Gluten-Free Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. For your gluten-free munching pleasure.

I suppose you could argue that one oatmeal cookie recipe is enough. I mean, how many oatmeal cookie recipes does a person need? To this I answer, at least two. Why? Well, first you have one with raisins. Raisins give oatmeal cookies that old school chewy sneaky nutrition boost. They're old fashioned and comfy cozy. Kinda like spending one of those Saturday afternoons at your Aunt Martha's house, chillin'. Watching Mr. Rogers and laying on the floor with a pile of coloring books. Coloring outside the lines with a beat up box of Crayolas.

Wishing the silver crayon was more than a lonely nub.

And right at that nub lamenting moment she'd bring you a plate of cookies.

I never had an Aunt Martha. But I did have a chain smoking platinum blond Aunt Patty who liked martinis a little too much. Or maybe it was gin and tonics. There was ice in the glass. If I was lucky enough to scrounge up a coloring book and some crayons, I would hide behind the sofa. I didn't want to hear her opinion on pantyhose or how you could tell a woman's age by looking at her knees. I'd wait out the tedious afternoon without cookies. If I was lucky, I might get some tap water Kool-Aid. Or a plastic bowl of Cheetos.

Perhaps that's why I'm not a fan of raisins in oatmeal cookies. I don't nurture comforting memories of their shrunken grape taste, though I appreciate their fine qualities- in an abstract, theoretical sense.

No, I'm more of a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie kind of girl. Especially when the cookies are warm and the chips are melty. Chocolate makes everything right with the world. So here's oatmeal cookie recipe number two. Bake some up this week.

I say, be your own Aunt Martha.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Lemony Gluten-Free Pasta with Grilled Asparagus

A light, lemony vegan pasta salad. Gluten-free.

Light + Lemony Gluten-Free Pasta Salad

To speak about something as prosaic as pasta salad seems downright ho-hum. I mean. It's just a pasta salad. It's something I tossed together with stuff I had on hand. I hadn't planned on it. I didn't spend days contemplating the ins and outs and quirks of gluten-free penne. In fact, if I'm being unabashedly honest here I rarely think about food at all.

Until I'm hungry.

Until those familiar, nagging pangs begin gnawing their pesky little way into my consciousness, distracting me from my preferred, visual nomenclature- which rarely includes anything edible.

I daydream about paint, the plight of bees, and Clint Mansell's score for Moon. I notice the temperature of light and the curve of negative space against a jar of old spoons. I think about expectations and illusions and perceptions. I ponder where my soul is taking me, tugging at me to pay attention to my life, inviting me through dreams and the random snippets of music or ideas or theories that skitter and skate and ripple the mental stream I wade in day after day, to consider time itself- if I believe in it- sliding by in a cool constant flow of now.

I rarely eat breakfast. I often forget lunch. And dinner time always surprises me. As if each day takes figuring out all over again how to (****ing) live (to paraphrase the Deadwood Zen master David Milch).

This doesn't mean I don't appreciate good food.

Or that I hate to cook (well, some days I am less than enthusiastic).

I loathe junk food and processed food. I can't take credit for this- it's simply the way I'm built, the way my body so pointedly rejects any easy, packaged fix.

Even before I discovered gluten intolerance and FODMAPs I knew on some instinctual level that in order to keep this body of mine healthy and strong for the here and now I have to pay it some attention.

I know I have to eat.

And eat consciously.

And so I find myself rummaging in the little white painted cupboard that is my pantry.

And I find a box of gluten-free penne.

In the fridge I locate a fistful of spring asparagus.

One lemon.

A few sprigs of dill, marjoram, parsley and mint.

The rest is history.

Now in my belly.

Fuel for instigating thoughts of rebirth, fragility, and the particular pink that is ranunculus.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Scones

To Do List: Bake These Lovely Weekend Scones

The almighty weekend is here at last. It's Friday, Babycakes.

My advice? Bake up some scones.

Scones are (totally!) easy to throw together. In less than half an hour (in between Saturday morning bouts of dusting and laundry and vacuuming to Mumford & Sons) you'll have a tender gluten-free morsel to share and savor. Gently spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and studded with sweet bursts of raisins, I predict these cinnamon raisin scones will make you smile.

