Trav's Gone Gluten Free!

Gluten Free Tuscan Bean Soup

2011-09-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

Not that I'm a big fan of slush and sleet, recently shoveled parking spots blocked off with lawn chairs or milk crates, or those frigid winter days where it hurts to be outside, but I am happy things are cooling off. Being a northern-blooded human, I'm most comfortable in temperatures between 45 and 75 d. F., so when the heat is 80s and up I feel like I'm made of soft molasses; I have no energy and I travel from one air-conditioned bubble to the next, silently wishing a cold front would move in so that I could pull my hoodies out of the "winter clothes" box, slap on a beanie cap and go tromping through multi-colored drifts of fallen leaves. Well, the fall seems upon us:) This whole week is in the 60s and 70s. I love it. I could even see my breath the other morning. Weather like this gets me into a soup and stew mood for sure. A little colder and I'll be experimenting with chili again:)~

This bean soup can easily be made vegetarian by switching the chicken stock with vegetable stock and leaving out the diced ham. Meat in or meat out, you're going to enjoy every single steaming spoon of this dish. I guarantee it!

Ingredients

2x 14 ounce cans of chopped tomatoes with herbs
2 cups roughly chopped savoy cabbage (or Cavolo Nero Leaves if you can find them)
2x 14 ounce cans of cannelloni beans
2 cups diced ham (pre-cooked)
2 cups GF chicken broth (or GF vegetable broth) or plain ol' water
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper (to your taste)
1/4 tsp. garlic salt

Cooking Directions

Pour the chopped tomatoes into a large pan and add the chicken broth. Season with the garlic salt, sea salt and pepper. Stir and bring to a boil.
Add the cabbage to the pan, stir in, and then partially cover the pan. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the cabbage is tender.
Drain and rinse the cannelloni beans and add them to the pan along with the diced ham. Stir together and heat for another 5 minutes.
Check to see if the soup is seasoned right, if not, add more salt and pepper.
Ladle the soup into bowls and drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the top.
Enjoy!

Gluten Free Leek, Potato and Bean Stew

2010-10-07T14:59:00.000-07:00

We just had a string of cold, wet and dreary days here in Philadelphia. For me it was a little taste of home... Home as in Syracuse, NY that is, where sunny days only come about about 60 times a year. For me, although it's a bit strange, there is something comforting about miserable weather. I think it's because when the weather is at its worst, I tend to appreciate the little pleasures in life even more. Like cuddling with a partner or a loved one... enjoying a hot mug of cocoa. Or, a steaming bowl of stew. It was on one of these atypically dreary days in Philadelphia that I decided to whip up a big batch of this stew. It's inexpensive, and super easy!

The spices make this stew pop for sure, but the combination of leek, potatoes, onions and beans always create a sense of homecoming for me. There's nothing like the power of food to warm not just one's palate, but one's soul as well. Everyone who tried this stew absolutely loved it, and I'm sure you will too:)

Total prep and cooking time: 1 1/2 hours
Feeds: About 4 - Want more?, double it up!

Ingredients

1 can cannellini or navy beans (drained)
1lb potatoes, skinned, rinsed and diced up
3 tblsp vegetable or olive oil
1 large onion (chopped)
2 leeks (sliced)
8 oz. can chopped tomatoes
2 tblsp tomato paste
4 cups gluten free vegetable broth
3 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
2 tblsp fresh cilantro (rinsed and chopped)
Salt and Pepper as desired

Cooking Directions

Heat the oil in a deep, heavy pot (or dutch oven). Add the potatoes, onion and leeks and cook for about 10 minutes or until the potatoes are pale golden (stirring occasionally).
Stir in the garlic, cumin and paprika and cook for a couple more minutes.
Then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and broth and bring to a boil.
Add the beans, cover, and lower the heat to simmer for about 1 hour.
Before serving, stir in the cilantro and as much salt and pepper as desired.
Be prepared to be comforted and enjoy!

Gluten Free Beef and Fresh Herb Stew

2010-07-09T09:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been this long since I've posted a new recipe! You know what they say... time flies when you're having fun. I spent the whole month of May in China; traveling around, exploring, teaching, eating great food... and I couldn't write about any of it because China has banned all social networking sites, including blogs. However, I did take lots of pictures, and will be doing a "China Flashback" soon!

