turkey chili & cornbread muffins

After spending the Easter weekend with a cup of tea, movies and cold medicine, I decided it was time to cook something up that would help with my recovery. Spring is in the air in Vancouver and as the weather flips back and forth between beautiful sunshine and torrential windstorms, turkey chili seemed like the perfect dinner.

I'm a fan of food that can be mixed, changed and improvised. Like pizza and risotto, chili is one of those meals that can be mixed and changed depending on the season. The weather is warm enough that beef seems too heavy so I decided to try it with ground turkey instead.

Tasty, spicy and the perfect meal for the end of a long weekend spent recovering from a cold. I'm already thinking of changes for next time. Until then...enjoy

Turkey Chili
1 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 pound ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 cups of water
2 cups of tomatoes (or 1 can crushed tomatoes if there is nothing is in season)
1 can red kidney beans - drained and rinsed
1 can corn - drained
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder (less if you are looking for less of a kick)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Place the turkey in the pot and cook until evenly brown. Stir in the onion and cook until tender.
2. Pour water into the pot. Mix in tomatoes, kidney beans, corn and garlic. Season with chili powder, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes (minimum).

Homemade cornbread muffins are fantastic (and I will post a recipe here sometime) but in a post-cold haze, Bob's Red Mills cornbread mix is perfect. All you need is milk (or soy or almond milk), butter or vegetable oil and 2 eggs. Bob's Red Mills makes two cornbread mixes so make sure you grab the gluten-free package!

Choose to make the bread or muffin version and in 20 minutes, you'll have the best side to your homemade chili.

The perfect way to end a weekend and great leftovers for the whole week.

tomato fondue

All good cooking starts with great basics.

Thanks to my favourite cookbook, Healthy Gluten-Free Cooking by Darina Allen and Rosemary Kearny, gluten-free basics are easy to master. I also have to thank a dear celiac friend for passing along the cookbook. Without it, I probably wouldn't have eaten for weeks following my diagnosis last year. The recipes are easy to follow and are a great launch pad for inspiring new recipes. Without the cookbook, I wouldn't be writing this blog and I definitely wouldn't be enjoying experimenting in the kitchen.

Tomato fondue be a side vegetable dish, sauce for pasta, filling for an omelet or a base for stews. It will make you never want to eat pre-made pasta sauce ever again.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onions, sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
8 medium very ripe tomatoes, peeled, in summer, or 2.5 x 14 oz cans tomatoes in winter
salt, freshly ground black pepper and sugar to taste
1 tablespoon any of the following: freshly chopped mint or torn basil or a mixture of thyme, parsley, lemon balm, and marjoram
balsamic vinegar

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed cast iron or stainless steel saucepan. Add the onions and garlic, toss until coated, cover and sweat on gentle heat until soft but not coloured. It is vital for the success of this dish that the onions are completely soft before the tomatoes are added. Slice the peeled tomatoes and add with all the juice to the onions and garlic.

Season with salt, freshly ground pepper, and sugar (canned tomatoes need more sugar because of their high acidity). Add the herbs. Cook, covered for 10 minutes more, or until the tomato softens. Cook fresh tomatoes for a shorter time to preserve the lively fresh flavour. Canned tomatores need to be cooked for longer depending on whether you want to use the fondue as a vegetable, sauce, or filling.

Add a few drops of balsamic vinegar at the end of cooking to greatly enhance the flavour.

Enjoy any way you like! I cooked mine as a side vegetable to accompany homemade crab cakes. Delicious!

shitake mushroom, shredded zucchini and bacon risotto

After an amazing Olympic Games filled with golden moments and amazing new friends, I'm back at it in the kitchen. I can now live a long life without seeing another untoasted gluten free bread sandwich after living off of them for the past month.

When I thought of what I would make on my first day off, the thing that came right to mind is my favourite shitake mushroom, zucchini and Canadian back bacon risotto. Before my diagnosis, I never made risotto. Pasta seemed like an easier dish for great meal. While rice and corn pasta exist, I have barely eaten it over the past year. Instead, I have discovered a love for risotto. Like pizza, it is a base that any food can be added to for a delicious dinner. It always seems to work out and tastes fabulous.

