The Celiathlete

Mustard is one of those condiments you either love or hate.  Sometimes, it’s best to incorporate it into a recipe rather than simply spread it on a sandwich.  The problem is, not all mustards are created equally.  Quality is important when hunting for one that suits your palate.

My good friend Amanda has this knack of providing gluten-free goodies to me every now and again.  Such was the case with Koops’ Dijon mustard.  It was one of many products she handed to me one day and I was eager to put it to use.  Thankfully, one of my favorite recipes, a vegetarian-ized version of my mom’s Chicken Breast Dijon, called for the use of Dijon mustard.  Perfect.  So, that very week, I was pulling out the mustard and putting it on my vegetarian chicken, rolling it in breadcrumbs, and cooking it in the pan to perfection.

Despite the additional seasoning, what I found about this particular brand of Dijon mustard was that it had a nice, smooth, rich flavor to it.  It just melts into the food, highlighting every flavor and not overpowering the other products on the plate.  In order to really test it, I simply dabbed my finger in it and sampled.  Tangy.  Velvety.  Koops’ does everything right.  Even better, every ingredient they use is all natural and recognizable.  No chemicals or high fructose corn syrup.  Naturally good.  And gluten-free.

I’ve used this mustard now to dip vegetarian chicken nuggets in and have simply dabbed cherry tomatoes in it to add a kick to the fruit.  It’s delicious.  No other mustard has ever compared, in baking or on its own.  And when you recognize everything that goes into a product, well, for me anyway, it makes it much more appealing.  No added colors or chemicals make this my mustard of choice.  And with a variety of flavors out there…I look forward to testing out each unique flavor to see how it stacks up.

Koops’ does only mustard…which is why they must do it so well.  Being gluten-free, all-natural, and completely delicious is the definite payoff.

Bread.

There, gluten-free world.  I said it.  I used “the ‘B’ word.”  It is one of the most used ingredients in today’s food world.  Bread is often paired with a dish (Italian, French, Crostini, etc.), or as a dish (French Bread Pizza, sandwiches, etc.), or in a dish (croutons, breadcrumbs, etc.)  And when you go gluten-free…a lot of this gets crossed off your diet.  There are some gluten-free substitutes out there.  But, they do take a chunk out of the grocery budget should you choose to give in and give it a try.  And what if it taste’s awful?  Then you’re out the price of the product and the time.

I have been wanting to make a variety of recipes for my roommate and I…and that task got even more difficult when I had to go gluten-free.  But, I decided one evening, to give it a try and make something out of my mom’s cookbook she gave me when I moved.  Her recipes.  Her favorites.  That sort of thing.  I had talked about a Chicken Breast Dijon with my roommate that I remember loving.  Now, I’m also a vegetarian, so the chicken had to be substituted…which is easy enough.

The difficult part was getting breadcrumbs.  We did find a package of Glutino’s Gluten-Free Breadcrumbs at Whole Foods, however.  So…we bought them and decided to give it a try and hope upon hope it was worth the investment.  I cooked up the recipe that week.  I was nervous from the moment I breaded and seasoned the “chicken” to the moment it came out of the oven.  But upon first taste, I don’t know why I was worried.

Glutino’s breadcrumbs are corn-based.  So, they have a different flavor than what Panko might have produced, but it’s delicious.  And light.  And it adds the perfect crunch to the protein of the meal.  I was surprised.  Pleasantly surprised.  It was my first sampling of anything by Glutino, and already I was willing to give more products a try.  When they can do gluten-free breadcrumbs well…anything else is a walk in the park, right?  I know Glutino is a pretty reputable brand when it comes to gluten-free food, so that was a bit of a comfort when I blindly purchased them for the meal.  The fact that they tasted even better than what I would have made them with had I not had a dietary restriction was icing on the (gluten-free) cake.  Fantastic flavor, texture and taste.  It’s what good food is all about.  And Glutino is a good company that does make good products.

My meal was a delight.  And Glutino impressed me enough to encourage further exploration of their variety of gluten-free products.  But…more on that at a later date.

Should you need to add a bit of crunch and flavor to a meal, Glutino Gluten-Free Breadcrumbs are just the ingredient I recommend.  Highly recommend at that.

It’s been a hard day.  Work was rough.  Traffic was horrible.  You’re pressed for time.  And, more importantly, you’re hungry.  Starving.  And now…after all of that…you have to cook.

I have at least one day like that a week.  Granted, I could easily swing by someplace and pick up a meal, but that can become costly after awhile.  And, since I have to eat gluten-free AND am a vegetarian, options can be a little scarce.

