This was an experiment - it's a dish I love but had never made before. I also wasn't sure the kids would love the mushroom and wine qualities of the sauce. I decided to give it a try, and it was a huge hit all around. The recipe below is a combination of several different recipes that I read and then tweaked to my liking. It can be served with pasta, but skip the pasta and serve on a bed of roasted veggies or spaghetti squash for a delicious veggie-rich, low-carb dinner. I used broccoli sauteed with garlic. The quantities below just served four.
I mention a flour blend in the recipe. To make this gluten free I do not, of course, use wheat flour. For all of the cooking and baking I do, I use the same ratio of flours: 1 part tapioca starch: 1 part potato starch: 2 parts brown rice flour I store the mixture of the two starches in one canister to simplify. Ingredients 1.5 lb chicken breast, pounded to 1/2 inch thickness (or purchase the thin cutlets or tenders) 1 cup flour blend 1 tsp salt 1/2 cup olive oil 2 Tbsp butter 2 cloves minced garlic 1 cup white mushrooms, sliced 3/4 cup Marsala wine 1/2 cup water 1. In a shallow dish, mix flour blend with salt. Pound chicken breasts if needed. Set aside. 2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Using lots of oil is imperative to the chicken pieces browning up properly - don't skimp. 3. Once oil is heated, coat the chicken pieces in the flour blend and put in the skillet. Cook about 5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. If you are doing larger quantities, you will need to set the cooked chicken aside on a plate and cook it in batches. 4. Once all chicken is cooked, remove any breading that has accumulated from the skillet, or use a new skillet. Melt the butter, then add the garlic and mushrooms. Saute for 5 minutes. 5. Add Marsala wine and water. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes. 6. Put the chicken pieces back into the pan with the sauce. After 5 minutes, flip the pieces over to get them thoroughly glazed. Simmer for another 5 minutes. If the sauce appears to be thickening too much, add water 1/4 cup at a time. Serve over pasta or vegetables.
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This is a great, grain-free adaptation of an American(?) favorite. I love to find ways to substitute starchy, grainy ingredients with vegetables. Zucchini works particularly well in place of lasagna noodles, and this dish has won rave reviews from people aged 12 to 67. My 9-year-old is not so sure, but does well picking out the cheese and sauce, and especially likes it when it's made with meat sauce. Sometimes I make a small lasagna using gluten free noodles to suit his picky tastes.
Make sure the zucchini tastes good!!! I have found that quite often non-organic zucchini has an extremely bitter taste to it. Just taste a little slice of it before you start slicing and make sure it's not bitter. Ingredients: Marinara sauce - about 4 cups. Make your own or use your favorite brand in a jar (preferably a brand that does not contain industrial oils or sugars). For make your own ideas, see my post on spaghetti and meatballs. Add ground meat if desired, or leave it out to make this a great vegetarian option. 2 medium-sized zucchinis 2 cups whole milk ricotta cheese 2 cups grated mozzarella 1 cup grated Parmesan 4 eggs 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp basil, oregano, and/or minced garlic as desired. 1. Prepare the sauce (or open the jars) and set aside. 2. Rinse the zucchini. Leave the skin on if it's organic. I like to cut into really, really thin slices by running it along the 3 long slits on the side of a cheese grater. I would imagine they have a technical term, but could not, for the life of me, tell you what it is. I have found it works best to put the grater on its side, then start by running the zucchini along the side, applying gentle pressure, in such a way that you end up with 3 strips. It takes a little while to get a technique, but once you've figured it out, it goes really fast. If you rotate your way around the zucchini as you cut, you'll get even slices without having to do any slicing with a knife. 3. *NOTE: I have skipped this step and it still comes out fine, if a little watery.* Spread the slices on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Let stand for 10-15 minutes. Rinse with water and drain in a colander, then squeeze the whole bunch in a clean kitchen towel or cheese cloth. This removes excess water and makes for a less watery lasagna. Set aside. 4. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the cheeses, eggs, salt, and seasonings. Mix well. Set aside. 5. Using a rectangular baking pan, spread 1/3 of the zucchini strips in the bottom. I do NOT lay them out neatly and orderly. I sort of spread them around the cover the bottom of the disk, but that's all. 6. Spread 1/3 of the sauce over the strips. 7. Drop 1/2 of the cheese mixture in large spoonfuls, evenly spaced, on top of the sauce. Pat down slightly, but don't worry about spreading it out in an even layer. 8. Add next 1/3 of zucchini strips. Spread out gently with hands. 9. Pour next 1/3 of sauce over strips. 10. Using same technique from step 7, place the remaining cheese mixture onto the zucchini and sauce. 11. Add remaining zucchini strips and spread with hands. 12. Pour remaining sauce on top. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Remove and cover with additional grated cheese if desired. Bake for 5 more minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. This is another recipe that I have discovered works really well in the crock pot. Throw it together in the morning, set on low, or even warm, and leave for the day. By evening, you have a rich sauce, in which the flavors of onion, garlic, basil, and the juices of the meat have mingled all day long. This method for making meatballs uses slow, moist cooking to minimize damage to the proteins and nutrients in the meat. You can do it on the stove top, as well. Allow about 2 hours for the sauce to simmer if you do it that way. It is a gluten-free recipe, as is everything I post on my blog.
