Book of Yum

Two weeks of menus! Crazy, I know, but we were away last weekend and I didn’t have time to come up with a menu until too late to share. But, since I made one, I thought I’d share it with you now along with this week’s menu. Gluten Free Mommy is hosting this week’s menu swap, with a theme ingredient of tomatoes. I may just have to blog about my beautiful heirloom tomatoes that I’ve been harvesting. You can find even more lovely menus at Org Junkie.

Week One: September 1- September 7
Monday: Gourmet American Sandwich
Roasted Red Pepper Avocado Clubs with White bean hummus on Gluten-Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread (contains dairy)

Wednesday: Vegan
Southwestern Corn Casserole (La Dolce Vegan p. 169)
Spinach walnut salad (La Dolce Vegan p. 78)

Friday: Vegan, fusion Indian
Brown Rice
red lentil sauce (La Dolce Vegan p. 182)
Roasted Curry green beans

Saturday: Vegan
Tomato Peanut and Kale Pasta
From La Dolce Vegan p. 134- and it couldn’t be simpler! You simmer 1 can of tomato juice (I used Campbell’s) in a saucepan with 2 cups of finely diced kale (no stem) for about ten minutes, and then add 2 tbsp. of nut butter (peanut, almond, whatever) and 1-2 tsp. of chili-garlic sauce. Mix in cooked pasta and suddenly you have a great, vegan “cheesy” dish… Very simple and a great way to get DH’s and kids (cough cough) who would otherwise never eat kale to eat it without even noticing. Imagine my surprise when DH said it was good and asked for more… whahahah, all part of my evil plan.

Baked Good of the Week: Peach tartlette

Week Two: Sep 8-13
Monday: South Indian
Masala Dosa with Coconut Chutney

Tuesday: Chinese
Green Bean szechuan pepper Stir Fry with cashews
deep fried tofu
Jasmine Rice

Wednesday: Mediterranean
Chickpea Flour Socca with Green Garden not-ricotta and Roasted heirloom tomato topping
Jicama, Orange, and Fennel Salad (70)

Thursday: Italian
Zucchini Eggplant Lasagna (119) with homemade GF lasagna pasta

Friday: Indonesian/ vegetarian
Indonesian Brown Rice Vegetable Salad (51)

Baked Good of the Week: Cinnamon Sugar Baked Gluten-Free Donuts

Spinach Walnut Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad  Vegetables  American

Ingredients Dressing: 1 cup unsweetened raspberries (frozen) 3 tbsp. sugar 2 tbsp. olive oil 1 tbsp. flax oil (or other healthy oil) 1 tbsp red wine vinegar 1/4 tsp salt Salad: 3 cups Baby spinach (enough for your desired servings) 1/2 small red onion, sliced very thinly 1/2 cup lightly toasted, chopped walnuts 1/4 cup fresh raspberries (optional) Directions Dressing: Heat raspberries and sugar in a small saucepan and bring mixture to a boil, letting it boil for a few minutes, stirring constantly. Take off the heat. Strain raspberry mixture through a mesh strainer into a small bowl. Throw away seeds (unless you are impatient and just pitch the whole thing in the bowl like me, cough cough) and add remaining ingredients, whisking together or using automated whisk until emulsified. Toss your clean, dry spinach with the red onion and walnuts. Garnish with raspberries and drizzle with dressing or let guests dress their own salad. Notes Enough for 3-4 servings. You may have extra dressing- the tragedy. :)

Rating:  8 Original Source:  Based on La Dolce Vegan, modified to be soy-free Recipe ID:  1292 Added:  September 5, 2008 Last Modified:  September 5, 2008

