Rachel’s Recipe Box

This recipe is a spin-off of one I remember loving when we were vegetarian. I have long since lost the original recipe, but I knew the taste in my mouth, so here’s my replica. I also want to say that I thought there would be problems with my children eating this hearty soup. However, I was wrong - they scarfed it down and asked for seconds!

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 phase 2 safe recipe. It can easily be a vegan/vegetarian soup if you omit the ham.

This meal can be made in about 30 minutes, and it is wonderfully hearty. Other than the kale and the ham [if using] it’s all ingredients that are likely in your pantry. Usually people are willing to stop at the store for 1-2 things if you have everything else ready!

Ingredients:

• 1-2 TBS cooking oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb ham, cubed [optional] (double check this - each brand has different ingredients!)
• 3 14 oz cans black beans, drained
• 1 large bunch kale, rinsed, stemmed, and ripped into bite size chunks
• 2 1/2 to 3 quarts liquid - 1 quart broth, 1 1/2 - 2 quarts water works well
• 1-3 tsp Tony Chacheres Cajun seasoning to taste, or 2 tsp Italian seasoning mix + 1/4 - 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 lb pasta (we like Tinkyada pasta or the Trader Joe’s rice pasta [also optional]

Method

Bring cooking oil (canola, olive, whatever) up to medium heat in a large soup pot. Sauté the onion and garlic until tender. When the onion and garlic start to get tender, add the ham [if using]. Let cook for a few minutes.

Add the kale that has been rinsed, peeled from the hard stems, and ripped into chunks. Stir with tongs, it will cook down pretty quickly. Once the kale has cooked down a bit, add the beans, seasonings, and broth/water.

Turn heat up to high, and bring soup to a low boil. If possible, let simmer for about 10 minutes. If you don’t have the time, it’s OK.

Add the pasta to the boiling water, and cook for the amount of time on the packaging.

Serve in bowls with extra Tony Chacheres Cajun seasoning Yum! A wonderful filling, hearty soup for a chilly day.

(or, a cobbler you can make when you have a little of everything, but not a lot of anything)

This is gfcf, and free of gluten, wheat, dairy, egg, nut, tree nut, berry, fish, shellfish, sesame, and soy. It is also vegetarian and vegan. Please check the canned cherry pie filling to make sure it is safe for your allergies.

Ingredients

• 1 batch Biscuit Topping, made with a little extra milk substitute and 2 TBS sugar

• 1 can cherry pie filling
• 1 large or 2 small sweet apple, peeled, cored, and diced (Ambrosia or Honey Sweet are fabulous)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

Method
Preheat oven to 375.

Mix together the biscuit topping, but leave it a little runny.

Mix together the pie filling, apple dices, and dried cranberries.

Lightly oil an 8 inch pie tin. Pour in the pie filling, then top with the biscuit topping. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until the top becomes golden brown.

Let cool a bit, and then serve as is or topped with a little confectioner’s sugar or honey.

When Applesauce is this easy, why would you buy it?

Ingredients:

• 12 cups pared, cored apples. Thinly sliced or chopped into chunks.
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup water
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• freshly ground nutmeg (optional)

Method:

Put apples, cinnamon and sugar in crock pot.
Stir in water, lemon juice and nutmeg
Cover.

Cook low: 5-7 hours
Cook high: 2.5-3.5 hours

Stir or mash, depending on the consistency you like.

Note: You really don’t need to cut the apples up much. By the time they

are done cooking, they practically disintegrate. So don’t waste time cutting
them up small. Besides, it is nice to have some “chunks” in there.

Quick tip -

When a recipe calls for couscous or barley, a great substitute (with even more nutritional oomph) is quinoa.

It’s also incredibly easy - rinse 1 part quinoa in a few changes of water. Add 2 parts stock or water and bring to a boil. Let simmer 15-20 minutes, until water is absorbed.

If you want to avoid the rinsing, some stores carry the red quinoa that cooks up pink (what girl doesn’t want to eat pink food?) and doesn’t require rinsing.

