Veggie Bowl with Easy Peanut Sauce (Gluten-Free & Vegan)

August 20, 2014October 5, 2014Leave a comment

This is one of my favourite quick dinners to make after the gym with my girlfriends. With a few of us doing the chopping and cooking it takes less than 30 minutes to prepare a healthy, fresh and delicious dinner. This recipe is also great on work nights because it makes the best lunches. It’s always a combination of rice noodles or rice, veggies and a quick peanut sauce we make with whatever we have on hand. The recipe below is general because these bowls are all about making something delicious and quick with what you have in your kitchen. There are many recipes for the best peanut sauce online but the two methods are super easy and delicious. To me this is the perfect indulgent but healthy gluten-free dinner that is almost too easy to make.

Quick Veggie Bowl

Prepare your rice or noodles (We used these amazing Brown Rice and Wakame Noodles).
Pan fry your tofu or protein of choice. We fried our tofu in sesame oil and added some gf tamari once it was getting crispy.
Prepare your veggies. We usually keep most of our veggies raw (julienning the peppers and grating carrots). We steamed the broccoli. Also great with brussels sprouts, bean sprouts, spinach, bok choy, mushrooms etc.
Prepare your bowls and add the peanut sauce.
Can be served with green onions, chopped peanuts, fresh herbs, sambal olek and limes on the side

Quick Peanut Sauce

In a pot combine about a cup peanut butter with half a can coconut milk (you can add more coconut milk depending or thickness and preference, I usually don’t measure). Bring it to a simmer over medium heat then lower heat. Add gluten-free tamari (or gluten-free soy sauce), sambal olek or hot sauce, a squeeze of lime, a little brown sugar, ginger or garlic to taste. All of these ingredients are optional. An alternative method if you are missing the coconut milk is to combine all the ingredients except for the coconut milk and add boiling water until you reach your desired consistency.

That’s it!

Easy Cauliflower Pizza Crusts (Gluten-Free & Dairy Free)

June 27, 2014March 19, 20152 Comments

I love cauliflower pizza crusts and breadsticks. When I get a major carb craving this pizza is always my go to recipe. What makes this version of cauliflower pizza great is the almond flour (it acts as a binder) and that there is no cheese in the crust (so you can put more on top). The crust really stays together and while it won’t be mistaken for real pizza, it’s just as delicious. Also, it’s fun to eat your veggies in pizza form. I love being able to eat too much “pizza” or a big serving of “breadsticks” and have it be healthy.

Cauliflower + Almond Flour Crusts

2 cups grated cauliflower florets (one small head will do)
3/4 cup almond flour
3 eggs
a little salt
a little pepper
1/2 tsp italian seasoning (I used fresh chives instead and any herbs will do)
1 tsp fresh garlic grated or finely chopped
2 tbsps nutritional yeast (this gives the pizza a cheesy flavour)

Heat oven to 450 F and line two baking trays with parchment.

I don’t have a food processor so I grated the whole head of cauliflower (I did this outside to avoid a mess). You want your cauliflower to look like grains of rice.

Beat the eggs and add all the other crust ingredients and combine, you can add more almond flour if it looks too liquidy.

Make four crusts on the baking sheet, about 1/4 inch thick. Place in oven and cook for 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven and add you desired toppings and throw it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Rotating the pans is a good idea.

I topped mine with marinara sauce, mozzarella, basil, pine nuts and veggies. These crusts hold sauce quite well and would be amazing with pesto.

For Breadsticks: I make them the same way and bake the cauliflower mixture on one baking sheet lined with parchment. I add cheese to the top and bake it the same way, cutting it in half to turn it. When it’s done I cut it into sticks and serve it with my favourite marinara sauce. I often add more herbs and spices to the sticks for extra flavour.

This recipe is inspired by Beard + Bonnet.

Easy & Delicious Coffee Cake (Gluten-Free with Dairy Free Option)

May 7, 2014March 19, 20152 Comments

This coffee cake is simple, easy to make and delicious. It makes the perfect late breakfast or afternoon snack. After seeing it on one of my favorite blogs I realized I already had all the ingredients I needed to prepare it on a recent lazy morning. Without a mixer or anything fancy I had this delicious breakfast/snack cake ready in no time. It reminds me of the cinnamon cake my mom used to make me as a special treat when I was little, except it’s gluten-free. If you’re a fan of basic cake with cinnamon this recipe is for you. The drizzle is super sweet and can be optional. It can be kept in the fridge and drizzled on individual slices of cake, instead of being poured over the entire thing.

Simple Gluten-Free Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 375 F.

For the cake batter:

1 egg beaten
1/4 cup butter or coconut oil softened (I used coconut oil to make mine dairy free)
1/2 cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour blend (I used Bod Red Mills)
1 tsp xanthan gum (if your flour mix does not have)
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking gf baking powder
pinch of salt

Grease an 8 x 8 inch baking dish with butter or coconut oil.

Combine wet ingredients: egg, butter (or coconut oil), almond milk and vanilla.

Sift dry ingredient together and mix into wet ingredients: gf flour, xanthan gum (if your flour mix does not have), sugar, baking powder and salt.

Once all combined pour cake batter into a baking dish and top with the cinnamon crumble below. Throw it in the oven for about 25 minutes. In my old oven it took closer to 30 minutes to set.

