I love a good burger (sans bun of course!). I have fond memories of going to the pool at the Officer’s Club at Naha Air and Naval Base in Okinawa and ordering huge, juicy burgers loaded with ketchup, mustard, tomatoes, pickles and onions, eating them by the pool with the juices dripping down my arms, the sounds of happy kids splashing away and the occasion shriek from some one being pushed off the high dive by the rowdy boys in the background while the sun beat down on us and a gentle breeze stirred the air. Of course charging them to my Dad’s account at the O Club was pretty cool too.

My vegetarian sister, Karen, ironically sent us a big box filled with meat products for Christmas so I have been enjoying lots of burger lunches lately.

While there is nothing wrong with ketchup and mustard (except possibly all the sugar in the ketchup) sometimes I like something a little more sophisticated on my burger. This is an easy little topping just packed with flavor. I add a touch of Chilpotle Puree for some heat. That recipe follows. The Chilpotle Puree is hot so judge accordingly when adding.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

1 large roasted red pepper (from a jar, packed in water) – pat dry
¼ teaspoon Chilpotle Puree – or more or less depending on your heat tolerance
Pinch salt & pepper
½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon agave syrup

Directions

Put everything into a small food processor or blender and whirl for a few seconds until blended and fairly smooth. Taste for seasoning. Great on burgers, chicken or fish.

Chipotle Puree

(Taken form the cook book “Seriously Simple” by Dianne Rossen Worthington. I keep this in my fridge at all times and use is for topping everything from hummus to mango sorbet.)
Ingredients

1 – 7 ounce can Chilpotle in adobo sauce
Directions

Pour the chilies and their sauce into a food processor and process until smooth. Place in airtight container, cover and refrigerate.
This gluten free recipe makes a great condiment!

Simply…Gluten-Free recipes is now available, with over 135 recipes not featured in my blog.

Available at bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells, Books-a-Million and Amazon. You can get it also HERE.

Resource :
http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2008/01/roasted-red-pepper-sauce.html

The combination of four hours sleep in the last 48 hours, jet-lag and three glasses of wine at dinner had me desperately in need of coffee.

No problem, I am in Seattle – home of Starbucks and Seattle’s Best, coffee shops on every corner, or so I was told.

As I had awakened way before the 6:30 am opening of the restaurant in my hotel I took to the drizzly streets in search of a cappuccino donned in a raincoat I haven’t worn in over 10 years. After my usually trustworthy Blackberry’s GPS failed repeatedly to find me a nearby Starbucks and wondering for over an hour I finally asked a woman on the street where the closest Starbucks was. Her puzzled look made me nervous. Seriously! This is Seattle.

The kind woman informed she didn’t know where a Starbucks was but pointed me in the direction of Uptown Espresso which was blissfully close and finally I was able to obtain my much needed jolt of caffeine.

I am in Seattle to attend the first International Food Blogger Conference but this is also the home of my sister and her family so I arrived a few days early.

If I have any claim to fame at all it is that I am the sister of award wining novelist Katherine O’Neal (author of historical romance novel that take place in exotic locales around the world) and sister-in-law of noted film critic and author William Arnold (former critic for the Seattle P.I. and author of Shadowland and China Gate) both of whom are reluctant and reclusive local celebrities. They have lived in Seattle for years and years and yesterday gave me a tour of the city like no other.

We circled the entire city seeing the usual Seattle sites – the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, The Arboretum, The University of Washington, the Waterfront but along the way they pointed out little spots that are not on any normal tour. Such as the apartment where Kurt Cobain bought his heroin and the headstone marking the grave retail legend John Nordstrom (Bruce and Brandon Lee are buried there too but for me Nordstrom’s grave was somewhat of a holy grail experience).


There is nothing more fascinating than touring a beautiful city with someone who loves that city and is truly knowledgeable. I got a behind the scenes look at this Emerald City that was peppered with lots of comments such as “that is where so-and-so lives, he was Paul Newman’s best friend…” and “this recording studio is the birthplace of the alternative music movement that brought us Nirvana and Pearl Jam” and “would you like to see Francis Farmer‘s West Seattle home?” As my sister is also a Celiac tons of gluten-free restuaunts and bakeries were pointed out to me along the way.

As we drove up and down hills, around waterfronts and over bridges I also got a history lesson of this fascinating city that has seen its share of boom and bust. From lumber to gold to technology, Seattle has ridden the highs and lows of the major economic cycles in the past century and a half. It is a city that seems to be able to adapt and yet maintain its original charm.

It seems I’ve seen just about everything here in Seattle except a Starbucks.

Where’s the Coffee? – Simply Gluten Free

Resource:
http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2009/05/wheres-the-coffee.html

I love crispy, crunchy salads – something about eating lots of crispy salad makes me feel so virtuous (and as if I deserve dessert afterwards!).   I will often order a big main dish salad a at restaurants for dinner.  I mean after all, salad is gluten free, right?  Well, yes and sometimes NO.
I unthinkingly ordered a crunchy peanut salad at a restaurant not too long ago without checking if it was gluten free. I know, I know – always, always check!  But I didn’t and had to pay the consequences afterward.

I loved the salad but hated the way I felt 2 hours later (and all through the night, and the next day…) so I decided to make my own version of that salad as a gluten recipe at home where I could be certain it was indeed gluten free.

This recipe is packed full of crisp veggies and for even more crunch, some fried mung bean vermicelli noodles. You can get the mung bean vermicelli noodles at an Asian market or in the ethnic section of the grocery store; they are sometimes called cellophane or glass noodles. They come in various thicknesses and for this recipe I used really thin ones (vermicelli). They are basically a dried noodle made from starch and water and can be reconstituted and used in soups, stir fries and spring rolls. When they are fried briefly in hot oil they puff up dramatically and add amazing crunch and texture plus a little touch of the exotic to salads. Don’t be afraid of frying the noodles, it is easy to do, takes just a few seconds and will make people think you are some fancy schmancy chef.

