Category: Recipes

Strawberry, Kale, and Buckwheat Salad

This salad is great for parties, weeknight meals, or hot summer evenings. Buckwheat adds great flavor, especially since it’s dressed in a lemony sauce. I love that the whole thing is on the table in under thirty minutes — while the buckwheat cooks, you can prepare the strawberries.

I make this salad without cheese for a vegan option. If you like cheese — and it will add a salty component to the dish — ricotta is great. Feta works. Even blue cheeses are lovely. I also love to add toasted nuts or seeds, like pumpkin, to the dish for some crunch.

Note: start testing the buckwheat for doneness about twelve minutes into the simmer. You want the grains to be firm, not mushy. That way they hold their shape and add texture to this salad.

Gluten-Free Soy Sauce Eggs

Our household is eating more eggs than ever, and I’m including them in my lunch bag in different ways (hello, frittatas!). Lately, though, I’ve been adding soy sauce eggs into the mix because they’re the perfect mid-afternoon snack.

What are soy sauce eggs? Quite simply, they are hard- or soft-boiled eggs that have been peeled and marinated in a soy sauce solution. The marinade penetrates the egg white and adds lots of flavor.

I make them in batches of six, though I think I’m going to need to up my game and starting making them by the dozen since the husband is also consuming them. He likes having a low calorie, low carb option at the ready.

These eggs are, of course, delicious on their own. I also use them when making my versions of bibimbap or ramen. Add them as a topping to stir fries or fried rice. Or anything. Seriously. Anything.

Chile Verde

I love chile verde, and, despite all the steps in the recipe below, it’s pretty easy to make. A long, slow simmer on the stove (or, heck, you could do this in a 225 degree oven, if you prefer) brings lots of flavors together. The pork will be falling apart, and the whole dish is tangy with just a hint of heat.

While pork is traditional, chicken is also an option. My recipe for Chicken Chile Verde is right here.

Greens with Baked Eggs

I do love my greens, and I love this dish. It can be spicy, warm, tangy, or even creamy. Use lots of greens to make this a full mean for Meatless Monday, or reduce the amounts for a side dish.

While I’ve noted that you can use any type of greens you wish, I find I get the most satisfaction from spinach and chard. They are “wetter”, meaning you don’t need to add a lot of extra liquid while cooking down the greens. Kale and collard greens will need more liquid to braise until suitably tender.

Note: once you’ve made this dish once, you will crave it all the time!

Roasted Potatoes

Needless to say, when it comes to carbs, potatoes are my first (and second!) choice. I love them in all forms, but since I’ve given up most restaurant french fries due to the possibility of gluten cross-contamination, I tend to eat my crispy potatoes at home.

The key to a perfect roasted potato is this: parboil before roasting. Parboiling starts the cooking process, meaning the potato will be cooked on the inside when the outside is done. Parboiling also releases starches necessary for crispy exteriors.

This recipe works equally well for oven fries! Note that you can season your potatoes with anything, from a simple salt and pepper with olive oil glaze to an aioli crust. Mmm, that sounds so good right about now.

Tip of the Week

Roasting vegetables requires high heat, making your outdoor grill perfect for this task. To make it easier to turn the veggies on a hot grill, place them on skewers before grilling. And remember that denser veggies like potatoes will require more cooking time than vegetables like asparagus (here’s a quick reference guide).

Menu of the Week

In Southern California, it’s almost always grilling season, so I tend to think about cooking outside whenever I cook certain cuts of meat. A flank steak with a chimichurri sauce is a perfect signal that it’s time to set up the outside table!

While I like to dip my potatoes in the chimichurri, you can make a quick creamy ranch-style dressing with mayonnaise, sour cream or greek yogurt, and a bit of seasoning. This can offset the garlicky, peppery heat of the chimichurri sauce!

  • Grilled Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
  • Roasted Salt and Pepper Potatoes
  • Grilled Corn on the Cob or Grilled Stone Fruit

Chicken Chile Verde

Chile Verde is a green, tangy tomatillo-based salsa or sauce. While you can certainly use the sauce for dipping chips or chilaquiles, I love simmering chicken or pork in the sauce for a quick weeknight stew. I love the addition of jalapeno to the sauce, but it can be omitted if your prefer your food less spicy.

(You can also ramp up the heat by using additional peppers or adding a few dashes of red pepper flakes or chipotle powder.)

There is no need to add a thickener to the salsa — the tomatillos have lots of pectin to do the job.

Frittata Ideas for Weeknight Meals

I don’t know what your schedule is like, but mine definitely needs a lot more room for free time. Even those days when I am particularly virtuous and get up at five to exercise seem like they don’t have enough hours. By the time I get home from work at night, there aren’t many hours until I’m supposed to hit the sack.

One trick I’ve mastered is making fast meals. As I’ve mentioned before, so often, going out to eat feels like a huge burden — if it’s a new place, I have to determine which menu items fit into my gluten-free diet; if it’s a familiar place, the foods I can eat lead to a repetitive (and sometimes boring) dining experience. Cooking at home lets me explore the variety of foods I love.

But, like I said, it’s gotta be fast. It’s gotta be easy. It’s gotta be delicious. And if it’s a recipe that delivers leftovers as well, then bonus points all around! Continue reading “Frittata Ideas for Weeknight Meals”