Quick Gluten Free Lunch Ideas

Do you need some quick gluten free ideas for lunch?

Sometimes I find myself just roaming around the kitchen, rummaging through the pantry, desperately trying to figure out what to eat for lunch. I  am usually hungry, so without a plan, I  devour something  high in carbs and much more caloric than I really want to eat, which leaves me feeling regretful and guilty.

So, I have decided to record some of my quick healthy lunches

Monday is Wrap Day:   
Warm up a wrap ( Trader Joe's Brown Rice wrap)
Fill with egg salad and tomato
Fill with almond butter and raisins
Fill with Greek salad
Fill with fresh mozzarella cheese, tomato and fresh chopped basil
Fill with mashed black beans and tomato
Open a can of organic beans, drain and pour into a wide mouthed bowl. Mash slightly, add salt , pepper and cumin to taste. Slice tomatoes. Warm a gluten free tortilla wrap. Assemble all ingredients in the wrap. Garnish with 2 TBSP each chopped fresh basil, cilantro, and parsley.  Eat half and save half for tomorrow.

Tuesday : Cottage Cheese Day
Chopped tomatoes, red onion, scallions, and a scoop of cottage cheese drizzled olive oil and cumin.
On a lunch size plate, put a scoop of cottage cheese in the middle. Quarter tomatoes, slice red onion, slice scallions and chop yellow peppers. Arrange vegetables around the cottage cheese. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and cumin.( If you don't like cumin, substitute paprika)


Wednesday:  Homemade Humus and Crackers
 Homemade chickpea humus, celery sticks, gluten free crackers tomato chunks, and cucumber slices
1 small can chick peas, drained
Juice of 1 lemon
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP fresh parsley
2 TBSP fresh cilantro
1 clove raw garlic ( optional)
1tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Use the  food processor with the metal blade. Pulse cilantro,  parsley and optional garlic first,and then add all other ingredients until well blended. Eat with gluten free crackers or tomato, cucumber slices, celery sticks and carrots.

Thursday:  Quick Basmati Rice and Beans..
Microwave a 3 minute packet of Trader Joe's basmati rice and set aside.  Saute garlic, onions, carrots, and red pepper in olive oil in a skillet. Open a can of black beans, drain and add to the saute and season to taste with cumin, salt and pepper. Mix beans well and  serve with the cooked basmati rice.
 

Friday:   1-2-3- tomato soup with add ins
This is really fast and simple. Open a jar of tomato or V-8 juice, pour two cups into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour hot juice into a bowl ( It tastes like tomato soup)  Add 1/4 cup of cooked brown rice,sliced scallions, cilantro, and peanuts for a hearty, healthy quick soup.

Middle Eastern Tomato Shakshookah

Are you looking for a really flavorful and healthy breakfast or brunch idea? Shakshookah is a favorite Middle Eastern recipe that makes a perfect gluten- free meal that can be eaten for breakfast, brunch, lunch or even dinner. 

My husband's family ate this breakfast growing up in Cairo, Egypt and brought their recipe with them when they came to the United States over fifty years ago. 

Although my husband doesn't really cook much, he does have a repertoire of about four recipes that his mother made, and this colorful tomato shakshookah is one of them.

He also makes wonderful plant-based dishes such as  Middle Eastern lemonade, Ful Medemas bean dish, and a lentil and rice dish called majeedera that we all love.

His Shakshooka an ideal recipe during the summer when local vegetables are plentiful and you are wondering what can you do with those tomatoes, onions and green peppers. Shakshookah could be the perfect recipe!

This flavorful breakfast idea is fast, easy, healthy and you don't have to even turn on your oven. You can serve it with a nice slice of polenta  or eat it with a baked potato for a heartier meal. It won't disappoint! Look at the end of the recipe for my favorite hack to speed up this recipe!

Author : Judee Algazi

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook and Sautee Time: 10-12 minutes

Serves: 2 generous portions

Ingredients: 

Olive oil 

1 med onion, diced

3 large summer tomatoes, peeled and diced in chunks or sliced

1 green or red bell pepper, diced in chunks or sliced

1/2 cup of thinly sliced zucchini (optional)
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
Freshly ground sea salt and black pepper
Fresh basil or cilantro, chopped as a garnish
4 eggs

Directions:
Sautee onion in olive oil in a large skillet on medium until translucent. Add tomatoes, red pepper, and optional vegetables and continue to cook on high for 2 minutes and then turn down to medium. Cook until vegetables are soft about 6-8 minutes. Turn flame to low and crack one egg at time over the vegetables giving space for each one. Cover the skillet and cook until eggs are the way you like them. Add salt and pepper.
Remove from skillet by portion and garnish with fresh basil..

