Gluten-free Pasta with Parsley, Capers, Garlic, and Vegan Mozzarella

     Gluten-free Pasta with Parsley, Capers, Garlic,                                 and Vegan Mozzarella

      This recipe is fast and easy! I have growing teenage boys and they are loving this pasta dish. Boil a large pot of water and add 4 cups of pasta. I use Lundberg rice pasta, penne or rotini, and I mix it with Tolerant green or red lentil pasta for protein. 2 cups of rice pasta and 2 cups of lentil pasta. Cook for 10 minutes together and drain and rinse with cold water. I like these brands because they cook together perfectly. 

1/2 cup olive oil
1 bunch organic curly parsley, rinsed and chopped
2 TBS organic capers 
1 cup vegan mozzarella, I use Daiya! 
4-6 cloves pressed garlic

Mix it all up in a big bowl and then mix in your already cooked pasta. This recipe makes 4 servings. If the fresh garlic is too strong for you, replace with one tablespoon of garlic powder. 

Chocolate Gluten-free Vegan Death Star Waffles

           Chocolate Chip Chocolate Death Star                              Gluten-Free Vegan Waffles
                     A long time ago in a kitchen far, far away...
                       This year has been the year, if you love 
                                       Star Wars, to find just about any 
                                product you can think of! 
                             I have a recipe for Blueberry 
                          Waffles, but I decided to go with
                              the dark side! Chocolate chip 
                             Chocolate Death Star Waffles!

2 cups brown rice flour
1 cup garbanzo flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1/2 TBS cream of tartar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar of choice, I'm trying out date sugar
2 cups warm water
1/3 cup refined coconut oil
1 cup chocolate chips
1 TBS vanilla

Mix up your dry ingredients, then add in warm water with the vanilla and coconut oil so that your coconut oil will not be solid. Mix well then add in chocolate chips. Preheat your waffle iron. I noticed my Death Star waffle maker doesn't get as hot as my regular waffle iron. They took about 7 minutes to cook, but in both of my other waffle irons, regular and Belgium, they cook in 5 minutes. I got 5 Death Star waffles with this recipe using 2 scoops from the large cookie scooper that measures one ounce per scoop. This waffle iron makes Death Star sized waffles! Using my Blueberry Waffles recipe, I got 7 waffles. Here is the Blueberry Waffles recipe:                Blueberry Waffles 

The Death Star waffle iron is available exclusively on  ThinkGeek.com

Gluten-free Corn-free Forbidden Rice Taco Shells

I got a CucinaPro electric tortilla press. It has saved me so much time! I have refined my forbidden rice taco shells to be thinner and tastier. I press and cook them on the electric press, then lay them on a taco rack and bake them to make them crunchy.

  First I cook the Forbidden rice, I prefer Lotus brand rice. One cup dry cooks 3 cups. I cook 1 cup with 3 cups of water. This is very important! It is different from the package instructions. This is so it gets really mushy and will puree into a dough without killing my food processor. I let it sit about 30 minutes after it is done so I don't burn myself! So after that you add it into a food processor and puree it into a sticky dough. 

Take the Forbidden rice dough and add in:

2 cups black bean flour
2 tsp. salt
8 TBS olive oil

Mix everything into a sticky dough but you should still be able to handle it. If it is too dry it will crack. Your ball should be about the size of a golf ball.

Spray both side of the electric press after it is ready to cook on.  Quickly press the ball and lift up quickly. 

 Let it cook for a minute and then flip it! 

 Cook for a few minutes, then remove.

These will lay onto the taco rack, but be careful and do not bend them or they will crack. If you let them sit for too long they will cool and crack when you try to put them on the taco rack. So cover the plate with another plate to keep them warm.

Cook for 10 minutes in a preheated oven. 400 degrees. 

 Perfect!

 Enjoy!

These tacos are a lot of work! But if you can't have corn and you have Celiac disease they are well worth the work. I changed a lot of the recipe from my original because of experimenting and getting my new best friend, the electric tortilla press. Do not hold the press down or you will explode the dough and then it is ruined. So press it quickly and raise it back up to let the steam out. If you hear the sound of a million dying souls, lift it up! 

Gluten-free Vegan Cupcake Lasagna

       

      Did you miss me? I've been gone for awhile. I started homeschooling my son with autism and liked it so much I started homeschooling both of my kids. Needless to say, I've been a little busy. I haven't stopped cooking! Just haven't been able to blog. I have a few recipes up my sleeves, so stay tuned. One of my biggest issues right now is arsenic in rice. I'm still using rice products but not daily and I am following safety guidelines.

        Gluten-free Vegan Cupcake Lasagna

1 cupcake pan

12 cupcake holder

1 box of gluten-free lasagna noodles cooked to al dente and cut in half

1 eggplant sliced into 12 round pieces about 1/4 inch thick and grilled or baked until tender

1 or 2 zucchini sliced into 12 pieces about an 1/8 inch thick and grilled or baked until tender

12 TBS of pesto

1 jar or cup of homemade tomato sauce of choice

1 or 2 bags of Daiya or your choice of vegan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425. Line the muffin pan with cupcake holders. Take half of a noodle and press it into the pan with the edges sticking out of the sides. Lay one cooked eggplant round in each holder. Add 1 TBS of pesto in each cup. Follow with 1 cooked zucchini in each cup. Top with sauce then cheese. I put a liberal amount of sauce on but not so much it will cook over or make the cupcake soggy and too messy for my kids to eat with their hands. of course use as much cheese as you like! Bake for 30 minutes and let cool for 15 minutes and they are ready to eat. 

