Gluten-Free Christmas or Thanksgiving Holiday Recipes: Vegetarian Soy-Free Dairy-free Cornbread Dressing Recipe

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Posted on: 05-12-2009 | By: Gluten Free Foods

cornbread One of my favorite breads has to be cornbread. Something about that faintly sweet, almost nutty corn flavor says homey comfort food to me. When I first went dairy and soy free to breast feed my daughter, I was happy to find that I could still have Pamela’s gluten-free cornbread mix. I had always heard about people making cornbread stuffing for winter holidays, but had never made any myself. I was inspired by the season to make this delicious, easy, and completely vegetarian cornbread stuffing. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Gluten-free Dairy-free Soy-Free Vegetarian Cornbread Dressing Recipe
Ingredients
Your favorite gluten-free cornbread recipe (if vegan, recipe will be vegan -dairy and egg free-)
OR
1 pkg. Pamela’s Cornbread and Muffin Mix*
(not suitable for someone with serious allergy to soy or milk as it is produced on the same lines. However, it does not contain soy or milk ingredients)
1/4 cup sugar
8 tbsp. olive oil
2 eggs
1 cup water

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, minced
2 large carrots or 3 small to medium carrots, diced
1/2 corn from fresh cob Or 1/2 cup frozen corn
3 tbsp. fresh assorted herbs, diced (I used rosemary, lemon thyme, and chives)
1 tsp. or more smoked paprika or chipotle pepper
Dried Italian seasoning to taste
1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh diced fresh basil
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 to 3/4 cup vegetable stock (from GF bullion is fine)

1/4 cup pecans
salt and sugar to sprinkle

Directions
Make cornbread the day before you plan to make your stuffing according to directions for sweet cornbread but using my ingredients. Or, make a few hours beforehand. Cool on rack and cut into cubes. I cut 1 inch cubes and think smaller ones might be better- like 1/2 inch cubes. Dry cubes on a baking sheet in a single layer in 250F oven, turning after 20 or 30 minutes and continuing to bake another 30 minutes or until satisfactorily dry.

Preheat oven to 375
Place pecans on a cookie sheet and sprinkle them with salt and sugar. Place in oven and remove when they start to brown and release their fragrance. (10 minutes or so)

Heat olive oil in cast iron pan and add onion. As it starts to get translucent add diced carrots. When they start to lose their “bite” and get slightly softened, add your corn, fresh herbs (not including basil), paprika and Italian seasonings, combining thoroughly. As soon as corn is done, put your dried cornbread cubes in a bowl and pour the sauteed veggies and herbs on top of them. Mix gently, and add your fresh basil, nutritional yeast and salt and pepper. Fold in and then moisten with vegetable stock until it is moist but not soggy. Return to your cast iron pan and bake, covered, for 25 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 5-10 minutes if you want a tasty toasty crust. Top with pecans and serve.

Gluten-Free Cornmeal Savory Crepe with Goat Cheese Vegetarian Filling Recipe

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Posted on: 11-08-2009 | By: Gluten Free Foods

cornmealcrepes4I haven’t had much time to cook lately, but I still have my supply of lovely cooking magazines. Vegetarian Times and Cooking Light are my two current favorites. I also have a subscription to Gourmet, which I like slightly less but still find inspiration from at times. When i miraculously had a few minutes free, a few days ago I was flipping through the September issue of Vegetarian Times and stumbled across an article on crepes. I love crepes, as they are easy to make gluten free with simple substitutions and usually have plenty of protein in the form of eggs and/or milk that makes them easy to handle. You can also make them sweet or savory. I was inspired by a sweet recipe for cornmeal-blueberry crepes to come up with my own savory cornmeal crepe using some of Bob’s Red Mill new gluten-free cornmeal. I think a more finely ground cornmeal, or even corn flour might be an interesting variation on this recipe, but the flavor of a faintly sweet cornmeal crepe with tangy goats cheese and tasty veggies is not to be missed. It was difficult to find time to make the entire recipe with a fussy newborn clamoring for her own lunch, but it was nice to have a meal that didn’t come out of my freezer. The DH enjoyed this dish for lunch, and no worries, Baby Yum had her gobble fest in the end, so everyone was happy.
cornmealcrepes5crepefilling

