Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten-Free, Vegan)

Yes, I am aware that I have a very slim selection of dessert recipes, and that I should not be "wasting" one on a recipe I already have posted. But these darn cookies are so good! And they're slightly different, with a slight coconut taste thanks to the coconut flour and coconut oil. Maybe I should put that in the title "Chocolate Chip Cookies with a Slight Coconut Taste." Mmmm.

These make nice balls of cookies, and have a slightly chewy texture with the oat flour. This recipe made about 18 cookies, and all of them were gone within 18 hours. (Maybe I should now re-name them to the "Magic Number 18 Cookies"?).

Look at them, all cute and ready to be destroyed. Go forth and destroy these cookies! But first...make them.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (with a slight coconut taste)
adapted from Love and Lemons
Makes about 18 cookies

3/4 cup oat flour (grind 3/4 cup oats in a food processor)
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup cup brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup rice milk
1 t vanilla extract
1 flax egg (or 1 whipped egg)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flours, baking soda and salt together until thoroughly combined. Add in the brown sugar coconut oil, milk, vanilla and egg and mix all together. Stir in chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.

3. By the tablespoonful, drop dough onto a greased baking sheet (or silpat) and bake for about 10 minutes. These are delicious warm, but of course still tasty after they have cooled.

Quinoa Casserole with Buffalo Cauliflower Sauce (Gluten-Free)

I've never been a huge fan of buffalo wings. I guess you could blame it on the fact that I was never properly introduced to the concept of "it's wing night!! I'msopumpedIgettoeatwingstonight!" To me it was just people sloppily eating chicken with naught a care given to the orange covering their entire body.

Then I met my husband who likes Frank's on ALL OF IT. All the dinners, all the snacks,  and definitely all the casseroles.

Like the stellar wife I am, I go to Costo and see a saintly two-pack of the stuff and heft all 80 pounds of it into the cart and get it home and he still hasn't made it through the first bottle. I don't know, maybe it lost its charm when it was in abundance but it has taken the man for-ever-er to make it through half the first bottle.

I was sitting here contemplating what the heezy to do with all this buffalo sauce and then Cassie went and posted this stellar dish and I knew I had to adapt it to make it ours. So that was done.

Oh, and  be sure you pair it with kale chips (bonus points if they're covered in salty cheesy nutritional yeast) because it was a combo you won't soon forget.

I topped our casserole with leftover rice cripsy coating and sliced tomatoes, but feel free to use gluten-free breadcrumbs or whatever else you delight in.

Quinoa Casserole with Buffalo Cauliflower Sauce
Inspired from Back to Her Roots

half of a large cauliflower head (about 2 cups chopped)
1 small sweet onion, diced
1 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce (or any other buffalo-style sauce)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 - 1/2 cup water
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup chredded cheddar cheese (divided)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
toppings of choice

1. Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and lightly greasing an 8x8 baking dish.

2. Steam the cauliflower until tender. While the cauliflower is steaming, saute the onion and zucchini together over medium-heat until tender. When it's done, remove from heat.

3. In your food processor, add the steamed cauliflower, buffalo sauce, minced garlic and 1/4 cup water and combine. If the sauce is still too thick for your liking, add additional water until it reaches the desired consistency.

4. In a medium bowl, combine the quinoa, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, buffalo cauliflower sauce, and the zucchini/onion mixture. Scoop into the baking dish and cover with your topping of choice. Bake for 15 minutes, until hot.

"Breaded" Zucchini Sticks (Gluten-Free | Vegan)

I'm going to just start off by saying I have a new found appreciation for Rice Crispies They are an absolute lifesaver when it comes to both gluten-free baking and meals.

Need a gluten-free sweet on the fly? These peanut-buttery delights. How about a snackity snack, like these energy balls?

They also do great at trading places with bread crumbs, an ingredient that I swear is in 1/4 of all recipes I see that I get excited about.

So you can imagine how stoked I was to see this post - straight up gluten-free "breading" for all sorts of foods! This might turn into the deep fry craze. Rice crispy coated snickers? Rice crispy coated doughnut? Rice crispy coated zucchini? YES!

For all you carnivores, I'm pretty sure this would work well as a coating on chicken or fish as well. I'm thinking I want to try it sprinkled on roasted broccoli  next. And on a casserole. And as a hair conditioner.

Jokes.

The timing for this recipe was perfect, since I had a nice fatty zucchini sitting on our counter fresh from my parent's garden. It's demise was a delicious thing. 

"Breaded" Zucchini Sticks
adapted from The Fitnessista

1 large zucchini, sliced into sticks
1.5 cups rice crispies
1/2 t dried oregano
1/2 t dried thyme
1/2 t garlic salt
2 tablespoons flax seed meal
3 tablespoons water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; cover a baking sheet with tinfoil and spray with oil.

2. Combine the rice crispies, oregano, thyme and salt in a food processor until finely ground. In a separate bowl, use a fork to mix the flax seed and water. I suggest using a larger bowl with a wider mouth than the one I used so your zucchini and get fully coated.

4. Dip the zucchini sticks in the flax seed mixture and then coat with the rice crispy mixture. Bake until tender, about 15 minutes.

Mexican Tortilla Cups (Gluten-Free)

I have completely, 100% neglected my cookbooks. I got caught up in all this bloggy business and paying more attention to what my Google reader feeds me than the books filled with more than enough recipes sitting on my kitchen counter can.

So I busted one out the other night - The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen. My parents got this for me for a birthday a couple of years ago and I really don't know how I haven't used it in awhile because there are sticky notes on every other page.

The recipes in this book are simple, nothing is complicated or intimidating. All the ingredients are those that you most-likely have on hand, nixing that dreaded trip to the store that can totally throw off your making dinner time.

These little babies had a flag on them that has probably been there for about 3 years, so hey! I made them.

Yeah, they're pretty cute.

And you can eat them with one hand.

And you can eat them for breakfast. Cold.

And you can store them in the fridge so they will still be good for breakfast.

Oh, and they're great for dinner, too.

That blurry picture sucks and makes me realized how awful melted cheese is to photograph in a tasteful fashion.

But you get the idea. These are soooo filling (I had 2 for dinner, husband had 3, and we responsibly called it quits). They taste exactly like the innerds of a burrito, but they're made like a taco with the corn tortilla. Then when it gets thrown into a cup, it has a nervous breakdown over all the identity issues going on.

I made the first batch in our large muffin pan, which has cups that double the size of a standard 12-count pan. The tortillas fit perfectly in these when you mold them into cups.

I then experimented with our standard muffin tin, and the tortillas were a little too large. The book suggests trimming off the ends a bit, but I just shaped them into cones instead of pressing the tortillas all the way into the cups, and they turned out great.

As with practically everything on this blog, make it yours and add in whatever taco fixins' float your fancy. 

Really, there's no way to go wrong with these. As long as you don't forget the tortillas. That would take all the fun in cups away.

Oh, and these pair well with kale and "bread"ed zucchini sticks - recipe coming soon. Pinky swear.

Mexican Tortilla Cups
Makes a dozen in a standard muffin tin (depending on how full you make them)

1 can vegetarian refried beans
1 cup cooked rice 
1/3 cup salsa
a slash or 2 of your favorite hot sauce
1 t cumin
1 can green chilis
1/4 cup sliced olives
approximately 12 6-inch corn tortillas
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup queso fresco
sliced tomato (or whatever you want for the tops)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the beans, rice, salsa, hot sauce, cumin, chilis and olives.

3. When the oven is hot, place 12 tortillas on a baking sheet to warm in the oven for about a minute. This makes them more pliable and less likely to crack or fall apart when you're making them into cute little cups.

4. After the tortillas have been warmed, cut about a 3-inch slit in each of the tortillas so they can easily be maneuvered into the muffin cups. Fit the tortillas into the muffin tin by either making a cone out of them or pushing each tortilla all the way down into the cup.

5. Fill each tortillas with enough of the mix to fit almost to the top and bake for about 10 minutes. Take out after 10 minutes and top with a tomato slice and a sprinkle of cheese, and bake for about 8 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Vegetable Red Curry (Gluten-Free)

Some nights call for quick dinners. You know the ones - you have to be here and then there and don't forget to stop by that store that's on the way to this place. Or the ones when you get home from work famished and are tempted to eat the whole jar of peanut butter.

(Unless there's chocolate involved and you decide to jump straight to dessert, I don't advise the peanut butter option.)

It's always nice to have quick dinner fixing ideas on hand for those crazy nights (anyone else say that in their head in an Adam Sandler voice?).

Here are my all-stars: tomato sauce and pasta, instant soups, teriyaki mixes, aaaaaaanddd:

Curry sauce, courtesy of Trader Joe's. I feel slightly ridiculous posting a recipe for this, but I also feel that I owe it to you since we have this at least twice a month, with the contents rotating around seasonal produce.

From mangoes to sweet potatoes, the produce that you can throw in this dish is widely varied, making it a great dinner to save anything that is crying out on its last days.

While I mainly use Trader Joe's curry sauce since it only requires the one jar, I've also used curry paste mixed with coconut milk and a little fish sauce. However, since it's rare that I'm on top of my game enough to have all 3 of those ingredients on hand, the one jar suits me just fine.

Aside from the flavor, the best part of this recipe is that it comes together in 30 minutes, 15 if you already have the rice made and vegetables chopped. 

Quick and Easy Vegetable Red Curry (Gluten-Free)

1.5 cups cooked brown rice
1 small white onion, sliced
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 bunch of rainbow chard, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 can diced organic tomatoes 
1/2 yellow squash, diced
1 head broccoli, chopped into florets
1 mango, diced
1 cup red kidney beans
11 oz jar of Trader Joe's Red Curry Sauce 
about 8 basil leaves

1. Make your rice if you haven't already done so. White rice works great if that's all you have on hand.

2. In a medium skillet or wok, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat; add in the onion and garlic and saute for about 2 minutes until soft.

