GLUTEN-FREE RECIPES

Creamy Sausage Cauliflower Gnocchi

October 4, 2021

Recipe courtesy of Jones Dairy Farm and created by Healthy Fitness Meals

 

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TAGS: RECIPES OF THE WEEK, SOUPS/STEWS, SIDE DISHES, DINNER

Apple Walnut Streusel Dessert Pizza

August 23, 2021

Recipe courtesy of our sponsor Schär

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TAGS: HOLIDAY, FOR KIDS, DESSERT

Cuban Bagel Sandwich

August 3, 2021

Recipe courtesy of our sponsor Schär

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Gluten-Free Cuban Bagel Sandwich

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TAGS: RECIPES OF THE WEEK, LUNCH, DINNER

No-Bake Red, White and Blue Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

July 6, 2021

Recipe courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This is not a baked custard cheesecake. It is a gelatin-set cheesecake that I first made in England and continue to make. There is no baking (apart from the crust, which some prefer cooked but it is not necessary), no worrying if you’ve overcooked the custard, no cracking of cheesecake, no overnight cooling, etc. It is very popular with my students and clients and you can vary the flavors with different chocolates and liqueurs. It is stiff when you remove it from the fridge but softens to more of a mousse consistency when it’s been out of the fridge for half an hour. Gelatin stops it from melting in the heat. “Lite” cream cheese makes a softer-set cheesecake than 100% cream cheese, but I’ve used lite cream cheese for years.

I added my homemade, microwave-cooked lemon curd to cream cheese mix. Homemade lemon curd (made of butter, sugar, lemon, and eggs and can be used to top scones, cakes, bagels, etc) is delicious. Yes, you could substitute store-bought lemon curd, but the brands I’ve seen use lemon oil, pectin to thicken, palm oil, lemon concentrate, cornflour, citric acid, acetic acid, sodium citrate, color, egg powder, water and then call it authentic. Not in my book!

I’ve made variations of this cheesecake for years, from when I lived in London, including versions with Kahlúa coffee, chocolate peanut butter, white chocolate raspberry, dark chocolate orange, margarita, and white chocolate hazelnut praline. Play with flavor variations using these quantities as a guide.

Gluten-Free No-Bake Cheesecake Mousse

Ingredients:

• Crushed crumbs of gluten-free graham cracker, cookies, or shortbread crust. Schar gluten-free shortbread cookies, 7 oz bag, makes a generous crust
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 packet of powdered gelatin. An orange box of Knox gelatin in the grocery store is 2 and 1/4 tsp (11g)
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 lb room temperature cream cheese
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup, roughly 8 oz lemon curd
• 1 cup of liquid heavy or whipping cream
• ½ cup cream with 2 tbsp sugar (whip these together to make whipped cream for decorating)
• More lemon curd, if you like your cheesecake tangy
• Fresh blueberries and/or fresh strawberries

Directions:

1. Melt butter in the microwave in 15 second intervals and then add to cookie crumbs when liquid.
2. Press the butter and crumb mixture evenly into a 9” pie plate or springform pan and either bake for 10 minutes or just refrigerate. With current temps being 100°F, I microwave cookie crumbs and butter in a microwave-safe bowl for about a minute or two, then press into the pan and refrigerate.
3. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water, stir in and leave to stand for 2–3 minutes. The gelatin will set in a rubbery lump but will dissolve with microwaving.
4. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon curd. Beat for a few minutes, until light and fluffy.
5. Melt gelatin mix in the microwave for about 15 seconds. It will stay the same light brown color but should have melted, no granules left. It is important to melt it thoroughly otherwise it will set into little nuggets of gelatin.
6. Beat gelatin mix into the cream cheese mix.
7. Beat 1 cup of cream until stiff and gently beat into the cream cheese mix.
8. Pour mix into pan, over the crust, and refrigerate for several hours.
9. Once chilled, run a thin plastic spatula or knife around edge between cheesecake and pan, release springform and remove. Leave in pie plate or brownie pan.
10. Cut a tiny sliver of set cheesecake and taste it to see if it’s lemony enough. You can hide the absent sliver with whipped cream before serving. I often spread more lemon curd on top of the cheesecake to make it really tangy. Whipping cream and adding 50% lemon curd folded in is also delicious for a topping or on it’s own with fresh fruit.
11. Pipe whipped cream rosettes around top edge of cheesecake, and top with fresh blueberries and strawberries.

You can also make this in 8×8 brownie pan, then arrange blueberries and strawberries in flag pattern.

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download on my website. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.

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TAGS: RECIPES OF THE WEEK, HOLIDAY, FOR KIDS, DESSERT

Asian Slaw

Recipe courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This is a very tasty, crunchy salad. It’s great for a summer BBQ party. In the winter it is a far cheaper way of having fresh salad than buying salad greens in New Hampshire. You can extend it by adding shredded carrots or broccoli, which also adds to the color for a party.

This recipe came from my friend Debi. She served it at one of the many summer get-togethers, many years ago. I love it. You can serve it as a side dish or add a protein (teriyaki chicken, beef, garlic cooked shrimp, whatever you like) and serve it as a complete main course. The recipe is also on my website in my downloadable ebook. You can watch an old video of me making this, but remember that the video was made during my wheat days, so the method is the same but ingredients have changed.

Coleslaw

• ½ head of green cabbage, finely shredded—use slicing blade of processor—all you want is the ordinary coleslaw cabbage not the more expensive Savoy cabbage. The grating/shredding blade makes an incredibly fine coleslaw—your choice. Or you can quarter the cabbage, cut out core, cut through each quarter of the cabbage 3 times from core end to point and then finely slice in the opposite direction.
• 3–4 green (spring) onions, rinsed, trimmed and scissored into thin pieces (use green of green onions for salad and cut the 2–3 inches of the white of the green onions into green onion fan).
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds toasted. This is optional, for crunch. You could also try roasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds.
• ½ cup (2oz) coarsely chopped almonds, toasted, or peanuts or other nuts. I’m lazy and buy lightly salted peanuts or cashews (since peanuts are an allergy nut). Also bought nuts are normally already roasted so that’s one less step to do. Remember that salted nuts will add to salt content.
• 2 bricks of rice ramen noodles crumbled and toasted. I cook them in air fryer for about 5 minutes until crispy and light golden brown. You do not cook the noodles in water, just crumble the raw noodles straight from the packet. (As of June 2021, Lotus Foods’ GF rice ramen noodles, organic, 30 oz bag of 12 bricks for $8.99 in Costco. Target quoting $1.79 for 2.8 oz)

Toast the sesame seeds, almonds and noodles separately as they all brown at different times. I like to bake these in a 350°F oven when the oven is in use, and store separately in a Tupperware. Baking times will vary depending on whether your food is spread out on a large cookie sheet or clumped together in a cake pan. Check after 10 minutes and stir each one. If you smell them cooking, they could be burning.

I’ve also added corn, raw red bell pepper and chickpeas to coleslaw.

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar (labeled made from grapes, wine, apples or cider).
• 3 tbsp sugar.
• 2 tsp of chicken stock concentrate dissolved in 1 tbsp water. I use Orrington Farms’, about $4/lb, labeled gluten-free.
• ½ cup oil. Preferably use toasted peanut oil (brown in color, not clear), as ordinary vegetable oil makes a very bland dressing. I haven’t used canola oil in years. I used to buy Loriva brand peanut oil and miss it for flavor. Now with avoiding peanuts I buy Stony Brook butternut squash seed oil, available direct at Whole Hearted Foods in NY, labeled nut-free and gluten-free, but gives a nutty taste like peanut oil.

Instructions:

1. Mix sugar, wine vinegar and chicken stock concentrate together until the sugar dissolves.
2. Add oil to the mixture and shake well.
3. Just prior to serving, mix together cabbage, green onions, nut mix, noodles and re-shake dressing and serve. Use as much dressing as you want.

Unless I am making this for a large group of people, I just shred enough cabbage for that night and add sufficient nut mix and dressing for that amount of cabbage. This is because the nut mix goes soggy when left mixed with the cabbage and I don’t care for the taste of day-old coleslaw.

Note: Peanut oil is just as dangerous for people with peanut allergies as whole peanuts, so clearly mark the salad as containing peanut oil if you take it to a large gathering.

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Obviously talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download on my website. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.

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Salmon Rillettes and Smoked Salmon Spread

June 1, 2021

Recipe courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Normally rillettes are meats cooked covered in fat for several hours until tender, then shredded and served as a pâté (a spread). Instead I pan fried fresh salmon in butter, salt and pepper, cooked it, let it cool, then broke it into flakes with a fork. I then added the cold salmon to my regular smoked salmon pâté and increased the seasonings.

This pâté has a very mild, subtle taste. Please use the tiny quantities of sherry and tomato ketchup listed. They are there to add flavor, not to overpower the whole dish. For correct quantities, measure the lemon juice, sherry and tomato ketchup together into a small bowl and then add to the food processor. It is far too easy to pour huge amounts out of a bottle otherwise and ruin the recipe.

My local grocery store sells fresh salmon offcuts for only $6.99/lb. Yes, it’s farmed salmon, but from Norway and the only farmed fish I buy. I use these salmon bits for fish chowder, fish tacos, stir fries and more. If you don’t have a food processor, just chop the smoked salmon into very small pieces.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz (225 g) softened cream cheese. I use lite.
• 4 oz (112 g) smoked salmon or more. If packages go on sale buy in bulk and freeze until needed.
• 8–12 oz raw salmon
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp (5 ml) sherry or brandy. I use Taylor’s Golden Sherry in cooking. Very reasonably priced.
• 1 tsp (5 ml) tomato ketchup
• Zest from half a lemon
• 4 tsp (20 ml) lemon juice
• Green of 2 green onions, cut into thin pieces
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill, if you like it. Dill doesn’t stay fresh. Fresh lemon thyme is also a wonderful addition.
• Add salt to taste

Instructions:

1. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a pan and cook the raw salmon in it, adding salt and pepper as needed.
2. Let salmon cool, then flake it with a fork.
3. Place smoked salmon in processor and run until chopped. Add the cream cheese, sherry, ketchup, lemon zest and lemon juice, then run until smooth and creamy.
4. Stir in finely chopped herbs and the cooled salmon.
5. Taste and adjust seasoning, if desired (more lemon, dash of cayenne pepper, Tabasco sauce, etc.).
6. Leave for at least 4 hours before using. The flavors will change as it mellows and matures.
7. Serve on a bed of greens. I topped mine with my maple herb vinaigrette.

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Obviously talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download at www.glutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.

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TAGS: LUNCH, DINNER, APPETIZERS/SNACKS

Snow Queen Snow Balls

Recipe courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering, from her Delicious Gluten Free Cooking ebook.

With life hopefully opening up, I made one of our favorite desserts again, but as individual portions that you can pull out of freezer—”snow balls” instead of a Snow Queen. It’s always been very popular at parties. So very easy, quick to make and freeze, and naturally gluten-free. It’s basically whipped cream and crushed meringues frozen. However, for many of us desserts to feed a bundle of people is more than we want tempting us in the house, so smaller is better! Individual portions are becoming more popular as a way to control portion sizes, plus it looks prettier on a plate. Kids love a dessert made just for them. This is truly a dessert made in heaven with the slight crunch from the meringues, the mild almond liqueur flavor and the punch of flavor from the raspberries. Made in minutes, frozen within an hour or two so great for unexpected guests, and compatible with lots of different liqueurs and sauces. Don’t prepare it more than 1 week in advance as the meringues will lose their texture. Even if snow balls soften a little, they still taste wonderful and are like an Eton Mess, a recipe of whipped cream, meringues and strawberries.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup (180 ml) whipping or heavy cream
• 1–2 tbsp (15–30 ml) amaretto, or any almond-flavored liqueur you like. For a stronger almond flavor add 1 tsp almond extract to the liqueur.
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) sugar
• 3 oz store-bought meringues, or make meringues with 3 egg whites.
• Raspberries or strawberries.

Instructions

1. Whisk cream, sugar and liqueur until stiff.
2. Break meringues with your fingers into small pieces, but not crushed fine, and fold the pieces into the cream mixture. Taste and add more sugar if you prefer. Note: any frozen dessert tends to need more sugar than a room-temperature dessert.
3. I used a number 12 scoop, roughly 1/3 cup, and made 6 balls from the mixture. Put them on a plate lined with plastic wrap or in paper cupcake liners and keep in the freezer for at least an hour or two. Note: they won’t freeze solid, and the snow balls will melt rapidly in the heat.
4. Remove from freezer and peel the plastic wrap off the snow balls, or serve in cupcake liners.
5. Decorate with raspberries, raspberry sauce, chocolate sauce, fresh strawberries or other fresh fruit.

Alternatives

• Try hazelnut liqueur to marry with the raspberries.
• Try a coffee or chocolate liqueur and serve this with my chocolate mousse recipe before whipping the mousse.
• Try orange juice concentrate, grated orange rind and orange liqueur.
• Liquor stores sell ¼ cup “nips” of liqueurs for a few dollars, so mix and match different liqueurs to see what you like best or to offer options for guests.
• If you are dairy free, try whipping the solid coconut milk cream from the top of a can of chilled full-fat coconut milk (not the “lite” Asian-style coconut milk).

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Obviously talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download at www.glutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.

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Garlic Bread

May 10, 2021

Recipe courtesy of our sponsor Schär

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Gluten-Free Garlic Bread

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TAGS: APPETIZERS/SNACKS, BREADS

Salmon with Shrimp in a Sweet-Spicy Pecan Sauce

May 3, 2021

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Happy Cinco de Mayo, Happy Mother’s Day, Happy summer BBQ days. 

My local grocery store sells fresh salmon off cuts (from larger fillets) that are boneless and skinless and significantly less expensive than salmon fillets. I’ve made this recipe as a stir fry with other vegetables, pan-fried or grilled the fish with sauce on the side. I would love this sauce with lobster tail or even monkfish. Grill salmon, chicken, pork steak, scallops, shrimp on the BBQ for mom on Mother’s Day and serve with the sauce. 

Sweet Spicy Pecan Sauce

Ingredients

Makes about 1 cup/8 fl oz/240 ml

• 2 Tablespoons (1 oz, 25 g) butter or oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• ½ cup (2 oz, 50 g) chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup (3/2 oz, 40 g) firmly-packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons (30 ml) fresh lemon juice (lime might be great or even orange)
• 1 Tablespoon (15 ml) gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) hot pepper jelly. You can add more to your taste when sauce is made. I like just a mild bite of heat, not enough to make your nose run and your lips and tongue tingle.

Ingredient Variations

• Made with butter it is wonderful but I am always conscious of the cholesterol in butter, plus it’s not fair on people who are lactose or dairy intolerant. So I have also made it with olive oil or avocado oil. Coconut oil, peanut oil or almond oil might also be good substitutions if you can tolerate them.
• I had run out of pecans one time and tried it with regular salted cashews, surprisingly cashews are not as good a marriage as pecans. Roasted hazelnuts were a good substitute.
• Think about adding zest of any citrus to match with different juice.
• Think about adding different fresh herbs, like parsley, cilantro, basil, lemon thyme, even lavender at the end for a very sophisticated taste sensation. 
• I’ve served this sauce with various grilled meats as well as with corn Chex-crusted tilapia fillets served in soft, gluten-free corn tortillas with lettuce, tomato and avocado. Delicious.

Instructions

1. Melt butter or oil in 1 quart (1 liter) saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add onion and cook gently for 3-5 minutes or until totally cooked and tender. You could also use white parts of green onion (also known as scallion or spring onion).
3. Add garlic and cook for another minute over gentle heat.
4. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and cook, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved.
5. Store in airtight container in fridge until required.  

Salmon and Shrimp to Pair

As a Main

I cooked one 7 oz salmon fillet, lightly seasoned with salt and pepper. I bought a little over half a pound (250 g) of raw, butterflied, tail on, medium shrimp. When the salmon was nearly cooked, I put the shrimp into the same skillet as the salmon and spread it to one layer. When first side of shrimp was pink I flipped the shrimp and then added the pecan sauce to the pan and left the shrimp to cook in the sauce. If the salmon and shrimp produce a lot of juice, remove fish from sauce, thicken sauce lightly with cornstarch and water. 

As an Appetizer

Depending on your pocket, raw shrimp available and how much you love your guests, you may buy smaller, medium shrimp. In this case I would cook shrimp in sauce as I said above, then put shrimp and sauce in a shallow bowl and serve with tooth picks.  

