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Pesto, Goat Cheese and Zucchini Quiche

For dinner last night I made a modified version of a quiche I’ve made before. This time I used a crust (no gf :), homemade basil pesto, goat cheese and sauteed zucchini and onions. So yummy!!! We all loved it! Yet another recipe with zucchini that Justin loves. I’m starting to think he doesn’t dislike zucchini as much as he thinks :p Anyway, I’ll link to the original recipe and post what I did yesterday. I doubled the eggs this time since it was so thin last time.Pesto, Goat Cheese and Zucchini Quiche

1/2 cup pesto
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust (I made it from scratch…replacing all of the shortening with butter for the first time…worked really well) (you can make it without a crust for it to be GF…still tastes great!)
4 Tbsp. crumbled goat cheese
6 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
1 small yellow and 1 small green zucchini, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 cup shredded cheese (I used a combo of mozzarella and cheddar)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
pinch of nutmeg
Saute zucchini and onion in skillet with a little EVOO. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread pesto evenly in the bottom of the pie crust. Sprinkle goat cheese over pesto.

In a large bowl, beat together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg. Add cheese and veggies. Pour over goat cheese in pie crust. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour or until set.

Cashew Avocado Chicken Salad

I tried another chicken salad recipe last night. I came across it a bit ago on All Recipes and it sounded really good…chicken, avocado, cashews…what’s not to like? 🙂 It was super easy and so yummy!!! (Plus it was filling and full of healthy fat for me:) All 3 of us loved it. In Rebecca’s words, “mmm…mun dee.” I didn’t actually measure anything when I made it. I just eyeballed everything and tasted as I went. I’m not a huge ranch dressing fan, so I did half dressing and half mayonnaise. This recipe is for a sandwich. I just served mine over a bed of spinach and tomatoes. Justin had his on a bun (homemade). Maybe sometime I’ll try it with the bacon and swiss. I didn’t make a full recipe. What I made was enough for our dinner and Justin’s lunch tomorrow.

**Recipe update 6/17/11

Cashew Avocado Chicken Salad

4 cooked, boneless chicken breast halves, shredded (I used 1 large breast, roasted w/ EVOO, salt and pepper, then cubed)
1/3 cup homemade mayo or combo of mayo and sour cream
1 1/2 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill or 1 tsp. dill weed
1 cup cashews
1 avocado – peeled, pitted and diced
salt and pepper to taste
12 slices bacon
6 slices Swiss cheese
12 slices bread, toasted (serve it on spinach or GF bread to make it GF)

In a large bowl, mix the cooked chicken, mayo, dill, cashews, and avocado. Season with salt and pepper. Cover, and chill in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes. (This is where I stopped. I chilled it for 1 hour and served it.)

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown; drain.
Spread even amounts of the chicken mixture on 6 slices of toasted bread. Top each with 2 slices bacon and 1 slice Swiss cheese. Top with remaining bread slices to make sandwiches.

**Edited 3/4/10
We made the full sandwich version last night on homemade whole wheat bread with bacon and muenster cheese. This is soooooo good!

Cherry Chicken Salad

Last night I made a cherry chicken salad for dinner. I came up with this after going to the Cherry Festival in Traverse City, MI.

This salad is very forgiving. You can adjust all of the quantities to your taste

Cherry chicken salad is so good!!! It is also a fun way to use cherries. Serve it on bread, on lettuce or with crackers. You really can’t go wrong.

Cherry Chicken Salad
2 chicken breasts, roasted w/ salt and pepper, cut into chunks
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup celery, sliced thinly
1/2 cup sweet cherries, chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries (I used tart), chopped
1/4 cup nuts, roughly chopped (I used pecans and walnuts)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
 
Mix all of the ingredients. Chill until ready to serve.
 
I served it in a bowl with romaine lettuce leaves and sprinkled with a few dried cherries and pecan pieces. We used the lettuce like a wrap and also ate the chicken salad plain.

Pesto Pea Salad

I made a Barefoot Contessa recipe last night that I’ve had marked in my cookbook for a while. This salad is meant to be a side dish. But I added a few things to make it a main dish. I’ll post the original recipe (and picture with just those ingredients) and then what I added (and another picture). This was very good!!! And super easy. I never thought of using pesto as a salad dressing. But it works well. I didn’t make her recipe for the pesto. I just used some homemade spinach pesto I had in the freezer.Pesto Pea Salad

2 cups of frozen peas, thawed
2 Tbsp. pignolis (pine nuts), toasted
2 1/2 cups baby spinach leaves (I used a mix of garden spinach and boughten organic baby romaine)
grated parmesan (I used asiago since that’s what I had on hand)
4 Tbsp. pesto, recipe follows

My additional toppings:
cooked chicken chunks
avocado
beans (a mix of garbanzo, pinto and northern)
corn
croutons (gluten free w/o these)
roasted brussel sprouts and cauliflower

To assemble, place the spinach leaves in a salad bowl. Sprinkle the peas and pignolis over the spinach. Add the pesto and toss. Top with cheese. (We each assembled our own salad in individual bowls.)

