Chickpeas with Pearl Onions, Artichokes and Roasted Red Peppers (vegan)

This is a recipe from the Canadian Living website, with my own twist, of course.

You will need:

• 2 red peppers
• 1 bag of pearl onions
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts
• 1 tbsp. white wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
• Salt and pepper 

First you need to roast the red peppers.  Put them on a baking sheet or in a shallow casserole dish and put them under the broiler until they are blackened all over.  You will need to turn them.  Put them in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Once cool, peel them.  The skin will come off easily.  Cut in half and remove the seeds.  Then cut the peppers into 1/4 inch strips and put them to the side.

Next, peel the onions.  This is not as drastic as you may think.  Put the pearl onions in a sauce pan - skin and all - and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute.  Rinse in cold water.  The skin will come off of these easily as well.

Put the onions in a large skillet, 1/2 cup a water, chili flakes, and oil from the artichokes.  Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until no liquid remains. Add in artichokes, chickpeas and red pepper.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste and turn off heat.

Toss with olive oil, white wine vinegar and lemon juice.

Great Gluten-free Find

I found this tea biscuit mix at Metro.  It's from a PEI company called Duinkerken.  They advertise that you won't be able to tell their products are gluten-free.  These tea biscuits were pretty darn close to the real thing.

I had 2 (yes, 2) tonight with butter and jam (I don't usually have both).  My co-worker, Steve, makes wonderful jams and salsa each year.  I had his raspberry jam on these tonight.

I thought this was one of the foods I'd have to forever sacrifice - not anymore!

Peanut Thai Noodles (vegan)

This recipe came from my friend, Gail's blog.  Wow, this was good.

You will need:

• 1/2 package of thick rice noodles
• 2 cups of nappa cabbage, shredded
• 2 cups broccoli flowerettes
• 1/4 + 1 tbsp. vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• Vegetable oil

First, put the rice noodles in a large bowl.  Cover noodles with boiling water. Cover bowl,  Yes, it's this easy.

Put nappa and broccoli in a large pot with a little water in the bottom.  Let it steam for about 10 minutes.

In a sauce pan brown garlic in some oil and add chili flakes.  Melt in peanut butter and 1/4 cup of vegetable stock. Turn off heat and stir in honey, soy sauce and remaining 1 tbsp. vegetable stock.

When the vegetables are tender, drain any excess water off. Drain rice noodles and stir in with vegetables.  Stir in peanut sauce.

Seriously, this is really easy and really good.  

Thin Yeast Crust Pizza

Well, my quest for a decent pizza crust continues.  As Rach says, this one isn't as bad as the last one, but it still isn't what I'm searching for. It has much more flavour and texture using the yeast.  I based this recipe from Betty Hagman's book The Gluten-Free Gourmet.

You will need:

• 1 package of quick dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 2/3 cup rice flour
• 1/3 cup potato flour
• 1 tbsp. potato flour
• 1 1/2 tsp., melted shortening
• 1 tsp. salt

In bowl dissolved yeast and sugar in warm water until yeast bubbles and quantity doubles.  Add in the rest of the ingredients and add extra water (if necessary) until dough resembles cake frosting.

Spread on a stone way baking sheet or pizza round.  Top with pizza sauce, cheese and desired toppings.  Bake at 425F for 25 to 30 minutes. Let it rest for 15 minutes or so before serving. 

Mexican Lasgana

This recipe came from my friend, Ruth.  It originally was a meat recipe, but I tweaked it to make it vegetarian.  The results were amazing.

You will need:

• 1 cup TVP
• 2 cups water
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp. chili flakes
• 1 jar of salsa con queso
• 1/4 cup. salsa
• 1 cup cheddar, shredded
• 1 package of gluten-free tortillas
• Vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper 
• Non-stick cooking spray

Rehydrate the TVP with the water and set aside. Saute onion, jalapeno, red pepper, garlic and chili flakes in vegetable oil. Add chili powder and cumin.  Stir until spices become fragrant.  Stir in TVP and kidney beans.  Stir in half the jar of chili con queso. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble, spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.  Spread salsa on the bottom of the dish.  Place 2 tortillas in dish.  Add half of mixture.  Place 2 more tortilla and other half of mixture.  Top with 2 tortillas and the other half of salsa con queso.  Top with shredded cheddar.

Bake for half an hour, uncovered in a 350F oven.

Good Gluten-free Find - Birthday Cake

This is more of a good gluten-free find opposed to a recipe. Today is my birthday, and, Karen, brought me a gluten-free cake mix.

I made it for myself today and it was very good for gluten-free  I topped it with Duncan Hines icing.

This icing is gluten-free.  It was fast, easy and pretty darn good..

Happy birthday to me...I'm 27 (again)!

Arugula and Beans Pasta

Rach and I liked the Arugula and Beans so much, we thought it would be great in pasta.

You will need:

• 1 batch of Arugula and Beans
• 1 package of gluten-free pasta
• Olive oil
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

Prepare the arugula and beans.  Boil pasta and drain. Mix in arugula and beans.  Add olive oil, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

That's it.