Greek Salad Dressing

In the last year, I haven't really eaten a lot of salad. I used to and I'm not sure exactly why things changed. It might be because I've become more sensitive to flavours and I find that vinegar is becoming stronger to me especially with taking smaller quantities to make salad at work.

Commercial salad dressings are nearly intolerable to me because they are most commonly made with soybean oil. Or perhaps "canola, olive oil and/or soybean oil". I've recently purchased a digestive enzyme which I'm hoping will help with soy but at the same time, I really just need to get back into making my own dressings again.

One of our favourites is a Greek dressing I found many years ago. It's that one recipe you keep taped in your cabinet. Literally.

In the Ninja! I used fresh oregano for this batch. 

I use Unico Red Wine Vinegar which always gives my dressings a darker sometimes pinky colour.

Greek Salad Dressing

• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano  ( I used about 3 fresh oregano stems, leaves removed)*
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

I also added 2 cloves of garlic and 1 tsp of sugar to this batch.*
Place all ingredients in small jar and shake thoroughly. Chill before serving.

*Because I added fresh oregano and garlic, I blended everything up in my Ninja food blender. You could certainly press the garlic and chop the oregano by hand and then shake in a small jar.

Adopt A GF Blogger - Jeanine of the Baking Beauties

This post is linked to GlutenFreeEasily's August Adopt a GF Blogger

 When I lived out west, our office always celebrated birthdays every month. There was a large cake for the 5 or 6 people that were having a birthday. After I went gluten-free, I knew that I wouldn't be able to take part. There was another girl in the office who was also gluten-free and it was her birthday that month. No one should go without cake on their birthday! So I thought that I would make some brownies and we could have brownie sundaes.

I used a brownie mix and well, it was interesting. Extremely fudgy and seemingly undercooked, yet super crunchy and definitely overbaked. Very strange.

I saw a post by Jeanine of http://www.thebakingbeauties.com/  last year for  her Turtle Brownies. Let me just say, I went out right away and bought caramels. Life intervened and I didn't end up making them.  Can I show you them? 

Jeanine's Turtle Brownies

Around rolled March and I saw some Mint Brownies which interested me. I made a nanaimo type version  and used Jeanine's recipe for brownies.That's why I decided to adopt Jeanine for the Gluten Free Easily's August Adopt-A-Gluten-Free Blogger Event

My Nanaimo Style Brownies

Last night I returned home from work and it's a coworkers birthday today. At this job, we usually have what the birthday girl wants. She wanted pizza. There are delivery places that do gluten free but if you are looking for a 24-slice pizza, there is only 1 place for that and they don't do GF. So I came home and grabbed a GF Patisserie pizza crust that I um....... well... it's a whole 'nother blog post but essentially I had a backpack full of their baked goods on my 4 hour flight home from a western vacation.

Anyways, I made a pizza and decided to make some brownies while the oven was on. So of course I went back to Jeanine's recipe. I didn't make the Turtle Brownies but again I did use the main brownie recipe with a couple changes mainly butter instead of margarine and my flour mix.

Ingredients:

Brownies

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

3 large eggs

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 cup granulated white sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp Gluten Free Flour Mix (*see note)

1/2 tsp Xanthan gum

1/4 tsp salt( I added about 1 cup of white chocolate chips)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with parchment paper (makes for easy removal later).

Brownies:

Melt the chopped chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and set aside while you make the brownie batter. ( I melted slowly in the microwave stirring intermittently.)

Meanwhile, in the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugars until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract and then the melted chocolate mixture. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and, on low speed, beat in the flour, xanthan gum & salt and the chocolate chips. ( I don't have a mixer so I stirred it on up until it was blended together. )

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes, or just until the brownies are barely firm to the touch. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Store, covered, in the refrigerator for 7 to 10 days, or in the freezer for longer storage.

Note: My flour mix is 2 parts brown rice flour, 2/3 part potato starch and 1/3 part tapioca starch.

I made a quick icing using butter, icing sugar, a little milk and some almond extract and piped it onto the cooled brownies.


I took the brownies into work and they were so fudgey, it was incredible.  In my world, I would assume that anything you suggest I eat is wheat-filled. In everyone else's world, well, everything is wheat filled and they don't assume anything different. So although people know I eat gluten-free, they also don't immediately think I'm giving them something that is GF. These are a brownie that everyone can enjoy and not even think they are GF.

See that classic shiny crispy top and the white chocolate?

 Jeanine's blog is one that I visit quite frequently because she's the same sort of baker/cook that I seem to be. Family favourites made gluten free.

If I wrote about all her recipes that I've tried, we'd be here for a while.

