A Simple Bowl of Rice

Simple rice bliss.

A simple bowl of brown rice and veggies. Not even a recipe. Just bliss.

Inside this humble gluten-free goddess is an on-again off-again vegan/vegetarian. For almost forty years I politely declined meat- though I did eat eggs and cheese, and during my pregnancies, I ate fish. During the prickly years of peri-menopause I added small amounts of chicken or turkey into my weekly menu.

Celiac is an interesting twist in all this life-long veggie love. It has deepened my gratitude for simple joys, like sitting outside in the warm spring sun, holding a bowl of short grain brown rice topped with roasted vegetables. On a day like this I cannot help but feel so damn lucky.

So today, as the warm sun lingers longer than it did yesterday on our small casita tucked into the junipered hill by the mesa, I thought I might celebrate a simple bowl. 

A bowl of chewy, earthy gluten-free goodness, satisfying and fabulous.

A Simple Bowl of Rice

Leftovers make this hot lunch super fast and easy. So plan ahead and cook a little extra rice for dinner.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cooked short grain brown rice, per person
1 cup of assorted stir-fried fresh veggies, per person
Extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt

Instructions:

Heat a splash of extra virgin olive in a skillet and add the cooked brown rice and veggies. Season with sea salt. Stir with a wooden spoon until heated through and sizzling.

Spoon into your favorite bowl and sit outside, if you can, breathing in the spring. Or find a spot by a window, and sit in the sun.

Hold your bowl. Smile. Eat!

[GF] Goddess Cookie Bars on BBC Slink? Cool.

Today's BBC - Slink featured an upbeat-offbeat [and often tongue-in-cheek] article on food allergies and intolerances titled, A-List Allergies, and linked to this [GF] Goddess recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares, listing said delights as reason numero uno to look on the "Bright Side" of having a food allergy, cuz, and I quote: "Tons of people have them - You immediately belong to a secret club full of people coming up with kickass special recipes. So next time your mates are stuffing their faces with junk you can bust out some tastier and healthier gluten-free cookies.

Very cool.

Fresh Vegetable Soup with Lime

Here's an easy fresh vegetable soup recipe you'll love.

It's still soup weather here in northern New Mexico, so certain individuals lugged out their Crock Pot this week and pondered the gentle, slow art of vegetarian potage. This new soup recipe is fresh tasting and full of flavor, kicked up with spicy green chiles a generous squeeze of lime.

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Easy Mediterranean Tuna & Artichoke Pasta

Pasta and tuna comfort food.

The moment I knew my first marriage was failing faster than you could murmur blueberry pancakes on a stick was the minute my moody first husband shoved his untouched plate of tuna noodle casserole across the lemon-waxed bridal table and declared, I'm not eating this crap.

A man who cannot fathom the comfort- albeit guilty pleasure- of a Wednesday night sixties classic is a person who might also belittle your favorite actor in a role so crackling in its own shiver of guilty pleasure that the hair on the back of your neck stands up when you hear Point Break is on HBO again.

In other words, Dear Reader, if a guy mocks your noodles and your Keanu, it might be time to stiffen your spine and rustle up the courage to reconsider your choice of a life partner.

Yup. You gotta go down, Brah. Vaya con Dios.

And, oh, in case you're wondering where Husband #2 stands on Keanu?


Dude. He's a major fan. Definitely.

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Gluten-Free Smackdown

Our very own gluten-free blogger Jennifer (of Jennifer Ate) has written a mouthwatering wrap-up and review of the very first Gluten-Free Cooking Spree over at Epicurious.

The New York event was the first of several Iron Chef-style cook-off fundraising events planned and sponsored by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Hustle on over to the NFCA website to find out when and where the next fun and fabulous Cooking Spree will take place. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to snag a ticket (the New York event sold out!).

PS: And if you go, you just might win an original gluten-free apron designed and donated by yours truly. I'm donating two gluten-free themed aprons to each event.

Roasted Vegetables on Broiled Polenta

Roasted veggies on broiled polenta. Yep. Gluten-free delish.

