Gluten Free Sunshine Colcannon

After the last post I went to the store and purchased Betty Crocker's GF Brownie Mix.  Just like the chocolate chip cookies, the brownies were great!  I can't wait to try all of their new GF products:)

It's almost the beginning of the semester. This is my last year taking classes; only three more to go before dissertation.  This week was my last at Social Work Counseling Services. It was sad emptying out my office and closing out my cases, but I'm looking forward to what's ahead. It should be a busy year, but I can't wait to get it going!

As usual I've been cooking and baking up a storm.  This dish was really easy to put together.  I call it "Sunshine Colcannon" because the eggs look like little suns:) It tasted wonderful and was super filling.  I just love these traditional Irish meals... such great comfort food.  Feel free to use whatever cheese you prefer, and if you have an allergy to eggs, just leave them out.  

Ingredients

• 2 pounds potatoes (chopped up)
• 1/2 pound crisp green cabbage - any variety (shredded)
• 2 green onions (chopped)
• 4 large eggs
• 4 oz. mature cheese (grated)
• butter or margarine (according to taste)
• nutmeg (according to taste) - I used about 1/4 tsp.
• sea salt and fresh ground pepper (according to taste)

Directions

1. Boil the potatoes until just tender - drain them and smash em up!
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
3. Lightly cook the cabbage until just tender but still crisp. I cooked it in some olive oil and water, covering to steam a little.
4. Drain the cabbage and mix them with the potatoes.  Add the onions, butter, nutmeg and S&P and mix together well.
5. Transfer the mixture into a shallow ovenproof dish and make four potholes in the mixture. Crack an egg into each hole and season well.
6. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the eggs are just set.  Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese.
7. Grab a bottle of Redbridge, some family or friends, and chow down!!

Betty Crocker's Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies!

I am so pumped about Betty Crocker's New Gluten Free line of products!  They're even showing up at my local Acme, which rarely carries anything GF. I decided to start the taste-testing with their chocolate chip cookies. After adding all the ingredients and mixing it up, it did seem a little too crumbly. However, the directions on the box said it would look that way.  After about 10 minutes of baking the smell permeated our home.  I just LOVE the smell of cookies in the oven. It makes me want to snuggle up on the couch and watch cartoons.

After letting them cool for about a minute, we all began to chow down.  They were awesome!  The cookies did get hard pretty fast, but nothing a cold glass of milk couldn't remedy.  They were also relatively cheap, only $4.99, which is pretty good compared to a lot of other gluten free mixes.  Next, I'm going to try out the brownies. I can't wait!

Gluten Free Eggplant and Pistachio Boats

Last night I had a good time hanging with my fellow Philly foodies at E's house! E writes FOODAPHILIA and hosted this round, showcasing her new apartment. I always enjoy hanging with E and Taylor (who writes MAC & CHEESE).  If all goes according to plan, next time, in October, it  will be at my crib. I plan to make an awesome pumpkin soup inside the pumpkin, and a few pumpkin-based sweets:) I'm a big fan of the orange squash :) But, the Fall is still months away and there's so much to be done before then.

I'm happy to say that in a few weeks I'll be submitting all the paperwork required to obtain my LLC license for my company, Helping Hands Books.  HHB has been my pet project for the past two years, and now that my little hobby is evolving into something much bigger. I'm experiencing a mix of positive excitement and nervous anxiety. But I've got faith it's going to work out.  I just know that soon, I'm going to need to start hiring people!

I decided to put all of my gluten free recipes together into an e-book titled "Trav's Gone Gluten Free's Kick-Butt Cookbook.

Now... I know that I posted an eggplant recipe a few posts ago, but I just had to share this one as well. I had a few more eggplants from Produce Junction, so I figured I'd experiment some more. This dish doesn't look too pretty, but it's seriously delicious. It also has a very meaty texture, so much in fact, that my brother was surprised that there wasn't any pork or beef in what he was eating. I mistakingly cut off the ends of the eggplant, making it harder to scoop out perfect bowls, but it turned out just fine:)  If you don't have pistachios on hand, you can use hazelnuts or cashews.  This meal is great! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup brown rice (cooked)
• 1 large eggplant (cut in half)
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
• 1 small sweet green pepper (chopped)
• 1/4 pound of mushrooms (sliced)
• 3 oz. Cheddar cheese (grated)
• 3 tblsp. olive oil
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1/2 tsp. marjoram
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup raw pistachios (no shells of course)

Directions 

1. Cook your rice and set it aside to cool.
2. Scoop out the flesh from the eggplant halves and chop. 
3. Boil some water and blanch the hollowed-out eggplant boats for about 2 minutes, then drain upside down.
4. Fry the chopped eggplant flesh, onion, garlic, green pepper and mushrooms in the oil for about 5 minutes.
5. Mix in the rice, cheese, egg, marjoram, salt and pepper. 
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Arrange the eggplant boats in an ovenproof dish. Spoon the filling inside. Sprinkle over the pistachios.
8. Throw the eggplant boats into the oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is set and nuts are a bit golden.
9. Remove from oven and serve immediately.
10. Chow Down!!

Gluten Free Jerk Turkey Tacos

This is another example of a typical quick and easy meal I'd make any odd day of the week.  Lately I've been making things a bit more spicy than usual... and I've been loving it!  These soft tacos are loaded with Jerk Seasoning.  I used quite a bit... enough to make your nose run a little, but oh man were they good!  I picked up the Jerk Seasoning while in Ochos Rios - and when I took my first bite of soft taco, I was instantly transported back to the beach in my mind.  I love how your taste-buds can do that:)  Feel free to ease up on the Jerk Seasoning if your sensitive to hot spice, but not too much because then it just wouldn't be Jerk!

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 1 can ready to serve black beans
• Corn tortillas (make sure GF!)
• 1 small onion (diced)
• 1-2 cups shredded greens (I used Romaine)
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 3 tblsp. Jerk Seasoning
• 3 tblsp. olive oil
• Cooking spray (make sure it's GF!)

Directions

1. Empty the black beans in a small saucepan and add the garlic powder and diced onion. Heat on low, stirring occasionally.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the ground turkey.  Chop up the turkey as much as you can as it cooks, while adding your Jerk seasoning one tablespoon at a time. What your looking to do is add enough seasoning to color the oil a light orange. 
3. Once your turkey is completely cooked, and your beans are warmed through, heat a large skillet on medium. Lightly spray each side of your tortillas and throw on the skillet. You only need to heat them till they soften up. Remove softened tortillas, set aside and add more to the skillet (repeat).
4. Fill the tortillas with your turkey, the greens and your beans and go to town!