Thai Red Chili Beef

This recipe is adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe. I like this recipe because you can marinate the meat for just 15 minutes if you're in a hurry, or you can marinate it for up to 2 hours if you have more time. I recommend using blade steak or flank steak because they are less fatty than some cuts and turn out really well when stir-fried.

I like using snow peas, green beans, or broccoli as the vegetable in this dish for some nice green color. If you use green beans or broccoli, I recommend blanching them so that they don't take long to cook when you stir-fry them right before serving. The snow peas don't need to be blanched because they are thin enough to cook quite quickly when stir-fried. If you don't have a green vegetable like broccoli, green beans, or snow peas to add to the stir fry, you can just sprinkle chopped green onions and cilantro on the top and then serve Asian-style coleslaw on the side.

Thai Red Chili Beef
serves 3 to 4 adults

Ingredients:

• jasmine rice or another long-grain rice
• 1 lb. blade steak or flank steak
• a green vegetable: either 1 lb. green beans, 1/2 to 1 lb. snow peas, or 5 to 6 cups broccoli florets (about 2 brown crowns, depending on their size)
  
• 1/2 Tbsp. gluten-free fish sauce. I use Thai Kitchen premium fish sauce.
  
• 1/4 tsp. and 1/8 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/8 tsp. ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp. light brown sugar

• 2 Tbsp. gluten-free fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. gluten-free Asian red chili paste. I used Thai Kitchen brand.
  
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 tsp.)
• optional: chopped green onions and cilantro
  

Instructions:

If you want to serve the meal within 45 minutes of starting to prepare it, then start by putting the rice in the rice cooker and a large pot of water on the stove over high heat.

Between 15 minutes and 2 hours before cooking, slice the beef into thin strips. In a medium bowl combine the 1/2 Tbsp. fish sauce, ground coriander, ground white pepper, and 1/2 tsp. brown sugar. Add the beef to the bowl and stir so that all of the beef gets covered with the marinade. Place the bowl in the refrigerator if you want to marinate the beef longer than 15 minutes.

If you would like to have snow peas, rinse them and cut the ends off. If you would like to have blanched green beans or broccoli florets, put a large pot of water on the stove (if you haven't already) and bring the water to a boil over high heat. Rinse the green beans or broccoli, and cut the ends off of the green beans or cut the broccoli into bite-size pieces. When the water has come to a boil, add the vegetables and let them blanch in the water for exactly 2 minutes. Then transfer them to a colander and rinse them in cold water to stop the cooking process. You can put the blanched vegetables in a bowl in the refrigerator while the meat is marinating.

To make the sauce, stir together the 2 Tbsp. fish sauce, rice vinegar, water, brown sugar, red chili paste, and minced garlic.

About 5 to 10 minutes before you want to stir-fry the beef, take it out of the refrigerator. Place a large non-stick pan over medium-high heat and let the pan heat up for several minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to the pan. Then add the beef to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Transfer the beef to a new bowl.

If using snow peas, add 1 more tablespoon of canola oil to the pan and then add the snow peas. Cook them for 1 to 2 minutes, until they have gotten hot and turned a darker green. Then add the sauce and the beef to the pan and let everything simmer for a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce had gotten hot and thickened slightly.

If using green beans or broccoli, after you have removed the beef from the pan, add the green beans or broccoli and the sauce. Let them cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce and vegetables have gotten hot and the sauce has thickened slightly. Then return the beef to the pan and let everything simmer for a minute to reheat the beef.

Serve the Thai red chili beef and vegetables over rice with a garnish of chopped cilantro and green onions, if you have them available.

Mexican Chicken Stew

I have my friend Jenn and my mother-in-law Cathy to thank for this recipe. I first was introduced to it by Jenn when she and her husband invited Michael and me over to their house for dinner. We liked the stew so much that I wrote down the recipe. But somehow I didn't get around to trying it myself. That is, until Cathy gave me a surprise present of the very cookbook containing the recipe. Then I knew that I really had to make this Mexican chicken stew.

In order to avoid ingredients containing corn, I have modified the recipe. However, I think that the flavor is still true to the original. A tip from Jenn is that you can use frozen or semi-frozen chicken breasts; the chicken doesn't have to be defrosted before putting it into the crock pot.

