Roasted Corn Chowder

Tags

chowder, coconut milk, corn, dairy free, gluten free, roasted corn, stew

Being diary free, I miss all those thick, yummy chowders of winter. Then one chilly Seattle day, I saw a vegan Roasted Corn Chowder on the specials menu at one of my favorite Beacon Hill restaurants. It was so good, I had to try recreating it at home! I made a few changes to thicken it up, but am pretty darn pleased at the results!!

Roasted Corn Chowder

4 ears of corn (kernels sliced off)

4 Tbsp olive oil (half for roasting corn, half for veggies)

4 ribs celery, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 medium sized red potatoes, chopped small

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

2-3 Tbsp gluten free flour

1 can (full fat) coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth (low sodium)

1 1/2 cups plain soymilk

4 stalks green onion, chopped

1 tea old bay seasoning

1 tea pepper

Optional: Baked salmon to add to chowder.

1. Preheat oven to 400-degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out corn kernels. Sprinkle oil over corn and roast about 20 minutes, turning once, until kernels have started to carmelize just slightly.
2. Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in dutch oven. Saute onion, celery and garlic over medium heat, about 7 minutes.
3. Sprinkle gluten-free flour over sauteed vegetables. Stir together for a few minutes.
4. Add coconut milk, chicken broth, soymilk and potatoes to soup. Cook 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.
5. Stir in roasted corn, green onion and pepper.

This is a hearty, thick soup that will be even  better with some baked salmon stirred in!

Lemon Chicken with Capers

Tags

capers, chicken, d/f, dairy free, g/f, gluten free, lemon, rice

Before kids, even before the Handsome Husband entered the picture, my sweet neighbors and I never ordered Italian take out without calling each other. “Petrinis run”, we’d shout across the lawn, “what do you want?”. Petrinis is one of those old, simple spots, with red vinyl seats and waitresses who know your name. I remembered going there with my grandma, and my neighbor Shari had happy childhood dinner memories there as well. We often had birthday dinners there, and eventually our small kids (first Shari’s, then mine) would scoot around the long seats, chatting up new friends. One of my favorite dishes was Chicken Piccata, a rich, creamy dish with thick cuts of savory chicken, just the right amount of capers, and sauce that never ran out.

It’s seemingly impossible to replicate as gluten and dairy free, or so I thought! Using my staple potato and leek soup (Imagine brand), and making a sauce with fresh lemon juice and olive oil, it comes pretty close. I replace the fettucini with rice to help soak up the sauce, and no complaints exist. Our kids may grow up with a dairy-free and gluten-free mom, but they won’t be missing out on this classic!

LEMON CHICKEN WITH CAPERS, gluten-free and dairy-free

2 large chicken breasts, boneless

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

2 shallots, chopped fine (or 1/2 onion if you don’t have shallots)

1 carton Imagine brand potato/leek soup (g/f, d/f)

1 egg

1/3 cup g/f flour

1 tea white pepper

½ tea paprika

3-4 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1 large lemon

2-3 Tbsp capers

Olive oil (2-3 Tbsp to fry chicken pieces, plus 1-2 Tbsp more for shallots)

In a deep saucepan, melt olive oil over medium heat. Mix white pepper and paprika with flour, set aside. Lightly scramble egg in bowl, set aside. Slice boneless chicken breasts into 3 or 4 diagonal slices, about 1 inch thick. Dip chicken in egg, then flour, and fry in oil for about 4-5 min per side. Remove chicken from pan. Add about 1-2 tbsp more oil and sautee shallots with the garlic. Add any left over flour to mixture, then add a little bit of chicken broth at a time, stirring in between to make a nice sauce. Add potato/leek soup, juice of 1 large lemon, and capers. Add chicken and capers. Cook about 5 – 10 more minutes, or until chicken appears cooked through. Sauce should be medium thick and cover most of the chicken. Serve over rice.

Oatmeal Cookies

Tags

chocolate chips, cookie, dairy free, gluten free, oatmeal, shortening

This recipe takes a bit of shopping if you’re not the type who stocks dairy-free and gluten-free baking items around the house, but it really does hit the spot. One of the things that has been the hardest for me since I gave up dairy and gluten was the ability to meet a homemade cookie craving at the spur-of-the-moment. So, from now on I’ll be keeping a few craving staples on hand for my next sweet need! The specific “not regular” things you need for this recipe are:  Bob’s all purpose gluten-free flour, Earth Balance vegan shortening, soy milk, and dairy-free mini chocolate chips (I like “Enjoy Life” brand).

