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Side Dishes – Page 6 – surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

Category: Side Dishes

Side dish, noun: a portion of food served in addition to the main dish. These recipes will not contain dairy, eggs, gluten, wheat or hazelnuts. If we use a top 8 allergen, we will use a tag warning of its use.

  • Latkes

    latke
    latke

    This season seems to be full of tradition on so very many levels, including food, food, and food.  I think this can make the holidays difficult for adults with newly diagnosed food allergies.  This was me last year — going to holiday gatherings where I could not safely eat anything.  Missing traditional foods, wanting to indulge, not wanting to ruin the holidays by eating the wrong thing and getting sick.  ARGH.

    Lucky for me, our only real family tradition is trying new things for the holidays.  Doesn’t mean I don’t miss some of the traditional cookies, but it does mean that I don’t feel left out of the traditions — in fact I now get to drive them

    How many foods are traditional celebratory foods that are also, in and of themselves, a reason for celebrating?  Well, if potatoes are your personal proof that there is some order in the universe?  Latkes are that food.

    Also, they are amazing.

    Traditionally served for Hanukkah, the symbolic importance of the latke is the oil in which the potatoes are fried, not the potatoes themselves.  Also traditionally, the potatoes are mixed with onions, flour, and eggs (though the flour doesn’t appear in every recipe, so traditions vary.  Here’s your primer, if you are interested in Chanukkah.  (See, even the spellings differ!)  Hanukkah is not as major of a holiday in the Jewish calendar as those who are not Jewish often think or assume, but it may have my favorite food traditions.

    The substitutes for the allergenic ingredients in latkes are pretty easy.  Instead of flour, potato starch works just fine.  Instead of eggs, ground flax or ground chia seeds, mixed with water, make a good stand in.  Ground flax gel will mix in easily.  Ground chia seeds require a little extra work, as the gel is a bit stiffer; massage it in and around the potatoes and you’ll be fine.

    Serve with applesauce, and you’re set.  I know this should likely be considered a side dish, but I eat it as a main dish because that’s the way I roll.

    This recipe is for a small batch, but double, triple, make as many as you can manage.

    latkes
    latkes

    Latkes

    • 2 medium baking potatoes potatoes
    • 1 baseball-sized onion
    • 3 Tablespoons potato starch
    • 1 Tablespoon chia seeds or flax seeds, ground, and added to 3 Tablespoons water (4 if using chia)
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • canola oil, enough to thickly coat bottom of skillet
    • applesauce for serving

    Shred potatoes andIMG_0163 onion.  The photo to the left includes the Sharpie for scale.  I’d love to tell you how many pounds of potato to buy, but I hate those recipes as I never remember to weigh the potatoes and I don’t have a scale at home.

    Shredded, you should have 4 cups of vegetable matter.  If your food processor is like mine, pick out any big chunks of onion that somehow get through.

     

    Place the shredded veg in a colander lined with a large, thin clean dish towel.  This step is extremely annoying and extremely necessary.  Fold the towel over the top of the potatoes in the colander and press down with as much force as you can muster, multiple times.  When that seems to be done, twist the top of the towel and pick up the bundle and squeeze out more liquid.  Do this until it’s not very effective anymore (or, in essence, until you’ve squeezed out as much water as your strength allows).  I find that my hands aren’t extremely strong, so I push against the divider in my sink.

    step 1step 2step 3

     

     

     

    Put the oil in your skillet over medium heat about now.  Also turn your oven on to 200F so that you can keep the whole batch warm.

    Dump your well-squeezed shreds into a bowl, add the potato starch and chia egg (add a touch of water if you need to to get the chia gel mobile again), and salt.  Mix this really really thoroughly, making sure the starch and chia are spread all throughout the veg shreds.

    ground chia gel
    ground chia gel
    potato and onion shreds
    potato and onion shreds

     

     

     

     

    Now start making latkes.  Taking about 2 Tablespoons, make patties in your hands, flattening them out, and not worrying about the raggedy edges.  DO, however, worry about the tendency of hand-made patties to dome in the middle — work on making yours FLAT so they cook all the way through.  The mound-shaped ones are still edible, but not as good.  This does take practice, however, so be kind to yourself and remember that fried potatoes are fried potatoes and they are good.