For the kids, brown rice pasta replaces wheat pasta. I have found the brand Tinkyada to be a great substitute. For me, to keep the carbohydrate grams down, spaghetti squash replaces the pasta. Spaghetti squash is delicious with a number of toppings on it - even just butter and grated parmesan cheese. When I can't find it at the store, I buy a few zucchinis and cut them into very thin strips, saute or steam the strips, and use it as, what I have aptly named, "fettu-chinni". There are several options for the sauce, depending on your interest in cooking and how much time you have. If you have a favorite recipe, use that. Any tomato-based sauce will do. A splash of red wine added at the beginning of the cooking time will make any of the following options a little bit richer. Fastest: Buy 2 jars of your favorite sauce and empty into the crock pot. Next fastest: This is my personal default sauce. Add the following ingredients into the crock pot: 2 cans (28 oz) crushed tomatoes 1 can (15 oz) tomato puree 2 Tbsp tomato paste 4 cloves garlic 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp salt black pepper 1 tsp basil 1 tsp oregano Mix together. Labor Intensive: Put the following into a food processor: 12 medium tomatoes or 2 cans whole tomatoes 1 small onion, peeled and chopped 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped 4 Tbsp tomato paste 2-4 garlic cloves 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp salt Puree in the food processor, then pour into crock pot. Meatballs: Put the following into a mixing bowl: 1 pound ground beef and/or lamb 1 tsp salt black pepper 2 Tbsp rice crumbs, GF bread crumbs, or rice flour (can leave these out if you want to be strictly grain free) 2 eggs Mix (using your hands to knead the gooey mess works best, if you can stand it...) until well combined. Form into balls about 1.5 inch in diameter. Place into prepared sauce in the crock pot. Cover the crock pot and set on warm or low, whichever temperature yields a very gentle bubbling. Leave simmering for the day. Serve over squash or zucchini, adorned with some high quality grated parmesan cheese. I cook gluten-free rice pasta for the boys. I have found Tinkyada Pasta Joy brown rice elbows and penne pasta to be the best tolerated. Spaghetti Squash Prep: Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place skin side up on a baking sheet. Place in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until you can pierce the flesh with a fork. Allow to cool, then scrape out the flesh with a fork. This will yield strands about the size of angel hair pasta. This can be done ahead and reheated in the microwave or on the stove right before serving. With my teaching job and the commute from the boys' new school, I am not getting home until after 4 on weekdays. This has cramped my cooking style a bit, but I am still determined to make things whole-foods-based, wheat-free, and from scratch as much as humanly possible. I'm trying to make even good meals work on rushed evenings. Here is one attempt.