Gluten Free Savory Cornmeal Crepe Recipe
Ingredients
Crepes:
1 cup GF flour mix (I used Bette hagman’s featherlight blend)
1 cup GF milled cornmeal (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
2 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp dried lemon zest (or 2 tbsp. fresh lemon zest)
1/2 tsp salt
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups 1% milk

3 tbsp. fresh herbs, diced (I used chives, lemon thyme, oregano, and basil)
goat cheese

filling one:
1/2 lb mushrooms (or as desired), cleaned and sliced
olive oil
salt
pepper
1/4 roasted red pepper, diced

filling two:
1/4 roasted red pepper,diced
1 small yellow heirloom tomato, diced
salt

Directions
Whisk together crepe ingredients in medium or large bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. Heat nonstick pan on medium and take 1/4 cup batter in one hand. Take nonstick pan off the burner and pour batter into pan, swirling pan so that the batter covers the bottom forming a round shape. Heat until crepe becomes golden brown on bottom (1 or 2 minutes). Turn crepe over and heat other side for one more minute or so. You can keep them warm in an 200 degree or warm oven while you prepare the rest.

Meanwhile heat a cast iron pan and add a little olive oil to the pan, swirling it to cover the bottom in a thin layer. Add your mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Leave mushrooms alone and turn when they seem nicely done on one side. saute the mushrooms on the other side and then remove from pan and reserve.

To assemble crepe version one, spread a small amount of goat cheese in the center of the crepe and add sliced mushrooms and red pepper. Roll up crepe and enjoy.

To assemble crepe version two, spread a small amount of goat cheese in the center of the crepe and add diced red pepper and diced tomato, sprinkled lightly with salt.

Serve and enjoy!

Notes
Bette Hagman’s Featherlight Mix bulk recipe:
1 c. Rice flour
1 c. cornstarch
1 c. tapioca starch
1 Tbs. potato flour (NOT potato starch)
Mix well.

Gluten-Free Easy Polenta Lasagna Recipe

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Posted on: 04-08-2009 | By: Gluten Free Foods

polentalasag2
In my menu of the week post I mentioned that a friend had brought over a bunch of yummy gluten-free dishes for my freezer. It couldn’t have come at a better time, as I’d been eating frozen Amy’s meals for almost every meal at that point and was going slightly insane over the lack of variety. I missed home cooked meals desperately, but it’s hard to find time to make them with a newborn vying for your attention. (And so adorably, too!) Among many other things, she brought me some frozen polenta squares, which still was a world of flavor better than the nasty processed kinds in the tube… and they reminded me of a dish I’d enjoyed at a fancy restaurant in Boulder, Colorado with layers of tomato sauce, melted cheese, and spinach in a cheese sauce. I made a busy momma’s version of that dish using the polenta cubes for dinner, and the DH and I enjoyed them greatly. Why not try some yourself on a busy weekday? This recipe comes together really quickly with the polenta prepared the night before (or week! or month, if frozen). I wouldn’t have thought to freeze polenta, but it is a very nice way to extend the polenta’s life. Just defrost in microwave (carefully) and drain any liquid that seeps out. You will have to handle the polenta carefully as it will be softer after being defrosted than if you had just taken it out of your refrigerator when firm.

Polenta Spinach Lasagna Square Recipe
Ingredients
1 recipe prepared polenta, chilled until firm and cut into thin, 1/4 in. thick, 3 inch wide cubes. (Prepare according to box instructions, using veg broth instead of water if desired, and spices to taste)

1/2 tbsp. olive oil
Your favorite grill seasoning (gluten-free)
small bowlful of fresh spinach
marinara sauce (gluten-free, of course- most are, luckily)
Organic cheddar or feta cheese

Directions
Heat olive oil in nonstick pan on medium and swirl to evenly cover surface. Add your polenta squares and season generously with grill seasoning. Let brown and then turn. Season browned side and turn once more to set in the spices. Add spinach to one side of the pan and let wilt. To assemble, heat oven to broil. Place browned polenta squares on cookie sheet and top with wilted spinach. Drizzle with marinara sauce and top with organic cheese. Place under broiler and let cheese get melted and golden brown on top. Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Menu of the Week: Homemade Vegetarian Corn Potato Soup Recipe in the Pressure Cooker

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Posted on: 05-07-2009 | By: Gluten Free Foods

gfsoftfoods gftofuscramble cornquesa
Gluten-Free food after tooth extraction: 1. Microwaved Sweet potato with butter, salt, pepper and lot of yogurt in a mash, sauteed tofu with cheese and guacamole. 2. Sauteed tofu scramble with nutritional yeast/ground almond not-parmesan and mushrooms 3. After mostly Recovered- Corn Tortillas stuffed with fresh corn, beans, salsa, and cheese.

