As I mentioned previously, I’m going to be baking with CUP4CUP and Bob Mill’s GF Flour for a little while. I want to see how my past recipes work with these different flours. I also want to share some recipes that don’t require a lot of gluten free flours.

Yes, I will continue coming up with recipes that use sorghum, quinoa and millet flours but sometimes a person doesn’t want to have to weigh a ton of flours, or dig out a lot of measuring cups. I really want to make gluten free baking a little bit easier for the month. Just a bit simpler!

Today I’m sharing a gluten free brown sugar pecan loaf and next will be a gluten free double chocolate chip coffee loaf. I also used CUP4CUP with both of these loaves and I’ve been overwhelmed with the excellent results!

Gluten Free Brown Sugar Pecan Loaf

2 large eggs

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 cup pecan halves

1 1/4 cup CUP4CUP gf flour

1 tsp vanilla paste

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1//2 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup ground pecans for topping.

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Line the bottom and sides of a loaf pan with parchment paper.
• In stand mixer cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg is added.
• In a small bowl whisk the CUP4CUP flour, cloves, cinnamon and baking powder.
• Add dry ingredients alternating with the milk and vanilla.
• Beat for a couple of minutes until mixture is smooth.
• Fold in the pecans.
• Pour the batter into the loaf pan and top with the ground pecans.  Bake for 45-55 minutes. Check the loaf with a long toothpick to assure middle of loaf is done.
• Let loaf cool in pan before removing.

Calgary is starting to warm up! During the weekends there is a flurry of yard work being done and in the evenings the aroma of BBQ’s can be deliciously over-whelming.

I love this time of year because I can set up my patio; placing soft cushions on the chairs, laying placemats on the table and lighting a fire. After a long winter it’s so lovely to make a cup of tea, grab a few books and magazines, and sit outside for hours. I love listening to the birds chirping, hearing the neighborhood kids playing in the ravine, enjoying the soft spring breeze and simply sitting outside.

It’s the beginning of backyard barbecue parties! Where you gather your close friends and family on the patio while enjoying some good food, a bottle of wine and friendship. Yep, it is the start of my season!

Our cat Stewart also loves this time of the year.

With barbecuing season underway, it’s time to get creative with side-dishes to serve with that steak, salmon or burger.

Lately I have been playing around with Quinoa. Quinoa is a great source of Protein, Calcium, Iron, Vitamin B and Folate. It really is an important staple that should be carried in all pantries and it easily replaces rice as a side dish. What I also like about Quinoa is that it can be used cold or hot- making it a great addition to salads and cooked vegetables.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy side dish- this Sauteed Quinoa is delicious! Sauteeing a large amount of mushrooms adds a real depth of flavor. It can be adapted to whatever veggies you have in your fridge.

Mushroom Veggie Quinoa

1 cup uncooked quinoa

1/2 large pkg of sliced mushrooms, finely chopped

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 onion, chopped

1 tsp garlic

1 red chili pepper, finely chopped

1 yellow pepper, chopped

1 cup fresh spinach

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp tumeric

Instructions:

• In a medium pot add 2 cups water and the quinoa. Heat til it boils. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook until water is absorbed. About 15 minutes.
• In a cast iron frying pan saute mushrooms in olive oil. Add chopped onions and garlic and saute until mushrooms are golden.
• Continue on low heat, add chopped chili pepper and yellow pepper.
• Add spinach, cumin and turmeric to veggie mixture. Stirring while sauteing all ingredients.
• Cook until veggies are tender.
• Top veggies with the cooked Quinoa and stir to combine.
• Serve warm.

I recently had a death in my extended family. My dear Uncle Jimmy passed away in Ponoka, Alberta at the age of 80. To some, this seems like he lived a very long life, but to his family it was way too short.

I grew up in rural Alberta and my childhood was spent with many cousins, aunts and uncles. Every Sunday I was at Grandma and Grandpa’s house at the farm eating perogies, baked turkeys, cookies, fresh cinnamon buns, sauerkraut and many other platters of food.
When my husband first attended a Durstling gathering he was shocked at the amount of food displayed. I still remember what he said to me after we went home.

“Most people stop eating when the food is gone, there, the food is never gone. If Grandma isn’t asking someone to grab another ice cream bucket of cookies out of the freezer, an aunt is bringing a huge lasagna into the house.”