If you buy the huge shrimp, I would grill either on skewer or individually and serve with pecan sauce as dipping sauce. I also like dusting shrimp with a slightly spicy rub to add to flavors. I like to leave tails on large shrimp as a handle, but virtually always pull tails off shrimp for most other recipes. Who wants to stop eating this salmon dish to pull a tail off shrimp and get messy fingers, even if those fingers taste good?

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Obviously talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download at www.glutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.

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TAGS: LUNCH, DINNER, DAIRY-FREE

Sundried Tomato Vinaigrette or Pesto

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This vinaigrette adds a new flavor to summer salads. I like to mix summer fruits with lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber.

I like quite an intense sundried tomato flavor, and you might like it milder. Plus different brands of oils, vinegar, tomatoes, etc. will all make a difference in the final taste—not bad, just different. In my hands-on classes where students have their own ingredients, it is interesting to see the difference in taste just based on different brands of canned tomatoes.

This vinaigrette will keep for several days. If you use a high quantity of olive oil, refrigeration will make the vinaigrette’s olive oil look like melted butter solidified, but it will melt and reincorporate at room temperature. I don’t like to use just olive oil. I find that just extra-virgin olive oil can be quite bitter and overpower a vinaigrette. 

Vinaigrette

Makes about 1 cup vinaigrette, refrigerate the remainder.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• ¼-1/2 tsp salt to your taste
• Pinch of garlic powder. I find raw garlic stays with you.
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp avocado oil (or put the 2 tbsp olive oil in a 1/2 cup and add avocado oil to fill)
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, or apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice or wine vinegar. They are all good just different. Do buy a good quality brand of balsamic vinegar, there is a huge difference in taste. Trader Joe’s has a white balsamic vinegar and with that the vinaigrette doesn’t become as dark.
• About 4 large basil leaves. Omit if your family won’t eat little green things
• ½ cup fresh parsley. Omit if your family won’t eat little green things
• The green parts of 2 green onions
• 1/2 cup water. Yes, water, but slowly for taste. If you add extra oil you’re adding to fat calories, if you add extra vinegar in large quantities then the vinaigrette will be very acidic. Years ago, Good Seasons made a packet of dry Italian seasoning you made up yourself with oil and water. Then they offered a “lite” version which really just reversed the quantities of oil and water.

Instructions:

1. Put vinaigrette ingredients except for water, parsley, basil and green onion in a food processor, blender or an immersion blender and run until reasonably smooth but still with some bits.
2. Add herbs and run/pulse to chop. You still want the herbs visible not pureed to a green sauce. Add water to thin or to taste. I normally taste test a vinaigrette with a piece of lettuce to get a better idea of the taste than just on a spoon.
3. Adjust seasoning to your taste. Flavor will develop if you let it stand for an hour.

Notes: 

1. Add some hot pepper jelly (1-3 tsps) and cilantro for a Mexican-style vinaigrette. I also like Penzey’s Arizona Dreaming blend for some heat. If you normally cook with hot spices, you know how much heat your family likes.
2. Use different mustards. Koops makes a sweet-spicy mustard called Arizona Heat. I tend to buy Koops’ mustards since they are labeled gluten-free and include regular Dijon, honey Dijon, spicy brown and others.
3. Add orange or lime zest and juice.
4. Honey as a sweetener adds to the flavor.
5. Use as the oil base to pan fry or roast fish, chicken, etc.

Pesto

To make the above vinaigrette into a pesto, add at least 1/4 cup parmesan, more basil, and nuts. Roasted cashews or roasted sunflower seeds both give a nice flavor to a pesto and sunflower seeds are safe for people with nut allergies. I don’t use pignoli (pine nuts) for my pestos because they are expensive, not so easy to find, can be rancid and have quite a strong taste. 

You can do a lot with pesto: add dollops of pesto to soup; mix it into marinara sauce; add to Alfredo sauce; mix Alfredo sauce with marinara sauce and pesto; mix into sour cream; mix into cream cheese, scones or biscuits; add to soft butter. You can add 1-2 cloves of peeled garlic since pestos are normally mixed with cooked pasta or as part of a sauce. I’ve also used freshly roasted garlic. A friend of mine makes her pesto without cheese and nuts, freezes the pesto, and only adds cheese and nuts when she thaws it and will use it immediately. What other ideas do you have?

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Obviously talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download at www.glutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.

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TAGS: DAIRY-FREE