Independence Day Pineapple Stir-Fry Surprise ! (Original Recipe)

As the 4th of July approached, I realized that my annual hot dog tradition has been put on hiatus. It looked like a golden opportunity to try this recipe. Yes, I'll admit a stir-fry dish does sound unconventional. But why not shake things up a bit? It took several attempts and a lot of research to create this dish. Yet, I can truly say that this recipe is my own creation. My first original allergy-friendly recipe. I hope you enjoy it. Happy July 4th !!

Independence Day Pineapple Stir-Fry Surprise!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of medium grain brown rice

(Prepare rice 1 day or a few hrs a head of time, if not cook rice, but don't fully cook it, or it will become soggy when making this recipe.)

1 medium red onion

2 cloves of minced garlic

Group 1-

1 cup of whole food's frozen Chinese stir-fry veggies (use broccoli, mushrooms, string beans, carrots- defrosted) [ this product is great, it's very versatile and economical]

1/2 of chopped bok choy

1/2 of chopped red bell peppers

Group 2-

3 chopped scallions

8-16 oz can of chopped pineapple

8 oz of diced tomatoes ( canned or fresh)

Group 3-

1 cup of coconut milk

1 tsp of curry powder

1/4 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 of agave syrup

chopped ginger

* Traditionally this dish calls for soy sauce & sesame oil. The non-vegetarian version use ham, pea and an egg *

(Note: For those with coconut allergies you may omit the coconut milk and the next 3 ingredient. This recipe tastes good either way.)

Preparation:

Step 1. Heat the olive oil in a stir-fry pan or extra-wide skillet. Add the garlic/onion and sauté over medium heat until golden.

Step 2. Add Group 1. Turn the heat up to medium-high and stir-fry for 3 minutes or so, just until the vegetables are tender-crisp.

Step 3. Add Group 2 and continue to stir-fry for just a minute or two, just until the tomatoes soften slightly.

Step 4. Stir in the cooked rice, and then add Group 3. Stir gently until all the ingredients are completely combined.

Serve, and Enjoy^^

Happy Independence Day !!

The Princess and The Frog: Swamp-Bottom Gumbo

In Honor of Disney's movie The Princess and the Frog, I have been inspired to create a gluten-free vegetarian gumbo. Our recipe is loosely based on the two recipes below.

Gluten-Free Chicken Gumbo - Recipe for Gluten-Free Chicken Gumbo

Quick Vegetarian Gumbo | WholeFoodsMarket.com

Swamp-Bottom Gumbo ( movie pun..LOL)

I tried to be as authentic as possible and use a roux. *Reminder- this recipe requires a lot of time and patience, if you want quick and easy gumbo, use the whole foods recipe with the same ingredient *

(Note: This recipe is very flexible, if your not allergic to meat/chicken/seafood, add at step 3)

Ingredients-

Roux-

1/2 cup of grapeseed oil ( tid bit- why grapeseed oil? It has many wonderful qualities: it's great for cooking at high heat, it's lighter then olive oil, while it also has the same health benefits, and it goes well with meat/seafood)

1/2 cup of brown rice flour or sweet rice flour

The Rest-

1 medium onion chopped

1/2 cup of chopped green onions

1 cup of frozen bell peppers ( 1/2 cup can be used- I really love peppers so I added extra)

8-10 oz package of frozen sliced okra

1 can of cannellini beans

1 (28 oz) can of diced tomatoes

2 minced cloves of garlic

3- 4 cups of veg. stock

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

3 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

last by not least Tabasco sauce- ( Chipotle Tabasco sauce was used, but any other variety works too)

3 cups of brown rice

Preparation: ( Is the same as Gluten-Free Chicken Gumbo - Recipe for Gluten-Free Chicken Gumbo)

*To make the roux*

Combine the oil and flour in a heavy stockpot. Over medium heat, whisk continually until the mixture turns a deep caramel color. Stir continually and remove from heat as soon as the mixture turns a deep caramel color like in the photo above.

( time: 20-30 mins)

After:

Step 1- Add chopped onions, celery, bell pepper and green onions and return to medium heat. Stir until vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Step 2- Put the okra in a heavy skillet and stir, over medium heat until not "ropey", about 15 minutes. (The ropes are clear strings of natural mucilage which make okra an excellent thickener). Remove from heat.

Step 3- Add the veg. stock, beans, chopped tomatoes, okra, seasonings and garlic to the pot. Simmer for about 30 minutes.

To serve, place 1/2 cup cooked rice in bowls and add gumbo. Garnish with a few drops of Tabasco.

Viola ! As Tiana's father said .."good food warms you heart and soul". That definitely holds true when it comes to this gumbo.

