7 Gluten Free Apple Pecan Salad

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a safe Memorial Day! This Memorial Day, my friends and I joined together for a potluck dinner. I decided to bring this simple, easy-to-make raw salad that's super colorful and delicious. It combines the sweetness of apples and dried cranberries with the nuttiness of pecans and tangy flavor of Gorgonzola. This salad stores great as a lunch you can take to work or school. You can even precut the apples and sprinkle them with a little lemon juice to prevent browning.

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

Serves: 5 people

Ingredients

4 oz clean mixed salad greens

1 fuji apple

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup pecans

1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese

1 small red onion (optional)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp onion powder

salt and pepper

Steps

Place the greens in a large bowl. Core and cube the apple, and add to the greens with the cranberries, pecans, and cheese. If you like red onion in your salad, finely slice some red onion as garnish.

In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, garlic, powder, salt, and pepper. Lightly dress the salad, and enjoy!

3 Gluten Free Pork Meatballs and Sauce

Here's a wonderful gluten free roasted tomato sauce recipe with pork and apple meatballs. I hope you enjoy!

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 1/2 hours
Servings: 4

Ingredients
Sauce
3 lbs tomatoes, quartered
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp fresh oregano
drizzle of olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 bayleaves
1/2 tbsp fresh sage, minced

Meatballs
1 lb ground pork
1/4 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 red apple, diced
1 tbsp thyme
1/2 tbsp fresh sage, minced
salt and pepper

Steps
Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the tomatoes cut side up on the sheet, and drizzle olive oil over top. Sprinkle with thyme, oregano, salt and pepper. Bake for 50 minutes.

Once removed from the oven, press through a fine strainer to remove seeds and flesh.

In a medium pot over medium heat, add a tbsp of oil   with the garlic and onion. Sautee until the onion is translucent. Add the tomato sauce, oil, and sage to the pot. Reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the meatballs are ready.

In a medium bowl, mix the meatball ingredients together until well combined. Form the meat into balls the size of your palms and cook in a pan over medium heat, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, prepare your favorite gluten free pasta to serve.

In a large bowl, combine the pasta, sauce, and meatballs, and serve! I hope you enjoy!

0 Quick and Easy Apple Walnut Salad

Hey everyone! So its that time of the year that gets super crazy between end of the year work events, holiday parties, and the rush to get and deliver presents to everyone you care about.

This past weekend I went to a work holiday potluck, so I decided to make a good gluten-free salad that all could enjoy. Apologies for not including a picture, I was in a bit of a rush when I made it this past weekend that I didn't have time to properly take one.

Hope you enjoy the recipe, and be sure to use a gluten-free dressing (yes, there's salad dressings out there that have gluten in them. It's a sad occurrence....

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 10 people

Ingredients
2 bags of pre-washed mixed salad greens
2 apples
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup of gluten-free honey mustard dressing

Steps
In a large bowl, (preferably one with a lid) add the salad greens. De-core the apples, and slice the apples into 1/8th inch x 1/8inch shoestrings. Add the apples, walnuts, zest, salt, pepper. Toss the salad to mix the ingredients around.

By 1/8 cup at a time, add the dressing to the salad. After each instance of adding dressing to the salad, put the top on the bowl and give the salad a good shake to coat the salad with the dressing. You'll want the salad to be lightly dressed with the dressing, If you think it needs a little more dressing, add a little bit at a time until your desired coating.

I hope you enjoy!

1 Friendsgiving Part 2

Hi everyone! I hope you have all survived work the past couple days in the week after Thanksgiving. Last year my friends and I decided to have a Friendsgiving (Thanksgiving with Friends) and that was so successful that we decided to hold another one!

Photo courtesy of Mary Ryan

This year I made the turkey and stuffing once again, while everyone else brought something to the potluck (including a delicious gluten free pumpkin pie!) We had a wide assortment from jello salad, delicious brussel sprouts, corn pudding, green bean casserole, and so much more!

Another of Mary Ryan's photos...delicious!

Also, thank you to Mary Ryan for 90% of these photos. They are all amazing photographs that I had to use for this post!

Mac and Cheese Recipe (not gluten free)

Here is a photo from Mary's macaroni and cheese, it looked delicious, and I am determined to figure out how to make it gluten free...as well as Oren's sweet potato hash dish. I could eat the entire dish of them, soooo delicious!

Such a tasty salad. And quite colorful.

As for my contribution, I wanted to share the recipe for my gluten free stuffing. It's easy to prepare, absolutely delicious when stuffed in a turkey (I know there's possible health risks, but you just cannot beat stuffed stuffing. #BestThanksgivingSideEVER). However, you can just as easily bake the stuffing inside of a dish as well. If you have fresh herbs available, I recommend using fresh herbs. Something about the aromatics of fresh herbs elevates the vibrant delicious taste of stuffing.

