Thanksgiving Wild Rice and French Lentil Stuffed Kabocha Squash

My family is very excited to celebrate another vegan Thanksgiving this year. Coming up with a menu is lots of fun and we've got our favorite sides like everyone else. The main dish is what seems to change every year. Having a stuffed something seems an appropriate idea so we are going to try a wild rice and lentil stuffed kabocha squash. Kabocha squash is actually a pumpkin (eaten in Japan)so if you can't find the kabocha, a cooking pumpkin would work too.

Many of you have asked me to post the recipe for this dish, but the truth is I'm going to be "winging" it (pun intended). I've never made it before but I am happy to tell you what I'm going to do.

Starting with cooking the pumpkin.Cut the top out the way you would if you were making a Jack-O-Lantern. Scoop out the seeds and rub the inside with olive oil, a sprinkle of sea salt and a smashed garlic clove. Place the squash in a large roasting pan with about 1/2 inch water in the bottom and cover with foil. Bake 375 for about 45 min or until it can be pierced with a fork.

The filling: I'm going to combine cooked wild rice (1/2 c dry), cooked quinoa (1/2 c dry) and cooked French lentils (1/2 c dry) with sauteed onion or leek, celery, garlic, herbs like sage or rosemary, toasted pine nuts, and probably mushrooms. If it doesn't hold together I'll put some in the food processor and pulse to get it to stick together and then add this back to the bowl. If I must, I may add some gluten-free bread crumbs or bread but I want to try to make this without bread.

The plan will then be to stuff this mixture into my baked kabocha shells, cover with foil so it doesn't burn, and bake 1/2 hour or longer. Bake with the squash top NEXT to the shell, not on top....the squash will change shape as it bakes and you may lose your top inside the pumpkin. Any extra stuffing can be baked in a separate dish.

I plan to make the stuffing either today or tomorrow, prebake the squash tomorrow and then on Thanksgiving I just have to stuff the filling into the squash and bake the last 1/2 hr.

Wishing everyone a joyful day surrounded by loving friends and family.
Melissa







          

Salad of the Week 1

I love to have a big salad for lunch most days but my salads have to be hearty enough to fill me and keep me going. Often the ingredients include items that need to be used up combined with items from the pantry. This week's salad used up some green cabbage I had, and satisfied my craving for artichoke hearts and sundried tomatoes.
Sorry no picture, I ate it up before realizing I didn't photograph it. :)

Slice half a small green cabbage into ribbons. Saute cabbage ribbons in olive oil until wilted, sprinkling with a pinch of sea salt.
Place cabbage in a bowl and add: 1 can drained and rinsed white beans, 1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes (not marinated in oil), 1/2 can artichoke hearts cut into 1/8's, a few Kalamata olives sliced.
Dressing is 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, a small garlic clove crushed, pinch of sea salt. Toss with salad.

Sweet Potato Biscuits

These are delicious gluten and dairy free sweet potato biscuits.
Start with a 16 oz can of pureed sweet potato (2 cups). Add 3 Tbsp melted Earth Balance Buttery Sticks and 1 Tbsp brown sugar.
In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup brown rice flour, 1/2 cup potato starch, and 1/2 cup sorghum flour. Stir with a wire whisk. Add 1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 4 tsp aluminum-free baking powder.
Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.
Grease a baking sheet and preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Scoop  about 2-3 Tbsp of dough into your hand and shape into a small disk, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Place on baking sheet. Should make about 15.
Melt another 1-2 Tbsp Earth Balance and brush this over the biscuits before baking.
Bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

La Riviera Trattoria

This is Maria. I had the pleasure of meeting Maria recently at a Celiac Support Group meeting at the Kogan Celiac Center at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, NJ. Maria was diagnosed with celiac a year ago and told the group her story. Maria's father is the chef-owner at La Riviera Trattoria in Clifton. Being the daughter of the chef, she of course began to mourn the loss of her delicious Italian foods. This led her to remake many of the family's recipes in ways that would allow her to continue to enjoy them. Thus, a gluten-free menu was developed for the restaurant which her family now shares with us.