Thank goodness for microwavable meals.  On one such day, I came home and really didn’t want to turn on my oven or stove to whip up something to eat.  Yet…I was starving.  Luckily, I had one of Amy’s Kitchen’s meals in my freezer.  Popped it out of the container, followed the instructions.  Instant dinner with instant gratification.  Oh…and here’s the kicker…it’s delicious too!

Everything I’ve sampled from Amy’s Kitchen has been beyond my expectations for frozen food products.  She offers up a variety of meals, from Mexican…to Italian…to Indian…to burgers…

You name it…she’s probably got it.

On this particular evening, the Cheese Tamale Verde was my dinner of choice.  I had never tried this one before, but it came highly recommended by a friend of mine.  And I take recommendations seriously.  So, I cut the slit in the packaging, microwaved it as instructed, and toasted up a gluten-free ciabatta roll to enjoy with it.  By the time my roll was done, my rice had been stirred and my second round of heating my meal was complete.

When first taking it out of the wrapping…it looks a mess.  It’s not pretty by any means.  No culinary style points will be awarded for presentation.  In fact, you kind of want to poke at it for a moment.  But, I promise…in the case of these meals, looks really can be deceiving.  So, after allowing it to cool for a moment, I scooped it out onto a plate, to eat in a civilized manner from the comfort of my couch, grabbed a fork and went to sit down for my dinner.

Amy’s Kitchen offers a wide variety of natural and organic products, and even a line that is specifically gluten-free.  I usually eat her Indian foods, but I branched out.  Like I said…it came recommended by a dear friend.  So, nudging the rice a little with my fork, I scooped up a bit and blew across it to cool it.  One bite later, and I had to keep myself from shoveling the rest of it down my gullet.  Yeah…just the right amount of flavor.  Not too spicy.  Not bland.  It was amazing.  Organic brown rice with organic black beans…a hint of spice.  For re-heated rice, it was awesome.  I mean…AWESOME!

As for the feature presentation…that cheese tamale…well…it was melty goodness.  Made with organic masa stuffed with Monterey Jack cheese, chilies and jalapeños, each bite of it was filled with flavor and delicious spiciness, that was perfect for any palate.  Meaning…this won’t burn your taste buds or leave you grabbing for a glass of milk.  It held the right balance you’d expect from a Mexican dish.  And the verde sauce that topped it was sweet and a nice pairing with the tamale itself.  Beautiful (and delicious) things do come prepackaged sometimes.

As I said, I’ve never had a bad meal when it comes to one of Amy’s Kitchen’s frozen dinners.  This just made me eager to try out more of her Mexican meals.  Because if this was just a taste of what was in store for me, well, I’ll stock my freezer a little more often and look forward to a product I just need to throw in the microwave and still have it come out whole instead of turning to mush.  Amy’s Kitchen does it right.  And…in my opinion…does it best!

Leave it to a piss-poor attitude and a bit of bread envy to push me into trying the parbaked, vacuum-sealed, gluten-free bread that sits on a shelf at my local grocery store.  I’ve seen it before.  Glanced over the variety.  Thought “How the hell can that be good?” and moved on.  But I was making pasta for dinner one night, and my roommate had delicious homemade bread (my own that I did up for her) and I had nothing.  And that little sting of jealousy was what pushed the envelope on this purchase.

Schär is a German company specializing in gluten-free products.  A huge variety of them.  I was told they make fantastic pastas.  I haven’t tried them yet.  They do make excellent snack cookies as my friend Tawn in California bought me one when I was visiting Los Angeles earlier in the year.  But these little vacuum-sealed bread packets looked more like something dug out of a crime scene and packaged up for review at the lab.

But, looks can be deceiving, as I soon found out!

After purchasing a pack of the Schär gluten-free ciabatta rolls (there are 4 in a pack), I took them home to see how they fared.  Prep was easy.  Open sealed pack.  Remove roll.  Place on cooking sheet.  Bake in oven for 10 minutes at 400°.  Remove.  Enjoy!

Yes…it really is that simple.  I followed the instructions to bake up the ciabatta roll and plated it with my homemade (gluten-free) eggplant Parmesan.  One bite and I loved it.  I expected it to taste like cardboard or be hard and crunchy.  But this had the look, the feel, the texture, and yes, even the taste of a ciabatta roll.  And I dug in.  Bite after bite, dipping it in my sauce, eating it on it’s own, piling bits of eggplant on it…any way I sliced it (or tore it, or bit it), it was a burst of bread-y goodness.  The outside was toasty…crisp without being crunchy…and the inside a fluffy mass of delicious bread.  The perfect ciabatta.  All the way around…it didn’t get better than that.

Shocked.  I was shocked.  I bought it, expecting the worst, but discovered that what people have said about Schär’s products is true…they are fantastic.  I can’t wait to try more of their variety of gluten-free breads.  Or, at least the one’s my super market happens to have on hand.  Amazing bread experience, after going so long without it.

