Gluten Free Salmon, Red Potato and Honey Mustard Spring Salad

Gluten Free Salmon, Red Potato, Honey Mustard Spring Salad
Serves 2

7-8 Medium Red Potatoes
Olive Oil Spray or approx 1 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper to Taste
2 Salmon fillets
2 tbsp Olive Oil
3 tbsp white-wine vinegar
2 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 tsp Honey Mustard
8 oz Spring Greens


Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut red potatoes into half coin shapes. Spray the cookie sheet with olive oil (or brush) and arrange potatoes. Bake for 10 minutes.

Flip potatoes over, put salmon fillets into center of pan, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 12-14 minutes, until the salmon is opaque and you can easily squish a potato with a fork.

Next make the dressing. Wisk the oil, white wine-vinegar, mustards, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Add potatoes to salad and toss with salad dressing.

Flake salmon, using two forks, onto center of plated salad. Enjoy!
Adapted from a Martha recipe.

Gluten Free Grilled Alfredo Veggie Pizza

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes right now.

1 package Gluten Free Pizza Crust (Chebe)
2 tbsp oil
2 eggs
4 tbsp milk or milk substitute
2 large or 6 small Portobello Mushrooms, stems removed
1 Zucchini
1 Summer squash
1 Small Jar of GF Alfredo Sauce
4 cups shredded mozzarella
Salt
Olive Oil Cooking Spray

We use Chebe pizza dough (made from some sort of cactus flour) for the pizza crust. Follow the directions on the Chebe package. We make the crust into squares to better fit onto the grill. Cook in the oven at 375 for 8-ish minutes, until almost done but still relatively pliable. The assembled pizzas will be finished over the grill. Remove from oven and cover with a thin layer of Alfredo Sauce.
Preheat grill. Meanwhile, cut Zucchini and Summer Squash in half and peppers into forths, as depicted below. Spray or brush with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper.

Grill veggies for about 8-10 minutes, turning once. Take off grill and cut mushrooms, squash, peppers and zucchini into thin strips. Cover with cheese (to your taste) and put back on the grill.
Grill on medium heat until cheese has melted. Make sure not the burn the crust underneath. Top with red pepper flakes if you've got them and enjoy!

Meta: Goals

In order to save money and time (and hours of listlessly staring into the depths of the fridge, indecisive as to what to make...) I've started making a menu each week. I find interesting recipes, print them off, compile a list of needed ingredients and ONLY BUY THOSE THINGS at the store. I generally find about 7 different menu items and then post the menus on the fridge. Now, instead of staring into the fridge we can choose from the list. Each day the decision gets easier. I also list the estimated time it takes to make a meal (as my hubby and I both work, and I generally don't want an hour in the kitchen after a day in the office) to better determine what to eat on a particular night.

This weeks Menu:

Grilled Veggie Pizza Alfredo -45 min

Walnut and Blue Cheese Salad and Golden Raisin Applesauce muffins -30 min

Vegetable Cobbler -1 hr

Roasted Salmon and New Potatoes (with spring greens, not arugula) -30 min

Fish Tacos & Cheesy Corn -45 min

GF Fusilli with Sausage Artichokes and Sun Dried Tomatoes -30 min

Baked Potato Bar -15 min

Over the weeks I've saved the successful recipes and tossed the less-than successful ones. My goal now is to photo those successes and post them on here. Eventually I'd like to math out how many calories is in each meal per serving so I can easily schedule the number of calories I ingest per day. I'll be able to easily compile a list of delicious foods per cooking time and calorie count.

Per Dr. Weil I'm trying to incorporate fish into our diets at least once a week. I'm also trying to avoid meat as much as possible. My hubby (the Celiac) feels that he is already stricken with the gluten free curse, and is against more limitations to his diet. I would prefer to not eat any meats but chicken and fish.

Gluten Free Golden Raisin Applesauce Muffins

Adapted from a glutenfreegoddess recipe. Literally the best recipe for GF muffins, ever!

I make six Muffins (for 2 people) in one muffin tin, generally to be eaten with a salad.
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together:
1 egg
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream (low fat)
1/4 cup applesauce (note: you can use a 1/2 cup of either sour cream or applesauce if you are missing one of these ingredients).
1 cup Pamela's GF Baking and Pancake Mix
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

When mixed add 1/4-1/2 cup (I just grab handfuls) of golden raisins. I also sometimes add dried cranberries.

