Tag Archives: gluten free

I finally mastered the art of making Quinoa!

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Friends, learning to make that perfect Quinoa has been a long process for me. My husband is the chef. That’s just the way things are. But I have certain responsibilities in the kitchen, simply because I have to feed my children usually before he gets home. So making Quinoa has fallen square on my shoulders. Since that is the type of food that is made in larger quantities, Orlando usually uses “my” cooked Quinoa for his recipes. And its always something. Its too bland, or  too mushy, or too hard…I just hadn’t quite tweaked it. Until now!!!! I finally figured out what I had been doing wrong!!!!!!! YAY!!!!

Here is the issue…certain quinoa boxes will tell you to add 2 cups of water per cup of quinoa, others will tell you 1 1/2. Some Quinoa recipes recommend rinsing the quinoa and others don’t. I read about it and feel that you should rinse your Quinoa because it contains Saponin – and that creates a bitter taste. When you rinse it you remove that thin layer of Saponin that it has.

But if you add 2 cups of water after rinsing the Quinoa…now you’ve got yourself some mushy quinoa!!! Too much or too little water creates a huge problem for those little grains and of course, I have fallen victim to both scenarios! Until now!

So here is my perfected Quinoa recipe. 

  • 2 cups of Quinoa
  • Rinse quinoa in water and drain the water as best as you can
  • then add about 1 cup of water or chicken broth (I like broth better) per cup of Quinoa.  When I say about 1 cup its because I put in a generous cup – more than 1 cup but less than 1 1/2. But somewhere in that range.
  • Add whatever you want – carrots, zucchini, peas, garlic cloves, cinnamon stick, raisins, broccoli …any veggie you want.
  • Bring to a boil
  • Put a tight lid on and bring to a simmer for 15 minutes – and DO NOT OPEN THAT LID AGAIN!!!!! Let it cook!!!!! When it beeps, you will have a fluffy Quinoa. AT LAST!

My husband made the Fried Quinoa with kimchee recipe the other day at home and actually told me that the Quinoa was cooked perfectly! But I didn’t make enough so he asked me to make 1 more cup… I was scared my success was a one time wonder but sure enough the second batch came out as good as the first! The recipe came out so spectacular that we may actually post a take 2 round of this recipe because Orlando tried it for the first time on video with you all and now he has really perfected it. So keep your eyes peeled!

NOTE:  I couldn’t end this post without elaborating a little bit more on adding veggies to your Quinoa. It is not necessary to do so, however, I strongly believe you should never pass up the opportunity to pile on veggies to your meals.  Especially, if you are a beginner eating vegetables, or just aren’t so crazy about them…. chopping them up into little pieces and adding them to things like Quinoa makes them an insignificant part of the meal from a taste perspective…but all their fiber and nutrients and minerals are making a significant impact in your body. So, be bold. Add vegetables any where you can. Your eggs, your pizza, your quinoa….aim to have at least 1 vegetable with every meal. You won’t regret it, and you may even start liking them if you don’t already!!!!!!!!!!!! Never stop PILING ON THE GREENS!

Fearless Friday Pizza

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Hello all!  Sorry I couldn’t get to last week’s Fearless Friday meal, but this pizza will more than make up for it.  We mentioned the cauliflower pizza a few months ago on the blog, and I thought this would be the perfect time to give you the recipe for a weekend treat.  This pizza has no flour at all!  The crust is mainly cauliflower and fat-free cheese.  The raw “dough” is EXTREMELY sticky, so don’t even think about doing this if you don’t have parchment paper handy.  You can buy it at any store in the same section where you find the aluminum foil.  If you do it on foil (or anything else for that matter) the pizza will stick and be inedible!!!

The first time I made this pizza I failed miserably (see sticky-problem above).  Then one day Caro told me she was in the mood for some homemade guacamole.  We searched high and low for crackers or bread to dip, but we didn’t have either at the house.  I told Caro that this may be a good time to make the crust, break it into pieces, and dip in the guacamole.

I made the crust and thought to myself, “do I dare make a guacamole pizza?”  And that is exactly what I did.  You can put any toppings you want on this crust, but the guacamole pizza was awesome.  I’ll give you the recipe for the crust and the guacamole and you decide for yourself what toppings you want.

GUACAMOLE:

  •                     3 Haas avocados (peeled and mashed)
  •                     1 lime  juiced
  •                     salt and pepper
  •                     2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  •                     2 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
  •                     1 teaspoon minced garlic
  •                     1 pinch ground cayenne pepper (optional)
  •                      1/2 a Jalapeno (optional)

Just mash it all up together.  You can use a blender, but don’t over-blend.  We still want some chunks in there.

CRUST: 1/2 LARGE head cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower) 1 large egg 1 cup low-fat (skim) shredded mozzarella cheese 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic (or fresh garlic) 1/2 teaspoon onion salt

TOPPINGS: The same mozzarella listed above and whatever toppings you choose (try my guacamole for God’s sakes!!!)