My apologies for my absence for the last two menus of the week. I always try to post a menu on Sunday and then twice during the week, but with spotty internet service as we moved to a new apartment, I just wasn’t able to. And, unfortunately, it just didn’t make sense to do a menu plan as meals have largely been consisting of restaurant fare and frozen gluten-free Amy’s meals.

I did manage to post two recipes somehow:
Japanese-fusion Avocado Onigiri Rice Triangles
and
Fresh Pineapple Spring Roll, Soy-Free Garlic-free Peanut Sauce and Nut-free Sweet Chili-garlic sauce

One of my favorite people, Cheryl of Gluten-free Goodness, is hosting the gluten-free menu of the week and the ingredient of the week is garlic. Unfortunately, somehow pregnancy has made me very sensitive to garlic (even though I formerly loved the stuff) and it just isn’t agreeing with me. I look forward to seeing what others do with this ingredient, though, and maybe I can join in after Baby Yum joins us and pregnancy is no longer playing havoc with my taste buds and constitution. The sweet chili-garlic sauce recipe I made for my gluten-free potluck above is perhaps the only valid entry I have for her theme… Here’s my sadly garlic-light menu for the week:

Monday: American
Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup
Homemade Gluten-free bread

Wednesday: Mexican
Vegetarian Enchiladas

Thursday: Chinese
Veggie Stir Fry

Friday: Italian
Veggie Pizza

If being 8 1/2 months pregnant, moving, and celebrating the forth of July weren’t enough this year, I also had an unfortunate incident involving a very painful cracked tooth that took real food off the menu when I suddenly had to have the tooth removed. EEK! Luckily I have the best husband in the world that kept me well supplied in hot (lukewarm) GF cereal, smoothies, ice cream and yogurt. Kozy Shack Rice Pudding went down very nicely, and I also enjoyed many a mashed sweet potato and even some nice sauteed scrambled tofu. I asked the DH to make me a soup, and fresh corn in the grocery store inspired him to channel a favorite in Japan- Cream of corn soup. Because he is my hero, he decided to try making it in the pressure cooker to soften the potatoes lightening-fast. He also pureed it to create one of the silky-smoothest vegetarian soups I’ve ever had. Because there is sodium in both creamed corn and bouillon, do be cautious when adding salt. I recommend adding any salt AFTER the soup is pureed. Naughtiness with sodium aside, this is one of the tastiest soups I have had in a long time and it made me love our pressure cooker and my wonderful DH all the more. Hungry yet?

Japanese-Style Cream of Corn Soup in Pressure Cooker Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 stick butter
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
4 cups water
1 can (15 oz) cream style corn
kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn
2 cubes Gluten Free Not-chicken bouillon
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups milk
French green herb blend
salt and pepper to taste (cautious with the salt- between the cream corn and bouillon it is easy to over-salt

Gluten-Free Menu of the Week: Homemade Vegetarian Corn Potato Soup Recipe in the Pressure Cooker

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Posted on: 05-07-2009 | By: Gluten Free Foods

gfsoftfoods gftofuscramble cornquesa
Gluten-Free food after tooth extraction: 1. Microwaved Sweet potato with butter, salt, pepper and lot of yogurt in a mash, sauteed tofu with cheese and guacamole. 2. Sauteed tofu scramble with nutritional yeast/ground almond not-parmesan and mushrooms 3. After mostly Recovered- Corn Tortillas stuffed with fresh corn, beans, salsa, and cheese.

My apologies for my absence for the last two menus of the week. I always try to post a menu on Sunday and then twice during the week, but with spotty internet service as we moved to a new apartment, I just wasn’t able to. And, unfortunately, it just didn’t make sense to do a menu plan as meals have largely been consisting of restaurant fare and frozen gluten-free Amy’s meals.

