Gluten-Free Living – Page 5 – The Creative Salad

Butternut Squash Recipes

In one fell swoop autumn has descended upon Sonoma County and we’re craving those familiar fall foods: homemade apple sauce, warming veggie curries and soups, and anything and everything involving winter squash. Oh, the diversity of squash that’s available in the grocery store! I can’t help but come home with a squash, gourd or pumpkin each time I shop.

Here are some butternut squash soup recipes I’m excited to try, plus my favorite butternut squash recipe of all time, below.

Recipes to try:

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Source: simplebites.net via Carrie on Pinterest

Butternut Squash Soup with Cranberries and Pumpkin Seeds

Source: sweetpaul.typepad.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Leek, Butternut Squash and Potato Soup

Source: cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com via Carrie on Pinterest

Our favorite lasagna recipe, to make again and again:

Butternut Squash and Hazelnut Lasagne
from the December 2001 issue of Gourmet

For squash filling
1 large onion, chopped
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
4 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
1 cup hazelnuts (4 oz), toasted , loose skins rubbed off with a kitchen towel, and coarsely chopped

For sauce
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 cups milk
1 bay leaf (not California)
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon white pepper

For assembling lasagne
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated (2 cups)
1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3 oz)
12 (7- by 3 1/2-inch) sheets no-boil lasagne (1/2 lb)

Preparation

Make filling:
Cook onion in butter in a deep 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add squash, garlic, salt, and white pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until squash is just tender, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in parsley, sage, and nuts. Cool filling.

Make sauce while squash cooks:
Cook garlic in butter in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, stirring, 1 minute. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add milk in a stream, whisking. Add bay leaf and bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, 10 minutes. Whisk in salt and white pepper and remove from heat. Discard bay leaf. (Cover surface of sauce with wax paper if not using immediately.)

Assemble lasagne:
Preheat oven to 425°F.

Toss cheeses together. Spread 1/2 cup sauce in a buttered 13- by 9- by 2-inch glass baking dish (or other shallow 3-quart baking dish) and cover with 3 pasta sheets, leaving spaces between sheets. Spread with 2/3 cup sauce and one third of filling, then sprinkle with a heaping 1/2 cup cheese. Repeat layering 2 more times, beginning with pasta sheets and ending with cheese. Top with remaining 3 pasta sheets, remaining sauce, and remaining cheese.

Tightly cover baking dish with buttered foil and bake lasagne in middle of oven 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden and bubbling, 10 to 15 minutes more. Let lasagne stand 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Cooks’ note:
· Filling and sauce can be made 1 day ahead and kept separately, covered and chilled. Bring to room temperature before assembling.

Bon appétit!

Tasty Gluten-Free Granola Recipe

Packaged gluten-free granola may taste good, but it can be pricey in the store. So instead of buying it, we’ve been making our own granola from scratch.

I frequently think about how making our own granola is perhaps not the best idea. This granola recipe is so delicious, so crunchy, so perfectly sweet but not too sweet that I almost always pour myself too big a bowl. David and I go through a batch of it way too fast.

Yet despite this granola being so very bad for our wastelines, we always go back for more. It tastes that good.

And so we keep making it.

Coconut and Almond Granola with Sunflower Seeds and Dried Fruit

Ingredients:

5 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups unsweetened coconut flakes or shreds
1 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup canola or olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mix of raisins and dried cranberries or other chopped dried fruit

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F.

2. In a large bowl, mix the oats, coconut, almonds, sunflower seeds, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

3. Heat the oil and honey together in a saucepan over low heat until combined. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture, add the vanilla extract, and stir until combined. Working quickly, spread the granola on a rimmed baking sheet.

4. Bake the granola, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir in the dried fruit.

Stored in an airtight container, this granola keeps for up to 1 month.

Inspired by this recipe from Emily Mainquist’s book Sweet Vegan: A Collection of All Vegan, some Gluten-Free, and a Few Raw Desserts found via Pinterest.

Healthy and Delicious Kale Salad

The grown-ups in our house can’t get enough of this kale salad.

My little helper and I have been making a giant batch each week.

David and I gobble it up and feel incredible the next day. This salad is pure, raw brain food.

Now if only we could get our three-year old to try it.

It’s delicious. Really.

Here are some of the adjustments we make to the original recipe: we half the amount of lemon in the tahini-lemon dressing; omit the tomatoes and bell pepper (because of David’s nightshade allergies), add chickpeas, double the amount of kale, nuts and dried fruit in the salad.

We love the flexibility of the recipe. You really can add whatever veggies and nuts you have in your garden, fridge or cupboard. You can’t go wrong. It’s incredibly tasty and easy (although a bit time consuming) to make. Trust me, you’ll make this salad again and again.

Thanks to our friend Amber for originally introducing us to the recipe! We love it!

Summer Postcard No. 3

We’re going to be blogging lightly for the month of August, posting frequent photo postcards with a snippet of text. View the entire summer postcard series here.

A delicious and simple meal of miso soup, rice noodles, and tofu.

Our Favorite Frozen Snack

One of our most beloved afternoon snacks really couldn’t be more simple. We slice bananas and pop them into the freezer for a few hours. The recipe may be similar to frozen banana ice cream but it’s a whole lot less work.

This snack is:

Obviously more healthful than eating ice cream;

More tasty than plain old sliced banana (though we do love topping sliced banana slivers with a dab of peanut butter; they taste great when eaten with a toothpick.);

Plus the toddler can slice up the banana herself, so it’s a family-friendly activity as well.

Evidently if you’re three years old you need to bundle up to eat this frozen treat and run around the house shouting, “BRRRRR!” And then ask for more cause it’s so yum.

We’re not at all dramatic in our house. I can’t imagine where she gets it from.