Mulligatawny Soup with Jasmine Rice

Warm up with a bowl of this delicious mulligatawny soup.

Warm Up

All this Arctic Vortex talk (and accompanying blizzard aftermath) has got your intrepid Gluten-Free Goddess shivering in her skivvies and sporting a Brooklyn-style knit beanie at her desk. Outside our winter rental it is a frosty 17ºF as I type (a heat wave- up from 8ºF upon waking). Remind me again why we chose Cape Cod for our Winter of 2014 I mutter, shuffling in double socks to brew my favorite anti-depressant. A steaming cuppa Joe.

The sky is icy blue this morning. And I am craving mulligatawny. As luck or fate or Plan B foresight would have it, I have enough ingredients on hand to make my favorite soup for lunch today. A simpler, easier version of my well worn recipe for Vegetarian Mulligatawny.

I skipped the cabbage and cauliflower and canned tomatoes this time, and upped the carrots for a bright, fresh tasting- dare I say- healthy potage (that's a fancy word for soup, as you, Darling, already surely know; I just mention it in case you might think I'm getting snobby or elitist or uppity- Goddess forbid!).

I just started reading The Sound of Paper by Julia Cameron. I need a kick in the creative butt. I'm feeling stuck. Not in a blasé, cigarette dangling, shoulder shrugging What's the point? existential despair kind of stuck.

But close.

I blame the Arctic Vortex.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Karina's Detox Soup Recipe with Coconut Milk

An easy, creamy vegan soup ~ gluten-free.

Detox Mansion

It's hard not to feel anxious these days. So much barking and blinking and chest thumping. So much posing and strutting, and grinding, voracious greed. It's mighty tough for a sensitive soul (prone to itchy bouts of worry) to cope with all the mishegas and mayhem of our overheated plugged-in self-promoting culture. Finding a little grace and respite amidst the noise can be hard.

That is why I am sharing (another) soup recipe. Just in case there is a kindred spirit out there in need of a bowl of creamy veggie comfort. A gluten-free vegan detox soup worthy of Peter Rabbit's sneaky excursions into Mr. McGregor's garden (that mischievous little rabbit- or as we like to say in my house... BUNNY!- close to my own greens adoring heart).

Bunnies aren't known for tongue-thrusting on YouTube, or spitting out criticism, or bullying, or, in general, wreaking havoc. Unless you count Peter's root vegetable stealing. Or (my sons' favorite) mischievous Max and his devouring love of chocolate chickens (have you read the Max books?).

Bunnies are (ostensibly, anyway) devoted to a milder temperament.

And qualities like kindness and cuteness and gentleness.

Traits easily trampled in our thundering, gun toting, zombie killing 3-D pyrotechnics fed culture.

So it seemed only fitting I cook up a batch of bunny loving vegan soup today as fresh and non-toxic as could be.

Creamy, green, good-for-you soul food.

Ask any bunny.

READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Easy Chicken Chili with Sweet Potato + Lime

My version of white chili. With lime.

Easy Chicken Chili Time

New Year's Day looms. Ah, the annual parades. The glut of bowl games. The feast of football. Pigskin is king. Tight ends are tightening. Quarterbacks are quarterbacking. And kickers are praying to the football gods they won't be called in for a chip-shot, with 6 seconds to spare in the final quarter. Do I sound like I know what I am talking about? I don't. I just overheard some manly sporty banter over gluten-free tuna melts. To which I smiled politely.

And reached for a pickle.

Even after watching every episode of Friday Night Lights, I still don't understand a down. Football is a mystery. Back fields in motion. Penalties! Off sides. Snap. Blitz. Gotta love the lingo. It's a language alluringly foreign to me. Like math.

Or for some, perhaps it's akin to say... abstract expressionism.

Visual chaos executed in angles and arcs and bursts of focus, drive and energy.

Thing is, I get the practiced dance of propulsion. Designing motion from multiple points of view. I get it. In my bones. This is my territory. You're talkin' my language. Value verses tone. Light bumping up against dark. Sharp contrast dissolving into blur. I appreciate the power of practice and intention. Negative space divided by a perfect spiral.

Think of the interplay of icing thick paint and oceanic viscosity.  The quickening beauty of a layered surface, vibrating with complementary colors. Transparency and opacity. Cool against warm. Unprimed and primed. Lost and found edges. The seduction of action's evidence. The painter's hand. Rugged tooth and clean, smooth paper.