I use a cast iron grill pan preheated in my oven to cook the eggplant and zucchini lightly coated in olive oil in the oven on 450 for 20 minutes. You can also lay them out on a cookie sheet with parchment and cook them at the same temperature and time. I also use this pesto recipe: http://www.noglutenvegan.blogspot.com/2010/12/spicy-vegan-pesto.html

I make the pesto ahead of time and freeze them in a silicone ice cube tray so they are ready to use. You can see the frozen pesto in the middle picture. It melts fast at room temperature so you can smooth it out. 

Perfect for lunch! 

Gluten-free Vegan Artichoke Bake

                        Artichoke Heart Bake


This dish is easy and great for a glutened recovery. It has 7 simple ingredients and isn't bland but won't upset your stomach. 

8 to 12 ounces of frozen artichoke hearts or canned
12 pitted Kalamata olives halved
2 TBS capers
4 to 5 fresh basil leaves julienned
1 pint of cherry tomatoes halved
1 lemon 
1/4 olive oil



Mix everything into a baking dish and squeeze the lemon into the mix. If you are using frozen artichokes do not preheat the oven! Place in oven and cook on 400 for 40 minutes, stirring after 20 minutes. This dish is good hot or cold.

Gluten-free Vegan Tortillas

In light of Food for Life rice tortillas containing gluten, I am scrambling for a replacement for my son's favorite meal, the Mexican Pizza. Well, this is what I've got so far. I also decided to go grain-free in light of the arsenic reported in rice. (We just can't win, can we?) It does bend and can be folded. It is a lot like a crepe in the way it is cooked. I have a cast iron pan that is like a crepe pan. I have 3 actually because I cook so much. I put them in the oven to preheat at least 10 minutes before I start cooking. Be very careful because that cast iron is hot!!

                                Gluten-free Vegan Tortillas 
                                                    AKA crepe
                                                             

1 cup Garbanzo bean flour
2 TBS ground Chia or Flax
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
2 cups of water 




Mix dry ingredients then add in water slowly and mix until there are no lumps. This batter is very thin! Let sit about 30 minutes and preheat cast iron pan at 425, you can use a skillet if you don't have the pan I described. Once everything is ready, pull the pan out and sit it on top of the stove. Spray a generous amount of oil each time so they don't stick. I used a Misto with refined coconut oil. Pour 1 cup of batter into the pan and cover the whole pan with batter by tilting it around. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Then flip it and return it back into the oven for 5 more minutes. These are bendy and do not crack. They are more like flour tortillas than corn, and not at all like the dry cracking Food for Life tortillas.  

Here is the link to a post I read last night about the rice tortilla.  http://gfalert.blogspot.com/2012/03/food-for-life-tortillas-millet-bread.html

Here is their statement. 
http://www.foodforlife.com/about-us/press-releases

Here is a link about arsenic in rice. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/02/16/146994249/yes-theres-arsenic-in-your-rice-but-is-that-bad


Since December I have been having severe stomach issues and continued eating my regular foods but I was rotating them trying to figure out what the cause was. I cut out the Mexican Pizza and anything with spices 2 weeks ago. My stomach finally stopped hurting about 4 days ago, but I am still babying it. I really am hoping this news was my answer. I'd rather have arsenic than gluten! But I am going to try to avoid both. 

Gluten-free Vegan Blueberry Waffles

So I asked the kids what they wanted for lunch, "I'll make whatever you want." The answer was Blueberry Waffles!! This recipe is simple and yummy!

             Gluten-free Vegan Blueberry Waffles


2 cups Brown Rice Flour
1 cup Tapioca Flour
1 cup Garbanzo Flour
6 TBS ground Chia Seeds (can substitute flax or egg replacer for 2 eggs)
1 TBS Cream Of Tartar
1/2 TBS Baking Soda
1 tsp Xanthan Gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS of Vanilla or Cinnamon (your choice)
3 cups Water
1/2 cup Refined Coconut Oil 
2 TBS Agave Nectar
1 cup Blueberries (I use organic frozen wild blueberries) 


Preheat the waffle maker to the highest setting. Mix all the dry ingredients first, then add all wet ingredients except for the blueberries. The batter is going to be thicker than the glutened batter, not too thick but it will not be runny. This keeps your waffles from being a gel on the inside and burnt of the outside! Add in the blueberries last. Have a non-stick spray on hand to spray the waffle maker between each waffle or it will stick! Use 1/2 cup of batter for each waffle. Spray, drop in batter, wait 4 to 5 minutes, and remove with a silicone spatula. This recipe makes 6 waffles. I use coconut oil in a Misto that I keep on the back of my stove so it doesn't solidify. If you ever run across a soy-free non-stick spray please leave me a message. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce! I used Vanilla Agave syrup.