    IMG_0173

    Lay patties down in the oil carefully.  If you’ve squeezed well, there won’t be a splatter of oil caused by water meeting the hot oil.  Watch the edges and when one side is browned, flip ’em.  Rinse and repeat.  When you get to the last batch or so, the mix will be wet.  Take your patty scoops and squeeze the water out before throwing them in the oil.

    Latkes
    Latkes

     

    Put the cooked latkes on a sheet pan and throw them in the oven until you’re done.  Serve with applesauce.

    Honestly, each time you make these, they get better.  The ingredients are so simple that their awesomeness is based on your technique, so keep practicing!  Only about a third of my latkes come out awesomely golden brown all over, evenly.  I blame my stove, but likely it’s at least partially my fault.  Guess I’ll have to keep practicing.  OH THE HARDSHIP!  (This is where a sarcasm font would come in handy).

    Do you have any tips for great latke making?

  • Mini-Thanksgiving, Casserole Style

    Mini-Thanksgiving Casserole
    Mini-Thanksgiving Casserole

    This past summer, one of my co-workers went through a phase of making Thanksgiving dinners — I don’t think she was cooking a whole turkey, but part of it, plus dressing and cranberries.  I think it happened more than once, and the craving turned out to be transferable.

    But for me?  Turkey, eh, whatever.  I don’t like it or dislike it, but I don’t feel excited enough to cook one if I don’t have to.  What I love about Thanksgiving are the side dishes, and while most of my family’s traditional foods are not allergen-free in their original formats, it is truly easy to make most of them safe with dairy alternatives (although, personally, I prefer vegetable broth to most non-dairy milks in mashed potatoes — less chance for an odd sweet flavor to happen).

    For my mid-summer Thanksgiving, I decided to do a casserole of all my favorite flavors, and since there is just one of me, I did individual casseroles so that I could freeze some of them.  If you wanted turkey, you could make it on the side.  If you wanted a full vegan meal and you’re not gluten-free, add diced seitan with the mushrooms in the gravy portion, but  be sure to leave some extra room for it at the top of your casseroles. Some sort of cranberries on the side?  Why not?  This can be the main dish, the centerpiece, the only dish, or a side.  Nothing but versatile, right?

    This casserole has a base of mashed rutabaga, a center of vegan, gluten-free chestnut and celery dressing, and a rich mushroom gravy, all baked in one lovely personal-sized casserole.  I’ve never made this as one large casserole, but I think doubling each layer and increasing the cooking time would work.

    Mini-Thanksgiving, Casserole Style

    3 servings

    Pre-heat oven to 350F, and spray three 1/2 cup mini-casserole dishes with cooking spray (note on cooking spray — the only one I’ve found free of all allergens including soy is Pam for Grilling).

    First, make the rutabaga:

    • 2 cups stock (veg or chicken) or 2 cups water and 2 bouillon cubes (watch for hidden gluten and soy in stock and especially bouillon — look for natural brands for boxed stock for the best selection of options)
    • about 2 cups of cubed rutabaga (look for it frozen and bagged)

    Boil rutabaga in stock until cooked through.  Takes 20-30 minutes for fresh rutabaga, but 10 or so for frozen.

    Drain rutabaga, and mash with:

    • 1+ Tablespoon soy-free Earth Balance
    • salt and pepper to taste — be generous with the pepper here.

    Spoon into bottom of dishes and press down with the back of the spoon.  Should be about 1/4 to 1/3 an inch at the bottom of each dish.  If you have leftovers, pack them in or eat them.