Step by Step (see my shortcut method/hack at end of post)




Chop Vegetables

Sautee vegetables in olive oil in skillet until tender

Crack eggs one at a time over cooking vegetables

Cover and allow eggs to cook until eggs are desired consistency ( soft or hard cooked)

Remove from heat and place on serving dish

Decorate with fresh chopped basil, cilantro, cucumbers or whatever you choose

My Shortcut for making Shakshookah!

Don't have all these vegetables or time to chop veggies? Here is my favorite hack for making this delicious dish in half the time! Shakshooka shortcut link

Have you ever tasted Shakshookah? What's your favorite Middle Eastern Recipe?


Shared on : 

The Intrepid Reader Weekend Cooking

and originally shared on 
Katherine Martinelli's Breakfast

It's Too Hot To Cook! Think Wraps

Yogurt is a great food for cooling off and building the good bacteria in the stomach, thus building the immune system. Although I eat it in the winter as well, it is a perfect summer dish. This has been one of the hottest summers I can remember. Everyday for the past three weeks the temperatues have been in the high 90's. When it hit 96 again today, I decided I am not cooking. Instead, I prepared a tasty gluten free wrap made with Trader Joe's Brown Rice Wrap, Tziziki ( recipe below), sliced farm fresh Jersey tomatoes, shaved romao cheese, and fresh basil and mint. It was so good, I could have eaten two of them, but I didn't. In this hot weather, it was a easy choice for lunch or dinner with a salad.

It makes a great, tasty quick lunch or snack!

I know of two companies that sell gluten free wraps:
Food for Life ( sold frozen in Whole Foods and health food stores) and Trader Joe's ( their tortillas are found on the shelves). They both make brown rice gluten free tortillas which can hold your favorite fillings.

My wrap in progress

This is not mayo! It is Tzatziki ( garlic, mint, and cucumber with Greek yogurt; ), farm fresh tomatoes, shaved cheese, and fresh basil and mint

Recipe for Tzatziki

1 cup or 1 small container of yogurt cheese ( 0% fat)

1 large kirby cucumber, diced small

1 clove fresh garlic, diced small ( or garlic powder )

1 TBSP olive oil

1/8 cup fresh dill, chopped (optional)

1 tsp dried mint

sea salt to taste

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate for about one hour before serving . This makes a great dip or spread for tortillas.

Ingredients for wrap:

1/2 cup homemade or store bought Tzatziki

1 large summer tomato, sliced thick

1/4 cup aged Romano cheese, shaved

4 large fresh basil leaves

1 slice of red onion (optional) 

Directions to Assemble Wrap: 

One brown rice tortilla wrap, warmed

Spread with Tzatziki

Arrange tomatoes over Tzatziki 

Sprinkle shaved Romano cheese over tomatoes

Spread fresh basil leaves over tomatoes ( not shown)

Add sliced red onion if desired.

I then rolled the tortilla and was ready to eat. Actually, the wrap could be cut in half ; it is very filling.

Remember to warm the wraps for a minute to soften before filling

Each plain wrap has 130 calories, 2 gms of fiber, and 2.5 gms fat. Ingredients: brown rice flour, filtered water, tapioca flour, safflower oil, rice bran , vegetable gum ( xanthan, cellulose) and sea salt.

In addition,
Trader Joe's also makes some spreads that could be used for wraps as well:
I like them all, but really love the eggplant garlic spread. Use any of them for a base spread for your wraps. They are fairly low in calories about 15-30 calories for a Tablespoon.

Disclaimer: The spreads are not certified gluten free, but do not have any ingredients in them that seem to contain gluten. Read the ingredients and use them at your own risk..I am not endorsing these products, nor do I receive any money from these companies. I am just sharing products I have tried and liked. Trader Joe's is great because the products are all natural

Please leave your comments! Let's get a discussion going on Wraps! What is your favorite gluten free filling?

ok ! I thought of a breakfast wrap... vegetable omelette in a wrap!

Shared on Flu Fighting Foods

Safety tips for using cell phones

OK I couldn't help posting this information, although it has nothing to do with gluten free eating.
It is an article that I read about how to take precautions with cell phone use to reduce exposure to EMFs .. Click on the word  null below if you are interested. It will take you to another site ..

EMF exposure from cell phones is something that concerns me.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a low EMF Sprint phone that works well?? Post it in comments at the end of this post.  thanks.

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