Easy Mediterranean Tuna & Artichoke Pasta

Pasta and tuna comfort food.

The moment I knew my first marriage was failing faster than you could murmur blueberry pancakes on a stick was the minute my moody first husband shoved his untouched plate of tuna noodle casserole across the lemon-waxed bridal table and declared, I'm not eating this crap.

A man who cannot fathom the comfort- albeit guilty pleasure- of a Wednesday night sixties classic is a person who might also belittle your favorite actor in a role so crackling in its own shiver of guilty pleasure that the hair on the back of your neck stands up when you hear Point Break is on HBO again.

In other words, Dear Reader, if a guy mocks your noodles and your Keanu, it might be time to stiffen your spine and rustle up the courage to reconsider your choice of a life partner.

Yup. You gotta go down, Brah. Vaya con Dios.

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Gluten-Free Smackdown

Our very own gluten-free blogger Jennifer (of Jennifer Ate) has written a mouthwatering wrap-up and review of the very first Gluten-Free Cooking Spree over at Epicurious.

The New York event was the first of several Iron Chef-style cook-off fundraising events planned and sponsored by the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness. Hustle on over to the NFCA website to find out when and where the next fun and fabulous Cooking Spree will take place. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to snag a ticket (the New York event sold out!).

PS: And if you go, you just might win an original gluten-free apron designed and donated by yours truly. I'm donating two gluten-free themed aprons to each event.

Roasted Vegetables on Broiled Polenta

Roasted veggies on broiled polenta. Yep. Gluten-free delish.

I'm still shaking off the February blahs, so bear with me, intrepid g-free campers. Please accept this super easy recipe as a tiny gift. Make this celiac-friendly dish on a busy weeknight when you're cranky and tired or feeling lazy or simply and utterly couldn't be bothered to crack open a cookbook (never mind, actually shop for groceries) because all you really want to do is kick off your Rocket Dogs and sink down into your favorite viewing chair with a bowl of salted popcorn and a glass of Irish whiskey to watch A Scanner Darkly again- this time with the filmmakers commentary (not to mention the intuitive insight of Keanu and Jonathan Lethem). Dude. What more could a geek girl like me ask for?

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Gluten-Free Beer (and a pizza crust recipe)

After five years of living strictly gluten-free, I can honestly tell you, Dear Reader, there are very few things I still miss from my pre-celiac diagnosis. From melty chocolate brownies to delicious gluten-free bread, I've managed to recreate and reinvent many old favorites.

But there is an archetypal pairing I do, indeed, miss. It's a simple want. Nothing fancy. And it's not some precious, tiny cuisine perched on a plate with a few stingy drips of - insert latest food infusion fad - trying to pass as art. Nope.

It's pizza and beer. A slice with a cold one. That's what I want. That's what I miss.

Well, guess what? One half of my burning desire has been quenched and this humble gluten-free goddess couldn't be happier. I am pleased as proverbial punch to report on the new sorghum lager now available from Anheuser-Busch, called Redbridge - Babycakes, it is beer-tastic! I had my doubts, I'll admit (being part Irish, who can blame me?), but when I read about Redbridge beer over at the NFCA website, the photograph alone made my mouth water. Come to Mama! I had to find some. I looked everywhere, but no store in Santa Fe carried it. Bummer.

Imagine my delight - when visiting our son, Colin, in Los Angeles - I stumbled upon a six pack of Redbridge happily chilling away amongst dozens of off-limits brewskys in an LA Whole Foods. Dude. I was stoked.

Later that very night I rustled up some easy - but tasty! - nachos and cracked open my first beer in five years. It did not disappoint. It did not taste “gluten-free”. In fact, when Colin - who is not celiac, or gluten-free - knocked back his first sip, he declared, “This tastes just like beer. Just like the real thing.” And I, ever the U2 fan that I am in my part-Irish bones, answered, “Even better than the real thing”.

Over at my cool and chic gluten-free home girls' blog aka The Celiac Chicks, I learned the proper way to pour a Redbridge. Pour the beer into a glass so that it smacks the bottom of the glass. This releases carbonation and produces a perfect foamy head. I did this last night, and, indeed, it does! (Thanks, Kelly!)

Next? Now that the Santa Fe Whole Foods is finally carrying Redbridge in their beer section, I gotta create that perfect gluten-free pizza crust recipe to go with it. And now that I have the beer, Dear Reader, it’s cake.

Here is the recipe I'm going to try - sent in by Lydia. The good news is - it is egg and dairy free.