Though it's not all yin yang, a wrestle of opposites.

As in football- and life- painting is a focus of expression, sometimes true and authentic, and sometimes disappointingly off the mark.

Like a short field goal.

We try. We sometimes miss. But what matters is- we make the effort. And that is all we can do. We kick the ball. We brush wet paint. We string words into a lyric. We stitch a quilt. We photograph a child's curiosity. We make chili.

And sometimes?

We get a winner.

And if not?

Tomorrow is another day.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Cranberry Bread Recipe

Holiday Perfect: Cranberry Tea Bread 

Christmas and cranberries. The two go together like Beatles and Sunday. Brad and Angie. Milk and cookies. I was imagining a tea bread that might work for gluten-free French toast, you see. The sort of breakfast you'd like to wake up to on Christmas morning. Something warm with melting butter and cozy cinnamon. Something festive. Special. Not your average grab-on-the-go with coffee nosh. A gluten-free bread worthy of a holiday.

That's how it all started.

When it dawned me. Cranberry bread. Why not? It's simple. And not too sweet. It flirts magically with maple syrup. So I started daydreaming about the tart little berry that is a bog's ruby jewel.

And a gluten-free cranberry bread recipe was born.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Gluten-Free Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes

Cider roasted vegetables- pair with polenta, rice or quinoa.

For those of you celebrating Thanksgiving without the bird, here's a quick round-up of my favorite gluten-free vegetarian holiday recipes to inspire you.

Most of these recipes are actually vegan- a dairy-free plus for those of us gluten-free and casein-free. The few recipes garnished with cheese can be easily converted to dairy-free status by using your favorite vegan cheese.

In my kitchen, that's the way the cornbread crumbles.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Quinoa Salad with Pears, Baby Spinach

Vegan Gluten-Free Bliss

If you're looking for a fresh idea to liven up your ho-hum salad plate, Babycakes, have I got a recipe for you. Light, vegan, and packed with protein, this is no ordinary bunny food. It's got teeth- er, I mean, quinoa. Studded with nutty, buttery chick peas and crunchy toasted pecans and succulent jewels of ripe, juicy pears. And did I mention, in a bowl licking maple vinaigrette?

In fact, this is a salad even salad haters would eat. You know, those stalwart gotta have my meat and potatoes aficionados who eschew anything leafy. Who snicker at fiber. And mock carrot sticks. The sort of individual who gets misty eyed for melted butter and bacon martinis. To said individuals, salad could never be anything but rabbit chow. But this lovely mélange of flavors just might pique their interest. The sheer luxurious deliciousness of these autumnal flavors might coax them into flirting with bunny food goodness. Just this once. Then- who knows what could happen? They might settle in, fork poised, all dubious and dreaming of rib eye. They might take a bite. And then another. And another. And before you can say blueberry pancakes on a stick- they might actually smack their lips and grin and hold out their empty plate for more.

And you.

You could smile back, sly and slow, as you reach for the serving spoon to comply with their new found desire.

And feed their craving.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...

Best Gluten-Free Pumpkin Muffins

These wheat-free pumpkin muffins feature coconut flour and almond flour.

Favorite Companion

We found canned organic pumpkin on the store shelves this week. So be prepared for pumpkin recipes. I, for one, Darling, can't get enough. Pumpkin is my favorite fall ingredient. Maybe because it cozies up to gluten-free flours so well. It adds moisture and depth to g-free baked goods. It flirts with cinnamon and ginger like the sexiest, inscrutable movie star. You know what I'm talking about. It's not overt. Or blatant. It's not over the top. It is subtle. Secure.

Pumpkin doesn't demand to be admired.

Because it doesn't have to prove itself.

It's not a bully flavor that crushes gentler flavors in its wake. It doesn't bark and claw to be Top Dog 24/7. It doesn't have a deep seated need to own the room, to dominate, to control the ingredients it shares a bowl with.

Pumpkin goes with the flow.

It likes vanilla.

And it likes chocolate.

You could say, it's bi-flavorful.

Which happens to be a quality I admire. Even embody and embrace. Because life is brimming with diversity. Life is rich and complicated, sticky and glorious. And for every preference I may think I cherish, there are sure to be a dazzling array of alternative preferences twinkling beyond my peripheral vision like so many bokeh jewels.


READ MORE and get the recipe ...