Grilled Pineapple Spears

My girlfriend and I stole the idea for this recipe after having grilled pineapple at a Brazilian BBQ place in Niagara Falls.  This is possibly one of the simplest and tastiest recipes I've ever made, but it's impressive enough to serve to any guests you might have coming over.  The flavour in the pineapple really comes out when you grill it.  It can easily be eaten on it's own (and I actually prefer it that way), but if you'd like to dress it up you can serve it with ice cream or whipped cream.

Ingredients:

1 whole pineapple, or pre-cut pineapple spears
brown sugar or brown sugar splenda
cinnamon

Core pineapple, and cut into spears.  Lightly sprinkle spears with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Grill spears over medium heat until warm.  Serve immediately.

Wild Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

As I'm sure many of my gluten-free friends agree, rice is a pretty important staple when you can't eat wheat.  It fills you up better than anything else can, and whole grain varieties are full of fibre.  Wild rice, as every website out there will tell you, is not actually rice but a grass, but it's still full of fibre as well as protein.

This recipe comes from my latest purchase, The Liver Cleansing Diet, by Dr. Sandra Cabot.  In all fairness I didn't really make her recipe as I made alot of alterations, so I'll post both the original and my changes.  In the book they consider it a main course to be served with a side salad, but we had it as a side along with BBQed pork, mushrooms, and the previous Jamie Oliver zucchini recipe.  Yum.  It made for a great Sunday dinner.

Also if keeping dinner prep time down to a minimum is important to you, you can easily make up the stuffed tomatoes or just the filling in advance, leaving only the baking to the last minute.

Original Ingredients:

8 medium tomatoes
1 cup wild rice
1 onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup currants
4 tablespoons chopped pine nuts
2 heaped tablespoons chopped mint
2 heaped tablespoons chopped chives
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs
1 heaped tablespoon LSA  (a ground mixture of 3 parts flaxseed, 2 parts sunflower seeds, 1 part almonds)

My ingredient changes:

I omitted the currants, mint, bread crumbs and LSA, and substituted chopped scallions for chives.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove tops from tomatoes and scoop out pulp with a metal spoon.  Combine pulp with all ingredients except crumbs and LSA in a saucepan and season with sea salt and ground pepper.  Bring mixture to a gentle simmer and cook for one minute.  Place the tomato cases on a foil-lined baking tray and fill them with mixture.  Sprinkle breadcrumbs and LSA on top if desired.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Prune Compote

As may be obvious by the lack of dessert recipes on my blog, I am not that big on sweets.  I like desserts, but I haven't been motivated enough to go the extra mile to learn how to bake gluten-free goodies.  So, when I want something sweet these days my go-to food is fruit.

This recipe is easy and quick just like most of my cooking.  It can be stored for two weeks in the fridge, making it a simple dessert that can be dipped into when you're too busy for much preparation.  Just be careful not to eat too much, after all prunes do help to keep things moving through the digestive tract.

Ingredients:

1 pound pitted prunes
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
2 bags Earl Grey tea

Combine prunes with just enough water to cover in a saucepan.  Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 20 minutes, then stir in sugar and 1/2 cup orange juice.  Add tea bags and cook about 10 minutes more or until all prunes are tender.  Refresh the flavor if desired by blending in another 1/2 cup juice.  Discard tea bags and remove fruit with syrup to a covered container and refrigerate at least three hours before serving. 

Eat on it's own, or with sour cream or yogurt.

Oatmeal with Currants and Agave Syrup

Oatmeal is something I gave up when I became gluten free, because they say some of them have gluten.  My naturopath said the way to remember what to avoid was to by the word BROW: barley, rye, oats and wheat.  I have been very pleased to start eating some gluten free oats though.  It seems that the issue with oats is that they can be cross-contaminated by barley, rye or wheat.  These folks seem to have some info on this: http://www.glutenfreeoats.com/

Another great find I have had lately is agave syrup.  Agave is used to produce a sweetner that tastes very similar to honey, but is low on the glycemic index.  Some say that it is a better choice for diabetics because it doesn't affect their blood sugar the same way as other sugars.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup gluten free oats, cooked according to package
1 tsp agave syrup
a handful of dried currants or raisins
rice, almond or soy milk

Cook oats according to package.  Serve immediately, topped with syrup, dried fruit and dairy-free milk.  Very filling and delicious.