0 Gluten Free Chicken Cacciatore

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope you all had a great pi day yesterday! This weekend is St. Patrick's Day, and to celebrate my Irish roots I'm posting a recipe based on my...Italian roots. OK, so maybe my cravings for Italian food outweighed my craving for Irish, but this is definitely a recipe worth eating.

Traditionally, chicken cacciatore is a chicken dish prepared by braising chicken in a tomato sauce. First the chicken is quick seared in an oiled pan, and then removed to prepare the tomato sauce. The tomato sauce normally includes a base of onion, garlic, bell peppers, red wine and tomato. Once the sauce has cooked for a bit, the chicken is added back and braised on a lower heat. The result is a beautifully rich tomato sauce and tender, juicy chicken breasts.

Here's how my recipe deviates from some of the ones I've seen out on the internet. To make it gluten free, I don't dust the chicken in any type of flour before searing. It's simply seasoned with some salt and pepper and seared in a hot pan. Also, I like to add some portabello mushrooms in my sauce for some added texture and flavor. The other way I like to deviate is to use white wine instead of red, I prefer the lightness that the white wine brings to the sauce. I hope you guys try this! It's a recipe I'm proud of, nothing like eating chicken you can shred with a fork!

Gluten Free Chicken Cacciatore


A recipe for tender chicken braised in a tomato wine sauce. Filled with bell peppers and mushrooms, best served with gluten free pasta.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 70 minutes
Servings: 6 chicken breasts
Ingredients
6 chicken breasts
salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bell pepper chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 large portobello mushroom caps
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup white wine
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5oz can chopped tomatoes
1 bayleaf
2 tsp chopped basil
2 tsp chopped thyme

Steps
In a large, 2-3 inch deep sautee pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken breasts. Cook the breasts in the pan, about 4 minutes on each side, flipping once in between. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Add the bell pepper, onion, mushroom, and garlic to the pan, and reduce to medium heat. Sautee for 5 minutes, and then add the wine and paste. Cook on medium for 5 minutes. and then add the sauce, tomatoes, bayleaf, basil, and thyme. Cook on medium high heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reduce to medium heat, and add the chicken and any juice back to the sauce. Ensure that both sides of the chicken are coated in the sauce, and cover. Cook at medium heat for 20 minutes, then reduce to medium low for another 20.

Gently remove the chicken from the pan, and serve with the sauce and gluten free noodles.

39 #SundaySupper - Hearty Basil Tomato Soup

This week's #SundaySupper Theme is skinny! This weekend all the recipes we share as a group are healthy recipes that are tasty and won't leave you feeling guilty about eating them later. We've got quite the range of healthy recipes below, so be sure to share them with anyone who may want something healthy to eat, whether it be a light soup or a guilt-free dessert. Thank you to Sue for all of her work organizing this week! Please be sure to check out her Gluten-Free Cafe page, it has a lot of great recipes and I encourage anyone who is gluten free to go check them out.

I've never been a huge fan of soup made out of the can. Most brands, aside from being potentially unsafe for gluten, taste overly salted to me, and really ruin the overall taste. That's why I love making batches of homemade soup. They'll normally last for a couple days and are really delicious. This is my healthy tomato soup, which contains low sodium chicken stock, fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, fresh basil, and some seasoning. There's something really satisfying about being able to count all the ingredients of a recipe with only two hands! My secret to making this soup smooth is to use a cheesecloth to strain out the pulp after cooking, and to serve with fresh basil on top. I hope you enjoy!

Servings 6-8, depending on the size of the tomatoes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 cups low sodium chicken stock
5 fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 fresh basil leaves
2 tsp mustard
2 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper

Steps
Place a stock pot over medium high heat. Add the chicken stock, tomatoes, onion, garlic, mustard, salt and pepper. Tear the basil leaves into shreds and add to the soup. Bring the soup to a boil, and then cover. Let the soup boil for 30 minutes.

Once the soup has cooked, use an immersion blender to blend the soup until all of the tomato is broken down. Line the inside of a strainer with cheesecloth and place over top a bowl. Strain the soup into the bowl. Serve into soup bowls and top with some finely sliced basil leaves.

