May's Gluten-Free Recipe Rodeo

Summer FRESH.

As promised in early May, here is a round-up of summer fresh gluten-free recipes, hand selected in the spirit of Celiac Awareness Month. So grab a glass of lemonade, park your carcass and kick your boots off, Honey. There are some mighty fine and tasty gluten-free recipes out there.

My theme? Grilling, picnic food, and dining al fresco.

You'll find recipes for omnivores, vegans, ovo-lacto vegetarians and pescatarians. Enjoy!


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Gluten-Free Chocolate Mint Cookies Recipe

Mint chocolate cookies and a glass of ice cold soy milk.

Chocolate Mint Cookie Love

I'll say it up front. For all those perceptive Readers out there. This post? It's a redux slash revamp of a previous chocolate cookie recipe. Why? Because Darling, we are always tweaking and gently nudging recipes toward perfection around here. Though as you and I well know, perfection is unattainable (in the gluten-free vegan baking world, that is). But we can come close. Very close.

And with this latest peppermint chocolate chip incarnation we are a good nibble closer to the best chocolate cookie yet. So of course, I had to tweak and share. These remind me of those Girl Scout cookies called Thin Mints. Except they're chubby (though I suppose one could flatten them a bit if one was so inclined).

These peppermint laced fudgy sweethearts are crisp chocolate goodness.

We freeze ours and serve them slightly chilled. Those of you more adept at fancy baking could try creating heart shapes. (I never have the patience to fuss with dough. I'm more of rustic make a mess in the kitchen blasting Neil Finn kind of baker than a precise "mis en place" to Sarah Brightman kind of gal. But if cookie cutters are your middle name? Knock yourself out.)

These are lovely warm from the oven with an ice cold glass of your favorite vanilla soy, coconut, or hemp milk.

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Lime Chicken Taco Fun

 Fast + delicious- lime chicken tacos.

Lime Chicken Tacos, Baby

Grilling season is upon us. But don't you worry, sweetcakes. This particular gluten-free goddess is not going to waste a heartbeat lamenting hot dog buns. And I'm not going to spend hours in the kitchen trying to replicate hamburger rolls, that even in their wheat loaded incarnation were more of a starchy dry-as-dirt nuisance. Something invented to hold the all fixins' together, but that, when push came to shove, I ended up tearing off piece by piece, peeling around the edges to get to the good stuff.

This was ages before the California In N Out protein style burger was invented (which was, in my humble, wheat-free opinion, sheer, utter low carb genius). Who knew a burger wrapped in lettuce leaves would be so darn tasty? But I digress. Let's get back to the barbecue question.

Are you going to pine for those long lost spongy buns?

Or are you going to choose a different path? A lip-smacking New Mexican inspired path. A lime infused roll your own tortilla path.

That's right, I'm talking lime chicken tacos.

Everyone likes to roll their own soft tacos and fajitas. So grill up some garlicky lime drenched chicken and assemble all the fixin's for an outdoor barbecue fiesta. You won't miss the buns.

Taco Night at Casa Allrich means plenty of fresh limes, garlic and yes, tequilla. Los Lobos in the CD player. Long meandering conversations about the best margaritas in Santa Fe, coyotes on the mesa, Val Kilmer (have you seen him as the weed growing sherpa on Entourage?) and his off set affection for the The Pink Adobe, the lure of living off the grid like Campbell Scott's indie Off the Map, Georgia O'Keeffe's penchant for garlic sandwiches, Zen, and daily walks, and Mabel Dodge Luhan's Winter in Taos.

Not to mention, Jim Harrison (who winds up in almost every conversation I have these days).

Lime chicken tacos- gluten-free.

Lime Chicken Tacos Recipe

By Karina Allrich

I like to marinate the chicken overnight. But if you only have an hour or two- go for it. Marinate, kick back and sip a margarita with someone you love.

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

4 split organic free-range chicken breasts (boneless saves time)

4 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons agave

A pinch of cumin, to taste- or some chopped cilantro, if you like

Fresh ground pepper

For the taco fixin's:

4 vine-ripe tomatoes, chopped

2 cups shredded Romaine lettuce

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar, Jack or dairy-free cheese

8-10 fresh and soft white corn tortillas (Mission are gluten-free)

3-4 fresh limes cut into wedges

Instructions:

Rinse the chicken briefly in cold water and pat dry. Place in a shallow glass or non-reactive dish.

In a small bowl combine the garlic, lime juice, olive oil, agave, cumin and fresh ground pepper. Pour the marinade over and under the chicken breasts. Cover tightly and marinate for at least an hour; overnight is even better.

