Salad de Polvo (Octopus Salad)

This is a perfect summer time dinner salad. The recipe for this dish came from Ana Ortins' latest cookbook Authentic Portuguese Cooking. I couldn't find a whole octopus and used baby octopus instead. It worked well but I didn't have enough octopus for the amount of onions called for in the recipe. Next time, I think I will substitute shallots for the onions.  

Oh and I added oregano to the dressing and served with arugula.  Yummy.  

Fish Tacos

I have to say that when I stumbled across Old Mill white corn tortillas at the grocery store on the weekend, I was pretty excited. I can't recall the last time I ate a tortilla or a wrap for that matter. And not only are they gluten-free, they're good too.   

I used Mahi-mahi for my fish that was marinaded with olive oil, cumin, oregano, chill powder, cilantro, and a 1/3 of a seeded hot pepper. This dish was inspired by the Fish Taco recipe I found here at Epicurious.com.  

Instead of the tomato salsa and Mexican crema suggested in the Epicurious recipe I went with a simple and delicious favourite, Mango salsa.

I'm so glad I didn't skip the red onions soaked in red wine vinegar. Oh my, love these!  

Now that I have found gluten free tortillas, that I like I'm sure I will be revisiting this recipe over the summer.  

Lasagna

I usually make the Ooh-la-la-sagna recipe from The Looneyspoons Collection cookbook but today I just went with what I had on hand since I was missing a few key ingredients.   

Instead of making the centre layer with spinach, ricotta and parmesan cheese and egg I went with what vegetable I had in the fridge. 

3 medium onions roughly chopped

4 zucchinis

2 yellow peppers

large package of mushrooms

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons of sun-dried tomato oil

Toss and roast for 30 minutes in a 350º F oven.  Meanwhile, I worked on my meat sauce.  I removed the skins from fifteen hot Italian sausages, diced and cooked with one white onion. When meat is cooked add 

1 jar of Marinara sauce 

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

Once is reaches a boil, reduce, and simmer for 20 minutes.  

Now comes the fun part. Start with a layer of meat sauce, then a layer of Le Veneziane Gluten-free Corn and Rice Lasagna noodles.  They are oven ready so no need to pre-cook these noodles. Top with more meat sauce, 1/2 of the roasted vegetables (I made enough for 2 trays of lasagna), mozzarella cheese, lasagna noodles, meat sauce and a final layer of cheese.  

Bake in a 350º F oven for 30 minutes. And then enjoy!

Paella

This picture was taken at the last leg of the cooking stage, just before it went into the oven until the clams and mussels opened up. If you don't own a paella pan, could I recommend that you invest in one--you won't be disappointed. I've made paella in a stock pot and it is not the same outcome.  

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced green pepper

1 cup diced yellow pepper

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

4 ounces chorizo

1/2 cup green peas

2 cups short grain rice

4 chicken thighs

1 pound shrimp

1 pound mussels

1 pound clams

5 cups clam juice

Happy Cooking!  

Gluten-free Tabbouleh Salad

2 cups of cooked quinoa

1/4 cup finely diced shallots

1 yellow pepper

3 cucumbers

12 cherry tomatoes

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

juice of 1 lemon

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Vegan Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Rice paper

Vermicelli noodles

Napa cabbage

Cilantro

Mini sweet bell peppers

Cucumbers

Carrots

Soak to the rice paper in warm water and place on a cutting board.  Layer your vegetables and other ingredients starting with the cilantro leaves, noodles, thinly chopped napa cabbage, match-stick cut cucumbers and bell peppers and topped with grated carrots.  Fold ends and then roll.  

Serve with gluten-free peanut sauce or chilli sauce.   

Corn and Crab Chowder

Olive Oil

Unsalted butter

Diced celery

Diced white onion

Minced garlic

Diced bell yellow bell pepper

Diced red potatoes

Vegetable or Chicken stock 

Cayenne Pepper

Gluten-free Creole Spice

Sea Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

Milk

Gluten-free all-purpose flour

Corn

Crab meat

Green onions

One of My Favourites: Curried Pork Tenderloin with Curried Blueberry Sauce

Ground Cumin

Curry Powder

Turmeric

Fresh Ginger

Cardamon

Butter

Olive Oil

Sliced Mushrooms

Organic fresh Blueberries

Butter

Curry Powder

Paint the plate with the blueberry sauce, layer with sauteed mushrooms and top with pork tenderloin that has first been seared and then finished off in the oven for about 8 minutes.  Serve with stir fried baby bok choy, yellow bell peppers and zucchini.

Crustless Crab & Mushroom Quiche

This is the second time that I made this crustless quiche. I found the recipe in the Looneyspoons cookbook. I had a few ideas as to how I wanted to tweak the recipe. 

1. The first time I used canned crab meat, not this time. Since I had one can left, I did use that but the remaining crabmeat was found in the deli section of Costco. Huge difference in taste! 
2. Instead of parmesan and cheddar cheese I went with feta. 
3. I left out the onions and garlic and went with shallots. 
4. And I raided the herb garden with the exception of the dried dill.  

3 cups sliced mushrooms

1/4 cup chopped shallots

1 yellow pepper, diced

2 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. butter

In a skillet, melt the butter with the olive oil, add the mushrooms, shallots and pepper and cook until soft, about seven minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Meanwhile in a large bowl mix the following ingredients.  

6 eggs

3/4 cup of evaporated milk

1 tsp. fresh oregano

3 large basil leaves, chopped

1 tsp. dill

1 cup feta cheese

Sea salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

1 cup crab meat

Pour into a greased quiche dish. Bake for 45-60 minutes until firm to the touch.

This adapted recipe is a keeper!

Wingin' It!

The best meals are those that you just wing it and use what you have on hand. Breakfast is the perfect time to wing it. I just check what I have on hand and throw it all in, like this morning's breakfast.  

 eggs

marinated artichoke hearts, chopped

gluten-free sliced ham (found at Costco)

yellow pepper, chopped

Italian seasoning

sea salt

freshly cracked black pepper

splash of milk

crumbled Feta cheese

Use whatever ingredients that you have, just do it!  

Best. Breakfast. Ever.

Sunny Side Egg (yes, I do like the edges well done)

Fried Bell Peppers

Sea Salt

Freshly Cracked Black Pepper

Gluten-free Bread (found at Costco)

Cookbook Love

I made a tray of Ooo-la-la-sagna from one of my favourite cookbooks, The Looneyspoons Collection. I left out the red pepper flakes since I used hot Italian sausage in this recipe. Oh and I threw in some chopped sweet yellow peppers and shallots. I also used gluten-free lasagna noodles (corn and quinoa) that I didn't have to pre-cook--easy!  

Seriously, if you don't have this cookbook in your collection this is one that you should pick up and they have many gluten-free recipes in here too. The recipes that are not gluten-free are easily adaptable like the sweet potato crust on their Hungry Guy Chicken Pies recipe. I just substitute gluten-free flour for the regular flour they call for in the recipe and it worked out great.

I haven't found a recipe in this book that I don't love.