After I returned I had to hit the ground running in order to get Helping Hands Books back in order, and to start the dissertation process! Now I finally feel like I'm back into the groove of things... catching up with friends, and catching up with all my side hobbies, like this one:)

The following stew recipe is one of those dishes that just sings out with the feeling of home-style comfort. You can use pretty much any kind of herbs you have on hand. I chopped up a smorgasbord of fresh organic herbs given to us by our friends Chip and Jackie Denoyers. They are part of a farm co-op and had lots to share. Fresh herbs are like currency to me. When I get my hands on them, I just can't let them go to waste. Besides this dish, I used them in omelets and scrambled eggs, pasta, and even to spice up my typical easy-meal soft tortilla wraps.

Feel free to add as much salt and pepper as you'd like to this dish, or even a bit of cayenne pepper. Unless you like subtle, earthy flavors, because that's what this stew is all about:)

Roland Gluten Free All Natural Chicken Soup Base, 23 Servings Per 4-Ounce Jars (Pack of 6)

Ingredients

2 large onions (diced)
1/2 pound minced beef
3 tblsp oil
1 1/2 tblsp ground tumeric
1/2 cup yellow split peas (or Dal)
5 cups water or GF chicken/vegetable stock
3 tblsp parsley or thyme (chopped)
3 tblsp rosemary (chopped)
3 tblsp chives (chopped)
3 tblsp mint (chopped)
3 saffron strands, dissolved in 1 tblsp boiling water
1 tblsp butter
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Dice up one of the onions. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion until golden brown. Add the tumeric, split peas (Dal) and water... bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer - simmer for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile... dice up the other onion and throw it into a bowl. Add the minced beef, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix well.
Once the 20 minute timer goes off, form the beef/onion mixture into 1-inch sized balls and carefully place into the simmering liquid. Once all the little meatballs are in the pot, set the timer for another 10 minutes.
After the timer rings, add the rice, parsley, rosemary, and chives. Simmer for 30 more minutes, or until rice is tender, stirring frequently.
Melt the butter in a small pan and fry up the chopped garlic. Stir in the mint and the saffron. Add the garlic butter mixture to the soup and stir well.
Ladle into soup bowls and garnish with mint if you have any left.
ENJOY!

Gluten Free Potato, Leek and Arugula Soup

2010-03-03T13:29:00.000-08:00

Just three weeks away from comps! Yikes! The weather is still a bit cold and dreary, but signs of spring are popping up all over the place. Just a few days ago I was walking through the woods among yellow blooms and daffodil shoots making their slow pilgrimage to their sun god. The birds are back in the trees, beginning their Spring songs, and the season's last snow mounds are melting away to reveal fresh growth in the grass beds below. I love Spring in Philadelphia. Especially during April when all the trees blossom; it's truly a beautiful thing and I look forward to it every year:)

Being that it's still a bit chilly, I thought I'd share yet another yummy soup recipe. I made this about a week ago and absolutely loved it! Taste-bud orgasms galore! Now you can keep this veggie and omit the crumbled bacon, but I highly suggest at least substituting it with some FACON, or something similar, just for the sake of having little crunchies throughout your soup to enjoy. Also, feel free to add vegetable stock instead of chicken stock.

Regardless of whether you add crunchies or not, a steaming bowl of this soup is a wonderful thing on a cold, damp day. Trust me, you'll love it!

Ingredients

1 onion (chopped)
3 leeks, mostly the white parts but a little green too (chopped)
2 medium size potatoes, of any variety (chopped)
4 tblsp butter
3 3/4 cups GF chicken/vegetable stock, or water
2-3 cups arugula (roughly chopped)
2/3 cups heavy cream
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
crumbled bacon, or facon (for topping)

Directions

Melt the butter in a large soup pan, and add the onion, leeks and potatoes, stirring the whole mixture till everything is coated with melted butter.
Heat until sizzling and then turn heat to low.
Cover the vegetables and cook on low for 15 minutes.
Pour the stock or water in and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as it's boiling, reduce the heat to low, and keeping it covered, simmer for 20 more minutes.
Remove the cover, and using a large spoon or potato masher with a long handle, carefully mash up the vegetable chunks a bit. You don't want the soup to be super creamy, but mashing it up a little will make it just creamy enough.
Add the chopped arugula, stir well and cook on low for another 5 minutes.
Stir in the heavy cream, season with S & P to taste, and continue to cook on low until the whole mixture is hot again.
Ladle into bowls and top with a pinch or two of bacon.
Grab your favorite soup spoon and get ready for a tastetastic experience!