    Rutabaga base
    Rutabaga base

    Next, make the dressing.  In large skillet, over medium heat, heat

    • 1 Tablespoon olive oil.  When shimmery hot,

    Add:

    • 1 cup of diced onion.  Cook until translucent.
    • Add 1 cup celery, chopped, cook until hot, 3-4 minutes
    • Add one package of chestnuts, chopped (my package was 5.2 oz, and was about 15 chestnuts)
    • Heaping 1/2 teaspoon thyme, crushed as you add it.
    Chestnut-Celery Dressing
    Chestnut-Celery Dressing

    Cook everything about 5 minutes.  Onions should be entirely clear, celery should still retain a bit of crisp, the chestnuts don’t appear to change.

    • Stir in 1/3 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (I make my own from the leftover pieces of bread from each loaf, but if you need to buy some, the Ener-G loaves make good bread crumbs).

    Spoon over rutabaga, leaving just a bit of room (1/4 inch or so) at the top.  Scrape all the bits out of the skillet.

    Chestnut-Celery Dressing, stage 2
    Chestnut-Celery Dressing, stage 2

    Finally, make the gravy.  Into the same skillet you just used (really no need to wash it out), still over medium heat, add

    • 2 Tablespoons olive oil. When shimmery hot,
    • Add 1/4 cup onion, diced small.  Cook until translucent.
    • Add 1 3.5 oz package of shitaki mushrooms, washed, stemmed, and diced.  Cook until the liquid comes out of the mushrooms (watch, if you don’t know what I’m talking about — you’ll see it).  2-5 minutes.  Then add
    • 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
    • 2 Tablespoons garbanzo bean flour
    • 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce, gluten-free tamari, or coconut aminos

    Whisk these until you’ve made a slurry, good and thick.  Let it cook for a minute.  Begin to slowly drizzle in water, about 1 Tablespoon at a time, stirring and letting each addition thicken before adding the next drizzle.  Add at least 1 cup of water, and not more than 1.5 cups.

    Spoon gravy over casseroles.  At this point, you can cover the casseroles and refrigerate overnight, or you can bake them immediately.  If immediately, cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.  If you are taking them out of the fridge, let them sit 15 minutes or so to come up towards room temperature, and then bake 25-30 minutes.  These freeze okay, but let them thaw thoroughly and then bake.

    Mmmmm, casserole
    Mmmmm, casserole

    Mini-Thanksgiving, Casserole Style, Ingredients only.

    • 2 cups stock (veg or chicken) or 2 cups water and 2 bouillon cubes
    • about 2 cups of cubed rutabaga
    • 1+ Tablespoon soy-free Earth Balance
    • salt and pepper to taste — be generous with the pepper here.
    • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 cup of diced onion
    • 1 cup celery, chopped
    • 1 5.2 oz package of chestnuts, chopped (15 chestnuts)
    • Heaping 1/2 teaspoon thyme
    • 1/3 cup gluten-free bread crumbs
    • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
    • 1/4 cup onion, diced small
    • 1 3.5 oz package of shitaki mushrooms, washed, stemmed, and diced
    • 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
    • 2 Tablespoons garbanzo bean flour
    • 2 Tablespoons of soy sauce, gluten-free tamari, or coconut aminos

    (Final note — it seems to me that chestnuts are tree nuts, but did not confirm this.  Assuming this is so, this recipe is not nut-free. MK, and readers, I checked this morning and confirmed they are tree nuts -Denise)

     

  • Somewhat Germanic Potato Salad

    Somewhat Germanic Potato Salad, Vegan
    Somewhat Germanic Potato Salad, Vegan

    I am not a religious person, but if there is one thing that makes me believe there might be some grand design to the world, it’s potatoes.  They are a wonderful, versatile, almost perfect food (only “almost” because they don’t greatly lend themselves to dessert, Grand Forks’ chocolate-covered potato chips notwithstanding).  I feel as though I could do a pretty good Irish potato-lover’s version of the Forest Gump shrimp monologue, and I’ve prepared potatoes about a hundred million different ways.

    But for picnics, for the upcoming Labor Day festivities, for an end-of-summer celebration? Potato salad is where it’s at.  Potato salad is the one socially-acceptable way to eat cold potatoes; it’s perfect for a hot day, travels well, and in a mayo-free version, is both allergen-free and pretty temperature stable.  As an added bonus, this one fries up into amazing home fries if any makes it to the next morning.

    I developed this recipe in my friend Cathy’s kitchen, adapting the random ideas in my head to what happened to be in her pantry at the time, and it turned out better than all my previous attempts.  This is definitely a tweakable recipe (ask my mother, who asked for the recipe and then proceeded to make it with nearly none of the same ingredients.  She’s like that sometimes).

    Somewhat Germanic Potato Salad, Two Ways!

    A note on notations — I use the “~” to indicate approximate measurements, indicating that exact measuring for these ingredients is not necessary.  Actually, exact measuring is not necessary for this recipe, but this is how I’ve made it.

    Somewhat Germanic Potato Salad, Bacon Lover’s Edition
    • ~ 2 lbs.  potatoes, your choice, washed
    • Water to cover
    • ~1 Tablespoon of salt
    • 4-6 strips of bacon (whatever fits in your skillet, adjusted to how much bacon you like)
    • 1 Tablespoon of bacon fat, reserved
    • 2-4 Tablespoons onion, chopped
    • One bunch of scallions/green onions, chopped and separated (greens from whites)
    • 2 teaspoons dried mustard or 1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
    • 3 teaspoons dried dill or up to 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
    • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
    • Olive oil as needed
    • Salt and pepper as needed

    Somewhat Germanic Potato Salad, Vegan Version

    • ~2 lbs.  potatoes, your choice, washed
    • Water to cover
    • ~1 Tablespoon of salt
    • 1 Tablespoon of vegan margarine (I’ve used Earth Balance soy-free)
    • 2-4 Tablespoons onion, chopped
    • scant 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
    • 1/2 teaspoon of salt
    • One bunch of scallions/green onions, chopped and separated (greens from whites)
    • 2 teaspoons dried mustard or 1 Tablespoon prepared mustard
    • 3 teaspoons dried dill or up to 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
    • 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
    • Olive oil as needed
    • Salt and pepper as needed

    Step 1: Cook potatoes. This step is the same no matter which version you’re going to make.  Now there are many types of potatoes out there, and any one of them will work for this recipe.  Some will just work better than others.  I personally prefer a more waxy potato for salads, as I think they hold together better.  The local fingerlings that are coming in now are just about perfect.  Red potatoes are probably the best out of the “typical” finds in a grocery store.

    Fingerling Potatoes
    Fingerling Potatoes

    Don’t peel your potatoes unless you really really hate potato skin or maybe are using the thick-skinned Idaho russet potatoes (baking potatoes).  There are lots of vitamins and fiber in the skin, plus it adds texture.  Just wash and scrub the potatoes and boil them in salted water.  I’ve never measured the water or salt I use for this step — cover the potatoes with water, plus about another inch.  For this batch of two pounds, I probably used a tablespoon of salt.

    Cover and bring this to a boil on high heat, turn down to medium or low, depending on your stove, but make sure the water keeps boiling.  How long the potatoes will take to cook depends on the size of your potatoes.  Cooking them whole retains more nutrients, but it’s harder to give you a time.  Smaller potatoes take about 15 -20 minutes, larger baking potatoes could take 40 — you might want to cut those in half.

    Drain and cool the potatoes, then chop them into bite-sized chunks.

    Step 2: Here’s where things diverge into two tracks — the bacon lover’s edition, and the vegan version.  The final effect is mostly the same, but how you get there differs.

    Bacon Lover’s Edition, step 2:
    Cook bacon. Chop or crumble.  You could chop the bacon ahead of time, but I think it turns out crispier if I cook it in strips and then crumble it.
    Dump out most of bacon grease, leaving about 1 T.

    Vegan Version, step 2:
    Melt about 1.5 T of Earth Balance (I use their soy-free version, but whatever works for you) in a skillet.  Wait until it gets a little sizzle to it.

