Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto

A delicious acorn squash risotto that is vegan and gluten-free.

 Stir it Up, Little Darling

Looking for a perfect fall side dish? Or a vegetarian knock-your-socks-off bowl of creamy goodness? Risotto might fit the bill. This is one of my all-time recipe favorites. In fact, it was the first dish I turned to eight years ago when I discovered I had to live gluten-free.

Way back then (insert hazy slow-mo flashback) I would add freshly grated Parmesan to the cooked risotto. Shaved Reggiano, to be exact. But these casein-free dairy-free days I enjoy this risotto strictly vegan. No cheese. And guess what? I don't feel deprived. Seriously. The flavors hold their own without the whole moo cow cheesy thing.

In fact, this risotto is so creamy-good and comforting I only think one thing as I taste bite after velvety bite: How could anything so simple taste so unbelievably good? Well, that, and, Who the heck needs cheese or butter, anyway?

The trick to a tasty risotto- with its signature texture- is to stir it during cooking. No cheating in a rice cooker. No covering it and setting it on low heat, praying to the Risotto Gods, hoping it will produce a tender-yet-firm-enough bite boiling away in it's sad, ignored little pot. You need to tend these pearly grains. Coax them. Sweet talk them. It's all about foreplay.

Risotto needs attention to bloom properly.

So that means a commitment on your part. But it's only a twenty-two minute commitment. You can handle that, right?

I guarantee, it's worth it.

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Chicken Curry Apple Stir-Fry Recipe with Art School Rice

Crazy Simple = Crazy Good

Just in time for the last hurrah of summer, I thought I'd share a crazy simple recipe favorite that is spicy and sweet, infused with curry. Because I love to mix up flavors (don't you?). I'm interested in how traditions influence, enhance and co-mingle. Perhaps because I'm an eclectic heritage bundle myself. 

And vegans, don't assume this recipe isn't for you. In fact, I make a vegetarian version of this recipe all the time. Use drained canned chick peas in place of the bird- or slices of gluten-free tempeh- it's a fabulous meatless and budget-friendly option.

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Asparagus Leek Risotto Recipe

A Light Risotto for Spring

May I just take a moment and express my deep appreciation for risotto? And tender-crisp spring asparagus? A week like we've had triggers a need for comfort food- but not the heavy, spice laced comfort food of winter. Something fresh and light and creamy. Asparagus risotto to the rescue. It's been a roller coaster week for us. From opening a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to learning that our buyer had run into a snag. He missed the deadline for obtaining a mortgage. We remain hopeful and knee deep in book stacks and boxes, however. He's still trying. Still interested.

And us? We're practicing our best zen detachment.

With bourbon.

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts Medley with Refried Butter Beans & Rice

Roasting Brussells sprouts brings out their inherent sweetness.

Happy March! We made it through. The days are stretching inch by inch, noticeably longer. And just in the nick of time for this winter weary gluten-free goddess and her serotonin deprived little brain. Let's do a collective happy dance, Steve Martin style. We're sneaking up on a big turning point in the year. You know the one- when daylight equals darkness. The Spring Equinox will be here before you know it (March 20, 2009, to be exact). And then? You know what then. Luxurious long days, evening walks warmed by the sun. Sprouting going on everywhere you look. Buds bursting. A brand new season. Fresh. Life.

After the winter we've had- with all the Wall Street inspired doom and gloom infused with a shaken-not-stirred cocktail of fear and hope? I choose hope. This shouldn't surprise you. It's in my nature. New paradigms and inventive beginnings? Bring it on. 

I love learning a new skill set.

So in the spirit of celebrating the whole sprouting and greening thing that is waiting for us right around the corner (if the wheel of the year could sport a corner, that is), the impending balance of the coming Vernal Equinox, I offer you a budget-friendly vegan meal that is fresh and earthy, green and nutty, savory and sweet. You know, that whole yin yang Real Food Daily approach to eating (how cool is Anne Gentry?). Food to feed you, body and soul, as the March winds blow and scatter the remnants of winter into memory.