When the grill is hot, remove the chicken from the dish and discard the marinade.

Grill the chicken over medium-high heat until it is cooked through and is no longer pink inside- about 12 to 15 minutes.

Assemble and ready your remaining taco fixin's.

Place the cooked chicken on a clean cutting board and slice thin.

Serve your tacos at a room temperature, if pliable and very fresh; or heat them gently. Here's what I do.

In a clean skillet or griddle, heat a scant amount of olive oil and briefly heat the white corn tortillas one or two at a time, coating them with just a scant amount of oil to soften them; remove to a tortilla warmer lined with a clean, warm towel.

Have everyone assemble their own tacos.

Serves 4.

Serve these tacos with fresh Kicked Up Rockin' Guac, Roasted Vegetable Salsa and sour cream, if desired.

Tostada Nueva- an easy gluten-free lunch

 The tostada- made fresh + light

The recent summer weather has nudged me out of my primavera surliness and ignited my desire to paint again. I suddenly feel energized. Focused. Turned on. I've been toning wood and masonite panels left, right and upside down, laying on thick and juicy strokes of pigmented Gesso in rose, peach and ocher- warmth as a foil to my preferred palette for cool brushy skies and sea blue abstractions.

This is a welcome turn. As many of you know, it's been a somewhat weird and challenging seven months. It feels good to be back in my tiny studio again, blasting music and standing upright, paint brush in hand.

And what have I been eating this hot and breezy week, you ask?

Have I got a quick and easy solution for those sultry summer nights when it's simply too darn hot to turn on the oven. I'm calling the recipe Tostada Nueva. This is not your typical fried corn tortilla topped with shredded iceberg lettuce, red tomatoes and greasy ground beef. No Mam.

It's light and fresh and snappy. And it's dairy-free (translation- cheese-less) so you can serve it to your GFCF Sweethearts.

I used a gluten-free tortilla for the tostada base- they cooked up flaky and just crisp enough. (I fried them briefly in my iron skillet with a splash of light olive oil.)

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Horseradish Potato Salad Bliss

Fabulous gluten-free red bliss potato salad with horseradish.

Ready for some spud love? Here's one of my favorite potato salad recipes. And just in time. Summer has arrived almost instantaneously here in the desert north of Santa Fe. Last week I was layering t-shirts and hoodies to keep warm. I stood shivering at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market (wind always makes me cranky). It felt more like March than May. This weekend? It was quintessential summer weather. Hot bright sun. Dry air. An almost too-warm casita. We turned on the ceiling fans.

On weekends like this you kick off your shoes and peel off your long sleeved black jersey, opting instead for the lime green tank top. You feel your bones begin to knit as you soak up the longer daylight and linger by the roadside during post-dinner walks in the rose hued sun. You smile at the young jackrabbits and their impossibly erect ears. And your thoughts turn to dining al fresco, sitting beneath the dappled shade of the portal with a chilled glass of white and a zesty potato salad.

Life in the slow lane.

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Gluten-Free Blueberry Oat Muffins

Gluten-free blueberry oat muffins.

We woke to the sound of water. It is raining in the desert this morning. The overflow is spilling over the edges of the canales, splashing onto the wedges of flagstone scattered in the sand around our casita. It feels like we are living inside a Zen fountain- waterfalls on all sides. The mesa is hidden in mist. The air is heavy with the scent of juniper and wet bark. I am deeply comforted by all of this.

Moisture is a rare commodity here.

I breathe in the friendly air and flash on a rainy autumn day in New Hampshire, the sidewalk wet with red and gold leaves. I remember a cup of coffee and an American Spirit, sipped and smoked in a clammy car parked at the edge of a Cape Cod beach in Orleans, the surf a dense gray-green from the chop of a spring storm. I think about a blue and breezy afternoon at Venice Beach, taking photographs of sand and seaweed.
All this, conjured from the smell of the desert in the rain.

I miss the ocean more than I ever thought possible. In the dreamy rainy day mood I'm in it is difficult to concentrate. I lazily edit photographs of blueberry muffins. I sip peppermint tea. I smile big and wide and send the State of California Supreme Court a big wet kiss for today's wise and compassionate decision (long time readers know my thoughts on this particular issue of love and marriage- you will always find me on the side of love).

Love is the bigger, deeper, sweetest thing, after all. So here is a muffin recipe in celebration of all things sweet and good. A muffin to love. Brown sugar oatmeal goodness that is vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, and even soy-free. One thing it isn't? Free of flavor. I'm not lying. Make these and see for yourself. You'll thank me. 

