Category: onions

Spoodles (sweet potato noodles) with vegetables (dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, soy-free, vegan)

Here’s another recipe to help us use up all those fresh vegetables we have during these summer months.  And again, its one you can adapt to your vegetable overload.  The only thing you may want to get from the store are the spoodles or coodles (carrot noodles). Either work great in this recipe.  I like it plain but you could easily add a curry sauce or if you can use soy, a hoisin-based sauce.  Makes 4 serving.

Dice:

  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, medium sized
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1 small yellow squash
  • 1/2 cup pea pods or 1 cup green peas, or 1 cup green beans

Add 3 tablespoons olive oil to a large skillet and when the oil is hot, add the diced vegetables.  If you are planning to add a sauce, use less oil.  Saute over medium heat until onion is translucent.  Add the pea pods, peas or green beans and 1 pound of spoodles or coodles.  Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the noodles are tender, about 15 minutes for sweet potato and 20 minutes for carrot noodles.

Simple curry-sauce:

In a small sauce pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil then add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of curry, depending on your taste and cook for approximately 30 seconds until you can smell the curry.  Add 2 tablespoons of all purpose gluten-free flour.  Whisk and cook for several minutes.  Whisk in 1/2 to 1 cup (the amount of milk depends on how thick you want your sauce) of your favorite milk (coconut milk works great here but rice, hemp, almond also work fine).

Baked Haddock with Tomatoes and Basil

This is my preferred way to eat haddock.  Its so tasty and gives me the acidity that I really like to have with fish.  Takes only about a half hour in the oven to cook.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a 9×12″ oven dish to cover bottom (you can also use an olive oil spay to coat the bottom of the dish; Trader Joe’s has one that contains nothing but olive oil).

Add 1 pound haddock cut into serving size pieces.

Add:

  • 1/4 cup sliced onion
  • 1 teaspoon diced garlic (1 medium sized garlic clove)
  • 12-15 basil leaves, torn into pieces
  • Salt and pepper to taste along with any other herbs you like (I use Mrs. Dash’s original because I like the flavor it gives this fish).

If you’re like me and have an over-abundance of fresh tomatoes at the moment, you can peel and chop 6-8 fresh, medium-sized tomatoes and sprinkle them over the fish.  If not, an 16 ounce can of diced tomatoes works just fine.

Bake at 400 degree for roughly 30 minutes depending on thickness of your fish (if your haddock is very thin, 20 minutes would probably be enough).  This works for any fish, not just haddock, cod and halibut also work great in this recipe.

Serve over red quinoa or brown rice with your favorite veggies.  Sauteed bok choy goes great with this recipe.

Tomato Vegetable “Stoup” (vegan, dairy- free, gluten-free)

This time of year with all the fresh vegetables, this is one of my go to dishes.  My husband and I love this soup/stew.  Its one that is easy to customize to your taste since its basically whatever vegetables you have on hand.  Instead of using canned diced tomatoes, I peeled and chopped some of my husband’s fresh off-the-vine tomatoes sitting on my counter top.  Best of all, its delicious whether you serve it hot or cold.  Add some croutons for crunch (made with gluten-free bread of course!).  In the winter, this soup is a great vehicle for cooked chicken. Feel free to play with it and make it your own by adding the vegetables your family likes the best.  But keep the carrots since they add that sweetness that takes care of the acidity in the tomatoes (the parsnips help with that as well).  Makes 8-12 servings.

Peel as needed and dice into like size pieces:

  • 1 medium onion (I used a red onion)
  • 6-8 stocks of celery
  • 1 medium purple top turnip (or a regular one if you like them but the purple top have a milder flavor)
  • 1 medium yellow squash
  • 1 medium zucchini squash
  • 2 small parsnips
  • 2 baby bok choy (you could use regular chopped cabbage instead of the bok choy and then add some kale or spinach for the greens of the bok choy)
  • 1/2 pound mushrooms (I like to mix them up so I used half baby bella and half porcini)
  • 1 cup chopped or grated carrots
  • 1 cup green peas
  • 1 cup green beans

Add 4 cups (1 quart) of vegetable stock to a large stock pot (if you want, you could add 4 cups of chicken stock).  Be sure to use stock and not broth for that “cooked all day” flavor.  Add the onion, celery, turnip, squashes, bok choy and mushrooms and cook covered over medium heat until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Add:

  • 1 cup diced tomatoes
  • 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (I find the Muir Glen organic canned tomatoes taste less metallic than regular canned tomatoes)
  • 1 12 ounce can of your favorite beans (I love the cannellini beans or great northern)

Cook over low heat for another 10-15 minutes until tomatoes and beans are heated through.

