Quinoa Salad with Berries and Watermelon

A summer quinoa salad studded with fresh, ripe fruit.

Summer Simplicity

I cook sparingly in the heat of summer. And only if I absolutely have to. It's one of the perks of being a grown up- and post empty nest. We cook if we feel like it. And if we don't? We grab some baby spinach and chard, frisee and herbs and make a salad. We like to keep things simple.

That's no surprise to you, I'm sure.

I don't exactly do elaborate. We don't go for complicated around here. And goddess knows, we don't do formal. If we can toss together a bowl of fresh salad greens and herbs, and add some quickly cooked protein to make a meal of it, we're content. We might add strips of organic free-range chicken grilled with lemon and black pepper. Or a piece of wild salmon broiled with a touch of agave and lime. Perhaps an organic boiled egg. Or two. If we're lucky, some leftover cooked quinoa.

Dinner in a flash.

Quintessential summer.

So today's post (and recipe) is a nod to the natural marriage of summer and simplicity. Get out of the house. Step away from the screen.

Disconnect.

Reconnect.

This coming Independence Day, celebrate your independence from gluten!

Happy July Fourth!



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Coconut Milk Ice Cream Berry Parfaits

Easy elegance.Coconut ice cream. Berries. Boom. Parfait!

The Gluten-Free Goddess Time Machine dips back into the archives for a fabulous coconut ice cream recipe served parfait style with blueberries and strawberries.

We are slowly melting here in the usually friendlier, temperate wedge of Northwest Connecticut. This heat wave has not been fun. Yesterday we hit 87º degrees. Inside the barn. In the kitchen (if you can call it that), where I am not cooking. I am painting. Very slowly. And sweating. Profusely. The studio air smelled like a West Hollywood muffler shop (if I was a betting soul I'd wager greenbacks on the landlord lying when he assured us the barn was insulated). Yours truly may be suffering quasi-serious brain damage due to these cranium-baking temperatures. I cannot form a cohesive thought. Neither can my iMac which gets dangerously hot (I am writing this post early, while the room temperature is a balmy 78º).

Obviously I am unable to muster any enthusiasm for cooking.

I've been living on gluten-free peanut butter toast. And ice cream. Yes, I know. I am a poor, sad, sad role model. What kind of food blogger doesn't rise to the challenge and cheer-lead you to whip up kale salads and raw peach smoothies? What kind of food blogger would simply give in to her sticky, damp fatigue and general overall crankiness and not create some inspiring, nutritious, bunny food slaw for you?

This one.

She who is about to share a no-cook recipe she actually DID make last night, standing directly in front of her three-speed fan, silver streaked hair pinned wantonly (fashionably!) askew atop her itchy, sweaty head.

Sweet and cold and creamy. Coconut milk ice cream.

It's what's for dinner.


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Gluten-Free Strawberry Recipes

Strawberry Season!

The luscious time of year is fast upon us. And short-lived. Carpe diem we must. So I'll get right to it, Babycakes. Here are my favorite gluten-free strawberry recipes to celebrate the beginning of Summer. Can you dig it?

Start your day sweet. Say Good Morning with these streusel topped Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins.

My Whole Grain Strawberry Muffins are xanthan gum free (a bonus!).

These Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins are tasty- for those who love a bite of chocolate with their berries.

And this rustic Strawberry Cobbler Cake is perfect for snack time, tea time, Pinterest time.

Feel like scones? These Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones are an early blog favorite.

For dessert- look no further than this updated classic fruit crisp- my Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp-Crumble is oat-free. And super delicious.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

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Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp-Crumble

Warm from the oven strawberry rhubarb crumble.

We've been blessed with fecund weather here in Southern California. Love is in the air. House finches are singing. Mourning doves coo. Roses are unfolding their velvet petals. Trees are budding creamy white, violet-blue, and pink.

In other words, picnic perfect. So I've been craving crisp and crumble desserts. The easiest of baked fresh fruit sweets... lovely for springtime picnic, or summer backyard get-together. A perfect ending to a grill-side supper on the deck, al fresco.

Although I have featured a strawberry rhubarb crisp in the past (kissed with a hint of balsamic vinegar) I decided to play around with an alternative topping to the classic pairing of tart rhubarb and sweet ripe strawberries. And I grabbed a secret ingredient from my pantry.

