From Chef Oonagh Williams of Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh

The key to this zesty recipe is the pepper jelly. There are quite a few varieties of pepper jelly on the market. You can also make your own pepper jelly by following the directions for pepper jelly in a packet of Certo pectin. Obviously there is a difference in both taste and heat between individual brands, so use half the stated quantity of pepper jelly to start with and then add more to your individual taste. Even if you used exactly the same pepper jelly as I did, your taste could want more or less heat. Also realize that the vinaigrette tasted on a spoon will taste far hotter than once it is mixed with a salad. The sweetness of the jelly mellows the vinaigrette and makes a vinaigrette with a sweet spicy but mild kick. Just enough to realize the heat without your nose running and lips tingling madly.

Gluten-Free Mexican Salad

Ingredients:

Vinaigrette:

• 2 tbsp (30ml) gluten-free hot pepper jelly placed in small microwave safe bowl and melted in microwave 10-20 seconds. I like to clean, sterilize and reuse jam jars for these sauces as you can see what’s in them in the fridge. I buy Trappist Hot pepper jelly.
• 1 tsp (5 ml) honey
• Zest of 1/4 lime
• 2 tbsp (30 ml) fresh lime juice – about ½ to 1 lime. Half of a lime can produce only about 1+1/2 tablespoons of juice, you need to add more to total 2 tablespoons. The extra little bit of lime does make a difference in taste for me.
• ½ teaspoon salt (or more or less to taste)
• freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup avocado oil (120 ml)
• 2 teaspoons (10ml) Koops Arizona heat mustard, labeled gluten-free
• green of 2 green onions
• about 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley and/or cilantro

Salad:

• Deliberately leftover, 2 corn on the cob, roasted or bbq’d and niblets cut from cob
• Shredded romaine or other lettuce, enough for 4 people
• Tomatoes, either large cut up, or small grape or cherry
• 1 ripe avocado, halved, depitted and cut into small dice
• Mexican cheese of your choice, shredded or crumbled
• Gluten-free salsa of your choice for heat
• ½ red pepper deseeded and cut into ½” dice – optional
• ½ c cooked chick peas – optional
• fresh cilantro chopped – optional
• Whatever other salad ingredients you personally like
• Tortillas – I like the crunch of Tostitos, labeled gluten-free, crushed a little
• I got real lobster salad at the market – that was fabulous, but salad shrimp, cooked chicken, spicy sausage, pulled pork without sauce. Or an egg and it can be vegetarian

Directions:

1. Mix all vinaigrette ingredients together, lightly pulse with immersion blender to chop herbs and also thickens vinaigrette and leave for about 1 hour for flavors to blend together.

2. On individual plates or one large platter, attractively arrange lettuce and top with circles of tomatoes, avocado, red pepper and any other salad ingredients you think would be suitable. Top with crushed chips just before serving.

3. You can also leave shrimp, chicken, in 1/4 c vinaigrette for an hour to absorb flavor. Then pour shrimp, chicken and vinaigrette on top of salad.

Vinaigrette keeps in fridge for several days. If you used olive oil it will appear solidified, like melted butter chilled.

When it comes to eating gluten-free, we need to make sure that the food we are putting into our bodies is indeed gluten-free. When it comes to cheese, you do need to be cautious. Love deli cheese? You have to be cautious of cross contamination from the cheese slicer in the deli. If you want to be safe and not worry, you need to search out Boar’s Head Cheese.

Boar’s Head is a family owned business that started in New York City over 110 years ago. Frank Brunckhorst founded the company out of his dissatisfaction with the quality of deli meats available at the time. He set out to create a brand that focused on quality meat, and started the line of deli meats, cheeses, and condiments that we still enjoy today. Boar’s Head prides themselves as being master craftsmen in their industry, and skilled artisans in the art of meat and cheese making. They hold themselves to high standards of quality, use only the finest ingredients, and their entire product line is gluten-free.

Boar’s Head offers 25 varieties of cheese, in styles from all over the world. You can find Vermont cheddar, Danish blue cheese, Swiss cheeses, French goat cheese, and more at your local deli. Boar’s Head has 6 varieties of Gouda cheese, fresh mozzarella, and two varieties of hard Italian cheese as well.

Boar’s Head Cheese is delicious enough to eat as a stand-alone item or on your favorite sandwich. We recently created a delicious and quick lunch option that uses Boar’s Head Cheese.

Lunch time on the weekends is hectic around my house. There always seems to be something going on. We rely on Boar’s Head to provide us with delicious tasting gluten-free cheese. Our latest creation was a quesadilla.

For this quesadilla we used the Colby Jack cheese from Boar’s Head. Colby Jack is a tasty mixture of Colby and Monterey Jack cheeses. It is a semi soft cheese that is sold in many shapes. For our quesadilla, we used the Coby Jack cheese slices.

Boar’s Head Colby Jack Cheese Quesadilla

Ingredients:

• 1 gluten-free soft tortilla shell
• ½ cup pinto beans, smashed
• 2 slices of Boar’s Head Colby Jack Cheese
• optional garnish: Sour Cream, Guacamole, Salsa, Cilantro, Green Onions

Directions:

1. In a medium skillet over medium heat, warm the soft tortilla shell.
2. Place one slice of Boar’s Head Colby Jack cheese on half of the tortilla.
3. Next, layer the smashed beans on top of the cheese slice.
4. Place the remaining Colby Jack cheese slice on top of the smashed beans.
5. Fold the tortilla in half. Warm each side to a golden brown or until the cheese melts.
6. Garnish with your favorite extras such as sour cream, guacamole, salsa, cilantro or green onions.

ENJOY!

Boar’s Head Cheese is a great option for my family. We love that the cheese slices come in resealable containers. This works out very well for my family. The cheese stays fresh and protected in the containers.

Check out the full selection on their website, you’re sure to find your favorite.

Guest Author, Cindy Gordon, is the owner and writer behind VegetarianMamma.com Cindy shares recipes that are gluten-free and vegetarian on her site. Her site also shares insight to her gluten-free travel experiences and provides tips on where to safely travel while gluten-free.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh

This recipe is great because it can be made with a wide variety of proteins, including scallops, strips of chicken breast, whole chicken thighs, or strips of pork sirloin rather than pork tenderloin. Just adjust the cooking time according to size of meat used.

It’s an easy meal for dinner, a brunch, girl’s night, bridal shower, graduation party and more!

Gluten-Free Pork with Orange Sauce

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

• 1+1/4 lb pork tenderloin
• 2 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely crushed
• 1 Tablespoon brandy
• 1 Tablespoon orange liqueur
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 Tablespoon orange marmalade, preferably a marmalade with small, thin pieces of orange peel
• 2 teaspoon dried rosemary tied up in a coffee filter bag, or just cut 2 x 3 “ stems of fresh rosemary and add to liquid
  • For Mexican flavors, use some spicy pepper with cilantro instead of rosemary
  • Try subbing basil for more Italian flavors
• 1 orange, zest grated and orange segmented
• 2 teaspoon cornflour mixed with 1 Tablespoon water
• 1/3 cup cream—optional

Directions:

1. Trim all fat and gristle from pork tenderloin and cut into 1/2” slices – you should get between 12-16 slices.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat, then add oil. When hot, add the pork a slice at a time.
3. Cook for about 3 minutes on medium heat until starting to brown, then flip meat and cook for another 3 minutes.
4. Add onion and garlic and stir in well, cook for further 3 minutes until starting to soften.
5. Pull skillet to one side of the flame, add brandy and orange liqueur and flame. The safest way to do this if you are not used to setting fire to a pan is to use the gas gun for the grill. Don’t just use an ordinary match. And don’t bend your face over the pan. Shake the pan gently until flames die down. Make sure the kids and animals aren’t nearby.
6. Add orange juice, orange zest, stock, rosemary bag and marmalade and simmer covered for about 15 minutes until tender.
7. Thicken with cornstarch and water mix. If the skillet lid doesn’t fit well, then a lot of liquid might have evaporated, and the salt flavor will increase. Top up with more orange juice. Allow cornstarch mix to cook for additional 2 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning and add cream if you want.
8. Serve on top of linguini or rice with green beans, broccoli or carrots. Or with tiny Yukon gold potatoes. Garnish with orange segments.

From Cindy Gordon of Vegetarian Mamma

Pasta is certainly a comfort food for me. Finding an easy recipe like Gluten-Free One Pot Taco Spaghetti is perfect for my busy nights.

I have been wanting to try a one pot pasta meal for a long time. I knew that I would have to use my favorite pasta. I used Explore Cuisine’s Organic Chickpea Spaghetti for this dish.

This dish starts by frying up some onion in a large soup type pot. Heat up that oil and throw in the oils! Can you smell them yet?

Then you are going to add in the black beans and taco seasoning. Be sure to check the label to make sure the taco seasoning is gluten-free.

Gluten has a sneaky way of finding its self into taco seasoning. So if you need to be gluten-free, please check the label.

Next up, we are adding in the remaining ingredients and three cups of water. You can leave your pasta full length or break in half.

It is up to you! Then we cover and wait! Not much longer!

Once your pasta is done, give the pasta a toss. Hopefully, you remembered to stir in that last two minutes so it didn’t stick. BUT if it did stick…no worries. It happens to the best of us! Promise!

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 cup onion diced
• 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
• 1.4 oz package of taco seasoning make sure its gf
• 10 oz diced tomatoes with jalapeño and cilantro or similar
• 8 oz of Explore Cuisine Chickpea Spaghetti
• ½ tomato diced
• ½ c black olives quartered
• Cilantro for garnish

From Cindy Gordon of Vegetarian Mamma

To me lasagna is the ultimate comfort food. I have so many memories of eating lasagna growing up. That robust smell of tomato sauce, blending together with spices, gooey cheese and noodles. YUM!

For this recipe, we used some earthy mushrooms and spinach to add flavor, depth and texture to this dish.

Ingredients:

• 16 oz cottage cheese
• ½ c fresh basil, sliced into ribbons
• ½ c fresh parsley
• 1 t garlic salt
• 1 t Italian Seasoning
• 1 egg
• 1 T oil
• 2 c fresh mushrooms, quartered
• 2 c fresh spinach
• 8 oz of uncooked lasagna from Explore Cuisine
• 32 oz of spaghetti sauce
• 2 cups (or more) of shredded mozzarella cheese
• Garnish: additional basil cut into ribbons

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FULL GLUTEN-FREE RECIPE ON VEGETARIAN MAMMA

From Cindy Gordon of Vegetarian Mamma

Eggplant is actually one of my husband’s favorite food items. It is not something that I often use in my cooking. I need to get better about that.

But with this Gluten-free eggplant parmesan dish, I think I’ll be using it a whole lot more!

It is recipe time! I can’t wait to give you this SUPER easy recipe! It is literally one of the BEST things we’ve made and eaten in this house!

Ingredients:

• 1 box (8 oz) of Explore Cuisine, Organic Chickpea Spaghetti
• 2 cup of your favorite marinara sauce
• 1 medium eggplant
• 2 eggs
• 1.5 cups gluten-free panko crumbs
• c parmesan cheese (optional)
• 1 T Italian Seasoning
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• fresh basil and cilantro

GET THE FULL GLUTEN-FREE RECIPE ON VEGETARIAN MAMMA

This gluten-free salad celebrates the joy of the sweet and salty contrast of the dates and Boar’s Head’s SmokeMaster Beechwood Smoked Black Forest Ham, as well as the healthy and textural use of chickpeas and kale. This is a great salad for someone who doesn’t think he or she likes kale!

Ingredients:

• 2 bunches Kale Lacinato or similar variety
• ½ lb SmokeMaster Beechwood Smoked Black Forest Ham diced
• 1 can (15 ounces) Chickpeas
• ½ cup Dates
• ¼ cup Red wine vinegar
• 2 tbsp Delicatessen Style Mustard
• 1 clove Garlic minced
• 1 tbsp Honey
• 2 tbsp Fresh cilantro chopped
• 2 tbsp Lemon juice fresh
• ½ cup Olive oil
• ½ tsp Kosher salt
• ¼ tsp Black pepper freshly ground
• ½ cup Bold Chipotle Gouda Cheese shaved
• ½ cup Mandarin orange
• 2 tbsp Pomegranate seed

Directions:

1. Thoroughly wash kale, spin dry and strip stem from leaves. Chop into bite-size pieces.
2. Dice ham into small pieces, reserve.
3. Strain liquid from the can of chickpeas.
4. Remove pit from dates, and cut the dates into rings.
5. In a mixing bowl, add red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, garlic, honey, cilantro and lemon juice. Slowly incorporate olive oil until it emulsifies with the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Toss kale, ham, chickpeas and dates with dressing. Place in clean bowl and shave Boar’s Head Chipotle Gouda cheese on top. Garnish with oranges and pomegranate seeds.