Category Archives: Gluten-free

Garlic shrimp with white beans and tomatoes

I always seem to have this idea in my head that I don’t like cooked shrimp…it’s totally not true! I had this for lunch twice, over rice, and was kinda impressed with myself both times. I couldn’t find smoked paprika (used regular paprika) and forgot to buy fresh parsley (used 1 tsp dried), but the results didn’t suffer.

Getting my ingredients ready
Cooked shrimp waiting to get into the stew

Garlic shrimp with white beans and tomatoes
Serves: 4-6
Source: Pam Anderson via Runner’s World, February 2013

Ingredients
1 pound medium peeled and deveined shrimp
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 tsp pimenton (smoked paprika)
3 garlic cloves, minced and divided
1/2 tsp hot red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf, broken into pieces
1 14.5-ounce can petite-diced tomatoes, drained
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 15-ounce cans white beans, drained
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried)

Directions
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Toss shrimp with 1 Tbsp oil and pimenton. Add shrimp to skillet and saute 1-2 minutes. Add half the garlic during the last few seconds of cooking. Spoon shrimp into a bowl and set aside.
2. Return skillet to heat; add 2 Tbsp oil, pepper flakes, bay leaf, and remaining garlic. Cook until garlic is golden, a few seconds. Add tomatoes and cook until most of the liquid evaporates, 3-5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook until tomato mixture darkens.
3. Add beans and broth and simmer until it’s a thick stew, about 5 minutes. Stir in shrimp and parsley; cook until heated through. 
4. Enjoy!

Final product


Spinach chickpea salad with tahini vinaigrette

Happy Registered Dietitian Day…be sure to hug your favorite RD today! This is a very healthy recipe that I thought was a perfect way to celebrate my holiday. You might think this is a lot of effort to put into a salad, but it sure looked purty and tasted delish. Salads deserve some time in the spotlight too.

It is also a way to show how easy it is to make homemade salad dressing. One of the ingredients in the vinaigrette is tahini, which is a paste made from sesame seeds and a key ingredient in hummus. If you’re like me, and don’t like to ask for directions (even in the grocery store), I found it in the “international” section of Shaw’s…between Greece (olives) and Spanish Rice-a-Roni.

I spy tahini

Feel free to add other salad ingredients that you like or have on hand…mushrooms leftover from a chicken quinoa soup recipe, for example. I included mushrooms, sliced avocado, and black olives.

If you want to make single portions at a time, you can prepare the vinaigrette and the chickpea mixture, then assemble an individual salad.

Tahini vinaigrette
Source: adapted from Shape magazine, June 2012
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 cup tahini
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions
1. In a small bowl, mix together garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, and cayenne pepper; let sit for 5-10 minutes.
2. Whisk in tahini and olive oil.

Purty salad

Spinach chickpea salad with tahini vinaigrette
Source: adapted from Shape magazine, June 2012
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1 Tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
Black pepper to taste
5-1/2 ounces baby spinach
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 ounces feta, crumbled
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Directions
1. In a small bowl, ombine chickpeas, parsley, and mint. Season with black pepper to taste. Mix in 2 Tbsp of the tahini vinaigrette and set aside.
2. Divide spinach, carrots, onion, and other salad veggies onto four plates. Top each plate with chickpeas and crumbled feta. Lightly drizzle 2 Tbsp tahini vinaigrette over each plate; serve immediately.

Egg salad

I decided to go back to basics with a good old fashioned egg salad. Even when I haven’t had a chance to go to the grocery store, I usually have eggs and the other ingredients for this recipe on hand. It’s also quick and very easy, and having an egg slicer makes it even easier!

I like the celery and red onion because it gives it some color and crunch, but it’s also tasty without. I sometimes substitute plain Greek yogurt for half of the mayonnaise. As you can see, I usually cook four eggs at a time and halve the egg salad recipe.

When I pack this for lunch, I put the egg salad in a separate container and assemble a sandwich when I’m ready to eat so the bread doesn’t get soggy.

Boilin some eggs

Hard-cooked eggs
Source:  Everyday Food
Makes: 1 dozen

Directions
Place 12 large eggs in a large saucepan; add cold water to cover by 1 inch, and bring to a rolling boil. Cover pan and remove from heat. Leat stand for 12 minutes, then drain and rinse under cool water. To store, keep eggs, unpeeled, in the refrigerator, up to 4 days.

Egg slicer magic

Egg salad
Source: Everyday Food
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients
1/2 cup light mayonnaies
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp white wine vinegar
8 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, minced
1/4 small red onion, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar until smooth. Add eggs, celery, and onion; season with salt and pepper, and mix to combine.