I know some of you don't believe me when I tell you Brussels sprouts can be tender and sweet. You think these tiny cabbages are mushy and smelly and not worth consideration. To those of you in that particular camp, I must ask. Have you ever roasted Brussels sprouts? Because here's the thing. When you roast these little green babies they get all caramelized and nutty and they take on a whole new demeanor. And the best part? Roasting vegetables makes for an easy dinner. It's almost a night off from cooking. Well. Okay, maybe not a night off, but. 

Pretty darn simple.

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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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Gluten-Free Quinoa, Rice, and Sides

Karina's Favorite Quinoa, Rice, 

& Vegan Side Dish Recipes

My favorite gluten-free vegetarian side dish recipes often include quinoa (here is an easy way to cook quinoa), baked rice, risotto, cornbread stuffing, roasted vegetables, and calabasitas.

Reader favorites include Horseradish Spiked Red Potato Salad and Lime Quinoa Salad with Mint. (Be sure and rinse quinoa thoroughly in cold water before cooking.)

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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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Mediterranean Fish in Foil Packets- with Rice

Summer. Time for grilling.

This easy as 1, 2, 3 recipe has been a summer family staple since I was a blushing bride, learning to grill fish. We won't talk about how many years ago that was, Dear Reader. I mean, the blushing bridal part. Let's just say my oldest son is 26 and leave it at that.

So, you may ask- if you're a blushing bride yourself- how do you grill a slab of fresh fish and veggies all at once and have it turn out so tender and flaky and savory that your newly minted partner for life will turn to you and whisper, I knew I married the right girl? Or boy (I make no assumptions around here, goddess forbid).

Well, here's a little secret I learned way back when. Back before cooking blogs and Food TV and Jamie Oliver. I learned it from a woman who liked my paintings. This is the only way to make fish, she told me. Trust me.

I trust you, I answered. Now tell me your secret.

Foil, she said. And onions, garlic and tomatoes. It's a Mediterranean style fish- not the typical butter and Ritz cracker crumbs you get around here (we were living on Cape Cod at the time). This is the real thing, she continued. Real food. Big flavor. You'll love it!

And she was right.

Here's my easy version of Mediterranean fish- grilled (or baked) with spinach, tomatoes, onions and garlic. I also added balsamic vinegar and fresh chopped herbs.

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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 Simple Bowl of Rice

Simple rice bliss.

A simple bowl of brown rice and veggies. Not even a recipe. Just bliss.

Inside this humble gluten-free goddess is an on-again off-again vegan/vegetarian. For almost forty years I politely declined meat- though I did eat eggs and cheese, and during my pregnancies, I ate fish. During the prickly years of peri-menopause I added small amounts of chicken or turkey into my weekly menu.

Celiac is an interesting twist in all this life-long veggie love. It has deepened my gratitude for simple joys, like sitting outside in the warm spring sun, holding a bowl of short grain brown rice topped with roasted vegetables. On a day like this I cannot help but feel so damn lucky.

So today, as the warm sun lingers longer than it did yesterday on our small casita tucked into the junipered hill by the mesa, I thought I might celebrate a simple bowl. 

A bowl of chewy, earthy gluten-free goodness, satisfying and fabulous.

A Simple Bowl of Rice

Leftovers make this hot lunch super fast and easy. So plan ahead and cook a little extra rice for dinner.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cooked short grain brown rice, per person
1 cup of assorted stir-fried fresh veggies, per person
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Instructions:

Heat a splash of extra virgin olive in a skillet and add the cooked brown rice and veggies. Season with sea salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until heated through and sizzling.

Spoon into your favorite bowl and sit outside, if you can, breathing in the spring. Or find a spot by a window, and sit in the sun.

Hold your bowl. Smile. Eat!