Gluten-Free Enchilada Bake: Roasted Green Chile and Cream Cheese

Gluten-free tortilla bake with cream cheese and green chiles.

Planted on the coast of Cape Cod for years (forever, it seemed, on gloomy January days blanketed in gray) I daydreamed about fire roasted chiles. The smoky pepper sweetness that flirted with your senses as you walked in Santa Fe. The luxury of buying bags of freshly roasted chiles by the roadside- still warm, soft as butter, and charred. In fact, I may have moved here for the chiles alone.

That's entirely possible.

I may have been so drop dead in love with chiles when we bought this casita that I didn't notice I'd be stuck out in the desert with so few neighbors. No bookstore, no cafe- no movie theater. What was I thinking? Only my analyst knows for sure (if she remembers me; it's been years since Jungian analysis).

Along with dreaming of Val Kilmer (not the rock scrambling Thunderheart Val, the seasoned, voluptuous new Mega Val- and why he showed up in my dream, I've no clue- better ask my analyst about that, too) I've been craving roasted green chile this month like mad as we approach our second anniversary of moving to New Mexico.

And wouldn't you know it! I'm out of last year's roadside bags of chiles.

They're long gone (my freezer is annoyingly, shall we say, petite). Until roasting season starts I have to settle with buying frozen Bueno chiles. And they're not bad, exactly. They are pretty dang good.

Yet, as I sit and crave and daydream, the big question becomes: Do I really still want to be here in August when chile roasting begins? Is my chile love a devoted, true love, or simply an infatuation? A passing fancy? Will your intrepid dusty goddess remain here in the coyote hills of O'Keeffe country or soon be walking Venice Beach in her Rocket Dogs?

I tell myself, just breathe.

There are Bueno chiles to defrost.

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Strawberry Chocolate Chip Scones- Gluten-Free Recipe

Easy gluten-free scone deliciousness.

Today was a good day. A strawberry and chocolate laced crusty on the outside tender on the inside kind of day. That's right. I got sconed. And the best part (aside from the fresh organic berry goodness, that is)? These golden biscuity morsels are vegan. That's right. No eggs. No milk. No butter (sorry, moo-cow fans).

On a whim yesterday (I am often prone to whims Dear Reader, especially after a sun dappled picnic on the Santa Fe plaza, perched on a bench beneath a flowering cherry tree across from a red robed Buddhist monk eating Chinese take-out. We devoured pesto slathered smoked turkey rolled in brown rice tortillas and I didn't drip a single green drop of cilantro infused olive oil on my ironed boot cut jeans) I picked up a Gluten-Free Pantry Muffin and Scone Mix at Whole Foods (long time readers know I miss my old favorite Pamela's Ultimate Baking Mix, and I've yet to find an all-purpose replacement mix that's half as good).

I was in such an expansive mood post my double espresso at the nearby Starbucks that I thought I might try baking something fun and slightly indulgent for the weekend. The organic strawberries smelled beyond heavenly in their ripe and ruby lusciousness. Yes, I smell all my fruit and veggies before I buy. Don't you? The woman with the amber handled cane you see standing in the Whole Foods produce aisle sniffing tomatoes and berries and anything else she can get her one free hand on, Darling?

That would be me.

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Gluten-Free Salad Dressing Recipes: Or 3 Ways To Dress A Naked Salad

Three easy gluten-free salad dressings.

Let us take a moment and appreciate the humble green salad. The crisp crunchy greenness. The tender bites of bitter and sweet. The whole feel-good shiver you get when you chow down a plate of bunny food.

Bunny food rocks, my friend.

But how to dress a naked green? That is the question. Bottled stuff simply won't do. Too many additives and stabilizers and gums you can't pronounce. Or the ubiquitous evil soybean oil. Ick. (Did I just write Ick? Well, I meant it. I loathe soybean oil.) I offer you, instead, three simple dressings- three recipes you can whip up in a New Mexico minute, adapted from my first cookbook, Recipes from a Vegetarian Goddess. Toss them with love.

Basil Citrus Vinaigrette

This a perfect dressing for a brunch salad- especially if you're serving Mimosas.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar

1 teaspoon orange zest

2 tablespoons minced fresh basil

1/2 teaspoon organic agave nectar

A pinch of sea salt, to taste

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Mix all of the ingredients in a glass dish or cup. I use a fork for this. Drizzle over fresh greens. Toss. Munch. Be happy.

Serves 4.

Ginger Dressing

The Asian flavors in this include soy sauce- if you're allergic to soy try substituting molasses.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon light olive oil

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons wheat-free soy sauce

1 inch fresh ginger, grated

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 teaspoon organic agave nectar

Mix all of the ingredients in a glass dish or cup. I use a fork for this. Taste test and adjust seasonings.

Pour over an Asian-inspired mix of spring greens, matchstick carrots, sliced water chestnuts, mung bean sprouts, sliced mushrooms, red onion and cashews. Toss. Smile.

Serves 4.

Greek Salad Dressing

Greek salad makes an easy weeknight supper. Pair it with a hearty bread like my Sweet Potato Cornbread. Add in some hard boiled eggs, sardines or tuna if you like.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons golden balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano

1 tablespoon minced fresh mint

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon organic agave nectar

A pinch of sea salt, to taste

Fresh ground pepper, to taste

Mix all of the ingredients in a glass dish or cup. I use a fork for this. Taste test and adjust seasonings.

