's Gluten Free)
• 1 tsp. dried onion

1. In small bowl mix cold milk and potato starch, the starch has disolved.
2. In medium pot put oil, garlic, poultry seasoning, chicken broth, and dried onion.  Add milk/starch mix.
3. Whisk mixture over medium heat until smooth, let cool completely before using.

Chicken Divan

1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Steam broccoli until almost tender about 5 mins. Drain.
3. Mix cream of chicken soup, mayo, brocolli, and chicken together and scoop into a 5 x 8 pan.
4. Sprinkle over the cheese and the crushed Chex cereal.
5. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until it is hot and bubbling.

I personally think this is best served over steamed rice, but it is just as good without it!

Enjoy!

Greek Spiced Chicken in Tomato Sauce

My doctor put me on a gluten free and lactose free diet for a month so I'm always on the lookout for a tasty meal that will also appeal to the non-GF/LF people in my life.  Today I made a tomato-y chicken pasta that fit the bill.... this will definitely go into my dinner rotation.  Below is the recipe (I modified a few things from the original recipe)

Greek Spiced Chicken in Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 Ib. chicken breast, cubed to 1 in. pieces
• 1/4 tsp Greek seasoning
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp salt and pepper
• 2 tsp EVOO
• 4 oz quinoa pasta, shell shaped
• 1 Tbs garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs tomato paste
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup shredded soy mozzarella (I used Daiya Foods Mozzarella it was very good and melted nicely)

Directions

1. Pat the chicken breasts dry with paper towels.  Sprinkle on greek seasoning and red chili flakes.
2. Heat 1 tsp EVOO in med skillet over med-high heat.  Cook chicken until browned on both sides.  Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. In the same skillet, add 1 tsp EVOO and garlic and cook for 1-2 mins.  Add tomato paste, broth, tomatoes, sugar, and pasta.  Once it boils, add the chicken back in.  Lower heat to med-low, cover the skillet, and cook until pasta is al dente, approx 10-15 min.
4. Turn off the heat and stir in mozzarella.  Serve.

Pig Candy

 Three words:

Candied

Bacon   

Ice-Cream

Need I say more?  

 The Recipe

Hamburger Buns

I was bored the other day and I decided to try making hamburger buns. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I made a basic dough in the bread machine, then pulled it out and shaped it into 6 or so rounds (maybe an inch thick?) and let it rise for 30 minutes. Once they were done I brushed the tops with butter and sprinkled on the sesame seeds (the sesame seeds didn't stick tho, next time I'll try an egg wash). And 10 or so minutes later, I had nice hamburger buns. Quite tasty too (if I do say so myself). I didn't take a picture, but I plan on making more tomorrow, so I will post a pic then.

Homemade Crispbread

So, I was at the grocery store yesterday and I was looking at the cracker section and the Wasa Crispbread looked especially appealing. But then I noticed the $4 price tag, which got me to thinking how hard could this be to make at home. Went home and googled crispbread and I found a few recipes (and all from European sites) which I compared to the ingredients list for the Wasa. The only thing I fixed on the recipe I used, was I used canola oil instead of butter. After baking for 8 or so minutes I let the crispbread sit in the warm oven overnight to dry out. I had a piece when I got up this morning, and it was pretty good! It would be even better with the addition of cheese/meat/etc. (or the Wasa site, they have tons of topping ideas!) And total cost was well under the $4 store price. Next time I make them I might experiment with swapping out whole wheat flour for rye, and I used sesame seeds and sunflower seeds, but pumpkin seeds would be good too. And apparently you can make sourdough crispbread too... hmmmm....

Crispbread Recipe
(I left the ingredients in grams and milliliters as I'm too lazy to convert it!):

150ml water, lukewarm
5 grams dried yeast
12 grams butter
1 tsp salt
115 grams all purpose flour
100 grams whole wheat flour, stone ground
60 grams mixed seeds

Dissolve yeast in the water.
Stir in butter, salt and seeds and whole wheat flour.
Add all-purpose flour and work the dough by hand for about 5 min on a floured surface. Place in a lightly greased bowl and let rise in a warm place for approx. 1h.
Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll out into thin sheets on a floured surface. Prick with a fork before baking at 475 degrees for 5-8 min. Let dry on an oven rack before storing in an air tight container.

Tasty Recipe: Moroccan Spiced Turkey Burgers

Just thought I'd post a recipe I made for dinner tonight. They were quite tasty and even got a 9.5 (out of 10) on Daren's exacting scale. I think they would also be good with ground chicken breast or ground lamb (if you have the $$$$).

Turkey Burger
2 lbs. ground turkey breast
1 TB cumin
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp paprika
1/2 TB ground coriander
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 TB curry powder
1/2 onion grated
1 garlic clove, chopped
Cilantro
Zest/Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt & Pepper

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Form mixture into 4 large patties. Drizzle patties with olive oil and place on preheated grill or grill pan (or I used a George Foreman and it worked quite well). Grill for 6 minutes on each side until cooked thru. Place patties in pita bread and spoon on yogurt sauce(see below).

Yogurt Sauce
Plain Lowfat Yogurt
Curry Powder (to taste)
Cumin (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
Cayenne (to taste)
Coriander (to taste)
Cucumber, chopped

Whisk ingredients together and put aside.