Fusilli. The Wheat Kind.

Every so often, something comes along so amazing that exceptions to the most basic rules have to be made, consequences for the breaking of habits considered and ignored, and caution thrown to the wind.  In my life, this typically involves eating pasta, a sandwich or pizza.  It does not happen often, and in 99% of cases, takes careful consideration before that whiny, boring wet sock called willpower is kindly told to sit down, STFU and stay the hell out of my way.

Willpower is stubborn, practical, condescending and a big fan of the phrases, "No," "You'll regret it," and "I told you so."  Not an easy opponent to deal with.  Willpower likes to focus on the gnarly consequences of breaking rules of living and pointing out that goals will not be accomplished without abiding by her fun-sucking advice, and though we may deprive ourselves along the road, the prize at the end is worth so much more than instant gratification.

Sometimes Willpower is Wrong.  Those are good days.  Yesterday was one of them.

I found myself in NYC sans dinner plans and an early flight in the morning.  Rather than going to meet certain friends in the East Village and risking a very ugly 6 hour flight home the next day, I opted to try dining solo by sitting at the bar at Marea.  http://marea-nyc.com/.  I'd heard it could fill up, so I went on the early side and got a seat at the bar. 

I knew it was a restaurant that specialized in seafood and was primarily Italian in cuisine.  Taking my usual precautions, I planned to evaluate fish entrees or possibly a risotto, start with some crudo or other wheat-free antipasti, and depending on what dessert looked like, perhaps skip that altogether. 

Here's where things started to go in a different direction: as I looked through the menu, something caught my eye: Fusilli with Red Wine Braised Baby Octopus and Bone Marrow.  I read later that this is a dish about which Anthony Bourdain has said, “It starts innocently enough – hand made fusilli and baby octopus, tossed and mingled together with…OMFG, NO! Bone marrow! The unearthly product melted into and fortifying the sauce like some celestial butter.”

It had to happen.  There was no other option.  Now that Willpower was nowhere to be found, I opted not only to order this dish, but to do it as part of the 4 course prix fixe.  Really, neither one of us ever had a chance.  The dish was just too good.  I'm pretty sure that when/if Willpower wakes up from this event, she'll be in the fetal position for a good couple of days - it was not a fair fight.

And so it happened.  I gave in.  Not sure whether it was the guilty feeling or just saving room for the pasta, but I turned down the bread basket and ordered responsibly for the other courses (razor clam crudo, black bass with fava beans and morels).  Everything else on its own would have been delicious and composed a great meal. 

But the fusilli?  I don't think I can say it better than Bourdain.  Actually, his words don't even do it justice.  The house made pasta is probably some of the best I've had.  The octopus is perfect - perfectly sized pieces cooked perfectly and tastes like perfection.  The wine/tomato sauce is out of this world.  And as Tony said, bone marrow legitimately puts it over the top. 

As for Willpower?  She hasn't said much today, but I haven't heard anything resembling, "I told you so." coming my way. 

I think this has actually done me a favor.  After this food experience, it will be easy to avoid other pastas, as I'm confident none can measure up.  I expect that is what Willpower will now be telling me - at least she's (hopefully!) gained some logic (and perhaps some tact?  Time will tell...) in the process!

...and we're back!

It has been quite some time since my last post.  There is a reason behind this - I started eating gluten again.  After 10 months gluten free and feeling good, my husband and I took a 2 week vacation to France.  There was just no way I wasn't going to eat bread and lots of it.  I mean, you can't eat butter off of a spoon, and French butter is not to be missed.  And eat bread I did!  A pastry every morning, a baguette with either lunch or dinner.  Macarons (though these tend to be gluten free...), the bread basket at dinners as well, and the desserts, oh my! 

With the aid of some handy gluten enzymes courtesy of the AHGSTCMTWF, I was prepared. 
I ran out two days before we came home, and survived the trip just fine, unbloated, skin clear, no major bellyaches (none that I wouldn't have had anyway with the amount of food we consumed).  I even came home down a few pounds due to all of the walking we did. 

I tried to go back when we returned stateside, but realizing I could just go buy more enzymes from the AHGSTCMTWF, I was like an alcoholic off of the wagon.  And then came the holidays...

