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Recipe: Gluten-Free Mexican Dish

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

My kids are both fans of most things Mexican, as long as you leave out the onions and peppers & you make the tomatoes undetectable. They love nachos, quesadillas, tacos, enchiladas, Mexican pizzas and burritos. The thing I love about them loving the previous mentioned items is that they are easy to prepare and most are naturally gluten-free.

The only sub I have to make is for the tortillas in the quesadillas & burritos. I could make the quesadillas with smaller corn tortillas, but we prefer the larger ones. For the tortillas I either use La Tortilla Factory Light or Dark Teff Tortillas or Food for Life’s Brown Rice Tortillas. If I don’t have one of the above items on the menu each week, boy do I hear about it!

I am going to share some of our favorite ways to eat Mexican below.

Easy Enchilada Bake

  • 1 pound ground meat (turkey or beef or even crumbled tofu would work)
  • Taco seasoning for the meat
  • 1-2 cans refried beans (Trader Joe’s, Old El Paso & Ortega are all GF)
  • 2 cans Hormel Chili w/Beans (some of the other varieties are not GF, so make sure to read the label)
  • 10 – 12 corn tortillas
  • Cheddar Cheese (I used almost 2 cups)
  • Onions, olives, jalapenos (optional to add in before wrapping up the enchilada)

Directions:

  1. Brown ground meat and add taco seasoning per directions on packet or container.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 and warm up your beans and chili.
  3. Warm your tortillas up in micro according to pkg. directions.
  4. Spread a little chili (not too much, you need to top the whole casserole with chili at the end) in the bottom of a glass pyrex dish.
  5. Start to assemble your enchiladas: tortilla, beans, meat, cheese…then roll up and place seam side down in pyrex dish. Repeat until you are done. I do 6-8 length wise, then I stuff the remainder in along the side.
  6. Top with remaining chili and then cheese. Cover and bake for 30 – 45 minutes or until cheese is all melty and casserole is bubbly.
  7. Let cool for 5-10 minutes; cut and serve.

Mexican Pizzas
*This is a different take on the ones the kids like (refried beans, taco meat & cheese)

My different take on a Mexican Pizza:

  • black beans (drained & rinsed) mixed with a touch of sriracha
  • crumbled goat cheese
  • avocado
  • chopped tomatoes
  • plain Greek Fage
  • Frank’s Red Hot
  • corn tortillas

Directions:

  1. Take soft corn tortillas & place them on an oven sheet @ 350 for about 10 minutes on one side & 3-4 minutes on the other side, until crisp, but not overdone.
  2. Top with the bean mixture & goat cheese and pop back in the oven until the cheese gets soft & melty.
  3. Top with remaining toppings & any additional that you wish to add.

Nachos

Making Nachos is like painting a picture. You start with a blank canvas (the chips) and then add your different colors & interpretations (toppings) to the canvas. My kids like them rather bland & cheesy.

  • Bag of tortilla chips (we like Tostitos Scoops Baked)
  • 1-2 can of Hormel Chili w/Beans
  • Cheese
  • Sour Cream

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Spread chips out on baking sheet & top with warmed chili & cheese.
  3. Bake until cheese & chili are bubbly – about 10 or so minutes.
  4. Top with sour cream & enjoy.

I like to add olives, lettuce, tomatoes, banana peppers, sriracha or Red Hot to mine, too. I also sub out the chili for refried beans on occasion.

Quesadillas

Again, Quesadillas can be made any way you want them to be. The kids love refried beans & cheese. I prefer things a little more wacky.

  • Lentils seasoned with taco seasoning
  • Roasted vegetables (zucchini, carrots & eggplant)
  • Hummus
  • Feta Cheese
  • gluten-free Flour Tortilla
  • Red Hot or Sriracha

Directions:

  1. Spray frying pan with Pam & heat over med – med-high heat.
  2. Warm tortilla for a short period (no more than 15 – 30 seconds) in the microwave to make it pliable.
  3. Fill with your goodies, old & place in pan. Spray top of quesadilla with Pam
  4. Cook on one side until the underside is slightly browned.
  5. Flip & cook until browned & warmed throughout.

