California Citrus Salad

I adapted this recipe to make it whole30 and whole30 AIP compliant. I tried making the dressing as well, but I decided it's easier to just use olive oil and lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. This recipe makes enough for 4, which is great because I can have it for dinner and then lunch the next day.

Ingredients: 

1 head of romaine lettuce chopped

4 clementine oranges

1/4 cup dry roasted pecans (omit if AIP)

1 large granny smith apple

4 dates chopped or 1/4 cup raisins

1 avocado

1/4 cup dried cranberries (omit for whole30 or AIP)

2 stems green onions chopped

1 lemon (quartered to squeeze onto salad)

olive oil to drizzle

salt

Directions:

Chop ingredients and place in bowl, except for avocado. Slice avocado and place on top of salad when plating. Drizzle lemon and olive oil onto salad. Salt to taste. 

If you plan to use this as a salad the next day, chop the apples and oranges and store them in a separate container. The citric acid in the oranges prevent the apples from turning brown.

Zucchini Herb Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cup cooked brown rice (i cook mine with chicken broth for additional flavor)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound zucchini, cubed

1 cup sliced green onions

3 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons italian seasoning

1 teaspoon paprika

3 large roma tomatoes, chopped tomatoes

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese,

divided (optional)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a skillet/wok over medium heat, and cook the zucchini, green onions, and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Season with salt, Italian seasoning, and paprika. Mix in the cooked rice, tomatoes, and 1 cup cheese. Continue to cook and stir until heated through. 

I found this recipe on Allrecipes and followed the comments section recommendations by made a few tweaks so it would be faster to make. I served it with Costco Rotisserie chicken. Instead of making a casserole, I just served it right out of the pan. Also, I didn't have time to make rice, so I used 1 bag of Trader Joe's frozen brown rice and added 2 Trader Joe's liquid chicken bullion packets directly to the wok.

Gluten-Free Chicken Roll-ups

This is an adaptation from a recipe I loved before going gluten-free.

Filling Ingredients: 


2 cups cubed chicken (boiled)
1 8 oz package light cream cheese
1 stalk celery (finely chopped)
1 tsp poultry seasoning


Crescent Rolls Ingredients (I doubled the recipe): 


1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese, do not use low-fat
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
4 teaspoons sugar


Bread-crumb topping: 

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup gluten-free Italian bread crumbs



Directions:

• Use an electric mixer or blender to mix together the butter and cottage or ricotta cheese. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients and mix until a dough ball forms. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and chill for two to three hours.
• In medium bowl, mix together chicken, cream cheese, celery, and poultry seasoning until well combined.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle GF all-purpose or rice flour onto your work surface and roll half the dough into a 14 inch circle. You may find it easier to roll the dough between two layers of good quality baking paper or cling wrap. Cut the dough into 8 triangles.
• Divide filling into 16 servings. Place one serving of chicken at the widest part of the triangle and roll each triangle from the wide end to the tip. Roll crescent in butter and then Italian bread crumbs. Repeat for 2nd batch of dough. 
• Place the rolled crescents on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until golden. 

Corn Chowder

Now for the soup on the right. My roommate made this delicious summer corn chowder, but I wanted to find a way to make it allergy-free.

Ingredients: 

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch dice (1 c.)

2 ribs celery, cut into 1/2 inch dice (3/4 c.)

8 sprigs thyme (FYI 1 sprig is not a leaf but an entire stem)

Salt and Pepper

3 cups chicken broth

2 cups frozen corn 

5 small fingerling potatoes, cut into 1/2 in. thick slices

1/2 poblano chile, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch dice

1 can coconut milk

Directions: 

• Add oil, onions, celery, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste to stockpot. Cook over medium-low heat until translucent, about 8 minutes. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 15 minutes.
• Add corn, potatoes, and chile; cook until potatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and discard thyme. Add coconut milk and simmer until soup is hot.

The recipe calls for crumbled bacon as a garnish, but I left it out because the soup was already so hearty.

