Roasted Leek, Smoked Gouda, and Quinoa Salad

This tastes positively GOURMET, I’m telling you. I make it ahead and package it up for lunches - at least, that’s what I’m doing today.

If you want it for dinner - which I do sometimes - I serve it hot, with a poached egg or two on top.

Also works well, hot or chilled, as a side for rotisserie chicken!

Roasting the leeks is probably the most time consuming bit, so I’m starting with that. Preheat your oven to 400.

There are a lot of methods for getting grit out of leeks, but I’m going to share mine —

Cut a slice out of the bottom of the leeks, to get rid of the roots. 

Cut off the upper, tough green leaves off.

Cut the leeks in half LENGTH-WISE.

And then run them under a running faucet (cold water), fanning them out with your fingers, until you can’t feel or see any more grit. This takes a while, longer than you’d think! 

Then slice them, cross-wide, and toss them on a baking sheet covered with olive oil pan spray.

Roast leeks at 400 for 21-30 minutes, turning every 7-8 minutes, until golden and starting to brown.

Start your quinoa as soon as the leeks go into the oven. You can make it on the stove top. Basic Quinoa, or in the Instapot, InstaPot Quinoa.

Halve your tomatoes and wilt your spinach while the quinoa and leeks are cooking. Shred your cheese, if you need to. (I bought pre-shredded.)

Toss quinoa, leeks, spinach, tomatoes, and cheese together. Whisk up your dressing: the olive oil, lemon juice, and mustard. Pour over and toss well.

ROASTED LEEK, SMOKED GOUDA, AND QUINOA SALAD

3 leeks

2C quinoa

8oz smoked Gouda, shredded (Gruyere, a mild Swiss, also works well in this)

32oz fresh spinach, wilted

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

Dressing: 4T olive oil

                4T lemon juice

                2T Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400. Clean leeks (see above), slice, and place on a baking sheet coated with olive oil pan spray. Roast 21-30 minutes, turning every 7-8 minutes, until golden and starting to brown.

Cook 2C quinoa, either on the stove, Basic Quinoa, on in an Instapot, InstaPot Quinoa. 

Halve the grape tomatoes. Toss quinoa, leeks, tomatoes, shredded cheese, and wilted spinach together in large mixing bowl. 

Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over salad. Toss well. Serve hot or chilled.

Cauliflower with Greek yogurt and Chives

Who would’ve thought cauliflower was good with sour cream and chives?!

I use nonfat Greek yogurt for sour cream, you see; it’s healthier, and this Greek yogurt is easier to find gluten-free, too. You have to watch out for oat gum in sour cream, especially the low fat varieties! 

Oîkos Plain Greek Yogurt: 

“Ingredients: CULTURED GRADE A NONFAT MILK.” 

Period. Nice and simple, like I prefer my ingredients lists.

I had roasted this cauliflower [trimmed into florets and baked at 375 for 15 minutes or until starting to brown, turning at least once], but steamed or microwaved or however you prefer works too.

I tossed probably 3 tablespoons of yogurt with a cup of roasted cauliflower, and topped with a generous shaking of chives. 

That was it!

(Don’t tell my doctor I’m eating it as a stand-alone lunch bowl, though; he wouldn’t approve. Whole grain carbs should accompany lunch to fight the afternoon fatigue and all that!)

Gluten Free Meatloaf

I seriously do not think I have had a decent meatloaf since I had to go gluten-free, and that must’ve been fifteen years ago now! I made this one up based off the meatball recipe I blogged last month.

GLUTEN FREE MEATLOAF

2lbs ground turkey 

2lbs lean ground beef (85% or 93%)

1 C Gluten Free Corn Flake Crumbs (I used the Southern Homestyle brand)

1 C milk

8 eggs

6oz finely chopped ham 

2oz shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese 

3T parsley

Garlic powder, to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix cornflakes and milk together in small bowl; let stand for a few minutes. Beat eggs with a fork in large bowl. Add in ground turkey and beef, ham, cheese, parsley, and garlic powder. Add cornflake-and-milk mixture. Mix all together well.