Open-faced sammie

Chicken quinoa soup

Runner’s World calls chicken and quinoa a “dynamic duo”…I figured I’d try out their recipe to see if I could get behind that statement. As with many soups, the base is a mirepoix (that’s basically a fancy of way of saying a mixture of celery, carrots and onion).

The original recipe calls for one pound of sliced boneless chicken thighs. I typically use boneless skinless chicken breast for everything, regardless of what is stated in the recipe. Since shopping at Whole Foods on a Sunday afternoon is survival of the fittest, I grabbed the first thing I saw, which was thighs. I’d probably go back to my yuge next time. I prefer a higher vegetable-to-meat ratio, so I did not use a whole pound.

Mise en place

Chicken quinoa soup
Source: adapted from Runner’s World (December 2012)
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients
2 tsp canola oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, sliced
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced (about half of a 10-ounce package)
2 celery stalks, sliced
4 chicken breast thighs (or 2 chicken breasts), thinly sliced
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
3/4 cup quinoa
4 sprigs thyme
Salt and pepper (to taste)
Hot sauce

Directions
1. Heat canola oil in a pot; add onion, garlic, and carrots and cook for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, celery, and chicken and cook for another 5 minutes.
2. Add broth, water, quinoa, thyme, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes, until quinoa is tender.
3. Top with hot sauce and enjoy!

Try it vegetarian: substitute beans or tofu for the chicken and vegetable broth for the chicken broth

Pre-broth



Dynamic soup!

Roasted butternut squash soup

I braved the grocery store pre-Nemo just to get the ingredients for this soup. My storm essentials list consisted of butternut squash and cream cheese. This is the first time I used frozen butternut squash…and I did some advanced math to figure out 6 cups was about 2 bags of frozen, cubed butternut squash.

The original recipe called for cooking the butternut squash in the broth mixture at a simmer for about 20 minutes, but I like the added flavor from roasting it. If using fresh butternut squash, the roasting part would probably take about 45 minutes. It also called for a half-stick of butter, but I thought that was a little excessive and decided to use olive oil instead.

The cream cheese gives it a thick, creamy texture without using actual cream and the cayenne pepper gives it a little kick. This can also be made vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Mise en place

Roasted butternut squash soup
Source: adapted from allrecipes.com
Serves: 6

Ingredients
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 (8-ounce) package reduced fat cream cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss butternut squash with 2 Tbsp olive oil and spread on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until cooked through (about 15 minutes with frozen butternut squash).
2. In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and saute onions and garlic until soft. Add roasted squash, broth, marjoram, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil.
3. Puree squash and cream cheese in a blendr or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

Yummy soup

Chinese New Year potluck

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a potluck, and it was great to get together to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Gung hay fat choy! Thanks to Kim and Rob for hosting and challenging us to create some delicious Chinese-inspired dishes.

I searched “Chinese new year” on Allrecipes and I decided to make Chinese lion’s head soup for a few reasons 1) I’m obsessed with soup, 2) I loved the name, and that it does not contain real lion, and 3) it didn’t seem too complicated. Turns out you can’t really go wrong with a pork, cabbage, ginger combination…it was the base for my soup as well as Kendrin’s pork dumplings.

Homemade dumplings

We had a pretty delicious spread, including chicken in foil, hot and sour soup, Chinese chicken salad, longevity noodles, peanut noodles, and a beautiful cake from Eldo Cake House.

Chicken in foil

Delicious cake

Chinese lion’s head soup
Source: Allrecipes.com
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients
1 pound ground pork
1 egg
1 Tbsp cornstarch
4 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger root
1/2 tsp salt
2 green onions, chopped and divided
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 head Napa cabbage, cored and cut into chunks
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups water, or as needed
1 Tbsp soy sauce

Directions
1. Mix the ground pork, egg, cornstarch 2 teaspoons of sesame oil, ginger, salt, and half of the chopped green onions together in a bowl. Use your hands to mix until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Use a spoon to form the meat mixture into 1-inch balls. Set aside. 
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok or large pot over high heat. When the oil is hot, fry the cabbage, stirring constantly, until cabbage begins to wilt, 2-3 minutes. Pour in the broth, water, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium.
3. Drop meatballs into the boiling soup. When the last ball has been added, cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, and adjust salt before serving. Garnish with remaining green onions and 2 teaspoons of sesame oil. 

Prepping the lion’s head

Cheers to the Year of the Serpent! May your fortunes be better than some of the ones we received…

Fortune cookies from Long Island

 
 

Chicken tortilla soup

I love this recipe and have been making it for over 10 years. It seems like a lot of ingredients, but don’t let that scare you, I promise it is easy! The most time-consuming (and tedious) task is picking the cilantro leaves.
Hominy is similar to corn, and can usually be found in the international goods aisle of the grocery store, with other canned vegetables. I could not find it today at Whole Foods so I just added more regular corn.

