gluten-free dairy-free tahini chicken and roasted vegetables

This comes by way of Nadiya Hussain, a famous British cook and TV cooking show host, but I've changed it a bit. She used a whole chicken, but I used breasts, which was easier for me. 

You'll need:

• one chicken breast for each person
• 1 big aubergine/eggplant
• 2 red onions, or white if that's what you've got
• garlic cloves, as many as you want (we want a lot)
• oil (I used olive)
• 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced, or lemon juice
• cumin powder
• turmeric powder
• coriander powder
• paprika powder
• salt and pepper
• tahini
• cilantro/coriander leaves
• optional: chili oil

Do this:

Overnight, marinate the chicken with oil and all the seasonings (to taste), along with chopped garlic and put it in the fridge.

In an oven-proof baking pan, add the aubergine, chickpeas, oil, salt and pepper, and lemon slices or lemon juice. Mix all together with your hands. 

Top with the marinated chicken and juices from the bag.

Roast at 180 C for 45 minutes or so, then let it rest and top with tahini, cilantro leaves, and maybe some chili oil if you want it. 

I served mine over rice and everybody enjoyed it. 

Chicken blessings! 

gluten-free dairy-free kedgeree

 

Every time we're in the UK I try to make kedgeree as often as possible since I have easy access to Sainsbury's and therefore easy access to smoked mackerel. (You could use smoked haddock if you like.) The Hairy Bikers' recipe is the one I've been using, with my own spins to make it edible for me and my dietary needs. Here's my take (and I try to use as few pots and utensils as possible).

You'll need: 

• 475 g smoked mackerel 
• 2 bay leaves (my in-laws have a tree! lucky me!)
• 200 g rinsed and drained basmati rice
• 4 eggs, boiled, peeled, and cut into fourths lengthwise
• 100 g frozen peas
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• splashes of non-dairy butter and some neutral-flavored oil
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 3 tablespoons non-dairy heavy cream (I use soy), or plain soy yogurt
• freshly-ground black pepper
• flat-leaf parsley
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Do this: 

Place the fish skin side up in a big pan with the bay leaves and 500 ml of water. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Pull the fish out with tongs, take the skin off, and shred the fish. Set aside. Pour the fish broth into a bowl and set aside. Throw away the bay leaves.

In the same pan, add your butter and oil and saute the chopped onion. When it's soft, add in the curry powder and peas. Then pour the fish broth in, stir in the rice, cover, and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit, covered, for about 5 minutes more. 

Add in the parsley (save a bit for garnishing at the end), cream, lemon juice, and fresh black pepper. Stir in the flaked fish. 

Put the egg wedges on top, turn the heat on low, cover, and let it all steam up together a few minutes. 

Garnish with the extra parsley and extra black pepper...

And enjoy the whole pan by yourself! (I wish.)

Serves 6. 

gluten-free dairy-free sweet potato bacon and miso soup

 

I just pulled from a few different recipes and added my own hot takes, so here's a beautiful bowl of hot flavorful soup for you.

You'll need:

• chopped uncooked bacon
• extra bacon fat, or oil or dairy-free butter
• chopped garlic chives ("nira" in Japanese)
• one onion, chopped
• garlic, minced
• sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped small
• white potatoes, peeled and chopped small
• salt 
• pepper
• water
• white miso paste
• veggie bouillon 
• fresh or dried chopped parsley
• soy milk (or dairy-free milk of choice)

Do this:

Saute chopped bacon, garlic chives, onion, garlic, sweet potatoes, and white potatoes in bacon fat. 

Add water, salt and pepper, bouillon, parsley. After it's simmered a bit and the potatoes are soft, add miso and soy milk. Blitz it all up with a handheld blender if you have one, or a regular blender if you don't.

Serve topped with extra chopped cooked bacon and chopped garlic chives. 

Nice and warming and filling. Mmmmm. Good late-winter/early-spring fare.

gluten-free tofu burgers

 

This was something I pretty much made up tonight, and they were a big hit with rice and miso soup.

You'll need:

• 3 packs hard tofu, squished and drained at least 30 minutes between flat heavy objects
• 2 eggs
• rice flour for binding
• dried parsley
• salt
• pepper
• sesame oil
• nutritional yeast
• 1 sachet veggie bouillon
• garlic powder
• 1 onion, chopped finely and sauteed in oil (I used a red onion)

Do this: 

After your tofu is drained and squished and as dry as possible, put it into a food processor with everything except the onion. 