A disclaimer - I love being in the kitchen. So for me, after a day of work, chopping, slicing, and mixing dough is (often) relaxing. Even better when accompanied by a cook's glass of red wine. And comfy clothes, bare feet, and the Pandora station of my choosing. I understand that not everyone unwinds this way, and I guarantee you that there are plenty of work nights when I do NOT do things like making fresh breadsticks. My kids and husband do some cooking, too. I don't mean to present a false, Martha-Stewart-ish impression of myself (although I do think she's fabulous and should have NEVER been sent to jail...) The key to making this meal work within a short period of time (we walked in the door at 4:15 and ate at 5:30) is to stick the spaghetti squash in the oven as soon a little over an hour before you want to eat, and to get the GF breadstick dough rising right away. GF breadsticks obviously are not necessary, nor low in carbohydrate, but this particular recipe was really yummy. Highly recommend. All things in moderation, right? As with all of my GF recipes on this blog, the only "special" ingredients you will ever need are brown rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch, and xantham gum. Other flours may work fine, but require experimentation. I have gotten the best results with the above ingredients. Spaghetti Squash Prep: Slice ends off. Cut in half lengthwise with big, scary knife. Scoop out seeds with spoon. Get frustrated at lack of progress and scoop seeds out with hands. Place "flesh" side down on a cookie sheet. (I have found greasing is not necessary, and cuts down on smoke production, always a plus in my kitchen.) Put in 350 degree oven for at least one hour. Forget about it until it's done. GF Breadsticks (Makes about 6 sticks) 3/4 cup brown rice flour 3/4 cup 1:1 ratio of tapioca starch:potato starch 1 tsp xantham gum 1/2 tsp salt 1 packet yeast (or 2 teaspoons) 2 Tbsp olive oil 1/2 - 1 cup warm water 2 Tbsp honey 1. In a mixer or a food processor, combine dry ingredients. 2. With mixer/processor still running, slowly drizzle in oil, water, and honey. Start with 1/2 cup water. Mix until it forms a ball. If it's really crumbly, keep adding water slowly until it gathers into a ball. 3. Set in a warm place to rise for at least 30 minutes. (I put mine near the woodstove, but on top of the oven which is heated while the squash bakes is also handy.) Why you ask? The enzymes involved in the cellular respiration of yeast work faster at warmer temperatures. Faster respiration = more carbon dioxide produced more quickly = more effective rising. 4. Grease a cookie sheet with butter, or line it with parchment paper. Take a small ball of the dough (about 2 inches in diameter) and roll out into a stick shape. Lay on the cookie sheet. Repeat. (Remember that GF doughs are very different from regular wheat flour-based dough. This process requires delicacy and patience, but was much easier than other GF doughs I have worked with.) 5. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Turn oven up to 450 degrees. Remove squash if it's done, or let it stay in there. It's hard to ruin spaghetti squash. Bake sticks for 10 minutes. Turn over and bake for another 5-10 minutes. Watch closely and remove when nicely browned. Marinara Sauce While the dough is rising and the spaghetti squash is baking, throw the following ingredients into a food processor or blender: 1 large can (28 oz) of diced or whole tomatoes 4 Tbsp tomato paste 2 Tbsp olive oil 2 tsp sugar 1-2 tsp basil and oregano, dried, or your preferred blend 1-2 tsp minced garlic 1/2 raw onion 1/2 tsp salt Blend until thoroughly pureed. Heat over medium heat, then allow to simmer until the rest of dinner is ready. I browned some ground beef first and then poured the sauce in with the cooked beef to simmer to make a meat sauce. When all is done, tease spaghetti squash out of its shell with a fork and pile generous amounts onto plates. Top with marinara sauce and fresh Parmesan, if you have it. Confession: I don't force my children to eat spaghetti squash, though I do ask that they try it from time to time. I cooked up some GF rotini for them. I got a hankering for alfredo sauce a few weeks ago. Just one of those cravings that comes out of the blue. I probably saw a jar of alfredo sauce in the grocery store or something - I can't say where it began. But at some point, I found myself actually picking up a jar, thinking it might be a nice idea...until I read the ingredients label:
Water, Cream, Parmesan Cheese Blend (Granular And Parmesan Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Water, Salt, Lactic Acid, Citric Acid), Cornstarch, Egg Yolks, Roasted Garlic, Contains 2% Or Less Of: Butter, Sherry Cooking Wine, Salt, Soybean Oil, Romano Cheese Blend (Granular And Romano Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Water, Whey, Salt), Sugar, Garlic*, Spice, Enzyme, Gum Arabic, Guar Gum, Natural Flavor. Contains: Milk, Egg. *Dried Nothing too offensive (other than it's all been highly processed in order to be shelf-stable), until you get down to the soybean oil (I avoid any form of soy in my family's diet for a number of reasons), mysterious "enzyme" (?), gum arabic, and guar gum. Yum. Then there is the "natural flavor", which, in some cases can be MSG. I put the jar calmly on the shelf, backed away, and decided to get the ingredients to make my own, instead. This is a super simple sauce - no roux or thickeners required - because it