Serves 6
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time Stuffed, duration of the turkey or chicken it is stuffed within. Dish, 30 minutes

Ingredients
1 loaf of your favorite gluten free white bread. I recommend Whole Foods brand if available, cubed
3 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, diced
1 Pink Lady apple, diced
2 tbsp rosemary, diced
1 tbsp sage, diced
2 tsp thyme, diced

Steps
Preheat an oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, and lay the bread out in a single layer. Coat with the oil and oregano, and toast for 7 minutes.

While the bread toasts, sautee the onions and garlic over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add the celery and cook for another 3 minutes.

Once the bread is out of the oven, place them into a bowl and combine with the onion, garlic, celery, apple, and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

For a stuffed preparation, stuff the prepared turkey or chicken, and cook the bird as intended, adding another 5-10 minutes cooking time per pound due to the stuffing. Alternatively, bake the stuffing in a greased baking dish for 30 minutes.

I hope you enjoy, and happy December!

8 Gluten Free Caramel Apple Cupcakes

Hey everyone! I hope that you've had a good weekend (better than my concussion-filled one, at least...). All this month, EA Stewart (@TheSpicyRD) and a variety of other bloggers are hosting an apple event called #applelove. Search the #applelove hashtag on twitter to find all the amazing recipes collected so far. 

For this cupcake, I wanted to take the essence of a caramel apple and turn it into a cupcake. The cupcake is filled with walnuts and tons of apples, then topped with a caramel sauce (the recipe for that located here). I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Also, as a fun alternative, you can bake this as a cake (for about 35 minutes) and drench the top in the caramel sauce. Delicious! Be sure to check out the bloghop below for more apple recipes!

Yields: 3 dozen cupcakes

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Bake Time: 18 minutes for cupcakes

Ingredients

3 cups gluten free flour
1 1/4 tsp xantham gum
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk
1/4 c whipped cream
2 apples, thinly sliced and cubed
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Caramel Sauce

Steps
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line muffin tins with baking cups. In a medium bowl combine the flour, gum, powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whip the butter until fluffy. Beat in the sugar by the half cup. Once all the sugar is combined, blend the eggs into the butter, one at a time. Add the vanilla to the egg mixture.

Alternate adding the milk and dry ingredients into the egg mix, by about 1/2 or 1/4 cup at a time. Blend until the batter is completely smooth. Fold in the whipped cream until well mixed. Fold in the apples and the walnuts. Distribute these into the muffin tins, and bake in the oven for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Prepare the Caramel Sauce by following the Food Network recipe. To ice the cupcakes, here's a quick and easy tip. Either go to the store to buy a condiment bottle (normally only a few dollars), or clean out an empty ketchup or mustard bottle for reuse. Fill the bottle with the sauce, and use that to create the design of your choice, or give to your kids and let them have fun decorating.

I hope you enjoy this recipe, and be sure to check out #applelove on Twitter this month!

2 Gluten Free Apple Pie Cookies

After a rather busy/difficult week at work, I decided to make some irresistible cookies that I would have no problem eating an entire plate of. Well, mission accomplished. (Served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream exponentially increases their awesomeness BTW).

These are pretty easy cookies to make, and I was able to make an entire batch on three medium sized cookies sheets.. These are also a fun cookie to make with others, as you can have friends or kids top each cookie with apples and crumbs.

If you're search for that awesome flaky texture mixed with cinnamon apple goodness, look no further than these. If you make them, I hope you get the same kind of apple pie sensation I did!

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time:15 minutes
Makes: 2 dozen cookies

Cookie Ingredients
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup gluten free flour blend (for this one I used a store brand composed of rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and guar gum)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 tsp cinnamon
Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

"Apple Pie" Filling Ingredients
2 Pink Lady apples
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt

Topping Ingredients
2 tsp butter, room temperature
1/4 cup gluten free graham cracker crumbs
1/8 cup pecans, chopped
1 tbsp maple or white sugar

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. In another medium bowl, whisk the butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the 1/2 c brown sugar and 1/4 c white sugar by the 1/4 cup.
3. Once the sugar and butter are combined, beat in the vanilla and the egg. Whisk in the flour by the half cup.

4. Filling: Peel and dice the apples, and place into a small bowl. Mix with the sugar, cinnamon, and salt.

5. Topping: Mix together the topping ingredients in a small bowl until it forms a crumb like texture.
6. Form the cookies: Drop the cookies onto the cookie sheets in 2 tablespoon balls, 1-2 inches apart. Push in the middle of each ball lightly, and fill with 3-4 apple pieces. Top with topping crumbles. Place in the oven and bake for 13-15 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Once cool, serve with ice cream.