Whizz it up. 

Stir in the onion then drop by spoonfuls on to a hot oiled griddle. Brown on each side. 

Along with rice and miso soup, I didn't need any extra condiment on these guys. Very very tasty! 

gluten-free dairy-free Christmas salad with roasted vegetables and ham and leftovers made into soup

Some very sweet friends invited us for Christmas lunch this past Christmas (gosh, many weeks ago now), so I made a lighter supper for us to have later. 

On Christmas Eve, I roasted sliced sweet potatoes, tomatoes, walnuts, kabocha pumpkin, carrots, and red onions. 

I made a dressing, and I chopped ham and green onions. I washed an apple.

On Christmas night, all I had to do was rewarm the roasted veg in the microwave, rip up some lettuce, slice an apple, shake up the dressing, and put everything on the table for everyone to assemble themselves (along with the ham, green onions, apple, and roasted/toasted walnuts). I also warmed up some bread, but we honestly didn't need it! 

I borrowed the recipe from here. 

(Scroll down to see how I made the leftovers into soup on Boxing Day!)

For the salad, you'll need:

• chopped ham
• chopped green onions
• sliced apple
• roasted sweet potatoes
• roasted tomatoes
• roasted kabocha pumpkin
• roasted red onion
• roasted carrots
• lettuce
• roasted walnuts

For the dressing, mix together: 

• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey

For the soup the next day:

• leftover roasted red onion
• leftover roasted kabocha pumpkin
• leftover roasted sweet potatoes
• leftover roasted tomatoes
• leftover roasted carrots
• chopped green onions
• chopped ham
• 1 can chickpeas plus brine
• bacon, chopped
• salt
• pepper
• fresh or dried parsley
• powdered garlic
• veg buollion
• cayenne pepper
• fried onions for topping (I buy gluten-free)

Do this:

Chop and brown the bacon in a stock pot. Throw in all the leftovers except the ham. Add one can of chickpeas plus brine. Add salt, pepper, parsley, powdered garlic, veg boullion, cayenne pepper.

Add water.

Simmer.

Blend. 

Add ham and reheat the soup as needed.

Serve and top with crunchy fried onions.

 

gluten-free dairy-free potato leek bacon soup

This is one of our favorites, and a Mamatouille original, made for my dietary needs. It's scrumptious.

HI MOM! [Added by one Bean when my back was turned.]

You'll need:

• 10 small Japanese potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 2 or 3 leeks, washed and chopped
• 7 or 8 pieces of bacon, chopped
• 7 cloves garlic, minced
• about 5 cups water
• 2 sachets of veggie bouillon powder
• bacon fat
• salt, pepper, and dried or fresh parsley

For the roux:

• 3 tablespoons dairy-free butter or margarine
• 3 tablespoons rice flour or gluten-free flour of choice
• 3 cups soy milk or other dairy-free milk

Do this:

In a large stock pot, saute the bacon in the bacon fat and then add the potatoes, leeks, garlic, water, veggie bouillon, salt, pepper, and parsley. Simmer till the potatoes and leeks are tender.

At the same time, in a separate smaller pot, melt the margarine and whisk in the flour. When it's lump-free, slooooowly add your milk and continue whisking and bubbling until the roux is creamy and thickened.

Once your potatoes are soft, slowly add the roux to the big stock pot. 

Heat it all up together and enjoy with some gusto. 

gluten-free dairy-free sausage sweet potato apple onion casserole

For a wedding present two of my favorite professors from college gave us a copy of the More-with-Less Cookbook, a Mennonite cookbook that is much beloved and much used for the past 23 years in our household. 

I even got my in-laws this book years ago after using it first for a few years myself and knowing that it was worth it.

I've slightly adapted this casserole recipe from the book.

You'll need:

• about 400 g sausage, bulk or links (if links, then chop into small pieces), then browned in a pan
• about 7 or 8 small Japanese sweet potatoes, washed, leaving peel on, slice, and steam
• 2 Japanese apples, peeled and sliced
• 1 red onion, sliced thinly
• 3/4 cup warm water 
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice flour, or other gluten-free flour
• shakes of cinnamon
• salt and pepper to taste
• few shakes of sage

Do this:

In the pan that you browned the sausage in, remove the sausage, then layer in steamed sweet potatoes, apples, onions, and sausage. I can get two layers in mine.

