Creamy Coriander Dressing – Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free

Hey, look! I’m participating in Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free! The last time I was able to was over a year ago with my Super Berry Smoothie. This month, Shirley Braden of gluten-free easily is hosting with the theme When You’re Grain Free and Feeling Like A Nut, But Can’t Eat Tree Nuts or Peanuts.

This one is out of the box and the ballpark. It was also one of those accidents that just happen when you experiment. It was also one of those I’m-tired-of-the-super-simple-stuff-on-this-altered-diet-my-taste-buds-need-to-wake-up-now moments. Dressings are a great way to add a lot of flavor and make your dishes fun, especially with the warmer weather.

My plan was to make fish tacos with a creamy cole slaw. My quandary was how to make a creamy dressing from whole foods and not use dairy or eggs and make sure it paired well with the fish.

My answer stared me in the face in the vegetable bin. Avocado. DUH!

I toasted the coriander and as it toasted it created this earthy aroma in the kitchen. I was in heaven. I’m sure you could leave it raw, but it won’t have the same depth of flavor as it will toasted. Once I had the dressing together and tasted to see what I needed to adjust it had this unexpected nutty flavor. It wasn’t as nutty when I put the whole dish together, but if you are serving it with just a salad and not in a taco like I did, it will retain the nuttiness.

Did I mention Chaz hates nuts in his food? I either have to omit nuts from recipes or add them as a topping if I want them in my food. This was a great way to get nutty without him having a hissy fit about nuts in his food. What he doesn’t know, yeah?

Creamy Coriander Dressing

2 teaspoons coriander seeds, toasted (or not)

1 lime, juiced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1 avocado

olive oil

salt

Toast the coriander in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant. Add the seeds to your blender and turn it on to break up the seeds for a few seconds. Add the lime juice, cilantro, avocado, salt to taste, and a little olive oil. Take out the middle of your blender lid so you can drizzle oil through it. Turn the blender on low to medium and drizzle the oil in until you have the consistency you want. The dressing is enough for sixteen ounces of salad or cole slaw. Make sure to use that day up to the next day, no longer.

This post is linked to Whole Food Fridays at Allergy-Free Alaska and Wellness Weekends at Diet, Dessert and Dogs. 

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Black Bean Breakfast Tacos

Using up some leftover slaw to top off the tacos.

I was intrigued by Mario Batali making tacos for breakfast on The Chew a few weeks back during his food stamp budget challenge.  I decided this was something I needed to try in order to bring more variety to breakfast.  I tried to find the original recipe for you readers, but The Chew’s recipe search isn’t always the brightest tool on the site.

I was in love from day one.   I seriously kicked myself for not thinking of this before.  The tacos have so much versatility that you can top it with whatever you want once you have the black bean mix on the tortillas.   You can also use lettuce leaves instead of corn tortillas to make this grain-free.  Want to use another type of bean?  Go for it!  Hate mushrooms?  Leave them out!  Want cheese?  Add it!  Can’t have eggs?  Use more beans and mushrooms!

I initially made it the way I’m giving you.  But I played around with it and used things like leftover coleslaw as the vegetable topping.  I have to say, the coleslaw gave it a nice crunch and a bit of an acidic bite that was refreshing for the morning hours.  It was a vinegar based coleslaw that Chaz made for dinner one night, but my Lemony Slaw would work, too.

Without further ado…

Black Bean Breakfast Tacos – makes 3-4 tacos

grapeseed oil or your choice of oil

3-4 corn tortillas (use lettuce leaves for a grain-free option)

1/4 cup cooked black beans (I cooked 1 cup of dried beans ahead of time and had them in the fridge ready to measure out throughout the week)

1 mushroom, diced (or sliced and torn into small bites)

2 tablespoons diced onion

1 egg, scrambled (omit for vegan option)

1/8 teaspoon ancho chili powder

1/8 teaspoon cumin

healthy pinch cayenne pepper

salt, to taste

1/2 avocado, diced

1/2 tomato, diced

fresh cilantro for garnish

(or instead of avocado and tomato, use any combination of veggies you want)

Heat 2 large pans over medium heat.  Add oil to one pan, enough to coat the bottom well.  In the other pan, add the tortillas and toast lightly (or to your preference on each side).  Remove from the pan when done and lay out on a plate.  Add the onions and mushroom once the oil is warm.  Allow the onions and mushrooms to carmelize and then add the beans and the chili powder, cumin, and cayenne.  Stir well.  Add the scrambled egg and then salt.  Keep stirring to get the eggs cooked through.  Once the eggs are done, divide among the tortillas.  If you are not using eggs, just cook the mixture until the beans are warmed through.  Top with your choice of vegetables and serve with a side of fruit.

Adopt-A-Gluten-Free-Blogger: Gluten-Free Gigi

Naked Berry Spread on Pancakes

Have you met Gigi, yet?  We met through Brittany Angell (mastermind of Real Sustenance) several months ago and the food wavelength we share is amazing.  It’s really funny how I’ll be thinking about making something and then she goes and posts something similar.  Well, that means I really have to make what I was thinking, right?  Right.  My Lemony Slaw was one such dish.  We both love simple and she really masters simplicity.  As I declared on Twitter, Gigi is a genius.  Just call her Genius Gigi.

I think this adoption is the most I ever made from one blogger.  It was everything I kept telling myself I have to try and just never got around to it.

Last week Saturday Chaz was in Illinois for his Japanese Tea Ceremony class and I happened to open at work that day instead of close.  I came home and washed berries I bought earlier that week for my Berry Beet-O-Full Juice and still had plenty left.  I left them to dry while I soaked in a bubble bath.   I made Gigi’s Naked Berry Bread Spreadwith those berries – blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.  Her recipe states it’s best if the berries have never been refrigerated, but these were and I was just trying to use them up before they went bad.  The beauty of the spread is that it

Kale Chips with Rosemary & Sea Salt

is just the berries.  Nothing else.  No added sugar or sweetener.   I had to try it right after making and wound up toasting an Udi’s hot dog bun.  Yes, a hot dog bun.  Chaz ate all the hot dogs without the buns so I was just trying to use up the buns.  The spread was incredible.  I immediately decided the spread needed pancakes.  So, the next morning I made pancakes from Elana’s Pantry and topped them with the spread.  I sat outside on the lanai with my book and a cup of coffee.  Best lazy breakfast I’ve had in a long time.

I’ve been wanting to make kale chips for a while.  Especially after seeing a small amount on sale at Whole Foods for $7 and some change.  Ridiculous!  My best friend, Stick, makes them and we discussed her method along with getting a dehydrator.  I would love a dehydrator, but another small kitchen appliance is not in the cards for me right now after having to replace my crock pot.  Lo and behold, Gigi made Kale Chips with Rosemary and Sea Salt that were savory and easy.  Meaning, I didn’t really have to think about it.  I made about double the recipe and it was hard not to eat them all in one sitting.  Yay for healthy snacks!

If you follow Gigi, you know she’s been playing with avocados and using them in baked goods and raw foods.  I decided to

Choco-AVO-late Brownie with Raw Nut-Free Fudge as frosting

pair her Choc-AVO-late Brownies with her Raw Nut-Free Fudge.  I fixed the fudge while the brownies were cooling and then used the fudge as a “frosting” on the brownies.  I also did a sub in the brownies.  I used coconut crystals instead of sugar.  Coconut crystals made things less sweet for me, which I love.  As a whole, the brownies and fudge came out bittersweet, which is how I prefer my chocolate these days.  Chaz saw the recipe for the fudge a few days before I made it and said something like, “Avocados in fudge?”  Then he joked about what is traditionally in fudge.  To his credit, he did try the brownies and fudge, but I was at work when he did.  He didn’t care for it.  But he’s still hooked on sugar so I knew it wouldn’t be sweet enough for him.

Last but not least I made Gigi’s Tarta Marathoriza with her Basic Press-In-The-Pan Pastry.  I was in heaven while pressing in the pastry.  One of my favorite things to make before going gluten-free was quiche and pies.  I loved making the pastry crust, rolling it out and setting it in the pan.  I got that same pastry smell while pressing in Gigi’s pastry crust as I would get when rolling out gluten-full pastry.  The same.  The taste wasn’t the same, but I think that’s more due to the tapioca flour I have than the fact that it is gluten-free.  The aroma was the same though and that is what mattered.  If you’ve ever seen a conversation between me and Gigi, you know how much we love coconut creamer.  I use it for everything that calls for heavy cream.  Everything.  The Tarta Marathoriza was like having real quiche again.  I’ve had crustless quiche,

Tarta Marathoriza

but to me, crustless quiche is just a frittata.  Quiche is all about a flaky crust for me.  No offense to anyone out there who makes crustless quiche!  I know several of you do and I’ve made them, they are wonderful, but just not quiche to me.  This was quiche.  In fact, I want to make her pastry crust again and change up the ingredients for more quiche!

Yes, Gigi is a GENIUS!