With a big fat blueberry kiss.

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Pork Roast with Mushrooms and Brown Sugar Apricot-Pomegranate Sauce

Slow cooker pork roast with apricot jam.

My first pork roast recipe- ever. And it's a home run. I apologize for the sports metaphor but I've been sitting at my desk for an hour. And not a single sentence has been birthed. Even after one hot mother of a mug of coffee (and a decaf peppermint green tea that really doesn't count because, well, it's tea), I'm still in a post Sunday fog today, basking in the afterglow of a Sunday afternoon spent with friends. We ate and drank our way through six hours of non-stop conversation. I get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. And I'm more than a little tempted to wax poetic about friendship and how we choose our true family and what a head banging blue-in-the-face relief it is to sit at a table with soulful people who wrestle with big questions and hunger for authenticity and integrity while also making you laugh out loud without covering your teeth and feel proud of your mayo-free potato salad.

But I won't. I'll tell you about my first pork roast instead.

I'll say it up front. It took decades to get me here- to ease into a place in my life where I might actually, finally, consider buying a hunk of pork and roasting it. I started off slowly, slyly, trying turkey bacon ten years ago. Then I graduated to the real deal roughly six years ago. Organic Sunday smoked bacon. Nitrate-free, of course. And when my body did not protest and the world as I knew it did not go up in a hellish ball of blistering flames, I decided to move on to the hard stuff. I was ready.

It was finally time to roast a pork loin. And Dear Reader- was I intimidated. You know it. In fact yours truly was almost quaking in her Rocket Dogs. Well, maybe not quaking. More like, shivery-nervous. So I decided two things.

First- that I would use my trusty slow cooker. Simple. Familiar. Not too much to screw up. Second- that I would make a sauce with pomegranate juice and a jar of apricot jam. It just seemed like a good fit.

And guess what? Tender, juicy, tangy-sweet deliciousness ensued.

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Pomegranate Smoothie - Dairy-Free + Vegan

Pom Smoothie Love

I'm delirious. I could blame it on the wind. There is a loco spring wind here in New Mexico, you know. And it can make you, well. Crazy. It rough rides up the Chama River like nobody's business and bitch slaps the mesa behind us. It buffets the casita absolutely senseless and whips tumbleweeds into missiles. I'm not kidding. There are moments when you wonder if the roof will lift off. 

You start looking out the window for flying monkeys. 

So you hunker down and pull out pots and pans to conjure mashed potatoes into colcannon just to cope. You bake comforting Roasted Vegetable Lasagna. You feel like whipping up your own brand of frenzy.

In the gentle guise of a vegan smoothie.

Because you crave pomegranate. We all know deep and vibrant hued fruits are good for us. You've read about all those studies, right? How all those yummy antioxidants and goodies like anthocyanin feed our brains and keep us sharp, on the edge, where we need to be?

Psychology Today reports that preliminary results indicate that people who eat a cup of blueberries a day perform 5 percent to 6 percent better than a control group on tests of motor skills. I'm not good at math (will blueberries help?) so I'm unsure if "5 to 6 percent better" is a huge deal, but. Hey.

For the sake of my asymmetrical motor skills (I was the geek who was never- ever- picked for any team in school) I'm willing to eat a few more blueberries, pomegranates and cranberries. Not because I harbor hopes of better motor skills.

But because they taste so good.

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Pesto Bacon Lettuce & Tomato Wraps

Brown rice tortillas wrap it all up.

Flour tortillas and sandwich wraps have always been a favorite around here. How simple can you get? Throw some deli, salad greens, tomatoes, avocado and dressing onto a soft flaky tortilla and boom. You've got a meal. A portable meal, in fact. Perfect for picnics. Customizable. Accommodating. And tasty as all get out. What could be easier? It's clear why America has gone wrap crazy.

You lovely and talented wheat-eaters out there get all kinds of choices- whole grain lavash, flax and spinach wraps, low carb, garlic herb, and classic flour tortillas. But a gluten-free wrap is tough to come by. Your intrepid goddess at large has been mourning her wraps and lime infused burritos for quite a few sad and wrapless years now. And I'm sorry- those teff wraps you can sometimes find in the health food store? Please don't e-mail me about them. They smell so funky- like a gym sock used yesterday in some unspeakable act- although they do roll around a tube of fresh ingredients with a flexibility akin to the flour tortillas I vaguely recall. I might even try them again- if I can just get past the smell. Perhaps I could pinch my nose while munching.

