Book of Yum

I recently attended Blogher Food ‘09 and the DH brought baby to join me for the cocktail after-party. All my new gluten-free blogger friends got to meet baby Yum.. . but that’s a whole different blog post! Isn’t Baby Yum getting big? Speaking of Baby Yum, it seems she still is sensitive to something in my diet, so in the interest of hypo-allergenic diets, I’m going temporarily vegan and cutting egg out of my diet. I’m sure those of you who are egg-sensitive will be happy to hear that!

As always, you can find the gluten-free menu headquarters with Cheryl at GF Goodness. Asparagus Thin is hosting this week’s gluten-free menu swap with a challenge to readers to incorporate 10 super foods into our menu! She lists the following as super foods (those in bold are those I plan to enjoy this week): Avocados, Berries, Beans/ Lentils/ Pulses (and how), Cacao, Cinnamon, Dark Leafy Greens, Eggs, Eggplant, Flaxseeds, Garlic, Kiwi, Mushrooms, Nuts (Almonds and walnuts specifically), Oranges (in my sweet potato), Pumpkin, Red Wine, Non-veg bits, Sea Vegetables, Soy, Sweet potatoes, Tomatoes, Tea, Whole Grains, Yogurt.

I would personally include beets and broccoli in there as well… What can I say, I’m a b-vegetable kind of girl. Below is my menu, but don’t forget to check out more menus at Org Junkie.

Sunday: Middle Eastern
Baked Falafel, Bette Hagman’s recipe for Gluten-free Pita Bread, baba ghanoush, tahini sauce, roasted green beans

Monday: Vegan
Lentil soup and roasted organic white yams and broccoli

Tuesday: Mexican
Refried Bean fresh tortilla rollups, dairy free tomato cumin soup

Wednesday: Vegan
Bette Hagman crumpets with pinto bean un-tuna salad

Thursday: Calcium happy
Wild rice quinoa salad
Stuffed collard greens

Friday: Vegan
Roasted chickpeas
Sweet potato cinnamon boats

*Many of these recipes are based on recipes from an interesting book called “Calciyum” (pictured) that has recipes with high Calcium content WITHOUT dairy. I’ll keep you posted on how they turn out!

This week I’m sharing a delicious and fresh gluten-free pasta salad I made recently. I love whipping up an easy batch of dairy-free pesto for pasta. This time I made it with spinach for extra nutrients. It went beautifully with perfectly crispy fresh green beans from the farmer’s market. Hope you enjoy!

Dairy-free Pesto Green Bean Pasta Salad Main Course  Vegetables  Italian

Ingredients Dairy-free Pesto: 1 cup fresh basil 1 cup fresh spinach 1/2 cup toasted pecans salt to taste 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional) olive oil 1 lb. fresh green beans 1 package gluten-free pasta (I like a corn-rice blend) 1/8 cup kalamata olives, pitted and diced 1/4 cup pecans salt sugar Directions Combine basil, spinach, seasonings and pecans in a food processor. Drizzle in enough olive oil to make a paste. If you are watching your calories, use a little olive oil and supplement with water. Taste and add additional salt if needed. Prepare pasta until al dente and rinse in cool water to remove excess starch. Blanch green beans (i.e. drop in boiling water and then rinse in cold water when crisp tender.) Cooking time depends on the bean- I used fresh ones from the farmers market and they cooked quickly but older, tougher beans like those at Trader Joes will take more time. Toast pecans in pan on stove on low heat, sprinkling with salt and sugar as they start to warm. Continue toasting and remove from heat before they burn. Mix pesto into the green beans. (You may have extra for the pasta or for another use). Fold into the pasta, and add your olives and sugared pecans. Serve and enjoy! Notes The fresher your green beans, the better this will be!

Rating:  8 Original Source:  The contents of my brain, please do not replicate without permission. Recipe ID:  1458 Added:  September 25, 2009 Last Modified:  October 5, 2009

This week I thought I’d share a really unique salad recipe with you- one for herb or arugula gnocchi on a bed of fresh arugula that I drizzled with a (bottled) balsamic vinaigrette. I couldn’t resist making it with the fork tin decor on top, even though it doesn’t really end up showing in the final product.

