gluten-free eats

I could have sworn I'd posted this before, but maybe not! I'm sneaking it in for the last days of the comfort food prompt. We make it every winter, and it's so warm and nourishing and good.

The quantities here make about two gallons of chili. Do not double this recipe, even when cooking to fill the freezer. Two gallons is a lot! Make sure you have a big enough pot, or reduce the recipe as needed.

I'd put the heat rating at about 1.5 chili peppers out of 5. You can adjust the heat level by changing the quantities of jalapeño, red pepper flakes, or urfa biber (a smoky Turkish pepper). If you don't happen to have urfa biber handy (though you should because it's delicious), you can omit it, or add more red pepper flakes instead.

If you don't eat pork, you can make this with turkey bacon, but you'll need to add some oil to make up for the loss of the bacon fat.

Ingredients

1 pound bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
4 medium or 3 large red onions, chopped fine
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3–4 jalapeño peppers, chopped fine
1/2 cup chili powder
2 Tbps ground cumin
4 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp urfa biber
2 teaspoons dried oregano, or 2 Tbsp minced fresh oregano
3–4 Tbsp lime juice
4 pounds ground turkey or beef
4 cans (16 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cans (28 ounces each) crushed tomatoes (ideally fire-roasted, but any will do)

Garnishes (put here so you remember to add them to your shopping list): lime wedges, shredded cheese, sour cream, guacamole, chips, etc.

( Instructions )

This is pure wintertime comfort food, savory and warming, and it makes your house smells amazing. It's also pretty quick and easy to make, and adapts well to any veg you have lying around; we've made it with green beans and mushrooms, and some recipes call for sweet potato. Just divide the veg into "takes 10 minutes to cook" (goes in with/instead of the potato), "takes 5 minutes to cook" (goes in with the chicken), and "barely needs to cook" (goes in with/instead of the bell pepper). You can also omit the potato and put in noodles instead. Whatever! It's flexible.

If you don't have lemongrass or kaffir lime leaves, add more lime juice to compensate.

The curry paste is more for flavor than heat. My six-year-old scarfed several bowls of this and begged for more. If you want it spicier, increase the curry, add a bit of chili oil or some sliced fresh chili peppers, or throw in a few dried chili peppers while it's simmering.

The quality of the broth has a significant effect on the flavor of the soup. Homemade stock is ideal.

Ingredients

1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 sweet yellow onion, sliced very thin
2 Tbsp red curry paste
1 large piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into small slices
1 Tbsp minced fresh lemongrass (reserve stalks)
6 Tbsp minced cilantro, divided
30 oz full-fat coconut milk
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
4 tsp GF fish sauce (or 2 tsp GF oyster sauce + 2 tsp GF soy sauce or liquid aminos), divided
2 kaffir lime leaves
1/2 pound red or russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast, trimmed, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly
2 Tbsp lime juice (from 2–3 limes)

( Instructions )

I'd planned to make lasagna, but the store was out of GF lasagna noodles, so I improvised a pasta bake instead. It came out really well! It's dairy-free because that's how my household rolls, and I included recommendations for brands of vegan ricotta and mozzarella but it would work just fine with regular cheese too. If you use vegan sausage, it's vegan. You can also substitute ready-made pasta sauce for the quick homemade version we do. Very flexible and adaptable recipe. The only thing I'd note is that you really need corn, rice, or quinoa pasta for this. Lentil or bean pasta won't work nearly as well.

Bonus recipe for cashew ricotta: Soak raw, unsalted cashews for four hours, pour out the water, put the cashews in your food processor (not the blender!), and drizzle in fresh cold water as you process them until the texture becomes creamy and ricotta-like. Add salt to taste. When I use it for lasagna, I process in fresh basil and nutmeg.