Mexican Chicken Stew
serves 4 to 6 adults

Ingredients:

• 1 jar of medium salsa. Use either Green Mountain Gringo salsa, Amy's salsa, or another brand that contains apple cider vinegar and does not contain any distilled white vinegar or citric acid.
• 1 28-ounce can of Cento crushed tomatoes OR 1 26-ounce box of Pomi strained tomatoes OR another brand of tomato puree that does not contain citric acid, which usually comes from corn.
• 2 15-ounce cans of black beans, undrained. Use cans that contain only black beans, water, and salt.
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder. Or if all you have is hot Mexican chili powder, which happened to me once, then use just 1 tsp.
• 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1.25 to 1.5 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts that are kosher, organic, or "all-natural" (about 3 to 4 half breasts depending on their size)
• 1 Tbsp. of lime juice
  
• fresh cilantro (optional)
• sour cream (optional)

Instructions:

Pour into the crock pot the salsa, crushed tomatoes, black beans with the liquid from their cans, chili powder, coriander, cumin, black pepper, oregano, chopped onion, and garlic. Stir these together. Thoroughly rinse the chicken breasts and then place them in the crock pot so that they are covered by the liquid. Put the cover on the crock pot and let the stew cook for 8 hours on low; or for 1 hour on high and then 6 hours on low.

After that time, remove the chicken from the crock pot and shred it using two forks. Return the chicken to the crock pot and stir it into the rest of the stew. Stir in the lime juice and then serve. You can sprinkle some chopped cilantro on the stew as a garnish, and you can also top each serving with a spoonful of sour cream.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Michael requested lemon poppy seed muffins, and I thought that I would try to figure out how to make them egg-free so Sabrina could eat them as well. It took a few tries, but I'm pretty pleased with this recipe now. I've been working on egg-free muffins since this summer, and I'm finally getting the hang of it. The secret ingredient is vinegar, or another acid like lemon juice. The combination of the vinegar and the baking soda causes the muffins to rise. In addition, the use of ground flax seed meal soaked in hot water helps the muffins to hold together and not crumble.

The other lesson I've been learning about gluten-free baking is the importance of sifting the flour. Before I started sifting the flour, I would end up with pockets of dry flour in my muffins. Finally it dawned on me that the flour pockets came from the lumps of flour in my batter. Since I didn't own a flour sifter, I improvised with a fine-mesh sieve, which I gently shook back and forth to help the flour go through the holes. Voila! No more lumps or pockets of flour! I just read on another blog that you also can use a whisk to mix the flour and other dry ingredients together until all the lumps are gone.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
makes 6 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill ground flax seed meal (and 2 Tbsp. hot water)
  
• 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour, sifted
  
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 2 to 3 tsp. poppy seeds
• 3 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
• 1/2 cup rice milk, warmed
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• zest from 1 lemon

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 6 cups in a muffin tin with canola oil. In a small bowl or mug heat 2 tablespoons of water and then stir in the flax seed meal.

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and poppy seeds. In a small bowl combine the canola oil, sugar, warmed rice milk, vanilla extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, and the flax seed meal mixture. Stir the liquids until the sugar dissolves. Make a hole in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the liquid mixture into it. Stir with a spoon just until you don't see anymore flour.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tin cups. Bake for 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into one of the muffins comes out mostly clean. Use a knife or small spatula to loosen the muffins from the tin. Then transfer the muffins to a cooling rack.

Chopped Iceberg Lettuce Salad

Michael really likes iceberg lettuce. If it were up to him, whenever we eat a lettuce-based salad, it would consist of iceberg lettuce. I, on the other hand, like lots of dark green lettuce and other greens that Michael refers to as "weeds." Since I make Michael eat dark leafy salads most of the time, I thought I should try to find an iceberg lettuce salad that I would be willing to eat (i.e. that wouldn't taste like crunchy water). This recipe for chopped salad showed me how. Think of it as being like an antipasto salad but without the salami. The dressing and toppings give the salad a lot of flavor, and the chopped iceberg lettuce gives it a nice crunch. I also like the fact that you can be creative with the toppings. Instead of roasted marinated peppers, you could use marinated sun-dried tomatoes or fresh cherry tomatoes. You could use chopped green olives or pickles. Another similar recipe calls for using marinated artichoke hearts, which sounds great, too. You could even add chickpeas, as another recipe suggests. Be creative and enjoy!

Chopped Iceberg Lettuce Salad
serves 3 to 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. dried marjoram leaves (or dried rosemary, if you prefer)
  
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 large head of iceberg lettuce
• 1/2 cup of roasted marinated peppers OR 1/2 cup marinated sun-dried tomatoes
  
• 1 small can of Lindsay's Naturals sliced black olives
• 1/4 cup sliced green olives or sliced sour pickles
• 1/2 cup haricots verts (if you can find them, but these are not essential to the salad)

Instructions:

Finely chop the onion. In a small bowl combine the chopped onion, water, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, and marjoram leaves. Whisk in the olive oil. Let the dressing sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes.

Cut the half a head of iceberg lettuce into 1/2-inch to 1-inch pieces, so that you end up with 3 to 4 cups of lettuce. Cut the roasted marinated peppers or sun-dried tomatoes and the pickles into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch pieces. If using, cut the haricots verts into 1-inch pieces.

In a large bowl combine the lettuce with the cut-up toppings and toss with some of the dressing. Serve the rest of the dressing on the side to let people add to their preference.