Gluten Free

I love doughnuts - pink doughnuts are my favourite. Also the plain kind from crispy cream. Because however I am trying to change my diet for the better I wondered if there could be a healthier version.

I decided to see what I could find when I typed in gluten free doughnut, and I found what I think will be an interesting recipe to try. The ingredients are all simple and I have them all. The only problem being I did not have a doughnut mold. So I ebayed doughnut molds and I will have to order them.

I also found a terrific gluten free bread recipe book. So when I get full time work I will be purchasing that when I get my first pay check.

Anyway here is the recipe for the basic gluten free doughnut recipe I found.

Cabbage, Kale and Caramelised Onion Rice Salad

I found a recipe for caramelised onion in delicious magazine recently and it was so good.
 However I didn't get to use it all for the original recipe so I wondered how I could use it.

I decided to use it in a brown rice salad of my own. I am trying to lose weight and find the right diet/lifestyle change because I am too much of a foodie to cope with a restrictive diet and plain bland foods. Also I don't believe in calorie control as life is too short to do math every time I eat. I am going to try and practice portion control. Therefore I am trying the whole gluten free/ food combining rules, as when I went meat free and gluten free I lost some weight, however I went back to eating meat, which is ok if you just have a little but fell of the gluten free diet.

Anyway here are the ingredients;

Ingredients:

- Caremelised onion ( it's kind of like a sweet chutney, I am sure you can find your own recipe on the internet, or google it on the delicious magazine website, or buy it if you really can't be bothered).
- 2 cups cooked brown rice
- 1/8th shredded red cabbage
- 8 leaves of kale finely chopped
- 1/4 of a large cucumber finely diced
- 2 small chili's finely chopped and diced
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
- black pepper to taste
- Large handful of coriander, chopped



Method:
Basically all you have to do is mix everything together, you can add more chili's if you want it hotter. It's a great simple salad that you can add other ingredients to or adjust. You can add more of the greens or cabbage if you wish.

XX J

Gluten Free Bruschetta with Cashew Pesto, Rocket, Spinach and Fresh Basil!

This is what I am planning on making as one of my favourite afternoon teas.

The gluten free bread is sooo low in calories it's unbelievable, and when you whack it under the grill and toast it each side for a couple of minutes it perfectly toasted and ready for your toppings. i

I used the following on mine:

- Fresh Basil
- Rocket
- Baby Spinach
- Diced Tomato
- Diced Cucumber
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Cashew nut Pesto
- Gluten free bread ( i used sliced loaf, but you could use a roll cut in half)
I will post my recipe for a cashew nut pesto later on, but basically it's a mixture of cashew nuts, olive oil and basil with salt and pepper.

 

Pea and Corn Quinoa Salad

This is a lovely salad hot or cold, as a main or side.

Ingredients:

- can of peas, liquid drained

- can of corn, liquid drained

- small bunch of coriander ( or as much as you like) chopped finely

- small bunch of mint ( or as much as you like) chopped finely

- 4 Shallots, chopped
- 2 cups cooked quinoa

- Juice of 1 lemon

- cracked pepper and rock salt.

Method:

It's simple really, cook your quinoa and place into a bowl with your can of peas, corn, mint, coriander and shallots and mix together. Then drizzle all of your lemon juice on top with enough salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly together.

Eggplant Pizza

This is a great recipe for those of you who are eating gluten free or trying to stay away from bread.

It also is a much healthier way to try and get your pizza like fix without eating the real thing!

This recipe creates 4 slices!

Ingredients:

1 Eggplant
Cheese ( light tasty cheese or a parmesan )
chopped tinned tomatoes ( use this as your tomato base, not a tomato paste as that has to much salt and sugar)
your favourite choice of pizza toppings
Oven set to 180'C

Method: 

Simply wash and cut the top of your eggplant, then cut into 4 from top to bottom length ways.
Put each slice on a tray to put in the oven and place a decent amount of tinned tomato on each slice of your eggplant then place your toppings on top then your cheese, basically your doing the same thing as you would normally for a pizza.
Then place in the oven to cook, take it out when your eggplant is sizzling and all the cheese has melted nicely.

Enjoy and let me know what you think!