3. Add in the tomatoes (with juice), chard, squash and broccoli with 1/4 cup cold water; mix together and put some tinfoil or the wok lid on for about 5-6 minutes while the vegetables cook down.

4. Add the mango, kidney beans, curry sauce, and basil and heat through for another 3 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

5. Spoon some rice into a bowl and ladle on the curry vegetables.

Blackberry Pie Bars (Gluten-Free)

I've recently had a major schedule change, which added four fatty, glorious hours to each of my weekdays. That being said, I feel like a whole new person. Like a vacationer that takes PTO but doesn't travel anywhere.

I get to go running in the morning.

I get to spend time with my friends, when we pick blackberries and then stuff ourselves with $2 beers + $2 tater tots (see you next Tuesday at the Cloverleaf!). 

I get to see my husband in the morning. and again in the early afternoon. oh, and yet again in the evening, when we get to have dinner together.

(Said husband is still determining if he likes this new schedule of mine.)

Just kidding, he totally loves having me around 35% more. Mainly because I get to bake these:

May I present to you: Blackberry Pie Bars, for your next gluten-free, blackberry-containing baking endeavor.

These suckers are addictive. Luckily, I'm the new girl at work and trying to earn some brownie (uhm, bar?) points so I brought some in for my co-workers to snack on...because of course I will use food to wiggle into your heart.

Lucky for you, blackberries are sprouting up everywhere these days (at least if you're in the PNW). I started picking them not having an iota of a thought as to what I would do with them, but let me tell you: the internet will not fail you. I'm sure you have such knowledge, but just in case you forgot: the internet has all the answers for all the things.

I found this recipe from our dear friend Martha, and it adapted to gluten-free flours perfectly. They are almost custard-like in the middle, and almost require a fork, but not quite. My edges turned out crispy, which were a nice contrast to the juicy insides.

I followed the recipe and used greased parchment paper as a liner, but I found it was difficult to separate the bars from the paper, as it was almost too wet from the oil. I would try simply greasing the pan straight-up, or using tinfoil if you don't want to bake them directly in the pan.

Blackberry Pie Bars
adapted from Martha Stewart
makes 16 bars

 6 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
1/2 cup room temperature butter
1 1/4 cups almond meal (separated)
1/2 cup potato starch (separated)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t baking powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 t vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups fresh blackberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease an 8x8 baking pan (see lining notes above).

2. For the topping: In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter, brown sugar and 1/4 t salt. Add 3/4 cup of the almond meal and 1/2 cup of the potato starch and mix together until fully incorporated. Store in fridge while you prepare the remaining recipe.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup potato starch and 1/4 t salt with the baking powder. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, cream together the room temperature butter with the powdered sugar and vanilla until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Add the eggs in one at a time, beating after each egg. Add in the flour mixture and thoroughly combine.

5. Spread the batter evenly in the pan and sprinkle the blackberries evenly on top. Crumble the refrigerated topping on top, breaking it up into little pieces as you cover the berries.

6. Bake for about 40 minutes and let cool completely before cutting.

Simple Granola, Oil-Free | Gluten-Free |

These days, its has been too blasted hot to turn the oven on. Every night this past week, we either had a raw, straight-from-the-fridge, no-heat-required dinner, or we went out. Done.

Just as I was starting to get a little antsy and wanting to get crackin' on some new recipes, yesterday arrived with its cool 80-degree self and I jumped at the chance to turn my oven on. I know it sounds like a small occurrence, but it was a welcome move given that all I wanted was some breakfast granola but didn't want to sweat myself into a puddle on the floor for it.

I'm fairly picky with my granola. It obviously needs to taste good, but I also like it to have multiple components - a nice mix of grain, fruit, crunch is necessary. I like it when it's all in clumps, and not individual oat pieces. Just like Cream of Wheat! Anyone else a huge fan of lumpy Cream of Wheat?

This is healthier than your typically granola recipe on the sole basis that it doesn't have any oil to it. All the liquid consists of apple sauce, honey and peanut butter. It manages to stick together powerfully, which gets a big thumbs up in my book.

I bought millet for the first time at the WinCo bulk food department last week (I will save the profession of my bulk food love for now) and I am SO glad I did. It lent a nice, crunchy bite to my breakfast without being overbearing. It toasted up in the oven, which also gave it some great flavor.

 Simple Granola (Gluten-Free)
From Oh She Glows

2 cups rolled oats (ensure they're gluten-free)
1/2 cup uncooked millet
2 T ground flax seed
1 T chia seeds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon

1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
2 T peanut butter
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t almond extract

1/2 cup raisins

1. Turn the oven on to 325 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil or a Silpat.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.

3. To a microwave-safe bowl, add  the applesauce, honey and peanut butter and microwave for 30 seconds to warm. Stir together and add the vanilla and almond extracts.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and thoroughly combine.Pour onto the baking sheet and spread evenly. Bake for about 15 minutes, until slightly browned. You may want to stir it up halfway through the baking time so the outside edges don't brown.

5. Cool the granola entirely and store in a container or ziplock bag. Add the raisins and combine.