Directions:

1.  Shred the cauliflower into small crumbles.  You can use the food processor if you’d like, but you just want crumbles, not puree.  You want them to look like rice.  In fact, the process is called “ricing” the cauliflower.

2.  Prepare the crust:  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet and spray nonstick spray on it.  In a medium bowl, mix the cauliflower crumbles with the remaining crust ingredients.  Pat the “crust” into a 9 to 12-inch round on the prepared pan.  Spray the crust lightly with nonstick spray and bake for 15 minutes (or until golden).  Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.  Why, you ask?  Because the crust is already cooked.  We are broiling only to melt the cheese on top of your pizza.  Remember to leave the oven door open when broiling!!!  You want to keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn.

3.  Prepare the pizza:  Spread the guacamole or tomato sauce on top of the baked crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge.  Sprinkle 1/4-1/2 cup cheese on top (plus any toppings you choose)  Broil the pizza 3 to 4 minutes, or until the the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Cut into 6 slices and serve immediately.

Cauliflower crust with Guacamole Pizza

There you have it!  This pizza is awesome and isn’t hard to make at all.  The guacamole is even easier.  Enjoy the your weekend and please give us feedback to let us know your thoughts.

FEARLESS FRIDAY: SPINACH PASTA WITH MEAT SAUCE

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You may remember from our Sarasota post that we mentioned we had Spinach with Meat sauce and the recipe would follow. Well, I thought that was a perfect Fearless Friday dish. I don’t know why but I find Italian food in general to be yummy comfort food. Pastas, lasagnas, baked ziti…all dishes that are usually made in large quantities for friendly gatherings and for the most part, everyone loves it.

On this particular evening, we were all exhausted from a long day at the beach. We got home and didn’t know what to make for dinner and Yaimy mentioned that she had a box of Spinach pasta – gluten free 🙂 She bought this box at Whole Foods and brought it with her…just in case.

Well, we had ground turkey in the fridge and Orlando whipped up this meal quickly and it was DELICIOUS!

Orlando likes using the 93/7 ground turkey. Meaning 93% meat, 7% fat. He feels that anything less is so high in fat that you might as well use the ground beef…but the 99% fat free ground turkey is so lean that he finds it too dry for certain meals. We avoid SUGAR mainly, so a little fat doesn’t scare us.

So, on to the recipe…

Meat Sauce

  • 2 – 2 1/2 lbs ground turkey
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 3 cloves chopped garlic
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • mix of oregano, basil and thyme
  • peas, carrots, and any other veggies you want to sneak in 🙂
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 small can of Rotelle tomato paste
  • 3 chopped tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

  • Cook the spinach pasta according to the instructions on the box

FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

Yaimy had taken a nice block of Manchego cheese on the trip also, so we grated the Manchego on top of the pasta… WOW!!!! We all loved it!

FYI: Sneaky Orlando had made a cabbage soup the night before and true to form…he snuck some of the veggies from the cabbage soup into the pasta. The result: our brains registered that we were eating a delicious Italian pasta dish that satisfied all our taste buds…but the truth is that we were having leeks, garlic, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, green beans, peas, and asparagus under all the deliciousness and actually eating a quite healthy meal. Obviously, we welcome vegetables and it is not necessary to sneak them in to anything, however, its good to know that you can offer this dish to your friends and family whether they are anti-veggies or not. They’ll never know the difference!!!!!!

Enjoy your weekend!!!!!!

Fearless Friday… Carb-free lasagna

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By Caroline:

We all know that at the end of a long week sometimes we just want comfort food. And we definitely want to treat ourselves to something delicious… But at the same time we’re afraid of totally going off the rails. So we thought about the concept of fearless Fridays. Giving you a recipe from time to time thats a healthier alternative to comfort food. It doesn’t have to be the healthiest meal in the world, but we are striving to make better choices. So here’s our first attempt at a healthier weekend meal. It takes some time to make so it’s perfect for Fridays or Saturdays with friends.

By Orlando:

Eggplant lasagna.

It was as good a lasagna as any I’ve ever had. I know it is hard to believe, but I swear it’s true. In place of pasta sheets, we use eggplant sliced in 1/4 inch slices length-wise. A mandolin is ideal in order to get even slices, but you can eye-ball it with a knife. This is a take on a recipe I found online.

The meat in the lasagna is ground turkey and chicken. You can use one or both, but I wanted the depth of flavor that the combination would provide. You can use turkey or chicken sausage as well if you want. A quick note on ground turkey: always check the fat % on the package. Turkey that is 85/15 (15% fat) is as bad as eating ground beef. A 99% or “fat-free” turkey is ideal, but it is super dry. I usually use a 93/7 blend which is still healthy and reasonable.