Needless to say, by the time January rolled around, I'd gotten a little bit lazy about both my food choices and remembering to take the enzymes when I indulged in (fill in bready deliciousness item here) _________.  I was feeling yucky.  My skin was not as good as it was during the GF times.  I was sluggish and my energy was down.  And I will admit, I'd gained a few pounds.  It was time to make a change.

It took some serious negotiation between the devil that sits on one shoulder and the angel on the other, but I'm now gluten free again.  For the most part.  I have a dedicated cheat day once per month. 
So now I am back and there has been some yummy stuff coming out of my kitchen lately! 

My latest creation was chicken stuffed with spinach, kale, shallots and feta, quinoa with sauteed zucchini, shallots and mushrooms, and a zucchini puree sauce.  It was great for a warm night (very bright flavors), delicious, filling and SUPER healthy.  Here's how I did it:

Greens Stuffed Chicken with Quinoa and Zucchini Sauce

Ingredients:
For the chicken:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 shallot (sliced thin)
Several cups chopped kale
Several cups baby spinach
Seasoning (I used Penzey's "Sunny Paris" on the chicken, and garlic powder and salt on the veggies)
Juice from 1 small lemon
Cooking spray
Trader Joe's fat free feta
Arbequina olive oil

For the quinoa:
1 small to medium sized zucchini (sliced thin)
1 shallot (chopped or sliced thin)
Sliced crimini mushrooms (about a cup's worth)
1 cup (dry) Trader Joe's Tri-Color Quinoa
Chicken broth, tamari, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, garlic powder, salt (to taste, as part of quinoa cooking liquid)
Fat free feta (for top)
Lemon olive oil

For the sauce:
2 small-medium sized zucchini (diced in largish pieces)
1/3 cup non fat plain Greek Yogurt
Seasoning (I used Penzey's "Sunny Paris", garlic powder, salt and pepper)
Juice from 1 small lemon
Arbequina olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375
Add the olive oil to a medium sized saucepan on medium heat, and add the chopped shallots.  Cook until translucent and add the kale.  Saute for several minutes and add the lemon juice.  When kale is starting to wilt, add the spinach. Cook until greens are wilted. 

While greens are cooking, trim the fat from the chicken.  Pound the chicken flat with a mallet.  Season with salt.

Add the feta to the veggies and stir/fold to combine.

Spray a flat bottom baking dish with your choice of cooking spray.  On a cutting board or flat surface, add 1/3 of the greens and feta mixture to the middle of each chicken breast.  Wrap the sides around to create a "pouch" (think of wrapping a burrito).  Place the chicken packets into the baking dish.  Sprinkle seasoning on top (I used Penzey's Sunny Paris, but any seasoning of choice will do).  Put chicken in oven and cook for about 20 minutes, or whatever time is recommended by your butcher for the amount of chicken you are cooking.

When the chicken is in the oven, cook the quinoa according to the directions on the package.  I like to add flavor to the cooking liquid and usually use chicken bullion, tamari, Worcestershire and/or some balsamic or red wine vinegar, along with some garlic powder and salt. 

While the quinoa is cooking, add a little bit more oil to the pan you used for the greens.  Add the shallot, and cook until translucent but not brown.  Add the sliced mushrooms and zucchini.  Saute until cooked but not mushy.  Remove from heat.

When the chicken has about 10 minutes left, drizzle some Arbequina olive oil over the top and return to the oven. 

While quinoa is cooking, steam the 2 diced zucchini in a steamer until soft.  Remove from steamer basket and place in immersion blender cup (or regular blender if you don't have an immersion blender).  Blend until smooth and airy.  Add lemon juice and seasoning.  Blend again until smooth.  Add yogurt.  Blend again.  Add olive oil and stir until blended.  Season further to taste.

When the quinoa is done, add about 1/3 to 1/2 of its yield to the zucchini and mushroom mixture. 

Remove the chicken from the oven (check that it is not pink - no one likes underdone chicken) and put on plate.  Plate quinoa mixture next to chicken.  Top chicken with a generous amount of sauce.  Top quinoa with a sprinkling of feta, and serve.  Preferably with chilled white wine.

