Rhubarb Recipes (not gluten free)

With my offer to give away some rhubarb from my garden tonight I thought I would post a couple of REALLY good rhubarb recipes. I am sad I cannot eat them this year but my body will thank me in the long run. Besides these recipes not being gluten free it takes a lot of sugar for rhubarb to not be too sour (unless you are my husband and eat it straight from the garden) But - if you can eat them - it is totally worth the sugar in this case!!

This first recipe for Rhubarb Crunch is awesome! It is a family favorite. When I make this and any of my nieces and nephews are around I can count on it not lasting to long. If they are going to be around I double it because it only makes a 9x9 pan. Ok - enough of the chatter. It is actually my sister's recipe but I checked her blog and she hasn't posted it so here goes: (and don't forget to have some vanilla ice cream on hand when it comes out of the oven!!)



Rhubarb Crunch

Crumb Topping

1 cup sifted flour

3/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon


Fruit Mixture:

4 cups diced rhubarb

1 cup sugar

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

Mix crumb topping together and press half the mixture into a 9x9 inch greased layer pan. Cover bottom layer with rhubarb. Combine sugar, cornstarch, water, and vanilla in small saucepan. Cook, stirring, until thick and clear. Pour over rhubarb. Top with remaining crumb topping. Bake at 350 (325 for glass pan) for 1 hour. Cut in squares and serve warm, plain or with whipped cream or ice cream! Makes 8 servings.


This next recipe is from my sister's mother-in-law and she says even rhubarb haters will like this one!

Rhubarb Cake

1/2 cup margarine

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups rhubarb, sliced

1 tsp vanilla



Topping:

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp butter

Cream together margarine, brown sugar and egg. Combine buttermilk, soda and salt in 2cup measure. Add flour alternately with buttermilk to sugar mixture. Mix in rhubarb and vanilla. Pour into greased and floured pan (9x13 inches) Combine topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of cake. Bake at 350 (325 for glass pan) for 40 minutes.

For apple cake, substitute 2 cups apples and only 1 cup brown sugar.

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower

Cauliflower is a very versatile veggie. Back when I began to watch my carb/gluten intake my sister told me about a friend that used cauliflower in place of spaghetti. I began to use it for my "rice" and other pasta dishes as well. Last year I did a cooking class with some vegetarian meals using garbanzo beans as a base and made a yummy Indian Cauliflower Stew (the recipe is here) I have played around with roasting cauliflower before but finally got a recipe we love! I usually do a whole head of cauliflower with a meat and that is our meal. The kids love it and ask for seconds even before they eat their meat. Did you ever wonder how to cut cauliflower so there are not little while shavings everywhere? I did - so before I taught the class I did some investigation on the internet and found a video on how to cut cauliflower :-) Basically you start with your whole cauliflower and put your knife into the stem part and split it rather than cutting through. You continue to do this until you have the flowerets the size you want them. If you are confused do a search for how to cut cauliflower :-)

This really has nothing to do with cauliflower but I just have to show you one of my favorite pans in all the world. We bought this 25 years ago in Germany and it is the best. It cleans up like a dream - so I never worry about making something in it that may be messy in the pan because I know it will clean up without any effort - besides being so cleanable I think it is darling!

So here is the finished product and the recipe - I made this last week and a friend came by for a meeting after dinner and we were still eating - she finished off the pan and asked me to post the recipe so here it is T.

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower

1 head of cauliflower split into flowerets

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

2-3 cloves of garlic

Parmesan cheese

Put the cauliflower in the pan and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Crush garlic and stir all together. Bake at 450 for 25 minutes - stirring occasionally (1 or 2 times) Grate parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the cauliflower. Place under the broiler for 3-4 minutes.

Enjoy!

