I was so surprised by how delicious this salad is!  There is a very high YUM factor in this recipe!

From The Fat-Resistance Diet:

2 cups romaine lettuce

1 tomato, chopped

1 cucumber, chopped

½ red onion, diced

¼ cup black olives

2 teaspoons olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

1 tablespoon fresh thyme or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon salt

In salad bowl, toss lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, and olives. In a cup, whisk together the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and pour over the salad when you are rady to eat. Spread the feta cheese over the top. Sprinkle with the thyme and salt. Serves 2.

I usually double this recipe for our family, and add chopped peppercinis from a jar.  I’m sure the pepperchinis aren’t good for us (for some reason) but they sure add a nice kick to this salad!!

Recipes

Herbs and spices that compliment green beans include dill, mint, basil, sage, thyme, summer savory, garlic, onions and dry mustard.

Steamed Green Beans with Lemony Vinaigrette

Lemony Vinaigrette

• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons fat-free yogurt
• 1 tablespoon chives or green onion with green top, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon each, salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup canola oil or safflower oil

In a small bowl combine parsley, lemon juice, yogurt, and chives. Set bowl on a wet towel to avoid slippage. Add oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly until vinaigrette is blended. Chill.

Steamed Green Beans

• 1 pound fresh green beans, leave whole
• 1/2 cup red pepper, cut into julienne strips

Wash green beans and remove the stem end only, leave whole. Steam or blanch green beans for 3 minutes. Toss with julienne red pepper. Toss green beans and red peppers with enough vinaigrette to coat vegetables, about 1/3 cup. Serve warm. Leftover vinaigrette can be used as a salad dressing. Store in the refrigerator for up to one week.

http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/veggies/beans1.html

Glutenfreeda’s Recipe of the Week: June 12, 2008

Grilled Steak with Warm Corn Salsa

Difficulty: Easy
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

For corn salsa:

• 1 Tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 3 ears corn on the cob, kernels cut from cob
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh salsa
• Kosher salt to taste

For steak:

• 4 New York or Rib Eye steaks, trimmed of fat
• Kosher salt
• Fresh ground pepper
• 1 Tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

Prepare a grill.

For corn salsa:
Add oil and butter to a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn, red pepper and onions and saute for 2 minutes. Add garlic and salsa and season to taste with salt and pepper. Continue to saute for 2-3 minutes or until the vegetables are softened and the corn begins to turn a golden color. Remove from heat.

In a small bowl combine salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and sugar. Sprinkle spice mixture over both sides of steaks.

Grill steaks over high flames for gas grill or hot coals for charcoal grill for about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare.
Re-warm corn salsa.
Remove steaks from grill and transfer to serving plates. Spoon warm corn salsa over part of and next to steaks. Garnish with cilantro. Serve immediately.

See Glutenfreeda.com for more!

I use romaine leaves from the package of romaine hearts we buy at Costco.

Portion Size: Eat 0.5 servings from each recipe below.

Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps Ingredients: > 2 tbsp celery > 1 tbsp flaxseed oil > 1 head iceberg lettuce > 2 tbsp onions > 1 can albacore tuna > 2 tbsp carrots > 1 tbsp mayonnaise Preparation Instructions: Prep: Finely dice celery, carrots and onion. Combine all ingredients and serve wrapped in lettuce leaves Serving Size: Serves 2 – Eat 0.5 Servings Phase: Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase

from www.perfectweightamerica.com

Recipe Cards

Portion Size: Eat 1.3 servings from each recipe below.

Chicken Cheddar Cobb Salad Ingredients: > 1 bibb lettuce > 1 cup olive oil > 2 oz cheddar cheese > 2 hard-boiled egss > 1 tomatoes > 2 tbsp lemon juice > 6 oz grilled chicken > 1 Herbamare Seasoning > 1 cup sour cream > 1 tbsp flaxseed oil > 1 avocado > 1 tsp dijon Mustard Preparation Instructions: Prep: Chop tomatoes. Peel and slice avocado. Grate cheese. Slice eggs and chicken. Chop lettuce. Toss together salad ingredients. To make dressing: Combine Olive Oil, flaxseed, lemon juice, Dijon, sour cream and Herbamare and whisk. Toss salad in dressing and serve. Serving Size: Serves 2 – Eat 1.25 Servings Phase: Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase

3 cups gluten free flour

6 tsps sugar

3 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp sea salt

4 eggs

6 tablespoons canola oil

3 to 3 1/2 cups milk or water

I dump all these ingredients together (i hate that whole “dirty two bowls” thing) and mix with a whisk.  I let the batter sit while my cast iron pan heats up.  I go back and forth oiling the grill with butter or my olive-oil sprayer, and make smallish 4-inch pancakes.

