Side Dishes

It’s easy to make your own fresh cranberry sauce with just a few ingredients. This version has much less sugar than what you would find in a can. Give it a try. If you don’t think you’ll use all of the cranberries, cut the recipe in half and use the berries in a muffin or loaf.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup water or orange juice (use less sugar if using the juice)

1/3 c organic white sugar or sucanat

1/3 c agave nectar (optionally use honey or all sugar)

4 cups (1 12-oz package) fresh or frozen cranberries, rinsed

Optional ingredients:  1/2 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, chopped; orange zest from 1/2 of an orange; Read More »

What better way to spend those wintry days than curled up with a delicious bowl of Gluten-free Butternut Squash Soup?

This recipe, courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, has a twist on the traditional Butternut Squash soup by adding in peanut oil and jalapeno.  While this soup may not be the lightest fare, it’s sure to warm you up and fill you up on those cool fall evenings.

The recipe below is easy to make and takes about 40 minutes. Read More »

Gluten Free Mayonnaise Image. 2013 (c) Teri Gruss

Mayonnaise is a kitchen staple that adds rich flavor and binds ingredients in dishes from tuna salad to crab cakes.

If you’ve ever tasted homemade mayonnaise, you know that the rich flavor and silky texture is nothing like what we buy at the grocery store. There are many good reasons to learn how to make homemade mayonnaise, first and foremost because it’s incredibly easy and calls for ingredients that most of us have on hand every day. Read More »

I have shared my rice bowls many times in the past, and they are some of my favorite, quick meals.  However, the other day, I had a huge sweet potato that needed to be used, but I really wanted a burger.  I didn’t want a bun, so I decided to make a burger bowl or deconstructed burger.  I made my sweet potato into spicy sweet potato hash browns & then layered in the bowl with some mushrooms that I had sauteed in extra virgin olive oil and white wine.

Read More »

Instead of opening a jar of olive tapenade or a dip from the refrigerated section of the market, consider making your own. If you keep some key ingredients on hand and have a small food processor or blender, you are in business!

The olive tapenade is so easy and so much better when made fresh. The beauty of it is that you can make a small amount if you are just having a few friends or more for a party. It can be used on top of chicken or even in a sandwich. And when you make it yourself, you can control the salt, garlic and rosemary (or even omit one of these).

The white bean spread is a great starter and really healthy. This recipe calls for Read More »

Risotto is a unique rice dish with a full-bodied creamy mouth feel. Try it once and you are sure to make it often.

Ingredients

• 5 cups hot chicken or vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/3 cup onion, chopped
• 1 ¾ cup Arborio rice (fat short grains)
• ¼ cup fresh parsley
• ¼ cup fresh basil
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup freshly grated Romano or Parmesan cheese

Process

Read More »

Fall is the time of year when we need quick and easy, nutritious comfort foods to get us through our hectic lives.  Picadillo is a traditional Cuban chili.  You can make it with less spice (cut back on the cumin, chili powder and garlic) and the children will love it.

Picadillos have some spice but also sweetness.    This can be served over Read More »

This chimichurri was so good, I made it two days in a row. While there is nothing fancy or different about this chimichurri, I do believe it is an under utilized recipe.

Classic chimichurri is good on just about anything you can think of. So far, we’ve had it on fish and perfectly cooked pork tenderloin this week. Tomorrow I plan on using it as a dressing for my Read More »

Fall is here and that means pumpkins are starting to appear on your neighbor’s door step and in grocery stores, which is the universal signal to start carving and cooking pumpkin. Why is it most of us tend to cook with pumpkin only around Halloween and Thanksgiving?  Pumpkin is loaded with vitamin A, fiber and it is low in calories, so we should find ways to work it into our diet throughout the year.

Pumpkin is very versatile to cook with, so it can be used in both sweet and savory recipes.  This Examiner did a little research for gluten-free pumpkin recipes and was amazed at all of the drool-worthy recipes we found.  Listed below are just a fraction of the gluten-free pumpkin recipes available online.

What is your favorite way to cook with pumpkin?

Pumpkin – General Recipes

• About.com has an extensive list of gluten-free pumpkin recipes
• Foodista has a list of 5 Savory Pumpkin Recipes and a list of 5 Must Try Gluten Free Pumpkin Recipe
• Gluten-free pumpkin recipes from The Gluten-Free Homemaker Read More »