Spicy Thai Soup

I stumbled upon this recipe on the Thai Cooking channel on my Roku. I made 2 soups at the same time, this is for the soup on the left. The recipe calls for chicken, but I used potatoes instead of chicken. 

Ingredients: 

3 lemongrass stalks, bottom two-thirds of tender inner bulbs only, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (4 inch) piece fresh ginger root, chopped

4 cups chicken broth

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

7 baby red potatoes quartered

12 ounces fresh white mushrooms, quartered

2 teaspoons red curry paste

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 lime, juiced

2 (14 ounce) cans coconut milk

1 red onion, sliced

1/2 bunch cilantro, roughly chopped

1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, sliced into rings

Directions:

• Stir lemon grass, garlic, and ginger together in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Stir in chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Strain chicken broth and set aside. Discard lemon grass, garlic, and ginger.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large soup pot over medium heat; Stir in chicken; cook and stir for 5 minutes.
• Stir in mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes.
• Stir in red curry paste, fish sauce, and lime juice until combined. Stir in chicken broth and coconut milk; return to a simmer and cook on low for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Skim off any excess oil and fat that rises to the top and discard.
• Stir red onion into the chicken mixture; cook and stir until onion softens, about 5 minutes.
• Remove from heat and add about 1/2 the cilantro.
• Serve with plates of cilantro, lime wedges, and fresh sliced jalapenos.

This can easily be made vegan with the following substitutions: 

• potatoes for chicken
• vegetable broth for chicken broth
• soy sauce for fish sauce

Thai Lime Coconut Chicken (or vegetables)

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes (see below for vegetarian substitution)
1 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp curry powder
1 14 oz can light or regular coconut milk
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime (use a 1/4 lime zest and hand squeeze half a lime, otherwise it's too limey)
1/4 cup green onion, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chicken, garlic, and onion and cook chicken until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring for 1 minute, until it is fragrant. Add the coconut milk, lime juice and zest, bring to a simmer, and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat, stir in the green onions and cilantro.  Serve over rice.

For vegetarian/vegan, replace the chicken with the following:
10 baby golden yukon potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes
12 baby carrots, sliced

adapted from this recipe

Empty the Fridge Pasta Salad (vegan)

I've been working crazy hours at work so I haven't been able to cook as much as I like. The produce I purchased 4th of July weekend really needed to be used, so, inspired by my friend Becki's pasta salad, I made this:

(sorry for the ghetto picture, this is 2nd day pasta salad I had for lunch at work today)

Really, you could use any vegetables you have on hand - the most important veggies are the onions and garlic since they give the most flavor.

Ingredients:

1/2 package of twirly brown rice pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove chopped garlic

1 pkg asparagus

1/2 package crimini mushrooms

1 small onion diced

3 zucchinis

1 cube vegetable bullion

Dressing:

1/4 tsp seasoning (lemon pepper, Spike, or TJ's Everyday Seasoning)

1/2 tsp rice vinegar (or more to taste)

1 tsp olive oil (or more to taste)

Boil rice pasta for 7 minutes, drain and set aside in a medium bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, and asparagus to frying pan, saute for 3 minutes on medium heat. Add remaining vegetables and bullion to pan and saute until onions are translucent and vegetables are tender (about 3 minutes). Stir vegetables and seasoning into pasta. Add 1/4 tsp rice vinegar and 1/2 tsp olive oil to bowl and stir. Taste pasta and add remaining olive oil and vinegar (or more) if needed.

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

pad Thai rice noodles (about 4 cups cooked)

1 cup tofu (or meat of your choice)

1 zucchini, sliced

1 cup Thai peanut sauce (or more to taste)

3 green onions, chopped (optional)

handful of cilantro (optional)

Cook noodles according to "fried noodles" package directions. Put noodles, tofu, zucchini, and peanut sauce in wok or large frying pan and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until tofu and zucchini are slightly brown and noodles are tender. Top with green onions and cilantro.