Pour into lined muffin tin. I use a silicon muffin pan sprayed with olive oil. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out dry. Muffins will be very moist. Let cool a bit and enjoy!

Fried Gluten Free Fish Tacos with Lime Mayo Sauce and Cheesy Corn

For Fish Tacos:
1 cup GF flour mix (I use Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup GF beer or Coddled Milk (1 cup milk and 1 tbsp lemon juice)
1 quart oil for frying if using a deep fryer, or you can fry fish in a skillet with enough oil to cover fish.
2-4 tilapia fillets, cut into strips (these can be somewhat frozen upon frying if you forget to defrost)
Corn tortillas

Pre-heat deep fryer to 375 degrees. Or cook fish in oil in skillet. (I've not tried this, we are unhealthy gluttons with our deep-fryer.)
Mix Egg and GF Beer or Coddled Milk in 1 bowl.
Mix flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt in another bowl.

Dip fish strips in wet bowl and then into dry bowl. Coat fish in flour. Put into fryer until golden brown (about 5 minutes give or take). Put finished fish on plate with a paper towel to de-grease. Make sure to cover fish so they don't cool while finishing the sauce and taco shells.

Fry corn tortillas into taco shells until golden brown. We have taco shell frying tools, shown in the below picture on the bottom left. You can use pre-made taco shells to save this step. If so warm taco-shells in the oven as per package instructions. I must add that making your own taco shells is SOOO much better than store-bought ones.



For Lime Mayo Sauce:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 lime, juiced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh dill weed
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

To make white sauce: In a medium bowl, mix together yogurt and mayonnaise. Gradually stir in fresh lime juice until consistency is slightly runny. Season with jalapeno, oregano, cumin, dill, and cayenne.

Other Taco Ingredients:
1/2 medium head cabbage, finely shredded
1-2 tomatoes, diced
Shredded Cheese

Prepare these and put them in bowls to add to tacos as you'd like.

Cheesy Corn:
1 can corn, drained
2 tbsp butter
1/8 cup lowfat cream cheese
1/8 cup velveeta (I know, eww, but it's so tasty!)

Heat, while periodically stirring, in sauce pan over medium heat until cream cheese, butter and velveeta have melted.

For finishing, put a couple fried fish pieces in a taco shell, add some Lime Mayo Sauce, cabbage, tomatoes and cheese. My hubby likes his cheesy corn on top of the whole mess, while I enjoy mine to the side.

This recipe is nowhere near healthy, but very delicious!

Adapted and made GF from an allrecipes.com recipe.

BBQ Chicken, Pinapple Salsa Salad and Pumpkin Polenta

1 tablespoon lime pepper seasoning
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon coriander
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tbsp olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Mix spices and sugar in a large plastic food storage bag. Coat chicken with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and add to bag. Coat the chicken evenly in the spices and sugar. Let sit and marinade while preparing the salad.

4 plum tomatoes chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1/4 fresh pineapple, cut into circles and grilled
2 limes
3 tbsp olive oil
A handful fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chop and combine the tomatoes, bell pepper, onions. Place chicken on grill and cook 6 to 7 minutes on each side. While cooking the chicken grill the pineapple circles until they have grill marks on them. Add cilantro, squeezed lime juice and 3 tbsp olive oil.

2 cups chicken stock
1 cup milk or half-and-half
1 chipotle in adobo, finely chopped and 2 teaspoons adobo sauce
3/4 cup quick cooking polenta
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey

Heat the stock and milk or half-and-half in a sauce pot with chipotle and adobo sauce. Whisk in the polenta and thicken 2-3 minutes, stir in pumpkin to warm through. Stir in butter and honey and season with salt and pepper.

Serve polenta with chicken and salsa salad.

Pumpkin GF muffins would also be delightful with this dish. Follow this basic muffin recipe but replace the sour cream and applesauce with pumpkin puree. (Please note: I've not tried that yet, so it could be a disaster... when I do I'll report back.) Don't worry about messing up with GF baking, it's about the only way to learn.

Adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe.