From the category archives:

Gluten-Free Side Dishes

Easy Summer Salad Recipe

by Emilia on July 14, 2010

Let’s get this blog back into action for a change, shall we. I think that I’ve rested enough after the renovation we did to our home, it was surprising how hard it was and how long it took for us.

I have been wondering what to eat here now that the weather is so hot and humid that you feel a lot like melting, except when you swim in the sea, after that you are cool for about 10 minutes until you feel like you are in a sauna again.

We here in the North are not used to this kind of weather, so it really can take a toll on you. Some days ago it was reported that it was the hottest day in 50 years - can you imagine. I spent most of that day swimming in the sea, tanning on the beach was impossible for more than half an hour, that is, if you didn’t want to feel like you’re melting away into the sand.

Thai foods are a given when the weather gets really hot, curries and the likes are filled with veggies and spices, so you feel good when eating dishes like that. Salads are also a godsend when you feel like you just want to eat something light. I’ve been incorporating both of these things with Thai flavoured salads which are a lot like regular salads, but I flavour them with chillies, lime, coriander and fish sauce - it’s really easy, filled with flavour and it feels cooling in the heat.

Easy Thai inspired summer salad

serves two

-a head of lettuce

-a couple of tomatoes

-a couple of onions

-a bunch of coriander

-two grilled chicken breasts

for the sauce

-3 tbls fresh lime juice (or from the bottle)

-3 tbls thai fish sauce

-1-2 red chillies, seeded and cut into thin stripes (or some dried chilli flakes)

This is so easy and fast, if you have the chicken breasts ready. If you need to cook them, just add some spices to them (I use this dry rub I make, some paprika, oregano, thyme, salt, chili flakes, garlic powder and onion powder). Then cook them in the oven at around 300 F until done.

You can use fish too, some shrimp, beef, almost anything.

You can of course use any kind of veggies basically in this; the idea is in the fish sauce, the chillies, the coriander and the lime juice.

Mix the lime juice with the fish sauce and the chillies.

Wash and tear the salad, cut the onions and the tomatoes, mix them together, cut the coriander and add it.

Pour the sauce on top and add the chicken on top of the salad.

I get a lot of questions on where to buy quinoa flour, psyllium husk, things like that which I use in the recipes. I really never had an answer for this, until some time ago when I started ordering form Iherb. Some of you probably know it already, but I thought that I’ll mention it here too in a post and I will put up a notice in the sidebar about Iherb.

Iherb has an simply amazing variety of products for sale, I for example order all my hair and skin care products from there, some foods that are hard to get by here, and also all my supplements.

This is by the way not a paid advert for Iherb; I don’t think they know that this blog even exists. I have been very happy with them and I do think that it’s worth to mention how good Iherb is.

The site is not easy to navigate at first, at least for me it was not, but you can search for psyllium husk for example by simply adding the words into the search box, you can also search for gluten free products in the same way.

Something worth mentioning for celiacs is their range of probiotics for example; you can find them by searching with the term probiotics. The same goes for multivitamins, fish oil etc.

Using code JUH901 will get you 5 dollars off your first order.

Popularity: 39% [?]

Potato Salad Recipe

by Emilia on July 20, 2009

Potato salads are something I always associate with summer, maybe because they can be refreshing and cooling when they are not made with mayonnaise.

This recipe is something I make quite often during the summer, I love taking it with us when we go hiking, or to the beach, and the best thing about it is that I can make a lot of it – it only gets better after a day or two.

The lemon juice and the basil together give a nice refreshing quality to the salad. Potatoes on their own are creamy in my opinion, so they need something like fresh herbs and the tanginess of the lemon juice to bring the flavours together in a nice contrasting way.

A potato salad like this - cold, cooling and fresh - is my idea of a perfect summer meal when served together with some hot spicy chicken.

Potato Salad Recipe

The vinaigrette here is not a regular one, this one is really very lemony, and I would suggest using less lemon juice if you are not a friend of a very tangy salad sauce.

If you are using new organic potatoes, I would suggest leaving the skin on them.

The recipe is naturally free from gluten, soy, dairy and eggs.

Potato salad

serves 6

-1 kg/ 35 ounces potatoes

- 4-5 spring onions

- 6 tbls fresh lemon juice

-12 tbls good quality olive oil

-3 tbls finely minced fresh basil leaves

-3 tbls capers

- salt and pepper according to taste

Cook the potatoes and then leave them to cool before cutting them.

Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, minced basil leaves, salt, pepper and capers.

Cut the potatoes and the onions, then mix with the sauce.

Leave to sit for at least one hour before serving.

This is my contribution to this months Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free hosted by Shirley at Gluten Free Easily.

The theme this month is Make Me a Happy Camper.

Popularity: 61% [?]

Blue Cheese Potatoes

by Emilia on September 10, 2008

I have been meaning to make a post about gluten-free side dishes I eat and like; when I was thinking about the foods I would like to include I felt like this one side dish deserves its own post, even though it is as simple as can be.
Blue cheese potatoes are my all time favorite way to eat potatoes, and I was always a happy child when my dad made these.

White potatoes have been a problem for me in the past, but it seems like I can eat them in moderation - without feeling like I would be dying from stomach pains - now days. If you are celiac, you might also have problems with things like white potatoes - it is something worth looking into if you still experience discomfort after you went gluten-free. Same thing goes for other starchy things like many gluten-free flour mixes, corn starch etc.

So, to celebrate my ability to digest potatoes I have been having them almost non-stop, not a wise thing to do if you a prone to allergies, but I will stop eventually, at least I will cut down to one portion per week so that I can still eat them occasionally.

This I tell myself while I decide to have some more of those delicious starchy potatoes.

The autumnal weather suits this particular potato recipe very well, along with many others, since it really has that lovely stick to your ribs quality, which at least I crave especially as the season turns colder.

I do love heavy foods whatever season it might be, but especially during the coldness of winter and fall.

My preparation for the cold season ahead has included, besides from eating foods that keep me warm, ordering a whole reindeer, half of an organic pig and I have thought about buying some organic beef and maybe one organic lamb. I will also be getting some organic winter vegetables from a local farm, so hopefully I will have a winter filled with tasty organic and local foods.

Not all blue cheese is gluten-free, so make sure yours is if you are celiac.


Blue Cheese Potatoes Recipe

Serves 4

-150-200 grams blue cheese, use less if it is something strong and more if you are using a milder cheese, I use a Finnish one called Aura which is not all that strong

-1 cup, 2,5 dl cream (heavy cream)

-7 medium sized potatoes, they should be already cooked; I usually use some leftover potatoes, those ready ones in the freezer work well too

Preheat the oven to 400 F or 200 C.

Slice the potatoes.

Pour the cream into a small saucepan and crumble the blue cheese into it. Let them melt together on a low heat.

Pour the cream mixture on the potatoes and bake them in the oven for 45-60 minutes.

I don’t use any salt or pepper in these since the flavor of the blue cheese is so strong and it also adds salt to the food.

Popularity: 16% [?]