Last Post
Hello Fellow Food Sensitive Friends,
I wanted to let you know that this post is what I believe to be my last. It has been so much fun cooking with you. I hope that my ideas were helpful and cannot thank you enough for yours. It is now time for me to focus my energies on other activities. I hate to tear down this site, in the event that the few posts are still relevant and useful for others.
If you are passionate about allergen free cooking and would like this url/site, please let me know!
Just remember, allergen free cooking is not boring! It is creative, vibrant, and healthy, so be encouraged!
Are you trying to scrounge up dinner? Do you have some leftover side dishes but it’s not enough to constitute a good meal? Do you always keep some chicken breasts frozen in the freezer? Well my friend, congratulations, dinner is served:
Easy Peasy Chicken Piccata Recipe
- YIELD: 4 servings
- TOTAL: 36 MINUTES
Ingredients
- 2 (8-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons Grapeseed Oil
- 1/2 cup sauvignon blanc or other crisp, tart white wine
- 1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
- 1 T Lemon juice
- 1 T ghee
- 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
- 2T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
Preparation
- 1. Split chicken breast halves in half horizontally to form 4 cutlets. Place each cutlet between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound each cutlet to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Sprinkle cutlets evenly with salt and pepper.
- 2. Pour 1-2 T of Grapeseed Oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add cutlets to pan, and sauté 2 minutes. Turn cutlets over; sauté for 1 minute. Remove the cutlets from pan. Tent chicken with foil and keep warm.
- 3. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook for 1 minute. Stir in chicken broth. Stir in lemon juice. Simmer until broth mixture is reduced to about 1/2 cup. Remove pan from heat.
- 4. Add ghee. Add capers and fresh parsley. Serve sauce over chicken.
This recipe is a very slightly modified version of this one, courtesy of Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light
MARCH 2011
Done with the Microwave
Is microwaving food hazardous to your health?
I think I might be done with the microwave. Shocking, I know; I mean how did people ever survive without them?! It’s funny, because for years my family teased my eccentric grandmother (God love her) who was afraid that her microwave in her apartment was sending out radioactive ways. Maybe she wasn’t too far off…
So here’s how I arrived at my microwave stand-off: Since avoiding foods to which I have allergies, I have felt remarkably better. Occasionally, however, I still get sick. When I do get sick, I try to pay close attention to what I did differently that could be the culprit.
One pattern that I noticed in getting sick was that I tended to always feel bad after eating leftovers. It made no sense! I could eat an allergen free food one night; then I would have it as a leftover the next day, and it would make me sick. I couldn’t figure out what changed my reaction between 7pm one day and 12pm the next day.
My initial hypothesis was that something was chemically changing in my leftovers. And given my sensitivity to yeast, I figured there must be a bacteria that was causing me problems. This was a real issue, because it is always a bit of a challenge to find lunch food I can eat when there are no leftovers available.
I recently reached a new hypothesis, however, after stumbling upon this article: http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2010/03/dangers-of-microwave-cooking/. In particular, this article makes mention of microwaves rupturing the cell walls of the food. Is it possible that the ruptured form of the food is perceived as an invader to my body to the point that my body throws a histamine reaction, so I won’t eat it again?
Well for the last several days now I’ve been heating my leftovers in the oven and have felt much better! I’m going to continue my experiment to be sure, but regardless, I’m going to go microwave-free as much as possible from now on. And really everything heats up in about 10 minutes on 350 degrees. I’m lucky I work from home, so my oven is readily available. If you’re at work, perhaps a toaster oven would be a more convenient solution.
If you think I’m crazy just look at the difference in these plants being fed regular water versus microwaved, cooled water over a week: http://execonn.com/sf/, and that’s what we do to our bodies multiple meals a day. Do you think it is possible that all of us are not receiving the full nutritional value of our foods, because we’re consuming their nutritionally depleted, genetically modified, and then ‘ruptured’ versions of their natural counterparts? I’m not a scientist, but I think there’s a chance…
SO DELICIOUS Coconut Milk Yogurt Review
I’ve been waiting for someone to develop a non-dairy, non-soy yogurt for a while, and my wish has been granted. SO DELICIOUS is just that…a delicious probiotic treat without the allergens:
Alfonso XIII Paella
Inspiration:
Well, this recipe is a tribute to my girls of Alfonso XIII. When I was living in Madrid my roommate, Emily, and our good friend, Danielle, and I all lived at the Metro stop of Alfonso XIII. This was our point for departure for various adventures in Madrid. I hope this paella provides a culinary adventure for you!
Ingredients:
1/2 chopped red bell pepper
3/4 c chopped eggplant
1 sweet onion diced
1-2 cloves of minced garlic
Paprika
Sea Salt
1 c white rice
3 c Chicken Broth
Saffron
3/4 lb. of peeled, deveined wild shrimp
1 c Shredded Chicken
1 c frozen artichoke hearts
1 can of rinsed chickpeas or garbanzo beans
2-4 T chopped Flat leaf parsley
Directions:
1. Heat pan with tight-fitting lid to medium high heat. Add a couple turns of olive oil.
2. Add first three veggies and saute until tender.
3. Push veggies to the side. Add a little pool of olive oil in the center of the pan. To it add the minced garlic.
4. Lightly season veggies with sea salt and paprika.
5. Add rice to the veggie mixture. Stir around to coat rice with the oil and lightly cook.
6. Add chicken broth as well as a pinch (a few threads) of saffron to the dish.
7. Add shrimp, chicken, and artichoke hearts to the pan.
8. Bring pan up to a bubble. Then turn down to simmer, place lid on top and allow to cook for about 15 minutes.
9. Once rice and shrimp are tender, add garbanzo beans, season liberally with salt, add a little extra paprika, and a turn or so of olive oil.
10. Stir together, cover and cook for another 5 minutes or less to allow flavors to meld.
11. Serve and eat!
NEWS FLASH: Queso Manchego is Free of Cow’s Milk!
Oh happy, happy day! When I was studying abroad in Madrid…
..Yes, I said STUDYING! I did work hard in Madrid contrary to popular belief. Anyway, like I was saying, while there I fell in love with a couple of things:
1. Rioja wine
2. Queso Manchego
I’m here to discuss the latter. You could not eat at any tapas bar in Madrid without running across Queso Manchego served in beautiful little triangular slices drizzled with olive oil. When I first received my food allergy diagnosis, I just thought that I was never going to eat cheese again. Now that I am aware of my cow’s milk allergy, I am slowly realizing that there are so many cheeses in this world, which do not contain cow’s milk, and Queso Manchego is one of them! Join me sipping wine and dining on Queso Manchego with the tastiest little gluten free Rice crackers.
Hiatus for Good Reason
Hey Folks,
Sorry I’ve been slow on the posts. This is my busy season with my real job, real estate. In fact, check out this sweet web page I just created for my newest listing in Austin thanks to WordPress: http://9305westview.wordpress.com/!
Fish Tacos with Tomatillo Avocado Cream
I love fish tacos! With all my restrictions I thought they were a goner from my diet, but not so! This is a great summery meal. Enjoy! (By the way, I meant to say that I caught not cooked the fish..well I suppose I did both actually. 🙂
Ingredients for two:
4-5 tomatillos
1 large Haas Avocado
Spices: Salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika
Juice of half a lime
4 pieces of white fish of your choice
Olive Oil
Cabbage
Rice tortillas or large butter lettuce leaves
1. Simmer tomatillos in gently boiling water, just enough to cover the tomatillos. Cook 5-10 minutes or just until gently yielding when pricked with a paring knife.
2. Puree the tomatillos along with a little bit of the cooking liquid, just enough to allow the tomatillos to loosen and puree uniformly. Set aside.
3. Add a portion of the tomatillo puree to one 1 large Hass avocado. Continue to add the tomatillo puree until the avocado mixture reaches a creamy consistency. Season with salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, juice of half a lime to taste. (Feel free to add any other seasonings you would normally put in your favorite guacamole. ) Set aside.
4. Pat dry fish of your choice.
5. Sprinkle lightly with fish seasoning
5. Bring pan to medium high heat. Coat with a couple turns of oil.
6. Add fish to pan and allow to cook undisturbed a couple of minutes per side or until desired firmness is reached.
7. Serve cooked fish, topped with thinly sliced cabbage and avocado cream on a rice tortilla or leaf of Butter Lettuce. Serve with Erica’s Favorite Rice on the side. Black beans would be a great addition too!
Erica’s Favorite Rice
In the rice cooker dump:
- 1 c Jasmine rice
- 2 3/4 c water
- 1T olive oil
- Zest of one clean lime
- 1 t of salt
- 1/4 c of green (in this case, green onion)
You can also cook this in a pot, and just follow the ratios for water to rice on the package of rice.
Adapted from Lime Cilantro Rice at Allrecipes.com.
Quick Shrimp Cobb Salad
The possibilities with fresh vegetable salads are endless.
This recipe is easy peasy and healthy. It is great for a light dinner, or for a ladies luncheon kind of a thing.
Quick Shrimp Cobb Salad (for two):
Ingredients:
- 1 head of washed chopped Romaine Lettuce
- Lots o’ matchstick carrots or diced/sliced carrots
- 1 avocado diced
- 4 pieces of Bacon cooked and crumbled/chopped
- 2/3-3/4 lb. peeled deveined shrimp
- Salt, pepper, and paprika
Directions:
1. Lay a bed of greens on a plate and top with the veggies and bacon.
2. In a pan that has heated on medium high, add a couple turns of olive oil to the pan. Allow to heat for 10 seconds or so, and then add the shrimp. Cook until the shrimp is done and they form ‘C’ shapes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and paprika.
3. Scatter the salad with the shrimp.
4. Serve with lemon wedges for squeezing and olive oil. No dressing is required. The lemon and olive oil mixed around with the creamy avocado makes its own ‘dressing.’
Adapted from: Shrimp Cobb Salad
Healthy and delish!
I’m JUICING, and it’s Legal!
Fresh fruits and vegetables when juiced make a healing tonic
That’s right, I have just fallen in love with making fruit and vegetable juices! This was my first juice film and only my second time to juice, so sorry the video is a bit rough:
Here is why juicing is so amazing in a nut shell:
1. Juicing vegetables is particularly beneficial because the juicer smashes everything up into a liquid form that is easily assimilated into your cells, because your body doesn’t have to waste energy digesting the fiber of the vegetable. Vegetable juices are like an instant multi vitamin to your cells!
2. Juicing is Nature’s liver scrubber. Your liver, my friends, lives a hard life, especially in this day and age. It is working overtime to process the crummy food you eat, alcohol, caffeine AND all the crazy toxins that are now in our environment. Show it some love and help it stay clean with juices, so it can in turn help your whole body stay clean.
Please don’t be dismayed by my ancient juicer or the murky green juice it produces; trust me, it tastes great!
If you have cash to burn and want to buy the Cadillac of juicers, I think something like this would be lovely.
I think juicing is one of those habits where if you adopt it today and juice a few times a week or more, your body is going to thank you ten-fold down the road. When everyone else is old and wobbly, you’ll be full of life, like this guy.
Cook Allergen Free! Tasty Allergen Free Meals Everyone Will Love! 