2 Foodbuzz 24x24: Brinner and a Book

Flashback to a year ago, when the greater Washington D.C. area saw the worst snowstorm its had in years; people dubbed it the only thing logical. The snowpocalypse. D.C. and its surrounding cities experienced upwards of 2 feet of snow that shut the metro area down. It was such a big deal that whenever I enter the word "snow" into my phone it now decides to auto-fill with snowpocalypse.

Why is something a year ago relevant today you may ask? Aside from the fact that D.C. experienced another snow storm this past week that turned rush hour commutes into 8 to 10 hour events rather than the normal .5 to 1 hour routines, the weekend of last year's snowpocalypse was supposed to be my roommate Zak's birthday party. Sadly, due to people's inability to travel he had to cancel his birthday party. A year later, I came across the opportunity to participate in the January Foodbuzz 24x24, a 24 hour dinner party hosted by 24 different individuals across the world. Needless to say I was ecstatic when I learned that I could participate in this event, and celebrate my roommates birthday with our closest friends. So welcome to my first Foodbuzz 24x24 post!

When Breakfast meets Dinner...

That's where we come to Brinner and a Book. A few months ago, while out in D.C. with friends, one of my friends vocalized the idea of spending the day relaxing with friends while wearing pajamas, drinking wine, and reading books under the warmth of blankets. I then mentioned the idea of adding brinner to the event, which  is having a breakfast meal for dinner. Needless to say, we decided right then and there to have a relaxing, book reading, food eating birthday for Zak on the last weekend of January.

We all gathered together on Saturday afternoon in our PJs at my home in Northern Virginia. Zak loves exploring different types of cheeses, so we started the afternoon catching up on events post New Years with mimosas and assorted cheeses.

After a few mimosas and learning that, even in teams, Trivial Pursuit was none of our strong points (however, I did gain the quite valuable knowledge that Orville Redenbacher died in the bathroom) I decided to go off and start dinner while the others read books and explored their knowledge of Scrabble.

The Food

Breakfast for dinner gave me the opportunity to flex my creativity and turn some classic American breakfast platters into fun dinner items. The other fun twist on this meal was the dietary restriction. I found out last year that I needed to be on a gluten-free diet (which makes the consumption of many traditional breakfast dishes impossible) so I had to come up with gluten-free alternatives for some dishes. Also, I found out that some of our guests were vegetarians, so I made some tweaks to parts of the menu that I will share with you all. So, onto the first dish...

Steak and Eggs: NY Strip Steak and Bacon-Tomato Frittata

The main course of the dinner was a spin on the tradition steak and eggs dish, which became NY Strip Steaks with a side of Bacon-Tomato Frittatas.

How to Cook the Steak
Cooked the steaks using a grill pan over medium heat. Once the pan comes up to heat, spread some olive oil over the pan, and salt and pepper both sides of the steak. Cook the steaks on each side for about 5-6 minutes per side, and cover them with either a lid or a sheet of aluminum foil to capture the heat. Apply pressure with the back of a fork on the tops of the steaks to tell if they are done rather than cutting it open. If you feel quite a bit of resistance when you try to push down the steak, it should be close to done. Remove the steaks from the pan, and cover for about 5 minutes. This lets the juices of the steaks to rest inside the steaks, while cutting a steak open to test for done-ness leaks juices and dries out the steak.

The Frittata
I wanted to make a frittata instead of typical eggs or omelets to have a fun, cultural twist on traditional eggs. A frittata is similar to omelets, but has a few differences. Frittatas normally have the eggs poured into a pan, and then the fillings are added on top. Also, the eggs are not stirred when poured into the pan, allowing a crisp outer layer to the frittata. The link to the detailed recipe is located here. I've included a video below detailing how to make it, including important cooking and safety tips.



Fruit Salad with Balsamic Almonds

I wanted to make a light side dish to counter-balance some of the heavier dishes, so a light fruit salad was the logical choice to me.

Ingredients
-Strawberries
-Blueberries
-Red seedless grapes
-Raspberries
-2 oranges
-1 crisp ted apple
-Juice of half a lemon
-3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
-1 tsp white wine
-1/4 lb sliced almonds

Steps
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Spread a layer of almonds on a cookie sheet, and lightly salt. Toast the nuts for about 3 minutes. When out of the oven, toss in a tablespoon of the vinegar.

1. Slice the greens off the strawberries, and slice in half. Add to a medium bowl.
2. Peel the orange, and slice into half-pinwheels. Add to the bowl.
3. Core the apple, and slice into pieces the same size as the oranges. Add to the bowl.
4. Add all the other fruits to the bowl.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together the wine, juice, and remaining vinegar. Add the nuts and juice to the bowl, and lightly toss.

Sweet Potato Hash

Another iconic dish to breakfast is hash browns. For dinner, I wanted to use fresh, local sweet potatoes and flavors such as cinnamon and maple to tie in some other breakfast flavors.

Ingredients
-2 to 3 sweet potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
-1 medium onion, diced
-2 tbsp ginger
-2 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tbsp cinnamon
-1/4 cup maple syrup
-dash salt and pepper





Steps
1. Preheat a deep pan over medium heat. To this add the potatoes, ginger, cinnamon, S&P, and maple syrup. Cover with a lid, and stir occasionally.

2. While the potatoes cook, sautee the garlic and onions in a tbsp of olive oil until the onions are translucent.
3. Add the onions and garlic to the potatoes, and cook for about 20-30 minutes, stirring constantly, or until a fork inserted to the potatoes goes through.

All together on one plate...


When cooking all of the above, I found out that some of our guests were vegetarian, so I made one or two alterations, such as cooking an additional frittata without the bacon. The entire meal was a huge success, and everyone loved the main course and sides, especially the frittata and hash.

However, there was one more surprise for everyone. I mean, you can't have a dinner party, nor could you have a breakfast party, without some...

CHOCOLATE WAFFLES

Needless to say that this was the star of the show. For this I used a gluten free flour blend of 1 cup white rice flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/3 tapoica flour, and 1/2 tsp xantham gum. I like this blend because of the flavor and texture. Also, with this I've realized that homemade coffee ice cream is completely and utterly (ha, cow joke. get it?) amazing...

LINK TO DARK CHOCOLATE WAFFLES WITH HAZELNUT COFFEE ICE CREAM HERE

Thank you to everyone for reading, I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed preparing it. Also, thank you again to Foodbuzz for this wonderful opportunity. The recipes for the Steaks, Fruit Salad with Balsamic Almonds, and Sweet Potato Hash are included in this post, while the recipes for the Frittata and Waffle can be found here:

• Bacon and Tomato Frittata
• Dark Chocolate Waffle with Hazelnut Coffee Ice Cream

Happy Sunday Everyone! And...

Happy Birthday Zak!

0 Roasted Potatoes

So this post could be introduced with a story that is either half full or half empty. The half empty side is that I admittedly fail at getting a final picture of this side dish when I made it. While the full side that this is because I made this side dish for two of my brothers and they ate it up along with the steak I made in about 5 seconds flat...I'll go with half full! Yay friends, family, food, and fall!

On a total tangent, anyone else excited for Harry Potter in less than 3 weeks?

Ingredients
-5 red potatoes
-3 chopped garlic cloves
-1 ambrosia apple
-1 palm (i.e. enough to fill one palm in your hand) of oregano
-1 palm basil
-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
-1 palm thyme
-2 palms parsley
- salt and pepper


Steps
1. Preheat oven to 450F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Quarter the potatoes and place in a bowl.

3. Core the apple, and cut into chunks. Add to the potatoes.
4. In a small bowl mix all other ingredients.

4. Toss the potatoes with the oil mixture, and spread out onto the sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

5. Enjoy!

0 Quick and Easy: Apple Walnut Salad

Below is a recipe of another salad that I like to make, which is relatively easy and quick to do. I think the walnuts and apple add a much needed texture to the salad. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 apple, thinly sliced
• Mixed salad greens
• Handful walnuts
• Some grated Parrano cheese (aged Gouda or Parmesan are fine substitutes)
• 3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
• Juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/2 lime
• 6 tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper

Steps

1. Rinse and dry the salad greens. Mix in the apple.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the vinegar and juices til combined. Whisk in the oil until the dressing is emulsified (well blended)
3. Drip a ring of the dressing around the outside of the salad green bowl. Gently toss the salad to coat the greens in the dressing. (Purpose of this is to not overdress the salad, or else it becomes soggy. By slowly adding a little dressing and tossing the greens into the dressing, you can easily avoid overdressing the salad.)
4. Mix in the walnuts, plate the salad, and grate the fresh Parrano on top. Enjoy!

0 Fall has Come! Pork with Apples and Onion

Ingredients
-1/2 onion
-4 pork chops
-2 tablespoons brown sugar
-1 tsp dry mustard
-1/4 tsp ground cloves
-1 tsp cinnamon
-3/4 cups water

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Sauté the onions for about 1-2 minutes, and set aside.
3. Brown the pork chops on both sides, spending about 3-4 minutes per side.
4. While the chops are browning, peel and slice the apples.
5. In a lined baking pan, add the pork chops, and layer with the onions and apples.

6. In a bowl, mix the brown sugar, water, cloves, and mustard. Pour over the apples and pork.

7. Put in the oven and cook for 30 minutes. Enjoy!