Kale, Potato, and Mushroom Skillet [gluten-free, vegan, soy-free]

Need a quick side dish that corresponds with the changing seasons? This one is a winner, and takes advantage of produce that’s available all year round.

Potato, Kale, and Mushroom Skillet

A super-easy side dish that’s sure to please everyone, this skillet combines easy ingredients in a warming, savory combination.. with a hint of spice. For a full meal, add cooked chickpeas.

2 russet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Salted water
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes
1 pound (454g) cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch kale, stems removed and chopped
Sea salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan. Cover with water and two pinches salt. Bring to a boil then simmer until cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain well.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until softened and browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and chili flakes, cooking an additional 1-2 minutes until fragrant.

Add additional olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Bring to high heat. Add the potatoes. Let cook for a few minutes, stirring infrequently, so the potatoes can brown (it is okay if they mash). Add the mushrooms, and continue to cook until the browned as well, adding additional olive oil as needed. Add the kale and cover with a lid, letting cook for a few additional minutes until wilted. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

 

(PS — sorry I’m a terrible photographer. Can someone give me lessons? And maybe a camera to go with it? Ha, ha…)

Corn, Kale, and Veggie Soup [gluten-free, soy-free, vegan]

Chilly weather means soup is on the menu… when I bother making it. I love soup but can definitely get repetitive in my soup making. Sometimes working all day then throwing together anything other than a “this-and-that’ dinner isn’t really on the radar.

Raw dinners this week

I’ve been enjoying about a 90% raw diet, with the exception of roasted almond butter as opposed to raw (just using up some that I have), a morning coffee with almond breeze, and the odd bit of tofu. The summery weather (today reaching a sunny, lightly breezy 25C or so) was a blessed welcome, and basking gratefully ensued.

I dehydrated some chard patties again, adding different spices with sage, caraway seeds, chilis, and some mushrooms, too. They were okay – I liked them atop a fresh tomato.

Along with it was a zucchini alfredo. The sauce was garlic, lemon, soaked pinenuts, and salt and pepper. I ended up putting in way too much garlic, so I mellowed it out with a load of fresh mushrooms. It was a great idea! I also added fresh Italian herbs.

Another day was a stirfry, with cauliflower rice. I made a dressing with a tahini, garlic, and fresh ginger. I wanted to keep this quite simple, although it was a few days ago so I don’t remember if I added anything else.

For the cauliflower rice,  I saved some of the dressing, did the cauliflower in the food processor, and then stirred in some of the dressing. This was also topped with black sesame seeds and hemp seeds. Veggies included broccoli sprouts, carrots, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, yellow bell peppers, red bell peppers, and green onions.

These, though, were by far my favourite; every experience I’ve had with dehydrating eggplant has been stellar – it’s one of my top dehydrated foods. After peeling and slicing it, I salted the eggplant and squeeze the life out of it after about 30 minutes, then marinated it in some olive oil and salt for a bit with a heavy dish on top of it.

The filling is pulsed almonds, mushrooms, garlic, red bell pepper, and a load of fresh basil in the processor. I folded them over and dehydrated about 4 hours.

Last night I decided to finally try sprouting  – the only thing I’ve never done – and started with quinoa. A success! For dinner, we enjoyed a salad with sprouted quinoa, kohlrabi, cherry tomatoes, green onions, a load of flat-leaf parsley, leaf lettuce, bell peppers, and hemp oil.

Chard patties (raw) [and the day I almost lost my finger]

I decided to do some more experimenting with dinner tonight and wanted to create something with swiss chard that I had to use up. I was a little wary eating it raw – I thought I could make it more interesting than a salad – but wasn’t sure what to do.

I came up with these patties and loved them! They were reminiscent of the filling in spanakopita, a phyllo covered Greek pastry that I used to enjoy pre-celiac days from one of my favourite restaurants.

And for the finger? Ironically, I had bought my first whole coconut, and carefully shattered it and took it apart. No issues, of course, using a hammer and a paring knife.

Alas, slicing some romaine for a side salad with my dinner resulted in slicing a portion of my finger. With a serrated knife. I laugh at the irony of the danger that ensued, smashing my coconut, but the mundane lettuce slicing is what got me.

Nothing that a delicious dinner couldn’t fix, with a little help from Polysporin and about four layers of Band-Aids.

Chard Patties

This recipe is just a guideline, I just threw it all in the food processor and adjusted seasonings to taste.

1 large bunch of swiss chard
1 cup cremini mushrooms
half a small onion
4 to 5 cloves of garlic (or less if you don’t love it)
juice of a half lemon
5 tablespoons golden flax meal
sea salt to taste
optional seasonings and herbs: I added a handful of fresh dill

Pulse chard, mushrooms, onion, garlic in the  food processor, in batches if need be. Put in a large bowl, and mix together with remaining ingredients. Let it sit for about 1/2 hour. It should be scoopable; if not, add another tablespoon of flax meal.

