Gluten-Free Recipes

Gluten-Free Recipes for Appetizers/Snacks

Fifteen Bean Sausage Soup

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

With the bitter cold throughout the country, hot warming soup, full of protein is a very sensible idea.

Watch me make this on NH’s ABC WMUR TV.

Please remember that if you are not used to beans and fiber, I describe it as having tummy rumbles and your tummy being in overdrive. This is what fiber does to your body until it becomes used to high fiber.

Gluten-Free Fifteen Bean Soup with Sausage

• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
• 4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2” or so dice
• 2 large stalks of celery, washed, quartered lengthways and cut into 1/2” slices
• 2-4 sausages from 12 oz bag of 4 Al Fresco, gluten-free, cooked chicken sweet smoky bbq, sausage,  quartered lengthways and cut into ½ “ slices
• 8 cups gluten-free chicken or beef stock
• Stock concentrate to taste
• 1 x 20 oz/1+1/4 lb bag of gluten-free 15 beans soaked overnight, drained and rinsed
• ¼ c gluten-free tomato ketchup
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tsp Penzey Arizona seasoning or Smoked Paprika, just a nice bite of heat, not hot. Optional, and can be left out if you are using a slightly spicy sausage
• 2 freshly roasted red peppers, pureed.  Once you have tasted freshly roasted red peppers you won’t go back to acidic tasting, bought jars. Optional.
• 1 tbsp gluten-free cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water to thicken, optional as my husband likes it slightly thickened.

Directions:

1. In large stock pot cook onions in olive oil until starting to brown. Add carrot and celery, sausage, and let gently cook for about 5 minutes without burning.
2. Add beans, stock, spices, tomato ketchup, bay leaves, Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook covered for about one hour until beans are tender. Remember to taste several different beans as sizes vary and so does cooking time. Dried beans that have sat in cupboard take longer to cook to tenderness. Hurst’s web site says to not soak beans, cook in slow cooker on high for 5 hours or low for 7 hours. I haven’t tried that.  Cold weather it’s warming to have pot simmering on stove.  I have also soaked the beans overnight, drained and rinsed and then cooked them with rest of ingredients in my electric/digital pressure cooker with 5 cups, 40 fl oz fresh water for 15 minutes. Then npr.
3. Add pureed red peppers and cornstarch mix, bring back to a boil, simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning and serve.

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. Remember I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies so I know food and live this way daily.

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

You can find Chef Oonagh Williams at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh on FB, web or LinkedIn. Remember 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.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my Delicious Gluten-Free e-cookbook only $20 available to download at www.glutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com, tips, recipes ranging from Grandma’s comfort soup to dinner party fare, full color photos, follow link for list of contents and thumbnail photos of full size photos in ebook.

Perfect Quinoa

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

By Chef Oonagh Williams, Award-Winning Gluten-Free Chef

I like to cook raw quinoa as a rice substitute. I find it easy to cook a batch of quinoa in water and store it in the fridge in large-capacity glass Ball canning jars but with plastic screw top lids. I can use the stored, plain cooked quinoa for breakfast quinoa (pictured above), Spanish rice quinoa, quinoa rice salad, and countless other recipes. Quinoa is high in protein and fiber and contains essential amino acids important to a healthy diet. I enjoy eating cooked quinoa mixed with vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit in season or dried fruit and nuts for breakfast. The protein keeps me going and with fresh strawberries, nectarines etc. it tastes like an indulgent treat!

Quinoa is naturally gluten-free and most bags I have seen state organic. There is no difference between white, black or red quinoa. 

Preparation
I always rinse my raw quinoa in a fine sieve, that I bought after my son was diagnosed with celiac disease. Quinoa is so tiny it will fall through a regular sieve/colander. Even though some packets of quinoa will tell you it has been pre rinsed, I still do a good rinse to be safe. I simply place the quinoa in the sieve and run cold water through it for a few minutes while gently rubbing the grains.  

How to Cook
There are lots of fussy methods for preparing quinoa, I’ve actually tried them all but prefer the simplest method. See below.

1. Place 1 cup of raw quinoa and 2 cups of cold water, chicken or beef stock in a saucepan together. 
2. Bring to a full boil, cover and reduce heat to a simmer, set a timer and cook for 10 minutes.  
3. Turn the heat off, leave the pan on the same hot burner to allow residual heat in the pot to continue cooking the quinoa for another 5 minutes. By the way, this does work on an induction burner. There’s no need to stir or lift the cover on the pan during the cooking process, but remember to remove the pan from the burner and remove the lid at the end of the 5 minutes ‘sitting’ time.  

Makes 3 cups of cooked quinoa. You might find that you prefer the quinoa to be softer.  So add a bit more water for cooking and also let it sit a bit longer to get the consistency you prefer. I also find that if you have quinoa that has sat in the cupboard a bit longer, then it has dried out more and needs more water and cooking – same as dried beans. 

You can find Chef Oonagh Williams at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh on Facebook, LinkedIn or her website. Chef Oonagh has a culinary arts degree, celiac disease and other food allergies. Remember most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers ‘mess’ around with it and only baking really needs changing.

Smoked Salmon and Cucumber with a Sweet Mustard Dill Sauce

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This is an easy, elegant looking appetizer that can be made in advance and is often very popular. The sauce is a variation on the sweet mustard dill sauce that is served with gravlax cured salmon.  Gravlax is delicious, not easily available to buy, and normally expensive, so I make the sauce and serve it with regular imported smoked salmon or Ducktrap smoked salmon from Maine. Not lox salmon. 

1 English cucumber

• (note: remove from plastic wrapping immediately when you get home and keep refrigerated. I find cucumber quickly goes moldy if left in a tight plastic wrap.)
• Wash the cucumber, leave skin on and cut diagonal into 1/4-1/2 inch slices. I like to use a fluted cutter for the cucumber.  Experiment and see what thickness you like best. Too thin and the cucumber won’t be able to hold the weight of salmon and sauce.

Smoked Salmon 4-8 oz

• Use as much as you’d like. Open the vacuum packed bag and use a sharp knife to cut salmon in a tic-tac-toe pattern as chopped salmon is easier to place on cucumber slices and easier to eat.
• Top with a small spoonful of sauce, and finely chopped chives or fresh dill.
• This recipe uses the proportions of ingredients that I prefer for the sauce, everyone’s taste is different.  Remember that every brand of mustard can taste different. You might like more or less honey than I do. Dill can be overpowering and bitter.  It is always possible to add more of any ingredient but not so easy to remove. Check that the mustard is labeled gluten free, many are NOT.
• You can grill/cook a piece of fresh salmon and serve with small cubes of cucumber and mustard dill sauce mixed into cucumber for a meal. Add some chopped smoked salmon to cucumber and sauce mix.

Sauce

• 1/3 c mayonnaise 
• 2 tsp honey Dijon mustard
• plus 2 tsps honey
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh dill 

mix together and refrigerate for a few hours to allow flavors to blend.  Add a bit of water to thin if necessary. If you only have regular Dijon, then you will need to add more honey to taste. Honey mellows the mustard so the flavor doesn’t overpower the cucumber and smoked salmon. 

Alternate Sauce: Sour cream or crème frâiche sauce with herbs mixed in.

• 1/3 c sour cream (lite is fine) or crème frâiche
• salt and pepper to taste 
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley 
• 2 tbsps finely scissored chives or thin stalks of green onions 
• 1 tbsp fresh celery leaves if you have them. (some fresh dill if you want, lemon thyme. I wouldn’t advise fresh rosemary or sage).

Chef Oonagh has a Culinary Arts degree and prior to the gluten-free diet and her son’s diagnosis with celiac disease, she always cooked from scratch with real ingredients. “Like” Chef Oonagh on Facebook at Gluten Free Cooking with Oonagh. Connect, watch and learn from Chef Oonagh’s gluten-free cooking classes on Curious.com.

Summer Tomato Corn Galette

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

‘Galette’ just means rustic looking, single crust, free-form pie with a filling and the crust folded partway over the top of the filling. Bon Appétit says, “their imperfections are what set them apart—in fact, the less you do, the better they look.” 

Normally during the warmer months, once a month a girlfriend and I drive down to Wilson Farm in Lexington, MA. For those that don’t know, Lexington (yes the same one you learned about in history) is a very old area of Mass, full of expensive housing and Wilson Farm has 33 acres right in the middle. The farm has been operating there since 1884 with the first farm stand in the 1950’s.  

Most of their fruit and vegetables are locally grown and you can see the fields surrounding the shop, right in the middle of houses. Remember as I always say on NH’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner, most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it. Inside, the fruit and veg are arranged like the finest French markets, with fresh baked goods (including gluten-free), large cheese selection, meats, fresh from their kitchen soups, salads, meals and more, as well as flowers and plants.  Weekends and special event times like the tomato festival, there would be samples to try. They have another farm in Litchfield, NH and locally we could look across the river from the Anheuser Busch plant to the red barn building in Litchfield, but had to drive the long way around to get there. 

There is a recipe wall behind the row of checkouts, with lots and lots of free recipe cards for you to take away and make yourself. This is one of the recipes I used to make in wheat flour days and now with fresh local corn and tomatoes abounding, I make it gluten-free.

Gluten-Free Summer Tomato Corn Galette
recipe Cornmeal Galette dough for 1 galette, about 11 inches in diameter

Again with local availability at the moment, I didn’t have regular gluten-free cornmeal so I substituted Krusteaz honey cornbread mix. Bob’s Red Mill carries gluten-free cornmeal and cornflour but one is too gritty and the other is too fine for my taste. 

Ingredients:

• 4 oz, ¾ c KAF gluten-free all-purpose flour – no xanthan gum, no baking powder. 
• 2/3 cup/ 4 oz Krusteaz gluten-free honey cornbread mix, does contain both xanthan gum and baking powder so don’t add any more. Substitute cornmeal/cornflour that you have, by weight, and dough might need more liquid added.
• (1 tsp. Sugar – not necessary if you use Krusteaz)
• salt and pepper
• ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese, I’ve also used Sharp cheddar when I was out of Parmesan
• 6 Tbsp, 3 oz, cold butter, cut into ½-inch slices 
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp ice water

Filling

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. marjoram, chopped, I’ve also used fresh oregano and fresh basil, depending on what you have grown or what’s available 
• Kernels from 2 ears of corn (about 2 cups) Fresh corn makes a phenomenal difference in taste compared to frozen or canned but they still taste good. I cook extra corn day before, then cut off kernels
• 1 large roasted red bell pepper, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1” squares.  I don’t know what this would taste like with jarred peppers, freshly roasted red bell pepper is addictive and freezes well
• ~3 large ripe tomatoes, sliced – I like Campari
• ¾ c 3 oz shredded cheddar

Directions:

1. I put the flour, Krusteaz, (sugar), salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese in food processor. Add the chilled butter and pulse until butter is small pieces. Or in a bowl by hand or with a pastry blender.  Add the olive oil and ice water, and pulse until the dough begins to come together. It should be soft. Gather the dough with your hands and shape it into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
2. I like to cook onion in microwave-safe dish until meltingly tender and sweet.  Plus you don’t have to keep watching pan to see if it’s burning. Season with salt and pepper. When onion is tender, add the corn, cut up bell pepper, garlic, marjoram or herb of choice, and set aside to cool. I have also made this with 2 diced zucchini cooked with onions and didn’t think it added to taste.
3. This is a soft dough and I find it easiest to grease pyrex 9” pie plate and bake on metal sheet or use my Le Creuset cast iron 10” skillet. Put soft ball of dough onto skillet/pie dish, dust your fingers with some gf flour, press with your fingers. and press dough to reach up sides of pan. You are going to fold down edges of dough on side of pan on top of onion corn filling.
4. Spread the onion and corn mixture over base of the dough. Starting about 2 inches in from edge of onion mix, arrange the tomatoes in a single layer over the onions and season them with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cheese over the tomatoes. Lift the edges of the dough and fold them inward over the filling, pleating as you go, to form a folded-over border. I use a thin plastic spatula and ‘flip’ the dough from edge of pan down onto filling.  I find this easier than trying to persuade dough away from side of pan with my fingers. Pinch together any tears in the dough. I have tried making this by rolling out and lifting dough and find pressing dough into pan is easier. 
5. Bake in preheated 375 * oven until the crust has browned and the cheese has melted, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving. This is a rich, very ‘short’ pastry.  In a metal pan, the bottom crust is more thoroughly cooked. A totally different recipe said about serving a potato casserole with salsa, sliced avocado and sour cream.  I tried that but I thought it was too many extra flavors.

wilsonfarm.com recipes are online
Wilson Farm, 10 Pleasant Street, Lexington, MA 02421
(781) 862-3900

Sweet Cookie Pizza

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

The base is a gluten-free sugar cookie I made from a Better Homes and Gardens wheat snickerdoodle cobbler recipe. When the cookie dough is cooked on its own cooking sheet, it cooks up thin and crispy. The original topping was three 8 oz packets of cream cheese. I used only one 8 oz and we liked that quantity the best. The original recipe added circles of kiwi fruit, but I used circles of strawberries to look like pepperoni. I chopped fresh mango to imitate yellow bell peppers and drizzled chocolate sauce to imitate balsamic glaze. We also preferred just the sweetened cream cheese topping without the key lime juice and lime zest.

Ingredients

Crust

• ¼ cup (2 oz, 56 g) butter, softened
• ⅓ cup (2+1/2 oz) sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• ½ cup (2+1/2 oz, 70 g) all-purpose gluten-free flour that doesn’t contain baking powder or xanthan gum
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum

Topping

• 1 (8 oz) packet cream cheese, softened.  I use “lite” which is also softer
• ¼ cup (60 ml) powdered sugar
• 1 Tablespoon key lime juice – optional
• Zest of ¼ lime – optional
• Fresh fruit. I used strawberries and mangos, but you could also use kiwi, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, or any other soft fruit.

Chocolate sauce

• ¼ cup (60 ml) semi-sweet chocolate
• ¼ cup cream

Directions

1. In a medium bowl beat all crust ingredients together for 2-3 minutes until soft and fluffy. This is a very soft mix, not stiff cookie dough.
2. Draw a 9” circle (measure a dinner plate and use that for circle size) on parchment paper on a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan (unless you’re confident that cooked cookie will release without sticking from your pan).
3. I use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop. Make outer circle of dough blobs on parchment paper, about 1 inch apart, and then space out the rest of the dough inside the circle. Wet your fingers and flatten slightly.
4. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about 18-20 minutes. Every oven differs and cookies will cook faster if over flattened. Cookies should merge together as a complete ‘pizza’ base and be a golden color, but not dark and just under ½ inch deep. Remove from oven, let cool and then remove from parchment paper and lift onto serving dish. Don’t worry if it cracks, cream cheese and fruit will hide cracks. Cookies will soften if left out, from humidity and from the topping.
5. Beat cream cheese and sugar together, and spread carefully on cooled base.
6. Make chocolate sauce by melting chocolate and mixing with cream until smooth.
7. Decorate with fruit slices and chocolate sauce.

You can find Chef Oonagh Williams at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh on Facebook, LinkedIn or her website. Chef Oonagh has a culinary arts degree, celiac disease and other food allergies. Remember most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers ‘mess’ around with it and only baking really needs changing.

Strawberry Vinaigrette

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

I’ve tried some strawberry vinaigrette recipes with sour cream and yogurt and didn’t like them. So I went back to my old faithful of a maple herb vinaigrette.  Use honey if you don’t have maple syrup. Strawberry jam sweetens and helps intensify the strawberry flavor. You MUST use sweet ripe strawberries or you’re wasting your time and money. It’s not sticky sweet. A girlfriend that doesn’t like sweet loved it. My husband thinks a salad isn’t complete without feta cheese and cashews. 

The following was filmed and edited by us at home. It aired on ABC-TV on June 3, 2020.

Gluten-Free Strawberry Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 cup of vinaigrette

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp lemon juice, or white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar.  Please make sure vinegars say made from wine or grapes, apples or cider. 
• 1 tsp gf honey mustard or regular Dijon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp strawberry jam – I’ve used Bonne Maman or Trappist jams
• 1 tbsp maple syrup or honey or 2 tbsp jam. 
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley 
• green of the stalk of one green onion – none of the white end.
• 4 med to large ripe strawberries, washed, hulled and quartered
• 1/4 c light tasting oil. Extra virgin olive oil overpowers the flavor. I tend to use 3 tbsp avocado oil and 1 tbsp evo. I never use canola oil.

Directions:

1. Put everything in a 2 cup jug and blend it with an immersion blender, or a liquidizer. If you don’t have either, mash the strawberries really well with the rest of the ingredients. 
2. Cover and leave for at least an hour for the flavors to meld. Taste then and adjust salt, sugar, vinegar to your taste.  But remember a dressing tasted on its own on a spoon or fork tastes very different from a dressing on a salad with other fruit, veggies and cheese. So stir dressing and dip a lettuce leaf in to taste after dressing’s sat for a while.

I like fresh crisp lettuce, some more sliced strawberries, some chopped celery or Gala apple for crunch, and some feta cheese.  I’ve tried it with Brie but it didn’t taste right. Add cooked chicken, shrimp, tuna for more protein. Spinach leaves. Try making it with fresh raspberries, peaches, mango and appropriate jam. 

Chilled Avocado Citrus Soup

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

I had this soup years ago at the Elephant Walk Restaurant (Cambodian/French) in Waltham, MA, and got the staff to give us the recipe. I made my own variations of it since then. It was really good, but I think the most important part is wonderfully ripe tomatoes, followed by ripe avocado. I made it again this week with temps in New Hampshire above 90 and humid.

Gluten-Free Chilled Avocado Citrus Soup
Makes 4-6 Dinner Party portions

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, finely chopped or chopped green onion and 1 tsp salt
• 1+1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 tbsp – 1/4c freshly squeezed lime juice
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp  sugar
• 1 small clove garlic, peeled and finely crushed (flavor mellows and raw garlic taste disappears)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large, ripe avocado, halved, stoned and flesh cut into ½ inch cubes.
• 4-5 Fresh button mushrooms, cleaned, halved and cut into ¼ inch slices
• 2/3 cup (about 1 Large) really ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and cut into ½” dice or 5-6 Campari tomatoes.
• Freshly chopped cilantro for serving, optional

Directions:

1. Mix the chopped onion with salt and leave to stand for 20-30 minutes. Rinse the salt off the onion, drain and squeeze off excess water. Draws out the strong juices of raw onion.  Or use chopped green onions (spring onions, scallions) and don’t salt them.
2. Mix orange juice, lime juice, garlic, sugar and salt and pepper, stir to dissolve sugar and salt.
3. Add olive oil and mix well.
4. Add diced tomato, avocado, mushrooms and onion, stir gently to mix well.
5. Let chill and blend for about 1 hour before serving. Taste and adjust salt, pepper and more lime juice before serving.
6. Top each portion with chopped cilantro – optional

The soup kept well in the fridge for several days.  The orange juice prevents the avocado from browning. It’s also tasty with some tiny salad shrimp or crab.

Marinated Mushrooms

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Fresh mushrooms cooked in an oil, vinegar, garlic, onion, sugar and herb marinade until tender and then left to absorb all the wonderful flavors. These mushrooms are not overly vinegary like store bought, but truly addictive as part of a salad plate, antipasto, side dish with grilled meats, etc. 

For Easter, serve these mushrooms with spiral, boneless, brown sugar spice ham (not sweet or spicy). My husband asked for the tiny fresh mushrooms to pair with cubes of cheese on a toothpick. 

Gluten-Free Marinated Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup oil (I use avocado oil) 
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 Tablespoon light brown sugar
• ¼ cup freshly chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper or 8 peppercorns
• 3 small bay leaves
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 medium onion, peeled, halved, thinly sliced and separated
• 1 lb whole baby mushrooms, cleaned

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients except mushrooms in a non reactive (stainless steel or non stick) saucepan, bring to the boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Vinegar smells strong as it heats.
2. Add mushrooms, bring back to boil and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. Mushrooms will shrink and produce liquid.
3. Remove from heat, pour into glass or similar non-reactive dish, cover and chill.
4. Allow to marinate for at least 4 hours.

Mushrooms are nicest served at room temperature. I also substitute 1 lb thawed pearl onions for mushrooms and cook for about one hour to make addictive onion relish/chutney. Great on French bread with cheese, anywhere. 

Black Bean Salsa Soup

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Some people call this ‘Island Caviar’ or ‘Cowboy Caviar’—it’s a speedy recipe for a soup, dip or salad!

With so many of us at home due to coronavirus, I made this salsa into soup and hopefully most of you have similar ingredients in the house at the moment.

The original recipe came from a Tostitos ad in a magazine. I actually do buy Tostitos salsa since my husband liked it at a party. I did alter the recipe considerably since I prefer to ‘dump’ complete containers of beans, corn, salsa etc rather than measuring smaller quantities and having leftover bits.

This salsa has just a nice bite to it, no runny nose and tingling lips—at least that’s what we think with the ingredients we use. We’ve taken this on picnics with tortilla chips, add cooked chicken or shrimp or even mozzarella balls for main course salad.

Gluten-Free Black Bean Salsa Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of medium or mild heat salsa – I have used Tostitos chunky medium (not restaurant style as that’s v. runny)
• 1 can black beans, drained, rinsed well and drained again. Black beans are more for color difference, choose the bean you prefer.
• 1 x 11 oz can of corn, drained
• 2 tbsp hot pepper jelly
• Zest and juice of ½ lime
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro -optional if you hate cilantro like my husband
• green of half a bunch of green onions.
• (add more fresh herbs to your taste.)
• Add fresh herbs at end to soup, or don’t worry about leaving them out now. 
• And no, no extra salt – we are naturally low salt eaters. Plus beans and corn are in salt solution, salsa has salt, pepper jelly frequently has salt. I don’t like noticeable salt except on salt and vinegar chips, French fries etc. 
• If you want salsa to be thicker like bought salsa’s add 1/4 tsp xanthan gum and stir in well. Add more if you like it thicker but do give it time to thicken. Remember food producers threw xanthan gum, guar gum and gum Arabic in many foods before we ever needed to use it for gluten free baking. Just look at some labels for foods you would never have thought would have any gum added. 

Directions:

1. Melt pepper jelly in 6-8 cup microwave safe bowl in microwave, stir in lime juice and rest of ingredients.
2. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour to allow flavors to blend and serve in a bowl with chips.

I like to put in cubes of mozzarella or Mexican cheese.

Cubes of avocado.

Cubes of ham or pepperoni type meats. 

Cubes of fresh mango or pineapple are amazing.

Add leftover cooked chicken, bbq meats and serve as main course over rice, hot or cold.

Keeps well in fridge for several days.  

Can be added to a chili or other cooked dish as an ingredient. 

We also like to put gluten free tortilla chips on a flat plate, sprinkle with Mexican cheese or Landolakes  and microwave or oven heat until cheese is melted. Top with this salsa, cooked ground beef with cumin and green onion, cooked grilled chicken, fresh cubed tomatoes, cubes of avocado or guacamole, sour cream.  

Use your imagination. 

Great for special appetizer, snack, easy for a meal if you have a variety of stuff sitting in fridge. Mix it with cooked rice or quinoa. Easily portable for lunch, picnics, beach etc.

Make it more of a taco salad – chopped lettuce on plate, top with black bean salsa, then sour cream, guacamole, shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips.  Delicious no need to turn the oven on meal.

Put some in a quesadilla or mix with rice for a burrito.

Black Bean Salsa, made into soup!

1. I did cook a chopped small onion in some oil, but feel free to use onion powder.
2. Then added salsa recipe above. 
3. Filled the empty salsa jar twice with water, swished around and added to pot.  So roughly 4 cups liquid.
4. Added 1/2 c raw rice at beginning. You might need to add more liquid if the lid on your pot doesn’t fit well , plus rice left overnight absorbs more liquid.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 20 minutes as apart from rice, everything is basically already cooked.
6. And without herbs, as 1. I’m being sensible and sheltering in place, 2. I’m not going to the store just for fresh herbs, and 3. New Hampshire is still too cold to grow outside.
7. Lime zest and juice do make a difference but even just a tablespoon of cider vinegar will add a punch. 

SMOKED SALMON SPREAD

From Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This smoked salmon spread (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. I buy imported smoked salmon, it tastes quite different from American lox. I also buy smoked salmon from Ducktrap, a company in Maine.

Ways to Eat Smoked Salmon:

• It can be served with Irish soda bread
• Use it to make cream and smoked salmon sauce for pasta
• It can be added to scrambled eggs
• Use it to make a frittata
• Add smoked salmon to egg salad
• Serve on top of potato pancakes 
• blini with sour cream
• Throw it on slices of cucumber with dill mustard sauce
• Eat with slices of apple
• On top of a toasted bagel 

Ingredients:

• 8 oz softened cream cheese
• 4 oz smoked salmon or more 
• rind/zest of ¼ lemon
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• ½ tsp sherry or brandy
• ½ tsp tomato ketchup 

Directions:

Place smoked salmon in processor and run until chopped. Then add rest of ingredients and run until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust seasoning, add fresh chopped dill, more lemon, dash of cayenne pepper or Tabasco if desired. The flavors will change as it mellows and matures. Leave for at least 4 hours before using.

For a special party, starter for St. Patrick’s day, Easter, Good Friday.  Line a 4 cup mold with plastic wrap, mix ½ brick of cream cheese with chopped fresh dill, spread into mold.  Top with salmon spread and chill. You can spread some red white fish caviar between layers and in middle of mold when you turn it out. Romanoff® Red Whitefish Caviar or Red Salmon Caviar is labeled gluten-fee.

Turn out onto serving plate and finish with sliced cucumber, slices of smoked salmon rolled up, sour cream, caviar.