Yes.

There was always a lot of food. But I loved it, loved sitting by Grandpa in the living room, loved playing outside with my cousins, and loved Grandma’s hugs. But time goes by, we all grew up and got married. Some stayed in the area, others moved away. You try to stay in contact, and attend various family reunions and birthdays through the years but you have your own kids and spend your time with them. I did get a chance to give my Uncle a hug before he passed and for that I am grateful.

Monday was his funeral in Ponoka, and while it was a very sad and teary day, it was also a chance for me to catch up with my extended family. All but one of my cousins attended the funeral so tons of hugs and stories were exchanged. It was bittersweet.

After I spent a little bit of time reminiscing with my family, I really felt the need to make something from my childhood. Do you remember jam cakes? They were the kind of quick sheet cake that we’d have for Sunday lunch. It was a simple cake, but one that I remember well. I had one of my old recipes and thought this would be a good opportunity to try switching out the white flour that I can’t have anymore with the gf flour mix CUP4CUP.

CUP4CUP is a gf flour blend by Thomas Keller, the owner of the restaurant The French Laundry. It’s available at Williams Sonoma throughout Canada and the US.

Gluten Free Old Fashioned Jam Cake

3 large eggs
3/4 cup softened butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup strawberry jam
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups Cup4Cup gf flour

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan with parchment paper.
• In a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping sides of bowl to incorporate all.
• Add jam and mix again.
• In a small bowl, combine the gf flour, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir well.
• Add dry ingredients to egg mixture alternating with the buttermilk.
• Beat until batter is smooth.
• Pour batter into baking pan, and bake for 35 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and cool.

Serve with a dollop of whipped cream & Enjoy!

I’ve been on a waffle kick lately.

Recently I posted the PB & J waffles, also have buttermilk waffles, Double chocolate chip waffles, and salted caramel waffles.

Waffles allows one to get creative. Why do the basic butter and maple syrup when you can expand the layers of flavors and combos?

I’ve also decided to do more recipes using Bob Mill’s All Purpose GF Flour and Thomas Keller’s Cup4Cup GF Flour. Not everyone has jars of all the different gluten free flours available. (Teff flour, Potato Starch, Cornstarch, Potato Flour, Amaranth Flour, Millet Flour, Sorghum Flour, White Rice Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Quinoa Flour, Bean Flour.)

That can be a lot of jars of flours to store, also some of these flours are hard for people to get a hold of. So, I’m going to do some playing around with recipes and post recipes over the next month using Bob Mill’s and Cup4Cup.

I’m also going to be doing a major kitchen renovation this summer. This means I will be without a kitchen for at least 6 weeks. Not looking forward to not having a kitchen but I am really excited for the end result. I figure I’ll do a lot of baking until then, so you’ll be getting cookies, cakes and brownie recipes.

Any requests?

I really enjoyed these pumpkin waffles, the additions of cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamon reminded me of fall and pumpkin pies.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Waffles

1 1/2 cup buttermilk

1 cup pumpkin puree

3 eggs separated (yolks/whites)

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups Bob Mills GF Flour

4 Tbsp brown sugar

1/4 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamon

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

Instructions:

• In a small bowl, whip egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks are formed.
• In a larger bowl, combine buttermilk, pumpkin, egg yolks, oil and vanilla. Beat well with a whisk.
• Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt in a small bowl and whisk until combined.
• Add dry ingredients to buttermilk mixture and whisk until combined and smooth.
• Fold in egg whites.
• Spoon batter onto hot waffle pan.

* This made 6 round waffles.

I served the pumpkin waffles with maple butter and nutmeg whipping cream, here are those instructions.

Maple Butter

 1/2 cup softened butter

3 Tbsp maple syrup

•  In a small bowl, whip both ingredients together with a handheld mixer. Once smooth: place butter in a bowl and either freeze or refrigerator until ready to use. Use a small ice cream scoop to place on cooked waffles.

Nutmeg Whipping Cream

1 cup whipping cream

1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

2 tsp sugar

• In a small bowl, whip up whipping cream until soft peaks are formed. Slowly add sugar and nutmeg.
• Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

Yes! The rain has stopped and the sun is shining in Calgary again. Thank goodness, no more fog! We are back to our clear blue Alberta sky.