Gluten Free Pumpkin & Rice Soup

2010-02-23T06:04:00.000-08:00

My comprehensive exams are coming up and I'm stressing it a little. I know that all I have to do is pass them, but my pathological drive to always go the extra distance is pushing me to want to get the best scores possible. Although I know that it really doesn't matter what score you get, a passing mark is a passing mark, I just can't help myself. On top of comps I have a chapter I'm writing for a book on Civic Engagement that is due (in rough form at least) by Monday. It'll be bloodshot eyes and sore wrists from typing by the end of this weekend for sure!

With the lack of free time, I've been keeping it simple in the kitchen. The following recipe can be made with fresh pumpkin if you like, but for sake of cost and convenience, I went with canned pumpkin. Also, although I didn't add any, feel free to add crumbled bacon or diced ham to this soup to give it a little tasty protein kick:) Regardless of how you alter this soup, it's sure to warm your insides with a sense of comfort, and put a smile on your face.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 - 24-28 oz. canned pumpkin (I used pureed)
1 1/2 - cups GF chicken or vegetable stock
1 1/2 - cups low-fat milk
1 1/2 - tsp sugar
1/2 - tsp ground cinnamon (to serve)
1/2 - 1 cup cooked rice
Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

Directions

Add all the ingredients, except the rice and cinnamon, in a soup pan and heat till boiling (stirring occasionally).
Reduce heat to low. Stir in most of the rice (leave a little to sprinkle on top of soup) and cook for another 5 minutes. This is the point where you'd add bacon or diced ham if you prefer.
Adjust the S&P to taste before ladling into serving bowls. Top off with a sprinkle of rice and cinnamon.
That's it! Like I said, simple and fast! Enjoy!

Gluten Free Creamy Salmon & Corn Chowder

2010-01-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

Another semester begins. This time it's the last before I begin my dissertation. I still have to pass comprehensive exams, and submit a proposal for my dissertation topic, but it all seems downhill from here. Maybe I'm just delusional, but after years of education, knowing that it's almost finally over feels really really good.

Not that I haven't been working in the "real world" all along, but knowing that soon I'll never have to take another long weekend class, or stay up late writing papers after a day of hard work, is a very good thing. The "real world" is soooo much easier than the life of a grad-student.

I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with all my free time during my dissertation year, and figure what will make me happy will be to cook more, spend more time on my business, and give quality time to my good friends and family. But knowing myself, I'll probably find some way to cram up all my time with work of some sort:)

However, I'm sure there will always be time for great food and friends. And speaking of food... this chowder I made is dynomite! I served it at a get-together I had a while back and it was quickly engulfed. It was so rich and creamy, completely delicious, and warmed up your insides with a sense of being home. On top of that, it's breezy easy to make.

The only major equipment you'll need is a slow-cooker (crock-pot).

Ingredients

2 cups GF chicken broth
2 cups water
2 cups frozen sweet corn
1 cup celery (chopped)
1/2 cup onions (chopped)
3/4 cup corn meal
8 oz. package fat-free cream cheese (cut into cubes)
16 oz. can salmon, drained, skin and bones removed, and coarsely flaked with a fork ( I know what you're thinking, "canned salmon?!", and yes, I thought the same thing, but trust me, it works just fine)
1 tblsp. dill weed (chopped)

Cooking Directions

Mix together the chicken broth, water, corn, celery, onions and corn meal in your slow cooker.
Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours, or on high 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
Turn cooker to high and add the cream cheese, stirring until completely melted.
Stir in the salmon and the chopped dill.
Cover and cook for 10 minutes longer.
Dig in! (and try not to burn the top of your mouth!)

Gluten Free Pumpkin Apricot Stew

2009-11-10T13:41:00.000-08:00

Halloween is over, but I'm still daydreaming about the stew that we served at our Halloween costume party. It was absolutely amazing! And eating it out of a pumpkin was just downright cool! Plus, I'm a huge fan of yams, and this dish is loaded with delicious yam chunks!

I'm not sure if you can find pumpkins anymore, but even without the pumpkin shell, this is sure to be a hit with anyone you're feeding:) My apologies for the poor photo, I planned on taking nice photos of this stew the next day, but it was all eaten up!

To keep things GF, I used an organic beef broth that stated "gluten-free" on the carton. I've also used the product "Better Than Bouillon" numerous times with no ill effect. The ingredients do not list anything evidently glutenous, but proceed with caution if you happen to have a very sensitive system.

