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.

Quinoa and Bean Salad

Quinoa was one of the best discoveries I made when I first gave up wheat.  Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a complete protein source, and can be eaten anywhere you'd have rice.  It cooks just like rice but in a fraction of the time, which is especially nice when you want a grain with dinner but don't have an hour to cook.  It can be found in bulk and health food stores.

This recipe is great year round, but is especially nice and light for summer.  I like it instead of a pasta salad at a barbeque, or as a light lunch on it's own.  Plenty of substitutions can be made as well.  Use black or kidney beans on their own if you don't have mixed beans, and if you're avoiding dairy leave the feta out or substitute avocado cubes.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. olive oil
4 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
1 cup quinoa
1 can mixed beans (or use black or kidney beans if you don't have mixed)
1/2 can chick peas
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup each green, red and yellow pepper slivers
1 cup green peas, cooked
crumbled feta cheese

Put quinoa in 2 cups water and bring to a boil, then stir, cover with lid and turn heat down to low.  Cook until water is gone, approximately 15 minutes.  Mix cooked quinoa, beans, vegetables and feta in large bowl.  Combine oil, lemon juice, oregano and salt and pepper, and shake in a bottle to mix.  Pour over salad and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.

Lentil and Veggie Soup

Lentil soup is one of those things I can love or be totally indifferent about.  I like mine thick, and with the lentils falling apart.  This recipe is really easy, and freezes well.  I usually double it so I have lots left over.  I'll post the recipe here as it was published in Eating Alive, but will say I usually have a much heavier hand when it comes to the seasonings.  I add cumin and turmeric, and add more of each spice to taste.

Since I can't have wheat crackers, I like to eat this with crushed rice cakes or rice crackers.  Yum!

Ingredients:

4 cups water or stock
1 cup brown lentils (I've used other colours too with good results)
4-6 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. wheat-free tamari sauce (see Tamari Baked Salmon for info on tamari)
2 Tbsp. butter or oil
3 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. each: basil, oregano, thyme
1/8 tsp. cayenne red pepper
Several dashes of kelp
1/2 tsp. dill weed (optional)

Bring the lentils, vegetables and water or stock to a boil on high heat, then simmer for 1 hour on low heat or until the lentils are very tender.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Keeps 7 days in the fridge or may be frozen for later use.

Serves 4.

Black Bean Tacos

In an attempt to decrease inflammation I've been following some food combining rules lately.  In particular, I don't eat meat with complex carbohydrates.  If I want to be nice and cook for my partner too though, I need to make an added consideration: she is a meat lover, and veggie meals don't satisfy her.  So, I've been on the lookout for recipes that can be adapted for meat-eaters or vegetarians alike.  This one fits the bill.  I can make the black bean filling for myself, and she can cook up ground beef for her own.  Making the black bean filling in advance is handy, so that when dinner time comes you just have to throw some in taco shells or tortillas and add a few garnishes.

This Black Bean Filling recipe comes from the vegetarian restaurant Fresh, in Toronto.  It's one of my favourite places to eat when I'm in my home city.  They've put out a few cookbooks.  In this case, it's from reFresh : Contemporary Vegan Recipes from the Award-Winning Fresh Restaurants.

Ingredients (for filling):

6 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, peeled and diced
4 cloved of garlic, minced
2 tsp. cumin seeds, toasted and ground (I've substituted dried cumin and it tastes great)
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar (white vinegar seems to do the trick as well)
1 tsp. sea salt
4 cups canned or cooked black beans

Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat.  Add onions and cook until soft.  Add remaining ingredients except beans and simmer for 5 minutes.  While cooking, puree black beans in food processor or mash as smoothly as possible by hand.  (I've used my hand mixer.)  Add black beans to mixture.  Stir until heated through.

For tacos:

1 pkg. taco shells or gluten-free tortillas
Toppings of your choice: salsa, avocado slices, chopped green onions, or whatever you can dream up!

Serves 4.