You know spring has finally arrived in Calgary when you see dandelions popping up all over. I’m not a fan of dandelions because when I was a kid I was allergic to them. Growing up in rural Alberta our schoolyard would be covered with a field of yellow. I spent many of my spring days as a child inside my school rather than playing with my friends outside.

I’ve outgrown my severe asthmatic reaction to dandelions, but those little yellow flowers can make my nose twitch every once and awhile when I’m out for a walk.

With the promise of warmer days I was off to the Farmers Market. Ours moved last year so it’s now a 30 minute drive for me to get there. I always wonder if it’s worth the drive and time until I walk in and see the stands of fresh produce beckoning me to take them home. I really love it there, I feel healthier just being around all the fresh colorful produce.

My favorite Albertan tomato vendor was back at the market and I instantly knew that I would be taking home a bushel of tomatoes home…. and once I saw them: peppers, and graffiti eggplant as well.

Once I got home with my pesticide/modified free basket of goodies, I knew we would eat a clean, probably Paleo meal for supper. I grilled up a couple of chicken breasts and proceeded to make a gorgeous salad with all my fresh goodies.

When I was diagnosed with Celiac disease I did keep the old standby Kraft dressings in my fridge for about a year. I knew I couldn’t have any so then I made the decision that I wouldn’t have store-bought bottled dressings in my fridge anymore. Only good balsamic vinegar, really good olive oil, fresh lemons, herbs and buttermilk would always be on hand from now on. Perfect ingredients to blend up a quick batch of salad dressing or even just a simple splash of balsamic or lemon on my salad is just fine. Very easy!

Tonight I wanted to play with some salad dressing flavors and decided to blend a couple of different salad dressings. I decided to go with poppyseed and balsamic vinegar. Both are really easy to mix up, especially if you have a food processor. Just add ingredients and press on.

What could be simpler?

Gluten Free Poppy Seed Dressing

1/2 pkg cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup mayo

3 Tbsp white wine vinegar

2  Tbsp canola oil

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp poppyseeds

Instructions:

• Add ingredients (except poppyseeds) to food processor. Process for a couple of minutes until ingredients are smooth. Add poppyseeds and pulse a couple of times.
• Pour into a glass jar and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Gluten Free Balsamic Herb Dressing

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup balsamic Vinegar

1/4 good olive oil

2 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 cup fresh basil and parsley, chopped

Instructions:

• Add all ingredients to the food processor and process for a couple of minutes until dressing is smooth and herbs are finely chopped.
• Pour into a glass jar and store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Look at my cucumbers! They are called”heart cucumbers” I picked them up at the farmers market. Aren’t they adorable?

The weather here in Calgary has been very dreary. We’ve been waking up to fog every morning, fog so thick I can’t even see the house across the street. And it has been cold, we are sweater weather all over again.

We are used to sunny blue skies here in Calgary even when the ground is covered in snow, so fog and consistent rain doesn’t make us too happy here.

This however is a great time to turn the furnace up, light a fire, put on your favorite sweater and adding warm smells of spice and vanilla in the kitchen. My house has had a lot of company lately. No friends, family or extended relatives.

Usually during the day I’m alone. The hubby goes to work, and my youngest son goes off to university. However, he just finished his exams and his summer job has yet to start. The hubby has been taking a few days off here and there to work on house projects and getting his mustang ready for car shows. So I’ve enjoyed the busyness of the house and one of my favorite things to do for my family is to make a large breakfast. I usually do the traditional bacon and eggs but with this gloomy weather I felt like making some yummy waffles.

You’ll notice I have a few recipes for gluten free waffles and pancakes on my blog.

• Gluten Free Salted Caramel, Banana & Toasted Almond Waffles
• Gluten Free Double Chocolate Chip Waffles
• Gluten Free Belgian Waffles
• Gluten Free Buckwheat Pancakes
• Gluten Free Best Buttermilk Pancakes

There’s something about pancakes and waffles that makes me feel like a warm blanket is on my shoulders, like I’m getting a hug from my grandma, like I’m making pancakes again for my little kids. I just like pancakes and waffles! Can’t you tell?