OATMEAL COOKIES, dairy-free and gluten-free

2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour (e.g., Bobs)

1 tea baking soda

2 1/4 cup quick cooking oats

1 1/2 tea ground cinnamon

1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup shortening (e.g., Earth Balance vegan)

2 eggs

1 tea vanilla extract

1/2 soy milk

1 cup diary-free mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375-degrees.  Mix sugars, shortening, vanilla and eggs until all shortening is blended. (Note: I found this shortening to be hard to blend, and was glad I used my Kitchen Aid mixer instead of blending by hand!).  Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and oats. Mix. Add chocolate chips.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet, with parchment paper. Bake 12 minutes.

Sneaky Tuna Casserole

Tags

broccoli, casserole, tuna

Today, Jan 18 2015, the Seahawks advanced to the Superbowl for the second time. My city is once again in it’s happy place, which is great, but also means I wasn’t excited about the thought of going to the store down the street and weaving around all the super-happy-car-honking fans. It’s kinda loud out there, and I’m just not feeling it today!  I’m also on a quest to get more veggies into my uber-picky 6 yr old, who’s stubbornness will someday get him a great job, but for now just gives me a headache. So I settled for the veggie stand down the street, and tried to make a full Sunday dinner out of what’s remaining in the cupboard.

Here’s what resulted: The Sneaky Tuna Casserole.

1 package g-f macaroni noodles

3 (6-oz) cans albacore tuna, drained

1 container dairy-free sour cream (I like “Tofuti” brand)

1 large head of broccoli, cut small

2 med size yellow squash, cut small

1/2 tea white pepper

1/4 tea salt

1 tea dried thyme

1/2 fresh lemon

Optional: Mozzarella to sprinkle over some of it towards the end of cooking, if there are dairy-friendly eaters in your house who like this sort of thing.

1. Preheat oven to 350-degrees.

2. Cook noodles. While noodles are cooking, cook broccoli 4-5 minutes in another pan. When done cooking, spoon out broccoli and set it aside.  Add the yellow squash to the hot water. Cook until very, very soft, about 6-8 minutes.

3. While noodles and veggies are cooking, combine d-f sour cream, white pepper, salt, thyme, and juice from 1/2 of a fresh lemon. Stir in tuna.

4. When yellow squash is done cooking, drain it and put it in a shallow bowl of some sort. With a potato masher, mash it to a soup-like texture. (This is the “Sneaky” part, since my picky kid won’t eat squash. It’s also the extra liquidy stuff you’ll need for the casserole, since we are not using milk or a cream-based soup!) Add it to the tuna mixture.

5. When the noodles are just about done (maybe 1-2 minutes before the package says for them to be done), drain them and add them to the tuna mixture. Lightly toss and then spread in a 9×12 baking dish.

6. Cook for 30-40 minutes at 350-degrees. If you are planning on sprinkling cheese over part of the casserole for your dairy-friendly family members, do this the last 10-15 minutes.

My family ate this whole thing up in record time. It was one of those “Canyoumakethiseverydayfortherestofmylife??!!” meals. Love those! Let me know what you think!

Papa’s Zucchini Chicken

Tags

chicken, dairy free, gluten free, zucchini

Found this recipe the other day, in my dad’s handwriting. The top corner says my grandmother Vivian’s name, so that was compelling enough to give it a whirl! My tweaks included using olive oil instead of shortening, gluten-free flour, fresh tomatoes instead of canned, g-f and dairy-free soup and adding some pitted kalamata olives.

2 large zucchini (or 3-4 small ones)
6 chicken thighs (bone in)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup gluten free flour (add more if needed)
1 fresh tomato, cut in half then sliced thin
1 carton Imagine brand potato-leek soup (dairy-free)
1/4 to 1/3 cup kalamata olives (pitted)
2 tea paprika
1 tea basil
1 tea pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Rinse chicken and pat dry. Put paprika, basil and pepper in flour, dip chicken into flour and fry in oil. Brown chicken about 5-7 minutes per side over medium heat.

Meanwhile, cut zucchini lengthwise, then slice diagonally. Once chicken is flipped and cooked on both sides, add soup and garlic. Cover and cook 20 minutes. Add zucchini, tomatoes and kalamata olives. cover again and cook 15 more minutes or until tender.

Tuna-Tot with Brocolli Casserole

Tags

casserole, pasta, tuna

Sometimes we just need the tots. And the tuna casserole? It calls my name often. Before the gluten and dairy free thing, meeting these needs was as easy as opening up a can and dumping a few things into a dish. Yet campbells soups don’t go well with a g-f or d-f diet, and I don’t often have diary-free sour cream hanging out in my fridge waiting to be used. (Well, to be honest, I often *do* have dairy-free sour cream in my fridge… About half a forgotten carton with suspicious fuzz on it, way in the back…) I discovered a great soup substitute when I stumbled upon the Imagine brand’s “Creamy Potato-Leek Soup” carton at the PCC. When combined with a bit of mayo or veganese (which my husband likes even more than mayo, surprisingly), you can hardly tell it’s not the same ole thing.

