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General Meals

Recipe: Gluten-Free Penne Alla Vodka

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

I am always on the lookout for new, healthy recipes, so when I saw a “tweet” last week from from Rocco DiSpirito about his low-fat version, I was all over it.

The recipe as DiSpirito had written it was not gluten-free, but it was simple enough to modify.  Additionally, I didn’t have any fresh basil, so I improvised a little more with kale.  My version turned out really good and I can’t wait to have leftovers tonight!

Penne Alla Vodka

(original recipe by Rocco DiSpirito, modified by me)

  • 8 oz Gluten-free Pasta – I used Jovial
  • 2 cups marinara sauce – I used Prego Three Cheese
  • Pinch of crushed red pepper
  • 1 container (7 oz) Greek yogurt – I used Dannon Plain (it is the only Dannon variety that is gluten-free)
  • 1 cup chopped steamed or sauteed kale (I used 365 Value Brand frozen chopped)
  • sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

  1. Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.
  2. While pasta is cooking, heat the pasta sauce & crushed red pepper.  Simmer for 5 minutes or so.
  3. Stir about 1/2 cup of marinara into the yogurt until smooth.  Stir this mixture back into the sauce.  Tempering the mixture helps prevent the yogurt from curdling.
  4. In a large bowl, toss drained pasta with kale & sauce.  Season with salt & pepper and top with fresh grated parmesan cheese.
  5. Enjoy!

I love how this turned out!  I am sure that it would be awesome with the fresh basil, but I love kale, so it worked.  You may notice that there is no vodka in this recipe.  As DiSpirito mentions at the beginning of his recipe, vodka is colorless and doesn’t give the traditional dish it’s color or flavor, the heavy cream does.  Swapping the heavy cream for Greek yogurt makes this dish much healthier.

Do you have any tricks for modifying traditional dishes to make them healthier?  I know most times I am focused on making a dish gluten-free, so I always try to make it healthier at the same time.

Gluten-Free Super Bowl Snacks

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 2 Comments

Super Bowl Sunday is quickly approaching. Some of my favorite appetizers include Buffalo Chicken Dip with Celery Sticks or Tortilla Chips, Chicken Wings, Appetizer Veggie Pizza, Veggie Tray with Dill Dip, Shrimp Cocktail, Fruit Skewers, Cheese & Crackers (Crunchmaster or Blue Diamond Nut Thins). Something we don’t have often, but my husband made the other day is Deviled Eggs.  Deviled Eggs are perfect to add to the repertoire for Super Bowl Sunday.

Deviled Eggs are naturally gluten-free as long as the ingredients you use are gluten-free. My husband is the pro at making the eggs, so I leave it up to him. I went to him this morning to get his recipe only to find that he doesn’t use one!  I will share his method and ingredients.

Aaron’s Deviled Egg ingredients:

  • 12 hard-boiled eggs (this last time he ended up with only 10 after losing 2 in a boiling accident)
  • Approximately 1/4 cup Hellman’s Canola Mayo (says gluten-free on the jar)
  • 1-2 tsp Spicy Brown Mustard (Trader Joe’s)
  • 1-2 tsp Yellow Mustard  (French’s)
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Paprika

Directions:

  1. Cut eggs in half & remove yolks.
  2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl & mix until creamy.  Adjust seasoning & ingredients to taste.
  3. Pipe mixture back into eggs and sprinkle with paprika.  Other topping ideas- scallions, chives, pickle relish, carrots, diced red or green peppers.

They turn out fantastic every time!  I wish I could cook as he does. Who would you like to see win the Super Bowl?

Recipe: Baked Macaroni & Cheese

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

With the cold days not going away anytime soon, I have been putting comfort foods on our menu. One of our favorites is Baked Macaroni & Cheese.

The kids love this meal and it is relatively easy to prepare and then reheat. It can even be frozen in individual portions to heat up on those crazy busy nights. I know we seem to be having a lot of those around here lately.  Maybe I’ll dedicate some time in the next week to stock up on some freezer meals.

Baked Macaroni & Cheese

  • 2.5 – 3 cups uncooked pasta (I used Goldbaum’s)
  • ¼ cup butter
  • ¼ cup gluten-free flour (Jules gluten-free Flour)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp ground mustard
  • ¼ tsp Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrin’s is GF)
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 – 4 cups shredded cheddar cheese (8 – 16 ounces, depending on how cheesy you want your macaroni & cheese; I use
  • 2% milk fat cheese from Kraft)
  • Bread Crumbs

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Cook macaroni as directed on package.  You many want to undercook slightly as baking the macaroni will cook it more.
  3. While macaroni is cooking, melt butter in 3-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat; Stir in Milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in cheese. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese is melted.
  4. Drain Macaroni. Gently stir macaroni into cheese sauce. Pour into greased (I use Pam) 2-quart casserole. Top with gluten-free breadcrumbs and spray top with Pam. Bake uncovered for 20 – 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 5 (1 cup servings).

Goldbaum’s gluten-free pasta is new to me, so I was excited to sample it.  It ranks right up there with some of the other great gluten-free pastas on the market and is very reasonably priced. Goldbaum’s pasta can be purchased on Amazon.com.