    Back together again, steps 3-6:

    Step 3: Saute onion in your chosen fat.  If making the vegan version, add the salt and liquid smoke once the onion has started cooking.

    Add white part of scallions when onion is translucent, cook another few minutes.

    Potato Salad Vinaigrette Ingredients
    Step 4: Sauce it up.
    Turn off the heat but leave the skillet on the burner.
    Add mustard and dill.  If using prepared mustard, add the vinegar before mixing (trust me).  If using just dry spice, mix before adding vinegar and let the mustard and dill soak up the oil.
    Stir in the green parts of the scallions (1/2 cup or so, depending on your bunch).

    Vinaigrette

    Add a dash or two of olive oil if needed.  You want the end result to be a bit saucy, as the potatoes will soak up the vinaigrette.  I’ve added about 1 Tablespoon in the photo.

    Add potatoes, stir, taste — add salt and pepper to taste.

    Serve warm.  Or chill and serve, up to you.  Somewhat Germanic Potato Salad, Vegan
    Eat.  Re-fry leftovers and call them “George.”  No, really, call them home fries.  They are awesome.

  • Grilled Salsa

    Grilled Salsa

    It’s still summer and there’s lots of good stuff to pick up at farmstands. So Mary Kate and I got the bright idea to buy a bunch of vegetables and experiment with grilling them this weekend. Although we spent a marathon day grilling, one of the things we wanted to share with you all, was the grilled vegetable salsa we put together.  If you don’t want to do this on the grill, I have also made this salsa by roasting the vegetables in the oven and in my rotisserie.

    Grilled Salsa 

    Our score at the farm stand
    • 1 red bell pepper, cut into quarters and seeded
    • 1 jalapeno, cut into halves and seeded
    • 1 bulb of garlic, with top cut off and with most of the outer layer peels removed
    • 2-3 tomatoes, cut into quarters and seeded (if you wish reserve the juice and the seeds to mix in with the salsa at the end.)
    • 2 small onions, cut in slices (so they form rings about 1/2 inch thick)
    • 3 tablespoons of cilantro, chopped
    • 2 tablespoons of Cholula Chili lime hot sauce, or to taste
    • 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
    • 1/2 teaspoon of adobo seasoning, or to taste
    • olive oil

    To prepare on the grill:

    Garlic before grilling
    Garlic before grilling

    Do what you would normally do with your grill to bring it to cooking temperature, light the charcoal, light the propane, or start the fire, depending on what you have for tools and equipment. If you do have a grilling basket, feel free to use it if it will make things easier on you.

    Once your grill is hot, place garlic, cut end up, on a piece of aluminum foil large enough to wrap around the garlic and seal it shut.  Drizzle garlic bulb with olive oil, and wrap foil around bulb.

    Garlic after grilling
    Garlic after grilling

    Place on indirect heat out of the way so that it can cook slowly while you grill the other vegetables.  You want the garlic to be fork tender and easily mash-able.

    Grilled Red Bell Pepper
    Grilled Red Bell Pepper

    Place other vegetables on the grill to cook. It might be best to place the onions and jalapeno in the grill basket to cook.  This will take several minutes and you will want to watch the vegetables carefully.  You may not want your vegetables quite as charred as our red bell pepper got (whoops!).

    Grilled Tomatoes
    Grilled Tomatoes

    The vegetables will also cook at different rates.  Once each vegetable becomes tender, or is cooked the way you like it, take it off the grill and place them on a plate or a bowl until all the vegetables are done, checking the garlic last.

    Chop the red bell pepper, onions, tomatoes, and jalapeno finely and place in a bowl (with juice and tomato seeds if you reserved them.)

    Add 3 to 4 cloves (or more if you like) of the roasted garlic and mash it in with chopped vegetables. (You can freeze the remainder of the roasted garlic if you wish for use at another time, such as mashing it into potatoes or as a spread.)