Why they're perfect for the weekend:

These scones make a light and simple continental breakfast or a perfect mid-morning (or afternoon) pick-me-up. Make a pot of tea and invite a friend. Serve with some yogurt and tasty girl talk. Discuss the lovely Vanity Fair article on Johnny Depp by Patti Smith that you finally (finally!) got to read.

Bookworms never seemed so deeply beautiful.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Whole Grain Gluten-Free Bread

Whole grain gluten-free deliciousness.

Whole Grain Bread- No Xanthan Gum

Just when you think you have it all figured out, life snakes you a curve ball and rattles your position. Just a little a bit. Just enough to make sure you're still awake, still paying attention. Because what is life about if not change? Change is the only constant. Change is our true companion.

Nothing stays the same.

Especially persnickety celiac tummies. I know this from readers. I know this from gluten-free bloggers. I know this from personal experience. We start at A, oblivious. We skip and stumble to D. We settle in. We think G or J is pretty cool. Then Q throws us into a tizzy.

We discover gluten is an enemy. Then maybe milk. Or mustard. Or kidney beans. FODMAPs. You name it. Fill in the blank.

Most of us with celiac disease end up with a few additional culprits on our Need to Avoid List. Maybe not right away. But over time, many of us will have to fine tune our repertoire of ingredients.

If we want to stay healthy.

If we want to grow stronger, not fatter.

If we want to feel trim, not bloated.

Which brings me to bread. (What celiac conversation doesn't lead to bread, I ask you?)


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Flourless Chocolate Cake - Easy Gluten-Free Recipe

Flourless Chocolate Heaven-

Perfection for a Gluten-Free Diet

Dense, sexy chocolate deliciousness on a plate. This is such an easy recipe, especially if you use a food processor to do the work. Serve this to non-gluten-free folks with no apologies. None. Zip. Nada.

And for gluten-free folks? Hand out seconds (we deserve it, don't we?).

And the best part is- the recipe is inherently gluten-free and wheat-free. No substitutions. In fact, this is the same flourless cake I've been making for years. It never contained flour. The only thing I've tweaked post-celiac diagnosis is adding more coffee and vanilla.

Just because.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Why Gluten Hurts: The Truth About Celiac Disease

Living Without Our Daily Bread

by Karina Allrich

Since the birth of agriculture- when our ancestors began to cultivate and harvest grains- human beings have cherished bread. It was a minor miracle, this almost magical transformation of grain into dough. Bread became the staff of life, a daily source of nourishment, symbolic of spiritual renewal.

But what if bread was suddenly poison? What if wheat was toxic, and every bite of a toasted bagel, slice of pizza or forkful of penne inflicted damage to your body?

This scenario is a daily reality for those carrying the gene of an autoimmune disorder known as celiac disease.

Little did I know as I wrote my second cookbook, happily creating recipes for lemon infused pasta primavera and olive-rosemary focaccia, that a hidden twist in my own eclectic heritage would soon disrupt my life. After years of subtle symptoms, an acute phase produced a twenty pound weight loss, joint pain, skin rash, and malabsorption. By December, 2001, I knew I had celiac disease.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Mother's Day Recipes

Karina's Green Chile Egg Bake

Recipes for a Gluten-Free Mom...

We wouldn't be here without her. Or the other nurturing, supportive, maternal figures in our lives- be they sisters (by blood or in spirit), aunties, teachers, mentors, grandmothers, or mothers-in-law. All those who nudge us and inspire us and believe in us. But especially She Who Knows Us- with all our quirks and wrinkles, all our stumbles and scrapes and broken hearted misery- and loves us anyway.

You know who they are.

So if you happen to love such a Person, and they're gluten-free?

Have I got some recipes for you.

Note: Above: A favorite recipe for guests (and popular with B and B hosts)... Whip up these easy baked eggs with roasted green chiles topped with a golden, toasty circle of gluten-free bread, and fresh herbs. Totally Mother's Day worthy, baked in individual ramekins (fancy!).

Gluten-Free Goddess Whole Grain Strawberry Muffins

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Orange Creme Cupcakes

Sunny Sweetness with a Twist

On my To-Do List for nearly forever has been creating a gluten-free vegan recipe for my favorite birthday treat- a fresh and fragrant orange cake with orange creme frosting. Since it isn't my birthday until June, I decided to experiment with making cupcakes instead of a layer cake. You know. Strictly for taste testing. Research. And well.

Orange cupcakes just sounded refreshing.

Sunny and sweet.

I had such a good time in the kitchen this week making these sweet little gems. In fact, I'll be working on more recipes for vegan cupcakes in the near future, including basic vanilla cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, carrot, perhaps, and a few other tasty flavor combos.

Now that I know how easy it is to bake delicious gluten-free vegan cupcakes, the sky's the limit.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Three Fabulous Soup Recipes

Start the New Year Light and Fresh

with these hearty and fabulous soup recipes

Happy New Year, Dear Reader! Welcome to a brand new day. The unwritten slate of 2015 awaits our choices, as clean and cold as a January dawn. What will you do with this gift of time? This fresh start? Where to begin?

I suggest soup.

And stew.

Slow cooker comfort in a bowl.

Kind to your body. Nourishing to your spirit. A soother of cravings.

For omnivores, this Cranberry Pot Roast Stew is sure to stick to your ribs. Not to mention, tantalize your taste buds. This is a stew destined for football games and Sunday marathons of Downton Abbey (or True Detective, if that's your particular philosophical persuasion).

For those among us looking to the New Year as a fresh start (notice I do not say the dreaded word diet), my favorite, gorgeous, green detox soup might just be the ticket. Light and fresh tasting, but so incredibly flavorful you won't miss the meat or the butter or the cream. Seriously. Try it. Karina's Green Detox Soup Recipe with Coconut Milk.

The third soup choice (they like to say third time's the charm) is a postmodern twist on a classic. Mulligatawny, gluten-free style. So good. Dare I say, slurp worthy. A popular choice here on Gluten-Free Goddess. Find my Mulligatawny Soup Recipe with Jasmine Rice here.

So that's it for now. Dust off the Crock Pot and grab your spoons. Start the New Year off with a gift to your body. And your soul.

Gluten-Free Dinner Rolls

Fresh baked gluten-free dinner rolls- warm and tender.

Let it roll, Baby, roll.

We've been slurping lots of soup this week while the temperatures hover well below my chilly bones' preference of 72 degrees. I hate to complain about 52 degrees, but, honestly. I'm shivering like a kitten in a Steve Martin movie. This is SoCal, not New Hampshire. Where is my sunshine and technicolor blue sky? Hiding its good humor behind wrinkled duvets of fuzzy gray clouds, that's where.

So we make gluten-free soup.

But the soup needs a companion. Our potage is lonely. And so I play matchmaker. I've been inviting gluten-free roll recipes to come and play. I've been flirting with their quirks and grainy idiosyncrasies, trying to be a good host. Coaxing their prickly little batters into behaving. As in, taste GOOD. And I've had some almost there success. But nothing to brag about. Nothing blog worthy.

Until today. These rolls are a balance of whole grain flavor and softness. Just crusty enough. These were tender and lovely warm from the oven. Not gummy. Not heavy. Not too grainy.

Just right.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Lemon Yogurt Cake

Luscious Lemon Cake...

From deep in the Gluten-Free Goddess archives, a lemon cake you may have missed... Ever since I saw Ilva's sumptuous Almond and Ricotta Cake I've been jonesing for something with lemon. The odd thing is- her cake doesn't even have lemon (strange the way our mind works and sweeps us away along memory traceries of scent and flavor) but I started craving a cake laced with citrus- not too sweet and not too light. A cake with character and heft.

The day I decided to bake, of course, I had no ricotta, but I did have organic plain yogurt and plenty of blanched almond flour. Inspired by Ilva's recipe, I tweaked her ingredients with those I had on hand and baked up a lovely simple cake that reminds me of a coffee cake I remember liking as a child, a bakery cake called Louisiana Ring made by Freihofer's- yet in truth, that cake featured a hint of orange rather than lemon.

There's that memory glitch again.

Some intuitive leap from taste to taste. An image, a smell can trigger a remembrance as vivid as the day you experienced it, enhanced, I imagine, by hindsight. This ability sharpens as you get older.

Time seems to condense into the senses (invoking forgotten details). You start believing the Buddha's theory about ten dimensions. You start savoring the smallest moments. Your husband hands you a mug of green tea, the steam rising in the late afternoon sun slatted through the bamboo window shade, and a loss from the past heals for a moment.