You can imagine how excited I was to try her dad's place. My husband has been gluten and dairy free for over 4 years and has never been able to order pasta in a restaurant. Additionally, Maria assured me they would be able to accommodate the dairy restriction and make something for us that was vegetarian.

We went there to celebrate my husband's and niece's birthdays. Maria set up the whole menu for us and everything was ready to go when we got there. We started with bruschetta on GF crackers, followed by stuffed artichokes which were quite a treat, a salad, and then GF penne with a truffle oil that was spectacular!

Here is Maria's papa, Franco, the chef at La Riviera Trattoria. We had a lovely evening, stress free due to the wonderful care we were given at the restaurant. We plan to go back soon with friends.

If you go: call ahead and ask for Maria. She will put together a menu for you if you need other restrictions besides the GF menu. 

Buono Appetito!

Oatmeal of the Week 1

I love oatmeal for breakfast. My favorite is Bob's Red Mill Thick-Cut Rolled Oats, but these are not guaranteed gluten-free. If you have celiac, you will want to get Bob's Red Mill (or other brand) gluten-free rolled oats or steel-cut oats. Each batch is tested for gluten before labeling. The steel-cut oats are whole oats that have been pulverized; they take about 15-20 min to cook. Use 1 cup steel-cut oats to 3 cups water. For rolled oats, use 1/2 dry oats with 1 cup water. Now, to make it exciting, come back and check out my different posts on oatmeal of the week. Or post your favorite!

Oatmeal of the Week 1
1/2 cup dry rolled oats, 1/2 cup water & 1/2 cup favorite non-dairy milk, 1 Tbsp chopped dried cherries, grated rind of 1/2 orange, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon.
Bring water and milk to a boil, add rest of ingredients and cook until liquid is absorbed.
Serve with sliced almonds if desired. YUM

Larabar Fan of the Day!

http://www.larabar.com/fun/blog
Hey, I'm the Larabar fan of the day!! Check it out!

Valentine's Day Linzer Tarts

We have made these raspberry-filled linzer tarts for years on Valentine's Day. When we went gluten and dairy free, the recipe was reworked to fit our new nutritional needs. Over our gluten-free years I have played with the flours used in the dough and think this combination works quite well.Follow the flour recommendations and proportions closely for the best results.
1 cup tapioca flour
3/4 c brown rice flour
1/2 cup almond flour
3 Tbsp each quinoa flour and garbanzo flour
2 Tbsp sweet rice flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum1 cup Earth Balance non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
1 egg
1 tbsp lemon zest

12 oz all-fruit seedless raspberry jam
Organic confectioner's sugar

Combine all flours, baking powder, and xanthan gum in a medium bowl and whisk together.
In a separate bowl, beat margarine until creamy. Add sugar and beat until combined. Add egg and beat until creamy. Add flour mixture a little at a time and beat until combined. When flour is fully incorporated, add lemon zest and stir to distribute through dough.
Wrap the dough in waxed paper and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Unwrap dough and roll to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut heart shapes and place on lightly greased cookie sheets.Using a small circle cutter (I use the small circle from the biscuit cutter), cut out the center of every other cookie. You want an even number of whole hearts and hearts with a hole in the center.
Bake 350 for 10 min until lightly browned at the edges. Leave on sheets 3 min before removing with thin metal spatula to cooling racks.
Warm the jam over low heat in a small saucepan (do not burn).
Use a spoon to spread the jam over the bottom hearts. Top with hearts that have the holes.
Continue making these sandwiches until all the cookies are used.
Use a sifter to sprinkle the tarts with confectioner's sugar. Then use remaining jam to fill the holes.
The tarts freeze well in flat containers with waxed paper separating layers of cookies.