uses cream cheese, a trick I learned in Turkey from an ex-pat friend as a simpler option for making homemade mac and cheese. You can literally have a nice, warm, creamy sauce, ready to serve, in about 15 minutes with very little effort. To keep this meal low-carb and high-veggie, I served the sauce over spaghetti squash topped with sauteed veggies. (I served it to the boys over brown rice rotini with carrots and cukes on the side to accomodate their...um...discerning tastes.) The richness of the Alfredo sauce paired with the crunchy-freshness of the various vegetables made for a meal that didn't feel too heavy but was very satisfying. In the future, I would like to try some variations on this theme by adding fresh herbs or maybe diced sundried tomatoes to the sauce. Ingredients 1 block of cream cheese or Neufchatel (do not use fat-free or low-fat cream cheese as they don't heat well) 1 cup of milk 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup grated Parmesan 2 cloves minced garlic 1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt 1. Heat the butter over medium heat in a sauce pan. When melted, add milk, garlic, and salt. Stir and allow to warm. 2. Add entire block of cream cheese. Using a whisk, stir occasionally as it warms. Whisk it thoroughly to remove lumps. 3. Add in Parmesan cheese and stir well. Keep on warm burner until ready to serve. Also reheats nicely in a day or two. 4. Serve over spaghetti squash or pasta. If you are using spaghetti squash, start it about 1 hour before you want to eat. To prepare spaghetti squash, cut in half and place skin-side-up on a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Place in a 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes, then flip over and using a fork, scrape out strands. Veggie Saute: I used onions, garlic, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, and grated carrots. Saute in a generous amount of olive oil over medium heat while your sauce simmers. This is another recipe that I have discovered works really well in the crock pot. Throw it together in the morning, set on low, or even warm, and leave for the day. By evening, you have a rich sauce, in which the flavors of onion, garlic, basil, and the juices of the meat have mingled all day long. This method for making meatballs uses slow, moist cooking to minimize damage to the proteins and nutrients in the meat. You can do it on the stove top, as well. Allow about 2 hours for the sauce to simmer if you do it that way. It is a gluten-free recipe, as is everything I post on my blog.
Spaghetti squash replaces the pasta. Spaghetti squash is delicious with a number of toppings on it - even just butter and grated parmesan cheese. When I can't find it at the store, I buy a few zucchinis and cut them into very thin strips, saute or steam the strips, and use it just like pasta. There are several options for the sauce, depending on your interest in cooking and how much time you have. If you have a favorite recipe, use that. Any tomato-based sauce will do. A splash of red wine added at the beginning of the cooking time will make any of the following options a little bit richer. Fastest: Buy 2 jars of your favorite sauce and empty into the crock pot. Next fastest: This is my personal default sauce. Add the following ingredients into the crock pot: 2 cans (28 oz) crushed tomatoes 1 can (15 oz) tomato puree 2 Tbsp tomato paste 4 cloves garlic 1 tsp onion powder 1 tsp salt black pepper 1 tsp basil 1 tsp oregano Mix together. Labor Intensive: Put the following into a food processor: 12 medium tomatoes or 2 cans whole tomatoes 1 small onion, peeled and chopped 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped 4 Tbsp tomato paste 2-4 garlic cloves 1 tsp dried basil 1 tsp dried oregano 1 tsp salt Puree in the food processor, then pour into crock pot. Meatballs: Put the following into a mixing bowl: 1 pound ground beef and/or lamb 1 tsp salt black pepper 2 Tbsp rice crumbs (can leave these out if you want to be strictly grain free) 2 eggs Mix (using your hands to knead the gooey mess works best, if you can stand it...) until well combined. Form into balls about 1.5 inch in diameter. Place into prepared sauce in the crock pot. Cover the crock pot and set on warm or low, whichever temperature yields a very gentle bubbling. Leave simmering for the day. Serve over squash or zucchini, adorned with some high quality grated parmesan cheese. I cook gluten-free rice pasta for the boys. I have found Tinkyada Pasta Joy brown rice elbows and penne pasta to be the best tolerated. Spaghetti Squash Prep: Cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Place skin side up on a baking sheet. Place in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes, or until you can pierce the flesh with a fork. Allow to cool, then scrape out the flesh with a fork. This will yield strands about the size of angel hair pasta. This can be done ahead and reheated in the microwave or on the stove right before serving. |
AuthorI'm Emily. I currently work in online education management, but I also have a Masters degree in Nutritional Sciences (my true passion). In addition, I am a mom, cook, avid reader, novice gardener, and enjoy all kinds of outdoor activities. On my blog, you will find articles on food, fitness, weight management, and eating issues. ALL recipes on my blog are gluten-free. Many are low-carbohydrate. Most are grain free. Enjoy! Categories
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