Be sure to check out all the other skinny recipes this week! Join us at 7 for our #SundaySupper twitter chat!

Sizzling Skinny Appetizers & Soups

• Napa Cabbage wrapped Chinese Spring Rolls by Small Wallet Big Appetite
• #DairyFree Cream of Broccoli Soup by Galactosemia in PDX
• Easy Vegan Lentil Soup by Neighbor Food
• Spicy Asian Chicken Noodle Soup by Food Lust People Love
•  Tomato Basil Soup by No one Likes Crumbley Cookies
• Skinny Beef Chili by Webicurean

 Healthy Skinny Mains & Sides

• Chicken with Herb Tomatoes and Pan Sauce by Hezzi D’s Books & Cooks
• Kale Salad with Pomegranates, Apples and Walnuts by The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
• Skinny Salad Wraps by MamaMommyMom
• Mashed Cauliflower by Supper for a Steal
• Lamb Florentine Burger with Tzatziki by Country Girl in the Village
• Skinny Avocado Egg Salad Wraps by The Daily Dish
• Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad by Family Foodie
• Parchment-Poached Salmon by Simply Gourmet
• Maddy’s Arugula Salad by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Cauliflower Pizza by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Light chicken enchiladas by My Cutie Bride
• Pear Almond Arugula Salad with Honey Vinaigrette by Vintage Kitchen
• Pasta Primavera by Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Cauliflower Fried Rice by Cupcake & Kale Chips
• Ahi Tuna Salad by The Urban Mrs
• Soba Noodles with Edamame and Green Onions by Hip Foodie Mom
• Scallops Hong Kong Style by Magnolia Days
• Slow Cooker Pork and Green Chile Stew by Momma’s Meals
• Roasted Garlic, Chicken & Herb White Pizza by Dinners and Desserts
• Polynesian Salad with Pineapple Vinaigrette by Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Herb Roasted Salmon with Steamed Cabbage & Peas by The Lovely Pantry
• Turkey and Black Bean Taco Burgers by In The Kitchen With K P
• Salmon Tikka Wraps with Cucumber Raita by Soni’s Food
• Whole wheat pasta with Spicy Roasted Cauliflower by Crispy Bits & Burnt Ends
• Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs by I Run For Wine
• Chipotle Black Bean Burgers with Baked Garlic Home Fries  by Curious Cuisiniere
• The Ninja Baker’s Sake & Miso Salmon by Ninja Baking
• Roasted Sweet Potato, Quinoa and Black Bean Burgers with Parsnip Fries  by  Gourmet Drizzles
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Smoked Sausage Cassoulet by The Weekend Gourmet
• Cumin Roasted Cauliflower and Carrots by Mangoes and Chutney
• Italian Sub Salad by Diabetic Foodie
• Kale and Quinoa Croquettes by The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Broccoli Patties with Arugula and Champagne Vinaigrette by Sustainable Dad
• Raw Kale Salad with Chickpeas and Salmon in Orange Dressing by Shockingly Delicious
• Greek Yogurt Egg Salad Sandwich by Damn Delicious
• Oven Roasted Cauliflower Recipe by Home Cooking Memories
• Confetti Cabbage and Salmon Wraps by The Roxx Box
• Escarole and Beans  by Midlife Road trip
• Cajun Black Beans by Ruffles and Truffles 
• Caprese salad by The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Skinny Wholegrain Fettuccine Alfredo with Greek Yogurt & Coconut Oil by Sue’s Nutrition Buzz

Guilt Free Skinny Desserts & Snacks

• Chocolate avocado cake by Gotta Get Baked
• Tiramisu Parfaits by Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Sugar Free Banana Almond Muffins by What Smells So Good
• Strawberry Coconut Cinnamon Buns by Juanita’s Cocina
• Warm Apple Crumble by Mama’s Blissful Bites
• Dark Chocolate-Dipped Apricots by girlichef
• Homemade Protein Bar Recipe by Masala Herb
• Skinny Chocolate Almond Pudding by Basic N Delicious

Wine Pairing Recommendations for Skinny Sunday Supper by ENOFYLZ Wine Blog

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter each Sunday. We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. This week we will be sharing out special skinnified recipes! Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET and you do not want to miss out on the fun. Follow the #SundaySupper hash tag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. Check out our #SundaySupper Pinterest board for more fabulous recipes and food photos.