Don’t let the packaging scare you off.  Schär’s parbaked breads are definitely worth the try.  Easy to prepare…and delicious.

Gluten-free goodness that’s toasted on the outside and soft on the inside.

Before reaching middle school, breakfast for my household was whatever cereal was in the cabinet.  After that, my mom started preparing hot breakfasts so that we weren’t starving since I always got stuck with the late lunch period.  But, cereal was a major part of my morning routine.  Now that I’m on my own, that tradition continues.

Back in the day, it was Trix, Kix, Cheerios, Cookie Crisp, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch, among others, in the pantry.  My sister to this day still loves Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  Trying to avoid high grocery bills after having to go to a gluten-free lifestyle, I was pointed in the direction of Chex.  I reviewed the Chocolate Chex cereal in a previous post.  Today…I’m here to talk to you about Cinnamon Chex…or as I like to call it…Cinnamon Toast Crunch for the gluten-free adult.

This cereal was a time warp back to my childhood!  Straight up, flavor-wise, it’s Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  It’s amazing.  The cinnamon flavor is just right.  Not too much spice.  Just enough.  The mix of cinnamon-coated rice Chex and the plain ones give the perfect morning balance in this cereal.  I could eat it straight from the container (and have!) without hesitation…and without the unsweetened almond milk poured over it.

I love the crisp, cinnamon bite to this cereal.  And each spoonful (or handful) is a delicious balance of cinnamon and rice flavor.  I have daydreams of mixing these with the Chocolate Chex, mushing them together with Marshmallow Fluff, and creating a Smores type of dessert bar.  I might have to give that a try, actually.  Lord knows, I stock my pantry with Chex cereal, now that they offer 5 delicious gluten-free options.  I love the new flavors.  Cinnamon coming in second to chocolate only because I’m a choco-holic and chocolate always wins.

Healthy.  Tasty.  Sweet.  Delicious.  Gluten-free.  Now that’s a balanced breakfast!

Okay…so I know I raved about the brown rice spaghetti noodles from Tinkyáda a couple entries back.  But, now I was curious.  And being the curious sort, I had to experiment a little with other pastas by this amazing company.  And I was craving one of my mom’s famous recipes: her homemade baked macaroni and cheese.

So, while I trust Tinkyáda noodles to make me an excellent, gluten-free, and delicious spaghetti, I wasn’t sure how the product would fare first being cooked via the stove top and then being transferred to the oven to bake for half an hour.  But, this is why God created trial-and-error.  I’d either get an amazing macaroni dish…or cheesy goop.  Neither of which would be bad, except I prefer my pasta in macaroni to hold up to the melted cheese that coats it.

I pulled out the family recipe and set to it.  I bought Tinkyáda’s Brown Rice Elbow Noodles for the occasion.  I set them in boiling water on the stove to cook for a bit while I began working on the white sauce.  Now, this was tricky.  Normally, flour is used for this.  I happened to have gluten-free multi-purpose flour in my pantry, so I substituted that and it worked like a charm.  Instead of regular milk, I substituted unsweetened almond milk.  But, with that in mind, I grated up real (and local) sharp cheddar cheese for the actual dish.

The pasta was nearing the point I would normally remove normal pasta from to bake it.  So, I drained it well, ran it under cold water as instructed by the bag, and then dumped half of it into my casserole dish.  Next came the cheese, the salt, the pepper (I like to use a touch of red pepper for some zing!).  Then the next layer.  Then, pour the thickened white sauce over it and stir until cheese melts.

I was pleasantly surprised when the noodles held up to that alone.  I had to stir for a while because I didn’t have enough sharp white cheddar and ended up adding Velveeta which didn’t melt as quickly.  My noodles didn’t crumble or fall apart.  They held their curved shape.  So, with that done, into the oven it went, covered, for the first round of baking.  I uncovered it for the next part, and when it came out…it looked perfect.

Scooping it out was easy.  The noodles held.  Even more surprising was the flavor.  Once again, Tinkyáda created the perfect gluten-free noodle for one of my favorite dishes.  Oh…I was pleased.  I had to resist the urge to fill up my bowl again with more after I polished it off.  Even with all the gooey cheese, the noodles were perfectly al dente, holding up not just to the initial cook on the stove, but the additional baking to finish off the dish.  I liked it better than when I used to make it with whole wheat noodles.  Perfect…bite-after-bite.

When it comes to gluten-free foods, you should stick with trusted brands.  When it comes to pasta, I trust Tinkyáda to provide me with the perfect noodles for my dish.  So far, they haven’t disappointed.  Even if you don’t need to be on a gluten-free diet, I highly recommend these products.  Look for them at your local super market.  Try them.  Enjoy them.

I am hooked.