Easy Creamed Turkey Soup with Vegetables (dairy-free, gluten-free)

This is an easy way to use up extra turkey (or chicken if you prefer). I didn’t have a lot of soups growing up because my father wasn’t a “soup” guy. But a long-time friend really loved creamed soups and when she was dying of cancer, one of the few things I could always get her to eat was my cream of chicken or turkey soup. So here’s the recipe revamped without the dairy or gluten.

In a medium size Dutch oven, heat:

2 tablespoons olive oil

Add:

1 cup diced onion

1 cup diced celery

1/2 cup diced turnip and/or parsnip

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon dry sage

Saute over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add:

2 tablespoons gluten-free all purpose flour and stir to mix and absorb all the fat. Let cook for several minutes before adding:

2 cups chicken or turkey STOCK (use stock not broth for a stronger flavor)

1 small bag of mixed vegetables (if you’re like me, remove the corn; wish someone would make mixed frozen vegetables without corn!)

Cover, reduce heat to low and let simmer until vegetables are cooked, 10-15 minutes.

The soup will thicken while it simmers so stir occasionally so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.

When the vegetables are cooked, add 1 cup of non-dairy milk and 1-2 cups of cooked brown rice. Heat and serve.

Variations if you don’t care for sage or tumeric, or just want a different taste!

Italian: Add 1 tablespoon diced garlic and substitute thyme, basil, marjoram, and/or rosemary for the sage and tumeric.

Indian: Use a peeled and diced sweet potato instead of the turnip/parsnip. Add 1 tablespoon of curry powder instead of the sage and before the flour. Curry powder needs to develop its flavor so cook it for a few minutes before adding the flour and stock.

Mushroom: Add a 6-8 ounce box of sliced baby bella or whatever mushrooms you love instead of the mixed vegetables.

Vegan: Use vegetable stock instead of chicken or turkey and delete the meat. Add a drained can of your favorite beans.

Easy Cinnamon Swirl Bread (dairy free, gluten free, refined cane sugar free, egg free, soy free, vegan)

One of my favorite breads has always been cinnamon raisin. I can no longer eat raisins but cinnamon is such a wonderful flavor, especially this time of year. And it naturally lowers blood sugar levels so has health benefits as well.

This bread is very easy to make, don’t even need a mixer, just be careful not to overmix and spread evenly in the pan so there isn’t one part that takes longer to bake. Mixes in about 10 minutes so most of the time is baking, 40-50 minutes to bake.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour (gluten free all purpose) a bread pan.

In a medium bowl mix:

2 tablespoons ground flax seed (preferably golden so it doesn’t show in the bread)

1/4 cup warm water

Let sit 5 minutes or until thickened and add:

1/2 cup date sugar

1 cup non-dairy milk

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 6 ounce container of plain yogurt (mine was actually 5 1/2 ounces and I just added an extra tablespoon of milk)

1 tablespoon vinegar

In a smaller bowl, mix together:

1 1/2 cups all purpose gluten-free flour

1/4 cup brown rice flour

1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

When mixed, slowly add to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined. Spoon evenly into prepared bread pan.

In a separate small bowl mix together:

1/3 cup date sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons melted vegan margarine or avocado oil

Spoon over bread mixture and using a fork or knife, swirl through the bread mixture.

Bake 40-50 minutes in the middle of the oven or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While the bread is cooking, make the glaze:

1/3 cup sugar free confectioners’ sugar (Lakanto has a monkfruit based powdered sugar)

2 tablespoons non-dairy milk

If you don’t care for the taste of monkfruit sweetener, mix together 1/2 cup agave or coconut nectar with 2 tablespoons of non-dairy milk and 1 tablespoon of ground chia seed (white).

Put the bread on a cooling rack that sits on top of a cookie sheet. Be sure its fully cooled before glazing. Pour either glaze over the top of the loaf, coating evenly. If using the nectar based glaze, be sure there are no pools of glaze that might soak into the bread.

You could add some raisins or cranberries to the bread before baking or even some chopped candied fruits if you don’t mind a little sugar in the mix! That would be a lot like my Nana’s Christmas bread!

Easy Spicy Yogurt Chicken (dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free)

I eat a lot of chicken so I’m always looking for new ways to cook it. Here’s one that’s as delicious as it is spicy. Feel free to kick up the heat with some red pepper flakes. Using curry powder in place of the spices would work as well for an easy curried chicken.

You’ll need:

2 pounds boneless chicken (either breasts or thighs)

4 green onions chopped

12 ounces of plain, non-dairy yogurt (I used Oatly but Kite makes a nut based one which would also work)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger (you can buy already grated/minced ginger)

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric

1 1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice (about 1/2 a lemon’s worth)

Spray a 9″x9″ baking dish with cooking spray. Add chicken.

In a separate bowl, mix all the ingredients except the chicken and green onions. Pour over the chicken and turn the chicken so all sides are coated. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour to marinate. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake chicken for 40-60 minutes depending on the size of your chicken pieces. Top with the green onions. Serves 4.