This is NOT one of our weekly go-to dishes mainly because I use a good deal of cheese (even though they are all fat-free or 2% milk cheese). Also, it is not as packed with vegetables as I normally like. But the true genius of this dish is that you don’t use any spaghetti sauce. The sauce is comprised of all ground turkey/chicken and a combination of red wine, tomato paste, and a small can of Rottela. In other words, you are saving the 100-plus grams of sugar contained on Prego or Ragu. Add to that the absence of any pasta, and you have a relatively healthy, very low-carb lasagna that you can make as a “weekend cheat” dish. As I always do, I will eventually find a way to add a lot of veggies to this dish and make it even healthier, but I didn’t want to go crazy on my first attempt and risk watering-down the lasagna. One of the keys to a good lasagna is that it can stand on its own after plating. This lasagna did so in large part because it was not overly-sauced, but it still had an awesome saucy taste inside of the ground meats.

Mock Noodles

  • 2 large eggplants, peeled, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch noodle-like strips
  • cooking spray (olive oil spray is best)
  • salt and pepper

Meat Sauce

  • 1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin or 1 lb ground turkey breast and 1 lb ground chicken (or 2 pounds of your favorite)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 3 cloves chopped garlic
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 1 (16 ounce) package sliced mushrooms
  • 2 tablespoons italian seasoning (or mix of oregano, basil and thyme)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (if you dare!) (optional)
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 small can of Rotelle tomato sauce
  • 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes (for less sugar, 3 chopped tomatoes)

Cheese Mixture

Directions:

  1. 1
    Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. 2
    Spray cookie sheet, arrange eggplant slices and season with salt and pepper.
  3. 3
    Cook slices 5 minutes on each side.
  4. 4
    Lower oven temp to 375.
  5. 5
    Brown meat, season with salt, pepper, and Italian Seasonings and place in a bowl.
  6. 6
    Add red pepper, onion, mushrooms, and garlic in olive oil until cooked (don’t forget to season).
  7. 7
    Add spinach, season, and cook for 5-10 minutes. Please DRAIN any excess liquids!!!!!
  8. 8
    Add the meat to the mixture and add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and red wine. Simmer for 10 minutes.
  9. Blend ricotta, egg and onion mixture in a bowl. Spray cooking spray in bottom of 9” x 13” glass pan. You can use a smaller pan for a taller lasagna.
  10. 10
    Layer ½ eggplant slices, ricotta, meat, mozzarella and parmesan.
  11. 11
    Repeat.
  12. 12
    Add last layer of sauce, then mozzarella and parmesan on top.
  13. 13
    Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.
  14. 14
    Remove foil and bake or broil another 5-10 minutes until cheese is browned.
  15. 15
    Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing, if you can wait that long!

Carb alternatives

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We do not follow Atkins, however, we do believe that you need to eliminate the rices, breads, pastas, crackers of  your daily diet. The problem is not that “Carbohydrates” are bad for you. Carbs provide energy and energy is necessary for life. The problem is that we are living in a society where wheat (gluten) has been altered to the point that it is dangerous for you. The rise of Celiac’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome are highly attributed to these products.  It used to be that the white carbs were the bad ones because they were processed and that continues to be true…however, we are fooled into thinking that whole wheat is  a “healthy” alternative, when the research is now proving otherwise. Unfortunately, even when you shop at the store and read titles like “Multi-Grain” bread or chips, if you follow our principle of READING THE INGREDIENTS, you will find that these products are made primarily of whole wheat. You need to stick to WHOLE GRAINS and it has to be 100% whole grains.

Now, we are Cuban. We eat double and sometimes triple carbs in most meals (white rice, black beans, and yucca is a common example).  It is tough for us to make a meal without “carbs”until this day. What do we do?  We have learned to replace the carbs that we are used to (rice, pasta, potatoes) with vegetables that are satisfying, delicious, and starchy.

Here’s a a general idea…

You want a baked potato= make a sweet potato (no butter or sugar needed) it is sweet and healthy on its own.

You want mashed potatoes= make a cauliflower mashed potato. You won’t know the difference.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/cauliflowermash.htm

You craving pasta? Instead of pasta, roast a spaghetti squash, make a simple tomato sauce with ground turkey, and pour it atop the squash. Is it identical? No. But you won’t miss the pasta after a while.

http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2010/02/how-to-bake-spaghetti-squash/  (This is just one website to teach you how to make the spaghetti squash but you can google it and find other informational websites)

Often times rice is the cornerstone of all meals. Rice is easily replicated by whole grains. Don’t fall into the “brown rice” scam. Most brown rice is just white rice with molasses and not a whole lot more nutritious.  Get whole grains like Quinoa, cracked bulgar, and millet.

You can also put raw cauliflower in a food processor and it will turn into “rice-like” portions that you can saute and serve in place of rice. You can actually make a pizza crust out of it.

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/caulirice.htm

http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/01/16/cauliflower-crust-hawaiian-pizza

PLEASE NOTE: Don’t dream about making this pizza recipe without PARCHMENT PAPER. The crust is too sticky and won’t succeed without parchment paper.

For a great article on the evolution of wheat, please read this article:

http://boingboing.net/2011/10/26/triticum-fever-by-dr-william-davis-author-of-wheat-belly.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+boingboing/iBag+(Boing+Boing)