Author: glutenfreeveganish

I eat gluten, dairy, and egg free and want to make food that other people would want to eat too.

Homegrown Garden Salad

This is the first year I’ve ever had a real garden.  My parents had them while we were growing up and I helped some, but I wasn’t responsible for it.  We have just started harvesting things from our garden.  It is so exciting!  Some of the sugar snaps are ready and we were able to harvest a few leaves of rainbow swiss chard as well as some basil.  The rest of the ingredients were from the store.  You can mix and match with whatever you have in your garden or your store, but here’s some ideas for starters!

Ingredients:

1 handful of spinach

1 handful of chopped leaf lettuce

1 leaf of yellow stem swiss chard

1 leaf of red stem swiss chard

1 orange pepper, chopped

tops of green onions, chopped

2-3 sugar snap peas

Handful of broccoli, chopped

Small handful of basil (I used sweet basil, ajaka, and red leaf)

Optional: Mild white cheddar cheese (obviously not dairy free)

Dressing of your choice (we used Ken Martin’s Sweet Vidalia Onion)

Optional: Add in baked chicken

 

Directions:

Harvest whatever you can from your garden that would go in a salad.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl.  Top with dressing of your choice and cheese if you can eat it.  Enjoy!

Teriyaki Chicken

You know those days where you’re down to little bits of leftovers that aren’t really a meal?  This was one of those days.  I had about a cup of cooked rice as well as a tiny bit of baked chicken leftover and I was not looking forward to lunch.  However, I remembered that I had a coupon for San-J sauce and I needed to go to the store anyway.  My meal was rescued and here is the result!  As mine was just one serving size, I am guessing as to the amount of ingredients you need.  The good news is that this is a very forgiving recipe and you can adjust it to your preferences.  I did mine in the microwave since it was just one serving, but you could do it on the stovetop also.

 

Ingredients:

3-4 cups cooked brown or white rice

1 pound baked chicken, cut into pieces

1 small bag of frozen stir-fry vegetables

1 bottle or less of San-J gluten free teriyaki sauce

 

Speedy Directions:

Cook rice according to directions on the bag or in a rice cooker.  You can cook your chicken now or use chicken you have pre-cooked and frozen.  Microwave frozen vegetables and warm up chicken.  Add all ingredients together in a bowl and serve.

Stovetop Directions:

Cook rice according to directions on the bag or in a rice cooker.  Cook chicken in a pan.  Add stir-fry veggies and stir until cooked.  Add cooked rice and sauce and stir until warm.

Notes:

For my single serving, these are the ingredient proportions I used:

1 c. cooked rice, handful of cooked chicken, 1 c. microwaved stir-fry veggies, 3-5 T. San-J teriyaki sauce.  I microwaved all the ingredients separately except for the sauce.  Then I combined all the ingredients and added the sauce and microwaved it just enough to warm up the sauce.

Cranberry Almond Salad

I recently went camping with some friends.  I didn’t want to spend a lot of time preparing meals, so I tossed together this salad.  My husband and I ate the same salad at home and had the opportunity to warm up the meat, so you could do the meat hot or cold.

 

Ingredients:

2 handfuls of spinach

2 leaves of leaf lettuce, chopped

2 T. craisins

1 T. sunflower seeds

1 T. slivered almonds

1 handful of broccoli, chopped

3-4 chunks of baked chicken

Dressing of your choice

 

Directions:

Wash spinach, lettuce, and broccoli.  Place in bowl and add craisins, almonds, and sunflower seeds.  Add chicken (either hot or cold).  Add dressing of your choice and eat!

 

Notes:

I oftentimes make the chicken ahead and freeze it. Then I can pull out small amounts as needed.  If you are taking this salad on a campout, I suggest storing the dressing separate from everything else.  I also put the craisins, almonds and sunflower seeds in a separate container so they wouldn’t get soggy.  Happy camping!

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Dressing shown is Ken Martin’s Sweet Vidalia Onion Dressing.  It looks creamy but it has no gluten, dairy, or eggs.  I don’t know what magic is in it to make it look creamy.  Sometimes it’s best not to ask :-).

