Tag: Dairy Free (except butter)

Guacamole

Whenever I’m looking for a recipe, I always start with Food Network because they tend to be tested pretty well. So this recipe comes from Alton Brown himself, only slightly modified. I love the flavor that the tomatoes bring. Just remember to let this one sit, and it’s best served room temperature.

And this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Guacamole

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy
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Let this one sit and serve preferably at room temperature.

Ingredients

  • 3 Large Avocados, cut in chunks
  • Juice of 1 Lime
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 1/2 tsp. Cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
  • 1/2 Medium Onion, diced
  • 1/2 Jalapeno, diced (or 1 whole for more heat)
  • 2 Roma Tomatoes, diced
  • 1 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped
  • 1 tsp. Minced Garlic

Directions

In a large bowl, toss avocado with lime juice. Add salt, cumin, cayenne, then mash with a potato masher until smooth and well mixed. Fold in remaining ingredients. Let sit at room temperature 1 hour before serving.


 

Coconut & Oatmeal Cookies

Jeff grew up making these cookies and even made them one year for a Christmas cookie auction, so I wanted to preserve it as a family recipe. The shortening makes the cookies nice and chewy. Note that the dough does tend to spread and flatten quite a bit in the oven.

I haven’t made this one gluten free yet, but make sure you use a gluten free flour blend (maybe with a few extra tablespoons), gluten free oats, and uncontaminated other ingredients.

Coconut & Oatmeal Cookies

  • Servings: 2 1/2 doz
  • Difficulty: medium
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Don’t place the dough balls too close together because they will spread in the oven.

Ingredients

  • 2 c. Sugar
  • 3 1/2 c. Flour (or gluten free flour with a few tablespoons extra)
  • 2 1/2 c. Rolled Oats (or gluten free oats)
  • 1 1/2 c. Coconut Flakes
  • 4 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 2 tsp. Baking Soda
  • 1 tsp. Salt
  • 1 1/2 c. Shortening
  • 3/4 c. Corn Syrup
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

Directions

In a large bowl, mix sugar, flour, oats, coconut, baking powder, soda, and salt. Blend in shortening until the mixture is crumbly like pie dough. Make a well in the middle of the mixture and pour in the corn syrup, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. Roll into balls and place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350° for 6-8 minutes. Do not overbake. Cookies should be light golden on the bottom.

 


Waldorf Salad

This recipe was in Jeff’s family cookbook from his mom, and I wanted to preserve it. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of celery, but I think I only added 1 because we’re not the biggest celery fans. We didn’t use grapes in the picture, but it probably would’ve made a nice addition. Also, I didn’t add the tablespoon of vinegar because it seemed acidic enough with all the apples, but it would be worth a try.

And this one is naturally gluten free–just make sure to use a jar of mayo that hasn’t been contaminated with gluten from previous sandwiches or whatever.

Make it a meal with:

Waldorf Salad

  • Servings: 6?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Light and delightful fruit salad.

Ingredients

  • 2 large Granny Smith Apples, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 2 large Red Apples, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1-2 c. Celery, chopped small
  • 1 c. Walnuts, chopped
  • 1 c. Red Grapes cut in halves (optional)
  • 2/3 c. Mayo
  • 1/4 c. Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)

Directions

Mix apples, celery, walnuts, and grapes in a bowl. For the dressing, mix the mayo, sugar, and vinegar in a small bowl, then pour dressing over salad and stir until fruit is covered.


 

Fajitas

Fajitas are wonderful, whether made with steak or chicken. Haha, we usually opt for chicken because it’s cheaper. You don’t need a whole packet of taco seasoning–just enough to give it a little flavor. Serve with Spanish rice or cilantro lime rice, cheese, sour cream, maybe some salsa, and of course a tortilla.

If you’re making this gluten free, make sure to use gluten free taco seasoning and corn or other gluten free tortillas. You may also want to use a new or uncontaminated bag of cheese. Also, don’t use the Kroger fajita seasoning because it has gluten.

Make it a meal with:

Fajitas

  • Servings: 5?
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
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Don’t forget the Spanish rice or cilantro lime rice.