I’ve always made it according to the recipe (aka on the stove), but this time I decided to try it in the slow cooker, which saves a step of having to cook the chicken separately. I’ve included directions below both for the stove-top and the slow cooker.

Getting my ingredients ready

You can easily make this vegetarian by omitting the chicken and substituting vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Chicken tortilla soup
Source: Allrecipes.com circa 2001
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano

Onion and garlic saute

1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (10.5 ounces) chicken broth 
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
1 cup white hominy
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chile peppers
1 can (15 ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite size pieces (raw chicken if using slow cooker)

A bowl full of goodness

Optional toppings: crushed tortilla chips, sliced avocado, shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, chopped green onion

Directions (stove-top)
1. In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5-10 minutes.
2. Stir in corn, hominy, chiles, black beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, sour cream, and chopped green onion.

Directions (slow cooker)
1. In a medium fry pan, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft.
2. Place all ingredients, except cilantro and optional toppings, in slow cooker.
3. Cook on high for 1 hour, then turn to low for 4-5 hours.
4. Remove chicken, shred it, and place back in slow cooker. Cook on low for 1 hour more, then stir in cilantro.
5. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, sour cream, and chopped green onion.

Spicy pecans

I made these last weekend to go with a little playoff football action…they tasted even better with a Pats victory!

Mise en place

I tend to use pecans because I usually have a stash of them in my freezer. I would omit the salt if using salted nuts.

Sweet and spicy

Spicy pecans
Source: Union Squre Cafe bar nuts (via Joe and Ed)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups pecans (or nut of your choosing)
2 T fresh rosemary leaves, coarsely chopped (or 1 tsp dried rosemary)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Spread pecans on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes (just until you start to smell them).
3. In a large bowl, mix rosemary, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, salt, and melted butter. Add warm nuts and toss thoroughly. Serve warm.

Potato salad x2

Happy Election week! I was very proud to cast my vote on Tuesday, and excited to hear so many stories of people getting out there to rock the vote. Yes, I know my voting terminology is stuck in the 90’s. It was also wonderful to see my friend, who just became a U.S. citizen on November 1, be allowed to cast his first ballot in this country. What a great year to participate in the election!

In honor of the elections, I’ve decided to ask you to cast your vote…for potato salad. Pro-mayo or pro-mustard? Pro-Yukon gold or pro-red skin? Don’t worry, flip-flopping is absolutely acceptable. I like them both, how bipartisan of me.

I had about two pounds of potatoes to use so I made two versions of potato salad, using both red skin and Yukon gold potatoes. I cooked the potatoes together in the same pot, but the Yukon golds cooked a little faster. The original recipe for German potato salad included 3 slices of bacon, which I omitted. I find it annoying to buy a pound of bacon when I only need three slices. I also omitted the scallions from the herbed potato salad because I didn’t have them on hand.

German potato salad
Source: Adapted from Everyday Food, April 2005
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 pound small new potatoes, scrubbed
1 small red onion, sliced
1 tsp olive oil
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. In a medium pot, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, 20-25 minutes. Drain; cool slightly, and halve.
2. While potatoes are cooking, heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat and saute onion until tender, for 2-4 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together potatoes, sauteed onions, white wine vinegar, and Dijoin mustard. Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

German potato salad

Herbed potato salad
Source: Adapted from Everyday Food, June 2012
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 pound small Yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
3 scallions, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 Tbsp low-fat plain yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions
1. In a medium pot, bring potatoes to a boil in salted water over high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender when pierced with a fork, 15-20 minutes. Drain; cool slightly, and halve.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together potatoes, parsley, scallions, mayonnaise, yogurt, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Herbed potato salad

Roasted pumpkin seeds

Happy Halloween! We usually have a Halloween party at work, and this year we decided to carve pumpkins which was messy and funny and fun. And yes, that’s Honey Boo Boo front and center.

DynaMed pumpkins

I should have brought some containers or bags to save the seeds, but I forgot. So I only managed to save the seeds from one pumpkin, and I used them to make these roasted pumpkin seeds. I adapted the recipe from one that I have for the bar nuts at Union Square cafe in NYC, which are a perfect combination of spicy and sweet.

Roasted pumpkin seeds
Serves: 1-2

Ingredients
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds, separated from pumpkin pulp, rinsed and dried
1/4 tsp dried rosemary (or about 1 tsp fresh rosemary), chopped
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp canola or olive oil

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients together and spread evenly on a cookie sheet.
3. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until golden, and enjoy!

Ready for my close-up