Burritos

For my burritos I like to re-create the Chipotle burrito. I love the cilantro-lime rice that Chipotle makes, so I will often cook up some basmati rice & season with S & P, fresh lime juice & cilantro just so I can stuff it in a burrito. I have only had success making burritos with the La Tortilla Factory GF Tortillas. The Food for Life Tortillas work great for wraps or quesadillas, but not so well for all the folding involved with the burrito. Even the La Tortilla Factory Tortillas must be handled with care & heated to just the right temperature before filling & folding. If it ends up cracking, it still tastes good, right? That is what counts. Now, onto the process.

Fillings:

  • Cilantro-Lime Rice
  • Refried Beans
  • Taco Seasoned Lentils or Meat
  • Cheddar Cheese
  • Banana Peppers
  • Black Olives
  • Tomatoes (cut out the seeds to avoid a soggy mess)

Place the warm fillings on top of the warm tortilla & gently fold. Bake at 350 for 10 or so minutes or until lightly browned. Top with hot sauce or salsa. I am sorry that I don’t have a picture of my latest creation, but it was devoured too quickly!

As you can see there are many simple, gluten-free Mexican meals that can be made right in your own home.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Breading for Chicken Fingers

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

I am always getting consistent requests for 3 different foods from my son. The boy certainly knows what he likes. He loves tacos, pizza & chicken fingers. We eat a lot of tacos & pizza here, but chicken fingers require a little more work from scratch. Over the past 4 years, I have tried out a number of breading mixtures & methods. I will outline them below.

One of the first ways that I attempted to make chicken fingers was by using Ener-G Bread Crumbs, cornmeal & seasonings. I dipped the chicken strips in the egg and then the breading mixture & then fried or baked in the oven. While this method & these ingredients work okay, it isn’t our favorite way to eat chicken fingers. I have found that the Ener-G Bread Crumbs work better in meatballs or meatloaf than in breading. Ener-G Bread Crumbs can be found in many grocery stores as well as health food stores & on Ener-G’s website.

Another method I have tried is using a recipe that actually came from the Bisquick box, which we all know is not gluten-free. You can view the recipe here. As I mention in the recipe, I use Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix in place of the Bisquick. This is a very good recipe, however, it is lacking some of the crunches that are found in the two methods that are coming up. Pamela’s can be found in most grocery stores, as well as on Amazon.com.

When General Mills converted their Rice Chex recipe to be gluten-free, it made a lot of people happy. Not only did it open a new door for breakfast, but homemade chex mix and breading! This recipe turned out fantastic & they disappeared so fast that I didn’t even get a picture of the finished product! This method is one of the top requested methods for chicken fingers in our house. Rice Chex can be found in grocery stores and on Amazon.com in bulk.

Lastly, I just recently tried the brand new, Kinnikinnick Panko Style Bread Crumbs. I followed the directions on the back of the box for breading chicken and while the chicken & breading had an amazing crisp, like that of a gluten-filled breading, there was not a lot of flavors. I did add additional seasonings to the Panko Style Bread Crumbs, but I guess it was not enough. I am usually very conservative when it comes to salt in recipes, and use other spices for flavor, but these bread crumbs definitely need salt. I went to read some reviews on the crumbs to see if it was just me, and while I didn’t find any reviews on the Panko Bread Crumbs, I did find some on the Crispy Chicken Coating Mix. The consensus there was also that there was no flavor. So, it looks like if you are looking for the crunch & texture of a great breading, this is your best choice, however, remember to season liberally. Kinnikinnick Panko Style Bread Crumbs can be purchased on Kinnikinnick’s website.

Here is a picture of the meal I created using the Kinnikinnick Panko Style Bread Crumbs:

Do you have a favorite bread crumb or breading mixture recipe? Have you tried the new Kinnikinnick Panko Style Bread Crumbs?