Let cool and serve with the optional sugar drizzle below.

For the cinnamon crumble:

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsps gluten-free flour
2 tsps ground cinnamon
2 tbsps melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used slivered almonds)

Combine in a medium bowl. It is easiest to use your hands to mix the crumble and distribute it over the batter.

For the Sugar Drizzle:

This is to be added after baking and can be optional

1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1 tbsp almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Adapted from this recipe from Haut Appetit

Gluten-Free in Montreal: Invitation V

April 19, 20141 Comment

Vermicelli rice noodles in a creamy curry & coconut sauce with its julienne vegetable, fresh sprouts & coriander

Invitation V in Mile End is a vegan restaurant that features many gluten-free items which are clearly marked on their menu. Like most restaurants in Montreal they cannot guarantee no cross-contamination but they paid great attention to the fact that my meal had to be gluten-free. They noted that I was celiac when I made my reservations and when each dish was served they noted what on the table was gluten-free (for the items my friends ordered). The menu is completely vegan, but I think the menu would please most meat eaters.

The restaurant has a good atmosphere, the service was great and the meal was delicious. The only negative was the dessert, the “cheeseless” cake was inedible, which was a disappointment since my friends and I usually love vegan desserts. My two girlfriends and I were happy trying a new place that catered to my allergy and my vegan best friend.

Compared to most restaurants Invitation V takes a lot more care to provide a gluten-free dining experience. I would definitely go back, minus the cake. The prices are about average, the mains were between $14-$18.

I went for dinner, but they also do lunch and brunch.

Invitation V

254 Rue Bernard Ouest,
Montreal, QC, H2V 1T5
(514) 271-8111

http://www.invitationv.com/

Green Salad with balsamic vinaigrette

French fries

New-Orleans crab less cake served with Cajun rice and basilica sauce

Nachos- The Perfect Gluten-Free Snackfood

February 18, 2014February 19, 20142 Comments

Sometimes we need to be reminded of the basics, at least I do. This isn’t really a recipe, more of a reminder of how good nachos can be. This winter has been pretty brutal and sometimes you need a little comfort food. Nachos are the perfect comfort food in my books. They are delicious, filling, crowd pleasing and super easy to prepare.

So get out your favorite corn chips, cheese and veggies and make the best nachos ever. Sometimes snack food for dinner is just what you need! And it’s kinda healthy, look there’s vegetables! We didn’t this time but you can add beans, chicken or beef for more protein!

Ingredients:

Corn chips (most are gluten-free, but always check!)
Grated cheddar cheese
Veggies: chopped red peppers, jalapenos, red onion, green onion and avocado (add the avo only after baking)

After baking in a 450 F oven for 5-10 minutes (or as much time it took to brown the cheese a little, you can also broil) we added chopped avocado and served with salsa and lime on the side.

Tip: tinfoil is the lazy nacho makers BFF! Minimal clean-up.

There are no rules! Try a bunch of different combos!

Some more ideas:

blue corn chips or flavored chips
beans (black beans or refried beans)
more protein options: chicken or tofu
different cheeses (you can used Daiya for vegan nachos)
more veggie options: tomatoes, corn, sprouts..
olives or pickled jalapenos
fresh herbs (coriander or chives work well)
serve with : sour cream, guacamole…

Super Chocolatey Flourless Cupcake Brownies

February 6, 2014March 19, 2015Leave a comment

Don’t say those 2 words! Gluten-Free! Oh the judgement! Blame it on a few really, really bad gluten-free products or some of my early attempts at gluten-free baking, but gluten-free shouldn’t equal tasteless, dry and disgusting. I definitely had my share of baking failures before being diagnosed with celiac disease. Bad food happens, gluten-free or not, and like anything there is a learning curve to cooking and baking 100% gluten-free in gluten-filled world. To me gluten-free now means health. It means eating without illness. And as someone who loves food it means preparing and eating amazing food everyday that happens to be gluten-free.

I made these brownies for my friends recently and they all agreed they tasted like amazingly delicious brownies and not all gluten-free. It’s a bit of a backhanded compliment, but I’ll take it. So make a batch of these and remind everyone that gluten-free is great and especially great when it means those with severe food allergies can eat great food with everyone else.

Super Chocolately Flourless Brownie Bites

1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter (you can use vegetable oil if you want them to be dairy free)
4 eggs
2 tsps vanilla
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used almonds)

Preheat the oven t0 350 F.

Lightly grease your baking pans, you can use: mini muffin tins, a muffin pan or a 9×13 baking dish.

Mix the sugars and butter in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until well combined. Mix in the eggs and add the vanilla. Beat for about two minutes. In a separate bowl mix together the cocoa and salt, add the to the batter and blend until smooth. Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into prepared pans and pop them into the oven.

I chose to make cupcake and mini cupcake brownies. I would recommend about 20 minutes cooking time for the minis, 30 minutes for the larger cupcakes and 25-30 minutes if you are making classic brownies in a pan. If using the muffin pans make sure to let the brownies cool before removing them from the pan. The baking time may very depending on your oven so make sure to check on them.

These are perfect on their own, with icing or with ice cream.

This recipe was inspired by a great blog: Yammie’s Gluten Freedom

The GF BFF

Your guide to gluten-free living in Montreal: because everyone needs a gluten-free BFF

Tag: dietary restrictions