Gazpacho

As a family we try to do at least one meatless meal each week.  We actually have a few nights of the week themed to make meal planning easier: Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Fun Friday, and the one night my oldest daughter gets to cook.   Last week's meatless meal was Gazpacho with homemade croutons and lemon basil aglio olio.  The Gazpacho recipe was from Ina Garten ( one of my favorites) and it was so simple. I love her recipe because there is no cooking involved at all!  No blanching, no peeling, very little chopping.  The food processor does all the work! I couldn't ask for an easier meal. I did change a few ingredients to match what I had on hand.

Ingredients:

• 6 Roma tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 red pepper, seeded and chopped*
• 1 English cucumber, chopped
• 1 white onion (or purple) roughly chopped**
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 23 oz tomato juice (3 cups)
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar*
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• dash cayenne pepper*
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• Handful fresh basil for garnish

*Changed from original recipe.

**I  used half of an onion because a whole onion seemed overpowering.  

Roughly chop each vegetable. Put each veggie into the food processor separately and pulse it until it is coarsely chopped.  Do not over process. I did the tomatoes first, then the pepper, cucumber, and the onion last.

Combine them in a mixing bowl.  Add your garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olive oil, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.  Mix well, and let chill in the fridge for at least an hour.  The longer the soup chills the better the flavor gets.  

Not the best idea to use a red bowl for this- oops.

 While the gazpacho was chilling, I made some homemade croutons to go with it.  I cut up a loaf of Italian bread, tossed the cubed pieces with garlic infused olive oil, salt, and pepper. Then I baked them at 400F until they were toasted and slightly browned.

Be sure to spray your pan with a little cooking spray to prevent sticking.

 We served the gazpacho with the croutons and some fresh basil from our garden.  Paired with my Lemon Basil Aglio Olio (recipe to come soon), this was the perfect meatless summer meal.

You can also serve this as an appetizer.  I made gazpacho "shooters". for dinner with my parents and served them in small ball jars while the rest of the meal was cooking.  They were just the perfect appetizer size (and healthier than chips!)

You can kick the spice up in this by adding more cayenne, or some Tabasco.  I kept it pretty mild since the girls were eating it too.

To keep this completely gluten free, you can omit the croutons, or make them out of gluten free bread.  Or you could toast and spice some nuts- walnuts or almond slivers would work great- and use those as a garnish.

What is one of your favorite easy summer time meals?

Recipe Adapted from: The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook Copyright 1999

(Vegan) Fried Green Tomatoes

The first time I ever made Fried Green Tomatoes was years ago after watching the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes".  I had seen the movie several times and each time I ended up with a  serious craving for this dish.  So one afternoon I found green tomatoes at a farm stand, and my husband and I tried our hand at them.  They turned out really good!  For some reason we haven't made them in years so when I saw some green tomatoes at the store the other day, I had to get some and make this dish for my girls.

Since I can't have dairy anymore, I had to adapt the recipe a bit. I am also running low on eggs since I've been  baking a lot this week, so I didn't use those either.  That makes this a totally vegan recipe!  I didn't really follow a recipe for these, I just used a few methods I've used for breading other foods.  They turned out so good and definitely took care of that craving. 

(Vegan) Fried Green Tomatoes 

Serves 4 as a side or appetizer

Ingredients:

• 2 green tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup corn meal
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• smoked paprika
• garlic powder
• Canola oil ( for frying)

Directions:

1.Slice your tomatoes into medium size slices- if they are too thin they will fall apart, too thick and they won't cook right.

                              

2. Put your breading mixture together: the breadcrumbs, corn meal, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  All of these are to taste. I added roughly a teaspoon of the smoked paprika and garlic.  You could add more or less.

I used my hands to mix up the breadcrumbs. 

 3.Whisk together your 1/2 cup almond milk and 1 tablespoon olive oil.  I much prefer this to using egg as a coating for frying veggies.  It's cleaner, not sticky at all, and the breadcrumbs stick better and stay on during cooking.  Plus, you don't have to worry about dealing with raw egg and cross contamination.

 4 Add enough oil to the pan to a cast iron or heavy bottomed skillet for it to come about halfway up the slices of the tomatoes. Heat the oil over medium heat, but don't let it boil.

5 .Dip your tomato slices in the liquid mixture, and then coat with the breadcrumbs. 

6. Add your coated tomatoes to the hot oil- you'll know the oil is hot enough when it bubbles as you are adding the tomatoes.  Be careful- hot oil spatters!

7. Cook on one side until gold brown.  Flip and continue to cook until the other side is browned.  Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.  