So, how do you switch up waffles and make them more interesting? You add innovative ingredients and toppings! Like peanut butter and jam! Now imagine a warm waffle topped with creamy peanut butter filing and hot strawberry jam on top…. Yep! You want one don’t you?

My recipe for my gluten free buttermilk waffles is already on my blog (link above), but I’ve added ground pecans and some warm strawberry jam to the batter.

* Note: before you get started * - To make these PB & J Waffles, make the peanut butter cream first, then waffles and strawberry jam topping.
Gluten Free PB & J Waffles

3/4 cup potato starch

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup tapioca starch

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1/3 tsp xanthan gum

3 eggs

2 Tbsp canola oil

1 cup buttermilk

Instructions:

• Adding 1/3 cup ground pecans & 1/4 cup strawberry jam(Heated up in microwave for 30 seconds).
• In a large bowl add all dry ingredients, whisking well to incorporate.
• Add ground pecans and stir again.
• Add buttermilk, eggs and oil and whisk, beating until a smooth batter is formed.
• Once smooth, add in strawberry jam and stir.
• Let batter rest for 5 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cream

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

3 Tbsp white sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 cup whipping cream

Instructions:

• In a small saucepan, heating over low-medium heat add peanut butter, sugar and milk. Whisk well. Stirring constantly let mixture cook for a couple of minutes. Your really just heating until mixture is smooth.
• Remove from heat and let cool for 5-10 minutes.
• Once cooled, whip cream for 5 minutes until peaks form. Fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. You’ve now made peanut butter cream. It can be stored in refrigerator until ready to use.

Strawberry Jam Topping

• Heat up 1 cup strawberry jam in a microwave for 1 minute. Stir well until jam is smooth.
• Serve warm when waffles are ready.

To assemble waffles

• Spread a little bit of warm strawberry jam on plate. Place a hot waffle on jam. Top hot waffle with peanut butter cream. Place another waffle on top, a little more peanut butter cream and then pour some hot strawberry jam topping over.
• Enjoy!

* Warning! *
This really does taste like a peanut butter and jam sandwich, it is also really filling so you may not be able to finish it. Really?
Nah….you’ll finish it cause it is so so good!

During the winter season we tend to spend a lot of time inside. As mild as our winter was here in Calgary, it was still winter til the end of March. In fact we got a dump of snow end of March that sent most of us locals out of our mind.

I love living in Calgary and appreciate so many things here, but the weather in March, April and May can be frustrating. We know in places like Vancouver it’s green, lush, and the tulips are blooming. While I was in Toronto they had fruits and vegetables outside in front of grocery stores with potted plants sprouting lush blooms.

Here, it was beige and that can be dull and depressing.

However, last week while taking a walk, I saw green grass blades pushing themselves through the beige dead winter grass. Trees in the ravine are starting to grow leaves.

I think Spring is finally here.

When those sporadic cold days arrive, I throw a warm sweater on, drink a lot of tea and decide what kind of soup I’ll make for supper. Soup warms the soul. Soup doesn’t need to be complicated, it’s not expensive, and acts like a warm blanket.

This is a smooth soup and has a tang because of the apples. Please give it a try and let me know what you think. It would also be a great soup as a starter for dinner. It’s really great with my cheese biscuits or slices of a baguette.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

3 lge shallots, finely chopped

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped

3 pink lady or granny smith apples, peeled and chopped

1 box kitchen basics gf chicken or vegetable broth

3 cups water

1 small (160ml) can premium coconut milk

 Instructions:

• In a large soup pot: saute finely chopped shallots with 1 tbsp canola oil. Once softened add 1 tsp garlic and saute for a few minutes.
• Add butternut squash and apples. Increase heat to low-medium and cook, while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon for 5 minutes.
• Add chicken stock and water on low-medium heat, cook soup for 30-45 minutes.
• Use immersion blender to puree soup till it is a smooth consistency.
• Add small can of coconut milk, turning heat to low and cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve.

Every summer for the past 6 years I’ve taken my three kids (now adults) to Seattle for a vacation. We love it there! It could be the great gluten free food, Pikes Place Market, all the shopping amenities, the ocean, the university district, the markets or mainly because its so beautiful. Its a crazy city to drive in, but we always manage to get where we need to go.