Mix the warm water, sugar, flour, cinnamon, sage, salt, and pepper, then pour over. 

Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes at 170 C/350 F.

Uncover and bake 10 minutes more. 

Itadakimasu! 

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gluten-free dairy-free apple-rhubarb crumble cheesecake

 

The base cheesecake underneath all this luscious topping is from a Mamatouille recipe here, which is a vegan and dairy-free, gluten-free amazing cheesecake. 

After you've made your cheesecake and chilled it, here's the apple-rhubarb topping that you make and then chill before spreading over the cheesecake. 

For the apple-rhubarb topping, you'll need:

• 3 or 4 apples, peeled and chopped
• a few sticks of rhubarb, chopped
• sugar to taste
• cinnamon
• ginger powder

Do this: 

Simmer the apples and rhubarb with a little bit of water, then add sugar, cinnamon, and ginger powder to taste. Cook till thick, then chill in a jar in the fridge.

For the crumble topping, you'll need:

• rice flour
• almond flour
• chopped walnuts
• brown sugar
• cinnamon
• ginger powder
• dairy-free margarine

Do this:

Stir the rice flour, almond flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger powder together. With your hands, work in the margarine till it's a nice consistency, then stir in the chopped walnuts. 

Bake at 170 C/350 F till browned, about 10-12 minutes. Cool. 

For the whipped cream topping, you'll need:

• heavy soy cream
• powdered sugar
• vanilla

Do this: 

Beat till fluffy. 

Assemble it all:

1. Your baked cheesecake

2. Spread on the apple-rhubarb topping, leaving some space on the edges

3. Sprinkle with the crumble topping

4. Pipe the whipped cream around the edges

And then enjoy that sucker! It's extremely filling and magically delicious.

easy potato salad with garlic chives

 

I had leftover "baked" potatoes in their jackets from the microwave, cold in the fridge and uneaten, so I just riffed from there...

You'll need:

• cooked potatoes in their jackets (with peels on), cooled, chopped
• nira (garlic chives), chopped
• mayo
• regular yellow mustard
• Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper
• paprika
• dried or fresh parsley

Do this:

Mix it all together and have with a sausage smothered in sauerkraut. 

gluten-free dairy-free pasta e ceci (pasta with chickpeas)

I heavily adapted this recipe from The Mediterranean Dish, but of course there were items I can't get here in Japan and that I can't eat anyway. So here's my version of pasta e ceci (pasta with chickpeas).

Chickpeas, please! Love 'em.

You'll need:

• about 300 g gluten-free pasta
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat
• olive oil
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• tomato paste
• bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• cayenne pepper
• paprika
• oregano
• mixed Italian herbs
• dried parsley
• 2 cans chickpeas (do not drain)
• 2 carrots, finely diced or grated
• 1 stick celery, finely diced
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• as many garlic cloves as you like, minced
• 2 cups veggie broth

Do this:

Saute the veg in the olive oil and bacon fat.

Stir in the chickpeas with their liquid, the tomatoes, and the spices. 

Add in the veggie broth, and simmer. 

Cook the pasta separately, then add it all together and drizzle with some more olive oil if you like. 

Buon Appetito! 

gluten-free dairy-free blueberry cranberry oatmeal muffins with cinnamon streussel topping

These come by way of my More with Less cookbook, but I had to change it a lot for my dietary needs. They came out great though. 

Here's what I did.

You'll need:

• 1 cup rice flour
• 1 cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 1 tablespoon katakuriko potato starch (or cornstarch)
• 2 cups oats
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons oil
• 2 cups milk (I use soy)
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dried blueberries
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
• for the topping: 4 tablespoons brown sugar, 4 teaspoons rice flour, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 2 teaspoons melted dairy-free margarine

Do this:

In a big bowl, mix the rice flour, almond flour, starch, xanthan gum, oats, salt, and baking powder. 

Add in the oil, dried fruit, eggs, and milk.

Spoon into muffin cups for baking.

In a small separate bowl, smush the topping ingredients together and then sprinkle on top of the muffins. 

Bake at 180 C/360 F for about 15-20 minutes. 

Eat for breakfast on a snowy morning with a hot hot hot cuppa.