Keep an eye on your oil and make sure it doesn't start to get too hot, otherwise it will burn the tomatoes.  Add more oil if needed.

We had these with my Italian Chicken.  You can dip them in tomato or spaghetti sauce, or just sprinkle with salt and pepper and eat plain.  I don't like to add too much to them, I want to taste the tomato and the coating, not the garnish.

My girls really liked them!  The love all veggies, but especially if the have been fried!  Next time we make these I may add more spice to the bread crumbs since we loved spicy food. 

*Special thanks to my husband for taking all the pictures for this post!

Dairy Free Buffalo Chicken Dip

Yes, you read that right- DAIRY FREE Buffalo Chicken Dip. When I started my search for this dish, I came across a lot of variations. This recipe is the one that was the most like the original recipe. I found it at Adventures of a Minnesota Girl written by Melissa. This dip is cheesy, gooey, indulgent... everything a dairy free person misses. It tasted just like the original dairy full dish- just with a lot less grease and oil.

I first made this for our New Year's Eve party. The dip was a huge hit with everyone- and they were all dairy eaters except me. In fact, we finished off two of them! The ingredient list is short, the method is super easy, and it comes together beautifully.

Ingredients:
~Cooked and shredded *chicken. You can use leftover rotisserie or boil up a couple chicken breasts. I boil up two breasts for 1 dip.

~4 oz.of your favorite dairy free cheese plus a little more for the top. You can use cheddar or mozzarella- I used cheddar. I use Veggie Shreds because I do not have a casein allergy. I suggests using Daiya if you have an allergy instead of an intolerance.

~8 oz.dairy free cream cheese. I used Trader Joes brand.

~1/3 cup *mayo

~1/3 cup Franks Red Hot sauce. More if you want it hotter.

~1 Tablespoon lemon juice

~Salt and pepper to taste.


Directions:
1.If cooking the chicken, boil it until it is cooked through and easy to shred.

2.While the chicken is cooking mix up the Mayo, lemon juice, cheese, and salt and pepper.


Add the cream cheese, then the chicken and hot sauce.


3.I sprinkle the top with extra cheese as well.This is optional

4.Bake at 350F for about 15-20 minutes or until hot.


Melissa told me that you can also do this in a slow cooker. I have not tried it that way myself though. But I plan on trying it soon!

**You can make this Vegan by using tofu instead of chicken, and Veganese instead of mayo.

A HUGE thank you to Melissa at Adventures of a Minnesota Girl for sharing this recipe on her blog, and for allowing me to share it on mine. You should definitely head over to her blog and check it out!

Homemade Pico de Gallo

Whenever we have a gathering my husband always asks me to make my homemade Pico de Gallo.  Even the kids love it. 
I am well aware that there are several recipes like this out there on the web. I promise this recipe is my very own- I made it up one summer afternoon years ago in my kitchen with absolutely no help from any cookbooks or Internet sites. So if it is similar to another, that is pure coincidence. My mother also makes a similar recipe, but she adds a small amount of garlic to hers.

I do not measure anything with this recipe- it is all according to personal taste.

Serves: 4-6 as an appetizer

Ingredients:
3-4 large fresh tomatoes
1 medium purple onion
1 jalapeno
juice from 1 lime
large bunch fresh cilantro
Kosher Salt


Directions:
Cut or dice each veggie the size you want it. I chop them as small as I can stand to, with the onion being the smallest. I also sometimes only add in half the onion depending on how much tomato I use. It really is all according to taste. We like it pretty spicy so we use a whole jalapeno with the seeds. If I know the kids are going to be eating a lot I will cut back on the heat for them. Once all the veggies are added, squeeze the fresh lime juice over top.

As for the salt- I add about a teaspoon to start with and adjust that if needed. Remember- you can always add more salt but you can't take it away once you have too much. Mix well.


To pack it up and take it over to our friends' I used a Ball jar. It looks so pretty in a jar, and if you are going to a party you could even dress up the jar with ribbon or some sort of decoration for the occasion.


The trick with this recipe to make sure you have the freshest ingredients you can find. The fresher, the better.

Enjoy!

Kale Pesto~ So Many Possibilities

What a busy and extremely productive weekend we had! We woke up Saturday morning with a list of projects we wanted to get accomplished, and decided to add repainting the office to that list. We had been talking about it for a while- it was a mustardy yellow color and it was not at all aesthetically pleasing. Lucky for us, there is a paint store within a mile of my house, so running up there was no problem. We were there and back within 20 minutes! And double lucky for us a friend offered to help us out and paint most of the room for us! She really is incredibly awesome-she even let the oldest two girls help her out. It takes a brave person to let a 5 year old paint! While she got to work on the office, my hubby got to work steam cleaning our living room carpet. It's the only carpet in the entire house, but it takes more spills than any other floor space! Ah the joys of having 3 kids:-) We borrowed a steamer from another friend (our friends are incredible) and now my carpet looks (almost) brand new!