I love their constant focus on local and sustainable goods, thus making the food there fabulous!

Last summer we decided to mainly focus on food. Our goal was to find a lot of great gluten free bakeries,  diners and restaurants. We were not disappointed, in fact, there are so many we ran out of time in only a week.

One of our favorite discoveries is Portage Bay Cafe in the University district. The breakfast choices alone is worth the visit. Gluten free buckwheat pancakes, gluten free french toast (pictured below) and a variety of omelettes.

I absolutely love, love, LOVE  their buckwheat pancakes and haven’t been able to find anything quite as good since. I’ve been playing around with making my own buckwheat pancakes. I’m pretty happy with this version but I’m still going to work on mastering it.

Contrary to the name, buckwheat is not a wheat product, thus making it a safe gluten free flour to use!

Gluten free Buckwheat Pancakes

1 cup buckwheat flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 cup hemp hearts

1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

dash of cinnamon

dash of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp butter, melted

1 1/4 cup milk

1 egg separated ( egg yolk/egg white)

 

Instructions:

• In a small bowl beat egg white until it forms soft peaks.
• Mix buckwheat flour, hemp hearts, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinn and salt in a bowl. Whisk well to incorporate all together.
• In a large bowl whisk vanilla, egg yolk, melted butter and milk together until combined.
• Add dry ingredients into a large bowl of wet ingredients. Once combined, fold in egg whites.
• You have now made buckwheat pancake batter! Next: start the process of cooking your pancakes!

  Enjoy!

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you may have noticed that I was in Toronto a few weeks ago. It’s a city I had gotten to know more and more while my daughter went to school there and, when she decided to make a trip back, I decided that I wanted to as well.

After arriving late Friday night, we made the long drive from the airport into downtown – spotting a promising-looking grocery called Goodbye Gluten on upper Avenue Road. We checked into our hotel, stretched our legs with a walk around the Annex’s Bloor St, and assembled a small midnight picnic of pineapple and sweet potato crackers from the neighborhood grocery store and gluten free cookies from Snakes & Lattes.

Saturday morning we had a late breakfast at one of my favorite Toronto finds, L’Espresso. It’s one of those European kind of places that you can linger over a pot of tea and no one tries to not-so-subtly encourage you to free up your table. They have a variety of gluten free pastry offerings, as well as gluten free bread for paninis.

My daughter wanted to add to her children’s book library, so we headed up to Mount Pleasant Village to one of our favourite children’s book stores, Mabel’s Fables. It’s the cutest little store, and they stock books you just don’t find at the big box stores. We spent hours picking through the shelves and piling up our selections. After my daughter had made arrangements to have her order shipped back to Calgary, we popped across the street to a petite French deli called Thibor’s for a bite of lunch: an omelette for me, butternut squash soup for her, and some multicoloured macarons to share.

Some friends of mine invited me out to dinner that night; knowing my love of Paris, they wanted to take to me a favourite French restaurant of theirs. These kinds of invitations always tend to make me a little nervous, because you never know what may or may not be gluten free friendly, but the menu appeared accommodating. Well, let me tell you, Le Select is a place I know I will make a point of coming back to the next time I visit. Although it isn’t a “gluten free restaurant” exactly, the chef takes such pride and care in making dishes simply, from scratch, without fillers and additives and all of those contaminants that can be so problematic for gluten free diners. He was very accountable for what ingredients went into his dishes. I had the french onion soup, without bread of course, which was wonderfully cheesy and rich, and – for the first time – boeuf bourguignon. (It makes me feel like Julia Child just to say “boeuf bourguignon”!) It was unbelievably delicio

One of the areas in Toronto that I love to go is the Distillery, so on Sunday we went to walk on the cobblestones and peek into the artists’ ateliers and galleries and – a must – stock up on chocolates from Soma Chocolates. Their little chocolate collections are great for putting out for company, and they always have neat bars and assortments.

From there, we made a quick trip to Leslieville to stop at LPK’s Culinary Groove on Queen St East, one of my very first gluten free discoveries in the city. We lucked out: it was waffle day! We also tried a butternut squash and caramelized onion panini and took a peanut butter nanaimo bar to go.

