Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie, Cottage Pie, wait!

Sweet potato topped cottage pie. Gluten-free.

A certain individual living by the mesa has some news. Can you guess? We sold the house. We're moving lock, stock and barrel (in reality, more like Macs, books and UGGS) to Los Angeles, packing up the Honda Fit again to head West and start our new life as Los Angelenos.

I am almost too wired to write.

The quasi-plan is to rent a furnished place for a month. In mid October. Once we're out there, we'll begin our search in earnest for a longer lease- a space we can call our own, not too far from the ocean, I hope. A place with a workable kitchen. Windows. Light. Simple criteria.

As I sort through art books to sell (all the impressionist/landscape books I once mooned over- like a school girl- no longer tug at my attention) I am imagining the new again. I am fueled by the scent of possibility and change and consumed with the urge for going. Three and a half years in the desert have inked their big sky imprint upon me.

I feel as if I sport an invisible tattoo.

Time and distance will reveal the wisdom gained here (if any is to be found). Time and distance will temper the losses. No doubt memory itself will soften the sharp hungers of the everyday isolation and doubt.

Some readers have asked me, What lesson did you need to learn? implying that there is a silver lining to every prickly, dark experience and that if we only embrace The Lesson, we'll be free.

Well, I can answer that. 

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Irish Cottage Pie | Shepherd's Pie

Gluten-free shepherd's pie, Irish style cottage comfort.

Old School Comfort

I have been craving comfort food and shepherd's pie- even though it's been a warm and breezy week here by the Chama River north of Santa Fe. The promise of Spring is tugging at our sluggish winter bodies, cracking and stiff and a tad thicker than one would care to admit. We are itchy to walk- just as the junipers are shedding pollen in curtains of dirty yellow. We walked and sneezed and rubbed gritty eyes.

For this we waited all winter? I complained.

It strikes us as ironic if not downright diabolical. Mother Nature is taunting us. The coyotes are laughing on the rim of the mesa. I listen and note they are closer than usual, emboldened by our wintery hibernation. The land belongs to them now. We're simply tourists.

This doesn't bother me. I'm just here in passing, on my way home. Taking the long way- dreaming of the west coast and glassy blue-green waves curling in to shore. I'm an ocean girl, a beachcomber.  Not a cowgirl. I've never ridden a horse in my life. Or handled a rifle (two skills highly valued in this part of the world). The desert does not feed me. She takes from me. Sucking every last drop. If I stay here much longer I fear you will find me as brittle and sun-bleached as one of Georgia O'Keeffe's bone paintings.

I'm not quite ready to give up on the juicy part of my life.

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Scalloped Potatoes - Vegan + Dairy-Free

Creamy vegan scalloped potatoes...

On a whim and out of nowhere (and at 2:54 AM, I'll have you know) I began conjuring images of creamy scalloped potatoes. Odd for someone who must avoid cheese and cream and butter and who- most days- is reconciled to her cheese-free life with a shrugging Lebowski-Zen detachment they write books about. Not to mention, it's been (literally) over a decade since I made this retro recipe, cream or no cream. Alas, I simply couldn't get the idea out of my sleepy Ewan McGregor-esque spiky head. 

The vegan scalloped potato challenge bit me. And refused to let go.

To make my pre-dawn vision a reality this classic recipe would need some serious tweaking. I mean, it's not just cheese you have to replace (and I'm no fan of plastic vegan cheeses, let me tell you). There is cream. And sweet moo-cow butter. Three key ingredients that make this comfy dish so melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Lucky for me I happened to have some dairy-free cream sauce left over from a vegan pasta I had tossed together the night before. A thick and silky hemp based sauce featuring artichokes and wine.

Accident? Destiny? Or simply the collective unconscious zeroing in on post-midnight potato cravings when your serotonin is dropping so fast your heart beat skips and triggers a hot flash?

You decide.

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Cozy Autumn Rice Bake

Tasty rice casserole with turkey, cranberries, mushrooms and olives.

Here's a cozy autumn casserole recipe with crumbled organic turkey, mushrooms, black olives and tart cranberries. Vegetarians can change out the turkey with gluten-free tempeh, cooked black beans, chick peas, or white kidney beans.

From time to time I become a flexitarian goddess and cook with organic, free-range turkey, beef or buffalo. I chose organic free range turkey for the protein in this family style layered dish, but organic free-range chicken or beef, or even gluten-free tempeh would also work beautifully.

The recipe is an improv, so the measurements are close approximations, but most of you readers are creative cooks who do your own thing and toss together your own improvisations, anyway, right? 

You're my kind of people. 

You can handle it.

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Pinon Rice Bake with Artichokes and Goat Cheese

Brown rice casserole with artichokes, roasted corn, chiles, pine nuts and goat cheese.

Gluten-Free Rice Casserole Bake

Here's a favorite make-ahead rice dish recipe with Mediterranean flavors- artichokes, plum tomatoes, pine nuts and goat cheese. Entertaining made simple. And there are never any leftovers.