The other night DH and I settled down to a deceptively simple feast of homemade vegetarian pinto bean burgers, corn tortillas, lettuce, and baked onion rings. And yes, I just said BAKED onion rings. Of course, they were totally GLUTEN-FREE. But the real secret… they weren’t even that hard to make! I had been thinking about baked onion rings for some time when I stumbled across an intriguing recipe at Cooking for Engineers. It used a nice buttermilk batter (alas, not gluten-free) and a crispy coating of potato chips and (non gf) saltine crackers. I just happened to have some buttermilk in the fridge so I converted the batter to be gluten-free, and then reworked the coating. I was reluctant to use FRIED chips for a BAKED dish and cancel out all that healthfulness, so I decided to use the newly gluten-free and crunchy Rice Chex instead of potato chips. DH and I had recently discovered a new type of Glutino Cheese crackers at the local New Leaf health food store, and I decided to use them as a substitute for the saltine crackers. The result was cheesy and flavorful with less fat than the gluten-based-recipe that inspired me. To accompany this traditional American fast-food restaurant treat, I took some homemade slow-cooked organic pinto beans and sauteed them with some caramelized onions and garlic, adding peanut butter, tomato paste, green pepper, and fresh cilantro for flavor. Then I added some freshly cooked brown rice and shaped the mixture into patties and floured them with pure GF buckwheat. I pan fried them in a little peanut oil in a cast iron pan and then sprayed them with nonstick cooking spray and baked them until they were firm and perfectly brown. We enjoyed them in a non-traditional corn tortilla with mayo and ketchup (and a little chipotle salsa) and they were the ideal accompaniment for golden, perfectly baked onion rings. Onion rings have always been a rare treat, due to all the trouble (and guilt) of all that oil and deep frying, but with this recipe, they can be on our regular menu. In fact, DH has insisted that we have them again… soon!

*I know, I know, the pinto bean burgers don’t have exact proportions. This is one of those recipes that I created as I went along, tasting and adjusting as I liked. That’s the fun thing about veggie burgers- you can make them up as you go along, just making sure they will shape into a croquette at the end of your kitchen witchery. Enjoy- and tell me all about your version!

Question of the day:
What is your favorite gluten-free breading, either homemade or purchased? Tell me in the comments!

Baked GF Onion Rings Side Dish  Vegetables  American

Ingredients *3/4 cup GF Glutino Original OR Cheese flavored crackers (or substitute) *1 1/4 cup GF Rice Chex (check the box) or similar unsweetened GF cereal 1 large onion (cut into wide 1/2 inch rings and separated) 3 tbsp. white rice flour 1 tbsp. potato starch 1/4 tsp paprika or cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 large egg 1/4 cup fine brown rice flour Directions Preheat oven to 450 degrees and place large NOT oiled cookie sheet or baking tin in oven. Grind Glutino Crackers and Rice Chex in your food processor until you have smooth, even crumbs a similar texture to coarse corn meal. Whisk together your white rice flour, potato starch and spices with buttermilk and the egg in a medium bowl. Put the onion in a plastic bag with the brown rice flour and shake until onion slices are coated with flour. Bring over your buttermilk mixture and shake the ground cracker and cereal onto a flat plate. Dip the floured rings into the white rice flour-buttermilk batter and then place each ring in the ground cracker-cereal mixture, covering both sides. Try not to get extra liquid into the cracker meal. Take the hot pan out of the oven and baste it with a small amount of your favorite oil OR use a nonstick cooking spray. Place each coated onion ring (flour, batter, cracker meal) on the cooking sheet not touching each other and place in preheated oven. Bake for eight minutes and then turn and put back in the oven for 5 to 8 more minutes, checking after five minutes. Take out of oven and enjoy with ketchup or plain. Yummy! Notes DH loved these more than those made with a conventional breading mix. In fact, we both thought they were delicious and WILL be making these again- soon. Amount of chex and glutino crackers is approximate. Use more chex than glutino, but cut down proportions to suit your taste and cracker supply.

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Inspired by Cooking for Engineer’s take on Cook’s Country recipe, but made gluten-free by ME. Do not replicate anywhere without my permisison. Recipe ID:  1284 Added:  August 22, 2008 Last Modified:  August 26, 2008