Can you guess what it is?

The secret ingredient in this old fashioned crumble dessert is an ingredient your grandmother probably never heard of.

Quinoa flakes. Gluten-free quinoa cereal flakes add a distinct, delicate flavor to this fruit crumble's sweet and nutty topping. The texture is light and lovely- and far less chewy than oats.

We thought it was spectacular.

And as a bonus? This gluten-free dessert is xanthan gum free.


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Gluten-Free Whole Grain Strawberry Muffins

Gluten-free low sugar whole grain strawberry muffins.

Whole Grain Wheat-Free Muffins with Love

From the archives- as we move back to the West Coast- a favorite muffin recipe, perfect for strawberry season...

With all the recent news about sugar, I've been thinking about muffins. And not just any ordinary, ho-hum, run-of-the-mill, starchy, gluten-free muffins. Nope. A tender, whole grain, lower sugar, vanilla scented muffin that bursts with fresh strawberry flavor. Warm from the oven, these pleasantly grainy breakfast treats are pull-apart soft with juicy bites of strawberry. Sweet- but not too sweet.

I used pure maple syrup for the primary sweetener, and a mere two tablespoons of organic brown sugar. And now for the interesting part. I also experimented with no xanthan gum. This is highly unusual for me. I've usually rely on xanthan gum to give my gluten-free batter and dough the stretchability factor- a trait removed when I booted gluten from my kitchen and wished it vaya con dios. But inspired by Lauren, the Celiac Teen, I decided to try baking without it.

But here's the thing.

Shunning gluten is a complicated issue. Gluten imparts a flexibility to batter and dough, and baking without it can lead you to crumbly, gritty ruin if you're not careful. You're giving up protein. And you're giving up elasticity. And not only that, you're saying buh-bye to the toothsome texture you are accustomed to.

Reaching for xanthan gum was a quick fix, an immediate solution to this lack of flexibility problem. But many of you now report you don't want to use it. For some it's a price issue (xanthan gum ain't cheap, Darling). For others it's a digestive issue (xanthan gum or its alternative, guar gum, can be hard on sensitive digestion). And for some, it's an allergy issue (to mold or the growth medium, most often cornstarch).

Gluten-free baking without gums is tricky. This, I know. So my first foray into this venture is not vegan. I used two free-range organic eggs. Egg whites help give gluten-free batter that precious stretchability factor. And the protein factor. They bind, and they leaven.

My choice of flours reflects two things- what I had on hand this morning, and my desire to use whole grains (I am liking starches less and less). I picked hazelnut flour for the delightful nutty flavor and protein; millet, brown rice, and sorghum flour because they are whole grain and higher protein than white rice flour or potato starch; and I used coconut flour because it attracts moisture and adds a lovely texture to gluten-free baked goods (not to mention, for its high fiber status).

The result? A tasty, blog worthy success. I absolutely love these strawberry muffins.

And I hope you do, too!

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Vegan Strawberry Chocolate Chip Sherbet

Ripe strawberries make delicious non-dairy sherbet

The Gems of June

Now is the perfect time for a sherbet recipe. Why? Because June is lush and abundant in strawberries. And how do I love these sweet ruby gems? Any way I can get 'em. Popped into my mouth straight from the colander. Rolled in brown sugar and nibbled. Baked into scones (have you tried my Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones recipe?) and Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins. Nestled into Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp.

And this week- transformed into a bliss inducing non-dairy frozen confection.

Sherbet- berry pink and creamy and just sweet enough. Studded with vegan dark chocolate chips (darling you know I love strawberries and chocolate together, and I commingle the two every chance I get).

So I hope you dig it.

And dig in.

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Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Muffins

Strawberry Rhubarb Love

Can't get enough of the classic spring pairing of strawberries and rhubarb? Me neither. So I baked a batch of muffins, dressed up to party with cinnamon streusel topping. These easy to toss together treats are tender pull-apart bites of grainy buckwheat sweetness studded with bits of tart rhubarb. A recipe perfect for brunch or afternoon tea.

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Strawberry Spinach Salad with Berry Dressing

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Berry Dressing

Don't cook. Go RAW. Go FRESH.