I’m in the middle of renovating my house, and one of the things I wanted to do while I was in Toronto was to look for fixtures and finishing touches that had some character and were a little unique. Monday I managed to find a gorgeous hand-knotted rug and an interesting light fixture, which were both able to be shipped back to Calgary.

I had a late lunch at Fresh on Bloor, a gluten free friendly vegan restaurant.

After a day of shopping, I needed some down time, so I spent a few hours browsing cookbooks and reading in Chapters before a late dinner of smoked bacon pesto pizza on gluten free crust at Hey Lucy, in the Annex.

My last full day in Toronto I had a lot I still wanted to do! Besides doing more shopping for the house (at The Door Store and ELTE) and some personal shopping (on Eglinton and Queen St West), I absolutely had to get back up to that gluten free grocery I had spotted on Avenue Road! Goodbye Gluten had a great assortment of gluten free dry goods, as well as to-go and to-order options. I picked up a few things to try: a roast chicken and vegetable sandwich on honey quinoa bread made in-house; a gingersnap cookie sandwich; a mini carrot cake; a sample of penne with nut-free pesto. I also picked up a mini gluten free creme brulee from the amazing-smelling bakery next door, Pino Bakery, which had many gluten free baked goods and desserts also. It all made for a wonderful noontime picnic in my rental car.

I had time before my flight back to Calgary to stop at L’Espresso to pick up a gf prosciutto sandwich to go. It made for a great lunch on my flight home.

Alyssa and I had a great time in Toronto and I will definitely go back soon for another visit.

On a side note, there are many more bakeries and restaurants in Toronto that I didn’t get a chance to get to on this trip. I was only there for 5 days this time and we were busy every day. One of the places I had hoped to get to was Bunner’s- a gluten free and vegan bakery. So if you are in Toronto before I get back there, please stop in and check them out. I have heard great things!

Salad rolls. I love to order them when I’m at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant here in Calgary. Without the dipping sauce, spring rolls are a great gluten free food. I’ve been, admittedly, intimidated to make them myself because of the rice paper rolls. Not sure why, but they scare me.

Well fear them no more! 2012 is the year that I’m trying new things and stepping outside of my comfort zone. What’s funny for me is after successfully making 2 batches of spring rolls, I don’t really see what all the fuss was about.

When I made salad rolls I didn’t follow any recipe, so I can only give you approximate amounts. Amounts vary in how much vermicelli noodles you put in each roll, on whether you want both fresh basil and mint in your roll, and also how many shrimps or marinated tofu slices you put in each roll. Basically I will give you the ingredients and then its up to you on how much you want of each.

It’s like making tacos for your family, some of you may not like tomatoes, some may not like a lot of meat, and others want a ton of lettuce. You put out all the ingredients and let your family members pick what they would like.

Gluten Free Salad Rolls

Pkg of round rice paper sheets

Package dry rice vermicelli

pound of shrimp, deveined and cooked

1/2 cup fresh mint, finely chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped

gf thai chili sauce

pkg Wholly quacamole

thinly sliced carrots and cucumbers

a small bunch of kale

thinly sliced green onions

marinated and grilled tofu slices for the vegetarians/vegans in your family

Instructions:

• Follow manufacturer instructions for rice vermicelli. Rinse under cold water, drain well and set aside in medium bowl.
• Have all ingredients, chopped and ready in bowls for assembly of rice paper rolls. This makes the whole process much easier, once you start.

• Fill kettle with water and boil.
• Add water to a large shallow dish (big enough for rice papers).
• Working with 1 sheet of rice paper at a time, dip the rice paper into the hot water for a few seconds until paper is pliable. Drain water off paper well.
• Lay rice paper onto a dry surface and start adding your toppings.
• I start by adding a small amount of quacamole and thai chili sauce to the wrapper.
• Top with a small amount of vermicelli noodles and then a piece of kale, sliced carrots, cucumbers and onion.

• Add a small amount of mint and basil onto mixture.
• Top mixture with either 3 shrimps or a couple of slices of tofu.

• Fold in sides of rice paper toward center and roll up wrapper away from you into a tight log.
• Repeat with remaining ingredients.

• Cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve, or like me wrap each roll with a parchment paper and tie with string.

These rolls also make a great to-go lunch. Wrap with parchment, tie with string and place in a to-go container.