Lydia's Gluten-Free Pizza Dough

Karina, here is my recipe for GF pizza crust. If you're not crazy about xanthan gum, perhaps you could use guar gum, or one egg white instead. I think it tastes like the crusts of old I used to eat, and I've only had compliments from gluten-eaters.

In a measuring cup, proof:

1 cup warm water (following temp. directions on your yeast package)
1 package dry, active yeast
1 tablespoon sugar

Whisk together in a bowl and let it sit for 5-10 minutes as the yeast proofs and begins to foam.

In mixing bowl, combine:

2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon each: dried basil, oregano, rosemary, and crushed red pepper (optional)
1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1-2 teaspoon salt
1 scant teaspoon xanthan gum

Add the proofed yeast mixture. Stir to combine.

Add:

2 1/2 cups gluten-free flour*

Mix the dough by hand for 2-3 minutes. Let it rest as you oil a pan and sprinkle cornmeal on top of the pan (to prevent dough from sticking).

Drop the dough onto the pan and using wet or oiled hands, flatten and spread the dough evenly to the thickness you prefer. (This usually covers a 10x13-inch baking pan.)

Allow the dough to rest while you pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F.

Pre-bake the pizza crust for 10 minutes.

Add sauce and toppings. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or so, until the crust is done and the toppings are heated through and bubbling.

*Lydia's Gluten-Free Flour Mix is:

3 parts white rice flour
3 parts brown rice flour
2 parts potato starch
1 part tapioca flour

She notes: If you use a pre-made gluten-free mix, I would recommend not using one with leavening (baking soda, baking powder).

Thank you, Lydia! This recipe will be (mucho) appreciated by our readers.

Shrimp Fried Rice

My favorite quick dinner recipe- shrimp fried rice with crisp veggies.

First, let us stop and take a humble moment to thank our lucky celiac stars that  brown rice is gluten-free. Yes, it's true, we all mourn the loss of some fabulous decadent thing we can no longer sink our teeth into- the tender flaky chocolate croissant, the finger licking stickiness of a honey glazed Dunkin Donut, or the crusty, chewy simplicity of a freshly baked baguette, hand torn and shared with love and a gleaming plate of extra virgin olive oil. Heavy sigh.

But (and you just knew a but was coming, didn't you?) after the craving passes and you find yourself back on planet earth, hungry, tired, staring into the open cupboard with a familiar pang that cries out for real food, a bag of organic brown rice can make your night. There's nothing else quite like the satisfying earthy goodness of it.

So let us appreciate this humble, nutty grain (actually a grass) and stir up something quick and rice-tastic.

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Gluten-Free Bloggers List

Do you blog gluten-free? Let's create a resource together.

Leave your blog address, title, and a two-sentence description of your blog in the Readers Comments below.







Snag an original badge for your blog- designed by Karina- the I Blog Gluten-Free cupcake. Right click/view image/save the image to your computer; copy and save the link to this gluten-free bloggers page. Then add the badge to your sidebar as an image; paste in the link back to Gluten-Free Goddess. [Please link the image back to this post so that your readers may explore this on-going resource. A link to Gluten-Free Goddess in your own sidebar is also mucho appreciated. Link: Gluten-Free Goddess (right click; save/copy).]

This Gluten-Free Bloggers list was created for personal blogs, not commercial venues using a blog as a way to promote their product or service. So keep it real.

 

Gluten Free in the City of Angels

Santa Monica in February

Random Notes::

I've been back in New Mexico for a week - a week that has skidded by at an alarming rate (it's true what they tell you about time accelerating as you advance in years, I'm sorry to say). Monday morphed into Friday with nary a blink. I've been playing correspondence catch-up, shoveling snow, doing heaps of laundry, and sifting through e-mails. I slid through Valentine's Day with a yawn and a shiver and a rain check in spite of good intentions and an armful of  red roses. Steve and I are both nursing a cold- the first we've caught in three years. Memories of those balmy afternoons sipping vanilla lattes in Santa Monica are fading fast.

Albuquerque was dark and well below freezing when we boarded the plane to LAX. Two and a half hours later we were strolling the Santa Monica farmer's market in the morning sun, inhaling the ocean air, our winter jackets abandoned, tossed in the back seat of the rental car. It was lovely if not surreal.

After scoping out the nearby Wild Oats, Whole Foods, and Third Street Promenade, we headed up to The Grove to drop in on our son, Colin, who was teaching a class at The Studio/Creative Bar at the Apple Store.

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