    Grilled Salsa after mixing

    Add the red wine vinegar, the Cholula Chili lime hot sauce, cilantro, and adobo seasoning.  You may also add a splash of olive oil if you wish.  Mix well, or if you like your salsa to be more saucy, use a stick blender or a regular blender to process it a bit.  Enjoy!

  • Hominy Salad

    Hominy Salad

    You know how grocery stores do all sorts of tastings and giveaways for a grand opening?  Well, just to get things jump started here, we’re going to post TWO RECIPES for your allergy-free pleasure.  Both focus on fresh vegetables, given that it’s summer and even in New England things are fresh.

    Hominy? What on earth is hominy?  That was my first reaction on reading a recipe in one of my mother’s stash of food magazines.  This was well before my gluten-free days, but it turns out that hominy is great for the gluten-free.  This is your new pasta salad for the summer days.

    Hominy is corn.  More specifically, dried corn kernels exploded by being soaked in some sort of weak lye solution, common in Native American and Central American cooking.  It’s the corn kernel, but without the exterior “skin,” with a texture that reminds me a little of grits.

    Hominy can be bought in cans, I’ve mostly found in the “ethnic foods” aisle of the grocery store (Goya brand is what I’ve found here).  It must be drained and rinsed, much like beans, and has a different, but really cool texture and flavor.  It absorbs the flavor of the dressing you make for it.

    This salad should take advantage of the best of summer fruit and veg.  It’s best to adjust it according to what you can get good and fresh wherever you are just now.

    Hominy Salad

    Make dressing.
    In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk:

    • 2 teaspoons chopped basil (if you can’t get fresh, the frozen cubes work better in this than dried.  If you have to use dried herbs, some fresh parsley or even chives would go a  long way to preserving the “green” flavor of the salad)
    • 2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (best quality you have)
    • 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
    • freshly ground pepper to taste

    Set aside

    In a medium bowl, mix:

    • one 16 oz can of white hominy, drained and rinsed (yellow will likely work, too, but I’ve never seen it and never tried it)
    • 1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
    • 3 stalks of celery, chopped small
    • about ⅓ of an English cucumber, cubed
    • 2-4 scallions, sliced

    Add dressing, toss salad, and chill for at least an hour, to let the flavors meld.  Other vegetables could be added to this salad, depending on what’s fresh and best where you are, though this combination is pretty solid.

    What summer foods do you miss from your pre-apocalypse days?  Maybe we can help.  If you try this recipe, let us know how it works.

  • Garlic & Ginger Bok Choi

    Garlic & Ginger Bok Choi

    Bok choi is a vegetable which is high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and calcium, and often used in Asian cooking.  For those of us who are dairy-free, vegetables high in calcium are a good thing.  A relative of the turnip, bok choy has a light sweet flavor, and it’s low in calories.  I developed this recipe trying to replicate a dish that my favorite local Vietnamese restaurant serves. The flavors are wonderful and I think it takes all of ten minutes to cook once your prep work is done.  This is a great side dish to go with other Asian dishes, and my husband and I find it also complements a steak very well.

    Garlic and Ginger Baby Bok Choi

    Gather and prep the following ingredients:

    • 1 ½ lbs of washed baby bok choi (try to get the size that’s about the length of your finger)
    • 3 tablespoons of Earth Balance soy free vegan margarine.
    • 3 cloves of garlic, very thinly sliced
    • 1 ½ tablespoons of peeled and very thinly sliced fresh ginger
    • 1 small onion, diced finely

    Using a large deep frying pan with a tightly-fitted lid, melt margarine in frying pan over medium high heat.

    Add onion, garlic and ginger, stirring occasionally until onion just becomes translucent.

    Add bok choi to pan and mix well. Put lid on bok choi to steam for a minute or two. Stir contents, and replace lid for another minute or two. The bok choi is cooked when leaves are limp and top of stem connected to leaf begins to soften.

    What are some of your favorite restaurant foods that you’d like to see us try to make allergy-free?  Let us know.   Also, if you try this recipe, please let us know how it worked for you.