The best gluten-free wrap I've tried is Trader Joe's brown rice tortillas. If you nab a package when they are piping fresh and pliable, you're in for a treat. The problem is, they turn stale faster than Madonna's reinventions. And far too often you tear open (what you thought was) a fresh package from your local Whole Foods only to cry slow tears of salty frustration when your much anticipated wrap falls apart and splits into an unappetizing melange du jour you sullenly eat with a fork.

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May Brings More Than Flowers- it brings celiac awareness!

May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Around this little casita, that's no big deal. After all, we live with celiac disease 24/7 (and have been gluten-free- in our various kitchens- since December 19, 2001). Living gluten-free- to us- is second nature. But what about the over two million and several hundred thousand other celiac citizens- the vast sea of the Undiagnosed? You're out there. Somewhere. Swimming in gluten. And you don't even know it's wreaking havoc.

This post's for you.

Throughout the month of May, Gluten-Free Goddess will be spotlighting gluten-free recipes that pop up in sweet and unexpected places- especially food and cooking blogs, and sites that don't necessarily focus on gluten-free cooking. Spotting and tagging safe recipes for celiac disease in a blogging community with a passion for taste, fresh ingredients and style will be not only fun- but help to raise awareness for celiac disease.

Read on for the first fabulous find.

The first tempting recipe find is this sexy Warm Steak and Orange Salad posted by food writer and recipe developer Amy Sherman at Glam Dish- tasty morsels served with style. It's impossible to feel deprived when you can dig into a dish like this. Get more Amy at her Cooking With Amy blog, too. She's got some tasty gluten-free recipes to share- like these delightful crepes.

Find out more at Celiac Central: The NFCA

Roasted Vegetable Magic

Fresh veggies tossed with garlic and olive oil.

  

What do you throw together for dinner when you're just too tired to cook?

That is my question to you, Dear Readers. Chances are you've been there. I know you have. Dog weary. Emotionally spent. A tad cranky. Blood sugar perilously low. It's way past time to eat. The kids have been munching cereal straight from the box. And there you are, staring into the pantry without a trace of culinary passion and only the scantiest clad hint of inspiration.

What you really want to do is strip off the remains of the day and sink into a welcoming tub with a chilled glass of Riesling and hope that dinner will magically appear in an hour. Well, I don't own a magic wand and my Fairy Godmother abandoned me years ago. But this recipe practically cooks itself. And the best part? It gives you an hour when you need it the most. So draw yourself a bath while you cut up a few spring vegetables, pour a glass of wine, toss a pan into the oven and boom. Dinner is done.

And Darlings- please share you own Too Tired To Cook ideas below. You just might rescue a fellow Reader. You could end up being someone's Fairy Godmother.

You never know.

Here is an easy Dijon roasting sauce based upon a recipe from my first cookbook, Recipes from a Vegetarian Goddess. It's not very glamorous. But it does hit the spot if you're craving a big bowl of vegan comfort.

Roasted Vegetable Magic Recipe

Recipe posted May 2008.

Spring vegetables are so tasty seasoned with a Dijon mustard sauce- especially tender new potatoes and onions. Throw in some sausage and you have a one pan dinner.

Ingredients:

For the Dijon roasting sauce:

4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill, marjoram, parsley or mint

Cut up:

2 cups sliced young potatoes- try a mix of blue, red and gold
1 medium sweet or red onion, cut up
4 carrots, sliced into thin diagonal coins or matchsticks
1 bunch of broccoli, cut up
1 yellow squash, sliced into half moons
1 zucchini squash, sliced into half moons
1 small cabbage, sliced
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

4 Italian style sausages, sliced- optional

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Toss the cut vegetables into a large roasting pan. Season with sea salt and ground pepper.

Whisk together the Dijon sauce and pour over the veggies. Stir to coat.

Roast for an hour, until fork tender.

Add in sliced cooked sausage during the last twenty minutes of roasting time, if desired.

Serves 3-4.

Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes

Gluten-Free Goddess® 

All Desserts

Looking for fabulous gluten-free dessert recipes for your celiac sweet tooth? Here is my collection of truly tasty gluten-free treats- from buckwheat chocolate chip cookies to praline pumpkin pie, from rich dark chocolate brownies and cupcakes (with mocha frosting!) to easy fruit crisps and elegant coconut layer cake. All my dessert recipes are wheat-free and gluten-free, and many are egg-free and dairy-free, as well.

Make today delicious.  

xox Karina

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