Pesto:
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pignolis
3 Tbsp. diced garlic (9 cloves)
5 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 cups good olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Place the walnuts, pignolis, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process for 30 seconds. Add the basil leaves, salt, and pepper. With the processor running, slowly pour the olive oil into the bowl through the feed tube and process until the pesto is finely pureed. Add the Parmesan and puree for a minute. Serve, or store the pesto in the refrigerator or freezer with a thin film of olive oil on top.

White Bean and Sausage Soup

For lunch today I made another Year of Crockpotting recipe. It was very easy to throw together and it tasted great! Even Rebecca gobbled it right up. Definitely a keeper. For veggies I just threw in some frozen veggies. No time to cut veggies this morning (barely had time to get frozen veggies in with a little girl that kept waking up crying :\). I used lean sweet italian turkey sausage. When I tried to slice it the casing came off. So they were more like sausage chunks. Oh well. I wasn’t thrilled about eating pork casing anyway :p And i just threw in a handful of uncooked brown rice…maybe 1/4 cup. This made enough for our lunch today, 2 lunches for Justin this week and a little extra to feed Rebecca. You could easily make a larger or smaller pot of this. My comments are in italics.

Crockpot White Bean and Sausage Soup

1 can white kidney beans
1 can pinto beans (I guess these aren’t really white)
1 can garbanzo beans
1 tsp. thyme (oops forgot this since I had to stop in the middle of prep to deal with Rebecca…didn’t miss it. There was plenty of flavor w/o adding any seasoing besides the better than bouillon)
2-4 spicy chicken or turkey sausage (I used 2 sweet sausages…we aren’t big on spicy food)
1/2 chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup leftover rice pilaf (if you want to use raw rice, you should have enough liquid to add 1/4 to 1/3 cup without losing soupiness)
2 cups chopped fresh vegetables (I had broccoli, carrots, asparagus) (I used organic frozen mixed veggies and some frozen broccoli)
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth (I used organic better than bouillon mixed with water)

Drain your beans and throw them into your crock. Chop up whatever vegetables you are going to use in tiny pieces. I used my Pampered Chef handy dandy chopper. Slice the sausage that you are going to use. I chose to use two spicy turkey sausage—if you would like your soup to have a kick, use more than two. Two just kind of gives flavor without spice. Cook on low for 6-9 hours, or on high for 4-5. The soup is done when it’s heated through and the vegetables are tender, but it’s not going to hurt anything to cook it longer and give the flavors more time to meld.

Frittata

Justin is home…which means back to cooking 🙂 I made another new egg dish last night. I think this month’s food has been my favorite so far 🙂 I just love eggs! I made a frittata. I’ve never made one before. Wow, they are easy and good. A cross between an omelet and a quiche. I didn’t use a recipe. I just did a little looking online to figure out the method. Then I came up with my own. I’ll try to post approximate quantities. It was very good!!! Justin and I both liked it a lot. I used an 8″ skillet. Justin and I ate half of it. If you want a larger frittata you can use a larger skillet and use more eggs. I served it with salad (fresh spinach and lettuce from our garden:) topped with avocado, walnuts, cucumber (me) and shredded cheddar (Justin). A very satisfying, healthy meal using the first produce from our garden.Spinach, Aspargus and Goat Cheese Frittata

6 eggs
1/4 cup chopped onion (I used organic red onion)
1/2 cup chopped spinach (I used a little fresh from our garden, chopped and some thawed frozen organic)
1/4 cup chopped asparagus (from our garden)
1 slice thick cut bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional…meatless dish w/o it)
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
fontina for topping (or any cheese you like)
salt and pepper

Preheat broiler. In 8″ oven proof skillet saute onion, spinach and asparagus in small amount of EVOO over medium heat. Meanwhile whisk eggs and salt and pepper. Stir in goat cheese. When veggies are tender add bacon and poor in egg mixture. Stir to distribute filling evenly. Cook until mostly set (center will still be a little loose. Grate fontina over top. Place under broiler until center is set and slightly browned – 2-4 min. Let set for a minute or two. Transfer to plate and slice into wedges.

Tilapia with Roasted Corn

I tried a new recipe last night. I got it from my SIL. It’s a RR recipe. Super simple and super yummy!!! I finally made one meal with seafood for the month. And was able to use up some frozen Tilapia that had been in the freezer for a while. The roasted corn really makes the dish…really sweet, lots of flavor. All 3 of us liked it. It’s definitely on my keeper list, especially since it’s gluten free. I didn’t serve it with limes.

Tilapia with Roasted Corn

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tilapia fillets (1 pound total)
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

Preheat the broiler. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, chili powder and salt. Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with 1 teaspoon of the mayonnaise mixture. Place the tilapia fillets in the baking dish and coat with the remaining mayonnaise mixture. Top with the corn. Broil until the corn is lightly browned and the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Serve with the lime wedges.

Caramel Sauce & Sundaes

I made another Barefoot Contessa recipe this morning…caramel sauce. YUM! I tried it this morning…it was 6 am, but I HAD to try it…just a little lick. It’s another recipe from my BC at Home cookbook. I’ve been wanting to try it for a while.