So here it is, folks! Comfort food for those of us with good midwestern stock, tummies sensitive to dairy and wheat, and kids that need their green stuff.

Tuna-Tot with Broccoli Casserole

3 cans albacore tuna (21 oz total)

½ cup mayonnaise or veganese

1 carton (16 oz) Creamy Potato-Leek Soup, Imagine brand

½ cup soy or almond milk

1 ½ to 2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped small and steamed about 6 minutes

12 oz gluten free pasta

1 tea ground pepper

½ tea dill

1 tea thyme

Tator Tots to cover most of top (1/2 to 1 bag)

Crunched up chips (tortilla or g-f potato chips) to fill in spots tator tots aren’t covering

Mix tuna, mayo, potato-leek soup, soy/almond milk and spices together. Put water for pasta on to boil. Meanwhile, chop fresh broccoli. When pasta water is ready, put in the dried pasta. If you have a steamer basket of some sort that fits on top of the saucepan, use that to cook the broccoli. Otherwise cook the broccoli in a separate pan. Cook pasta until slightly underdone, about 6 minutes. Drain. Mix in pasta and broccoli with rest of ingredients. Stir gently. Pour into greased 13×9 pan (I always use a glass pan) and cover with tator tots. Crunch up handfuls of tortilla or g-f potato chips and sprinkle around the tator tots, so that the entire casserole is covered either by the tots or by the chips. Cook for 30 minutes at 350-degrees.

Grandma’s Meatloaf Amped Up

Tags

beef, meatloaf, oatmeal, pork

Grandma Vivien’s meatloaf was the first meatloaf I had, and will always be the best. Smelling it in the oven brings me right back to her little Santa Barbara condo. I can almost hear the Dodger’s game on and feel the thick carpet under my kneecaps as I lay on my tummy, stacking houses out of her bridge playing cards while waiting for dinner to be ready.

Nowadays, my version is almost the same. One can’t mess with perfection, after all. I add a bit of veggies and mix in ground pork with the ground beef. But other than that, Grandma would be proud.

Grandma’s Meatloaf, Amped Up (Gluten and Dairy free)

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

1 1/2 cups oatmeal (gluten free)

2 eggs

3/4 cup tomato sauce

3/4 to 1 cup carrots, shredded with cheese grater

about 1/2 cup onion, shredded with cheese grater or minced fine

1 tea thyme

1 tea ground pepper

Mix together all ingredients with your hands. Put in greased bread loaf pan.  Cook for about one hour and 15 minutes in 350-degree oven.

Just About 2 hour Stew

Tags

carrots, dairy free, gluten free, meat, onions, stew

This recipe is a revise of Grandma Vivien’s 6 Hour Stew, which she made often during summer visits to Santa Barbara. I remember her starting stew prep well before lunch, which I always thought odd. The stew would come out of the hot oven by dinner time, all thick and bubbly. It was simple and easy, salty and rich.

Grandma’s secret? Campbells soup cans… Cream of Celery soup and French Onion soup. Going dairy and gluten free (and having high blood pressure) meant no more can-soup receipes for us! The key to this replacement recipe was finding a creamy soup alternative, using g-f flour as thickener, and replacing the 6-hour oven time with a mix of stove top and oven together.

JUST ABOUT 2 HOUR STEW

1 1/2 to 2 lbs Stew Meat, cut up

1 large onion, sliced thin and cut

10 carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally

1 Qt (32 oz) beef broth, low sodium

16 oz box of Creamy Potato-Leek soup (“Imagine” brand)

1/2 cup gluten-free flour

1/3 cup olive oil

4 garlic cloves, peeled and pressed

Spice mix (about 1 Tbsp ground cumin, 2 tea paprika, 2 tea black pepper)

Heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Mix flour and spices. Coat cut up stew meat with flour/spice mixture. Brown all sides of stew meat, about 2-3 minutes per side. Mix in sliced onions and garlic, stir. Cook about 3-4 minutes longer.

Add about a cup of  broth at a time to the meat and onion mixture, stirring in between. Add potato-leek soup, stir. Add carrots. Preheat oven to 300-degrees. While oven is pre-heating, simmer stew on stove top about 20 minutes on low heat, with lid partially covering.

After 20 minutes, close lid fully and take dutch oven off of stove top. Put in oven about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent bottom of dutch oven from burning.

After about 1 1/2 hours, stew should be thick, carrots soft and meat tender. Serve over rice.

Makes between 6 and 8 servings, depending upon who is eating!