Recipe: Cream of Mushroom Pork Chops

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff Leave a Comment

Some might say I’m a bit obsessed with the new condensed soups from Pacific Natural Foods. I’ve made several casseroles with the soups and they all turned out deliciously. The green bean casserole I made over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend was the best version I’ve made to date. These soups are simply incredible!

The other night, I wasn’t feeling inspired about making dinner. The only thing I knew was that the meal needed to include pork chops. As usual, I went to food.com for some inspiration. I did a quick search for ‘baked pork chops’. Several recipes popped up so I decided to make a modified version of a couple of different ones. What I ended up with was a simple dish, but one that had a lot of flavor and great taste as well.

Cream of Mushroom Baked Pork Chops

Ingredients:

  • 4 pork chops
  • 1 carton Pacific Natural Foods Cream of Mushroom soup
  • 1 package of Ener-G crackers (crushed)
  • 1 TBS. olive oil
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • ½ t. pepper
  • 1 t. garlic powder
  • ½ C. milk (I used skim)

Directions:

  1. Mix pack of crushed crackers with grated cheese, garlic powder and pepper.
  2. Blend milk and beaten egg.
  3. Dip pork chops in milk/egg mixture and then dredge in cracker/cheese mixture.
  4. Heat olive oil in skillet to medium heat.
  5. Brown chops in skillet on each side, about four minutes per side.
  6. Transfer chops to baking dish (unless your browning pan is oven safe).
  7. Pour carton of soup over chops, covering each one evenly.
  8. Bake in 350 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes (longer for extra thick chops).

I served the moist pork chops with mashed potatoes and green beans. It was an easy weeknight meal that had a bit of a comfort food feel to it. Cream of Mushroom soup is a staple in our neck of the woods so I’m really excited to finally have a gluten-free version readily available. This product is definitely something I’m very grateful for.

To date I’ve used the Cream of Mushroom and Cream of Celery soups multiple times and each and everything I’ve made with them has turned out quite tasty. There is also a Cream of Chicken soup, but so far I’ve not come up with a reason to buy and use it. I never used the gluten version in my gluten eating days either. Keep in mind that these soups offer a little less volume than the Campbell’s version in a can. So far, this hasn’t been an issue in any of the recipes I’ve used the new soups for.

Gluten-Free Stuffing or Dressing?

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 3 Comments

So, what do you call it? Is it stuffing or dressing where you come from? I remember my grandmother (Dad’s mom) calling it dressing, but my parents always called it stuffing. Does the fact that it is stuffed in the bird not change the name for you? We call it stuffing and since I am a little freakish about the stuffing being cooked in the bird, we cook it in a baking dish outside of the turkey. I know that a lot of people would call that “dressing” based on the fact that the side dish is not actually “stuffed” inside of the turkey. Semantics.

The first year that I was gluten-free we tried a stuffing made from Ener-G gluten-free bread and I was not impressed. So much so that I almost abandoned the idea of stuffing from there on out. Then I remember cornbread. Why not make cornbread stuffing? Lots of people made stuffing from cornbread and I was sure that texture would be much better than what I had experienced with the Ener-G bread. So, cornbread it was.

As suspected, the stuffing turned out amazing! Even picky, non-gluten-free family members raved about it. Score! The first year I used Gluten-Free Pantry’s Yankee Cornbread Mix. Ever since I have made my own cornbread using the recipe from the back of the Quaker Corn Meal canister.

Cornbread

**From the back of the Quaker Yellow Corn Meal Box

***Double this for the stuffing

  • 1 ¼ cups Pamela’s Baking Mix
  • ¾ cup cornmeal (Used Bob’s Red Mill Stone Ground Cornmeal)
  • ¼ cup sugar (1/8 cup for stuffing cornbread)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt (I omitted this b/c there is salt in Pamela’s baking mix)
  • 1 cup buttermilk (the box says to use skim, I like buttermilk in my cornbread)
  • ¼ cup vegetable oil (I use canola)
  • 2 egg whites or 1 egg beaten (I used the beaten egg.

Directions:

Heat oven to 400. Pam 8 or 9-inch baking pan. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil, and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and the toothpick comes out clean. (I did 20 minutes).

The day of preparation.

Crumble the cornbread onto cookie sheets in a single layer & place in oven at 250 – 300 degrees and check frequently until it gets dried out, but not burnt. While you are doing this, you can prepare the sausage (I used Tennesee Pride Mild).

Melt butter in a large frying pan. Add chopped celery & onion & cook until translucent. Add seasonings – salt, pepper & poultry seasoning to taste. My Mom is the pro at this. You can always add more, so taste as you go.

Mix bread, sausage, and butter/celery/onion mixture together in a large bowl.

You will need to add broth to moisten the stuffing before placing it in the oven. How much depends on your preference. The more, the more moister. Cover & bake at 350 – 375 for 30-40 minutes. Take the cover off for the last 10 minutes or so to crisp up the top if you like.

So, whether you call it stuffing or dressing, make sure to make enough for leftovers. There is nothing like leftovers from Thanksgiving for breakfast before heading out for a long day of shopping on Black Friday.