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp. Vegetable Oil
  • 1 Large Onion, chopped
  • 2 Green Peppers, cut in small strips
  • 1 1/2 – 2 lbs. Chicken breasts or beef sirloin, sliced thin
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Taco Seasoning to taste (such as McCormick or homemade)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • Spanish rice or cilantro lime rice
  • Flour or corn tortillas
  • Possible toppings: Cheese, sour cream, salsa, etc.

Directions

In a heavy pan, heat the oil then add the onion and green peppers. Cook until tender and maybe with a tiny bit of black for flavor. Salt and pepper to taste. Remove and place in a bowl. In the heavy pan, brown the chicken and then salt and pepper to taste. Add the onion and peppers back into the pan, then sprinkle all with taco seasoning. Serve on top of tortillas and rice, adding sour cream, salsa, or other toppings as desired.


Chicken Salad (Loaded)

Chicken salad is great when served of course as a sandwich, but it’s also great with crackers or sliced cucumber. Chicken salad is a nicer sandwich than just lunch meat, but it can also be slightly boring. So we loaded it up with pecans and grapes to make it more exciting and delicious. Note that it does take a fair amount of time to get the chicken off the bone, as well as pulling the grapes off the vine, and chopping everything. But they make great sandwiches for picnics.

If you’re making this gluten free, it’s naturally gluten free as long as you use a new jar of mayo or one that’s dedicated gluten free (so you don’t get crumbs from previous sandwich making).

Make it a meal with:

Chicken Salad (Loaded)

  • Servings: 8-9
  • Difficulty: easy
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Great served with crackers or cucumber slices, or of course as a sandwich.

Ingredients

  • 1 Rotisserie Chicken, pulled to bite-size pieces (Sam’s Club’s is nice and big)
  • 2 Celery Ribs, diced
  • 1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Garlic Salt
  • Pepper to taste
  • 1 c. Mayonnaise (or new jar/dedicated gluten free jar)
  • 2 c. Grapes, cut in half
  • 1 1/2 c. Pecan Halves

Directions

In a large bowl, combine chicken, celery, and green onions. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper, then stir to combine. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Make a sandwich or serve with cucumbers or crackers.


Tartar Sauce

Tartar sauce is perfect with fish and chips or seafood in general. Tartar sauce varies with a few ingredients from recipe book to recipe book, but this is how we always made it growing up. You can have more or less of any ingredient according to your taste.

And this one is naturally gluten free–just make sure to use either a new container of mayo or one that’s dedicated gluten free so you don’t get crumbs from previous sandwiches.

Make it a meal with:

Tartar Sauce

  • Servings: 6?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Make in advance to let the flavors meld.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 – 1 Tbsp. Dried Minced Onion
  • 1 Tbsp. Milk
  • 1 c. Mayonnaise
  • 2-3 Tbsp. Sweet Relish

Directions

Place the onion in the bottom of a container or bowl and cover with the milk. Let it absorb for about 5 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Make in advance and let it sit for best flavor.


Hamburger Gravy

Jeff LOVES this meal and says he could eat it every fast Sunday after 24 hours of eating nothing. Jeff’s family used to have hamburger gravy pretty often when they were growing up. And they usually used 1 lb. of beef for their 8+ member family. But we like it very beefy and Jeff loves the leftovers, so we usually do 2 lbs. of beef and use a 5 lb. bag of potatoes to make mashed potatoes. It’s also very easy if you have pot roast gravy in your freezer, which we usually do. I just microwave it for several minutes to thaw before adding it to the beef.

If you’re making it gluten free, just make sure that your gravy is gluten free. I usually make gravy from pot roast broth or beef broth and thicken it with cornstarch.

Make it a meal with:

Hamburger Gravy

  • Servings: 6?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Easy and hearty–serve with mashed potatoes and corn.

Ingredients

  • 2 lb. Ground Beef
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1-2 jars Beef Gravy (like this) or 1 container thawed homemade pot roast gravy from freezer (size can vary based on how much liquid you want–we often freeze a Cool Whip container full)
  • (Serve with mashed potatoes and corn)

Directions

In a large deep skillet, brown the beef and add salt and pepper to taste. Add gravy and warm through. Serve with mashed potatoes and corn.


Chili Lime Corn

We actually went looking for this recipe because Disneyland often has delicious-smelling corn on the cob. I can’t remember if we ever actually tried the corn at Disneyland, haha, but we found this recipe on Food Network and adapted it. Since then, we’ve made it a lot over the years.

You can top frozen corn with just the flavorings after microwaving (obviously it’s not 100% the same). And sometimes we’ll be short on time and we’ll boil the corn cobs beforehand and then grill for just a few moments–but the best flavor comes from letting the corn grill from raw. The original recipe called for grilling the ears in the husk, but we didn’t have good results with that–so we went to aluminum foil. And you generally only need one lime for this recipe if it’s large enough and juicy enough.

Sometimes the flavor is very subtle, so we’ve sometimes doubled the butter mixture for the corn. You spread it on with a spoon or pastry brush. Here’s what it looks like with a single batch:

And this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Chili Lime Corn

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
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Delicious flavors, but it usually takes longer to make than I think. Double batch for more flavor.

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp. Butter, at room temperature (you can melt if you’re in a hurry)

  • 1 1/2 tsp. Lime Zest

  • 1 Tbsp. Lime Juice

  • 1 tsp. Chili Powder

  • 1/4 tsp. Dried Minced Garlic

  • 1 tsp. Salt

  • 1/2 tsp. Pepper

  • 4 Ears of Corn, husked
  • (Aluminum foil for wrapping)

Directions

Preheat grill to medium. In a small bowl, combine butter, lime zest, juice, chili powder, garlic, salt, and pepper and set aside. Tear off a piece of foil for each ear of corn. Place an ear of corn on the foil, then spread butter mixture evenly on corn with a spoon or pastry brush. Wrap each ear in foil tightly, to keep juices in. Grill for 15-20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes.


Cilantro Lime Rice

I make this rice a lot as a side for taco salad, to go in fajitas, or of course to go with sweet pork burritos or salad. I usually end up getting the rice started to cook and then work on adding the rest of the ingredients–and by the time the 15 minutes of cooking is up, I finally have finished adding all the other ingredients. I think the zesting and juicing the lime takes the most time. But it’s still pretty fast and easy. And often instead of adding chicken broth, I’ll do a heaping 2 tsp. of chicken base with 2 1/4 c. water.

This recipe is adapted from melskitchencafe.com, which has lots of great recipes that you should check out–I’m just including it here for my convenience and because I don’t make any money off this blog.

And this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Cilantro Lime Rice

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
  • Print


Great with sweet pork, taco salad, and fajitas.

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp. Butter
  •  1 1/4 c. Rice
  •  2 1/4 c. Chicken Broth (or 2 heaping tsp. chicken base with 2 1/4 c. water)
  •  1 scant tsp. Salt
  •  1/4 tsp. Pepper
  •  Juice and Zest of 1 Large Lime
  •  2 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped
  •  1/4 tsp. Cumin

Directions

In a pan, melt the butter and add the rice. Stir, letting the rice and butter cook for 1-2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 15-16 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes (I’m usually in too much of a rush for this step). Fluff with fork and serve.


 

Pico de Gallo Salsa

If I’m going to have chips and salsa, I love to have pico. I love the fresh made salsa at Harmons and wish I had a recipe for it, but this is a pretty good recipe adapted from one on All Recipes. Just make sure you give it lots of time to sit, so it can absorb the flavors.

And this one is naturally gluten free, just like the tortilla chips you eat with it.

Make it a meal with:

Pico de Gallo

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy-medium
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Chopping takes a while, but it’s delicious and easy to come together.

Ingredients

  • 6 Roma Tomatoes, diced
  • 1 large Red Bell Pepper or 2 small Green Bell Peppers, diced
  • ½ White or Red Onion, minced
  • 3 Tbsp. Cilantro, chopped
  • 1 Jalapeno, seeded and minced
  • Juice of 1 lime (or 1/2 if it’s very juicy)
  • 1 tsp. Minced Garlic
  • 1 pinch Garlic Powder
  • Salt (quite a bit) and Pepper to taste

Directions

Stir all ingredients in a bowl, then cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours so flavors can meld.