Recipe: Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan

Last Updated on by the Celiac-Disease.com Staff 1 Comment

Before our house was gluten-free, we never made Chicken Parmesan because we could order it when dining out. Truly authentic Chicken Parmesan would surely take a lot of time to prepare – homemade sauce, the finest Italian cheese and all that. However, we’re neither Italian or quite that persnickety about cooking.

For the last four years the only times I’ve had Chicken Parmesan was when I’ve made it at home. I’ve found that a very tasty version of this dish can be made fairly easily and quickly without a lot of muss and fuss. Each time I’ve made this classic dish, my husband raves about it. Though I agree that it’s delicious, there isn’t much work involved in making it so.

Gluten-Free Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

  • Boneless chicken breasts (one per person)
  • Parmesan cheese
  • Italian red sauce (we use Newman’s Own Tomato & Basil sauce with a little Italian Blend spice)
  • Gluten-free flour blend (we use Jules flour now but Gluten-Free Pantry works fine too)
  • Eggs (optional, not needed with Jules flour)

Instructions:

  • Coat chicken breasts with flour (use egg wash if your flour does not coat well without it – with Jules flour, the egg step can be skipped if desired).
  • Put a little olive oil in saute pan over medium heat and saute coated chicken until brown on each side. Remove from heat.
  • Spray baking dish with cooking spray and place chicken breasts in the dish. Top with Italian style red sauce and shredded Parmesan cheese.
  • Bake in 375 degree pre-heated oven for approximately 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

We serve the chicken over gluten-free pasta mixed with a little red sauce. By adding some green veggies and a nice green salad, you have a hearty tasty meal that’s deliciously gluten-free. Last week when I made this, I used Tagliatelle pasta from Schar but any gluten-free pasta will work. Schar pasta is made in Italy and is an exceptional gluten-free pasta. It’s available in some stores and from the Gluten-Free Trading Company.

Most gluten-free flours will work well as a coating for chicken, crab cakes, onions and other savory things. When baking gluten-free foods the type of flour is very important but for coating foods, the choice of flour is not that important. You want to avoid flours with strong flours that might take away from your dish but simple flours like rice, tapioca, and cornstarch all work fine for coating purposes. Using flours with a lot of xanthan gum for fried foods might result in a gummy texture. If you use a flour blend with xanthan gum in it, don’t add any extra when cooking in hot oil.

To save money, buy less expensive flours for coating needs and save the high end mixes for gluten-free baking. Gluten-free baked goods are much less forgiving than foods that have just a little flour in them – a sauce or quiche for instance. It’s hard to get away with penny pinching on flour for pie crusts, breads and treats. Thought there might not be many, there are a few ways to save money when cooking gluten-free without sacrificing great taste. This delicious Chicken Parmesan proves that point.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Crab Bisque

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

We were snowed in over the weekend in Atlanta and it was freezing cold. With the wind chill it felt like it was zero outside, which is not normal here to say the least. To stay as warm as possible we stayed in and enjoyed some great gluten-free meals. I made one of our favorite soups, Crab Bisque, which calls for flour. We used Jules gluten-free flour which works well in most any gluten recipe. The company sent me a bag of their excellent flour. The bisque made with Jules gluten-free flour was one of the best I’ve made. The flour created a perfect rue, just as if I’d used wheat flour in the pan.

Since we finally found the Blue Horizon Organic gluten-free appetizers at Super Target, we had the Fish & Chip Bites with our soup instead of corn muffins. To include something healthy, we had a nice green salad as well. The Fish & Chip Bites were excellent and we’ll be trying the Crab Cake Bites soon. Each of the four options are $4.99 at Target in Atlanta. They are in the health food freezer which is not with the other frozen food. Please note if you find one of these products with malt listed in the ingredients, the malt is made from corn. The products are tested by a third party to ensure they are gluten-free. So many consumers were concerned over the term malt on the label that the company switched from corn malt vinegar to apple cider vinegar in August 2009.

