Gluten-Free Ojai: Farmer’s Market Extravaganza

Happy post-Mother’s Day! I hope it was a good one for all the moms out there and your kids buried you in gluten-free breakfasts in bed, weird drawings, and homemade knickknacks. Or a trip to the spa. Either/Or.

My husband and I left the kids at grandma’s house and took off for a night to enjoy some quality time in the very tiny town of Ojai, known mostly for a super fancy hotel and spa set-up (where we did not stay) and its unbelievable agricultural bounty. I realize that going away for the weekend without my children is perhaps a tad bit counter intuitive for Mother’s Day, but hey. It was an awesome Mother’s Day. Also, I made a few g-free discoveries while perusing the Ojai Farmer’s Market. So there.

Of course shopping at a farmer’s market is a lovely thing for the gluten-hating. There is no dodging of the entire middle part of the store or turning down samples. With the exception of those artisan bread people, you can pretty much eat anything that is being sold at a farmer’s market. In the case of this particular market, there were almond products galore  -

and I discovered a bakery that is experimenting in the gluten-free. And it was awesome.

Red Velvet Cake For Your Gluten-Free Mother

I could have just left this box out and maybe someone in my family would have gotten the hint to make it. But I didn’t. Instead, I decided to see if my favorite gluten-free flour — Cup4Cup could also make a dang good gluten-free cake mix. I honestly could not resist this box staring at me from the Williams-Sonoma shelf. Which is  incidentally, what I also said about the margarita mix. Both worth it.

By the way, after I bought this cake mix some crazy woman hit me with her car. She was driving into oncoming traffic, and I was sitting waiting for a red light. It’s a bit of a shock to be sideswiped, especially when you’re not actually doing anything wrong. Not even trying to Shazam while driving! Do you know how often something bad happens to me when I’m completely not at fault? Never. I’ve always done something to provoke. However, not this time. Here she is:

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Muffins for an Elephant’s Birthday

This elephant. You see, my daughter convinced me it was her elephant’s birthday yesterday, and Ellie the Elephant needed cake. It’s totally true, see the piece of paper with yesterday’s date on it? That’s proof, terrorist-style. Private school tuition at work, people! Check it.

Not one to deny a birthday treat to a stuffed elephant, I ransacked my cabinets for a gluten-free quickie. The first thing I grabbed was this chocolate chip muffin mix from Authentic Foods. I have exactly zero recall as to when I acquired this package of goodness, but I’m guessing it was one of my rampages through Whole Foods or the gluten-free store. I also found two boxes of gluten-free chocolate cake mix, one box of gluten-free pie crust, and about three boxes of random gluten-free cookies that cannot be okay after sitting in the back of my cabinet for god knows how long. Time for some spring cleaning, gluten-free style.

Adventures in Gluten-Free Indian Food

When I first went g-free I remember someone telling me to try non-Western food. After all, we’re the ones who seem to have an obsession with battered food covered in gravy. Or perhaps that’s just me. But after diving into sushi and later learning that soy sauce was actually chock-full of wheat, I became wary of eating anything that I did not know how to prepare myself. This is, of course, a bummer.

Other than one super easy dish (thanks Debbie Koenig!) I haven’t even attempted to make Indian food. But after taking a chance on ordering out this weekend, and realizing what the freak I’ve been missing, I’m now committed to learning how to make this stuff. This delicious, spicy, luscious, stuff. Or rather, my husband has promised to give it a shot. Same thing?

The Perfect Gluten-Free Summer Salad For Salad-Haters

Found it! Even for a lady who doesn’t really believe a salad is a meal, this particular gluten-free quinoa-filled salad just might satisfy all of your dinner urges. As long as those urges don’t include tacos. Which I realize is a tall order. Still, bust out your picnic table or whatever it is you do, and get ready to enjoy the salad of the year that is filled with green beans, corn, grilled chicken and goat cheese. Mmmmmmmmmmmm.

I found the basic makings of this summer-rific recipe on Epicurious, but first I had to kick out the dirty, dirty, farro. Then I realized if you’re not a meat-eating type you’re going to want to boot the chicken. You could easily substitute tofu, prepared the same way, or just skip it altogether. Make it vegan? You don’t really need that goat cheese either. I mean, I need it but you may not. Really, it’s a mix and match salad for your own needs. Next time I’m going to throw roasted almonds on top too. Oh yeah, I’m going there. Nothing can stop the amazingness of this salad. Except, obviously, a taco.

So go ahead and say yes to those potluck invites, people. This summer salad has you covered.

Gluten-Free Cinco de Mayo With Chicken Tostadas! Whooo!

Get ready, you guys. This weekend we have the Kentucky Derby and Cinco De Mayo. So many ways to get your party on, all in one short weekend. While you may prefer to run the horses, I prefer to stuff myself with Mexican food. This is true, of course, on any given weekend. And luckily, so much in the Mexican food oeuvre is naturally gluten-free, so there’s that.

I’ve never, however, made tostadas before so this was a good frying time. Other than cooking up your corn tortillas, and turning pintos into refried, the most work in this recipe comes from making a lovely spicy sauce for the chicken. But even that is pretty simple, as you chop up these vegetables –

Roast them, puree them, and voila! Or ¡presente — which seems more appropriate.

So you throw all of this stuff together, top it with your favorite accoutrements (I know, some of you hate cilantro, so ditch it and pretend I never mentioned it) and you’ve got a delicious celebration in your mouth. This is how good these tostadas are: My daughter stopped mid-bite to demand a show of hands, “Who thinks mommy is the best cook in the world?” Let the record show that no hands remained in laps. That’s right, people.

Here’s how you can get people to raise hands over the deliciousness of your cooking!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, ya’ll.

Celiac Disease Convention Surprisingly Delicious & Boozy

News Flash: Dum-Dums are gluten-free

You guys, this weekend was cray-cray! I just got finished partying with a bunch of Celiacs at the annual Celiac Disease Foundation Convention and you know what that means. That’s right, the Tito’s vodka was flowing, the gluten-free pizzas were being passed around, and nobody went home alone. Can I get a wha-what?

Or, you know, maybe the convention started at 7:30 a.m. and since the hotel was all of 2.5 minutes from my house and my kids woke us up at 5:30 I drank a lot of coffee and walked across the street to see what’s new and g-free! Either/Or.

The point is, I discovered some new tasty treats that are all gluten-free, and I’m going to fill you in on that business. As seen in the pile of free samples I walked away with, above. Not pictured: Bard’s gluten-free beer, which was chilling in my fridge; Venice Bakery gluten-free pizza crust, which was in my oven covered in prosciutto and mozzarella; and a snack pack of Lay’s original potato chips which I already ate. I kind of had to, as I didn’t know they were gluten-free, so when the nice man handed them out I immediately busted those chips open.

In addition to these goodies, you could kind of graze your way through the convention hall and fill up for the day on gluten-free foods. I have to say there’s something refreshing and very much an antidote to the disappointment I feel when walking through Costco on the weekend. I could eat anything in that entire place, you guys. ANYTHING. And I did. Here is one of my faves.