Gluten-Free Friday Smokin' Red Pepper Sauce

This recipe is great over chicken or steak (pictured below). I went into the Whole Foods in my new town (Charlottesville, VA) and found a big salt section. The smoking salt looked perfect to put over steaks I was making for dinner. I merged some chipotle steak sauce recipes and came up with this one. Enjoy!! Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp smoking salt*
*if you cant find this, usually you can find smoke flavoring, and mix this with salt
1 tsp pepper
1 red bell pepper
1/4 cup organic tomato sauce
1 tsp ground mustard
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ground all-spice
2 tbsp gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp olive oil

four grilled steaks or chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 400F
Roast a red pepper (described in my hummus recipe)
Wrap in foil for 10 minutes, allow to cool
Peel skin and cut top open
Pour juice into a blender, trying to avoid seeds
Pull out seeds
Cut into 5 pieces
Place in blender with all other ingredients
Blend
Place over low heat in a sauce pan and simmer for 10 minutes
Pour over chicken or steak

Freeze any left over sauce

Baked Shrimp Pasta

Baking shrimp is easy and takes little time so it's the perfect recipe for a time crunch. This recipe is based off of one I've had at Catch in NYC. When I served this dish, I could tell it was liked when people asked for seconds and thirds! I recommend having the fish monger devein the shrimp even if it costs a little more, it's worth it!  Serves 4

Ingredients
1 lb wild caught large shrimp (about 16 shrimp)
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
juice from 1/2 lemon
3 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
3 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
4 servings worth of your favorite pasta, I used fresh angel hair from a local store, Mona Lisa Pasta

Preheat oven to 375F
In a baking dish (I used a brownie pan that was 8x8) line with foil that goes up the sides
Place all ingredients together and coat shrimp
Bake for 10 minutes
Meanwhile, boil pasta
After 10 minutes, remove carefully with foil and close while pasta finishes boiling
Strain pasta and add shrimp mixture
Stir and add oil if needed
Eat up!

Hash Brown Bird Nests

Sunday brunch will never be the same once you make this recipe! It's packed with flavor, gluten-free, and filling. Feel free to substitute tofu or sausage for the chicken sausage, or just have veggies.

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped
4 green onions, light green and white parts chopped

3 chicken sausage links, chopped (I used apple chicken sausage)

1 small yellow onion, chopped

1 tbsp butter, plus more for muffin tins

2 egg whites

4 cups hash browns, thawed (usually a bag contains four cups)

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 475F

In a bowl combine the egg whites, hash browns, salt, and pepper

In a non-stick 12 muffin tin, butter 9 of the cups

Use fingers to form cups with the hash brown mixture (into only 9 of the cups)

Place in the oven for 15 minutes

Meanwhile, heat butter over medium low in a skillet

Add peppers, onions, and sausage

Stir for about 8 minutes, until fully cooked

Put an equal amount of sausage mixture in each cup

Top with cheddar and cook for another 5 minutes or until cheese has melted

Let cool for a few minutes then scoop out and eat up!

Gluten-Free Friday Okra!

Now that I'm back in the south, it's time for some southern ingredients to be used! After a great trip to a local farmer's market here in Charlottesville, I came home with tomatoes, okra, onions, and garlic. I had a large bag of quinoa so I started mixing! This recipe is easy, quick, and yummy. Enjoy as a side or add a protein (tofu or chicken) to make it a meal. Serves 4

Ingredients
1 large tomato, chopped
2 cups okra, sliced*
*to clean okra I run under water and run a knife over it
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup gluten-free organic vegetable broth
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked according to box directions


In a large sauce pan, cook oil over medium heat

Add garlic and onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally

Add okra and tomatoes, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes
Add broth and quinoa
Stir for a few minutes, until broth is soaked up

Eat y'all!

If it Aint Eggs It Aint Breakfast

After another farmer's market trip I came home with eggs. huge ripe tomatoes, and a few other fresh ingredients. I decided to put them together for a scrumptious breakfast!  The trick for this recipe is to grate the tomato in a cheese grater, which ends up pureeing it. Save a few slices to put on top! Eat up and start your day in a great way! Serves 1

Ingredients
4 egg whites
1 plump tomato, pureed (with two slices left for the top)
2 basil leaves, chopped
1 green onion, white and light green parts only, chopped
2 tbsp feta cheese
one chunk of butter for cooking
salt and pepper to taste

In a non-stick pan, melt butter on medium-low heat
Add onions
Meanwhile, whisk together eggs, feta, and basil
After two minutes of cooking, add eggs to the pan
Stir gently until cooked to desired texture
Top with tomato puree and tomato slices
Sprinkle with pepper and salt
Eat right away

*either plain or over toast

Ooops Strawberry Breakfast Treat

Hey everyone, has it really been a month? Goodness, grad school can suck you in!  I'll be blogging more regularly now that my certification exams are over and school is almost done! Less than a month left before the big move back to Virginia! 
This recipe started off as one for strawberry biscuits until it changed dramatically because of a few oopses. I forgot to buy a few ingredients and realized that I shipped all of my cooking tools to VA. So, I traded heavy cream for almond milk and some sugar for some maple syrup. The key is to buy farmers market strawberries for this recipe, they are juicy and wonderful! I hope you enjoy!
Serves 8

Ingredients
1 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/8 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp butter, softened (close to melted)
1 tsp maple syrup
1 pinch of salt
2/3 cups chopped strawberries from the farmers market (I diced them up after taking the stem out)
3/4 cup almond milk (vanilla or regular) + a little extra incase the batter is dry

Preheat the oven to 425 F
In a large bowl combine dry ingredients
Then add butter
Mix in with fingers
Add maple syrup
Stir strawberries in
Finally add almond milk about half first, stir then add the rest
Form into disks and place on a parchment lined baking sheet
Bake for about 12-16 minutes, checking after 10 minutes
Enjoy!

Blueberry and Raspberry Cobbler

 FYI- Sorry for the lack in recipes lately, in my last semester of grad school woohoo! Which means lots of work, certification exams, and planning my move back to VA in August!

Summer is here! Here is a dessert made with some colorful and yummy berries. I enjoy cobblers and my mom's amazing crumbles and decided to make a new shortbread/scone type top.The berries will bubble and the top gets nice a crumbly. Feel free to use all of one type of berry or mix some of your favorites together. Enjoy! Serves 8

Ingredients

*For the inside

2.5 cups raspberries/blackberries

1 tbsp cornstarch (or 2 tbsp flour if you cant find cornstarch)

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon 

squeezed juice from one half lemon

*For top

1 3/4 cups flour (all-purpose)

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup granulated sugar

sprinkle of salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 375 F

In a glass baking dish combine inside ingredients

To create the top, combine flour, baking powder, sugar and salt

Add in butter, mix with fingers or mixer

Then add in cream

Roll out into a thin sheet and cut into squares, you will have extra dough to freeze and use later

(to freeze, I wrap tightly in plastic wrap)

Place dough on top of berry mixture

Cook for about an hour

Until top is starting to brown and berries are bubbling!