I did manage to post two recipes somehow:
Japanese-fusion Avocado Onigiri Rice Triangles
and
Fresh Pineapple Spring Roll, Soy-Free Garlic-free Peanut Sauce and Nut-free Sweet Chili-garlic sauce

One of my favorite people, Cheryl of Gluten-free Goodness, is hosting the gluten-free menu of the week and the ingredient of the week is garlic. Unfortunately, somehow pregnancy has made me very sensitive to garlic (even though I formerly loved the stuff) and it just isn’t agreeing with me. I look forward to seeing what others do with this ingredient, though, and maybe I can join in after Baby Yum joins us and pregnancy is no longer playing havoc with my taste buds and constitution. The sweet chili-garlic sauce recipe I made for my gluten-free potluck above is perhaps the only valid entry I have for her theme… Here’s my sadly garlic-light menu for the week:

Monday: American
Homemade Cream of Tomato Soup
Homemade Gluten-free bread

Wednesday: Mexican
Vegetarian Enchiladas

Thursday: Chinese
Veggie Stir Fry

Friday: Italian
Veggie Pizza

If being 8 1/2 months pregnant, moving, and celebrating the forth of July weren’t enough this year, I also had an unfortunate incident involving a very painful cracked tooth that took real food off the menu when I suddenly had to have the tooth removed. EEK! Luckily I have the best husband in the world that kept me well supplied in hot (lukewarm) GF cereal, smoothies, ice cream and yogurt. Kozy Shack Rice Pudding went down very nicely, and I also enjoyed many a mashed sweet potato and even some nice sauteed scrambled tofu. I asked the DH to make me a soup, and fresh corn in the grocery store inspired him to channel a favorite in Japan- Cream of corn soup. Because he is my hero, he decided to try making it in the pressure cooker to soften the potatoes lightening-fast. He also pureed it to create one of the silky-smoothest vegetarian soups I’ve ever had. Because there is sodium in both creamed corn and bouillon, do be cautious when adding salt. I recommend adding any salt AFTER the soup is pureed. Naughtiness with sodium aside, this is one of the tastiest soups I have had in a long time and it made me love our pressure cooker and my wonderful DH all the more. Hungry yet?

Japanese-Style Cream of Corn Soup in Pressure Cooker Recipe
Ingredients
1/2 stick butter
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup sweet rice flour
4 cups water
1 can (15 oz) cream style corn
kernels from 2 ears of fresh corn
2 cubes Gluten Free Not-chicken bouillon
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups milk
French green herb blend
salt and pepper to taste (cautious with the salt- between the cream corn and bouillon it is easy to over-salt

Gluten-free Menu of the Week: Gluten Free Cheese Cornbread Madeleines Recipe

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Posted on: 14-06-2009 | By: Gluten Free Foods

cornmadeleines
Gluten-Free Cornbread Madeleines/ Mini Muffins three ways: Roasted Red pepper, lemon black pepper, and Parmesan

Inspiration from dinners this week:
indianfeast indchilirice eggplantcurry
Rajma Indian Vegetarian Chili Recipe, Roasted Eggplant in Creamy Sauce (healthy cuisine of India p. 91),special Indian Rice Recipe.

Here’s the menu for this week, a week that promises to be exceptionally busy with painting a new apartment, starting to move into said apartment, and more fun with third trimester pregnancy. Wonder if I’ll really manage to be so ambitious this week…

Monday: Mexican
Herbed Zucchini Salad (A Taste of Mexico p. 67)
Refried Bean Tostadas (116)

Wednesday: Japanese
Onigiri Rice Triangles
Spinach salad

Thursday: Middle Eastern
Falafel and tahini sauce
baba ghanoush
cucumber yogurt salad
gluten-free flatbread

Friday: Vegetarian
Gluten-Free crumpets
gluten-free veggie burgers (Sunflower)
Salad

Breakfast: Raspberry Smoothie
Baked Goods: Gluten-Free Crumpets (bette Hagman), Gluten-free flatbread (my own)

This week the gluten-free menu swap is hosted by Cheryl of GF Goodness, the home of the swap headquarters, with a theme of raspberries. After living on a farm for a year in my childhood and glutting myself on an obscene amount of farm-grown raspberries, i have to admit that they are not my favorite fruit, but I do love them in a smoothie! You can find more great menus with Org Junkie.

