Tater tot hotdish

Yummm! I love this hotdish in the winter.....it is so warm, filling and satisfying. Nummy. I have really been wanting hotdishes since going gluten-free....but they are a little tricky. Most Midwestern hotdishes involve condensed soup....which can be hard to find. I found a great brand that I like, and it isn't too expensive.  For this hotdish I used Pacific brand soup. When purchasing tater tots, be sure to check the ingredients - even though the primary ingredient is potato, some brands will be coated in flour for a crispy coating when they bake. I used Trader Joe's brand, but Ore Ida are GF as well, here is a list of all the GF products from Heinz.

Ingredients:
1 pound of lean ground beef
1/2 package frozen mixed vegetables
1 box/can of condensed cream of chicken or mushroom soup
1 package frozen tater tots
1 can/jar of mushrooms

Directions:
Brown hamburger, season with salt and pepper, drain. Mix in soup, frozen veggies and mushrooms. Heat through. Transfer to a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Top with frozen tater tots and bake at 375 degrees until tater tots are crispy brown (30-40 minutes).

 

Parmesan-crusted chicken and roasted vegetables

 

I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts, breaded with gluten-free breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, black pepper and creole seasoning.  I fried the breaded chicken in a little EVOO.  I cut parsnips, carrots and potatoes, tossed them with olive oil, seasoned them and roasted them on a stoneware pan at 450 degrees for 25 minutes. Yummy.

 

Chicken lettuce wraps

 I first tried lettuce wraps at P.F. Chang's and loved them. I love the crisp cool lettuce and raw veggies, paired with warm chicken and noodles. I found a recipe for this in a Pampered Chef cookbook, but made some changes to make it my own.

In the summer, fresh and crisp meals like this are especially delicious.

Ingredients:
1 cucumber, sliced
1 carrot, shredded (or packaged matchstick carrots)
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
large lettuce leaves (for wraps)
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1 package chicken ramen
1 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp. EVOO
s/p

Directions:
Prepare chicken ramen according to package instructions, except drain off all the water once the noodles are cooked through, add seasoning packet and mix, set aside. Heat 1 Tbsp. EVOO in a large fry pan, add chicken. Season chicken with salt and pepper. As chicken browns, brush with 1/2 cup of bottled hoisin sauce. Cook through, slice.

In a large bowl, mix together the prepared ramen noodles, 1/2 cup of bottled hoisin sauce, the soy sauce, peanuts and chicken. Add 1/8 cup of each of the veggies, diced in small bits. