Gluten-free Gourmand

Whenever I see that a recipe has been made vegan, I'm immediately suspect that it has been made to be flavorless.  This is not the case with vegan bread.  After all, a traditional french baguette is only water, flour, yeast, and salt.  Bread is supposed to be made vegan.  Once you get the gluten-free part down, the vegan part should be easy, right? Well... it did take me several tries to get this.  For my baguettes and small round loaves I can get it to rise just fine without the eggs.  However, sandwich loaves have more volume and need a little something extra for the vertical lift I was looking for.  Fortunately, by the time I got done with it I'd crafted the best gluten-free sandwich bread I'd ever made. To make it egg-free, this recipe calls for just a little bit of flax seed to give the dough some extra structure so it can rise well.  It also gives the bread great flexibility, so your sandwiches can stay together.  I ended up lik...

One night my cooking partner was in charge of buying ingredients for dinner.  I was in the mood for salmon, and he got a very nice-looking piece.  Good salmon is plentiful here in the Pacific Northwest.  The thing is, we eat salmon a lot.  We have our standard ways of cooking it, like this Salmon Paprika  recipe that I do pretty often.  This time I wanted something really different.  After a quick search on one of my favorite food blogs, No Recipes , I found this recipe for Slow-Roasted Salmon .  I took the idea and modified it on a whim. Here's the concept: cook your salmon at a very low heat.  This way, you avoid over-cooking it and you get a really tender piece of fish. Simple, eh?  Why didn't I think of that?!  I have struggled with cooking salmon on a really hot flame and pulling it off at that moment of complete perfection.  With the slow cooking technique, there's no risk in ending up with a dry, chewy piece of fish....

I had a craving for peanut butter and flax.  I can't explain it.   I'd been tasting some flax seeds because the package claimed that Romans used to snack on them like nuts.  I guess I wanted to pass my summer like a Roman, lounging around snacking on flax seed and having someone fan me.  Well, I haven't found anyone to fan me yet, but I can do the flax seed in style. Here's the concept: packed with protein and fiber, these tiny snacks will make you feel full for longer than a sugary bar.  (I happened to have some Chia Seed on hand, which has even more fiber than flax seed, so I used both.  However, you can use just flax in this recipe if you'd like.)  Plus you can make them in minutes and they are good finger-food.  I didn't make mine too sugary because I don't like things that spike my blood sugar.  That's so hard to find in a snack!  Also, this snack is vegan, vegetarian, raw, dairy free.... Well, you get the point. Here's h...

Editor's note: The flour mix for this recipe is no longer available.  Please see the Bread Page for updated recipes. Do you miss the opportunity to knead your bread now that you cook gluten-free?  This recipe is for you.  If you just miss crusty bread, this recipe is for you, too. My panel of taste testers included gluten-eaters and non-gluten-eaters.  Everyone was a fan of the chewy inside and the fresh-baked flavor very much like regular bread.  Even my super-picky  6-year-old niece loved it.  This is a girl who eats almost nothing and once declared that she doesn't like gluten-free food.  (She is not GF.)  She kept asking for more slices. "Quick" Gluten-free Bread isn't instant.  It's just fast relative to breadmaking in general.   This recipe is akin to the 1-hour bread recipes all over the internet for "regular" bread.  This recipe is gluten-free, so it's more like a one-and-a-half hour recipe, but it's the same con...

Right now, I have plenty of cilantro.  It grows like weeds in my garden.  I love cilantro.  In honor of this  prolific herb,  I created a fresh pesto recipe.  This recipe is dairy-free, and the lime juice keeps it fresh long after other pesto sauces would expire.  See some recommendations for gluten-free pasta here .  Cilantro Pesto 2 C fresh cilantro leaves from your garden 1/3 C Brazil nuts or walnuts 1 clove garlic 1/3 C extra-virgin olive oil 1 squirt lime juice 1/4-1/2 tsp salt ground white pepper to taste Blend all ingredients in a food processor until evenly minced, scraping down the sides as you go.  Taste for balance of flavors and adjust.  Serve tossed with hot pasta.  It's that easy!

I haven't been blogging much because I haven't been eating a wide variety of food lately, or creating any new recipes; I've been on a food elimination diet.  It's an interesting challenge to come up with different meals with a limited number of ingredients.  I tend to do a lot of chicken and potatoes using the 450 degree oven approach.  I also try to explore different varieties of rice.  Tonight I had a great meal cooked really quickly and simply on the stove top. Lamb Chops with Bhutanese Rice Cook time: 20 minutes Serves: two Ingredients: 4 lamb chops olive oil salt pepper 1 head broccoli 1 C Bhutanese rice 1 cup water Put the water, the rice, and some salt in a small pan and bring to a boil.  Stir, cover, and reduce heat to simmer.  Cook 25 minutes or until all water is absorbed. While the rice is cooking, heat a large cast-iron skillet on medium-high.  Cut the broccoli into pieces.  Rinse, pat dry, oil and season the lamb cho...