The older I get the more I crave simple. The sweet, relaxed comfort of home cooking. An impromptu picnic on the patio with family-style classics like horseradish spiked potato salad and strawberry rhubarb crumble. Instead of growing worldly and sophisticated and dabbling with truffle oil, each new gray silver hair spins my taste hula hooping into simplicity faster than Lady Gaga can waggle. Well, maybe not that fast. She is pretty nimble. But you get my drift. I'm whipping up ten-minute rice stir-fries, not Coq au Vin. I’m blending up pomegranate smoothies, not roasting Duck a l'Orange.

And lucky me, the summer season is all about simplicity. Who needs complicated and fussy when the farmers’ markets are abundant with glorious, fresh ingredients? Vegetables in every color. Ripe and voluptuous fruits. And every one of them gluten-free. And dairy-free. That’s the beauty of it. No imitation here. No game of let’s pretend. This is nature’s bounty, pure and raw and beautiful. No deprivation. Zero. None.

When folks with celiac disease first learn they need to live gluten-free (for life!) a throat tightening panic strikes. In a sudden, blinding flash they begin to mentally catalog every favorite food they must now avoid like the plague. The list begins with sandwich bread for many, and often ends with pizza, bagels, spaghetti or cupcakes (by this point, imagined in all their lustrous glory through an unexpected blur of angry tears). Our wheat-based food culture is insidious, ubiquitous, and gluten saturated. Our nemesis- the grain protein gluten- is infused in or added to too many foods to count (soy sauce, really?).

This is why I gently suggest going naturally gluten-free. At least for starters.

Diving into the complexity of gluten-free baking (with multiple flours and starches), or spending hard earned cash on packaged gluten-free foods full of odd ingredients such as tapioca starch, quinoa flakes and xanthan gum, can pinch not only the budget, but the soul. Taste buds need time to adjust. Your palate was raised on wheat and dairy foods. And trust me- both are acquired tastes. I know this is true, because after years of living gluten-free and dairy-free, I can honestly report that I hold my breath walking past the bread shelves and the gourmet cheese displays at our favorite local market. Baked goods made with wheat flour exude an odd, sickly- sweet aroma that does not smell appetizing. And cheese? When you haven’t eaten dairy in years, it smells exactly like spit up- no offense to babies. And milk? Cow's milk smells like a creepy combo of cheese curds and animal hair.

I am sorry to tell you.

So if you are newly diagnosed, or an old pro celiac who's been tempted by the news of a Domino's gluten-free pizza (just say no!), step back and take a breath. Visit your local farmer’s market this weekend instead. Drink in the gorgeous, gluten-free abundance of the fledgling summer season. Go vegetal. Toss together cool and tangy salads. Grill zucchini, asparagus, and peppers in a rainbow of colors. Blend creamy smoothies with fresh strawberries and coconut milk. Take advantage of juicy, local fruit and make a quick and elegant salad that will lift your spirits and nourish your body. Grab someone you love and dine al fresco

You won’t miss the gluten. I promise.

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Friday Eye Candy: Farmers' Market

Organic strawberries make gluten-free luscious and beautiful.

I have been sitting here in my chair, as bone quiet still as a nun in a pew at midnight, with nary a poetic turn of phrase in sight. I am trying to conjure words for strawberries. And summer. And the newly minted sensation of actually, finally, living by the sea. I keep thinking about breathing- because the ionized ocean air is so sexy gorgeous you could eat it with a spoon. And because for the first time in a long, long time I can feel myself uncoil a bit and allow a long, soft exhale to trail into the stream of salty wind that whistles through the crack of an open window above my bed as I blink awake to the whoop of a sunrise surfer ripping his way down a foamy curl. His joy is infectious. And I smile. And yawn.

The word gratitude comes to mind.

Not to mention, abundance. This week's farmers market was indeed abundant, tumbling wild with the jewels of summer. Boxes and boxes of fragrant strawberries. Buckets of cherries. Crates of plums. Potted herbs and June blooms- peonies and Japanese iris. So I offer you eye candy today. The gift of color. And ten gluten-free strawberry recipes to inspire your weekend and get you in the mood to whoop.

It's summer. Live a little. Get juicy.


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Strawberry Hemp Milk Smoothie

Drink pink! Organic strawberries make fabulous smoothies.

It's that time of year. Smoothie weather is upon us. Time to whip fresh fruit  into a frenzy of deliciousness. Then go for a walk. And burn off those winter blues. Lethargy is so yesterday.