Having someone new over for dinner always sends me into a flurry of activity fueled by nervous energy and worry. I obsess over obscure details (like an iTune playlist), change my mind about the menu (wait- enchiladas or lasagna?), forget ingredients (dagnabbit! the green beans are still in the car). So I've learned (yes, the hard way) to always make a few key dishes ahead of time. Then dinner is basically done.

And I'm not stuck in the kitchen spilling olive oil on a new silk shirt.

I can relax (well, sort of). And- goddess willing- I won't set the oven on fire because I'm too busy discussing politics or the yummy Anderson Cooper.

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How To Make Crunchy Gluten-Free Breadcrumbs

Golden gluten-free bread crumbs made from toasted waffles.

Why not talk about simple pleasures? Like how to make really tasty gluten-free bread crumbs. Golden. Toasty. Slightly crunchy. When I first went gluten-free I missed the crunchy goodness that a buttered bread crumb topping adds to a home cooked recipe- especially comfort food. In fact, one of my favorite simple comfort recipes when I'm dragging my butt and too tired to cook is spaghetti tossed in extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, red pepper flakes and pan toasted bread crumbs.

So, after I found a decent (even wonderful) gluten-free pasta (Tinkyada Pasta) I tried making herbed crumbs for several of my favorite comfort foods, including my go-to Italian spaghetti with garlic and crumbs recipe.

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Gluten-Free Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

Fabulous Chicken Enchiladas

Yummy. Easy. Chicken enchiladas. I never tire of them. And I'm not alone. My chicken enchilada recipes are among the most popular recipes on the blog. It's understandable. Enchiladas make a perfect make-ahead recipe for a weeknight supper or a pot luck gathering. And they are easily gluten-free. Make enchiladas earlier in the day- and dinner is done.

As easy as uno, dos, tres.

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Gluten-Free Enchilada Bake: Roasted Green Chile and Cream Cheese

Gluten-free tortilla bake with cream cheese and green chiles.

Planted on the coast of Cape Cod for years (forever, it seemed, on gloomy January days blanketed in gray) I daydreamed about fire roasted chiles. The smoky pepper sweetness that flirted with your senses as you walked in Santa Fe. The luxury of buying bags of freshly roasted chiles by the roadside- still warm,  soft as butter, and charred. In fact, I may have moved here for the chiles alone.

That's entirely possible.

I may have been so drop dead in love with chiles when we bought this casita that I didn't notice I'd be stuck out in the desert with so few neighbors. No bookstore, no cafe- no movie theater. What was I thinking? Only my analyst knows for sure (if she remembers me; it's been years since Jungian analysis).

Along with dreaming of Val Kilmer (not the rock scrambling Thunderheart Val, the seasoned, voluptuous new Mega Val- and why he showed up in my dream, I've no clue- better ask my analyst about that, too) I've been craving roasted green chile this month like mad as we approach our second anniversary of moving to New Mexico. 

And wouldn't you know it! I'm out of last year's roadside bags of chiles. 

They're long gone (my freezer is annoyingly, shall we say, petite). Until roasting season starts I have to settle with buying frozen Bueno chiles. And they're not bad, exactly. They are pretty dang good.

Yet, as I sit and crave and daydream, the big question becomes: Do I really still want to be here in August when chile roasting begins? Is my chile love a devoted, true love, or simply an infatuation? A passing fancy? Will your intrepid dusty goddess remain here in the coyote hills of O'Keeffe country or soon be walking Venice Beach in her Rocket Dogs?

I tell myself, just breathe.

There are Bueno chiles to defrost.

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Gluten-Free Spanish Rice Bake

Like Spanish rice? Try using brown rice and kick up the nutrition.

One of the more popular recipe searches here at Gluten-Free Goddess is brown rice. And why not? It's naturally gluten-free. It's an excellent grain choice for the Mediterranean Diet and the South Beach Diet. It's good source of fiber for both sensitive tummies and hearty omnivore appetites. And it's a complementary protein for earthy vegan tastes.

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A Trio of Tasty Turkey Recipes- Gluten-Free

Here are three delicious ways to use up leftover gluten-free turkey. One retro classic, Tetrazzini style, with brown rice noodles. One fabulous southwestern style enchilada recipe that has leftover turkey flirting with sweet potatoes. And last but always fabulous, our easy family favorite- turkey nachos with jalapenos and blue corn chips.

Gluten-free turkey tetrazzini- a retro classic, updated.

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Good Karma Meatloaf Pie with Dill Mashed Potato Crust

 

I'll just say it. If you like comfort food you're gonna love this meatloaf pie recipe with a mashed gold potato crust. It's simple, hearty comfort food. Because I'm a home-style cook. I'm no chef. I know my way around a kitchen but eviscerating a chicken? I'll pass. And I've never been attracted to truffles. I could care less about honing my knife skills. I chop slow and steady. Without fanfare.

