Category: Gluten-Free Cooking

After Miso Soup, Other Ideas for Miso Paste

While I bow to the curative powers of chicken soup, I prefer miso soup to help me through times of trouble. The salty, savory taste — with or without the addition of tofu and greens — makes even the worst day seem much better. It’s so easy make miso soup, and I keep a tub of miso paste handy for just that reason.

(Plus the miso soups you get in most restaurants are not gluten free, so making it yourself is the safest bet.) Continue reading “After Miso Soup, Other Ideas for Miso Paste”

Leftovers: Pulled Pork Version

There are, I have learned, people out there who don’t adore leftovers. This baffles me — if it’s good enough to eat the first time, it’s surely just as good the second time. In fact, some foods are even better the second day!

When I made pulled pork for the first time (and the second and third…), I naturally had way more pork than I needed. I only buy pork shoulder when it’s on sale, and it’s generally sold in 3-pound packages at my local store. After a day in the crockpot, the pork is falling apart and so tasty. It makes a fine (gluten free) pulled pork sandwich. Just add a huge spoonful of mustardy cole slaw!

But what to do with the leftovers? Below are some options, and this week’s menu idea features a recipe for one of my favorite ways to serve pulled pork:

  • The easiest solution for leftover pulled pork is to use it as a basis for carnitas. Carnitas are typically pork cooked in lard, pulled, and then fried, griddled, or baked until crispy on the edges. You can then use them in tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas, or burritos (here’s a recipe for gluten-free tortillas I’m dying to try!) And don’t forget the sopes from last week — leftover pulled pork is perfect with them.
  • Or, hey!, use that leftover pork in fried rice. Super-simple, super-tasty.
  • How about pulled pork — maybe tossed with a little barbecue sauce — as a pizza topping?
  • Toss it with some potatoes, bell peppers, onion, and you have a quick hash for breakfast or dinner. Top with a fried egg to make it that much more delicious!
  • Stuff a pepper — poblano, bell, your choice — with a mix of pulled pork and quinoa (or rice). Add other veggies, like corn, as you wish.
  • Make spring rolls! Once you get the hang of working with rice paper wrappers, spring rolls take just minutes. I’ve had them with both shrimp and pork as the filling, but if you don’t have shrimp, use that leftover pork. Matchstick some veggies or shred some cabbage or lettuce. Make a spicy dipping sauce out of chili paste, or try a nice peanut sauce.
  • And, of course, you can always make yourself another sandwich. Maybe with melty cheese and roasted peppers?

How do you handle leftovers? What dish do you make just so you’ll have plenty left over for future meals?

Tip of the Week

For the nachos below, make your own tortilla chips. Traditionally, you want to cut the tortillas into six triangles; for these, cut the tortillas into thirds so they’re easy to pick up. Then season them up a bit: brush them with olive oil or spritz with cooking spray, then sprinkle a mix of salt, pepper, cumin, and paprika. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, until crispy and brown!

Menu of the Week

I like an ooey, gooey platter of nachos as much as the next person, but when faced with all those chips and cheese and salsa, I tend to overindulge. By placing all the ingredients on a single chip, I get lots of flavor while making a serious (though sometimes losing!) attempt at portion control.

These are also perfect for dinner parties or backyard gatherings. The single-serving size is easier to handle. By quartering the tortillas, you get a larger chip base. Use leftover pulled pork (or chicken, beef, or veggies), mix with shredded cheese, and bake until hot and the cheese is melted. Top with a light salsa. Eat.

Latin American Corn Breads

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the awesome-tasting breads made with chickpea flour (and reader, I confess, I gobbled those breads so fast, I barely managed a picture!). Those breads were largely European in nature; this week, I’m turning my tastebuds to South American and Mexico.

I have three favorite corn flour, or masa harina or masa arepa, based breads to share with you. While the ingredients list is essentially the same, the three are very different. These easy-to-make breads won’t replace my beloved corn tortillas; they simply add delicious options to my dinner routine. Plus, they are naturally gluten-free, which makes them even better! Continue reading “Latin American Corn Breads”

Finding the Right Chile for Your Chili

I crave chili during weather extremes — when it’s very hot or when it’s very cold. Okay, I also crave chili when I’m running late for book club and need to throw together a fast dish for the group (see: how many times has Kassia made Frito Pie featuring Amy’s amazing vegetarian and gluten-free chili in the past year?).

Seriously, chili is a great dish for parties, for dinner, for lunch, for just about any meal. It can be hot and spicy or suffused with a nice mellow heat. Best of all, with a little prep work, chili can cook away in your crockpot all day — it’s just a braise, when you get down to it — while you secretly dream of toppings while you’re pretending to work.

It makes me sad that more restaurants don’t serve gluten-free chili. As you can see from the recipe linked below, this dish really doesn’t need the addition of wheat-based ingredients! Continue reading “Finding the Right Chile for Your Chili”

Socca: An Easy, Naturally Gluten-Free Flatbread

I have a weakness for all things garbanzo bean. Garbanzos (or chickpeas, if you prefer) are the basis for my beloved falafel. And, of course, the highly addictive hummus. Baked or fried (I prefer baked) garbanzos are, I believe, the snack of the future. Give me a salad with garbanzo beans, and I will leave and extra tip.

As I’ve been thinking about gluten-free breads, I’ve been researching naturally gluten-free breads. And by naturally, I mean breads that don’t require a mix of five different flours before they’re added to a mix of five different flours. Simple, minimal ingredient breads that just happen to be gluten free. Continue reading “Socca: An Easy, Naturally Gluten-Free Flatbread”

Gluten-Free Quesadilla Options

One night, I was at my local Mexican joint, and wanting something, well, cheesy. Quesadilla cheesy. Since we’ve been going to this place for about twenty years (we are nothing if not loyal customers!), the staff are accustomed to my modifications to their menu.

Mostly, this means taking the tomatoes out of whatever dish I choose. I’m not much of a raw tomato person. This time, however, I went for the big substitution: corn tortillas instead of flour tortillas in a quesadilla.

My server didn’t even blink. And, I kid you not, that was the best quesadilla I’d had in years. Even my own weren’t that tasty. Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but indulge me. I had a quesadilla in a restaurant. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Quesadilla Options”

Gluten-Free Recipe Substitutions and Workarounds

I am a recipe addict, and while I gear up for a piece on organizing your recipes, I’m also thinking about how I approach recipes. When I encounter something that sounds or reads like it will be delicious, I first scour the ingredients list.

The first thing I learned, oh so long ago!, was that so many more recipes are naturally gluten free than I expected. There are months when I rip out pages from Saveur or Food & Wine to save recipes that I can make without worrying about substitutions or workarounds.

Then there are the recipes that require a bit more thought. They require me to think about why the gluteny item is included, what it does, and how I can make the dish gluten free without sacrificing flavor, texture, or appearance. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Recipe Substitutions and Workarounds”