Spoon large spoonfuls onto dehydrator (using fruit leather trays), then dehydrate at 115F for about four hours. Flip, and continue for another two hours or so.

Dilly Mushroom Stuffed Collard Greens (raw)

Just like I’ve often explained how much I adore stews and soups and so forth in the winter, I love eating a raw diet in the summer. I toy around with ideas, but haven’t really gotten into the nitty gritty of raw.

This summer, I aim to follow a primarily raw diet, with a few exceptions, but I will see how they pan out (IE my morning coffee, and a few baked treats here and there, primarily for recipe testing purposes.)

I threw together a quick wrap the other day, and I didn’t want it to be nut-heavy because I had enjoyed a fair amount already. It was a great addition to my meal, a light side, perhaps, as it lacked sufficient protein to make it a meal.

Had I wanted it a main course, walnuts added to the mix would have been great. It was light, and fresh – I would have added a slab of mustard, had I known if it was raw or not. I also would have put in some sprouts, but due to recent salmonella news, all of them are out in the stores.

Dilly Mushroom Stuffed Collard Greens (raw)

a few handfuls of mushrooms
half a red onion
a clove of garlic
salt
lots of fresh dill
half a lemon or lime

Whirr together in the food processor. Put in collard roll along with other things, like fresh delicious tomatoes. Simple and summer inspired.

Stuffed collards and gluten-free in Ottawa

April already! And April showers there are. Today we were pelted on by rain, although the grass smelled beautiful and the birds still sang their song.

A recent trip to Ottawa for a few days required some careful pre-planning – one that a celiac knows all too well.

I spent the evening prior packing up food, and made a delicious combination inspired by my equal love for greens, tofu, and homemade pasta sauce.

We planned to hardly have a meal out, stocked up (our hotel room had an apartment sized fridge), and I called a few restaurants in advance.

Okay, in actuality, I called approximately 35, tapping away on my Blackberry in the hotel room asking if they are familiar with the gluten-free diet (and if I got that far, if they had vegan offerings, and knew about cross contamination with gluten and casein). It didn’t go over so well.

Along with some fresh fruit, vegetables, homemade goods, and other foodstuffs, I also brought my night before creation of stuffed collards (and I’ll supply the make-shift recipe).

Tofu “Ricotta” Stuffed Collards Smothered with Marinara

• 1 250g package of extra-firm tofu, made into your favourite version of ricotta*
• 1 bunch of collard greens, the stems cut off and the thick spine pared down
• about 5 cups of your favourite, homemade pasta sauce (mine was roasted garlic and fresh basil)
• a saute of leeks, red, yellow and orange bell peppers, and cremini mushrooms

*for my ricotta, I mash the tofu, add nutritional yeast, garlic, oregano, basil, and other Italian seasonings, a squeeze of lemon.

Distribute tofu, and some of the vegetables, in each collard leaf. Roll up, place in pan. Top with sauce. Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes.

If you aren’t keen on tofu, I also made a few with quinoa and veggies for my soy-free mom. Delicious.

On another note, I did finally find a restaurant, and have never been treated so well in my life. I highly recommend this restaurant to every celiac, vegan, dairy-allergy, wheat allergy, gluten-free individual in the world. Oh, and every other person, too.

The place is called Taj Indian Cuisine. Here is a breakdown of the ridiculously incredible visit:

• I called the day before and he was certain I would be taken care of. When I asked about ghee (I had heard that some Indian restaurants don’t think of it as dairy) he scoffed, “of COURSE, no ghee!” I was pleased
• The next day, we appeared and he remembered my voice and assured me again it would be okay
• He came over and placed and recommended an order for us
• He double checked each ingredient, ensuring we could have them (vegetable oil, certain foods, et cetera)
• He also catered to my mom, who cannot have legumes (difficult in the cuisine we were in!)
• He had a talk with my mom while I went to the bathroom, telling her that I was in good hands, and he didn’t want me to be sick. How important it is. How everyone should cater to celiacs like this.
• He apologized profusely for “all Indian desserts containing dairy”
• He asked for my number, to make sure that I wouldn’t get sick the next day (he called)
• I told him I was going to recommend it to everyone and he said, “No, no, I just don’t want you to to be sick”.

And so on, and so forth. Seriously.

I’ve eaten out about 6 times since being diagnosed nearly four years ago. Three times I got sick. This was incredible!

Oh, and frankly, it was the most delicious Indian cuisine ever. EVER!