With those two projects going on, I got to work in the kitchen. Since the big girls were helping to paint, and the littlest one was napping, I had a few hours to work on my own. I had 2 HUGE bags of Kale from my CSA that I needed to use up. I had made Kale chips this night before, but that barely made a dent in it. I looked up several recipes and settled on trying Kale Pesto. When I saw I could freeze it, I was totally sold on the idea!

I looked at several different recipes and methods, and made up one of my own. Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:
1 bunch fresh Kale


1/2 cup almonds


Juice from 1/2 fresh lemon
4-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup Olive Oil (or more)
Sea Salt to taste



Directions:
1. Remove stems from Kale and blanch in boiling water for 5 minutes. Immediately cool under cold running water. Once cool, drain and squeeze additional water out of the Kale.


2. While Kale is cooking, chop your almonds in your food processor.


Once they were ground up into small piece add the garlic cloves and pulse those several times.

3.Add the kale, about a teaspoon of salt (or less). Drizzle in 1/2 cup olive oil while processing the kale. Add the lemon juice. Process to your desired consistency.



4. If you intend to freeze it, you can do so in muffin tins. 1 muffin cup is roughly 1/2 cup of pesto. Fill the cups, cover with plastic wrap, and put in your freezer for about 12 hours. You will need to use a butter knife to get each pesto "muffin" out. Put them in freezer bags to use whenever you want.



So many ways to eat this: on a crostini as an appetizer, served warm over pasta as a meal, as a sandwich spread, served as a dip with veggies or crackers...

We had some for lunch and it was so good:


Along with that I also made a batch of my homemade meatsauce to freeze, a cranberry orange bread that I will be sharing the recipe for in my next post, and meatloaf for dinner. All in all, it was a very productive Saturday.

My Dairy Free Thanksgiving Table

Thanksgiving is only a couple short weeks away, and most us of are already planning either our menu or where we are going to spend the day. For those of us with food intolerances or allergies, this can turn into a rather difficult challenge. Most holiday food, especially for gatherings, has a lot of dairy in it that is both hidden and obvious. If you are playing hostess for the day, trying to decide what to serve non dairy-free people can be tough, especially if they are used to eating all things with cream, milk, butter, and cheese.

This year we are going to be spending the day with my parents. It's no secret that Thanksgiving is my Mom's holiday in our family. She hosts Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, I get Christmas Day. It works out very well. Ever since I was a kid she always made the dinner, and it was/is always absolutely delicious. My favorite smell (other than the smell of my babies) is walking into her house on Thanksgiving Day. It takes me back to my childhood every time.

~Thanksgiving a few years ago~


There have been a few years in my adulthood that we haven't spent Thanksgiving with my parents, but not many. Usually the years they go to visit my brother and his family we spend the day with my in-laws, and I host at our house. But even the few years we have been on our own, I have stuck with her traditional menu. Last year we hosted friends of ours from South Africa who had never celebrated Thanksgiving. They brought a few of their traditional foods to share, such as Bobotie and a Trifle. We watched the Macy's parade, made Shirley Temples for the girls, drank mimosas, and ate until we couldn't eat anymore. This year they have taken our holiday back to South Africa with them and are sharing the day with friends of theirs who also used to live in the States.

~Last year's Thanksgiving~



Mom and I have come up with our traditional Thanksgiving menu this week so we can get our shopping done early. My oldest has also picked out the centerpiece she wants to make.

What we have to look forward to:
*denotes what I am bringing

Appetizers
~Veggies and a dairy free sour cream dip*. (this dip is a tradition in our family- Mom has been making it for years, and luckily I have figured out a way to make it dairy free. I will share the super simple recipe in a later post)
~Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Dip*
~Mini Crab Cakes*
~Mimosas

Dinner:
~Fresh- not frozen- Turkey: simply oven roasted, not stuffed (takes longer and dries out the breast meat)
~Mom's homemade Stuffing. So simple, yet SO GOOD.
~Mashed Potatoes
~Peas
~Mashed Butternut Squash with Cinnamon and Nutmeg*
~Roasted Acorn Squash (Recipe will be posted after Thanksgiving)
~Green Bean Casserole*
~Candied Yams
~Sweet Potato Cornbread*
~Mom's Homemade Cranberry Orange Relish (recipe will be posted)
~Dinner Rolls
~Stuffed Celery Plate*
~Pickle and Olive Platter

Dessert:
~Apple Pie
~Sweet Potato Pie*
~Pumpkin Pie*
~Pumpkin cupcakes

Of course we will also have wine with dinner, coffee or tea with dessert.