I’ve never made caramel before. It was actually pretty easy. But it took longer than her recipe says…at least it did for me. I’ll post the original recipe and my timing. Her recipe is actually for caramel pecan sundaes. I want to try them…but with my sugar coated pecans instead of just plain pecans. Mmmm. Sounds good already.

It makes just enough to fill a pint jar. Perfect.
Caramel Sauce and Pecan Sundaes

serves 6
 
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
 
butter pecan ice cream
vanilla ice cream
toasted pecans (I used sugar coated pecans)

 

Mix 1/3 cup water and the sugar in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook, without stirring, over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat to medium and boil uncovered until the sugar turns a warm chestnut brown (about 350 degrees F on a candy thermometer), 5 to 7 minutes (it took about 20 min. for me), gently swirling the pan to stir the mixture. Be careful; the mixture is extremely hot! Watch the mixture constantly at the end, as it will go from caramel to burnt very quickly. Turn off the heat. Stand back to avoid splattering and slowly add the cream and vanilla. The cream will bubble violently and the caramel will solidify; don’t worry. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the caramel dissolves and the sauce is smooth, about 2 minutes (took at least 5 min. for me and there were still a few solid sugar chunks that I just took out). Allow to cool to room temperature, at least 4 hours. It will thicken as it sits.

To assemble the sundaes, place 1 scoop of vanilla ice cream and 1 scoop of butter pecan ice cream in each dish and sprinkle with toasted pecans. Drizzle with caramel sauce and serve extra sauce on the side.

Guacamole Salad

We are having our Easter dinner tonight. So I decided to make a light meal for lunch. And I had planned this for last night’s dinner anyway. We didn’t have it since we went out for dinner at the last minute with some of my family. This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe from her BC at Home cookbook (great cookbook, by the way). This was very good!!! It tasted like summer to me 🙂 Of course Justin’s first reaction was, “are those tomatoes?” Yes dear, you can pick around them. And after eating it, “I like it, but I’d prefer it as a side dish.” It would make a very good side dish. But I like it as a main dish too. Very healthy. I added frozen corn and peas to ours. And the peppers were from our garden…that I had thawed. This is very simple. And we usually have most of the ingredients on hand. Plus you can prep it ahead (I made it all this morning and just added the avocado right before serving). I’ll keep it in mind for summer meals and gluten free meals. I only made a half recipe. I served it with corn muffins. I’ll use the leftovers tomorrow to make taco salads. It would be good in tortillas as well.

This is linked to the Whole Foods for the Holidays progressive dinner – salads course.

Guacamole Salad
serves 6
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 yellow bell pepper, 1/2″ diced
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained (in place of canned beans, soak organic dry beans over night, rinse and cook)
1/2 cup small-diced red onion
2 Tbsp. minced jalapeno peppers, seeded (I didn’t add this)
1/2 tsp. freshly grated lime zest
1/4 cup feshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
1/4 cup good olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (I didn’t add this)
2 ripe Haas avocados, 1/2″ diced

Cook beans ahead of time.

Place the tomatoes, yellow pepper, black beans, red onion, jalapeno peppers and lime zest in a large bowl (add corn and peas here if using). Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne. Pour over vegetables. Toss well. (I made the dressing first in the serving bowl and then just put the veggies on top and tossed…no need to get another bowl dirty).

Just before you’re ready to serve the salad fold the avocados in. Check seasoning and serve at room temperature (ours was chilled).

Sugar Coated Pecans

I’ve had this recipe from All Recipes marked for quite a while now. I finally decided to try it as part of our Seder meal (see next post for details). With over 700 reviews and a 5 star rating I figured it had to be pretty good. And a while ago Justin asked for praline pecans…which I couldn’t find. So I gave these a try. These are wonderful!!!!! Our house smelled like those nut stands at the mall or at sporting events. And it was unbelievably simple. Only took a few minutes to get them in the oven. I followed the suggestions of some of the reviews and used 2 egg whites instead of 1. And I replaced a little of the water with vanilla. These will make a great snack (and they are gluten free:) or a good munchy to set out when we have guests. And it makes quite a bit, so I have some in the cupboard and some in the freezer. They really are good right out of the oven. Mmmm. I want some now. I bet this recipe would work well with other nuts too. Almonds would be really good. We sprinkled these on chunky cinnamon applesauce. I bet they would be really good on vanilla ice cream with caramel.
Sugar Coated Pecans

1 egg white (I used 2)
1 Tbsp. water (I used 1 tsp. vanilla + enough water to make 1 Tbsp.)
1 pound pecan halves (preferably soaked and dehydrated)
1 cup organic cane sugar (or sucanat)
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used 1 tsp.)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Grease one baking sheet (I just lined mine with parchment paper. Worked great.).

In a mixing bowl, whip together the egg white and water until frothy. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

Add pecans to egg whites, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Remove the nuts, and toss them in the sugar mixture until coated. Spread the nuts out on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake at 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes.