Ingredients:

• Brown Rice Tortillas
• Cream Cheese
• Pepperonis

Directions:

1. Fold one tortilla in half, then into quarters.

2. Spread cream cheese on 2 of the quarters and place pepperonis on top of the cream cheese.

3. Place plain tortilla quarters on top. Viola! You have your sandwiches.

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Ingredients:

• 8 slices of gluten-free bread
• 8 slices of provolone cheese
• 1 bag of frozen California vegetable blend (cauliflower, broccoli and carrots)
• 6-8 oz. of gluten-free grilled chicken strips

Directions:

1. Toast bread until crisp.

2. Follow package instructions to prepare California blend.

3. Put sandwiches together by layering one slice of bread, provolone cheese, chicken strips, veggies, provolone cheese, and finally top it with the other slice of bread. Press down and place each sandwich in the microwave for approximately 25 seconds.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of



Royal Temptations Catering

Ingredients:

Salad

• 1 ripe but firm mango, sliced and cut into ½” dice. (You can also add fresh pineapple, nectarines or peaches when available)
• 1 large tomato, cut into small dice
• The green of 4 green onions finely scissored or chives
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley
• ¾ -1 lb. cooked salad shrimp – rinsed and drained. Thaw if frozen, then rinse and drain well to avoid diluting the dressing (if packaged, make sure it’s gluten-free)
• 2 stalks of celery, washed, quartered lengthwise and cut into fine dice or a Gala apple, peeled, cored and diced (optional)

Dressing

• 2 tbsp hot pepper jelly placed in small microwave safe bowl and melted in microwave (It’s best when it contains jalapeno peppers. Make sure it’s gluten-free!)
• Grated zest/rind of one lime
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
• ½ tsp salt (or more or less to taste – shrimp can still retain salt)
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp gluten-free hot pepper mustard.
• ¼ c olive oil or other oil

Directions:

1. Mix all salad ingredients together.

2. Add dressing ingredients to melted pepper jelly.

3. Stir dressing onto salad and leave in the fridge for a few hours for flavors to mingle. Salad keeps in fridge for 2 days.

4. To serve, sprinkle plate or serving glass with finely shredded lettuce or salad miz and top with salad. Finish with whole shrimp.

Tips & Alternatives: I use hot pepper jelly in the dressing because it gives a mild tingle but isn’t so hot that you can’t appreciate the flavor. You can also add hot sauce, ground chipotles or chopped hot peppers to boost the heat factor.

For variety, add shredded carrots, chunks of avocado and, just before serving, diced cucumber. The more you add, the more dressing you will also need to add. I have also made this with leftover barbecued chicken. Black beans would also give you more protein and are a wonderful contrast of color to the pink shrimp, mango, and green herbs.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

Makes 4 generous portions

Ingredients:

Salad:

• 1 ½ lbs. Yukon gold, fingerling or New potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch cubes.
• ½ lb. fresh green beans, trimmed (or same quantity of fresh asparagus)
• 4 eggs
• 1 raw red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into thin strips (julienned) or a small dice (brunoised).
• 1 lb. fresh salmon fillets (I was out of tuna)
• 4 fresh tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1 head of Boston, Bibb or Romaine lettuce, washed and well-dried.
• anchovies and olives (optional)

Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (you can also use regular balsamic vinegar – it just gives the dressing a dark color)
• 12 large basil leaves
• 2 cups of fresh parsley
• 4 green onions or chives – use just the green part (you can also use shallots or red onions)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely crushed with salt (optional)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp maple syrup or sugar (add according to taste)
• Salt and pepper

Put vinaigrette ingredients in 4 cup jug and use an immersion blender to chop the herbs and make the vinaigrette thick and creamy. You can also chop the herbs by hand and then whisk together with the oil and vinegar. This can also be made without herbs if you don’t have them available.

Directions:

1. Put potatoes and eggs in pan, cover with water, add salt and cook until just tender.

2. Take eggs out after about 6 minutes of cooking. Immediately plunge eggs into very cold water, which will help prevent the black ring from forming around the yolk. Peel the eggs and cut into quarters just before serving.

3. Drain cooked potatoes, and pour about ¼ cup vinaigrette over potatoes while warm and leave to cool down before refrigerating.

4. Put fresh salmon in small skillet, cover with water and slowly bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat down to a simmer and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off heat and leave to cool down in the water. Drain and refrigerate before use.

5. Cook green beans/asparagus until degree of tenderness you prefer. Drain and immediately plunge into very cold water to stop them cooking and retain bright green color.

6. To finish: Traditionally, the ingredients are arranged on a platter in segments, not mixed together. So, take a platter and cover the base with lettuce drizzled with vinaigrette. Then arrange potatoes, green beans, olives, hard boiled eggs, red peppers, tomatoes, anchovies and salmon like the segments of a wheel around the platter. Drizzle with more vinaigrette and serve.

Tips & Alternatives: I like making this with tuna canned in oil, and using that drained oil as the oil in the dressing. Simply drain the oil into a measuring cup, then use bottled olive oil to top it off to ½ cup.

To add more flavor to the fish, add wine, lemon rind, and parsley to the water before cooking. You can also grill the fish, potatoes and vegetables to avoid heating up the kitchen.

This is a great meal to plan in advance after a day at the beach or when friends or family are expected. If you cook the potatoes, green beans, fish and eggs in advance and make the vinaigrette, then the meal can be on the table within about 10 minutes of walking in the door.

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

As many of you know, I constantly shop in Costco. One summer on separate occasions they had two versions of this salad. The ‘bought in’ salad was made with canned chicken breast and then Costco made their own version using left over bbq’d chicken. One was called Cape Cod Chicken salad and the other had to be renamed to New England Chicken Salad. I read the label (as I often do both for nutrition and recipe ideas) of the ‘bought in’ salad and it included craisins, pecans and honey with mayo. I went back to my Chicken Waldorf salad and took that as the base for this salad.

Using canned chicken it can easily be used as a sandwich filling, cracker spread, or to fill mini pastry tarts. Using fresh chicken in larger pieces it is good as a meal time salad or for a picnic/party etc. Making this yourself you can add as much craisins, pecans etc as you like and also keep the craisins, pecans etc in larger recognizable pieces, rather than almost ‘mush’. And you are not adding all the preservatives present in bought containers of this salad.

This is the proportion of ingredients we like in my home, so play with them to your taste.

Tip: 1 Tbsp. light mayo is 35 calories, 1 Tbsp. low-fat vanilla Greek Yogurt is 15 calories.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. can of chicken, drained or 12 oz. cooked chicken shredded as finely as you want or need. (12 oz. of cooked chicken is roughly the 2 breasts from a ready roasted chicken – remember to make sure store-bought chicken is gluten-free as added sauces and injected solutions can contain gluten.)
• 1 cup low-fat Greek vanilla yogurt.
• 1-2 Tbsp. orange juice concentrate. (Start with 1 Tbsp., make the salad, then taste and add more if you want. You can use zest of 1 orange instead.
• 1/3 cup craisins – just plain, I don’t do the flavored craisins.
• 1/3 chopped, toasted pecans. (Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes) Or, you can cheat and chop peanuts, smoked almonds, cashews, etc.
• 2 stalks of celery, washed, cut into 4 lengthwise and cut into ¼ to ½ inch dices. (I like the crunch of raw celery, but you could also use shredded carrots, chopped raw broccoli, chopped Gala apples.)
• 2-3 tsp. maple syrup (or honey) or to taste
• 1 tsp. gluten-free honey mustard
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional if kids won’t eat green stuff)
• 2 Tbsp. green of green onions or chives (optional if kids won’t eat green stuff)
• 1 Tbsp. leaves from the fresh celery (optional if kids won’t eat green stuff, or you didn’t use celery)
• Dome freshly ground pepper. (I don’t find I need to add salt – your decision.)

Directions:

1. Mix everything together, refrigerate for about an hour for flavors to mingle, taste and adjust seasoning, maple syrup, more herbs etc. to your taste.

Ways to Enjoy:

1. Serve as appetizer on top of half an avocado, hollow out orange or grapefruit half and use as serving container for individual portion on top of mixed salad.
2. Cut edges with v-shaped cutter or knife.
3. Serve in hollowed out melon for large party.
4. Spread canned version into cucumber or celery boats.
5. Spread on wraps and top with lettuce, roll up.
6. Spread on gluten-free crackers or crostini and serve for shower or tea party.
7. Add some curry powder/paste and pineapple instead of craisins.
8. Add gluten-free soy sauce, honey, water chestnuts, drizzle of sesame oil, Thai basil.
9. Make a Mexican version with cilantro, hot spice, bell peppers.
10. Make an Italian with basil, artichokes, olives, bell peppers.