So for my first home cooked meal following the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games, I decided to make risotto.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 white onion
Bacon - I use half a package of Freybe Canadian back bacon
1.5 cups chicken broth - I use Pacific Organics
1.5 cups sliced shitake mushrooms
1 shredded zucchini
shredded romano cheese

1. Boil chicken broth in separate pot. Let simmer on low heat once boiled
2. Pour olive oil into a heated wok or pan. Add bacon and thinly copped onions and cook until soft.
3. Add arborio rice and toast in pan until liquid is absorbed
4. Add 3/4 cup of chicken broth to the onion, bacon rice and stir until absorbed
5. Add shredded zucchini and mushrooms and another 3/4 cup of chicken broth. Stir until absorbed
6. Add the rest of the chicken broth and stir until absorbed
7. Add romano cheese when almost all of the broth is absorbed. Keep stirring.
8. Serve topped with romano cheese

Serve with a glass of chilled white wine and enjoy!

beef, broccoli & mushroom stir-fry

Stir-fry, pizza and risotto are three of my favourite things to make for dinner. It is the best way to cook odd vegetables that sitting in the fridge and they are meals that allow for tons of creativity. I call these three dishes the refrigerator cleaners and I mean that in the best possible sense!

For stir-fry, I always have rice noodles (preferably brown rice noodles) and gluten free tamari in my house so I can cook something quick and easy. I may purchase chicken, beef, bok choy or seasonal vegetables to add to my basics. I have a chicken recipe that has a slightly more complex sauce and will post later but for a quick weekday meal beef, broccoli and mushroom stir-fry is a perfect dinner.

When I went gluten free, I was surprised by all the hidden wheat, barley, oats and rye in foods and especially sauces. I have always been a fan of teriyaki sauce and soy sauce and wasn't sure how I could flavour my meals now that these items were off limits. After a few weeks of eating plain vegetables and meat, I knew I had to find a solution.

Have you heard of tamari? I did not know what is was or how it was different from soy suace when I first started reading about making my own sauces and salad dressings. It is apparently made with more soy beans than soy sauce resulting in a thicker product. Traditionally, it is not made with wheat but many brands thicken it with wheat so buyer beware.

I use Amano tamari that is labeled wheat free on the green label. Amano also makes a blue labeled tamari that contains wheat so read carefully. Nothing worse than cooking a great meal and realizing you contaminated it yourself!

If you do not have cornstarch, rice flour should work just as well to thicken your sauce. Cornstarch is a great thickener and is not expensive so you may want to invest in some for future cooking. Otherwise, rice flour or potato flour work well for this purpose.


Beef, Broccoli & Mushroom Stir Fry

2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons gluten free tamari
2 garlic cloves (or more if you are an extreme garlic lover like I am)
1 inch piece of ginger root peeled and finely chopped
12 oz lean beef, cut into thin strips
1 red pepper
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
salt & pepper
brown rice noodles (or brown rice)

Soak the rice noodles in hot water. It does not need to be boiling water. Let soak for 8 - 10 minutes and then drain and set aside.

Blend the cornstarch with the tamari in a small bowl.

Heat the oil in a wok, add the beef, garlic and ginger and stir-fry over a medium heat until the beef is browned all over.

Add the red pepper, broccoli and mushrooms and stir-fry until the vegetables are just tender.

Add the cornstarch mixture and salt and pepper to taste than cook until the sauce thickens.

Add rice noodles to the wok and mix with the meat and vegetables. Serve immediately.

If serving with rice instead of noodles, serve the stir-fry over the cooked rice.

Be creative. Change the vegetables with your other seasonal favourites...zuchini, green or yellow peppers, bok choy, various types of mushrooms, or cauliflower. I like to choose vegetables that make the meal more colourful but choose what is in season and what you love for the best results!

Enjoy!