Russian Chicken Kotleti (Gluten-Free Recipe)

These are a huge staple in Russian families, and kids love them! I used gluten-free panko crumbs in my chicken kotleti, but you can use regular bread crumbs as well.

Ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 lbs. ground chicken
1 cup gluten free bread crumbs, extra for breading outsides
1 egg
1/3 cup half n half
a few tablespoons chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
vegetable oil for frying

Directions:
1. Mix the ground chicken, bread crumbs, egg, half n half, cilantro, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper.
2. Heat about an inch of vegetable oil to medium heat in a frying pan.
3. Form patties about 3 to 4 inches across and bread both sides in the extra bread crumbs.
4. Drop into the oil and cook for about 5 minutes on each side (covering the kotleti while they're frying with a pan cover makes them cook faster).

5. Place on paper towel for grease to drain.

Hummus Lemon Rosemary Chicken

This is an easy dish, adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe. It's delicious and nutritious (and gluten-free)!

Ingredients:
olive oil to spray
2 or 3 chicken breasts
1/2 to 1 cup hummus
1 lemon, sliced thin
dried rosemary
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Spray baking sheet/tray with oil and place chicken breasts down.
3. Spread a thick layer of hummus over breasts.
4. Sprinkle rosemary, salt, and pepper on top, and top with the slices of lemon.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, enjoy!

Best. Salad. Ever.

Lettuce of choice
Tomatoes
Shred carrots
Corn kernels
Sundried tomatoes
Pumpkin seeds
Shaved parmesan cheese
Cilantro

Toss with a lemon juice/EVOO/salt salad dressing. Amazing!

Gluten-Free and Sugar-Free Banana Blueberry Muffins

I just picked picked 5 pounds of blueberries and wanted to make some yummy muffins, gluten-free and sugar-free of course! These resemble traditional muffins more so than my my previously posted Blueberry and Banana Muffins, and I think these came out better!

Ingredients

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tablespoon of milk

1/3 cup of applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon orange extract/oil

2 cups of gluten free all purpose flour (I used Trader Joe’s)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325˚ and line muffin tins with baking cups.

2. Combine butter and eggs in a bowl. Add the mashed bananas, milk, applesauce, vanilla and orange extract/oil.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Stir in blueberries.

4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins. Enjoy!

Spinach Cheese Egg Morning Muffins (SF, GF)

These morning muffins are easy, fast, and delicious. I found similar recipes as this one, but I like that this one only uses 6 eggs instead of a whole dozen (as some recipes called for). I lined my muffin tins with paper liners, but next time I'll try greasing the muffins tins themselves well, and see whether the muffins pop right out (they stuck a little bit to the paper liners).

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup chopped, frozen (or fresh) spinach
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Heat over to 350 degrees.
2. Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper in a bowl.
3. Add in cheese and spinach.
4. Spoon 1/4 cup of mixture into muffin tins/liners (yields between 10 and 12 muffins).
5. Bake 25 minutes, cool 5 minutes, serve warm. Delish!

Cauliflower Pizza (Crust) (GF, SF)

I had seen a recipe for cauliflower pizza crust a while back and had been meaning to make it for some time (I  usually roast cauliflower, but had some time to try out this recipe). I looked online and combined a few recipes to make this the easiest way possible (namely, without having to cook the cauliflower first).

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, leaves and main stem removed, cut into pieces
1/2 cup shred cheese (Monterrey, cheddar, or mozzarella all work great)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon basil/oregano/dried parsley

Pizza toppings (recommended: cheese & veggies)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Pulse cauliflower in a food processor until fine.
3. Remove and place in bowl with the cheese, eggs, salt, and spices. Mix well.
4. Spread over parchment paper with your hands so it looks like this:

5. Bake for 20 minutes.
6. Turn up the oven to 400 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes.
7. Add toppings and bake at 450 for 5 minutes or so, until cheese bubbles and crust turns brown on the edges. I recommend "drier" toppings such as cheese, versus traditional tomato sauce, as the crust can get a little wet. I put diced tomatoes on my pizza, but spinach would have been another great topping!

Blueberry Banana Muffins (Sugar-free, Gluten-free)

These muffins are sugar free and gluten free.

Ingredients

2 and 1/2 cup oat flour (see below)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup mashed banana (about 2 very ripe bananas)

1/4 cup nonfat vanilla greek yogurt (or any yogurt)

1 large egg

3/4 cup milk

1 and 1/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 F degrees. Spray 15 muffin tins with nonstick spray (it is better to avoid using paper liners as the muffins will stick to those).

2. Grind oats in a blender until you get a flour-like consistency. Grind less if you prefer more full oats in your muffins (as I do).

3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the mashed banana, yogurt, and egg. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the milk slowly and continue to gently mix the ingredients together. Add the blueberries.

5. Divide the batter between the 12 muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool completely.