That's a lot of food and we are definitely going to have leftovers! Luckily it will be cooked between 2 kitchens. Seems like a lot of work, but between Mom, Dad, David, and myself we get it all done very efficiently. This year my oldest is also very excited to get to help make dinner. Last year she got to help make dessert.




So there you have it- our Dairy Free Thanksgiving. Just because you are Dairy Free does not mean you have to miss out on a good meal. And it does not mean you need to spend hours slaving over a meal of fancy or strange dishes that dairy loving people may not like. You can have a simple, elegant, comforting, delicious meal and no one will ever even know you cook without dairy. Sometimes simple is better.

What is on your Dairy Free Thanksgiving table this year?

Happy Cooking this Thanksgiving!!

"I Dip, You Dip, We Dip"

Saturday night we decided to do another "fun" dinner. It had been a rainy, dreary day here, and we've been stuck inside so we thought we'd brighten up the day by spending some time together in the kitchen. I've had the idea to do a dinner of all dips for a few weeks now, and this just seemed to be the perfect opportunity. Our menu for the evening was:
Baba Ganoush with Toasted Pita Chips
White Bean Dip with Sundried Tomatoes
Homemade Pico de Gallo with tortillas
Fried Zuchinni with Marinara Sauce (The sauce was not homemade- we had some leftover that needed to be used up).

WHITE BEAN DIP:(Serves 4 as an appetizer)
I adapted this from one I had tried in the past, and one I had found online. I kind of combined the two to get this one.



1 can Cannellini beans
1-2 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup (or to taste) sundried tomatoes- diced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2teaspoon chipotle chili powder
1-2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 clove of garlic
handful fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Drain and rinse the beans. Put in food processor with garlic and lemon juice and puree until smooth- make sure there are no lumps. Slowly drizzle in olive oil and blend until mixed.

Transfer bean mixture to a serving bowl. Add in the minced sundried tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, basil, salt and pepper. Combine well. You can serve this chilled or warm. We had it with toasted pita chips.





BABAGANOUSH (Roasted Eggplant Dip)(Serves 4-6 as an appetizer)
I had never made this, nor had we ever had it before. We decided to try making this after another CSA Member told me that they make this with the eggplant they get from the CSA. Since we had 3 fresh eggplants (or aubergine for my foreign followers) in the fridge we decided to give it a try. I found the base of this recipe on foodnetwork.com.and made some changes based on the comments. It worked out well, not the best dip I've ever had, but definitely a great starting point. I will share this recipe with you, but this is still a work in progress. I am going to try a few more recipes, and make some more modifications. My husband and I both agree that this does make a wonderful dairy free dip!

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant (about 1 pound)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons tahini sauce ( I used Trader Joes)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons ground cumin
a pinch cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste



Cat juicing a lemon


Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Prick eggplant with a fork and place on a cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake the eggplant until it is soft inside, about 20 minutes.


Let the eggplant cool. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, drain off the liquid, and scoop the pulp into a food processor. Add in the tahini sauce, garlic, lemon juice, parsley, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Process the eggplant until smooth. Taste, and adjust seasonings as needed.

Cat got to add the tahini and other spices



We added more tahini and more salt. And we added the cayenne for a little kick because we felt it was a little bland (we like spicy). The consistency of this was perfect, the flavor needs a little work in my opinion. The big test was if my husband liked it (He's not a fan of eggplant) and he did like it. He agreed it needed some work still, but he still ate a huge helping of it. :-)

PICO DE GALLO (Servees 4 easily as an appetizer)
This is by far mine and my family's favorite dip. It's so easy, and so basic, but that is what makes it so good. It just has a clean flavor.

Ingredients:
2-4 large fresh tomatoes
1/2-1 medium onion diced as small as you can (I find that vidalia works best, but red onion is good if you want a stronger onion flavor)
handful fresh cilantro- chopped
1/2 -1 jalapeno, seeded and minced. Leave the seeds in for more heat.
Splash of lime juice (I had to use bottled because I only had fresh lemons on hand-oops! But the bottled worked fine too, I just prefer fresh squeezed)
Fresh ground sea salt to taste.