Gluten-Free Crab Bisque

Ingredients: 

  • 2 tablespoons gluten-free flour blend (plain rice or bean flours will work here)
  • 2 tablespoons butter (I use unsalted)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper (or to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder (low sodium version is best)
  • 6 tablespoons minced green onions
  • 1 cup half-and-half
  • 1/2 cup skim milk (use 1 cup for thinner bisque)
  • 1 pound fresh crab meat (or two cans of crab meat – use one can for budget friendly dish)
  • 1/2 cup cooking Sherry

Directions:

  • In a medium saucepan over low heat, melt butter and stir in flour, white pepper, salt, chicken bouillon powder and 4 tablespoons of the minced onions.
  • Turn heat up to medium and stir occasionally until soup thickens.
  • Add remainder of combined milks and the crab.
  • When soup reaches desired thickness, add Sherry and stir, cook one minute and remove from heat.
  • Garnish with remaining minced onions.
  • Serve with green salad and Pamela’s corn muffins.

This isn’t the healthiest soup in the world but it is one of the best we make at home. Since gluten-free soup is fairly difficult to find when dining out, we have a lot of soup in the winter at home. For the best ready-made frozen soups, check out Kettle Cuisine. All ten flavors are gluten-free and several are dairy free as well.

Progresso has several gluten-free options now and they are finally labeled as such. Check the listings on the new Live gluten-freely website. Please note that there are a couple of soups missing from the list on that site. The Chicken Rice with Vegetables soup (not to be confused with Chicken with Wild Rice) is clearly labeled gluten-free.

Recipe: Gluten-Free Spinach Ball

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

This recipe originally called for seasoned bread crumbs and it was through many trial and error experiments that I finally figured out how to make them deliciously gluten-free. I tried about every cracker on the market before deciding that Ener-G Onion Crackers work superbly in this recipe. If you use another cracker, these might not come out right. The plain Ener-G crackers don’t work as well as the crunchier Onion Crackers, though they run a close second to the onion flavored version. Gluten-free breadcrumbs – ready-made or home made don’t work well in this recipe either. At least at our house, none of those options made an excellent product in terms of both taste and texture.

Because the only store that carried the Onion Crackers here stopped, I have to order them from Amazon.com but with free shipping, it’s no bother at all. I serve the crackers (only the onion version) to gluten eaters often and they always comment about how great the crackers are. The only negative thing about them is that when you want to use them with spreads or cheese, they are too large. They really require breaking up or cutting into smaller pieces. I have found using a butter knife to cut the crackers into four parts works fairly well. It at least works better than randomly breaking them up with your hands.

I took these spinach balls to a Super Bowl party last year, where the guests raved about them, as always. One person there suggested I add bacon to them. The next batch I made included turkey bacon and the one after that had regular bacon in them. Bacon might not be good for us but it does make everything better! These days I rarely make these delicious spinach balls without bacon of some kind, but they are perfectly delicious without meat. We ate them that way for many years. Someone told me that this recipe can not be converted well to be dairy free due to the cheese and butter needed. Substitutions don’t seem to work well here.

Gluten-free Spinach Ball Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 2 packages of frozen chopped spinach
  • 1 stick of butter, softened
  • 3/4  cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 small onion – finely chopped
  • 2 cups Ener-G Onion Cracker crumbs (add ½ tsp. of Italian blend spices – we use Alchemy Spice brand)
  • 1/2 tsp. of salt and pepper (use less if these are in your spice blend)
  • 4 eggs
  • *optional 1/2 cup of minced cooked bacon or turkey bacon

Instructions:

  • Thaw and drain spinach.
  • Mix all ingredients well and place mixture in freezer for 30 minutes.
  • Remove mixture from freezer and spray hands with non-stick cooking spray.
  • Form tablespoon sized balls from chilled mixture.
  • Bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees. *Can be frozen and baked later as needed.
  • When baking from frozen, remove from freezer approximately 10 minutes before baking.

These are best when served warm. When baking them at someone else’s house, I line the baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up. This trick also keeps the spinach balls from browning too much if an oven is not calibrated correctly. This recipe makes approximately 72 spinach balls and can easily be halved. Because these are such a wonderful appetizer any time of the year, I always make a big batch and freeze 8 or so in baggies to pull out as needed. Enjoy!

Special thanks to Jamie for the bacon idea!