Gluten free, tested, delicious recipes for special diets: Soup and salad (Part 2)

A recent Mayo Clinic study found a dramatic increase in the number of cases of gluten intolerance; Interestingly, the group most affected is women in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

Here are some nutritious, elegant choices for gluten-free dining:

• Roasted Edamame Salad Edamame is just a fancy name for boiled green soybeans in salt water. In East Asia, the soybean has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of protein. Edamame offers a whopping 9 grams in a half-cup serving, about the same amount you'll find in 4 slices of whole-wheat bread or 4 cups of steamed zucchini!
  
• Japanese Style Cucumber Salad Unlike ubiquitous mayonnaise-based potato or macaroni salad, this one only gets better over time. Make it in the morning after breakfast--By the time guests arrive for an afternoon gathering, the salad's flavor is at its peak.
  
• Gramma's Cottage Bean and Ham Soup This recipe features peameal bacon, a cured pork loin that has not been smoked, and is rolled in cornmeal. It is not to be confused with bacon sold as "Canadian Bacon", which is more of a ham in texture and flavor.
  

For more info:
Gluten free, kid tested, and foolproof recipes for special diets (Part 1)
For many children, gluten intolerance is typically demonstrated as "off-the-wall irrational" behavior. A father of a gluten intolerant child... Keep Reading »
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High-quality care is available at many hospitals around the world that are centers of excellence with quality outcomes and standards of service... Keep Reading »

Perfect Cranberry-Kale Salad

I really wish I'd taken a picture--This colorful salad is certainly a dazzler. It just looked so wonderful, my fork seemed to dive in on its own, and just kept diving until the dish was devoured!
I say this low-glycemic and gluten-free salad is "perfect" because it is, unarguably, without fault. Steamed kale is a superfood among superfoods (one cup of kale contains just 36.4 calories, but provides 192.4% of the daily value for vitamin A, and 88.8% of the daily value for vitamin C). Kale is also currently in season.
Dried cranberries and cherry tomatoes offer sensual texture, Omegas 3 and 6 fatty acids, and other essential antioxidants, while the almonds offer protein, monounsaturated "good" fat, and can lower your chance for heart attack. In fact, just like the kale, the almonds in this ideal little salad guard against cancer, offer an impressive serving of antioxidants, calcium, folic acid and more magnesium than oatmeal or even spinach. The dressing is so simple and easy--everyone has the ingredients on hand. And, it is delicious, gorgeous, colorful and kid-friendly. You have no excuse--make this salad today!

1 bunch steamed kale, finely chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup almonds, slivered
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Separate kale stalks and steam briefly until wilted yet tender-crisp. Chop finely and place in a large bowl. Add tomatoes, dried cranberries and almonds. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over salad, toss gently, and serve. Serves 4 as a side dish, or 2 as an entree.

Food Fact! Kale is a leafy green vegetable that belongs to the Brassica family, a group of vegetables including cabbage, collards and Brussels sprouts. Kale offers more nutritional value for fewer calories than almost any other food, and is in season from the middle of Winter through early Spring, although it can be found in the produce department year-round. The glucosinolates in kale have been found to decrease the risk of a wide variety of cancers, including breast and ovarian cancers, and activate detoxifying enzymes in the liver that help neutralize potentially carcinogenic substances, making it a wonderful choice for detoxification. One cup of kale also supplies 93.6 mg of calcium and is an impressive source of folic acid, making it an ideal staple for pregnant and lactating women.

Need a New Electric Range? Enter Samsung's Christmas Cookie Contest!

If you have children–or if you were ever a child yourself, and I’m guessing you were–you have a favorite family Christmas cookie recipe. (We love gingerbread people!) Perhaps your mom or Grandma used to whip up some culinary wonder with brown sugar, chocolate, or a beautiful mountain of icing?

Even if, for some crazy reason, you don’t have a favorite cookie, sit down with your kids and have fun devising the ultimate cookie, based on your kids’ ideas and favorite flavors, shapes and textures. Bust out that reindeer apron you received last year at the office gift exchange, and let’s get baking!