Join us Around the Family Table this Sunday at 7pm Eastern Time and share your favorite healthy recipes with us!

0 Gluten Free Basil Tomato Risotto

Hi everyone! Here's a tasty and easy recipe for risotto! For those who don't know, risotto is a rice dish where rice has been cooked slowly over time in a stock. This creates a wonderfully creamy sauce that is served with the cooked rice. Risotto is a great delivery device for other food flavors, so I wanted to infuse basil and sun dried tomatoes into this risotto.

This recipe calls for chicken stock, but you can substitute with vegetable stock if you prefer.

Prep Time: 8 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
1 chopped yellow onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 oz sun dried tomatoes, chopped

12 oz Arborio rice
1/4 cup white wine
4 cups warm chicken stock
2 tbsp basil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Steps
In a large skillet over medium heat, add the butter and sautee the onion and garlic until tender. Add the tomatoes and rice, and cook until the rice is coated in butter and translucent.

Add the wine and cook until evaporated.

Stir in 1 cup of stock, and stir. After the stock has been absorbed, add another cup and repeat until all the stock is gone.

Stir in the basil and cheese, and add the salt and pepper. Serve and enjoy!

0 Gluten Free Meat Sauce

Wow, this has been quite the crazy month. My master's class is coming to a close this week, and I just finished the first paper I've written in years yesterday. The past few nights have lasted rather long, so I'll keep this post short and get to the recipe so I can get to my bed for some much needed sleep.

This is a great gluten free meat sauce that can be prepared within 30 minutes. Its a wonderful sauce to make at the beginning of the week so you can reheat it as the week marches on.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Ingredients


30 oz tomato sauce
15 oz diced tomato
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/4 lb mushrooms, diced
1 tbsp thyme
1/2 tbsp oregano
1/2 tbsp basil
1 pound ground beef
salt and pepper

Steps
In a large saucepan, add the sauce, tomato, and paste. Stir together and heat over medium heat.

In a small pan over medium heat, sautee the garlic and onion with 2 tsp olive oil for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are slightly translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the onion mix the the sauce, along with the thyme, oregano, and basil.

In the small pan, brown the ground beef until there is no more pink meat. Drain the grease once completely cooked, and add to the sauce. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer until ready to serve with gluten free pasta.

5 Gluten Free Basil Tomato and Feta Crepes

Lesson of the day: Its hard to take a picture of the filling in a filled crepe...

As a part of hosting the Ratio Rally this month, I tried to make a whole variety of sweet and savory crepes. One weekend in February, I hosted a brunch with friends where we had this crepe recipe and a fresh fruit crepe.

This is a great crepe with a fresh tomato and basil filling that is light, healthy, and delicious! I recommend using cherry or baby tomatoes in this recipe, I love the texture of smaller tomatoes over grown ones.

Be sure to check back to this link to see all of the Ratio Rally gluten free recipes posted.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Inactive Prep Time: 30 minutes

Bake Time: 1 -2 minutes per crepe

Serves: 4 crepes

Ingredients:

Crepes

50g egg (~1 large egg)

50g milk

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

10g tapioca flour

15g potato starch

4-6 cherry or baby tomatoes

4 leaves of fresh basil

1/4 cup feta cheese

salt and pepper

Steps

Whisk together the egg, milk, and powders until combined. Whisk in the flour and starch. Set aside for 30 minutes. To make the crepes, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add about 1/2 tbsp of butter, and coat the inside of the pan. If there is any melted butter pooling in the pan, discard it before adding the batter, or else you're first crepe will end up greasy (believe me).

Add a small amount of batter ( several tablespoons ) of the pan, and swirl the pan around to coat the bottom of the pan with the batter. Let cook for 45 seconds to 1 minutes. Flip the crepe, and cook for another 30 seconds. 

For the filling, dice the tomatoes into cubes, and place into a small bowl. Chop the basil and add to the bowl with the feta and a dash of salt and pepper. Stir to combine, and use as filling for cooked crepes.

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 Gluten Free Sausage and Rice

A couple months ago, I posted a recipe for Gluten Free Stuffed Bell Peppers. I absolutely love the taste and texture of the filling, so I decided to make a variation of it with Italian sausage. I use mild Italian sausage in my recipe, but feel free to use a spicier variety if you prefer.

Serves: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
2 mild Italian pork sausages
1/3 cup brown rice
2 oz pancetta, diced
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/4 cup red wine
2 Portobello caps, cubed
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/3 cup Marinara sauce
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated

Steps
1.  In a small pan, over medium heat, cook the sausage in a tablespoon of olive oil until browned on all sides, about 5-7 minutes
2. Cook the brown rice in a rice cooker. If you don't have a rice cooker, boil rice in a small pot with 1/2 cup water. Once the water is boiling, cover and reduce to low heat for 20 minutes.
3. In a medium saucepan, sautee the pancetta, garlic, and onion over medium heat with the wine until the pancetta has browned.
4. To the pan, add the mushrooms and bell pepper, and cook on medium low heat until the mushrooms have reduced in size.
5. Cube the cooked sausage. Add the cheese, sausage and sauces to the pan, and cook together for about 4 minutes. Add the rice to the pan and let it all cook together for about 5 minutes.

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 Gluten Free Bacon and Tomato Frittata

As a part of my Foodbuzz 24x24 food event (more on that in a post later today) and my roommate Zak's birthday dinner, one of the recipes I decided to make was a Bacon and Tomato Frittata. Its a little time consuming if you make this on your own, but is a fun dish to prepare with friends and is relatively easy to make. Also, remove the bacon from the recipe for a great vegetarian meal.

Yields: 8 servings
Prep Time: 20 -30 minutes
Cook Time: 16 minutes

Ingredients
-8 eggs
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-1 small or 1/2 medium onion
-2 Portobello caps
-1/2 red bell pepper
-5 stalks asparagus
-4 slices bacon
-1/4 lb cherry tomatoes
-salt and pepper
-2 cloves garlic
-1 tbsp white wine
-zest of one lemon

Steps
1. Preheat the oven to 350F
2. On a medium pan or griddle, cook the bacon over medium heat. The picture below shows the bacon when it is done on one side and is ready to flip. This should take about 3-4 minutes on each side. Once the bacon is crisp, remove from pan onto a plate lined with paper towels. Dab the bacon to remove the fat, and dice into pieces.

3. Prepare your mise en place of vegetables (i.e. prep your vegetables before cooking so that you can concentrate on items that are over heat to prevent overcooking or burning). Dice the onions, pepper, mushrooms, mince the garlic, and slice the tomatoes in half.
4. In a saucepan, add a tablespoon of olive oil and heat to medium/medium low. Once the pan is hot, add the garlic and onions. Keep them moving to prevent burning, and cook until the onions are translucent. Below is a before and after picture.

Before

After becoming translucent

5. Remove the onions, and add the wine and mushrooms to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until the mushrooms have begun to shrink and sweat liquid.
6. While the mushrooms cook, grill the asparagus for about 5-6 minutes over medium heat, until the asparagus begins to have char marks, and has a nice, vivid green color to them. Remove from heat and submerge into ice cold water. This will halt the cooking process so that the asparagus maintains its color and does not become mushy. Dice into quarters.

7. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs and cream. Add a dash of salt and pepper.
8. Preheat a 10 or 12 inch oven-safe omelet pan over medium heat, and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Pour the egg mixture into the pan, and do not stir the mix. Start a timer for 4 minutes. Sprinkle the vegetables, bacon, and tomatoes over top the eggs. After 4 minutes, use a spatula to gently separate the edges of the frittata from the pan, and place into the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the eggs are slightly golden brown and set in the middle. Make sure to have an oven mitt on your hand when removing the pan from the oven, or else you will burn yourself. 


Helpful tip: Once the frittata is done, slip an oven mitt over top the handle. This is so that if anyone forgets to put on a mitt before touching the handle, their hand will burn.

1 Mozzarella with Tomato and Balsamic

Yesterday one of my roommates Zak made this snack, and I loved it so much that I wanted to share this with all of you. Also, it goes well with the recipe I'm posting tomorrow, Steak with a balsamic bacon sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• Fresh Mozzarella
• Fresh tomato (organic if possible)
• Fresh Basil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Slice the mozzarella and tomatoes into about 1/4 inch thick slices.

2. Place the basil leaf and tomato slice on top of the mozzarella.

3. Drip some balsamic vinegar on top of the tomato and mozzarella, and top with salt and pepper.

2 Amazing Tomato Soup

There is nothing quite as great as hot soup in winter !
And this recipe is great since it's easy and incredibly tasty.

What you'll need:
- 2 cans of 280z tomato puree
- 1 quart mushrooms
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 5-6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pressed
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp salt

You will also need a:
- blender
- pan
- fairly large pot
- whisk

What to do =)
1. Bring puree, salt & broth to a slow simmer while whisking them together.
2. Sautee onions with half of the garlic.
3. Blend onions until smooth, and whisk into soup.
4. With remaining garlic sautee mushrooms until they shrink. Add to soup.
5. Let simmer for another 20 min in order to allow flavours to amalgamate.
6. Sprinkle a little rosemary on top and serve!

Note: goes well with a little sour cream

0 Gluten Free Lasagna

One of my favorite foods has always been lasagna, which was one of the things that made finding out I was allergic to gluten last year depressing at first. However, I've found gluten free lasagna noodles at my local Whole Foods, so hopefully if you need to use a gluten free version, you have a comparable store next to you. Enjoy!

Ingredients

-1 box lasagna noodles

-1 lb ground beef, chicken, or turkey

-2 16oz bottles of tomato sauce

-1/2 onion, diced

-1/2 diced red pepper

-3 cloves garlic, diced

-1/4 cup oregano

-1/4 cup shredded Parmesan

-1 1/2 cup ricotta cheese

-2 cups mozzarella cheese

The box of lasagna noodles will have directions as to how to prepare the lasagna. Follow the directions, but make sure to do the following:

• In the water that the noodles boil in, add a generous amount of olive oil. This helps prevent sticking.
• Under cook the noodles by about 3-4 minutes. This will make them easier to handle, and all the moisture from the cheese and sauce will help the noodles cook fully.
• Use low moisture or part skim cheeses. This will help the lasagna from becoming too wet.
• Saute the onions and garlic before adding to the sauce.
• Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil while cooking, and for the last 10-15 minutes, cook uncovered so the lasagna browns.
• Once the lasagna is cooked, let it sit for about 20 minutes. This will allow the lasagna to rest enough so that it is still warm/hot, but does not fall apart when serving.

Enjoy!

0 Garlic Basil Pizza

Autumn brings football games, cooler weather, and holidays, all with two things in common: comfort food and family. Sadly, gluten-free diets don't always agree with seasonal food and comfort food. Thanksgiving, Christmas, parties, and many seasonal foods contain gluten: pies, stuffing, sandwiches, cakes, hamburgers, pizza, and more. In fact, its been a whole year since I've had pizza. Luckily, I tried this pizza crust last month when one of my roommates bought the mix for it. The pizza turned out really well, so I wanted to go ahead and share it!

Ingredients:

-Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Pizza Dough Mix
-2 eggs
-1 tablespoon oregano
-3 glove garlic
-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1.5 cups warm water
-1 block mozzarella cheese
-Parmesan cheese
-tomato sauce
-fresh basil
-pepper to taste




Directions:
1. Follow the directions on the back of the dough mix until the step where you let the dough rest. The difference before and after rising is shown below:

Before

After

2. After the dough has risen, fold in the oregano, one of the diced gloves, and some Parmesan cheese.
3. Split the dough in half, and spread over two greased pans. Whenever your hands begin to stick to the dough, slightly wet your hands with water. Its best to make sure the dough is spread evenly across the pan.
4. Bake for 8 minutes.

5. Add the sauce, some garlic, pepper, mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, along with your favorite toppings. Cook for another 15 minutes. After the cheese is golden on top, pull out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!