This week the gluten-free menu swap is hosted by Cheryl at GF Goodness with vegetarian meals as the theme. Don’t forget to check out more menus at Org Junkie. In the meantime, here’s my gluten-free menu of the week- Cheryl should be very happy with me as every single meal is vegetarian!!! heheh.

Sunday: Vegetarian
Roasted beets and root veggies
Pan Fried Oregano Okra
Beans
French Rice in the Rice Cooker

Tuesday: Chinese
soy-free Mushroom Broccoli stir-fry

Wednesday: Thai
Vegetable Green Curry
Jasmine rice

Friday: Indian
Red lentil fritters (Masoor Dal Vada)
Bette Hagman flatbread
Vegetable curry

Saturday: Irish
Vegan pot pie

I recently came across an intriguing recipe for arugula gnocchi in a magazine and was inspired to convert it to be gluten and dairy free. I’ve become obsessed with arugula as a zesty alternative to lettuce since Trader Joes started selling a mild organic arugula. I thought it was a great idea to treat arugula like spinach. Further, it serves as the perfect foil for neutral floury potatoes. Although the arugula becomes quite muted by the starch in the recipe, if you don’t like arugula or don’t have any in your area, you can always substitute spinach or use a nice fresh herb (without blanching it). I have made gluten-free gnocchi several times and had the best results not with gluten-free cookbooks (the author used potato flour along with the fresh potatoes and it gave it a dreadful, heavy flavor) but rather by adapting gluten based recipes. I made a yummy kabocha pumpkin gnocchi once, and a gluten-free ricotta cheese gnocchi, and I even made novel buckwheat gnocchi recipe, but I hadn’t adapted a plain potato gnocchi recipe before until I found the inspiration for this recipe. We thought it was delicious, and the treatment with balsamic vinegar was intriguing. Next time I think I’ll saute the gnocchi in a pan with fresh herbs… What’s your favorite way to enjoy gnocchi?

Read about Cupcake Kitteh’s Gluten free gnocchi recipe

Don’t want to make your own? You can try Conte’s Gluten Free Gnocchi *I haven’t tried their gnocchi yet but have ordered their perogies and ravioli and they were pretty good*

Gluten Free Arugula Herb Gnocchi recipe Main Course  Potatoes  Italian

Ingredients 1lb. unpeeled yellow potatoes 4 oz. fresh arugula or your favorite herb or green 1 cup your favorite gluten free blend (i used brown rice based Rebecca Reilly mix) 1 tsp.xanthan gum 1/2 tsp. salt 1 egg *2 tbsp olive oil, or some oil from oil packed sundried tomatoes 1/2 cup julienned sundried tomatoes 1/4 cup minced onion 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar (white preferred) 3/4 cup water salt,pepper to taste 8 ounces Fresh arugula or more, for salad *this is for a whole recipe. If you freeze half of the gnocchi to make later, reduce these ingredients by half. Directions Boil potatoes in water in a medium saucepan about 40 minutes or until done. Drain and cool. Blanch your arugula. If using another more delicate herb do not blanch but simply add to gnocchi dough. Drain arugula, squeezing water out if necessary, and chop. Reserve. Remove potato skin and press potato through a ricer or use a potato masher to mash into a large bowl. Add chopped arugula, flour blend, xanthan gum and salt to the bowl and gently fold ingredients together. Add egg in well in the center. Whisk egg to combine egg white and yolk, and stir into the rest of the ingredients. Create a dough ball and form into five balls. take each ball and make it into a 3/4 inch thick log. If ready to make now, slice log to make gnocchi ovals. Otherwise, freeze and use later. Bring salted water in a saucepan to boil and add your gnocchi. Boil until it floats to the top, and then gently fish out with a metal strainer. Leave to drain. Heat olive oil in a nonstick frypan on medium and add your gnocchi and let it start to brown. Turn and once the second side has browned, add onion and sundried tomatoes, drizzling the gnocchi with your balsamic vinegar. As the onion starts to soften add water and cook for a few more minutes. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve on bed of fresh arugula. Enjoy!

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Adapted from DeliciousLiving april 08 to be gluten free and tosuit our household. Please do not replicate without my permission. Thanks. Recipe ID:  1451 Added:  September 4, 2009 Last Modified:  September 25, 2009