The Baking Beauties » Vegetables

Gluten-free Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry

Jeanine Friesen — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 13:42:12 +0000

One of the things I miss the most after being diagnosed with Celiac disease and going on a gluten-free diet, is the convenience of being able to eat anything, anywhere, anytime. Pre-GF days, the only question was “What are you hungry for?”, or “Do they have something the kids will eat?”. Now, getting ready to go out to eat is similar to preparing for battle. You have to have lists, plans, strategies. And back up lists, plans & strategies, just in case.

Pre-GF days, we’d order in food occasionally, it’s not that it was a weekly occurrence, but it was nice to be able to order in on a whim. One of our favorite order-in foods was Chinese food. I’ve been able to recreate sweet & sour chicken balls, as well as fried rice, but seriously, both of those dishes do take quite a bit of time to make. Sometimes, you want something quick. And that is where today’s dish comes in.

This Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry was quick to put together (with cooking the brown rice taking the most amount of time), and since it had the brown rice, the beef strips, and the vegetables, it was a complete meal. There was no need for other side dishes to accompany it.

Ingredients:

1 lb. stir-fry beef (or boneless round steak, cut into thin 3-inch strips)
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground pepper
2 Tbsp olive or canola oil
4 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup onion, chopped (or thinly sliced)
1/2 cup carrots, thinly sliced (or you could use red pepper)
1 cup cold water
1/4 cup gluten-free soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional, adds some nice heat)
1/4 cup cornstarch
1-2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

In a glass bowl, whisk together the 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, minced garlic and black pepper. Add the stir-fry beef strips and marinade for half an hour. (Now is a good time to start the brown rice, since it takes about 45 minutes to cook in the microwave.)
In a large frying pan or wok, heat the 2 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. Add the stir-fry beef and marinade, and fry until the meat is no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes.
Add the onions & carrots, and fry, while continuing to stir) for another 2 minutes. Add the broccoli and continue stirring and frying for 1 more minute.
In a glass measuring cup, whisk together the 1 cup cold water, 1/4 cup soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, sesame oil, red pepper flakes and cornstarch. Pour this mixture over the beef & broccoli mixture, and cook until sauce thickens, about 2-3 more minutes.
Serve immediately over hot rice. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds before serving.

This recipe is being linked to Canadian Beef, in hopes that I can win an all-inclusive scholarship to Eat, Write Retreat in Washington, D.C. The contest runs until Monday, Febuary 24th, so expect a few more beefy recipes between now and then.

Easy to Make Pumpkin Puree

Jeanine Friesen — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 12:12:36 +0000

Today I am going to show you how to make something that you will NEED this Fall. If you are wanting to do any baking with pumpkin (and use that Pumpkin Pie Spice you made earlier), you will need some pumpkin puree. Now, I know you can buy this in a can, but really, when you make it from a real pumpkin, it just tastes that much better. Now, I don’t have the ideal pumpkin here, but it works just fine. Ideally, you will want the nice little “Pie Pumpkins” or “Sugar Pumpkins”, which are nice little round pumpkins, perfect for making puree. If you can’t find one of those though, buy the smallest pumpkin you can find. The bigger the pumpkin, the stringier the fibers will be.

You will need to cut your pumpkin in half, from the stem down, and scoop out all the seeds and stringy, icky stuff from the middle of the pumpkin. Just a note; don’t throw those seeds out, I will show you how to make a tasty snack with them next week.

Place your cut, scooped pumpkins, cut side down, on a lined baking sheet, and bake it for about an hour. Once it has cooled a bit, scoop it out of the pumpkin using a large spoon. I spooned mine into a bowl, them let it sit for a bit to cool some more. I bought myself a new kitchen toy a few weeks ago, a new KitchenAid blender. LOVE IT! It has way more power than my previous blender, and it worked the pumpkin into a puree in no time! Leaving me with…

…beautiful, smooth pumpkin puree. The pumpkin you buy in a can will not have this beautiful colour to it, that’s for sure. This pumpkin can either be stored in the fridge if you will use it in the next few weeks, or stored in freezer safe containers and frozen until you’re ready to bake with it.

Easy to Make: Pumpkin Puree

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Prep time: 5 mins

Cook time: 60 mins

Total time: 1 hour 5 mins

Ingredients

1 pie pumpkin, or small pumpkin

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Cut the pumpkin in half, from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds & stringy bits from the middle of the pumpkin.
Place pumpkin, cut side down, on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 60-70 minutes. The pumpkin is done when a knife easily inserts through the skin and pumpkin. If it still feels hard, keep baking for another 10 minutes and check again.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Scoop pumpkin out of the shell, leaving the tough skin behind. Puree pumpkin in blender until smooth.
Store in the fridge in an air tight container, or freeze in freezer safe containers (or bags) until ready to use.
Use the puree as you would the canned stuff, to make your favorite muffins, pies, waffles or cakes.

To view a list of the pumpkin recipes on The Baking Beauties, click HERE.

Colorful Grilled Corn Salad

Jeanine Friesen — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 06:49:27 +0000

Welcome to August! Wow, where on earth is the summer going? We’ve been having a fantastic summer so far, I just can’t believe how quickly it is flying by. We will need to do some back-to-school shopping soon, I guess. I love buying the new markers, pencils and supplies for the kids, but this year, I’m just not ready to think about sending them back yet. July went by so quickly though, that if I blink twice, August may be past too.

We have actually been having a beautiful, hot summer this year. Some years, we have a very cool and rainy summer. This year, it is hot and humid, and the rain just isn’t falling much. My garden (of tomatoes, mostly) is still doing well, I have 20 tomato plants, I think, and they are all setting on, I’m just waiting for them to start turning orange. There is nothing as tasty as garden fresh tomatoes. Mmm… Plus, I have a lot of salsa that I need to make this year, since my last year’s tomato crop was a bust, they all started rotting before they turned orange. Very disappointing. So, we will see what this year brings.

Along with the hot weather, comes grilling season. Mainly because no one wants to turn on the stove or be in the kitchen when it is so hot outside. That is where this recipe comes in. I had some fresh corn on the cob at home, and decided to create a Colourful Grilled Corn Salad using grilled corn as the base. DELICIOUS! You can eat it as is, or you can scoop it up with corn chips, the choice is yours. This salad pairs beautifully with grilled steak, chicken, or even fish.

Colorful Grilled Corn Salad

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Hello, summer! Embrace the hot days with this Colourful Grilled Corn Salad.

Ingredients

6 cobs of corn, shucked and cleaned
1 can black (or kidney) beans, drained and rinsed
1 red pepper, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced (optional)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
dash hot sauce

Instructions

Grill cleaned corn over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until slightly blackened in areas, allow to cool and cut off corn into a bowl. Add black beans, red pepper red onion, cilantro and jalapeno pepper.
In a small bowl, whisk to combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lime juice, agave nectar, salt, garlic, cumin, black pepper, chili powder and hot sauce.
Pour over corn mixture and stir to coat.
Refrigerate for at least half an hour, or until ready to serve.

When it is summer and hot at your place, do you still use the stove, or is use of it banned until it cools off?

Creamy Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

Jeanine Friesen — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:44:00 +0000

These tomatoes are stuffed with the super healthy, gluten-free, grain-like seed called quinoa. Most of the flavour comes from using the Garlic and Herb flavoured cream cheese. Super simple to make, yet impressive looking and most importantly, delicious! This dish goes great with steak, chicken, or fish.

Creamy Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Serves: 6

Super simple to make, yet impressive looking and most importantly, delicious! This dish goes great with steak, chicken, or fish.

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa (rinsed & drained if not pre-rinsed)
2 cup gluten-free chicken or vegetable stock
2 teaspoons dried minced onion
6 medium tomatoes, tops removed and hollowed out
2/3 cup Herb & Garlic Cream Cheese
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

In a medium size sauce pan, combine quinoa, chicken stock, and dried minced onion.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, turn heat down to low and simmer quinoa for about 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed.
While the quinoa is cooking, using a sharp knife, carefully remove the tops from your tomatoes. With a small spoon, scrape out the inside of the tomato, making sure to leave the outside of the tomato intact.
Lightly season the inside of the tomato with salt & pepper, and place tomato, upside down, on a baking sheet lined with a cooling rack, or paper towels. This will allow excess moisture to run out of the tomatoes until they are ready to stuff.
Once the quinoa is fully cooked, remove from heat and stir in fresh chopped parsley, and Herb and Garlic tub Cream Cheese. Stir to combine.
Spoon quinoa/cream cheese mixture into the hollowed out tomatoes, and place in oven-safe baking dish. If you like, you can place the top of the tomato, that you removed before hollowing the tomato, on top of the quinoa/cream cheese mixture.
Bake in preheated 375 degree F oven for 20 minutes.
Garnish with a sprig of fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Jeanine Friesen — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:37:00 +0000

I know this Creamy Asparagus Soup may not look like much, but it is so delicious. The adults loved it, the kids loved it, what more do you need to make a great soup? This soup did have the asparagus tips in there, but you know what? They sink. So, although they were there, they just didn’t want to be photographed. With spring being the time for asparagus, I hope you will give this soup a try, I think you’ll really enjoy it.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Author: Jeanine Friesen

Ingredients

1 lb green asparagus
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups gluten-free chicken broth
1/2 cup light sour cream or heavy cream
1/4 taspoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1 tablespoon butter

Instructions

Cut tips from asparagus, reserve for garnish.
Cut remaining asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces.
Cook onion in olive oil in a 4-quart heavy bottom pot over medium-low heat, stirring, until softened. Add asparagus pieces and salt and pepper to taste, then cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add chicken broth and simmer, covered, until asparagus is very tender, about 15-20 minutes.
While soup simmers, cook reserved asparagus tips in boiling salted water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain.
Puree soup in batches in a blender (or use an immersion blender, my choice) until smooth. Return soup to pan.
Stir in sour cream. Season with salt & pepper. Bring soup to a boil and whisk in butter.
Add lemon juice and garnish with asparagus tips.