Salad

Gluten Free and Dairy Free Caesar Salad Dressing with Croutons Recipe

gluten free dairy free caesar salad dressing with croutons

Photo: Amy Fothergill

Running out of gluten-free and dairy-free lunch ideas for your kids lunchboxes for school or summer camp? This can be a particular challenge when most traditional options revolve around bread and cheese. Of course you can always use gluten-free bread to make the traditional turkey or peanut butter and jelly, but why not think outside the standard lunch box fare and prepare a fresh salad? Children are often big fans of Caesar salad for the creamy dressing, pleasantly non-bitter romaine lettuce and the crunchy croutons. I love to use Easy Lunchboxes since it’s easy to keep everything separated; the croutons would be a bit mushy if I put them on in the morning!

I usually make this dressing with Parmesan cheese but have had a few people request a dairy-free version. I adapted this recipe, which is a fan favorite, by eliminating the cheese and adding Read More »

It’s Almost Time for Summer Salads

Summer is coming and fresh vegetables — in the stores, at the farmer’s markets and in your garden — will be plentiful. It’s time for summer salads.

Try this delicious salad as a side dish or even as a main. It’s light and satisfying.

Use the ingredients list as a guide. If you don’t have peppers, use what is on hand. If you don’t like cilantro, it’s fine not to use it at all; many people don’t like it. Use any lettuce, even finely sliced cabbage. See the tip below for how to make your red onion a little mellower. Or see what’s in your fridge, open a can of black beans, defrost some corn, and you have a delicious salad great for lunch or a party. Enjoy! Read More »

Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings Adds Gluten Free Promise to Packaging

Kristen Beals Gluten Free Works

OAKLAND, Calif., April 18, 2012 — Add Hidden Valley Salad Dressings to the growing list of foods to clearly call out that they are gluten free.

The makers of Hidden Valley Salad Dressings have added a “Gluten Free” logo to bottles and dry packets of its signature Original Ranch® dressing as well as much of its Farmhouse Originals product line. Packages with the new logo should appear on store shelves this summer.

The packaging change is designed to help Read More »

Gluten Free Recipe: Wild Rice and Blueberry Salad

It’s blueberry season!!!  Blueberries always make me think of my Aunt Pat, and I just returned from California where she and I enjoyed several fistfuls of blueberries together.  I was jumping for joy when I found out that the key ingredient for this month’s SOS Kitchen Challenge was blueberries!  If you haven’t heard of this event, it’s a monthly challenge hosted by Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs and Kim of Affairs of Living.

But back to this SOS Kitchen Challenge. Blueberries!! Read More »

Gluten Free Quinoa, Lentil and Garbanzo Salad Recipe

Just because you are eating a gluten free diet, doesn’t mean you have to sacrafice on taste. Why not create a salad that is healthy, delicious and gluten free? The lemon and parsley give it a fresh and light flavor and the combination of quinoa, lentils and beans provide a wonderful balance of texture. Now, that will put a smile on your face!

Lemon juicer. Photo: Amy Fothergill

Quinoa, Lentil, and Garbanzo Salad

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup French green lentils, aka lentils du puy
  • about 1 – 1 ½ cups quinoa
  • 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed Read More »

Gluten-free Recipe: Chickpea and Tomato Salad

This is a very simple salad to prepare.  Make it in advance and allow the flavors to come together in the refrigerator before serving.  Perfect to take for a summer picnic or dinner party or to serve after a long day at work.  And the colors are beautiful!

Salad Ingredients:
2 12oz. cans chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
1 large tomato, chopped
1 shallot, chopped Read More »

Gluten-Free Romaine Salad with Pears and Brazil Nuts

This versatile salad makes a handsome first course and easily partners with soup, salad or sandwich. Magnesium/ selenium/ zinc laden Brazil nuts and pears naturally tone the bowel. Romaine lettuce is a digestion restorative, providing folic acid, vitamin K, potassium and calcium while carrots add beta carotene, a precursor of vitamin A. Read More »