Next time I make this recipe I think I'll use oranges.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

Karina's Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas

This award winning budget-friendly vegetarian enchilada recipe is one of those happy accidents that spring from a burst of creative inspiration. I was craving the soft and spicy comfort of enchiladas one windy spring night back in 2003, and I had none of the usual suspects on hand (no chicken, or beef, no pinto beans).

But I had one lovely mother of a sweet potato.

I had a can of organic black beans in the pantry.

Some roasted green chiles.

One lonely lime.

And your intrepid Mamacita at large thought, Hmmm. Why not?

Deliciousness ensued.

These wrapped little gems are soft and creamy and a little bit spicy- just like a certain cook, my point-scoring husband wisecracks. It's the yams, I tell him. Er, sweet potato. I can never tell the difference. In the end, it doesn't matter.

What matters is how it tastes.

And Babycakes, these are so very mucho scrumptious. Seriously. I kid you not. Make a batch for a girls' night in, or a laid back Sunday brunch.

Or dazzle a vegetarian on Meatless Monday.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins- No Xanthan Gum

Baking Without Xanthan Gum, I Am.

When I first set foot on this lonely gluten-free road (it was 2001, remember, pre-gluten-free boon; there was nary a gluten-free bagel or wheat-free blueberry muffin in sight), I wrestled with converting my beloved tried and true wheat flour recipes, gamely baking and tossing too many gluten-free hockey pucks and brick loaves to count. Until I discovered xanthan gum- the weirdo secret ingredient that gave gluten-free batter and dough a hint of that elusive stretchy tenderness that gluten once gifted. Xanthan gum was a find.

And it has been a nifty little problem solver for many years.

Until it wasn't.

After a decade or so of cooking, baking, and eating strictly gluten-free I began to feel- shall we say- less than wonderful after eating something with xanthan gum (or guar gum, or locust bean gum, or carrageenan).

Ingredients my grandmother never heard of. Ingredients I never used to eat. Or bake with.

I had a gluten-free shakabuku.

I was seeing gums and emulsifiers added to everything. From coconut milk to olives, from gluten-free gingersnaps to vegan ice cream.

Then I read this.

And I decided to go back to the way I used to eat- still gluten-free, of course- but- no xanthan gum. No guar gum. No carrageenan.

Guess what?

My tummy is (WAY) happier. My digestion is normal (translation- no pain, no bloat, no kill me now existential ennui).

I've been experimenting with baking without xanthan gum. And I'm here to share my blueberry muffin success. I'm using flax seed meal to help the batter a bit. And so far?

So good.

Karina's Side Note: I baked these tasty little gems in my new Cuisinart Deluxe Convection Toaster Oven Broiler (our new apartment has no oven, so after researching counter top toaster ovens, we ordered one of these from Amazon.com). I love it- it keeps the kitchen cool (gives off very little heat) and the convection baking is super efficient for baking gluten-free goodies. So far we've made my xanthan gum free Dark Chocolate Brownies, and the new Blueberry Muffins in it, using the convection method.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake Muffins

Lovely wheat-free carrot cake muffins - gluten-free

Wake up with a warm and lovely carrot muffin.

The snow has turned to rain this week and our Cape Cod winter rental (no cozy fireplace or wood stove) feels chilly and dampish. Which makes yours truly want to crank up the oven and bake. And with skies as gray and thick as old flannel- darling, it has to be muffins. Something bright and light and perfect with tea. Something fun to lo lift our cabin-feverish spirits. Something, perhaps, like these tender little bundles of gluten-free joy. So cute and sunny.

I love the carroty color. The subtly fragrant texture of coconut flour and quinoa flakes. A hint of cinnamon and ginger. A bite of raisin.

Seriously tea worthy.

And more fiber rich than say, a powdered donut. Or your average gluten-free bagel which is nothing but starch (not that I have anything against starch these days; I am rather embracing Doris of late). This a treat you can eat without a heavy helping of self-imposed guilt.

Truth is I don't count calories or worry about dieting.

At my age (or any age?) I think worrying can make you gain weight.

Focusing on all the food you can't have. Thinking about how many bites is too much. Cutting back so drastically on caloric intake or carbs or fat that your blood sugar plunges faster than a carnival ride. You don't want to be around me if I'm on a diet- or a low-carb regimen. I am one wildly cranky be-atch. I lose brain cells. I see flashing lights.