Today?

Today is berrylicious.

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Gluten-Free Strawberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

Strawberry Moon

The moon rose almost full last night, hanging gold and low above the palm and ficus trees, urging the local beauty factor to give up its pretense of reality and meld with dreamland. The sky was a deep shade of violet with a wash of strawberry pink at the ocean's edge. Santa Monica continues to hold me in her sway. I am in love with her- and deeply grateful to be here, celebrating my first spring in California since the late seventies. I drink the friendly March sea air in gulps. I wander the alleys and sidewalks in a state bordering on bliss, photographing details and eye candy with my iPhone. 

It is a visual feast.

And I am savoring every bite.

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Blueberry-Strawberry Cobbler

A vegan berry cobbler. Two berries are better than one.

Baking at sea level- in an unfamiliar oven- has been a challenge that has humbled your intrepid gluten-shunning goddess at large. My mojo is askew. All my old tricks and tweaks for high altitude baking are no longer required. It's like losing a third of your favorite play list. Or half your shoes. All the left ones. I have to realign my route. I must toss out all my assumptions (a favorite mid-life goal, anyway, so I may as well practice it).

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Gluten-Free Strawberry Cobbler Cake

Dear Gluten-Free Goddess,

Not another strawberry recipe. Please. And a cake recipe at that? Pfffft. I've had it with all your so called strawberry deliciousness. Will you just get over it already? (What do you think this is, strawberry season?) I'm totally bored with the whole strawberry thing. Good Gracious Lord In Heaven.

Where the bleep are the broccolini recipes? The watercress and sardine tarts? The marinated scapes, head cheese, and tripe? Where's your squid ink linguini recipe? And croissants! I can't find them anywhere.

And must I beg you for boutique bean recipes? You of all people- living in your precious New Mexico desert. Or have you moved to Hollyweird now (that figures). I need boutique heirloom bean recipes. I need my daily local vegan fiber, if you get my drift.

Hmm? None of the above? 

Figures.

But I forgive you, I guess. You're only human. You're not an actual living breathing goddess as I'm all too sure you're aware. Right?

So I say this with love--- and I'm your biggest fan, by the way. I've even won a recipe contest or two using your recipes. How cool is THAT?

I have a question for you--- since you are such a know-it-all maven.

Hope you don't mind helping me out here. I know you're probably super busy and all, but. I guess I feel I'm entitled. Because I'm such a fan. Here goes.

Why does gluten-free vegan baking suck rocks?

I mean, just in a general kind of way. It really, truly sucks!  I'm not exaggerating or indulging in hyperboloid or whatever you call it.

I'm having some trouble lately. I followed your directions. Well, mostly. I did change a few ingredients. Because you use WAY TOO much sugar and fat.  So I took out the sugar. And most of the fat. I used prune puree and mashed black beans. And I switched the starch to teff flour to increase the protein ratio. I threw in boiled flax gel. But still.

It turned out well, just icky.

Maybe it's the whole weird flour thing. The kids (spoiled brats) won't eat that quinoa stuff. And my husband can't stand the smell of buckwheat flour. And don't even mention tapioca. Not in this house.

And while we're at it? Some friendly advice.

Can you just skip the unbearable intros? You're so self-satisfied. Could you be any more full of yourself? And keep your political insinuations to yourself too, wouldja please? Not everyone is a bleeding heart rainbow diversity blah blah tree hugger believing in HOPE and peace and equal rights and affordable health care like you.

Some of us actually uphold the family unit as God intended. We honor the sacrament of marriage. Well, the 45% of us who don't end up in divorce court do, anyway. After all, this is a FOOD BLOG. Isn't the RECIPE the point? A sincere piece of advice--- just post the recipe. Nix the philosophical stuff. I don't really get it anyway, what you write. And I'm sure I'm not alone in this. Your writing is a little weird and I'm almost certain it's subversive in some sorta artsy feminist manifesto way.

Oh, and one last request. Aside from the whole vegan batter looking like snot thing. What the hell is xanthan gum, anyway? And which store in my town carries it?

Looking forward to hearing from you ASAP!

