Skinny Orange Chicken

If you are anything like our house, we love chinese food. There is nothing like a night at home with a little delivery of sweet and spicy orange chicken. Being gluten free and trying to eat clean makes this nearly impossible. I stumbled on this recipe on my blogging adventurers and decided to try it. It only takes about 25 minutes so it's a great week night option! 

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1/4 cup GF chicken stock

3 tablespoons honey

2 cloves of minced garlic

1 orange, juice and zest of

3 tablespoons GF soy sauce

2 teaspoons siracha sauce

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1 pinch red chili flakes

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1 head of broccoli or one fresh bag

1 cup of cooked rice 

Brown chicken over medium high heat in coconut oil for 8-10 minutes until cooked thoroughly. Remove from pan and set aside. 

While chicken is cooking, mix together all remaining ingredients excepts, sesame seeds, broccoli and rice. Once chicken is done cooking, add mixture to the same pan that the chicken was cooked in. Reduce heat to low and reduce sauce until it coats the back of the spoon. Pour over chicken and garnish with sesame seeds. 

Serve over rice and broccoli. 

This was easy, fast and delicious! You can adjust salt and heat to your liking but we loved it as is! 

Stuffed Peppers

I've noticed while it starts to cool down in the evenings, I start cooking in my oven. Again from my artisinal gluten free cooking book I adjusted this recipe a bit to our liking. We decided to cut it up after served to make it easier to eat, but whatever way you want to eat it, it's delicious! 

Preheat your oven to 350.

Cut the top off 4 bell peppers and remove seeds. Dice up the tops without the stem and set aside for the filling. Rub your peppers with olive oil on a baking pan and bake for 25 minutes. 

While your pepper are baking I sautéed half of an onion, 1 minced clove of garlic and the reserved peppers with olive oil until onions are translucent.  Add 1 pound of ground turkey and cook until browned. Stir in a can of diced tomatoes with the juice, 1 cup of cooked jasmine rice (uncle bens has an already cooked bag that you can microwave if your in a time crunch) GF Worcestershire sauce to liking (I used 2 TBS), 1 tsp dried oregano and basil and salt and pepper to liking. Add a quarter cup of shredded cheddar to the mixture. Set aside.

Remove peppers from the oven and fill with filling. Top each pepper with more shredded cheese and chopped fresh basil. Bake for an additional 20 minutes and serve hot. 

This is filling but doesn't feel heavy. Plus my house smells so good! Enjoy!

Porcini-encrusted scallops

As my lady loves scallops, I'm always looking for new recipes and when I came across this one in my Artisinal gluten free cooking book I had to jazz this plate up! 

Preheat your oven to 350 and soak 1 1/2 ounces of dried porcini mushrooms in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain the mushrooms and pulse in a food processor. Add salt and pepper and spread on a baking sheet, toast in the oven for 10 minutes. They should portray dry breadcrumbs. Return the baked mushrooms to a now clean and dry food processor and pulse again. Transfer these to a plate. 

Heat 1 tablespoon salted butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Firmly press both sides of your 1 pound of sea scallops that have been rinsed and patted dry. Put half of your scallops in the pan and cover cook for 5 minutes flip and repeat on the other side. Cook the remaining half of your scallops and they are ready to serve. I cooked some gluten free pasta and tossed it with fresh spinach, diced sun dried tomatos and lemon and olive oil. Season to taste. 

Although a bit time consuming, pulling out the dreaded food processor...these were earthy and delicious! Give yourself some time! 

Lox Frittata

Oh Giada, you never disappoint! I love a lox bagel so this is the best way to get those amazing flavors without the bagel! 

Preheat your oven for 350. Wisk 8 egg whites with 1/2 cup of half and half until fluffy. Add 6 oz of lox (smoked salmon) zest of one lemon and salt and pepper to your liking. In a oven safe skillet sauté 2 cups of arugula with a clove of chopped garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil. Pour in egg mixture and stir to incorporate all ingredients then leave on medium heat for 4 minutes without stirring. Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 

While this is cooking I made a little sauce to take it to another level. I mixed equal parts cream cheese and sour cream with the juice from the zested lemon and added capers and fresh ground pepper. 

I plated the fritatta with the sauce on top and this is now a weekend favorite! 

Chicken Picatta

This is my go to dish, for dinner parties or just when you want the comfort of your favorite meal. 