AllRecipes.com is hunting down the best Christmas Cookie recipe, and they’re offering a Samsung Electric Range Oven and three Samsung Digital DVD Camcorders to get it. Hey, even if you don’t win a prize from Samsung, you may even win $100 cash just for voting on the final four!
Low on cash? See what you can make from the ingredients already in your home. Not only will you wind up with some tasty treats (or you can send them to your children’s classroom holiday parties, to church, or bring them to work), but you’ll also learn about your kids:

• Do they follow directions, or prefer to make it up as they go?
• Is one a neat freak, cleaning up after every granule of sugar, while the other instigates a flour fight?
• Are they willing to explore ways to make the recipe healthier?
• What about mixing and combining decorative colors and designs–is your child the consummate perfectionist or the free spirit?
• Or simply hungry for sweet treats?
  
  
  Take a picture of the most fabulous of your creations and enter the contest here. Good luck and happy baking!

Roasted Edamame Salad

I know there are parts of this country hidden below a thick layer of powdery, white snow. I know there are men and women in quaint little towns defrosting windows, picking icy door locks and driving in toasty gloves until the car interior warms sufficiently. Aah, envy is my name. Here in Southern California, it's balmy and warm, day after day. It's mid-November for the love of Pete! When will a chill blow our way? I put on long pants and sweaters every morning, hoping that the early chill will last past 9 a.m. It doesn't.

So, to bridge my desire for snowy pines in the L.L. Bean catalog, with my reality of the same 75 degrees under the same cloud-free sky, day after day after day after day... I've decided to roast my salad. Delicious! Thank you to my husband for the idea and Alton Brown for the inspiration. (Yes, I count my blessings for living in such a beautiful place. I chose it, and continue to choose it. Variety is, however, the spice of life. And I'm Canadian, that should say enough.)

12 ounces shelled edamame, steamed
1/2 cup corn kernels
1/4 cup scallion, finely diced
1 cup sweet red pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon dried basil
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place all ingredients into a 13 by 9 metal pan and stir to combine. Place on the middle rack of the oven and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, just until the edamame begins to brown. Remove from the oven and place in the refrigerator until completely cool, approximately 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, as desired. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Serves 4.

Food Fact! Edamame is just a fancy name for boiled green soybeans in salt water. In East Asia, the soybean has been used for over two thousand years as a major source of protein. Edamame offers a whopping 9 grams in a half-cup serving, about the same amount you'll find in 4 slices of whole-wheat bread or 4 cups of steamed zucchini!
Edamame beans also contain omega-3 fatty acids, and are an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin B and calcium.

Arugula Salad with Ginger-Thyme Vinaigrette

When I was very young, my neighbor Sophia and I would play together for hours and hours in the woods behind our homes, conjuring stories of make-believe, or giggling over dolls and books. At dinnertime, I was often invited to eat with her family. Her first generation Greek parents opened me to a wonderful new world of food, language and music; they were generous with love for their children and treated me much as their own. This recipe is a celebration of that family, along with a cunning addition of arugula to round out my salute to the Mediterranean. Opa!

1 teaspoon organic extra virgin olive oil
1 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 pound sugar snap peas, cleaned and trimmed
1 bunch arugula (1/2 pound), cleaned and trimmed
1/2 pound carrots, julienned
1/4 cup sherry cooking wine
1 1/2 cups water

Dressing ingredients
1/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons Apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon fresh minced thyme
1/4 teaspoon fresh minced garlic

Place all dressing ingredients in blender, purée for 1 minute, then set aside. Place 1 teaspoon olive oil in large skillet over high heat. Add mushrooms and sauté until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
While mushrooms are cooking, heat water in a saucepan. When water boils, place sugar snap peas in steamer basket, cover, steam 2–3 minutes until peas are bright green. Drain well and chill peas quickly in ice water. Drain again.
Place arugula, squash, red bell pepper and peas in a large bowl, toss with dressing. Divide salad onto 4 plates. When mushrooms are golden, deglaze pan by adding the sherry, cook until all liquid evaporates. Place mushrooms on top of salad and serve. Serves 4.

Food Fact! Apple cider vinegar has been used for centuries as both food and medicine. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine used vinegar and vinegar mixed with honey as an energizing tonic and a healing elixir in 400BC. Be sure to select apple cider vinegar made from cold pressed, organically grown whole apples, in which no chemicals or preservatives have been added, which contains the "mother of vinegar", and is not pasteurized. (The "mother of vinegar" is a natural gelatinous substance formed during the last fermentation step.)
Resulting from the fermentation of apple juice to hard apple cider, followed by a second fermentation to apple cider vinegar, this natural product retains all the nutritional goodness of the apples from which it was made plus it is fortified with the extra acids and enzymes produced during the two fermentation steps. The health benefits of apple cider vinegar have been promoted by many well-known authors such as Dr. D.C. Jarvis, Dr. Paul C. Bragg and Dr. Patricia Bragg.

Mushroom, Jarlsberg and Spinach Salad

Apparently, today is National Bring Your Salad To Work Day. The press release received by food writers far and wide declared, "women across America are invited to bring their salads to work in an effort to eat better and feel more energized throughout the workday.” The invitation--which excludes male salad eaters in the workplace--was extended by Working Mother magazine and Kraft Salad Dressings. I chuckled when Nancy Nichols at Sidedish asked, “Forgive a moment of naivety: Can anyone declare a national day?" She also points out that while Kraft and Working Mother request we set aside “a day to set aside to embrace healthful eating in the workplace”, salads do not necessarily equate to healthful eating; "Have you really looked at how many grams of fat and calories can hide under the name of salad?" Nichols asks.

As a consumer, I ask that you ponder the merits of Kraft salad dressings, which include ingredients such as modified food starch, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and propylene glycol---a chemical used in tobacco products, sexual lubricants and as the killing and preserving agent used to capture ground beetles.
So please, allow me to extend an invitation of my own. This recipe is an alternative to your typical green salad, "embraces healthy eating", and offers enough fat and calories to satisfy as a stand-alone entree. In my experience as a food provider, it is also a hit with males.

1 ½ cup mushrooms, sliced
1/4 pound Jarlsberg cheese, shredded
1/2 cup minced spinach
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
4 large red lettuce leaves
Lemon slices, for garnish

Toss the mushrooms, cheese, spinach, lemon juice, and oil together. Season with salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste. Serve each portion on a red lettuce leaf and garnish with a lemon slice. Serves 4.
Note: Dressing should be added to salad no longer than 1/2 hour before serving, so that the mushrooms retain their best color and texture. If you do have leftovers the next day, try making a quick tartine, laying salad over a large slice of French or sourdough bread and warming in a toaster oven until cheese is melted. Yum!

Food Fact! Everything old is new again. According to Wikipedia, the history of this cheese can be traced back to the middle 1850s. Its creator, Anders Larsen Bakke (1815–1899), was a local farmer/entrepreneur and a pioneer in Norway's dairy industry. He produced the cheese in the Våle village in Vestfold county, some 80 km south of Oslo, and the cheese came to be named "Jarlsberg" because "Jarlsberg & Larviks Amt" was the name of the county until 1918, when it was renamed with its old name "Vestfold". Interestingly, production was discontinued in the early 1900s, and the cheese was only re-invented by professor Ola Martin Ystgaard of the Agricultural University of Norway in the late 1950s. Jarlsberg cheese is a firm, light gold Norwegian cow's milk cheese with holes similar to Swiss cheese. Mild, buttery and slightly sweet, Jarlsberg has a yellow-wax rind and a semi-firm yellow interior.

Marinated Fiddlehead Salad

Last call for fiddleheads! A Springtime delicacy in New England, I've been curious to try fiddlesheads since our visit to Maine last Fall. They weren't in season then, yet Mainers with their inherent regional pride happily share as much information about the quirky little veg as they will lobster.
Appearing only on menus and in markets from May through early July, fiddleheads (aka: fiddlehead fern, ostrich fern, pohole) are deep green, young fern fronds that have not yet opened and taste somewhat like asparagus or okra. In fact, there is but a two-week window during which they must be picked before the fern unfurls. Named for their appearance, which resembles the scroll at the head or top of a fiddle, the ostrish fern species produces the edible shoots. Fiddleheads can be consumed raw or cooked. I tried them both ways; freshly washed and raw, the flavor greatly resembled raw asparagus. Steamed, lightly salted and served with butter, they were pronounced, "too weird" by my husband and toddler, which I find amusing. They both seemed to enjoy their share of lobster while we were in Maine; you would be hard-pressed to convince me that eating lobster (a member of the insect family) is not "weirder" than eating a green vegetable of any species.

