Egglicious Salad Sandwich

I have been craving a tuna fish sandwich lately, but when I went to my pantry today to grab a can of tuna, I was dismayed to see I did not have any! I paused, racking my brain for a close second to tuna. Seeing a bottle of mustard I thought Egg Salad!

I quickly grabbed some eggs and boiled them and other ingredients into a bowl. I didn't measure anything and I just guessed about what I thought would taste good. I will try to give measurements on what I think will be sufficient.

Ingredients:
4 boiled eggs
1/4 c. Mayonaise (I used Helmans Light)
1/8 c. (2 tbsp) Mustard
dash of Salt
dash of pepper Pepper
about 1/2 tsp Dill Weed (or to taste)
about 1/2 tsp Paprika (or to taste)
2 sliced Tomatoes
Sliced and toasted gluten free bread
butter (if desired)

Preparation:
After boiling eggs and peeling off shell, mash with a fork in a bowl (I like mine finely mashed)
Add in the mustard and the mayo and stir
Sprinkle in Salt and pepper and stir again
Taste it! See if it needs any more of the above 4 ingredients
Add in Dill weed.
Taste it! See if it needs more dill weed. If you added too much, just add in a little more mayo and/or mustard
Add Paprika and taste. If you added too much, just add in a little more mayo and/or mustard
Toast your bread. While toasting, slice tomatoes.
Butter your toast, if desired and Spread your yummy egg mixture onto warm toast.

Crunch crunch...mmmm. Delicious! Enjoy this easy recipe!

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Fruit Torte

Try #1: Looks pretty but the crust [Garbanzo bean] was awful

I made a Gluten Free Fruit Torte for my Birthday back in February. It was awful. I had used mostly Bob's Garbanzo bean flour for the crust...and it tasted exactly like garbanzo beans with a strange grainy texture. You'd think I would have realized that it would taste like garbanzo beans but instead of researching it like I should have...I agreed to give it a go. If you are gluten-free I am warning you now stay away from Bob's Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour and any flour that contains garbanzo beans!

A couple months ago I made a few more attempts finally coming up with a perfect (at least I think so) blend of gluten free flours. You can buy pre-made blends such as Beth's or Pamela's but they are usually SO expensive it is more cost effective to buy individual flours and mix your own. (If you want to use this recipe for non-GF just use regular all purpose flour).

Gluten Free Fruit Torte [The yummy crust!]

Stir together:

■2/3 c. butter
■2 c. GF flour (My 3/4 cup sorghum, 3/4 cup rice flour, and 1/2 cup tapioca flour)
■1 egg
■3/4 c. sugar
■1 TBSP milk (or coconut milk if you are lactose intolerant)
■1 tsp. baking powder
■1 tsp. gf vanilla
■Dash salt

Mix until dough sticks together, and refrigerate for 3 hours. Make sure to flour your worktop (with gluten free flour of course!) and roll out dough. It can get pretty sticky so make sure to kepp your work area and hands floured. Press the dough into a 9" tart pan. (If your want individual tarts, you can use a muffin pan [the easy way!] or just cut out 4″ circles and make a small ridge around the edge with your fingers.) Bake at 375ºF for 7-8 minutes.

Filling:

■8 oz. cream cheese
■2 TBSP butter
■2-3 TBSP milk (or coconut milk) If not enough after mixing everything together just add 1 tbsp at a time until enough.
■1 c. powdered sugar
■1 TBSP lemon juice

Spread filling in bottom of tart crust, and then top with fruit as desired. I used kiwi, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries. You can use anything you want! It's time to get creative. Peaches, melon, pineapple. Arrange it in an artsy fashion or just pile it on. Whatever tickles your fancy go ahead and do it!

I usually refrigerate it for a bit before eating because I like it a bit colder.

Happy Eating!

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Gluten Free Flatbread

So in March, I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease--an autoimmune disease where the lining of the small intestine is damaged from eating gluten (the substance remaining when the flour of wheat or other grain is washed to remove the starch) and other proteins found in wheat, barley, rye, and sometimes oats.

As a Persian, I was pretty devestated. "I can't eat any more naan!? I eat lavash with almost every meal!" And although There are a lot of alternatives to my favorite gluteny filled foods (tapioca bread, rice bread, rice pasta, corn pasta, gluten free chips and cereals and cereal bars etc) I have yet to find gluten free flat bread.

Thus began my interesting adventure to find a flatbread that would taste similar to naan or pita bread. I have finally found a recipe worthy to post after many trials and a lot of shifting amounts here is a yummy gluten-free flatbread.

Gluten-Free Flatbread

Ingredients
2 cups sorghum flour (Bob's Red Mill is fine--it will come out looking a little grey though)for pretty, cream colored roti like those pictured, use Authentic Foods Sorghum flour. For a more rustic greyish roti use Bob’s Red Mill)
2 cups water
salt to taste


Directions
1. Bring your water barely to a boil in a saucepan. Add your 1 cup of flour gradually but steadily, using the roux whisk to whisk the flour as you pour it into the water continuously.

2. Reduce heat to low.

It is a good idea to have your 2nd cup of flour already ready because this next part requires you to be snappy!

3. Using wooden spoon, stir in your second cup of flour into the dough in the pan. This will require some arm muscles!

4. A skin of dough should have formed on the bottom of the pan, leaving you with a ball of dough. The longer you have it on the stove, the more rubbery it becomes. I have found that keeping it on the stove and mixing and moving it around for 2 to 3 minutes gives the dough a really nice texture. You might be disgusted by the rubberyness but trust me. It will be amazing.

5. Remove dough to a heat resistant bowl and leave for five-ten minutes or until cool enough to handle. Form into small balls and place in a bowl.

6. Take a quart size freezer safe ziploc bag and cut out the sides (allowing the bread to spread). Roll out dough inside your ziploc bag, with rolling pin on the top outside of the bag.

7. Peel flatbread from plastic and place on a plate. They should handle well and not fall apart.

8. Heat cast iron skillet to medium and toast your flatbread until its texture changes, and if you like, until it gets light brown spots.

9. Turn it and toast the other side. Sometimes they will puff up with internal air pockets (yum!)

10. Sprinkle with salt (if you want, I usually don't) and serve.

And there you have it for yummy flatbread. I usually eat it with Mast and onion before my meal and during meal I scoop up the rice with it. It can be used as a wrap or tortilla or be served along other dips like hummus.

Enjoy! (=

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