Important points:

• I cooked three portions so I could eat the third the next day. 
• My husband did not notice there was kale in the chicken
• I cooked a ton of extra quinoa to eat during the week.  If just cooking enough quinoa for three portions, divide the above amount by 2 or 3. 
• I am pretty sure the zucchini sauce would also make a delicious soup.

Enjoy!  More to come soon!

"Fried" Chicken?

It has been a little while since last I posted. I've been on the road again a bit and will follow up more on the ups and downs of traveling gluten free - will eventually have a whole list of graded locations, but that is another post for another time.

Finally home for a few weeks, last night I put together a great gluten free dinner which was super healthy, relatively inexpensive and delicious.

Corn flake crusted "fried" chicken tenders
Garlic mashed "potatoes"
Spinach and Broccoli Rabe

For the chicken, I'd purchased 1/2 a pound of chicken tenders from the Whole Foods butcher (the AHGSTCMTWF doesn't sell meat products). I rinsed the chicken and dried it, then let it sit wrapped in paper towels to really absorb all of the moisture.

I made a breading from several cups of corn flakes (not the regular grocery store brands - those have malt added which contains gluten), smashed into powder/little tiny pieces, cayenne powder, garlic powder, onion flakes, salt and black pepper.

I beat one egg with a little bit of skim milk for the binder.

Preheated the oven to 400, and prepared cookie sheets by covering them with parchment paper (to catch any drips or crumbs) and put racks on top of those (non stick racks are definitely better for this purpose).

To prepare the chicken, I took each piece, dunked it in the egg/milk mixture, then dredged it through the cornflake mixture (I used a big shallow pan to do this), turning it over and really pressing some of the coating onto the chicken, then placing it on the rack on the baking sheet. I baked it for 15 minutes (the chicken was pretty thin, so baking time may need to be adjusted depending).

My husband pitched in and made dipping sauces - one spicy mustard, one balsamic pesto and one BBQ sauce (the BBQ sauce was from the fridge).

For the "potatoes", I took a head of cauliflower, diced it, boiled it until tender, drained it, then "mashed" it with my immersion blender. I put the mashed cauliflower into a pan on the stove, added milk, butter spray (it works better if you just remove the top and pour some in, instead of spraying and spraying), garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and dried onion flakes. It was still lacking something, so I investigated the refrigerator for ideas. I found several wedges of light Laughing Cow garlic and herb cheese. I cut up two of these and let them melt in and it did exactly what it needed to for flavor.

For the green veggies, I sliced a small shallot and sauteed it in some olive oil. I added the Broccoli Rabe, sauteed for a few min, then added a good amount of spinach (enough to fill the large-ish frying pan) and let it wilt down. Added salt and pepper and it was ready to go.

The result was a super healthy delicious gluten free meal. The chicken came out super crispy and the "breading" adhered well to the meat, so it really was like eating chicken tenders. The cayenne gave it a nice bite, and the cauliflower balanced that out nicely. My husband even went back for seconds, and not just of the chicken but of the mashed "potatoes" that he'd mocked for their health factor while I was cooking.

Definitely a meal to add to the rotation - should have taken pictures because it was a really nice looking meal as well. I just wish I'd made more so I'd have leftovers for lunch!

