Gluten-Free/Cow-Milk-Free Lunch and Dinner Ideas

I am going to continue sharing gluten-free, cow-milk-free, recipes here for dinners and lunches.  Again, most of these recipes have been inspired by the ones PlateJoy has sent me this summer.  At least one comes from my friend, and cook extraordinaire, Andrea.  

I am lumping lunches and dinners together because I often double a recipe for dinner and then it becomes a lunch the next day.  And in the summer when it is very hot, we like to eat more lightly in the evening - so PlateJoy lunches often became our dinners.

Bacon, Avocado and Egg Salad with Lemon Aioli

2 tbs. mayonaise

2 tbs. olive oil

1/2 lemon

1 tomato

1 avocado

1 butter lettuce head

4 eggs

4 rashers bacon

Chop the bacon, add to a hot skillet and brown until done.  Remove and drain on a paper towel.   Whisk together mayonnaise, olive oil and lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dice the tomato and avocado.  Tear lettuce into bite sized pics and place in a bowl with tomato and avocado.   Drizzle the aioli over the salad and toss to coat.  Sprinkle the bacon bits on top.  Put the salad in two bowls and top with fried eggs.  (We had this for breakfast too, when it was hot)

Shrimp, Orange and Avocado Salad

2 oranges

1 red onion

1 avocado

1 lime

8 oz.frozen raw shrimp

2 tbs. olive oil

2 tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Peel and slice up the oranges into bit-sized pieces.  Peel and dice the avocado and drizzle with half the lime juice.  Season with salt.  Dice the onion.  Defrost and peel the shrimp and season with salt and pepper.  Place half the oil in a skillet and add the shrimp and cook over medium heat until done, turning at least once.  Combine the oranges, onion, parsley, avocado and shrimp in a bowl and toss.  Drizzle with the remaining oil and lime juice.

(This is also good with leftover cooked chicken or turkey)

Chard and Avocado Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

2 cups Swiss chard, chopped

12 oz. artichoke hearts

1/2 cup cashews

1 tbs. olive oil

1 tsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. minced onion

1 tbs. chopped fresh basil

2 portobello mushroom caps

Preheat oven to 350 - 375 degrees, depending on altitude.  Place the chard and drained artichoke hearts in a pan with a little salt over medium heat until wilted and warmed through.   Place the cashews in a food processor and grind until they are the consistency of coarse meal.  Add olive oil, onion, garlic, salt, pepper and basil and process until a smooth puree.  Add the cashew puree to the pan and mix well with the vegetables.  Fill the portobello caps with the stuffing and arrange on a rimmed baking sheet.  Place in the oven and bake until done, 10 - 15 minutes, depending on altitude.  

Breaded Lemon Sage Pork Chops with Summer Squash, Capers, and Olives

1 lb. yellow summer squash

4 poblano peppers

2 lemons

4 oz. pitted green olives

4 tbs. chopped fresh parsley

2 pork chops

4 tbs. fresh sage leaves

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup panko-style gluten-fee bread crumbs

4 tbs. coconut oil

2 tbs. olive oil

2 tsp. chopped, fresh oregano

2 tbs. capers

Preheat oven to 350 - 375, depending on altitude.  Slice the summer squash, the peppers and half of the lemon into 1/4 inch slices.  Coarsely chop the green olives.  Combine the almond flour and bread crumbs.  Press a few sage leaves into each pork chop and dredge in the bread and almond mixture until covered on all sides.  Heat the coconut oil in a skillet and add the lemon slices and the rest of the sage leaves to the heated oil.  Cook until they bloom and then remove, leaving the aromatic oil behind.  Add the pork chops to the pan and brown thoroughly on both sides.  Remove to a covered roasting pan, careful to keep the sage leaves and crust in tact.  Place in the oven until cooked through.  Timing will depend on your altitude and the thickness of the chops.  Ours took 45 minutes.  While the chops are cooking, add olive oil, squash, peppers and oregano to a skillet.  Sauté until vegetables have softened.  Stir in olives, capers and parsley.  Remove from heat.  Serve together with the chops, garnished with the remaining lemon.

Seared Lamb Chops with Mint Pesto and Spiced Carrots

8 carrots

2 tsp. cumin

2 tbs. olive oil

4 lamb chops

3 tbs. chopped fresh oregano

1 tsp minced garlic

1 cup fresh mint

3 tbs. macadamia nuts

1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 425 - 450, depending on altitude.  Scrub carrots and place in a covered roasting pan with 1/3 the olive oil, cumin, salt and pepper, tossing to cover. Roast until done, 20 -30 minutes, depending on diameter and altitude.  Meanwhile, rub the meat with salt, pepper and oregano and sear on both sides in a skillet in another 1/3 of the olive oil, until desired doneness is achieved.  To prepare the pesto, place garlic, mint, remaining olive oil, and nuts in a food processor and blend until smooth.  Serve the chops, topped with pesto, and along side the carrots.  

Simple Rock Cornish Game Hens with Basil and Artichokes

2 game hens, split

2 fresh artichokes, split, the choke taken out, and leaves trimmed

crushed, vine-ripened, tomatoes (or canned)

onion

garlic

a generous amount of fresh basil, chopped

olive oil

red wine

This is one of those recipes that you just sort of have to wing the amounts.  Brown the hens in a large dutch oven in olive oil.  Remove to a platter.  Soften the onion and garlic in the dutch oven with more oil, if necessary.  Add the tomatoes, basil and red wine to the pot, deglazing the brown bits.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Nestle the artichokes and hens in the sauce and simmer, covered,  on top of the stove until the hens are done.  Ours took about 45 minutes.  

Gluten-Free Breakfast Ideas

I have embarked on a journey with my cooking this year after being diagnosed with Celiac Disease.  I have had to learn to eat and cook in an entirely new and unfamiliar way and it has been challenging. For assistance - because I real didn’t know where to begin - I subscribed in July to PlateJoy, an online service that provides recipes and shopping lists to people with dietary restrictions.  I have had to modify the recipes that they send because our food is sourced a little differently our here - and we like eating local, fresh, and unprocessed.  Below I will share some of the breakfast recipes that we have especially liked this summer. 

I highly recommend PlateJoy to anyone trying to figure out the challenges of cooking for someone with dietary restrictions.  I still have to read the labels on the processed foods they recommend that I buy, but they have been really helpful in directing me to ingredients that I have never tried and did not know how to use.  

My restrictions are: I cannot have wheat, rye, barley, quinoa, oats, coffee, grapefruit, inulin, and cows milk.  I had to list as dairy free on PlateJoy, but I can and do have goat milk and goat cheeses without any problem.   If you, or someone you know, is struggling with the same or similar restrictions - please fee free to try these recipes.  

BREAKFAST RECIPES

Peach Smoothie with Chile and Lime

3 fresh, tree-ripened, Colorado peaches

2 limes

1 1/3 tbs. minced ginger

1 1/3 tbs. raw honey

1 jalapeno pepper

1 cup fresh pineapple, chunked

1 cup coconut water

Chop the peaches, Juice the limes. Seed and dice the pepper.  Place all the ingredients in the blender with a cup of ice cubes.  Blend until smooth and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Hash with Bacon, Chard and Turkey Eggs

2 sweet potatoes

bacon

2 green onion

2 cups of Swiss chard

turkey eggs
Fresh Cilantro

Poke the sweet potatoes and cook in the microwave until soft. (About 5 minutes)  (There are no amounts on the bacon, because the amount of bacon you want is sort of personal … but we used 6 rashers)  Dice the bacon and onion and add to a skillet and cook until the bacon is browned.  Dice the cooked sweet potatoes and add to the skillet.  Add the chopped chard. Cook until the chard wilts.  Season with salt and pepper.  Fry as many eggs as you would like (Again, personal) in a separate pan.  Plate the hash and top with the fried eggs.

Sausage and Kale Hash with Eggs

1 lb. of Gramma Bertelson’s  farm sausage*

1 yellow onion

4 tsp. minced garlic

6 cups thinly sliced, deveined kale

eggs (We use turkey, duck, goose or chicken eggs, depending on how the girls are laying)

Dice the yellow onion.  In a dry skillet, cook the sausage, breaking it up with a fork, until browned.  Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pan.  Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes, until they bloom.  Add the sliced kale and cook until lightly browned.  Return the sausage to the skillet and season with salt and pepper.  Fry eggs in a separate pan, plate the hash and top with the eggs.

• Gramma Bertelson’s Farm Sausage: for every pound of organic, free-range, ground pork, add 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/2 tsp rubbed sage, 1/2 tsp. ground cloves.  Mix with your hands until completely blended.  This can be shaped into patties, crumbled and browned, or rolled in butcher paper, frozen and sliced off in rounds to fry later.  

