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!

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