Gluten free on the go

Was my last post really in May? Wow, this summer has FLOWN by!
I should have titled this blog Gluten Free Girl on the Go. At times, my travel schedule can get pretty hectic with my company being based in NYC, me living in San Francisco and the bulk of my project business being in Washinton, D.C. I also like to travel for fun, and between fun and work, in the next 60 days will find myself in Chicago, Sarasota and Tampa, New York, DC and all over France.
The frequent flyer miles are nice, but I have to say the food can be challenging. At home in my lovely little organic San Francisco bubble, gluten free is as easy as it gets. GF bakery down the street, the AHGSTCMTWF in the neighborhood (see prior posts for this definition), and with the exception of the French restaurants in town, a culinary culture very accustomed to working around food allergies.
Most of New York is workable as well. Roughly 1% of the US population has Celiac, and that doesn't account for the population of intolerant and sensitive folks like myself. Apply that to the 8 million people that inhabit Manhattan, and there's a good sized group of people who won't be eating a bagels for breakfast, pizza for lunch or traditional pasta for dinner. Most restaurants (again, save the French) accommodate, and I can usually find myself a salad or the like around lunchtime and yogurt and fruit around breakfast.
LA is not an issue because no one there actually eats, so most potential pitfalls are automatically eliminated. DC is doable - with all of the intellectuals, food allergies are common. Chicago is a bit tougher, but again, workable as it is a city. I expect Florida will be fine. I won't even get into France for now, given the reaction of the French in this country to my issues with food - will save that for another entry.
Regardless of city, I find the most difficult places are transportation centers. Yesterday, I found myself at Penn Station with an hour to wait before my 7:15 train. "Perfect" I thought, I'll just get a bite to eat. Will all of the options in Penn Station, especially here in the vicinity of the Amtrak gates, this will be easy.
NO.
Quite the opposite actually. As I looked around the circular area surrounding the Amtrak center, I saw the following:
New York Pizza (obviously inedible in my world, sadly)
Hot dogs (the boiled kind, not edible sans bun)
Bagels (not shockingly, they did not carry the gluten free kind)
A counter called "The Bread Basket" (they did have salads, but they looked incredibly wilted and unappetizing)
Aunt Anne's Pretzels (no)
A falafel and shwarma wrap counter (which had a hummus plate! But the only thing that came with it for dipping was pita bread).
KFC (2 things on the menu I could eat - their "grilled" chicken and their potato wedges)
Taco Bell (their crunch tacos are okay from a gluten perspective, but yuck)
Sushi (I may have been hungry but I am not dumb enough to eat sushi purchased underground at Penn Station)
Ice cream (no)
Frozen yogurt
Deli (sandwiches only).
Cupcakes (no)
I made several laps around this area to make sure. Finally, against my better judgment I settled on KFC grilled chicken and frozen yogurt. I threw out most of the genetically altered bird and focused on the yogurt.
Airports are a little bit better, though not much. The best is the new T2 at SFO, but that terminal is brand new and a complete anomoly, so it does not count. My safest bet is always a salad. Perry's in the Delta terminal at SFO has a decent spinach salad, and Balducci's at JFK has some options. National in DC flat out fails in this category, the only thing I can eat there is McDonald's french fries. Dulles is a little bit better having a Chipoltle.
Luckily when I travel for work, I'm usually so busy that I have no time to eat.
The moral of the story? I've learned that when I can, I bring something with me. And, I've prematurely become an old lady in that I always now carry Kind bars and packages of cashews in my luggage. Better that than Penn Station sushi!

I know I promised you pizza, but...

...first there are a few other things I need to throw in there.
I also know it has been quite awhile since last I posted, and for that I apologize. Blame it on a heavy travel schedule and a crowded social calendar - the combination does not leave much time for creative cooking.
An update in the world of baked mac and cheese - I made this again last week with brown rice pasta (I prefer quinoa pasta but did not have enough to make it with in the cupboard). I also did not have any butter so, substituted olive oil while making the roux as the base for the sauce, and used Bob's Red Mill all purpose GF flour instead of the rice flour I used last time. I went with the original ratio of 1:1 for fat to flour, and forgetting how differently GF flours react, used WAY too much flour (but only 3 tablespoons really). The flour/oil mixture behaved somewhat as it should have (aside from when I stirred too aggressively and ended up with a few boiling drops on my forearm - OWIE - that will leave a scar!) until I added the milk. It literally grew to 4x its should have been size into a sort of gluteny (ironic right?) porridge. I had to add almost half a container of milk, and still ended up dumping half of it out because it kept trying to eat my spoon. A word of advice for the future: MODERATION! Add the flour slowly!!! And wear long sleeves.
Now, back to GF pizza as promised. Over the last few months, GF pizza has been a regular on the menu in my house. We've tried ordering it once or twice from the few places in town that will deliver a GF pie, and although the delivery stuff is good, it is expensive ($25+ for a 12 inch).
We usually make it once a week, and have found that it is a great way to (1) use up the leftover veggies from my every 3 weeks farm produce delivery and (2) to keep my husband happy. I've not yet tried making my own dough (like I said, I've been BUSY), but have sampled a number of pre-made frozen crusts from both Whole Foods and the AHGSTCMTWF (see prior posts for explanation of this one). My husband may differ in opinion, but my new favorite is Conte's, which Whole Foods began carrying recently. The crust is thin, somewhat light (it looks aerated) and doesn't taste too powdery (a flaw of several other of the crust brands). Most pre-made crusts come frozen in 2-packs.
Husband and I agreed that last week's iteration was likely the best thus far. We made one veggie and one meat pizza.
For the veggie, I started by slicing up 2 small zucchinis (farm produce delivery), some frozen artichoke hearts, a couple of mushrooms, shallots, black olives and tomatoes. Everything but the tomatoes and the olives got sauteed in some olive oil for a few minutes - the shallots and the zucchini went in first to get a bit caramelized, followed by the mushrooms and the artichoke hearts. I brushed the crust with pesto sauce (store bought - will try making my own next time with the basil plant that is slowly dying from my influence on my patio), then covered with grated mozzarella, the sauteed veggies, the olive and the diced tomatoes. I topped that with some shaved Parmesan.
For the meat pizza, we had some chicken sausage (I think from Trader Joe's) in the freezer, which we sliced very thinly and popped in a frying pan with a little bit of olive oil and some slice onion. We used red sauce (this one from the AHGSTCMTWF), topped with grated mozzarella, then sausage, onions and olives.
We baked both as the crust directions instructed (I think at 400 or 425) for about 15 minutes. I like to turn on the broiler for the last couple of minutes for super crispy pizza. Topped both with some chiffonaded basil and crushed red pepper, and added a couple of drops of arbequina olive oil to the veggie pizza.
Both were absolutely delish, both as dinner that night and as leftovers, and a super easy meal. We make it a habit now to keep frozen crust and mozzarella in the house, as the rest is pretty easy no matter what else is available.
So now you have pizza!
I'm back on a cooking kick, so more GF yumminess to come soon!

Brown Rice Couscous, tamales and possibly the best salad EVER!

Two days, two new GF meals to add to the list: 1. Grilled shrimp and veggie skewers with Mediterranean brown rice couscous 2. Tamales with Mexican Salad Both pretty easy, and fairly quick. Both also fab when the weather decides to be nice here in San Francisco (which is not all too often despite it being a part of "Sunny" California). The weather WAS nice last week, so we decided it was grillin' time. Having a big event upcoming, the menu had to be healthy. I had some shrimp in the freezer (flash frozen, not cooked, tails on) that I cleaned and made a marinade for out of olive oil, Dijon, Worcestershire, agave, garlic, onion, red wine vinegar and cayenne powder. I skewered the shrimp, put them in Tupperware, and poured the sauce over. Then I skewered some zucchini, yellow pepper, onion, mushroom and cherry tomatoes (on separate skewers - veggies and fish cook at different rates so you cannot skewer them together) and threw those in the Tupperware with the shrimps. Threw the whole thing in the fridge for awhile until it was ready to grill. For a side, I'd gotten a box of brown rice couscous (which is really just chopped up rice and no couscous, so totally fine for the gluten-phobes of the world like myself). I decided to do it a little bit Mediterranean style, so I chopped some almonds, toasted those with some olive oil, threw in some golden raisins and let them brown up a bit. For the couscous, I got the boiling water ready, added some cumin, chili oil, garlic powder and onion flakes. Unfortunately, I completely misread the instructions and thought it should cook like regular couscous where you boil the water, toss in the couscous, stir, cover, take off the heat and 5 min later you have couscous. Not so much with the brown rice. After a generous 5 min of sitting, during which I thought it was doing its thing, I realized that there was an extra step of boiling the whole mixture for an extra 10-15 min and THEN letting it sit. So, I had to improvise a bit, and it got a little bit overcooked (when I reboiled after letting it sit and then had to let it sit again), but it covered the basics. When it was done, I threw in some goat cheese and stirred int he almonds and the raisins. The flavor was spectacular, but the couscous itself was a little dry. Could have used some following of instructions and maybe a little bit of olive oil :) My husband took care of the grilling, and even though I threw off the schedule a bit with the "need to boil" delay, the food was good. We'll make this meal again but will coordinate the timing better. Higher heat for the shrimp and the veggies, more time for the veggies so they get nice and charred. This could have been a truly spectacular meal, but at least with some nice wine, it was a good one! Tamales and Mexican salad was a kind of cheat meal. I pre-bought the tamales at the Arrogant Hippie Grocery That Charges More Than Whole Foods - vegetarian tamales (locally made) with zucchini, tomato and corn. I decided to steam them rather than microwave. When they were done in the steamer, I topped each with some green salsa and some grated pepper jack and put in the microwave for less than 30 seconds just to melt the cheese. For the salad, I combined romaine with a bunch of cilantro for the greens. Added pinto beans, scallions, some crushed up blue corn tortilla chips (just a few for crunch), tomato (chopped), black olives. For dressing, I took some olive oil, a bit of dijon, a good amount of habanero hot sauce, some red wine vinegar and a few spoonfuls of Greek yogurt and whisked that all together. I feel like I may have added some garlic or some salt as well, but can't be sure. In any event, I seasoned it to tasted and then tossed it with the salad. All in all, super yummy and a totally fancy version of a lazy dinner. Will definitely make again!!! Next post: PIZZA!!!!