Acai Breakfast Parfait

2 frozen acai packages

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup goat milk 

2 bananas

4 tbs. sliced almonds

2 tbs. coconut flakes

Run the ace package under warm water for 5 seconds and the break into chunks and slide out of the package into a blender.  Add blueberries, milk, and 2/3 of the banana.  Blend until smooth.  Pour into parfait glasses.  Slice the remaining banana and top the mixture in each glass with sliced banana, coconut and almonds. 

Chorizo Breakfast Stew with Eggs

1 lb. chorizo  (I make it from scratch with our organic, free-range ground pork - but there are good commercially made choices)

1 yellow onion

2 tbs. minced  garlic

1 cup smashed vine-ripened tomatoes (or you can use canned)

1/2 cup chicken broth (or water)

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. smoked paprika (or chipotle chili powder, if you like it hotter)

1 tbs. red wine vinegar

eggs (We use turkey, duck, goose or chicken eggs, depending on how the girls are laying)

Break up the chorizo and brown in a skillet until cooked through. (If your chorizo is encased, squeeze out of the casings into the skillet before browning.)  Dice the onion and add with the garlic to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent.  Add the tomatoes, broth, chili powder, paprika and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, depending altitude.  Add the vinegar and season with salt and pepper.  Fry the eggs.  Put the stew in deep bowls and float the fried eggs on top.  

Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs

6 oz. cold smoked salmon

6 eggs  (We use turkey, duck, goose or chicken eggs, depending on how the girls are laying)

1 tbs. olive oil

2 tbs.fresh dill

1/4 cup goat milk 

Chop the salmon.  Whisk the eggs and milk together with salt and pepper to taste.  Chop the fresh dill.  Cook the scrambled egg mixture in a hot skillet with the oil until the desired consistency.  Stir in the salmon and dill and warm through.  

Cinnamon Crunch Breakfast Shake

1 1/2 cups goat milk 

2 raw eggs  (We use turkey, duck, goose or chicken eggs, depending on how the girls are laying)

3 tbs. almond butter

4 whole pitted dates

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp minced ginger

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  (Raw eggs are optional, but they add protein and make the smoothie more satisfying.  We raise our own eggs, so we know where they come from.  If you do not have a good source for fresh, safe eggs, I bet you could add powdered egg whites.)

Fried Eggs over Chard and Peppers

2 cups Swiss chard, chopped

1 bell pepper

2 tbs. olive oil

1/2 tsp.red pepper flakes

eggs (We use turkey, duck,goose or chicken eggs, depending on how the girls are laying)

Slice the pepper into thin matchsticks.  Add the pepper to the olive oil in a hot skillet.  Cook until softened, about 3-5 minutes depending on altitude.  Add the chard to the skillet and cook until wilted.  Stir in the red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Fry the eggs in a separate pan.  Plate the vegetables and top with fried eggs.

  

Blueberry/Strawberry Smoothie

1/2 cup almond meal

4-5 large ripe strawberries

1 banana

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 1/3 cups coconut water

2 raw eggs (We use turkey, duck, goose or chicken eggs, depending on how the girls are laying)

Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  (Raw eggs are optional, but they add protein and make the smoothie more satisfying.  We raise our own eggs, so we know where they come from.  If you do not have a good source for fresh, safe eggs, I bet you could add powdered egg whites.)

Raspberry Vanilla Smoothie

2 cups fresh raspberries

12 oz. plain goat yogurt

2 tbs. raw honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 tbs. flax seed meal

1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

1/2 cup goat milk 

Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  

Fruit Salad with Coconut-Tahini Sauce and Mint

1 tbs. tahini

2 whole pitted dates

1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut milk

3 fresh, tree-ripened, Colorado peaches

2 cups fresh pineapple chunked

1 1/2 tbs. fresh mint, chopped

4 tbs. coconut flakes

Put the tahini, dates, coconut milk, and a pinch of salt in a blender and blend until smooth.  Coarsely chop the peaches.  Catch all that juice! Mix the peaches, pineapple and  mint in a bowl.  Drizzle with sauce, toss, and top with coconut flakes.  

When it was really hot, I would put dairy-free coconut ice cream in my cooled chai in the morning instead of goat’s milk, making Iced Coconut Chai Tea.  I have learned to make chai from tea bags

and our fresh raw honey.

Mexican Chocolate Smoothie with Spinach

2 cups goat milk or almond milk
2 cups fresh spinach
2 bananas
4 tbs. cocoa powder
2 tbs. maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp (or more) chili powder

Put everything in the blender and blend until smooth.  You can add ice cubes too if you want it cold and thick.