I tip over.

I claw through the refrigerator overwhelmed with the sensation of deprivation.

Until I find the long lost bag of gluten-free pretzels.

Then I'm done.

And done in.

So I don't bother with the details when I need to lose make friends with my yearly winter weight gain. And I may as well confess- ! I don't go sugar-free any more. I eat a brownie cupcake. There I said it.

Then I go for a walk (if it isn't zero degrees).

I try to keep moving. Because the reason I gain a pie roll this time of year has less to do with carbs and fat grams than you think. It's not the morning muffin that gives me my muffin top. It's the hibernation. The paucity of exercise. The bump on the log that I become once the sun sets- at 4:42 PM.

It's hard to burn calories watching reruns of Mad Men and new episodes of Downton Abbey.

Unless you're on a treadmill.

Which, like Betty Draper, or Countess Violet, I am most decidedly not.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Karina's Nirvana Layer Bars: Chocolate Coconut Bliss

Divine Gluten-Free Layer Bars

This dessert is a family favorite- my chocolate-coconut layer bar recipe. Simple to make. Sweet and gooey and bliss inducing. And most important? You can offer them at any gathering without a gluten-free apology. (Would that be, Don't ask, don't tell?)

Bummed about the dairy in it? My son Alex has created his own casein-free version using condensed coconut milk. See our Dairy-Free Nirvana Bars recipe here.


Chill before serving, if you like, for a snappy, cold burst of sweetness.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp-Crumble

Warm from the oven strawberry rhubarb crumble.

We've been blessed with fecund weather here in Southern California. Love is in the air. House finches are singing. Mourning doves coo. Roses are unfolding their velvet petals. Trees are budding creamy white, violet-blue, and pink.

In other words, picnic perfect. So I've been craving crisp and crumble desserts. The easiest of baked fresh fruit sweets... lovely for springtime picnic, or summer backyard get-together. A perfect ending to a grill-side supper on the deck, al fresco.

Although I have featured a strawberry rhubarb crisp in the past (kissed with a hint of balsamic vinegar) I decided to play around with an alternative topping to the classic pairing of tart rhubarb and sweet ripe strawberries. And I grabbed a secret ingredient from my pantry.

Can you guess what it is?

The secret ingredient in this old fashioned crumble dessert is an ingredient your grandmother probably never heard of.

Quinoa flakes. Gluten-free quinoa cereal flakes add a distinct, delicate flavor to this fruit crumble's sweet and nutty topping. The texture is light and lovely- and far less chewy than oats.

We thought it was spectacular.

And as a bonus? This gluten-free dessert is xanthan gum free.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Crunchy Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crunchy almond butter cookies.

A Good Cookie Is No Small Thing...

Our latest variation on a theme- crunchy almond butter chocolate chip cookies. Why another gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe, you ask? There are so many reasons, Darling. In fact, where do I begin? 

First. The obvious. The duh. 

One can, in fact, never have too many gluten-free cookie recipes. Especially in our polite don't want to make a fuss look-but-don't-taste universe, when one has to live gluten and dairy free, shunning wheat flour, cream and butter, declining pink birthday party cupcakes and adorable custard tarts and snowy cream cheese on toasted Everything Bagels and examining every ingredient label ad infinitum. 

How do we survive in a culture that promotes our poison everywhere we turn? We keep a stiff upper lip. We cultivate a cool and breezy neo-zen detachment. We learn to ignore hunger pangs and cravings. We learn (sometimes the hard way) that taking a risk (eating out in any kitchen that is not our own) is not worth the price our body will (all too often) pay. We tie on a perky pink chocolate apron and flirt with our inner domestic goddess. We bake our own cupcakes and cookies. We tweak our tried and true recipes and play with variations on a theme, nudging an ingredient or new flavor combo into the spotlight. Just because it's fun. 

And in our special, special gluten-free universe? 

Every tasty cookie that is safe to eat is a treasure. A gift. A little morsel from heaven. 

So when we have a new favorite nut butter- crunchy almond butter- we start to wonder...

Would it would make a good cookie? 

We just knew it would.

A nutty non-peanut non-legume treat. And we knew we had to add dark chocolate. 

Duh part deux. 

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Irish Soda Bread Recipe

Tender, delicious gluten-free soda bread.