I added some protein to the salad by shredding up some rotisserie chicken but can use tofu instead or just leave it out altogether if you want a vegetarian meal. For the dressing I used a NEW gluten free Asian dressing from San-J (the people who bring you gluten free soy sauce) Tamari Peanut Asian Dressing.

This recipe makes a ton of salad – it serves at least 6 as a main dish and is a really great pot luck dish. Just make it up to the point of adding the fried noodles, peanuts and dressing, place in a bowl topped with some damp paper towels, cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate it and it will stay crunchy for a day or two. Take the fried noodles, peanuts and dressing separately and toss just before serving.

And do you want to know what else? I made this huge bowl of goodness for just a bit more than it cost me to get a very similar salad for one at the restaurant – and I didn’t get gluten poisoned!


Gluten Free Crunchy Chicken Peanut Salad

Ingredients

1 head Napa cabbage, shredded
1 small head red cabbage, quartered, cored and thinly sliced
4 cups cooked chicken, shredded
2 cups shredded carrots
2 bunches green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 English (hothouse) cucumber, julienned
2 cups shredded carrots
4 ounces snow peas, thinly sliced
8 ounces bean sprouts
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
4 ounces mung bean vermicelli noodles
Cooking oil
1½ cups San-J Tamari Peanut Asian Dressing
2 cups dry roasted, salted peanuts
Kosher or fine sea salt and pepper

Directions

Combine the Napa cabbage, red cabbage, shredded chicken, carrots, green onions, cucumbers, carrots, snow peas, bean sprouts and cilantro in a very large mixing bowl.

Using your hands, gently pull the mung bean vermicelli noodles apart into smaller portions. Place some paper towels on 2 dinner plates. In a small skillet add an inch of cooking oil (the smaller the skillet, the less oil you need) and heat the oil until it ripples but does not smoke. Fry one small handful of noodles at a time until they puff up, about 5 seconds, flip over with tongs and fry the other side for a second or two. Remove from oil with tongs, place on the prepared plate and sprinkle with a little salt. Repeat until all the noodles are fried.

Add the dressing to the vegetable/chicken mixture and toss well to coat. Crumble the fried mung bean vermicelli noodles into the salad; add the peanuts, season with about a teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper, toss again and serve.

A gluten free recipe that serves 6.

Ready for dessert?

Simply…Gluten-Free Desserts is now available, with over 135 recipes not featured in my blog.

Available at bookstores including Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powells, Books-a-Million and Amazon. You can get it also HERE.

Resource :

http://simplygluten-free.com/blog/2012/03/gluten-free-crunchy-chicken-peanut-salad-recipe.html

Since you have been diagnosed with Celiac and its the end of those regular food items you were having till now does not essentially mean that its the end to your culinary experiences. There has been a lot of research for Gluten free recipes. The result is that we have numerous Gluten Free dishes today to be presented on the platter that will bring saliva in the mouth of people who are gluten tolerant. 

Although you are presented with a list of food products that need to be avoided. But the list of recipes that you can have is growing almost everyday. To add to it many companies are waking up to the opportunity of presenting Gluten Free food products for people who love eating out. As a result many restaurants and cafes have started separate chains where you can order your favorite dishes that are simply gluten free and will surely leave a taste that is hard to forget. 

Gone are the days when people suffering from Celiac used to have cream of rice for breakfast, rice cakes for lunch, and boiled rice for supper; in an effort to avoid the gluten that is amply found in Bread, pizza and all dishes made of wheat, barley and rye. Packaged food nowadays comes with certification and accreditation about being gluten free. Its time to celebrate the Gluten Free Regimen instead of abhorring it. 

As part of the celebrations that you are going to undertake while you embark on a Gluten free journey we bring out the best method to prepare a Gluten Free Strawberry Marscapone Pizza that will serve four people and will make your weekend a special one. 

For a Gluten Free Strawberry Marscapone Pizza you need a lemon, a pint fresh strawberries, rinsed, hulled and quartered, granulated sugar 1 tablespoon, 1 box Gluten Free Bread Mix, 2 tablespoons grape seed oil, lightly beaten eggs 2, quarter cup of water with 4 teaspoons of raw sugar, 4 ounces Marscapone cheese, 2 tablespoons of honey are essential, mint leaves for garnish and don’t forget to get 4 tablespoons gluten free chocolate. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, but before that you need to grate the zest of the lemon finely with a micro plane grater. Along with that you need to squeeze the juice of the lemon and toss with the strawberries and 1 tablespoon of sugar, then let it sit. 

Next you need to combine the Chebe mix, oil, beaten eggs and water, make sure you keep mixing these ingredients until they mostly combine; then dump the mixture into a clean work surface and knead until the dough is smooth. Now you need to divide it into 4 equal portions and roll them into balls of equal size. Roll the balls into 5 inch circles and lay a piece of parchment or wax paper on a work surface so that the circles can be placed on them. Pricking the bottom of each pizza crust several times with the tines of a fork is essential. Baking the crusts for 12 – 15 minutes or until the crusts are browned is advisable. Later Remove from oven and let cool.

Combining the Marscapone cheese with the grated lemon zest and honey is the next step; keep stirring it until it gives a smooth texture. Spoon the mixture evenly onto the cooled crusts and with the back of the spoon spread the mixture into an even layer. Drain the strawberries and spoon them on top of the Marscapone cheese. Drizzle each pizza with 1 tablespoon of chocolate or fudge sauce, garnish with a sprig of mint and serve.