This was adapted from a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. It’s a pretty fast cooking dish, and the flavors are amazing. Don’t cheat and use bottled lime juice – if you don’t have a fresh lime to zest and juice, wait until you do.

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced/pressed
• grated lime zest from 1 lime
• juice from 1 lime
• 1 TBS olive oil (this does not need to be extra virgin, and could be another cooking oil)
• 1 1/2 pound green beans
• 1/2 small red onion, minced
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves

Method

Combine 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and lime zest in small bowl; set aside.

Juice the lime and chop the tarragon leaves, and set aside.

Snap off both ends of the green beans, and set aside. Set aside the minced onion with the green beans.

Heat 1 TBS regular olive oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until just smoking. Add onion, green beans, 2 pinches kosher salt, and 3 grinds teaspoon pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until spotty brown, 4 to 6 minutes.

Add water, cover, and cook until beans are bright green but are still crisp, about 2 minutes. Remove the cover, increase heat to high, and cook until water evaporates, about 60 seconds.

Add olive oil mixture to the pan and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until beans are crisp-tender, lightly browned, and beginning to wrinkle, 2-3 minutes.

Transfer green beans to serving bowl, toss with lime juice and tarragon. Serve immediately, or cover the bowl with a plate or other lid to keep warm when bringing the rest of the meal to the table.

This is great with some roasted potatoes and a fish that has been in a citrus marinade. There won’t be many leftovers with these!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

This is my adaptation of a couple easy miso soup recipes I’ve found.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups vegetable stock (you can make some quickly)

• 1/4 cup dried wakame (sea vegetable)
• 1/2 lb firm or extra-firm tofu, cut into half-inch cubes (1/2 lb = 8 oz = 1 package)
• 4 TBS red Miso
• optional: 2 scallions, sliced into rings (white and light green parts only)

Method:
Make a quick batch of vegetable stock. In a medium pot, bring 7 cups of water to a boil with 2 cloves garlic, 3 baby carrots, and 3 leafy pieces of celery.

Turn heat down to low and let simmer for 20+ minutes. Strain the vegetables out of the broth, then measure 6 cups of broth for the miso soup.

Reuse the medium pot and bring the vegetable stock to a simmer.

Add the diced tofu and wakame, and simmer for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Remove 1/3 cup broth from the soup, and dissolve the miso in the stock. Once the miso is well mixed in with the broth, add to the soup.

Garnish with scallion rings and serve.

This is lovely served with a salad and sushi, but is also wonderful served with grilled tuna and Asian Rice Salad.

On a hot summer day, a cool bowl of gazpacho is just what my taste buds are wanting. My corner of the world (New England) hasn’t had many hot summer days this year, but on the last one I developed a serious craving. Of course, when I was able to make the gazpacho, the days had become cooler again, but it still tasted wonderful!

I misplaced my gazpacho recipe in the move, so this is loosely based on Alton Brown’s Gazpacho recipe, which is more time intensive and while yummy, doesn’t include two of my gazpacho staples – cilantro or avocado.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 28 oz can peeled & seeded plum tomatoes

• 3 cups Tomato juice
• 1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 chopped red, orange, or yellow bell pepper
• 1/2 chopped medium red onion
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 2-3 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed
• 1 bunch scallions, white & light green only
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 limes, juiced (we love our OXO Citrus Squeezer)
• 1 TBS balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp Tabasco or Frank’s Red Hot sauce
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (or several grinds)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro

Method
Open the can of peeled and seeded tomatoes. Strain juice through a sieve into a large mixing bowl. Remove seeds from the tomatoes, then dice and add to the bowl.

Add 3 cups bottled tomato juice to the bowl. Add olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, cumin, hot sauce, salt, and pepper and stir to combine

Dice and add avocado, cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno, garlic cloves, and scallions.

Use your immersion blender (no one should live without a good Stick Blender, also known as the “juzsh juzsh thing”) to puree half the mixture. Or transfer half to a blender and puree for 15 to 20 seconds on high speed. Stir again to combine the pureed and chunky parts of the soup.

Add chopped cilantro to the soup, then cover and chill for 2 hours or more.

Serve with extra chopped cilantro. Yum!

Yes.

Polenta is incredibly easy to make, and while it requires a bit of time, it’s done in under an hour. You need to simmer your marinara for a while anyway, so let it simmer while the polenta bakes. There’s very little work involved after the first few minutes other than being in the house while the oven’s on. I have adapted a recipe for polenta from The Silver Spoon, a fabulous cookbook for anything and everything Italian. I bought the cookbook for everyone at Christmas a couple years ago, and we’re all still cooking our way through it!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 6 cups water
• 3 cups cornmeal (I use fine-ground, but a courser grind is more traditional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• (optional)2-3 shakes basil or oregano or Italian seasoning
• olive oil

Method:
Preheat oven to 400F

Bring the water and salt (and spices if using) to a boil in a large saucepan or medium-sized soup pot. Make sure you have enough room in the pot to add the cornmeal.

While the water is boiling, drizzle olive oil over the bottom of a 9×13 pan or two smaller pans.

When the water boils, sprinkle in the cornmeal with one hand, and whisk it into the water with the other hand. Whisk carefully so there aren’t too many lumps, and watch out for spitting cornmeal, it can burn. (You may want to don your Kevlar® gloves for this part!)

Once all the cornmeal has been whisked into the water, you will have a nice cornmeal mush. Pat it into the oiled pan(s) with a spatula, then drizzle a little olive oil over the top. Slide it into the oven, and set the timer for 45 minutes.

Check the polenta – the top should be a bit crisp, and the edges golden brown. Slice and serve with a sauce. You’ll never buy the other stuff again!

Serve this with a lovely side salad and marinara and sausages (if not vegetarian). Mmmm… One of my daughters prefers the polenta plain, then eats the red sauce and sausages with a spoon!

One day when we were having lunch with friends, my oldest daughter tried this salad, and promptly scarfed down the entire container! I was quite excited, as cold dishes aren’t a big hit in our family, so my friend sent me the recipe. This is my adaptation of the original.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also a wheat free, dairy free, egg free, tree nut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked short grain brown rice

• 1 cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1-2 carrots, diced
• 1 1/2 TBS sesame seeds
• 3 TBS peanut butter or substitute
• 2 TBS rice vinegar (cider vinegar works fine)
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 TBS soy sauce (LaChoy is GF, Braggs is GF and corn free too)
• 1 tsp sesame oil (toasted is ideal)
• 1 small clove garlic, minced

Method
While the rice is cooking, combine everything else in a large bowl. Mix together well.

Add rice to the rest of the ingredients while still warm – this will help the rice soak up the flavors. Taste and adjust seasoning (it might need more soy sauce or vinegar).

Chill, then serve. This makes a great dinner with some stir-fry; or in summer serve it along side some cole slaw and something off the grill!

As a warning, though, I broke my crock pot with this soup (OK, it slid off the hood of my car), and my mom needed stitches from this soup. So be careful!

Ingredients

• 2 large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and chopped in 2 inch chunks*
• 2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 2 Cups apple cider
• 2 Cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
• 2 Cups Chopped onion
• Olive oil
• 4 slices fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove-sized piece of ginger, grated
• kosher salt & pepper to taste

Method
Heat oil. Saute, then sweat the onions and ginger over medium heat for 20 minutes or until the onions are quite soft. (The fresh ginger is the secret here – ground ginger doesn’t have the same punch.)

While the onion is cooking, peel and chop the squash – [*an Oxo peeler works best for the peeling, and take care with the chopping, since folks have been known to hurt themselves with this very resistant squash. You might consider buying pre-peeled squash.]

Add squash, chopped apple and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 25-30 minutes or until squash is tender. Allow to cool slightly.

Remove the solids from the broth with a slotted spoon and puree in a food processor or in a blender in batches, adding broth as needed. It’s easier if you can use an infusion blenders right in the pot – less mess potential! The soup should be a velvety orange puree.

Add cider to soup, stirring well. Correct seasoning by adding ground ginger, grated fresh ginger, and/or salt and pepper to taste. Serve in small soup bowls as a hearty first course, or with a salad as a light lunch or supper.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and South Beach safe recipe.

Ingredients
1-2 lbs brussels sprouts
kosher salt
olive oil

Method:
Preheat oven to 400

Rinse brussels sprouts, and cut the ends off, and then make an X in the bottoms.

Lightly oil a baking sheet, then toss the brussels sprouts with the olive oil and add a little kosher salt.

Roast for 10 min, then shake. Cook another 10 minutes, and eat. Make sure you sneak a few of the crispy leaves before someone else snags them!

Once you’ve wowed your family with these, don’t forget other roasted vegetables!

This is dairy, egg, gluten, corn, and soy free. It could also be vegetarian very easily, too.

Ingredients

• 2 TBS olive oil

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 4-5 cups chicken broth, hot (ideally homemade stock. Could also be vegetable broth if you have vegetarian guests
• zest of 1 lemon (I use a microplane grater)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk, plus 1/4 cup lemon juice, left to sit for a few minutes
• good pinch kosher salt

Method
Find a medium-sized saucepan, and put in the olive oil. Bring the olive oil up to medium heat.

Add the arborio rice, and stir, letting the oil coat the rice. Add about 1/2 cup broth at a time, stirring very frequently. Add it little by little so the rice is loose, but not swimming in broth.

After the first few additions of broth, add half the zest. When you have used 4c of broth, check the rice for done-ness. You want it firm, but not crunchy. Keep cooking and adding broth until the rice is done.

Add the lemon juice/coconut milk mixture, and combine. turn off the heat. It will sit very well for a while as the rest of your food finishes.

We love this paired with Oven Fried Chicken and a salad. It cleanses the palate very well when paired with a greasy food.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free, family-friendly recipe! It is also (if you double check ingredients!) a wheat free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, top 8 allergen free, and vegan/vegetarian recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 batches Focaccia or a loaf of prepared bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

• splash olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 handful parsley, chopped
• 1 cup chicken, turkey, or vegetable broth (you might need a little more or a little less)
• 2 tsp Bell’s seasoning
• 1 tsp salt (less if using prepared broth)
• several grinds black pepper
• (optional – 1 cup pecans, 1 cup dried cranberries, or other additions)

Method:
Make and cube the Focaccia, or cube a loaf of pre-purchased bread. Toast for about 30 minutes in a 300 degree oven, or in a toaster. When toasted, toss them into an oven-safe casserole dish.

Sauté onion, garlic, and celery in olive oil over medium heat. Add 1 tsp of the Bell’s seasoning as it’s cooking. When soft, mix in with the toasted bread cubes. Add the 2nd tsp of Bell’s seasoning, plus salt and pepper and mix well.

Chop the fresh parsley, and mix that in with the bread cubes. (If you’re adding pecans, dried cranberries, or other variations, add them here) Pour the broth slowly over the bread and toss, mixing well so they are evenly moistened.

Cover, and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. Serve with the rest of your Thanksgiving or other festive meal!

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free recipe! It is also wheat free, dairy free, tree nut free, peanut free, top 8 allergen free, corn free, vegetarian recipe. This recipe only has two eggs in it, so it could easily be an egg free and vegan recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup light colored flour (we like amaranth, sorghum, or millet)

• 1 cup starch (arrowroot, tapioca, corn, potato, or sweet rice flour are some examples)
• 2 tsp sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs (or your favorite egg replacer)
• 1/2 cup margarine (1 stick) or shortening or lard
• 2/3 cup soured milk substitute (1 tsp lemon juice or vineger, plus enough water or milk substitute to make 2/3 cup liquid)

Method
Preheat oven to 425F.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and whisk together.

Add the margarine/shortening/lard to the dry ingredients, and use 2 knives or a pastry blender to mix together until it looks like rough cornmeal.

Mix in the eggs and milk, and stir until just moistened.

Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet that has been well greased, lined with parchment, or lined with a silicone baking liner.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. They turn out a bit crumbly, but incredibly flaky and delicious!