Press into 10x14 pan. Bake for an hour; keep an eye on it, mine needed drained after about 45 minutes. Drain and serve hot.

*This makes enough to serve and to freeze. Meatloaf freezes well! Cut into serving-size squares, wrap individually in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil to freeze. 

Italian Wedding Pasta

This uses two previous blog posts of mine into one recipe.

You can use any meatballs, of course; it’s just that those of us who are gluten free usually can’t buy them, so I use this recipe to make my own. The recipe freezes well, so while I’m making meatballs I go ahead and make two pounds worth and freeze one!

I know 40 oz of fresh spinach looks like a TON, but remember how fresh spinach cooks up! It won’t be too much, I promise.

ITALIAN WEDDING PASTA

1 lb gluten free pasta (I prefer Tinkanyada)

40 oz fresh spinach

1/2 recipe Gluten Free Meatballs

Italian Wedding Pasta Sauce

Fresh Parmesan and parsley, for garnish

Put pasta water on to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.

Wilt spinach, tightly covered, in the microwave four minutes at a time. (I keep adding more spinach as it cooks down.) Prepare Italian Wedding Pasta Sauce as the pasta cooks.

Toss pasta with spinach, Italian Wedding Pasta Sauce, and meatballs. Serve with fresh Parmesan and parsley.

Servings: 8

Calories per serving: 350

“Loaded Baked Potato” Cauliflower Bowls

*I probably took this picture too early. You really want to let that cheese MELT before you eat it!*

“LOADED BAKED POTATO” CAULIFLOWER BOWLS

One head of cauliflower, trimmed and cut into bite-sized florets

Four slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Plain Greek yogurt (Oikos is gluten free)

Chives, fresh or freeze-dried

Preheat oven to 400.

Place cauliflower on a sheet pan covered in cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 15-17 minutes, turning once with a spatula.  

When cauliflower is starting to brown, remove from oven. Top with crumbled bacon, cheese, chives, and Greek yogurt. Serve hot.

Ashley’s Favorite Sauces: Italian Wedding Pasta Sauce

14 oz chicken broth, or water and broth base/bouillon

1 1/2 C skim milk

2 T cornstarch 

Heat the broth or broth base/water in the microwave 2 minutes in a four cup measure.

Stir milk and cornstarch together; add to heated broth. Heat to boiling.

 *I usually set the microwave for two minutes, whisk, and then another two minutes. It will usually start boiling that second two minutes. Keep an eye on it; it will boil over fast.

Whisk again. Let stand for two minutes.

If needed after standing, whisk in some more milk to thin.
Yield: 3 1/2 CupsServing size: 1/2 CupCalories per serving: 20

Gluten-Free Meatballs

This recipe makes a <lot> of meatballs: mainly because I enjoy eating meatballs a lot more than I enjoy making and rolling them! Meatballs freeze well, you see. 😊

This recipe makes about 75 one-inch meatballs.

If you have copper baskets that will go in your oven, these worked better than anything else I’ve ever tried for meatballs:

If you don’t have copper baskets like these, I’d use a roasting pan.

GLUTEN-FREE MEATBALLS 

1lb ground turkey 

1lb 93% lean ground beef

1/2C Gluten Free Corn Flake Crumbs (I used the Southern Homestyle brand)

1/2C milk

4 eggs

3oz finely chopped ham 

1oz shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese 

2T parsley

Garlic powder, to taste

Mix cornflakes and milk together in small bowl; let stand for a few minutes. Beat eggs with a fork in large bowl. Add in ground turkey and beef, ham, cheese, parsley, and garlic powder. Add cornflake-and-milk mixture. Mix all together well.

Preheat broiler. Roll into approximately 75 one-inch balls. 

Place meatballs in copper baskets on top of baking sheet. Broil 7 minutes or until cooked through and browned.

Serving Size: 4 meatballs

Calories per serving: 112