Serves 4

Thai Peanut Sauce with Honey

(please pardon the poor quality photo, I liked this so much I started putting everything in containers for lunch

before I remembered to take a photo.) Original recipe can be found here

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey or agave nectar

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter (optional)

3 tablespoons soy sauce, Bragg's, or coconut aminos

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Stir together the honey, peanut butters, soy sauce, rice vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Serve with pad Thai noodles, spring rolls, or rice.

Thai Green Curry with Potatoes and Zucchini

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini

1 medium potato

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

2 to 3 TBSP green curry paste

2 large chicken breasts, cubed (can be replaced with 2 cups tofu or 2 additional potatoes)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water

2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce (or 1 TBSP regular soy sauce)

1 TBSP coconut sugar or brown sugar

a handful of fresh Asian or Italian basil leaves (optional)

Directions:

Slice zucchini in half lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces and set aside. Cut potato into 1 inch pieces. In medium saucepan, bring 1/2 can of coconut milk to boil over medium high heat. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the curry paste and cook 2 to 3 minutes until it is dissolved in the coconut milk. Add the chicken and potatoes and cook 2 minutes more, tossing to coat it with the sauce.

Add the remaining coconut milk, the chicken broth, zucchini, soy sauce, and palm sugar. Reduce heat to medium, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes until chicken is cooked, and potatoes and zucchini are tender, but firm. Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil leaves.

Serve over brown rice.

Serves 4 to 6.

Coconut Milk - Milk Chocolate Pudding

As you can tell by my posts of late, I have been obsessed with making a pudding that doesn't make me miss the sugar or the dairy. I think this recipe is the winner. It's really easy and it tastes like milk chocolate pudding. I can't wait to go home for a visit and make it for my sister!

(adapted from Couldn't Be Parve)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup coconut sugar
1 cup water
2 cups Thai coconut milk
2 ounces* good quality unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Combine the cornstarch and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the water, continuing to whisk until smooth. Set aside. Place the coconut milk in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes back to a simmer and thickens. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate is melted and remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla.

Strain pudding through a fine-mesh strainer into a serving bowl or into a large measuring cup with a spout and pour into individual serving dishes. Cover pudding with plastic wrap. If you do not want pudding skin make sure the plastic is completely touching the surface of the pudding. To make pudding skin, simply pull plastic wrap over the top of the serving dish before refrigerating. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days. (I skipped this entire paragraph and ate the pudding warm - it was delicious!)

*If you want dark chocolate pudding, use 4 oz of chocolate

Makes 7, 1/2 cup portions

Chocolate Pudding (Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Egg Free, Soy Free)

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups rice milk (reserve 1/4 cup rice milk for later)

1/2 cup unsweetened baking chocolate chips (I think it's about 3 oz unsweetened chocolate)

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 cup agave nectar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla extract

Fresh raspberries, optional

Directions:

1. Combine 2 1/2 cups rice milk, chocolate, agave and cocoa powder in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk well, heating until the chocolate chips are completely melted and combined with the rice milk. Keep just below a boil, to "scald" rice milk. Remove from heat.

2. In a bowl, combine cornstarch and salt. Whisk well.

3. Add remaining 1/4 cup rice milk to cornstarch mixture, stirring until smooth.

4. Add to rice milk/chocolate mixture, stirring with a whisk. Continue whisking until pudding thickens to the consistency that it coats the back of a metal spoon.

5. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract.

6. Divide evenly among 4 ramekins or custard cups. Chill. Serve as is or topped with fresh raspberries.

Serves 4 - generously.

Easy Chocolate Frosting Recipe

I made yellow cupcakes from scratch yesterday using the Smitten Kitchen recipe. They tasted like yellow cake, but had the consistency of cornbread, so I wasn't the biggest fan. However, the frosting I made to go with it turned out great!

Ingredients:

2 cubes unsalted butter (softened to room temperature)

3 and a half cups powdered sugar (16 oz)

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp almond milk

Beat butter in mixer for 2-3 minutes. Add powdered sugar, salt, vanilla, and almond milk. Blend until smooth. Heat chocolate in microwave in 15 second increments, stirring between, until fully melted. Add chocolate to frosting and blend until smooth.