Directions:
Chop, mince, dice all the veggies to the size of your choice. Toss together in a bowl, add 1-2 tablespoons lime juice, and about a 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir well, adjust seasonings to taste, and chill for about 20 minutes before serving. You may find you need more lime juice or salt depending on how many tomatoes you use.


Lastly we had fried Zuchinni with marinara sauce. The sauce came straight out of a jar for this one. I had some leftover from the other night, and it needed to be used up. It was Trader Joe's Organic Marinara Sauce with Basil. I did make the fried zuchinni from scratch but didn't get any pictures because I was too busy breading and frying, and David was helping the girls set the table.

Our fun dinner of dips looked like this:

White Bean and Sundried Tomato Dip, Babaganoush with toasted pita chips



Fried Zuchinni with Marinara Sauce



Pico de Gaillo with Warm Tortillas



My plate- it was all so good!

We will be doing this again soon and trying new dips. What are some of your favorite dips?

Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Pesto~For Kim

This recipe is a special request from my friend Kim. We had her and her husband Kevin over for dinner last Sunday evening- a simple dinner of grilled burgers, macaroni salad (my friend Jess's recipe), baked beans, and watermelon (because what summer cookout is complete without fresh watermelon?) I always try to have something for my guests to munch on before dinner, and this time I made Roasted Red Pepper and Walnut Pesto and served it with mini toasts. I always have the ingredients on hand because I use the same ingredients in other dishes. I found the original recipe in "The Food Matters Cookbook", but I no longer follow it exactly.

Ingredients:
Walnut halves- roughly a cup (I just added a couple handfuls)
2 jars Roasted Red Peppers- drained
3-5 cloves garlic- peeled
handful of fresh basil
a couple tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
pinch of salt


Directions:
1. Put the walnuts in your food processor.





Pulse until they are reduced to this:


2.Add in your red peppers (remember to drain them), garlic, basil, and a pinch of salt. Pulse until smooth. Slowly drizzle in your olive oil- roughly a couple tablespoons. I tend to use less because I don't like my food oily.

And you're done! So simple! It takes about 5 minutes to put together. You can serve it immediately, but I prefer to chill it first. It is even better the next day!



*Adapted from "The Food Matters Cookbook" by Mark Bittman

(Please excuse the quality of my pictures. My poor camera is on it's last legs- it has survived 3 kids, lots of beach vacations, being dropped several times and it's finally giving up. I am in the process of researching and deciding what I want to replace it with. And since I have a birthday fast approaching I have asked for one as my gift. So hopefully I will have a new one in the near future- if I could just decide what I want!)

Black Bean Dip- a Crowd Pleaser

I never used to like black bean dip. In fact, I never liked black beans. Not sure why- maybe their color turned me off. I didn't start eating them until about 2 years ago. Ever since then we have added them into several dishes- enchiladas, tacos, chili- to name a few. I got the idea to make my own black bean dip after having some at a Micro Brewery in Kill Devil Hills, NC a few years ago. I figured it really could not be that hard so I threw a few things in a food processor along with the beans, and what came out was pretty good. Since then I have played with this recipe and I am really happy with the way it's turned out. I needed a quick, easy, dairy free dip for the party we had on Saturday, and this fit perfectly! It takes about 10 minutes to make.

Ingredients:
2 can black beans
salsa of your choice
1 jalapeno
handful fresh cilantro
juice of half a ripe lime


Spices:
Cayenne pepper
Chipotle Chili Powder
Cumin
I added about 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 tablespoon chili powder, and a tablespoon cumin. Adjust the spices to your personal taste. It's definitely not an exact recipe.


Directions:
*Everything is to taste with this recipe.*
1.Drain but do not rinse the black beans and pour them into a sauce pan. Add about 1/4 cup of salsa (more or less depending on your taste). Add the cumin, cayenne pepper, and chipotle chili powder. Stir well. Heat over medium heat until heated through.

(Sorry about the picture-I can't get it to turn. Any thoughts on this?)

2.Pour bean mixture into a food processor.



Add the rough chopped 1/2 jalapeno (If you want it spicy add the seeds too, but to cut back on spice remove the seeds) and a handful of fresh cilantro. Blend until it becomes smooth and there are no large pieces left.


3. Add some fresh squeezed lime juice- I use half a lime- you don't want too much otherwise the dip will become watery. Give it another quick spin to mix in the juice.


4. Can be served hot or cold. We love it both ways.

Due to the lighting in my kitchen at night, I had a hard time getting a good picture of this. These are the best I could do:



It was definitely a crowd pleaser- the bowl was scraped clean at the party!