Super yummy. 

6 cups brown rice flour

2 cups sorghum flour

2 heaping cups tapioca flour (not homeground, I found this stuff for dirt cheap at an Asian market)

2 1/4 cups cornstarch (one of those nifty cans)

1/2 cup arrowroot

4 tsps (one was heaping) xantham gum

Used this flour to make chocolate chip cookies — yum!!!

A few years ago, Burt Bars were a favorite snack of my little boys’.  Originally from the Quaker Oats box, this recipe was called Low Fat Chewy Fruit and Oatmeal Bars. I modified it quite a bit to our tastes (whole wheat flour, whole fat products, added flax, etc.).

I recently tried to make these gluten-free, and they turned out great. Here’s the catch: I used a wild and weird gluten-free flour mix that included the most random bits of gf grain:  teff, almond meal, tapioca flour, brown rice flour, jasmine rice flour, corn flour, corn starch and maybe a few other things. I’ll post the directions for this wild and weird flour when I find the piece of paper I wrote them on (I literally made a mix from all the tiny bits of leftover gf grains in my freezer. The mix works great for chocolate chip cookies and these bars. I also plan to try an apple crisp with it soon.)

I haven’t tried this recipe with a more normal all-purpose gf flour yet, but will post results when I try.

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 granulated sugar

8 ounces plain yogurt

2 eggs, lightly beaten (I was out of eggs once and substituted a whole banana here — turned out great!)

2 Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp milk (I needed more because my homemade flour sucks up liquid more than regular)

1 1/2 cups gf flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3 cups gf oats (Quaker Oats don’t make me sick so I use those — do your own research on whether or not these are gf, or use a certified gf brand)

1 cup raisins

1/2 cup flaxmeal

1/2 cup walnuts

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, combine sugars, yogurt, eggs, oil, milk and vanilla; mix well.  In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, flaxmeal and salt; mix well.  Add to yogurt mixture; mix well.  Stir in oats, fruit and walnuts.

2. Spread dough onto bottom of ungreased 13×9 inch baking pan.

3. Bake 28 to 32 minutes or until light golden brown.

This recipe is from Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way by Leanne Ely.  It made more than enough for our family.  I served it with crazy bread, simply buttered pizza crust (you can find a divine recipe here) with a bit of parmesan and cheddar cheese baked on top.  Next time I’ll put less dressing or try a different dressing.  Oh, I also used regular ham and real mayonnaise.

1 head romaine lettuce, chopped (I used 2 romaine hearts)

1/2 cup celery

1/2 cup red bell pepper (orange was on sale)

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

2 egg, hard-boiled, peeled and quartered (I boiled 5 eggs and cut them in eighths)

1 cup turkey ham, chopped (I used regular ham)

1 cup boneless, skinless turkey breast, chopped (I used lunch meat)

2 tablespoons Romano cheese, grated (I used about 1/4 cup parmesan cheese)

Dressing:

1 cup low-fat mayo (I used regular)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

1 tablespoon brown sugar

In a 13×9 inch baking dish, layer half of the romaine lettuce.  Follow with a layer of celery, bell pepper, green onions, and egg, and then a layer of ham and turkey.  Follow that with the remaining romaine.

In a small bowl, whisk ogether teh dressing ingredients.  Now spread this mixture evenly over the top of the salad and sprinkle with Romano cheese.  Carefully cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

I have really enjoyed playing around with gluten-free mixes lately! I pretty much stick to an established set of flour/starch/xantham gum (I think based around Bette Hagman’s Featherlight Mix, but I should have taken better notes to remember correctly), interchanging a variety here and there.

This one made particularly good pancakes the other day. It is a great flour for cookies and baked goods (and biscuits!)

8 cups brown rice flour (I buy a bag of brown rice and send the rice through my Wonder Mill on the finest setting)

2 cups cornstarch

Slightly less than 2/3 cup arrowroot powder

2 cups tapioca (I don’t buy tapioca flour from the store. I buy the little white balls in the bulk section of Winco, and send them through my Wonder Mill. I learned early on not to do more than a half of a canister at a time. The little balls seem to make the Wonder Mill work pretty hard. I’m not certain that my tapioca flour is the same entity as the stuff you buy at the store, in fact, I think I usually need to add a bit more liquid to my recipes than usually called for, and I suspect that my flour is a bit more absorbent.)

4 tsps xantam gum

Mix together! Use what you need for your recipe and freeze the rest in a gallon-size Zipoc baggie.

Yum!