Irish Soda Bread Love

For bakers using wheat, Irish soda bread is one of the easiest no-fuss breads to throw together. The gluten in the wheat works its magic to bind the quick-rising dough without yeast. But if gluten is no longer in the equation, creating a tender loaf of Irish soda bread is a tad more complicated. Gluten-free quick breads can be crumbly and dry. Especially if you use the old school white rice flour and starch combo.

Lucky for us, we have several newer alternative flours to choose from. Millet, sorghum, buckwheat, coconut, brown rice, and quinoa flours have better taste, more protein, and a superior texture than the old school stand-by white rice flour.

What do I have against white rice flour? It might simply boil down to personal taste. After baking gluten-free for awhile, one develops personal preferences. I don't like the cooked rice taste, or texture, that rice flour imparts. Ditto for bean flour which tastes vaguely metallic. (And I don't care how much protein and how few carbs a raw bean has, okay?)

So I experiment and tweak my recipes. I try a new flour combination and entertain intuition. I start thinking about how a recipe crumbles a bit, so I add some honey because honey is a humectant. And Hello! The bread bakes up tender and moist (agave does the same thing, by the way).

This whole process of gluten-free baking is a process.

And as an artist, I cultivate a deep affection for process. So even though I have a perfectly acceptable gluten-free Irish Soda Bread recipe on the blog, and a nifty new school Gypsy Soda Bread recipe, I felt the need to try again this week and experiment with a new formula. And I came up with a slightly sweet and tender loaf that is rice-free and vegan. No eggs. No milk. And guess what? 

It's better than better. It's scrumptious.

My husband declared it his favorite gluten-free bread to date (as he chowed down on a wedge of this soda bread grilled in a dab of olive oil). So why do I tweak recipes? Why do I make it complicated? Why add a touch of honey when I already use sugar? Why do I add millet when I have sorghum?

This is why.

Because there's always room for improvement in gluten-free baking. Recipes aren't precious. They're not written in stone like a commandment. A recipe is more like a poem. Set to music. And the music?

Jazz, baby.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

Fresh baked lemon-blueberry muffins, Darling.

Sunshine + Lemon

With all the snow the Winter of 2015 has wrought (wreaked?), I thought I'd reprise this sunny lemon recipe for storm-weary spirits.

From the archives: Caught in the clutches of an Arctic Vortex, what's a Gluten-Free Goddess to do? Why, bake, of course. (The calorie-stingy- but oh-so-delicious!- detox soup recipe will still be there tomorrow, in all it's green and virtuous glory. Don't you worry.) When the icy winds howl like Banshees on the headlands and the snow flies sideways in stinging barbs as sharp as an art/music/film/literary critic's those-who-can't-do-criticize sarcasm, I lock the windows and doors, Darling, and hunker down in our humble winter rental, praying to the Power Gods that the electricity will hold (our sole source of warmth and comfort- how I miss a fireplace! And a wood stove- so much more soulful and dependable, in a self reliant sort of way). I pull on layers of L. L. Bean waffle cotton and plaid and crank up the oven.

Baking lemon-blueberry muffins, then, accomplishes two things.

It warms us twice.

Body and soul.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Irish Soda Bread Buns

Gluten-Free Goddess Irish-inspired soda bread bun rolls.

To all you brave and plucky souls weathering this record breaking Winter... hold on. Spring is poised to sprout. I just know it. Despite the frigid fingers of wind that unwrap your scarf and creep-sneak down your spine. Despite the tawny, snow beaten grass that twists between wind blown twigs and scattered patches of silvered ice to the edge of the winter weary woods. Despite the wild and wooly roar of March's lion--- you can feel it. Right?

Green is coming.

Happy (almost- it's coming- hold on) Spring!

And here is an Irish soda bread inspired bun recipe to celebrate.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Karina's Kicked Up Colcannon Recipe

An Irish classic- colcannon. Mashed potatoes with a twist.

Kicked Up Colcannon

Traditional colcannon is an Irish potato recipe thick with cream and sticks of butter. If served for the Celtic New Year, a bowl of colcannon might include a lucky coin hidden in its pillowy depths; the charmed recipient- if she didn't break a tooth on it- kept the buried treasure for a New Year's worth of kind fortune. 

My version of colcannon is anything but traditional. I'm an Ashkenazi-Scot-Irish Polish shiksa zen Jungian humanist by way of the Siberian Ice Maiden, after all (this is how I found out, with a 23andMe DNA test; my maternal haplotype is A8). So you know I had to change it up a bit. It had to be spiked with the flavors I crave. 

Flavors that love snuggling up to potatoes.

Because when it comes to this windy, stormy almost-spring-but-not-quite time of year nothing beats a good potato recipe.              

It's in my blood. On all sides of my eclectic lineage there is a love of potatoes. And not just a flirtatious fling kinda love. Abiding love. The real deal. The kind of love that conjures the crispy Potato Latke and the tender knish, the golden browned Shepherd's Pie and the bonfire baked jacket potato. The kind of love that is sensible and hands-on practical and pairs the most beloved of tubers with cabbage and onion. 

And dreams up a gem like colcannon.

I am blessed on all sides with maternal traditions that share an appetite for potatoes- and simple comfort food.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Karina's Irish Beef Stew

Beef Stew. Who knew?

This recipe is a surprise- even to me. Beef stew? You wouldn't expect a life-long Vegetarian Goddess to create and fall in love with an Irish beef stew recipe, but that is precisely what happened this weekend. 

Shocking? 

Tell me about it.

Just when you think you've got your life all figured out, and your tastes and preferences arranged in a tidy packet of self-identification and veggie piety- all Hades breaks loose. Celiac. Food allergies. Broken hip.

Suddenly, your food-world view is quite literally flipped on its leafy little head.

So, after my orthopedic surgeon's instructions to "eat lots of animal protein" to support the healing of my hip fracture, my husband and I decided to try our collective hands at making our very first Irish beef stew together.

The first beef stew of our marriage.

And what did I do as I spooned the first taste into my hesitant, quivering lips? Gentle Reader, I swooned like a virgin in a bodice ripper. I sighed. I grew faint with pleasure. I slurped. Oh my! I murmured through one spoonful after another. Wow, said my partner in crime. This is mighty damn tasty.

You could have knocked us over with a feather.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Fudgy Brownie Cupcakes

Fudgy Brownie Cupcake Love

Lately we've been experimenting with baking brownies in a cupcake tin. Just for a change-up. We felt like tweaking again. We're using Baker's chocolate now (semi-sweet and unsweetened). And we're favoring hazelnut flour. We boosted the baking soda a tad. When they bake they rise and fall and crack like little flourless chocolate cakes.

What's not to love?


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Kale Soup with Spicy Chicken Sausage and Sweet Potato

Comfort Food for a Dark

and Gnarly Winter

Back in New England, it's been one long gnarly Winter. The word wicked does not even begin to cover it. Epic... might be a start. Massive... might be an understatement. The snow, you see, is record breaking. One might even say, insane. It's enough to make a big dog weep.

In (previously) typical fashion, one might be tempted to throw up one's hands in defeat and shout, Let the carb cravings begin! But I might actually be in the mood to defy such cravings, yipping and gnawing inside my belly like so many tiny, quivering chihuahuas. Tugging my attention to mocha frosted vanilla cupcakes. Banana bread. Chocolate chip cookies.

I might actually choose, instead, to grab a big pot. And start a batch of hearty, soul mending soup.

And living- as we did for three decades- on Cape Cod, you might guess I rustled up some classic clam chowdah. Or lobstah bisque. Nope. Instead, my inspiration comes via Wellfleet village. A gluten-free, cooking lighter take on a New England Portuguese mainstay. Kale soup. With andouille.

It's the perfect, spicy soup to brave this stuff called SNOW.

And in the meantime, string up some fairy lights. Gather some candles. And know I'm counting with you- the lengthening days till Spring.

That'd be 33.

Or 231 in dog years.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Chocolate Recipe Love

Celebrate love with these fabulous gluten-free chocolate recipes.

I've said it before. Chocolate is love. And any excuse to celebrate love (or chocolate) is high on my priority list. Here are some of my hand-picked favorite gluten-free chocolate recipes for Valentine's Day- or any day you feel like celebrating love.

Which, in my corner of the world, ought to be every day.

Cacao! conquers all.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Chocolate Muffins

Rise and Shine, Campers

Happy Groundhog Day! 