Easy French Onion Soup (dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan)

Such and easy soup to make and so silky, rich and sweet.  If you like French Onion soup but you’ve always thought it was too hard to make for yourself, this is the recipe for you.  Makes 2 servings.

You’ll need:

  • 1 large or 2 medium onions (I used a Vidalia but you can use any onion you like)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon gluten-free flour such as Bob’s Red Mill 1 for 1 blend
  • 2-3 cups vegetable (or mushroom) stock (or if you can use it, use beef stock but I find the vegetable stock makes a very rich soup)
  • 2 slices of gluten-free bread (I love the DeLong’s millet bread)
  • 2 slices of dairy-free mozzarella or provolone cheese

First, cut onion in half and then cut across into slices.  If you want, you can then cut these slices in half.  Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium heat in a 4 quart pot (you want as much space on the bottom as possible while having room to add the stock later.  Stir the onions every few minutes to be sure that they don’t burn.  You want to caramelize them which takes about 20 minutes and you will probably want to reduce the heat when they begin to brown.  This is the longest, hardest part of the cooking process.

Once the onions are caramelized, add the flour and stir to make sure it is absorbed by the oil.  Over low heat, let the flour cook out for a couple of minutes.  Its okay if it sticks a little to the bottom of the pan since adding the stock will deglaze the pan.  Add 2 cups of stock and stir until it starts to boil.  If the soup is too thick (you want it silky but not as thick as gravy), add more stock to thin.  Reduce heat as low as it will go and cover pot.  Let cook 10 minutes.

According to every recipe I’ve seen on making French Onion soup, it tastes best if you chill it overnight and let the flavors melt together.  But its so good I won’t blame you if you put it hot into two oven-proof bowls and eat it the same day!

Using a large biscuit cutter if you have one or just a knife, cut the bread so that each slice will fit into one of the bowls.  In a fry pan large enough for both slices, heat the 1 tablespoon oil and when hot, add the bread rounds and grill on both sides.  Place on top of the soup and then put a slice of cheese on top of the bread rounds.  Broil (or microwave) until the cheese melts.  If you broil it, you’ll get that great crust on the cheese like in a restaurant.  Enjoy!

Salmon with Bok Choy (dairy-free)

Want a quick meal that is very tasty?  This one can be prepared and cooked in less than a half hour.  Bok choy is one of my favorite vegetables and it pairs very well with a salmon filet.  Here I’ve sautéed the bok choy with some red onion and garlic in a little olive oil and topped the salmon with an easy mustard sauce.  The recipe serves two, or if you’re like me and love bok choy, this serves just me!

You’ll need:

  • 4 small to medium bok choy, washed and chopped
  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 salmon filets
  • 1 tablespoon of your favorite mustard
  • 1 tablespoon of your favorite vinegar
  • 1/8 teaspoon stevia (or 2 tablespoons agave or honey, 1/8 teaspoon monk fruit powder,  etc.)

Prepare 4 small to medium baby bok choy by cutting of the lower portion and rinsing thoroughly under cold water.  The bok choy may still have some spots and that’s okay.  Be sure to rinse the green portion as well as the white.  Then slice from bottom to the leaves, you can use all of this vegetable.

Chop one small red onion (I like to half it, then slice it into medium slices, and finally cut each slice in half).  Chop one clove of garlic.

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a hot 10-12 inch skillet.  Add the prepared vegetables (bok choy, onion and garlic).  Stir to mix thoroughly and then cover and cook over medium heat for approximately 7-10 minutes depending on how al dente you like them.

Meanwhile, heat a large grill pan or skillet; add a small amount of olive oil.  Wash your salmon filets and dry them with a paper towel.  You will notice that I prefer the thinner slices of the salmon, they cook faster and I find I don’t dry the fish out as much.  Make some slices across the skin side and add, skin side down, to the hot pan.  Reduce heat to medium.  I like to cover the fish and cook for 5 minutes.  I then remove the cover and turn over the fish to cook for another 2-3 minutes until pink inside.

While your salmon and bok choy are cooking, in a small container with a lid put 1 tablespoon of your favorite mustard and 1 tablespoon of your favorite vinegar.  Add a very small amount of stevia (I used about 1/8 of a teaspoon).  Put on the lid and shake until mixed.  Sauce is ready.