This week I posted an update on the new offerings at the
Gluten-Free bakery Mariposa in Oakland, California
and a
gorgeous tofu recipe with nutritional yeast and cheese that sadly, never felt the love. *sniff*

This week I was just debating about what type of recipe to try for my weekly Sunday recipe when I happened across a recipe by a master food blogger, the well known mastermind behind Sacramento based blog Vanilla Garlic. He was inspired by a cheesy, sweet cornbread baked in a madeleine tray that he was served at the local restaurant Tre to create his own salty, cheese-rich cornbread madeleines seasoned liberally with freshly ground pepper. Oh Garrett, you had me at cornbread madeleines, and the seasoning cinched it. Although I was a leetle frightened to try making this dish, what with the fiery inferno that resulted from the perils of the madeleine tray in Garrett’s oven, I absolutely had to give it the old gluten-free try. Of course, both the Tre version and Garrett’s contained gluten- so I took the baking pan presentation and seasoning ideas for inspiration and came up with my own gluten-free recipe. I was feeling a tad self conscious about the amount of cheese I’ve been eating lately so I made several variations- one a roasted red pepper cornbread inspired by previous recipes for green chili cornbread, another a lemon pepper, and then one with just the lightest tease of parmesan to pay homage to Garrett’s original. I have this lovely bottle of lemon olive oil in my pantry that cried out to be served with these cornbread yummies- and I sprinkled all versions generously with kosher salt. The recipe was just as lovely as I thought it would be, and was a perfect way for this savory-obsessed gluten-free lady to use her much neglected madeleine pan. The DH gave a big thumbs up and pronounced them yummy. I concentrated on not eating the whole pan in one setting. This recipe is also a great way to play with the new gluten-free milled cornmeals available through Bob’s Red Mill. If you don’t have a pan for madeleines, never fear, you can bake them all in mini muffin tins… but they’re not quite as fun! (Still taste delicious though). For the record- the lemon pepper and the parmesan were my favorite seasonings, but roasted red pepper was tasty too, especially if you add a little cheese to them. Mmm, mm, tasty.

Gluten Free Cornbread madeleines or mini corn muffin Recipe
Bread  Corn  American  
Ingredients
1/2 cup coarse gluten-free cornmeal grits (Arrowhead Mills or Bob’s Red Mill)
1/2 cup gluten-free medium cornmeal (Bob’s Red Mill)
3/4 cup gluten-free flour blend (Rebecca reilly’s brown rice blend)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup lowfat buttermilk (for dairy free, milk sub with lemon juice)
1 large egg, beaten
2 tbsp. canola or olive oil
freshly ground black pepper

Seasonings:
1/8 cup roasted red pepper, minced (for 1/3 the recipe)
2 tbsp. microplane grated parmesan or more (for 1/3 the recipe)
Coarsely ground lemon pepper (for 1/3 the recipe)

For all recipe:
Lemon olive oil (optional)
kosher salt

1 madeleine pan, 1 mini muffin tin (use only half or 1/3 or tin)
butter for greasing or nonstick cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 375F.
Grease madeleine pan and 1/3 or 1/2 of mini muffin tin with butter or nonstick cooking spray.

Whisk together dry ingredients in med-large bowl and then make a well in the middle. Add your buttermilk, egg, and oil, and gently combine. Fill 2/3 of tins with the cornmeal batter.

Sprinkle 1/3 of batter in tins with grated parmesan. Sprinkle 1/3 of batter with generous amounts of coarsely ground lemon pepper. Add minced roasted red pepper to batter remaining in the bowl and use to fill remaining madeleine tins and mini muffin tins.

Season with kosher salt and bake for 9 or 10 minutes. If you like, you can turn over your madeleines and bake for two more minutes. Bake mini muffins a few more minutes too, if you like.

To serve, baste with lemon olive oil (optional) and sprinkle with a bit more kosher salt. Yummy!

Notes
Rebecca Reilly’s GF Flour mix:
Made in bulk, proportions are
2 cups brown rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 cup tapioca starch. Now please buy her wonderful cookbook.)