1. Cook 1 cup of jasmine rice as directed, then add 2 large handfuls of spinach and stir; the residual heat will gently wilt the greens. Add the juice of 1/2 a lemon, salt, pepper and 1/2 cup of toasted almonds (reserve a handful for garnish). Cover until ready to serve.
2. Add ½ c. Gf flour to a shallow bowl.
3. Butterfly 2 chicken breasts by slicing each breast in half horizontally. Place in between 2 sheets of parchment paper (or plastic wrap). Gently pound with a meat mallet to about ½ inch thick.
4. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. And sprinkle dry mustard (my secret ingredient).
5. Dredge the chicken in flour shaking off any excess.
6. In a large skillet, warm the olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Add the chicken and brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. Work in batches if necessary.
7. Remove the chicken to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm.
8. Add the 1 large shallot, thinly sliced to the pan; if it seems a bit dry, add a splash of olive oil. Saute until soft, but not colored, about 2 minutes.
9. Add 1 clove of chopped garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
10. Add 1/4 cup white wine and bring to a boil (cooking off alcohol), scraping up any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Reduce the liquid by half.
11. Add 1 1/2 cups chicken stock and bring to a boil. To thicken the sauce, add a splash of stock to 1 teaspoon of gf flour and whisk well to dissolve any lumps. Add the flour mixture to the pan, whisking constantly until the sauce is slightly thickened.
12. Reduce to a simmer and stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard. The mustard is another ingredient not usually used but it really adds depth to the sauce.
13. Add the juice of half a lemon and sprinkle in 1/4 cup of drained brined capers.
14. Return the chicken and any accumulated juices to the pan.
15. Taste the sauce; season with extra lemon juice, salt and pepper if desired.
16. To serve, transfer the chicken to a serving platter and top with the sauce. 
17. Garnish with lemon slices, fresh parsley, grated Parmesan cheese and toasted slivered almonds. 
18. Serve with rice.

Be prepared to lose your mind, this is soooo good!

Mediterranean Lasagna

This was hands down ridiculously delicious! I did add gf Italian sausage to this because I have meat lovers at home but this would be amaze without! Again from the Artisinal Gluten-Free Cooking book and worth the time, but make it on a day when you have about 3 hours.

To make your bechemel (white cheese sauce) melt 3 tablespoons salted butter over medium high heat with 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon gf flour, 3 cups milk and salt, pepper and ground nutmeg to taste. Whisk the entire time you're adding ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10mins. Remove from heat and add 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup grated parmasean. Set aside.

You are now going to make 2 different kinds of filling. The first is your spinach filling. Sauté a large bag of spinach at least 6 oz with a tablespoon olive oil, 2 garlic cloves minced and salt and pepper. Set aside. (I added 1 pound of browned Italian sausage to my spinach filling.)

Tomatoe pepper mushroom filling. Melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium high heat, add 1/2 medium onion diced and cook until translucent. Add 1 1/2 cups button mushrooms and cook until softened. Add 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes and 1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers. I added a little extra sun-dried tomatoes to balance the white sauce. Cook for 2 minutes and set aside. 

Roast 1/4 cup pine nuts in a dry skillet until brown. Remove from heat.

Flash boil gf lasagna noodles but don't cook completely as they will finish in the oven! You now have all the elements to assemble lasagna! 

Preheat oven for 375 and prep a 9x9 pan with cooking spray. Spread a thin layer of bechamel, add a layer of noodles and spread a layer of mushroom filling on top of the noodles. Cover with 1/4 of bechamel and 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella. Add a second sheet of lasagna, spread with all of your spinach filling, 1/3 of pine nuts and again with 1/4 of bechamel and 1/4 cup mozzarella. Repeat step for mushroom layer. Lastly top with lasagna noodles, remaining bechamel, mozzarella and pine nuts. Bake for 40 mins then cover with foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

This was even better the next day all setup! Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!!! Cooking with love!

Teriyaki Shrimp

On my constant hunt for new recipes I came across this recipe on juliasalbum.com and thought we'd try it. Although I don't love teriyaki, this was doctored up in the best way! 

In a large bowl, combine the following: 3/4 cup gf teriyaki sauce, the juice of 1 lime, 5 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons honey, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, 1 tablespoon red curry paste and 1 tablespoon siracha. 

Put 2 pounds of jumbo shrimp, deveined, shelled and cleaned in a large ziplock along with marinade. Shrimp should only marinade for 10-15mins. While these sit in the fridge, boil a package of rice noodles and chill in cold water after they cook. I immediately transferred some chopped asparagus to the hot pan after I poured out the noodles and reserved a small bit of water in the bottom of the pan. I let these cook for 5 minutes until they are bright green! Remove the pot from the heat and put a new pan down with a tablespoon of coconut oil. Add shrimp to the hot pan and brown on each side for 1 minute. Now add marinade to pan and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Serve shrimp in a bowl over noodles and asparagus. 

This was even better warmed up the next day! Loved!