A Gluten Free Vegan Dinner!

Hello friends! Had to share this recipe that I made the other night! It was a new twist on an old favorite of my family's. Not sure how many of you have tried lentils or know about the many health benefits of lentils? Even if you're brand new to the lentil game or an avid fan of lentils, let me know what you think!

Here's the original recipe:
2 tbsp. of olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 lb. (16 ounce bag) of lentils
1 ham bone or hock
10-12 cups of water
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 lb. of pasta
Parmesan cheese for garnish

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan.  Saute all the vegetables until partially softened.  Add lentils, water, and ham, bring to boil and then lower so it simmers.  Simmer for approximately 30 mins until the lentils are tender.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Cook pasta in another pot until desired texture.  Strain pasta.  Serve pasta and lentils in a bowl, garnish with parmesan cheese.

Now here's MY GF Vegan version:
2 tbsp. of olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 can (14 1/2 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 lb. (16 ounce bag) of lentils
1 tbsp. of soy sauce
1 tbsp. red wine (I used marsala since that's what I had in the house)
8- 10 cups of water
Adobo with pepper
1 lb. of Tinkyada pasta

Heat the olive oil in a large sauce pan.  Saute all the vegetables until partially softened.  Add can of crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Add lentils and cook with mixture.  Then add water and heat to a boil again.  Lower and simmer for approximately 30 mins until the lentils are tender.  Add Adobo to taste.  Cook pasta in another pot until desired texture.  Strain pasta.  Serve pasta and lentils in a bowl.

This dish really is complete in itself, but if you want to have a vegetable along with it I suggest a fresh salad! Maybe I'll add a salad recipe on here too later...hmmm...

Sweets for My Sweettooth ;)

My family's restaurant has been looking for gluten free pastries to offer that would be similar to the "gluten" options we have.  We're known for our awesome homemade pastries that everyone loves to eat with their Italian specialty coffees!  My job, as the resident gluten free "expert", is to find us a company or bakery.  By chance my mother happened to go to Bova Food Distributors to pick up some of our Italian espresso beans and saw a sign that there would be a gluten free food demonstration that Saturday.  She called me right away.  There's two things you should know about me: I like to eat and I like to eat new things.  It used to be my job to go to the food shows to find new products, but after my diagnosis it didn't make any sense to send someone who couldn't eat the food!

Saturday morning I had out.  My hopes weren't high.  Trying gluten free products can sometimes be the equivilant of sampling cardboard, but I held on to a faint sliver of hope.  The company doing the demonstration is called "Cookies...for Me?"  They're a company that makes cookies (duh) and other treats that are gluten free as well as dairy free, nut free and egg free!!!  Of course you hear all of that and imagine that there will be absolutely NO FLAVOR left lol!  Boy was I pleasantly surprised!  The first thing I tried was a brownie.  Now I'm a HUGE fan of chocolate and very picky.  These were very good!  (Of course my homemade GF brownies are the best I've had ever...but I'm partial and these were a close behind in the deliciousness department)  Next I tried the oatmeal cookies.  Now even I haven't had issues with the GF oats, I don't make a habit of eating oats anymore.  This was the first time I was eating an oatmeal cookies since I started my GF life.  And what a very nice treat!  I could have eaten the entire tray of samples...I will admit I took two, but I didn't want to be a glutton...

Each thing I tried was great, but overall my favorites were the blueberry muffins and the oatmeal cookies!  Success!  So hopefully in the next month we'll start carrying Cookies...for Me!  Keep an eye out when you stop by the restaurant, you don't want to miss these treats! :)