Gluten-Free Tuesday Surprise at Whole Foods

Every Tuesday, Whole Foods Markets gives out Gluten-Free samples throughout the store. Luckily, I had some free time and I was check out the samples. There were lots of great items, from Curious Cookies to Mary's Gone Crackers; given my 6 food allergies they're not for me. Just as I was about to finish, I came across Gilbert's Gourmet Goodies. I had discovered another cookie company that was gluten-free and didn't have soy, corn or nuts in there ingredients. Hurray !!
These sugar cookies are out of this world. Not only do they taste like a real sugar cookie, but they're the perfect blend of soft and crunch. Gilbert's Gourmet Goodies also offers Chocolate Chip Paradise and Super Dooper Snickerdoodle cookies, in bit size or a large cookie if your on the go. In addition, they also sell ready-made cookie dough.

Please take note that the chocolate chips in the Chocolate Chip Paradise Cookie does contain soy lecthin. This cookie isn't 100% soy-free, but the rest are. All the cookies are made with Palm Oil, it's true that it's non-hydrogenated ( meaning no trans-fat), but there is still saturated fat. So remember cookies are a once in a while treat.

If your looking for a soy-free chocolate chip cookie, we recommend Enjoy Life Foods, free of the top-8 allergens and more.

The Good Stuff rates Gilbert's Gourmet Goodies :

4/5 on a whole ( why not use soy-free chocolate chips?)

5/5 on their Sensational Sugar Cookie.

For more information check out:

Gilbert's Gourmet Goodies

http://www.gilbertsgourmetgoodies.com/

The Princess and the Frog + Updates

In Honor of Disney's movie The Princess and the Frog, I have been inspired to attempt to make gluten-free vegetarian gumbo & benignet's.

Updates-

coming soon- our ultimate substitution page

every week we will have a spotlight on our favorite gluten-free products

our banana-dough cookie recipes

Passover special: Gluten-free Matzah Brie

Every Passover I look forward to making my favorite dish Matzah Brei. I created a special recipe when I was a teenager and it's been a hit ever since. This year Passover was going to be different experience. If you a have wheat/gluten allergies you can't eat regular matzah. What was I going to do? Would I ever be able to make my favorite dish again?

After searching high and low I finally found gluten-free matzah. Dai yenu!

This is the best matzah you'll ever taste, its even better than regular matzah. It's shemura matzah made from gluten-free oats. It's also the most expensive matzah brie you'll ever make. This box of matzah cost $24, but being able to cook your favorite recipe-priceless.

Here it is the Gluten-Free version of my original Matzah Brei recipe:

3 piece of g-free matzah

milk ( or rice milk)

1 egg white

dash of cinnamon

1 tsp agave syrup

In a large bowl break the 3 pieces of matzah into tiny little pieces. Add milk so that 3/4 of the matzah is covered, like eating a bowl of cereal, remember you don't want to drown them. Let them soak for a few minutes until there semi-soft. Then add cinnamon, and agave syrup, it's oatmeal after all.

In separate bowl beat egg white and add to large bowl and mix. This recipe is pretty flexible, if there's too much milk add more matzah, or vice versa. Feel free to experiment.

Now it's time to heat up the pan, on a low-med flame. Use oil or butter, which ever you prefer.

When the pan is hot pour matzah batter, it should form a circle. This is similar to cooking pancakes, let first cook for around 5 mins or until the batter looks uniform or compact. Then flip, ( if you can't flip the entire thing divide in half or 4's) , let the other side for about 3-4 mins.

Then your done. You add syrup , or fruit and enjoy =) Happy Passover !

Saint Patrick's Day- Gluten- Free Irish Soda Bread

In the spirit of St. Patrick's day, I decided to bake soda bread. The first time I've ever backed gluten-free Irish soda bread, or soda bread in general. It tastes great, and its easy to make. :)

The recipe can be found here:

http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/2006/03/finnegan-begin-again.html

This is by far the best bread I have ever made, it is perfect in every way; kudos to the glutenfreegirl blog.

Remember you can always substitute egg and butter, with a combination of apple sauce and bananas, which is what I did for this recipe. I kept the buttermilk in the spirit of St. Patrick's Day. This blog is normally, dairy, soy, nut, gluten, corn, +8 -free.

A more comprehensive post on substitutions coming soon.

The Best Corn-Free Marshmallow recipe

When you discovering that you have a corn allergy you began to realize that there certain foods that you have to give up, especially Marshmallows. We searched high and low, and found a great marshmallow recipe from the blog Top-8 Free.

http://top8free.com/2007/12/13/marshmallows-corn-free/

Even those who don't have a corn allergy will agree this recipe is far superior than traditional marshmallow recipes and much healthier. ( yes, corn-syrup isn't good for you.) The Good Stuff rates this as: The Best Marshmallow recipe of all time.


Here's also another alternative for those who can't have cane sugar:

http://www.kathysrecipebox.com/?p=266