Herbed Spaghetti Meatsauce

Spaghetti is one of my easy meals, but sometimes I want to make it just a little bit fancier without adding a lot more work.  We have fresh herbs growing in our garden and I am trying to get them into as many of our meals as possible.  You could add in any Italian herbs, but I added basil and rosemary because that is what I had.  Oregano would go well also.

 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 red pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 jar of Classico spaghetti sauce (I think this was the Fire Roasted Garlic one, but any of the non meat or cheese ones will work)

Handful of basil, chopped

1 stem of rosemary, chopped

 

Directions:

Cook ground beef with pepper and onion.  Add the jar of spaghetti sauce along with herbs and cook until hot.  Serve over gluten free noodles.  The noodles shown are HEB’s gluten free spiral noodles.

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This is the meat sauce cooking.  The steam is fogging up my camera lens :-).

 

Thumbprint Cookies

My mother-in-law and brother-in-law make a delicious Mustang Grape jelly.  We made rolls and used the jelly, but we still had a lot left, so I decided to try these cookies.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. vegan butter (SmartBalance)

1/4 c. packed brown sugar

1 flax egg (1 T. ground golden flaxseed, 3 T. water)

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 c. Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 baking flour

1/4 c. chopped walnuts

1/3 c. jam of any flavor, approximately

1/4 tsp salt

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Make flax egg and let rest for 5-10 minutes.  Cream butter and sugar.  Add flax egg and vanilla and stir.  Add flour and stir well.  Add chopped walnuts.

Roll into balls a Tablespoon at a time and place on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 300 degrees for 5 minutes.  Remove pan from oven and make an indent with your thumb in each cookie.  Fill each indent with jam and then return to the oven for 15-18 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool before eating.  I made the mistake of trying to eat one too soon and the jelly was way too hot!

The first time I made these I rolled the walnuts on the outside as seen in the picture, and the walnuts kept falling off.  They will work much better if the walnuts are included in the dough as I directed in the instructions.

Inspired by: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/9618/thumbprint-cookies-i/

Hamburgers

I love hamburgers.  There is just something about chargrilled meat that reminds me of summers around a picnic table.  There are many complicated hamburger recipes out there, but personally I like when it is just beef.  That’s all.  It’s so ridiculously simple.  You can spice it up with your toppings.  You can always add more to your meat, but if you want a really simple recipe, this is it.

 

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

Directions:

Shape meat into round patties.  You can do 4-6 patties with this amount of meat.  Put a small dent in the middle with your thumb.  This helps the center to cook evenly.

Turn on your grill (I used gas).  Get the temperature up to 450 degrees (higher temperature seals in juices and makes a juicy burger).  Place the burgers on the grill being careful not to get licked by the flames if it flares.  Close the lid and cook for about 10 minutes or until the edges are browning and the center no longer looks bright red (should still be a little pink).  Flip burgers over carefully.  There will be a lot of juice on top so it may flare up.  Cook for another 5-10 minutes.  Check one of the larger burgers to make sure it is cooked inside.  Serve on a bun or in a lettuce wrap.  Add whatever toppings you desire.  I enjoy pickles, ketchup, bacon, lettuce and tomato.  Guacamole or avocado adds a nice touch.

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Glutino-Stuffed Brownie

We recently had our 6-month anniversary.  In celebration, I attempted brownies with my chocolate cookie recipe as previously promised.  I also had a package of Glutino’s open that I wanted to use up.  I googled it and apparently a bunch of people already beat me to the punch.  It’s already a thing.  However, I didn’t see any gluten free vegan versions, so here you go!

Ingredients:

3/4 c. brown rice flour

1/4 c. tapioca starch

1/4 c. potato starch

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 c. cocoa powder

1/2 c. coconut oil, melted but room temperature

1/2 c. granulated sugar

1/2 c. packed brown sugar (I used light brown because that’s what I had)

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened Cashew Milk this time, but normally I use coconut milk)

1/4 to 1/2 c. chocolate chips

9 Glutino Chocolate Sandwich Cookies (or Oreos if you aren’t gluten free)

 

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix flours and starches, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder.  In a stand mixer bowl, mix coconut oil and sugars.  Blend on low.  Add vanilla and blend again on low.  Add half the flour and half the milk and stir just a little bit before turning on the mixer to prevent a flour cloud.  Mix briefly with the mixer.  Repeat with the rest of the flour and milk and mix with mixer briefly.  The dough should be very thick. Stir in chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Meanwhile, grease an 8×8 pan.  Add a very thin layer of brownie batter, then place a layer of Glutinos in the bottom (about 9 cookies).  Top with remaining batter.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until desired firmness.  *Note* Coconut oil will harden as it cools, so do not over bake.