I use this recipe without the chocolate as my standard butter-cream frosting recipe.

Dark Chocolate Fudge Pie

Crust:

choose your favorite gluten free crust. I used the following, but it didn't turn out that great:

1 1/2 cups hazelnut meal*

3 tbsp canola oil

2 tbsp coconut palm sugar

Filling:

3 ripe avocados

12 oz unsweetened chocolate

1 cup coconut palm sugar

1/3 cup agave nectar

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup almond milk*

Crust:

Mix hazelnut meal with oil and press into pie plate. Bake at 375 for 8 min.

Filling:

Blend avocados, lemon juice, vanilla, and milk in food processor or powerful blender. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or on very low heat and slowly stir coconut sugar into chocolate. Add agave to chocolate and stir. Once everything is incorporated, put chocolate in food processor/blender and blend until smooth. Place mixture in pie plate and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

This is a very rich dessert, so I would recommend serving it with fresh strawberries or raspberries.

Serves 8-12

*Easily substitutable with similar ingredients

Notes:

I plan on tweaking this to try and make it more like milk chocolate, because I'm not a huge fan of dark chocolate.

I never was able to get the coconut sugar to dissolve, my chocolate ended up being a lump of chocolate in the double boiler, but when I blended it with the avocado, everything became smooth.

This was super thick, so near the end of mixing, I ended up taking everything out of the blender and mixing it by hand.

Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (such as Sriracha)

1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger (or 1/4 tsp dry ground ginger)

1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind

2 garlic cloves, minced

Dash of sea salt

1 bunch green onions chopped

1 can water chestnuts, drained & diced

4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves cut into chunks (or 1 pkg tofu)

Cooking spray

8 Boston lettuce leaves (butter lettuce)

Toppings:

1 cup fresh mint leaves (optional)

1/2 cup bean sprouts (optional)

1 lime, cut into 8 wedges (optional)

Chopped cashews or peanuts (optional)

Preparation

Combine first 9 ingredients in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Reserve 2 tablespoons oil mixture. Place remaining oil mixture in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken breast halves; seal and marinate in refrigerator for 1 hour, turning occasionally. I was so hungry when I made this that I just tossed the chicken in the marinade and cooked it immediately. Remove chicken from bag, and discard marinade (if any is leftover).

Heat a large nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; grill 12 minutes or until chicken is done. Add water chestnuts to pan. Stir until warm. Divide chicken evenly among lettuce leaves; top each lettuce leaf with green onions, sprouts, cashews or peanuts, and about 1 teaspoon reserved oil mixture as desired. Serve with lime wedges.

Arroz Verde (Peruvian Cilantro Rice)

INGREDIENTS

• 2 poblano peppers, stems, seeds, and membranes removed, coarsely chopped (sometimes sold under the name pasilla peppers)
• 1 serrano pepper, stems, seeds, and membranes removed, coarsely chopped
• 2 scallions, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley leaves (about 1/2 bunch)
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance (butter substitute)
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain brown rice (not converted or instant)
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 medium lime, halved

INSTRUCTIONS

• Place peppers, scallions, parsley, cilantro, and salt in a blender. Add water and process until smooth.
• Heat oil and butter over medium-high heat in a 4-quart saucepan with a tight fitting lid. When the butter starts to foam, add rice, stirring well to coat each grain. Cook, stirring occasionally, until rice is fragrant and slightly golden, about 3 minutes.
• Add blended ingredients to the pan and mix well. Simmer for 1 minute, then stir in vegetable broth.
• Return mixture to a simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook until liquid is completely absorbed and rice is tender, about 14 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let rice sit, covered, for 5 minutes. Uncover and squeeze lime juice over rice. Stir well.

I'm not sure where I came across this recipe. Originally it had chicken broth, butter, and white rice...Since I didn't have any of those items in my kitchen when I made it I had to make a few substitutions. If you make it with white rice, only use 2 cups of broth, not 3.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, Egg Free