Italian Chicken and Risotto

I love love love Italian food, but it's hard to go to an Italian restaurant and not drool over the glutenous pizzas and pastas. Here's an Italian dinner that beats out those drool-worthy gluten-filled meals hands down.

Garlic Garlic Chicken:

2 chicken breasts
Marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp vinegar (i reccomend apple cider or white wine)
1 tbsp gluten-free mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp or cloves chopped garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp pesto

Preheat oven to 425. Mix marinade ingredients well and place in gallon-size ziplock bag with chicken to marinate 30 minutes to an hour. Take out chicken and put on baking sheet. Pour any marinade left in bag on top of chicken. Put in oven, cook 17-20 minutes.

Rustic Risotto
1 cup Arborio Rice
1 tbsp Olive Oil
4 cups Chicken Broth
1 Cup Milk
1 onion diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 bell pepper thinly sliced
2 diced tomatoes
Salt and Pepper
1 tsp chopped garlic

Heat oil on high heat in a medium pan. Reduce heat to medium and add in Rice. Let rice turn golden brown (approx 2 minutes) stirring a bit. Add in 1 cup chicken broth at a time and allow rice to soak up liquid prior to adding more broth. Lastly add in one cup of milk. While the risotto cooks, stir fry the onion, mushrooms, bell pepper and tomatoes. When the risotto is fully cooked and soaks in all liquids, combine it with the stir-fry. Add in the salt, pepper and garlic. Enjoy with garlic garlic chicken!

Coconut Fruit Bread!

Up for a mango banana bread with no added sugar or starches? Coconut flour is a great gluten free flour in that it's so high an fiber and protein while staying low in starches. This makes it a wonderful low-carb alternative for a healthy bread. After quite a few coconut flour experiments I think I've figured out the vegan gluten-free bread.

Coconut Fruit Bread
2 cups fruit puree
-- ideas can be banana (1 banana=1/2 cup), mango (1 mango=1 cup), apple sauce,
apricot puree, pear puree, berry puree, etc. I used 1 mango, 1 banana, and 1/2 cup
apple sauce
6 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbsp water or juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup raisins (optional)
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine puree, flax, vinegar, baking soda, water and vanilla and beat well. Add in coconut flour, xanthan gum and baking powder. Add in raisin and/or nuts if desired. Mixture should stick together well and not attach to bowl. Put into a 9x13 bread pan and bake 35-40 minutes. Enjoy!

Substitutes

I've learned a few lessons in substitutes from experience, and thought I'd share them with readers

Gluten- To substitute gluten you generally need starches such as corn and tapioca mixed with either bean or gluten-free grain flours such as rice, sorghum, etc. In order to hold the mixture together xanthan gum is also required. I'd recommend sticking to gluten-free recipes until you've figured out your favored balance between the starches and flours. Each flour has a distinct taste, never use only one flour for an entire recipe. I once used a garbanzo bean flour in a cake, and the cake turned out tasting like hummus.

Butter- I've only experimented a bit with butter, but in breads any fruit puree mixed with flax seed seems to do the trick. Per stick or 1/2 cup butter, I'd substitute half a cup of fruit puree such as apple sauce or a mashed banana and a tablespoon flax.

Egg- Again, I've only experimented with egg substitutions in bread, no other types of recipes, but I feel like I've come across a sturdy substitute for egg. Flax! Flax, flax, flax. For one egg, combine 1 tablespoon flax, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar) and 2 tablespoons juice or water. Beat the ingredients until similar in thickness to an egg prior to combining with recipe.

Sugar- What I've learned is a) stevia has a horrible after taste, b) xylitol should be used only in moderation as it can also function as a laxative, and c) the more fruit you can subsititute in the liquid ingredients, the less sugar you need. If you get used to less sweetness in foods, they'll taste better without sugar than they do with sugar. And flavors such as vanilla extract, cinnamon, and cloves enhance sweetness without calories.

Hope these tips help!

Coconut Bread mission

I've put my self on a little mission: create a tasty snacking bread that's healthy, low carb, free of allergies and holds together in the oven. If you think this is an easy feat, think again! As it turns out, baking without dairy, eggs, gluten or sugar isn't as simple as I thought it would be. But that's not going to deter me, I'll keep on trying!
So far I've created three carrot breads that taste atrocious. Carrots, you're out, I'm gonna try my luck with Mango. And maybe Banana. Or Apple. Or all of the above. We'll see how it goes.

Quick Fix Snacks

I've been trying really hard not to snack on the hidden candies on the highest shelf in the kitchen, so I came up with a few tasty treats to hinder my sweet tooth.

1. Banana Pudding- Mash a banana with a fork and add quite a bit of cinnamon and a few drops of vanilla to it. Voila! Pudding! Or try adding a few spoons of cocoa powder to the mix and you've got chocolate pudding.

2. Lightly candied almonds and pecans- see recipe in blog.

3. Ants on a log- celery with peanut butter and raisins in it.

4. Carrots and cucumbers dipped in salsa and guacamole. I prefer it over tortilla chips!

Hope these few ideas help :)

Completely Healthy Banana Bread

This is possibly the tastiest, and healthiest banana bread i've ever made. It's gluten, dairy, egg, soy and nut free. Lots of ingredients, but no lengthy process! And it's full of healthy fibers and fats from the flax seed, as well as tons of fruit! (Adapted from "The Gluten-Free Gourmet cooks fast and healthy" by Bette Hagman, a wonderful book!)

Combine dry ingredients:
1/3 cup bean flour
1/3 cup white rice flour or sorghum flour,
2/3 cup corn starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp tartar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves

Set dry ingredients aside

Mix wet ingredients:
1/2 cup applesauce
3 tbsp flax seed
4 tbsp liquid (either apple juice or water)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar, or any vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
7 mashed bananas
1 cup raisins
5 drops stevia (optional for sweetness)
Touch of honey (optional for sweetness)

Add in dry ingredients, and pour into a sprayed 9x13 bread form.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes
Enjoy!