I'm still shaking off the February blahs, so bear with me, intrepid g-free campers. Please accept this super easy recipe as a tiny gift. Make this celiac-friendly dish on a busy weeknight when you're cranky and tired or feeling lazy or simply and utterly couldn't be bothered to crack open a cookbook (never mind, actually shop for groceries) because all you really want to do is kick off your Rocket Dogs and sink down into your favorite viewing chair with a bowl of salted popcorn and a glass of Irish whiskey to watch A Scanner Darkly again- this time with the filmmakers commentary (not to mention the intuitive insight of Keanu and Jonathan Lethem). Dude. What more could a geek girl like me ask for?

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Gluten-Free Beer (and a pizza crust recipe)

After five years of living strictly gluten-free, I can honestly tell you, Dear Reader, there are very few things I still miss from my pre-celiac diagnosis. From melty chocolate brownies to delicious gluten-free bread, I've managed to recreate and reinvent many old favorites.

But there is an archetypal pairing I do, indeed, miss. It's a simple want. Nothing fancy. And it's not some precious, tiny cuisine perched on a plate with a few stingy drips of - insert latest food infusion fad - trying to pass as art. Nope.

It's pizza and beer. A slice with a cold one. That's what I want. That's what I miss.

Well, guess what? One half of my burning desire has been quenched and this humble gluten-free goddess couldn't be happier. I am pleased as proverbial punch to report on the new sorghum lager now available from Anheuser-Busch, called Redbridge - Babycakes, it is beer-tastic! I had my doubts, I'll admit (being part Irish, who can blame me?), but when I read about Redbridge beer over at the NFCA website, the photograph alone made my mouth water. Come to Mama! I had to find some. I looked everywhere, but no store in Santa Fe carried it. Bummer.

Imagine my delight - when visiting our son, Colin, in Los Angeles - I stumbled upon a six pack of Redbridge happily chilling away amongst dozens of off-limits brewskys in an LA Whole Foods. Dude. I was stoked.

Later that very night I rustled up some easy - but tasty! - nachos and cracked open my first beer in five years. It did not disappoint. It did not taste “gluten-free”. In fact, when Colin - who is not celiac, or gluten-free - knocked back his first sip, he declared, “This tastes just like beer. Just like the real thing.” And I, ever the U2 fan that I am in my part-Irish bones, answered, “Even better than the real thing”.

Over at my cool and chic gluten-free home girls' blog aka The Celiac Chicks, I learned the proper way to pour a Redbridge. Pour the beer into a glass so that it smacks the bottom of the glass. This releases carbonation and produces a perfect foamy head. I did this last night, and, indeed, it does! (Thanks, Kelly!)

Next? Now that the Santa Fe Whole Foods is finally carrying Redbridge in their beer section, I gotta create that perfect gluten-free pizza crust recipe to go with it. And now that I have the beer, Dear Reader, it’s cake.

Here is the recipe I'm going to try - sent in by Lydia. The good news is - it is egg and dairy free.

Lydia's Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

Karina, here is my recipe for GF pizza crust. If you're not crazy about xanthan gum, perhaps you could use guar gum, or one egg white instead. I think it tastes like the crusts of old I used to eat, and I've only had compliments from gluten-eaters.

In a measuring cup, proof:

1 cup warm water (following temp. directions on your yeast package)
1 package dry, active yeast
1 tablespoon sugar

Whisk together in a bowl and let it sit for 5-10 minutes as the yeast proofs and begins to foam.

In mixing bowl, combine:

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon each: dried basil, oregano, rosemary, and crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1-2 teaspoon salt
1 scant teaspoon xanthan gum

Add the proofed yeast mixture. Stir to combine.

Add:

2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour*

Mix the dough by hand for 2-3 minutes. Let it rest as you oil a pan and sprinkle cornmeal on top of the pan (to prevent dough from sticking).

Drop the dough onto the pan and using wet or oiled hands, flatten and spread the dough evenly to the thickness you prefer. (This usually covers a 10x13-inch baking pan.)

Allow the dough to rest while you pre-heat your oven to 425ºF.

Pre-bake the pizza crust for 10 minutes.

Add sauce and toppings. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or so, until the crust is done and the toppings are heated through and bubbling.

*Lydia's Gluten-Free Flour Mix is:

3 parts white rice flour
3 parts brown rice flour
2 parts potato starch
1 part tapioca flour

She notes: If you use a pre-made gluten-free mix, I would recommend not using one with leavening (baking soda, baking powder).

Thank you, Lydia! This recipe will be (mucho) appreciated by our readers.