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! 

Scallops Provençal

Thank you Ina Garten for this delish dish! I was planning my weekly menu while watching food network and was quickly distracted by this beauty! I made a couple small changes to make it gluten free and it was sooo yummy!

Clean and dry 1 pound of scallops from the fish counter. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and toss in gluten free flour, remove excess. Heat a large pan with 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil (so butter doesn't burn) on high and add scallops. Turn heat to medium and don't move scallops for 1 minute 30 seconds and flip over and cook for an additional 1 minute 30 seconds again not moving. Now add 3 tablespoons butter, 1 thinly sliced large shallot, 1 chopped garlic clove and 1/4 cup fresh chopped flat leaf parsley. Cook for 2 minutes then add 1/3 cup dry white wine and crank up heat to high for an additional minute. Serve hot with lemon and over jasmine rice mixed with chopped fresh herbs (dill, flat leaf parsley and green onions).

Food Network did us proud!

Rice Krispie Treat Easter Eggs

So the thing about these is how have I not made these before?! Two favorite things are Rice Krispie treats and frosting!!!! And they were so easy to make! They look way more fancy than they are!

Melt 3 tablespoons of butter with 40+ Marshmallows and I say heavy on the plus ;) add 6 cups of cereal and spoon immediately in a large bowl to cool. For the chocolate I added 1 square of semi sweet bakers chocolate to the marshmallow mix to melt with it and used the Cocoa Rice Krispie cereal. When cooled enough to handle, butter your hands and start forming egg shapes and place in a lined muffin tin. 

You can make your frosting or buy it gluten free :) if you buy it, put it in the microwave for 15 seconds. I had a bowl of pink and a bowl of chocolate. Dip one end of egg shaped treat and let excess drizzle off before placing it right side up back in muffin tin. I then sprinkled with sprinkles (that's fun to say) and let them set 10 minutes and boom, ready to devour! Although I made them regular and punk for myself, the chocolate was a surprising favorite! 

Hope you love, please share if you do!

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Although we have a split decision in my house over the love of cilantro, since I am the lover of cilantro
I try to throw it in the mix every now and again! So this dish got just a so-so review from my wife but I LOVED! Tastes fresh and light and even though we aren't quite to summer, this gets me in the mood! 

This is a dish you'll need to prep for either the night before, morning of at least a couple of hours before. You'll need to heat 1/4 cup of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat with 1/2 a medium onion diced with 2 TBS garlic and sauté until soft. Add 1 cup orange juice (I used fresh) and the juice of 1 lime. Cook for about 5 minutes until sauce reduces to intensify flavor. Transfer to blender and blend until smooth. Now add 1/4 cup fresh cilantro 1 tsp salt and pepper each. Blend again until smooth. This is your marinade, but I reserved 1/2 cup to serve on top after cooked. I made mine the night before and poured over 6 boneless skinless chicken breast, covered and refrigerated until you're ready to cook. Heat you grill to medium high or grill pan on stovetop. Grill until cooked through. 

I did a quick sauté of asparagus in the grill pan after chicken was cooked, just until bright green and cooked some jasmine rice. Heat the marinade reserved from the night before and serve over the chicken. Enjoy!

Asian Shrimp Noodle Bowl

I love any excuse to add siracha to a dish so this recipe caught my eye when I saw chili paste in the ingredients! Lol this is a blend of Asian flavors and a quick to the table meal, enjoy! 

Boil rice noodles, drain water, rinse in cold water and set aside (they cook super fast).

The recipe calls for chicken but we eat so much of it I decided to use fresh jumbo shrimp (so big they taste like lobster when you bite into them!) sauté with olive oil, garlic and s&p to taste. Set aside add snow peas to pan and sauté until they turn bright green then add them to shrimp you have put aside. 

The sauce is where the magic happens!

1/2 cup water, 3 TBS Tamari light soy sauce, 2 TBS honey, 2 tsp GF siracha or your favorite chili paste, 1 tsp red curry paste. Whisk all together and bring ingredients to a light boil over medium high heat. Add shrimp and peas back to skillet. In a seperate bowl mix 1 TBS cornstarch with 1/4 cold water, add this to skillet to thicken sauce. 

You can mix in noodles at this point or serve over the noodles (I put a helping of noodles in each bowl and poured shrimp over top). 