Chicken Salad with Spicy Peanut Dressing

As promised in my last post here is the recipe for the Chicken Salad. My brother found this recipe and we made it at my PC party. I have made it several times before and since, including this morning for our playgroup. As usual it was polished off very quickly. So here it is - I will give it to you as it is written and then I will tell you my revisions:

Dressing

1/2 cup canola oil

3 Tbsp smooth peanut butter

1/2 cup juice from 3-4 limes

2 Tbsp water

Table salt

3 small garlic coves, minced or pressed

2 tsps very finely grated ginger

2 Tbsp light brown sugar

1 1/2 tsps hot red pepper flakes

Salad

1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch by 1/4 inch matchsticks

1 medium carrot, peeled and grated

4 scallions, white and green parts sliced thin

3 Tbsps minced fresh cilantro leaves

5 cups shredded roast chicken, room temperature

1/2 cup chopped roasted peanuts

1. Puree oil, peanut butter, lime juice, water, 1/4 tsp salt, garlic, ginger, brown sugar and red pepper flakes in blender until combined. Transfer to large bowl.

2. Add cucumber, carrot, scallions, and cilantro to vinaigrette, toss to combine. Add chicken and toss gently to combine. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve immediately.

Now for my changes:

I used a little over 1/3 cup of olive or grapeseed oil

juice from 2 limes seemed to be plenty of lime

I used palm sugar instead of brown sugar

I have not used the red pepper flakes as I serve it to my children but imagine it would be very good if you like a little spice

I use a whole English cucumber or equivalant and 2 carrots. We decided we like it with more veggies and a little less chicken. I probably only use 2 cups of chicken.

The dressing makes way more than you need - I use about half the dressing even with revisions and then save the rest for a regular lunch salad the next day.

Today I knew that our hostess did not care for cilantro so I left it on the side for people to add if they liked.

You can roast your own chicken or a store bought roasted chicken for an even faster meal. I have done it both ways.

Thai Chicken Salad with Peanut Dressing

This is the yummy salad we had for dinner tonight! I have a couple of really great main dish chicken salad recipes I want to share with you but you will have to wait :-)

This is a teaser post. My brother will be demonstrating this and another great salad at my Pampered Chef party this Thursday night (April 15th - 7 pm - if you live in the area and would like to attend, leave a comment with your email and I will send you the address etc) so.......... you'll have to wait for the recipe - either at the party or when I decide to post it here :-) Let me just tell you - it is really good - even my kids loved it! and it is gluten/egg free of course :-)

Check back for the recipes :-)

Breakfast - Gluten/Egg Free

So you might wonder what one eats for breakfast when they cannot eat anything with gluten or eggs? I wondered that at first, too! But slowly I have found some great alternatives. Here is one of my favorites. I used to make this with eggs - so now I just leave out the eggs and add a little cheese for a little more protein. Here is my

Eggless Breakfast Omelet

First I julienne a small zucchini
and prepare any other yummy veggies I may have - today I had asparagus and I almost always have a bag of chopped green onions prepared to throw into a recipe

I stir fry that all in my little pan and add some turkey bacon (I chop up and fry a whole package at a time and then just have it ready to add to recipes)

When that is all cooked I add a very generous handful of baby spinach

Once the spinach is cooked down, I lay a few slices of swiss cheese over the top and cover the pan to allow it to melt.

Here is my yummy breakfast with a half slice of my gluten free, egg free bread, toasted.

(I use this bread mix from Bob's Red Mill and the egg replacement from here )

Almond J*oy! - Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookies

Almonds! Currently my favorite nut as evidenced by a slight sensitivity showing up on my food test. Sometimes if you eat to much of something it can cause a sensitivity and this is apparently what has happened with me and almonds. I am supposed to only eat almonds every 4th day - this is difficult as I bake with almond flour, use almond milk (daughter is off dairy), eat almond butter and LOVE dry roasted almonds. I will continue to use all of these things but try and use them in moderation - I won't have almonds for mid afternoon snack every day :-) They are kind of like potato chips are to some people - once I start snacking on them it is hard to stop.
I love baking with almond flour! I get my almond flour from here and I get most of my recipes from this site, Elana's Pantry and her cookbook which is available on Ama*zon The Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook Almond flour is very easy to bake with and does not require a lot of ingredients (just my type of baking) Also the results are very tasty! I will share one of my favorite recipes with you from Elana's cookbook. I have taken these to a few gatherings and they get eaten up by everyone - not just those that are gluten free. This particular recipe is egg free as well so I can make them without having to substitute anything else. (I just bought some egg replacment but haven't tried it yet in my baking)