Chinese Food!

Chinese food presents an interesting problem in my gluten free world: Soy Sauce. Yep, most soy sauce is made from 40-60% wheat. Tamari, a soy sauce made from 100% soy beans, is a great alternative, but I've yet to find a restaurant that uses it in cooking, and the majority don't even carry it for dipping (this applies more to Japanese/Sushi spots). While I've yet to find a dining out solution for Chinese food, I've managed to make some very nice and MSG free dishes at home. Example - last night's dinner: Chicken with chinese eggplant, cabbage, baby bok choy and pea shoots. YUM!!! I've been making stir fry forever. Usually I buy the bag of prechopped stir fry veggies at Trader Joe's, make a sauce, add some chicken or shrimp, serve over brown rice and call it a day. My husband appreciates that I accompany the dish with egg rolls (great quasi healthy ones are available in the freezer section at TJ's). Last night I went in a slightly different direction, inspired by a trip to the Rainbow Co-op, or as I refer to it, the arrogant hippie grocery store that costs more than Whole Foods. I had some chicken at home (the hippie shop does not sell any meat products), as well as some frozen TJ's brown rice (so easy, cooks in 3 min and tastes exactly like it was cooked in a pot, with no dish to clean). In the hippie store produce section, I picked up 2 mini purple cabbages, 2 baby bok choy, 3 chinese eggplant, some crimini mushrooms, an onion and some peashoots. At home, I made a sauce from Tamari, the juice from 2 small oranges (one may have been a large tangerine), some agave syrup, dried onion flakes, garlic powder, chili garlic sauce (from the Chinese section of the grocery store) and Sriacha. I also added some cornstarch as a thickener (so much easier if you mix cornstarch and water in a separate container first into a slurry and add that to the sauce). I'd also on a prior trip to Whole Foods picked up some Asian Stir Fry oil, so I heated that in the pan until hot (on Medium High) . Added the chicken breast (just used one - trimmed and diced), cooked for a few min. Added the onion, mushrooms (sliced) and eggplant (sliced). Let those cook at a high heat for a few minutes until the eggplant and mushrooms were browned. Added the sliced/diced bok choy and cabbage, cooked for about 2 min, then added the sauce. Stirred everything together, then covered, and cooked on high for a few min (maybe 5, maybe 10 - just until it looked right). Once it was all done, I added some frozen edamame (out of the shells), stirred that to warm it, then added the pea shoots and stirred it around until they wilted a little bit. Served it over the TJ's brown rice, with one eggroll for my husband. It was great! The cabbage got almost carmelized and the flavor was excellent! A good amount of spice (we like heat, so if you don't, just don't add too much chili or Sriacha). I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit jealous of the eggroll, but was so full and satiated by the meal itself that by the end, I did not mind one bit :) I just ate the leftovers for lunch - they were FAB!!! Healthy gluten free delicious MSG free Chinese? Check!