Today's post is short and sweet and all about muffins. Not just any old muffins, either. Gluten-free chocolate muffins. Because as any gluten-free goddess knows, chocolate makes breakfast better.


Especially with six more weeks of Winter looming.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Super Bowl Recipes

Let's Rustle Up Some Grub

I've said it before. I'm no expert on football. But all this talk (and talk, and talk) about deflating balls seems a tad, shall we say, blown out of proportion. So rather than bore you with my colorful opinion on Tom Brady's ball pressure preferences, I'd prefer to discuss something far more important. And far more relevant and impactful to your, you know, ACTUAL LIFE.

Like food.

Enough with the balls already. Here's some ideas and recipes to celebrate The Super Bowl, kids. Party on. 

Play nice. 

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe

Gluten-free wheat-free vanilla cupcakes. Let's celebrate.

SWEET.

The world is my oyster. No. Wait. I don't even like oysters. All that prying and shucking. All that shimmying. All that clinging, gelatinous muscle. You can have my share. Take it. Please.

I much prefer a cupcake.

No slimy abductor to deal with. No quasi-fishy liquor. Just tender, soft sweetness in exactly the right portion. Not too big. Not too heavy. Not too much.

Just right.

Texture, frankly, can be an issue for me. Size is another issue (portions bigger than my head? A serious turn off). And taste, well, that goes without saying (you know how I loathe bean flour).

Have you read Too Loud, Too Bright, Too Fast, Too Tight: What to Do If You Are Sensory Defensive in an Overstimulating World? 

If I was a storybook character I would inhabit The Princess and the Pea.

Except that it would have to be The Gluten-Free Casein-Free Princess and the Pea (which by the way, I may also be allergic to; the pea, that is). While others around me appear to sail without pause through the onslaught of sensory stimuli and proteins that is life in the twenty-first century, I have been blessed (and I use the term ironically) with the uncanny aptitude of hearing, smelling, feeling every little particle and nano nuance packed into our molecular frenzy of unstable equilibrium. I can sleep on a stack of twenty foam topped mattresses but if there is a single lonely hint of pea beneath, I am sure to sense it.

And it will keep me up all night.

And give me schpilkis.

Which brings me back to cupcakes.

For those of us with acute sensory awareness (what some might dub just chill the f**k out disease) a cupcake is a small and rather lovely gift. When done right, a cupcake is tender and not too chewy, not too crumbly, mealy, or assertive. It's not abrasive in its flavor or flaccidly dull. It's not too clean skinny-chic or too over-the-top use a bucket of butter ya'll sweet.

It doesn't stuff you till you're stupid.

And it doesn't demand attention. It's not a diva. It's not competitive, you see. A simple cupcake is perfectly happy to be just what it is even if it won't garner food awards or get its own TV show and cookware line. A cupcake is very postmodern zen and unapologetic. It is what it is. You can take or leave it.

The cupcake doesn't care.

Because a cupcake well done is simply perfection.



READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Three Fabulous Soup Recipes for the New Year

Start the New Year Light and Fresh

with these hearty and fabulous soup recipes

Happy New Year, Dear Reader! Welcome to a brand new day. The unwritten slate of 2015 awaits our choices, as clean and cold as a January dawn. What will you do with this gift of time? This fresh start? Where to begin?

I suggest soup.

And stew.

Slow cooker comfort in a bowl.

Kind to your body. Nourishing to your spirit. A soother of cravings.

For omnivores, this Cranberry Pot Roast Stew is sure to stick to your ribs. Not to mention, tantalize your taste buds. This is a stew destined for football games and Sunday marathons of Downton Abbey (or True Detective, if that's your particular philosophical persuasion).

For those among us looking to the New Year as a fresh start (notice I do not say the dreaded word diet), my favorite, gorgeous, green detox soup might just be the ticket. Light and fresh tasting, but so incredibly flavorful you won't miss the meat or the butter or the cream. Seriously. Try it. Karina's Green Detox Soup Recipe with Coconut Milk.

The third soup choice (they like to say third time's the charm) is a postmodern twist on a classic. Mulligatawny, gluten-free style. So good. Dare I say, slurp worthy. A popular choice here on Gluten-Free Goddess. Find my Mulligatawny Soup Recipe with Jasmine Rice here.

So that's it for now. Dust off the Crock Pot and grab your spoons. Start the New Year off with a gift to your body. And your soul.