 Her Recipes

We made her Chinese Chicken Balls for our Chinese food Christmas dinner. These are a must try!! Gluten Free Chicken Balls


Do yourself a favour and check her out!

My Little Sous Chef

 Waiting for BBQ goodies to drop

Helping BBQ

 Desperately hoping something falls

With you anytime you are near the stove

 Doesn't want to miss anything

Me and My Girl

Such a sweetie!

Rest in Peace

Guacamole

Avocados.

I was never really into avocados. Picky eater.  Going gluten-free, I found that I'll eat a lot more things that I never would have even looked at before. Because it's food. That I can eat.

Before this though, I had tried guacamole at ... surprise, surprise... an Irish pub. It actually had flavour. It was almost as if it had some taco seasoning in it. Perfect for nachos.
Since then I've been making guacamole with cumin and cayenne in it for that extra spice.

I take tortilla chips and guac to work sometimes as it's an easy snack. We have it all the time on hot sunny afternoons as an appetizer. Margaritas, salsa, fajitas, chips and guac and I'm a happy girl.


Spicy Mexican Guacamole

3 ripe avocados
1 lime, cut in half
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 pinch ground cayenne pepper - to taste
1/4 - 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 plum tomato, diced(optional)

Halve the avocados and remove the pit. Scoop into a medium bowl and mash. Add the juice of 1/2 the lime.
Mix into avocado.
Add red onion and garlic, cayenne, cumin, salt  and mix well. Gently toss in the tomato if you are using it.  Squeeze the remaining 1/2 of lime over the guacamole and cover tightly. Refrigerate mixture for about 1-2 hours so the flavours blend together.
Enjoy with tortilla chips!!!

It's certainly easier to make guacamole by hand  but I just bought a Ninja and it works fabulous for guac.

This post is linked to Simply Gluten Free's Gluten Free Photo Contest. 

Pepperoni and Bacon Pizza - Wordless Wednesday

Gluten Free Tortillas

I had a craving for fajitas today.

I hate corn tortillas. Dilemma.

I'm sure they are perfectly lovely for some people but I like my nice soft flour tortillas that don't have the texture of sawdust.

I've tried a commercially sold brown rice version but wasn't that impressed with it's thawing capabilities.

I found this recipe on the Forums. When I first found out about celiac, I pretty much lived on these kinds of forums. Living Without.... Tortilla Recipe  
It's about halfway down the page.

This one is from the folks at Living Without magazine I've changed it up a little since I'm not a bean flour girl.

Gluten Free Tortillas
Gluten-Free Flour Tortillas
MAKES 6-8 TORTILLAS.

1 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/3 cup sorghum or millet
2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 TBs vegetable or other shortening
3/4 to 1 cup warm water

1. Combine all of the dry ingredients, then cut in or work in the shortening using a pastry blender or two knives or your hand.
2. Add the warm water, starting with 3/4 cup and mix well.
3. Continue to add water until a soft, cohesive dough is formed.
4. Heat a comal, tapa or griddle to medium heat. Then, form a ball of dough into a flattened disk, cupping the outside edges a bit to form a round.
5. Using a bollilo or rolling pin, roll into a round disk about 1/8 inch thick and about 8 inches in diameter or to your preference.
6. Bake one at a time on a hot griddle until the surface bubbles. Turn only once, the first side should have brown flecks.
7. Bake until the second side has slightly browned - should brown in a very short time.
8. Keep warm in a tortilla keeper or wrapped in a cloth until served.
Note: Will freeze in a sealed plastic bag for up to three months.

One of the posters who has made tortillas forever uses a tea towel to push down on the bubbles that form. 


Finally. Tortillas that taste just like flour tortillas. I made one into a quesadilla right away and it was fabulous. I froze them between parchment after this.

Later, we made fajitas and the first two I heated in foil in the oven after a very quick defrost. First one was great, by the time I was ready for the second one, it had kind of hardened again. I tried to heat it back up but it didn't work.

I had to try again. I took one out of the freezer and put it in the microwave, with a little dish of water and then heated it for about 30 seconds.Worked wonderfully this time. It was pliable during filling, eating and then even a few minutes later when I checked the end of it.

Quesadillas!!!

UPDATE!!!!

I recieved a tortilla press for Christmas and I wasn't sure how that would work since they work best with corn tortillas. I searched out a few websites and saw a note saying that flour tortillas didn't work well with the tortilla press due to the gluten. Well, well, well. Not a problem here. I used a combo of guar gum and psyllium fiber husk and added a little extra brown rice flour so that it wasn't sticky and then I was able to use the press.

It worked beautifully!!

Potato Pancake and Bacon - Wordless Wednesday