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Adapted from: http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/vegan-chocolate-almond-cookies/?m

Green Bean Casserole

My sister introduced this to me.  It is starting to become a staple of our holiday dinners.  I can’t exactly say it’s good for you, but it’s yummy nonetheless.  The original name is Sweet and Sour Green Beans, but we have started calling it Green Bean Casserole.

Layer in 9×13 casserole dish in this order:

2 large cans of French cut green beans, drained

1 large can of sliced mushrooms (optional)

1 pound bacon, fried crisp and crumbled (save the grease)

1 large onion, sliced thin

1 large can Rotel (original)

 

Mix and bring to a boil, stirring constantly:

12 T sugar

12 T. red wine vinegar

all of the bacon grease from frying the bacon earlier (about 12 T.)

Pour boiled sauce over the casserole and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (or until bubbling and onions are done).

Notes:

Can be baked anywhere 300-450 degrees for up to 60 minutes, so you can cook it in the oven with other parts of the holiday meal.  We usually leave out the mushrooms and sometimes add an extra onion.  We never measure the bacon grease and just add it all.  If you don’t eat pork, turkey bacon may work. You may have to add a little extra grease if your turkey bacon isn’t very greasy.  Hope you enjoy this casserole as much as we do!

Recipe is compliments of Alberta Denham.

 

Mexican Lasagna

Sometimes corn tortillas misbehave.  They just don’t want to roll and they keep breaking, especially if they aren’t as fresh as they once were.  Out of the ashes of broken tortillas arose this recipe.  May your tortillas serve you well until the last day of their expiration! (Like many Tex-Mex dishes, this is the same list of ingredients, just in different proportions and repackaged.  This is really enchiladas.  Shhhh!!!)

 

Ingredients:

1 red pepper

1.5 pounds ground beef (omit if vegetarian and use more beans)

1 can enchilada sauce (Old El Paso)

1/2 to 1 can rotel (depending on your spice tolerance)

1/2 lime

3/4 bag spinach

1-2 cans refried beans or use my recipe

1 bag corn tortillas

Salsa, for topping

 

Directions:

Cook ground beef.  Add 1/2 can of enchilada sauce, rotel, and lime.  Grease a 9×13 pan.  Put in one layer of tortillas (6).  Layer in 1/3 of beef, 1/3 of spinach, and 1/3 of beans.  Repeat two more times- tortillas, beef, spinach, beans.  You can add in cheese if you can eat it.  After the last layer of tortillas, top with remaining enchilada sauce and brush on until all the visible tortillas are covered.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.  Top with salsa and serve with cilantro lime rice.

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Basil and Greens Salad

I usually don’t make fancy salads.  I end up eating them at restaurants often and it takes a lot of ingredients to make it fancy.  However, one day I looked in my fridge and realized I had collected little bits and pieces that together could make a really good salad.  If you don’t have one or more of these ingredients, don’t worry.  The recipe won’t be ruined as salads are very forgiving.  I mean, after all, they let you toss them and then eat them.

Ingredients:

1 head green leaf lettuce, chopped

1/2 head iceberg lettuce, chopped

handful of spinach

2 stems of basil, leaves only- I used ajaka and red basil because that’s what I had,

1 handful of cilantro, chopped

1 stalk of celery, diced

1/2 bunch of green onions- green part only, sliced

Dressing: Ken Martin’s Sweet Vidalia Onion dressing.  Surprisingly, it looks creamy yet has no gluten, dairy, or eggs in it.

Directions:

Wash and chop all ingredients.  You may use more or less of any ingredient if that’s what you have around.  The basil is a really nice touch, so I would include some form of basil if you have it.  You could also toss in some carrots, tomatoes, etc. for some color.

Top with your favorite dressing and enjoy!