Ingredients

2 lb beef stew meat, cubed
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tblsp oil
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 cup dried apricots
3 white potatoes, peeled and diced
3 sweet potatoes (yams), peeled and cubed
2 cups beef broth
butter
1 16oz. can whole kernal corn, drained
1 medium pumpkin

Cooking Directions

Cook beef, onion and garlic together in oil until browned. Add the tomatoes, pepper, salt, pepper, sugar, apricots, potatoes and broth. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
Meanwhile, cut off the pumpkin top. Scoop out the seeds and membrane. Brush the inside of the pumpkin walls with melted butter and then salt and pepper the inside.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Once the pumpkin is prepped, add the corn to the stew and stir together. Ladle the hot stew into the pumpkin shell.
Place shell in a shallow pan and bake, uncovered, for about an hour or until the pumpkin meat is tender.
Serve by scraping up the sides of the pumpkin before ladling into bowls. Make sure you get a nice amount of pumpkin flesh into each serving.
Place lid of pumpkin back on for aesthetic appeal:) You're going to love this!!!

Gluten Free Chicken Potato Bean-sprout Stew

2009-10-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

The Northeast has been experiencing a wet and cold week. This Sunday we scheduled a trip to Linvilla Orchards to pick apples, eat cider-doughnuts, and go on a hay-ride followed by a bonfire to roast marshmallows. I've got my fingers crossed, but it could very well be a wash-out. We have 80 people signed up, so I'm hoping for a break around the time our wagons are scheduled to depart. Either way, rain or not, I'll be there warming up with hot spiced cider and the company of good friends:)

Right now, as I'm writing this, a large pot of turkey chocolate chili is reducing on the stove. It smells AWESOME!!! This rainy, dreary, cold and gray weather is the perfect time for chili, soup and stew. The chicken stew recipe below is something I whipped up with what I had on hand. I was nervous about the bean-sprouts, but they ended up being an amazing alternative to noodles. They still held their texture, and since I didn't chop them up, were nice and stringy like al dente pasta.

A hot, steaming bowl of chicken stew on a cold and damp day is a bit of heaven! I shared this with some friends and they shared with me that this stew is amazing. Make it! You'll love it!

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups bean sprouts (rinsed)
2 lb chicken breast (chopped)
6 cups scrubbed and chopped red potatoes (with skins on)
8 green onions/scallions chopped
3 bay leaves
6 cups GF chicken broth (I used "better than bouillon")
1 tsp concentrated lemon juice
3 tblsp vegetable oil
Salt, Black Pepper and Garlic Pepper

Directions:

The first thing you're going to do is cook up the chicken. Heat the oil in a large pot on med-high till hot and throw in the chopped chicken breast. As it's cooking, keep stirring and adding shakes of salt, pepper and garlic pepper until you feel that it's spicy enough for you. Once the chicken is cooked through, using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken and set aside.
Add the chopped carrots, onions and bean sprouts to the chicken oil. Stir constantly for about 3 minutes. Add the bay leaves, potatoes and lemon juice and stir together for a couple more minutes.
Add the chicken stock until everything is covered with about 1 inch of liquid. Cover an bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and uncover.
Let the soup simmer for about 3o minutes, tasting about 1/2 way through and adding more salt, pepper and garlic pepper to your specific taste.
Serve hot and steamy on a wet, cold day. Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Peanut Sweet Potato Soup

2008-10-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

In celebration of the upcoming harvest season, I chose to create a dish with one of October's signature fruits, the mighty pumpkin. This soup has a unique taste, is very hearty, and incorporates another favorite ingredient of mine, the yam! I've never made this before, but I found it to be hearty, its taste... unique, and its feel... the definition of comfort food. It's also very easy to make, and inexpensive to boot! For some reason, I feel like bits of cooked bacon would fit perfectly with this soup. So next time I make this, it'll be time for some swine! Make this as a delicious entree, or as an addition to a festive holiday meal. Either way, if you like peanuts, yams and pumpkin, you'll dig this:)

Ingredients

4 tblsp. (1/2 stick) butter
4 cups canned pumpkin (or leftover cooked and pureed pumpin)
2 cups canned pureed sweet potato
1 cup all natural smooth peanut butter
6 cups organic (gluten free) chicken stock
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. salt
Fresh snipped chives (garnish)
Sour Cream (garnish)

Cooking Directions

Melt the butter in a soup pot over medium heat.
Stir in the pumpkin, sweet potato and peanut butter.
Add the chicken stock, pepper & salt, & stir until smooth and fully incorporated.
Reduce the heat to simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
Before serving, garnish the soup with snipped chives and sour cream
Make annoying slurping sounds while eating with a ridiculous grin on your face.