Bonus recipe for melted soy ~mozzarella: 7:1:2 proportion of pure soy milk (no thickeners), vegetable oil, and tapioca flour, plus miso paste to taste (depending on how tangy/salty you want it). Whisk ingredients together and pour into a nonstick pan. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a flexible spatula, until the mixture thickens, curdles, and becomes a single gooey mass. Immediately pour over pizza or pasta. For a dish this size, I'd probably use 7 Tbsp soy milk, 1 Tbsp oil, 2 Tbsp (or 1/8 cup) tapioca flour, and 1.5 tsp miso paste, which would make about half a cup of melted cheese.

Ingredients

12 oz Barilla or other corn/rice GF pasta
28 oz crushed tomatoes and your choice of herbs, spices, olive oil, etc. (or ready-made sauce)
10 oz sweet Italian sausage, raw or pre-cooked
8 oz Kite Hill ricotta (or homemade cashew ricotta)
2 Miyoko's Kitchen mozzarellas (or 16 oz pre-shredded vegan mozzarella, or homemade soy mozz)
Several handfuls of baby spinach or chopped adult spinach

Equipment

Oven
Stove with two burners
Can opener
Two pots
A pan if you're browning raw sausage; a cutting board and knife if you're chopping up cooked sausage
Wooden spoons
9" x 13" baking dish
Aluminum foil
Rubber or silicone spatula

( Directions )

Ever since I discovered Wholly Wholesome's incredible GF DF pie crusts, we've been eating a LOT of quiche. Of course you may use a homemade 9" pie crust if you prefer, or go crustless. If you try making mini quiche with this recipe, let me know!

Miyoko's Creamery cheeses are ideal for quiche, as they melt very well and taste fantastic. I have found they're happiest if you chop or crumble them into tiny bits, which encourages real melting and merging and gooeyness. Four slices of the pre-sliced cheddar are just the right amount for one quiche.

I use Westsoy pure soy milk, but any pure non-dairy milk (with no thickeners or sweeteners) should work fine.

Some possible mix-in combos:

The Grilled Cheese: ham, tomato, cheddar
The Omelette: broccoli, mushroom, cheddar, nutmeg
The Nerano: zucchini, mozzarella, oregano, nutmeg
The Caprese: tomato (fresh, roasted, or sun-dried), mozzarella, basil
The Bountiful Garden: zucchini, spinach, tomato, cheddar or mozzarella, fresh herbs
The Quiche Lorraine: ham or bacon, sweet onion, cheddar, nutmeg
The Farmer's Market: bell pepper, fresh herbs, cheddar
The Pizza: tomato, pepperoni, mozzarella, roasted garlic, oregano
The Ravioli: butternut squash, sage browned in butter, mozzarella
The Orecchiete: sausage, broccolini, mozzarella
The Fajita: chicken, bell peppers (or a mix of bell and jalapeño), onion, pepperjack, cumin, oregano
The Hearty Meal: potato, asparagus, ham, cheddar
The Diner Breakfast: potato (or use a hash brown crust), bacon, tomato, spinach, cheddar, hash brown seasoning
The Kids' Menu: peas, carrots, cheddar

Please share your own!

Note: If a mix-in is a crunchy vegetable (carrot, broccoli, onion, etc.) or mostly made of water (zucchini, mushroom, spinach, raw meat, etc.), cook it before putting it in the quiche. The baking process will be enough to cook more delicate vegetables (bell pepper, frozen peas, very slim fresh asparagus), so those don't need to be pre-cooked. Tomato is borderline too wet; if you don't want to precook it, cut it up pretty small, discard the seeds, and drain the pieces on a paper towel before putting them into the quiche.

Ingredients

5 large eggs
0.5 cup non-dairy milk or cream
2 cups mix-ins
0.75 cup shredded vegan cheese
seasonings that suit the mix-ins: salt (very sparingly if the cheese or mix-ins are already salty), pepper, nutmeg (freshly grated is best), fresh or dried herbs, etc.
1 9-inch GF DF pie crust, or whatever ingredients you need for making your own

Equipment

Oven
Baking sheet
If you're making your own crust: pie tin, whatever other equipment you need
Whatever you need to pre-cook the mix-ins
Large measuring cup (2c will work, 4c is better)
Knife and cutting board
Large mixing bowl
Whisk
Flexible spatula

( Instructions )