Buggy Nudnik

PS: By the way, I decided last night to start my own gluten-free vegan baking business. My goal is either to start up a bakery or be a personal gluten-free vegan chef. I figure I'm getting to be such an expert on this gluten-free baking thing, I might as well get PAID for it. So thanks for all your recipes. I'll be using them. Thought you be honored.

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Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Gluten-free strawberry rhubarb crisp with a tangy twist.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

When I was a little girl my favorite way to eat rhubarb was to snap off a stick in the back yard, run into the kitchen and dip the end into the sugar bowl, repeating the dipping process as needed to coat each tart and chewy bite with granular sweetness. In a post-Seinfeld world I risk being labeled a dreaded double dipper. And I admit up front, it's true.

I double dipped and triple dipped and lived to tell the tale.

Beyond childhood I never bothered much with rhubarb, except for tasting the occasional strawberry rhubarb crisp at someone else's family picnic. I was never much a fan of it cooked. Stewing and baking seemed to rob it of its charms, mocking my memory of those sugar coated crisp and sour stalks. The mush in the bottom of all those Pyrex baking pans was a sorry excuse for rhubarb, I thought. So recreating a rhubarb crisp recipe for living gluten-free was never glowing brightly on my cooking radar screen. It was never even the faintest of blips. I've been blogging for four rhubarb seasons now and haven't felt inspired to develop a recipe. Until now.

Why now, I've no idea. Perhaps it's because we're stuck out here in the desert, with nary a garden or bursting rhubarb patch in sight. Just rolling hills of crusty earth studded with brittle pinon and juniper trees, the oddball cholla, or tuft of tenacious sage. The words green and leafy don't exactly come to mind when you walk the dirt road to the arroyo.

So when I spotted a few lonely stalks of rhubarb in a basket at Whole Foods in Santa Fe- ruby red and sexy in their glistening rhubarb goodness- I thought, Why not attempt a strawberry rhubarb crisp recipe?

And because I'd asked myself out loud my husband said, You do realize you just asked three stalks of rhubarb if you should make them into a crisp?

Well, yeah, I shrugged back. I talk to my fruit.

Don't you?

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Strawberry Banana Muffins

Ripe strawberries make sweet and tender muffins.

My latest vegan muffin recipe is a tender, fragrant strawberry banana treat. And they just so happen to be wheat-free, dairy-free and egg-free.

June is sexy gorgeous here in northern New Mexico. The sun is just the right amount of hot. The sky is flawless cobalt blue. The morning shade is deliciously cool. The mockingbirds sing their magic in the junipers. And the strawberries at the market are drop dead ripe. If fruit is love, it must be a strawberry- red and juicy and flirtatious.

And if I was so inclined I would wax voluptuous, like a cheap romance novel. I would detail every lip licking moment in my big strawberry love. How I crush and whip them into smoothies. Churn them into dairy-free sherbet. Bake them into golden scones. Macerate them in orange infused liqueur. And stir them slowly into sticky banana muffin batter.

In fact, I would flaunt my muffins.
 

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Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones- Gluten-Free Recipe

Get Sconed.

Today was a good day. A strawberry and chocolate laced crusty on the outside tender on the inside kind of day. That's right. I got sconed. Here's the back story.

Shopping for groceries, I was in such an expansive mood post my double espresso (who isn't?) I thought I might try baking something fun and slightly indulgent for the weekend. The local organic strawberries at the market smelled beyond heavenly in their ripe and ruby lusciousness. Yes, I smell all my fruit and veggies before I buy. Don't you? The woman with the amber handled cane you see standing in the Whole Foods produce aisle sniffing tomatoes and berries and anything else she can get her one free hand on, Darling?

That would be me.

But I know what you really want to know is how I conjured such utter scone cuteness from troublesome gluten-free dough. Gluten-free dough is notoriously sticky and the baking mix directions suggested scooping the dough and making free-form drop shapes. Easy peasy? Yes. But I wanted more of a wedge shaped scone. Something pretty, suitable for tea time.

So using moist hands, I formed the dough into a rounded soda bread style shape- not unlike my Gypsy Soda Bread, in fact. I used a big sharp knife to score and cut the dough into eight triangles. Then I moved them- with a triangle shaped spatula- to my Exopat lined cookie sheet. I soothed and patted and baked them into the contented little wedges you see pictured.

Next time I might try rolling the dough out a little bit flatter and using cookie cutters to make a more biscuit-like shape. Just for fun.

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