So without any further ado here is the recipe for the cookies with a few minor change from the original:

Tropical Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted over very low heat
1/2 cup of palm sugar (recipe calls for agave but I think they taste even better with palm sugar)
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup mini semi dark chocolate chips (her recipe calls for coarsley chopped dark chocolate (73 % cacao)
1/2 cup cashews, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl combine almond flour, salt and baking soda. (if using palm sugar in place of agave)Measure 1/2 cup of palm sugar and put in a marked measuring cup. Add hot water to make 1/2 cup (as the sugar disolves you will add more water) or use agave if desired. In a medium bowl combine sweetener (palm sugar mixture or agave), coconut oil and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until they are thoroughly combined. Fold in the chocolate, cashews and coconut. Spoon the dough 1 heaping tablespoon at a time onto the prepared baking sheets (I use my smallest pampered chef scoop - perfect size). Press the cookies down with the palm of your hand to flatten, leaving 2 inches between each cookie.
Bake for 7-10 minutes, until lightly golden. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 20 minutes and then remove. Don't overbake - I bake mine for 9 minutes and they are perfect. Everyone's oven is a little different so test it. They will look a little underbaked when done. If you overbake they really do not taste good.
These freeze great as well. I put a few in a sandwich bag and then place them all in a freezer bag. Troy can pull a bag out for his lunch or the kids and I can have a mid afternoon treat.

Changes, again!

*****UPDATED*****
I have not blogged for quite some time and it has been mainly because I have been frustrated by the fact that I cannot cook like I used to and switching my whole way of thinking and cooking has been hard. I have some definite answers now about what I can and cannot eat so now I feel like I at least have a jumping off place.
A few posts back I blogged about changes in my diet and what I was eating etc. That has all changed once again so here goes again!
I have suspected for some time that I was gluten intolerant and have been eating somewhat accordingly. I knew when I was eating strictly this way I felt better. My back has improved so much since September when I quit eating most gluten. Last month at the urging of my doctor I had a food sensitivity test done. I was not surprised to find that I was very sensitive to gluten and grains associated - wheat, spelt, barley, and rye. The thing I was not at all prepared for and really shocked by is that it showed I was extremely sensitive to eggs! That is just about the worst news I could have gotten (as far as eating goes) I was an avid egg eater and was counting on eggs in my next undertaking which was to find out what my carb threshold is (more about that later) Anyway, I also showed some moderate senistivity to most beans, including green beans and dungeness crab and oysters (neither of which are part of my diet)

I will post a recipe that I had for dinner and as time goes on I will try and post more about what I am eating - so if you know anyone who cannot eat gluten or eggs - send them my way and I will try and put up some great recipes as I discover them :-) They will be great healthy recipes as well if you are just looking for some healthier things to eat.

My sister told me about this salad she had had at a restaurant so today I got the ingredients and made it for dinner - it was soooo yummy and so nice for a change as I have been eating basically the same thing for my meals since I found out about my sensitivities.

I don't have a name for this salad but here goes:
Now have a name:

Yardhouse Chopped Salad
1 cucumber or 2 small persian cucumbers (diced)
1 tomato (diced)
1/2 cup of frozen corn (defrosted)
green onion (to taste)
1 stalk of celery (chopped small)
cilantro (a few leaves chopped)
1 avacado, sliced or diced
***add bacon*** (see note)
Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing

I chopped this all up and tossed with a little of the dressing. Next time I would probably put the avacado on the side if I was eating it by myself so I could put some in the fridge and eat it later. I meant to add a little feta cheese on top and forgot to but a little bit of cheese would be wonderful with it as well.
I grilled a chicken breast and ate it with the salad and savored every bite - it was so yummy!
You could vary the ingredients to your taste - I am not a celery person but am learning to eat it.

*****Note - so my sister says it needs bacon as well - my choice of bacon these days is Trader Joes Turkey bacon - it is really good and I like it better than regular bacon. It has no added nitrites or nitrates and is minimally processed.*****