This is an edited version of a recipe which appeared on PBS Maine's What’s for Suppah:

2 cups small cauliflower flowerets
10 to 14 ounces fiddleheads
1 cup carrots,thinly sliced
1 cup red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 small onion, sliced into rings
1 eight ounce can black olives, cut into halves
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 ½ tablespoons cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons canola oil
pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon dried Italian mixed herbs
freshly ground pepper and salt

Blanch the cauliflower, fiddleheads, carrots, red pepper and onion in boiling water until crisp yet tender, then drain and plunge into cold water. Drain the vegetables, blot with paper towels and place in a large bowl.
Prepare the marinade by whisking together the vinegars, olive oil, sugar and herbs. Add the olives and the fiddleheads to the vegetables, then gently stir in the marinade. Cover the chill for at least four to 24 hours. Makes 8 servings.

Food Fact: According to Bulletin #4198 from the University of Maine, the tender little rolls of fern should be harvested almost as soon as they appear within an inch or two of the ground. The little brown scales must be carefully brushed out and removed. Wash and cook the “heads” in a small amount of lightly salted boiling water for ten minutes, or steam for 20 minutes. (The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has investigated a number of outbreaks of food-borne illness associated with fiddleheads; Therefore, cook fiddleheads thoroughly before eating--boil them for at least 10 minutes). Serve at once with melted butter; The quicker they are eaten, the more delicate their flavor. Cooked, chilled fiddleheads can be also served as a salad with an onion and vinegar dressing.

Japanese Cucumber Salad

Not many North Americans can claim that sushi sustained them while on a meager student budget (Japanese top ramen is more iconic student fare.) When I was studying graphic design in the mid-90s in Vancouver, Canada, the city was blessed with an abundance of affordable sushi; Unlike other Canadian cities dotted with donut shops, Vancouver is so flush with fish that you can count on at least one sushi bar at every corner. Needless to say, I also adopted a great affection for "sunomono" style salads made with rice vinegar. This dish is an excellent version, certain to please a crowd at summer picnics and potlucks. And, unlike ubiquitous mayonnaise-based potato or macaroni salad, this one only gets better over time. I like to make it in the morning after breakfast--By the time we arrive for an afternoon gathering, the salad's flavor is at its peak.

¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 large cucumber
½ small red onion thinly sliced
sea salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ sweet bell pepper diced
1 carrot, julienned (Learn about making julienne cuts in my How-To Guide!)

Combine rice vinegar and sugar in a medium bowl, mix well. Cut cucumber in half lengthwise, scrape out and discard seeds. Cut into thin slices and place in bowl with vinegar mixture. Dice pepper, slice onion and add to vinegar mixture and cucumbers. Salt to taste. Toss salad lightly, and cover and refrigerate up to 8 hours. Julienne carrots for garnish just before serving.
Serves 4.

Food Fact! Japanese rice vinegar is made from fermented rice and is very mild and mellow, ranging in color from pale yellow to colorless. Awasezu or seasoned rice vinegar is made by adding sake, salt and sugar and is typically used for making sushi or sunomono.

Three Pepper Salad

This fresh, inspiring salad is an unusual fusion of flavors. Rice vinegar and sesame oil is unexpectedly paired with Mediterranean staples of fresh basil and goat cheese. I found a beautiful organic goat cheese with roasted portobello mushrooms at my local Mother's Market, but I've located a few nice ones for you, which are available through my Amazon store.
To be honest, I had misgivings about mixing these flavors, particularly after so many julienne cuts (although mine are a little wide here.) There was no need for worry---this recipe is a delight. While the recommended refrigeration time is 1 hour, I stored our unused portion in an airtight container, and the next day at lunch the flavors practically sung from my plate. I was tempted to lay it across a slice of lightly-oiled sourdough and pop it in the oven for a quick tartine.

1 red sweet pepper
1 yellow sweet pepper
1 orange sweet pepper
1 small sweet onion (Vidalia or Maui)
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
Sea salt, coarse
Black pepper, freshly ground
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/4 cup crumbled goat cheese (Try either a feta or chevre)

Julienne all sweet peppers and the onion place in a large bowl (See my How-To Guide for how to cut julienne.) Add basil. Sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Add rice vinegar and sesame oil, stirring to mix well.
Cover and refrigerate approximately 1 hour before serving. To serve, toss salad again and sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese. Makes 6 servings.