My kids have loved it since early toddlerhood. It makes a great mess with babies too.

This is a delicious gfcf, gluten free recipe! It is also a wheat free, dairy free, egg free, tree nut free, peanut free, fish free, shellfish free, top 8 allergen free, corn free, and a South Beach phase 1 recipe. It could also be vegan/vegetarian by adding 1 extra can of beans, and not adding the beef.

Ingredients:

• 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

• 28 oz can diced tomatoes (we love the new petit-diced)
• 2 14-15oz cans beans - I like black beans and kidney or pink beans
• 1 small can chopped green chilis
• 2 cups broth or water
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 (or more) cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 TBS chili powder (check seasoning and add more as needed)
• 1 TBS cumin (check seasoning and add more as needed)
• 3 shakes cayenne (about 1/4 tsp) - (check seasoning and add more as needed)
• pinch kosher salt
• 1 to 1 1/2 lbs lean beef, cut into bite-size squares (obviously, omit if vegetarian/vegan)

Method:
Toss everything into the crock pot. Cook on low for 6-10 hours. Serve with toppings such as guacamole, olives, corn chips (for the non-South Beach folks), or shredded 2% cheddar (for the folks who aren’t avoiding dairy). Mmmm…

This is a wonderful, warming, full meal in a bowl. yum.

This is my favorite. It’s an adaptation of a few recipes, plus some twists of my own. The basic concept of adding Ginger Ale came from Alton Brown of Good Eats. Brilliant. Adding a little fresh ginger boosts the taste a bit, and the sauce ends up very yummy, but it is incredibly easy.

This is gfcf, gluten, dairy, egg, soy, peanut, tree nut, and wheat free. If you get the right brands, this could also be corn free. Cranberries (and blueberries) are in a different food family than strawberries, raspberries, and other berries, so they are safe for our berry-allergic child.

Ingredients

• 2 12 oz bags cranberries

• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 cups ginger ale (check ingredients)
• 2 pinches kosher salt
• zest of 1 orange or 2 clementines (depending on what you have in the house)
• 1 cup brown sugar (check ingredients - some add caramel color)
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 knuckle-sized piece of ginger, grated

Method
Put all ingredients into a large saucepan or small soup pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, and let simmer about 30-45 minutes, until it is significantly reduced and pretty thick. Cool, and either refrigerate until needed or serve.

The cooking will mash the cranberries a bit. You may want to puree some or all using an immersion blender, depending on your tastes, and the willingness of your family members to eat things with lumps.

I love candied nuts. Unfortunately, most commercial candied nuts contain wheat starch for some unknown reason. I am sure there are dozens of recipes out there for candied nuts, but this is one I just threw together when my sweet tooth and almost-empty cupboard collided. They are fabulous as a snack, over canned peaches, and over ice cream.

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, fish free, shellfish free, corn free, and vegetarian/vegan recipe.

Images will be up later today!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup oil or margarine (half a stick)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups walnut pieces (or other nut that you can tolerate. You could use larger seeds, such as pepitas, if you cannot tolerate nuts)

Method:
Melt the butter over medium heat in a small to medium sized non-stick skillet.

When the butter is melted, add the brown sugar, and stir with a spatula (a silicone one is best, as this will get hot). Add the cinnamon and salt, and keep stirring.

Watch the mixture, and stir intermittently as it heats up. In a few minutes it will melt and begin to bubble. Watch out - this mixture is hot, and can burn you if you aren’t careful. (burns from candy hurt a LOT, as the candy sticks to the skin. OUCH!)

Add the nuts, and stir carefully. Keep the heat at medium, and stir intermittently, gently combining the candy mixture with the nuts. Cook for about another 5 minutes, still stirring and mixing.

While the candied nuts are cooking, prepare a cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment paper or a Silpat Silicone Baking Mat. Pour the candied walnuts onto the parchment/silpat, and make sure they are scattered and separated over the sheet - if they clump, you’ll have a big lump of praline, which is yummy, but not easily scattered!

Let cool, and then eat. If you have some will power, you can keep them in an airtight jar or container, or in a zip-top bag for easy snacking. yum.

I’ve always loved these, but they never turn out quite right. Then I saw a recipe on another website and played around with it until it worked well. This was a huge hit for brunch - there were no leftovers, and the children AND adults were wishing I had made more! The partial frying, partial baking kept it easier and less messy.

These are gfcf, wheat, dairy, gluten, soy, nut, peanut, fish, shellfish, and corn free. They could easily be egg free by leaving out the egg. I have better results with the egg as a binder, though. These are vegetarian and could easily be vegan.

Ingredients:

• cooking oil - canola, olive oil, or whatever you prefer

• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded on a wide grater
• 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed
• 8-10 green onions/scallions, finely sliced in rings (all of the white, plus the light green)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup starch (corn, tapioca, potato, or arrowroot)
• a couple pinches kosher salt and a couple grinds black pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 425°. Put a cookie sheet in the oven to preheat, too.

Peel the potatoes, then shred them on a grater or in the food processer into medium-sized shreds. Put all the potatoes in a few paper towels, and wring out the moisture a couple times. When they are dry, put them in a large bowl. You can also use a sieve and press out the moisture.

Place a nonstick skillet on the stove with about 1/2″ of the cooking oil, and bring up to medium-high heat.

Put all the ingredients (except the oil) in the large bowl. Combine well.

Use a soup spoon to form the mixture into little cakes. Drop cakes into the oil. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side.

Put the first batch of potato pancakes in the oven on the cookie sheet. Repeat with more batches until all the mixture is finished. Cook for about 10 more minutes, then serve and eat. Yum!

This made 12 pancakes, which served 5 people as part of a brunch. they would also be great with sour cream if you are OK with dairy, or applesauce.

A wonderful old farmer/wood-carver at our local farmer’s market has had these gorgeous round zucchini lately. I bought a couple this past weekend, and decided they were perfect for making stuffed zucchini. If you need to use regular zucchini, the recipe is the same, except you will likely need more than two zucchini to make enough food for your family. Plus they won’t be as cute.

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 phase 2 safe recipe. If you replace the ground meat with meat-free “crumbles”, tofu, another meatless alternative, or simply omit it, it can be a vegan and vegetarian meal as well.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium/large round zucchini (about 4 lbs of zucchini)

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 2 cups broth, or 2 cups water
• olive or canola oil for sautéing
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 2 tsp Herbes de Provence (if at all possible - I love the spices from The Spice House: no allergens added. If you don’t have any, you could use Italian seasoning, or a nice hand-made mix with some thyme in it)
• 2 pinches kosher salt
• **Optional: breadcrumbs safe for your food sensitivities

Method

Preheat oven to 375. Find a 9×13 casserole pan, and oil it lightly.

Rinse the quinoa well in water, then put it in a pot with the 2 cups of broth/water. Bring to a boil, then cover and let it cook on low for 15-20 minutes.

While the quinoa is cooking, cut the zucchini in half. Pick out any large seeds. Scoop out the “meat” of the zucchini, then dice it. Tip: an ice cream scoop does a great job of scooping out the zucchini! Leave about 1/4″ of zucchini wall around the outside, so it will maintain its shape during filling and baking. Organize the zucchini shells within the 9×13 pan.

Heat oil in a skillet to medium heat. Add onions, garlic, and celery. Cook until they start to become tender. Add salt and spices, and let them warm for a moment. Add meat (or alternative) and zucchini, and continue to cook until the chopped zucchini is softened and the meat is cooked through.

Drain the meat/vegetable mixture, then combine with the quinoa in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. Scoop the mixture into the zucchini shells, mounding it on top a bit. Tent with aluminum foil, then put in the oven for 20 minutes to allow the zucchini shells time to soften. Remove the tent and cook for another 10 minutes.

**Optional: If you have some ingredient-free breadcrumbs, you could sprinkle them over the zucchini after you remove the tent and let them brown.

Remove from oven and serve. This is one of those all-in-one meals, though you can’t go wrong with a salad on the side with some more veggies from the farmer’s market!