Thank you again artisinal gluten free cooking book! Delish! 

Egg quinoa bake

Hands down one of my best Pinterest finds thanks to whole foods market! This recipe is easy to make but takes a while to cook. 6 healthy servings so make ahead on Sunday for a weeks worth of breakfast!

Preheat oven for 350 and prep an 8x8 dish with butter or Pam.

Whisk 8 eggs with 1 1/4 c milk and add 1 TBS fresh chopped garlic, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper each. You can add any other seasoning you'd like at this point as well.

I like to pour my 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa directly in prepped dish first then pour egg mixture over the top. The quinoa will settle at the bottom and form a crust and some will float into egg mixture and fluff up even more! Top the eggs with 2 cups torn fresh spinach. Some will mix into eggs and some will slightly crisp up! Cover with foil and bake for 45 mins. Uncover and top with 1 cup of cheese of your choice. Put back in the oven uncovered and bake another 10 minutes. I cut mine in half one way and in thirds the other for six servings. We like to top our with tapatio hot sauce, a staple at our house! 18 grams of protein will start your day off right! Let me know what you think, enjoy!

Maple Glazed Salmon

Sweetly salty dream! My mouth is watering just thinking about this! This is from my new food bible by Kelli and Peter Bronski "Artisinal Gluten Free Cooking" the revised and expanded second edition. Thanks to my cousin for the best gift ever! Please leave comments if you try any of these recipes or just have feedback for me, blogging is a new journey for me as well as gluten free cooking! Thank you and enjoy!

Marinade 4 6oz salmon fillets with skin, covered for 30 mins. With the following: 1/4 cup grade a maple syrup (yes it's worth it) 2 TBS Tamari gf low sodium soy sauce (my favorite brand) 1 minced garlic clove 1 tsp ground fresh ginger (I buy the jar of fresh ginger in the produce section) salt and pepper to taste.

Heat grill medium high and grill skin side down for 7-10 mins (don't move once it's down) I prefer 7 mins so it a little pink. You can also bake the fish at 400 degree for 20mins in the oven if you'd rather.

I scrambled 2 eggs added 1 cup cooked rice with 1 TBS gf soy sauce and fresh chopped scallions for a side along with sautéed baby bok choy, yummy! 

Night out on the town in Phoenix!

After hours of researching GF restaurants in the area, I chose this cozy little hipster joint called Nook. And although I had a sleepy wife, we had some amazing food!

We shared grilled shrimp with chimichurri and chipotle aioli. I had salmon which lacked flavor but Chelsea had a steak with risotto that I'm still dreaming about! EL OH VEE EEE! 

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole

I got this recipe from Pinterest and it was TDF! We wil definetly have this again! I dropped a whole plate of it on the floor and everyone offered to still ear that portion, after I lost my mind I must say lol

http://inspiredreamer.com/loaded-baked-potato-chicken-casserole/

Grilled sandi and soup night!

Gf creamy roasted red pepper soup is my new fave in the organic section of the grocery store!!!! Doctored up with a little grated parm, hot sauce and fresh cracked pepper. And obvi couldn't serve this without a grilled cheese! I used my favorite gf bread by canyon bakerhouse, mustard/mayo mix, ham and Swiss. So right on a cold night! 

Mason jar infused oil

My dad's secret recipe but I want to share the idea because you can make it however you like! 

I buy the jug of olive oil

Garlic, shallots, green onion, peppers, cilantro, parsley, and sometimes capers or olives. Any combination of herbs and vegetables of you liking will work. Bulk up and get to chopping. After I've mixed it all up I spoon the mixture to 3/4 the way full in each mason jar. Then pour your olive oil in and fill. Seal the lid on the jar and your oil should sit on the counter for at least 1 week. Better after 2 weeks. You can strain the veggies out and use to top bread like bruschetta or add it to your eggs in the morning, so many possibilities! I keep the mixture as is and sometimes just spoon out the flavor infused oil to use for cooking which by the way makes everything taste AMAZE! As if you've cooked all the ingredients in your recipe. As long as it stays in sealed jar this recipe should keep for months. Not only will you be addicted to keeping this gf oil on hand you'll want to make it for others, so please share the goodness!