Food Fact! In the U.S., the term "bell pepper" or "pepper" or "capsicum" is often used for any of the large, bell-shaped capsicum fruits, regardless of their color. Cultivars of the plant produce peppercorns which develop into fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, green and orange. Because they are unripe, green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than yellow, orange, purple or red peppers. Other sweet pepper varieties include cachucha, European sweet, bull horn (thin, curved and green); Cubanelle (long, tapered, yellow to red); and sweet banana pepper (long, yellow, banana-shaped).

When selecting, skin should be firm without any wrinkles, the stem fresh and green, and they should feel heavy for their size. Unwashed bell peppers stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator will stay fresh for about a week.

Two-Bean Salad with Tarragon Dressing

This recipe was created by Ann Gentry in honor of Earth Day. Gentry owns Real Food Daily restaurants in Los Angeles. My family has a bittersweet love of Real Food Daily; Its all-vegan menu is broad and interesting enough to please even the most stalwart non-vegan dragged there by some plant-eating friend. The first time I went with my husband, I was pregnant with my son Joseph, and I startled our waiter with how many menu items I (happily) consumed, finishing with one of their superb desserts. At later visits, I began to note that Real Food Daily is not a place to bring children (it's loud and tight and the staff don't seem to welcome them) and there is always, always a long wait for a table (not good with a toddler!) So, I love Real Food Daily from a distance.

This recipe's lovely dressing has just enough sweetness and tang.

Salad
1/2 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (2 cups)
1 15 oz. can chick peas, rinsed and drained
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 6 oz. can artichoke hearts, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/4 cup sliced red onions
1/4 cup finely chopped Italian parsley

Steam the green beans until tender-crisp, then cool. Toss with all other ingredients.

For the Tarragon Dressing, in a blender or food processor, mix:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

With the machine running, gradually add:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh tarragon

Pour over salad, toss to coat and serve.

Food Fact! The English word "tarragon" originates from the French word estragon or "little dragon," which is derived from the Arabic tarkhun. Tarragon is the slender dark-green leaves of the herb Artemisia dracunculus. With a pleasant anise-like flavor and aroma, tarragon is one of the four fines herbes of French cooking, and particularly suitable for chicken, fish and egg dishes, and one of the main components of Bearnaise sauce.

Ribboned Zucchini Salad

This attractive salad is delicious in its simplicity. For months, we have eaten courgettes (zucchini) 4-5 times a week, so I must get this recipe online before we tire ourselves of this versatile Italian squash! We use it in salads, of course, but we have also adapted the concept of "ribboning" as a low-glycemic (and low-calorie) pasta alternative. What makes this recipe even more alluring--particularly at the onset of warmer weather--is that steaming is unnecessary. Simply salting the zucchini tenderizes them for this dish.

Cut 2 lb. of trimmed zucchini length-wise into 1/8-inch-thick slices with a slicer and transfer to a colander set over a bowl. (See a video of how to ribbon zucchini in my How-to Guide.) Sprinkle zucchini with 1 teaspoon salt and toss to coat. Let stand for 5 minutes, then rinse under cold running water. Transfer zucchini to a clean towel and gently roll it up to absorb excess water.

Toss together the following, then add the zucchini:
3 oz. frisée salad greens (4 cups loosely packed)
1/2 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (or cilantro)
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, torn in to small pieces
12 kalamata olives, pitted and thinly sliced
1 small red onion, halved length-wise and thinly sliced cross-wise

Last, let's dress those veggies! Whisk together:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely-grated fresh lemon zest
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Food Fact! Zucchini is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family, along with cantaloupe and watermelon. come in many different varieties. It is reported to be an excellent source of manganese and vitamin C, and a very good source of magnesium, Vitamin A, potassium, folate, fiber,phosphorous and copper. The antioxidants vitamin C and beta-carotene also have anti-inflammatory properties that make them helpful for conditions like asthma, osteoarthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis, where inflammation plays a big role. The copper found in summer squash is also helpful for reducing the painful symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis.