Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Salad

Red peppers are delicious any way you eat them, but when they are char roasted they are exceptional. My cousin Solange is visiting us from Marseilles, France. Knowing that I am both gluten free and a vegetarian, she asked if you could make a dish that she thought I would enjoy.

I took pictures while she prepared what she calls, " cooked salad".. Since that term conjures up a strange image in my mind, I renamed her recipe and called it, " Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Salad" . Although I still kept the word salad in the title, it's really more of a spread, dip , or topping for rice.

The fragrance of this aromatic recipe cooking is beyond words, and the taste of this recipe is divine. It's a middle Eastern favorite.. I will eat it over rice with Moroccan carrot salad and Turkish eggplant salad.

Ingredients:
3 large red bell peppers halved and seeded
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 8 ounce can of diced tomatoes or 4 tomatoes diced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp hot paprika or hot pepper flakes
1/4 cup olive oil

How to make the recipe:
Place halved red peppers on a cookie sheet ( hollow part down)
Grill or broil until the tops char
Remove from oven, cool and then peel off skin
Dice peppers and set aside.

In a medium skillet, sauté garlic on a very low flame in the olive oil ( do not burn) , add tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes on low. Add sugar, salt, and pepper flakes and diced peeled red peppers. Continue to sauté on a very low flame for about 45 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
Turn off heat and allow to cool.

Eat as a spread with gluten free crackers or crudite, or serve over rice or quinoa.

Gluten Free Pasta Salad

My favorite gluten free pasta are the one's made from Brown rice. Brown rice is whole grain, easy to digest, and very tasty. I buy mine at Trader Joe's where it is very reasonable ( $1.99 / package)

The other day I was invited to my cousin's house for lunch, and I wanted to bring something that I could make that was fast, simple and tasty.

Of course,. I wanted to make something that I could eat too ( obviously) , and that others might enjoy as well. I decided to make a large bowl brown rice pasta and add lots of raw veggies and some chick peas.

After cooking the pasta, I simply tossed it with chopped tomatoes, chick peas, red pepper and diced celery and dressed it with lemon, olive oil, and a few fresh herbs.

It was easy and simple and it was a big hit. A few people even asked for the recipe.



I find that brown rice gluten free pasta ( I buy mine from Trader Joe's - $1.99) tastes as good, if not better than any type of pasta. Even those who are not gluten free seem to prefer it over regular pasta.

Ingredients:
1 bag of brown rice penne pasta ( Trader Joe's) or any bag of GF pasta
3 stalks of celery, diced
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1 medium red pepper, diced
2 cups cooked chickpeas ( if using canned, rinse first)
1/2 cup ( or more ) fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
juice of 1 whole lemon
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:
Cook GF pasta according to directions on package and drain well.
Toss with remainder of ingredients and serve.

vegetables to toss with pasta

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pictures for nonas zucchini quiche

These are some of the pictures for the previous post.. Couldn't seem to coordinate the posts.

Nona's Gluten Free Zucchini Quiche

                     
It's zucchini season and like everyone else you are probably looking for recipes. Last week I received 6 large zucchinis from my CSA. I spiralized one of the squashes into zoodles ( zucchini noodles) using my Spiralizer . ( I use the  Joyce Chen 51-0662, Saladacco Spiral Slicer, White) . This spiralizer is reasonable and easy to use .. It literally takes seconds to turn a zucchini into a bowl of vegetable spaghetti. It's fun to make and even a kid can do it .

                                

Despite making my zucchini spaghetti, I still had a ton of squash left over and I wanted to make something fast that I could freeze.

This gluten free zucchini quiche is really easy and a real crowd pleaser . It's actually my mother in law's creation, so I  had to watch her make it to come up with the accurate recipe. Her recipe can  feed about ten good eaters,so she makes it in a large rectangular pyrex pan.

 It's full of delicious brunch ingredients: eggs, tasty cheeses, fresh garden herbs and zucchini. It can be assembled the night before and baked fresh in the morning,  or you can bake it and then freeze it.

I like it because its easy to make, naturally gluten free, and makes a nice presentation.

Ingredients:

8 medium zucchini, washed , dried, and sliced into coin width slices

6 eggs, beaten

16 oz of shredded mozzarella

1/4 cup fresh basil chopped

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan

1/4 cup  coconut flour, or  any (GF Flour blend)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add shredded mozzarella, grated Parmesan cheese, seasoning, and rice flour . Mix well by hand and set aside.

In a large rectangular pyrex, layer half of the sliced zucchini and dot with butter. Cover with half of the egg and cheese  mixture. Add the next layer of zucchini and the remainder of the egg and cheese mixture. Cover with foil and place in preheated over for about 40 minutes or until done.

My notes:  This is an easy recipe to just assemble and bake. I also make a lasagna using zucchini as my noodles.

This recipe May be shared on my list of 

 blog carnivals

Like my recipes? I post lots more ; Follow me on Pinterest Gluten Free A-Z  and Twitter .

Please leave a comment so I can be  introduced to your blog . I will visit you and  I usually follow on G+, Twitter, and Pinterest. I would love if you followed me as well Follow me as well : Gluten Free A-Z  and Twitter .