Drizzle over a Greek salad that includes cucumbers, red onion, kalamata olives, pepperoncini, grape tomatoes and feta cheese. Toss. Devour. Dance. Smash a few plates.

Serves 4.

Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com

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What I miss? My Blue Corn Chip Frittata

Frittata- an easy, gluten-free supper.

There are nights when tossing together breakfast for dinner is the sane thing to do. It's easy. It's fast. And yes, even delicious. A well done frittata is bliss, pure and simple. Here is one of my old favorites.

Blue Corn Chip Frittata for Two

Choose fresh free-range organic eggs for best taste. The chips can be a tad stale.

Ingredients:

Organic blue corn chips- enough for one layer in an omelette pan
2 tablespoons Roasted Vegetable Salsa
2-3 oz. Jalapeño Pepper Jack or cheddar cheese, shredded
4 large organic free-range eggs
1/3 to 1/2 cup light cream or Half & Half
A few organic grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
Fresh chopped cilantro

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Lightly oil an oven proof 8-inch omelet pan.

Layer the blue corn chips in the bottom of the prepared pan. Top each chip with a dab of salsa. Sprinkle with most of the shredded cheese.

Whisk the eggs with the cream till fluffy and pour the mixture all over the chips. Finish with the rest of the cheese. Top with the halved tomatoes and a dusting of fresh cilantro.

Bake in a hot oven for about 20 to 25 minutes or until the eggs are set and the frittata is golden.

Serves 2. 

Serve with Joey's Kicked Up Rockin' Guac.

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Gluten-Free Tomato Soup

A yummy tomato soup with a secret. Shhh!

Sneaky Tomato Soup

A old school family favorite- tomato soup. Right? Here's an easy kid-friendly recipe. With a secret. When I was a little girl cabbage was a stinky word. Cabbage was something you wrinkled your nose at. The mere mention of the word conjured the smell of my grandmother's house- which was, in truth, an olfactory bouquet of Lucky Strikes, boiled eggs and kielbasa. Cabbage was only the top note. And how I hated it.

In those golden culinary days of the 1950's and '60's, the favored method of cooking cabbage was to boil it to death. Often, with potatoes. And apparently without opening the windows. Come to think of it- I don't ever remember seeing an open window in my grandmother's house. I have no images of curtains sailing upward in a gusty cool spring breeze. No sense memories of distant humming lawnmowers to distract from the television. No conjuring of fresh air. Was this lock-down by some unseen divine plan? Or maybe a generalized exercise in denial? Who knows?

All I knew was that the end result of the boiling-cabbage-to-death method was rather like eating swampy unidentified mush. Not exactly tantalizing for a texture and fragrance sensitive child. Why would anyone eat this? my tiny girl heart would question. Because it's good for you, was the inevitable answer.

Turns out, of course (and you knew this was coming), cabbage is, indeed, very good for you. Especially for those of us healing from the ravages of celiac disease. Cabbage, it turns out, heals the gut. So, what if your childhood included smelly bowls of boiled cabbage and you simply can't make yourself- or someone you love with all of your buoyant and hopeful heart- eat the damn stuff? Bubela.

Have I got a soup for you.

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Gluten-Free Pueblo Bread Recipe with Green Chiles

Rustic gluten-free bread- easy and delicious.

This is the easiest yeasted bread you'll ever make. Well, from a scratch recipe, I mean. You'll have to whisk together some gluten-free flours and proof a little yeast in warm (not too hot!) water, but you can handle that, right? Once it's stirred together, you smooth it into a cake pan, let it rise in a warm and cozy oven, then bake it. If you want an easier bread making experience than this, Darling, buy any gluten-free mix, dump it into a bread machine and press Start.

I'm calling it Pueblo Bread because a certain savvy friend of mine (you know the one- my pal Joey, who makes the best damn guacamole recipe this side of the Mississippi) who knows from Nuevo Native American cuisine, called it (and my quote could be slightly inaccurate, Gentle Reader, due to consuming literal fistfuls of organic hand-popped popcorn to quell the mind-numbing boredom of enduring two and half hours of There Will Be Blood), Tasty and authentic, and not unlike the local Pueblo style breads.

As for the movie choice? My bad. Maybe the sheer Shakespearean brilliance of Deadwood has spoiled me forever when it comes to period westerns (it's possible).

Next time I'm picking something with Frances McDormand.

The men will just have to deal.

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Quick and Easy Sesame Shrimp Stir-Fry

Easy sesame shrimp stir-fry on rice.

I was stir-frying last night. I know. Big YAWN. No big whup. B-o-r-i-n-g.

But what you don't know? That despite the hefty gusts of juniper pollen thickened wind battering the casita (hefty gusts of juniper pollen thickened wind makes me downright prickly if not certifiable) I managed to gather my dull, throbbing wits long enough to create a new stir-fry sauce.

For you, Dear Reader.

JUNIPER ASSAULTED GODDESS
(chewing)

So. What do you think? On a scale of one to ten?

PATIENT KIND HUSBAND
(scraping bowl spotless)

Um. Really, really tasty. Eleven. And a half.

JUNIPER ASSAULTED GODDESS
(blowing pollen thickened nose)

Really? Wow. Wait.
(pause)
It's not a twelve?

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