My soul is built for comfort not for speed.

So it's no surprise I'm a rustic stew and roasted veggie gal at heart. I'm not  entirely sorry to see the summer come to an end. The 100ºF days. The kitchen so hot you hesitate to ignite a single burner- never mind turn on the oven. Enough, already! Knowing the fall equinox is just around the corner is fine with me. I welcome the cooler evenings, the gentler sun. 

Fall is eye candy gorgeous here in northern New Mexico- the perfect balance of honeyed sunlight and clear-as-a-bell cobalt skies, the quaking aspens and golden cottonwoods. The aroma of roasting green chiles. It's intoxicating.

And it's enough to brighten any comfort-food-loving mama's spirits. We get to turn our ovens back on again- and roast and bake to our heart's content.

Ironically- you remember irony, don't you?- the best protein for me now (once a vegetarian goddess) is animal sourced. At first I was resistant to include meat in my diet, clinging stubbornly to my life-long belief that the vegetable kingdom- along with some happy dancing-in-the-barnyard hens and generous brown-eyed moo cows and goats- could sustain me well. I was tickled pink to live for years on end (three decades) as an ovo-lacto vegetarian sometimes vegan. 

But after my celiac diagnosis, and additional digestive revelations- not to mention, broken hip- it appears my karma has a wicked sense of humor.

Veganism? Dream on. 

It just ain't gonna work. For the sake of my health and bones, I must officially join the ranks of the flexitarians. At least I'm not alone. The peace loving Dalai Lama himself discovered he failed to thrive on a strict vegetarian diet as well. So he eats animal protein every other day. He likes to say- with his signature twinkle- he is vegetarian for half the year. I decided if he could live with that,  Bubela, who am I to argue?

And so I made a meatloaf (a Maple-Apricot Glazed Meatloaf, in fact). And with the leftovers, I made- you guessed it! Meatloaf pie. 

Vegans and vegetarians- don't be blue- try my totally veggie Shepherd's Pie recipe- it's just as good.

Dill smashed potatoes top this easy pie.

Good Karma Meatloaf Pie Recipe

What to do with leftover turkey meatloaf or hamburgers? Make a pie, Darling. Sometimes I put together a single pie in my favorite clay casserole dish. But last night I divided up the filling and made two individual pies with a mashed gold potato crust.

Ingredients:

Leftover meatloaf- enough for two servings
1/2 cup roasted corn kernels- or baby peas
6-8 little grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup cooked carrot pieces
A splash of broth mixed with a touch of ketchup, to moisten
About two cups of cooked potatoes- or non-mayo potato salad (I used mashed gold potatoes with dill)
Sea Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
Dill or parsley for the top

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Use a fork to break apart the leftover meatloaf. Add the corn, tomatoes and carrots; mix to combine. Add enough broth and ketchup to moisten the mixture. Season to taste. Add a touch more ketchup or gluten-free Worcestershire sauce- especially if it is dry. Mix and spoon into a casserole dish or individual gratin dishes.

Top with cooked potatoes, mashed potatoes, or even vinegar potato salad. Sprinkle with dill, sea salt and pepper.

Bake until heated through and bubbling- about 30 to 35 minutes or so (depending upon how cold the leftovers were when you assembled your pie).

Serve with a crisp green salad.

Serves two.

Karina's Notes:

If you like a spicy meatloaf pie use your favorite salsa to moisten the filling and add some chopped jalapenos.

Spaghetti Squash New Mexican with Black Beans + Lime

Cumin and chili roasted spaghetti squash ready for black beans and lime

 

This is not your typical spaghetti squash recipe. Rather than using the squash as a mere substitute for pasta with red sauce, this recipe combines strands of spaghetti squash with Southwestern-inspired ingredients such as black beans, lime juice, tomatoes and roasted corn.

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Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

Vegetarian shepherd's pie- gluten-free comfort food.

Mashed Potato Crust Love

Why I've been craving mashed potatoes lately, I don't know. Spring has arrived here in the high desert. The days are longer and kinder. Apple trees are blooming. And all I can think about is a mound of soft creamy mashed potatoes. This means something.

Yeah. What it means is I am craving some serious comfort food in the form of a baked shepherd's pie- only my version is vegan and brimming with fresh vegetables. Forget the meat. And forget the lentils (so 1970's). 

And fake meat- er, I mean, highly processed soy protein or vital wheat gluten? 

I don't think so. 

Seitan is evil.

That's why they call it seitan.

No, my shepherd's pie has to satisfy not only my potato comfort craving, but my hankering for vegetables, spice and flavor. You know what that means. I live lived in New Mexico after all. It's gotta have some green chile in it. It's gotta have a little heat. Comfort food - for this gluten-free goddess, anyway- has got to have a little kick. Something to stir the taste buds awake after a long winter.

Bland is so, well, yesterday.

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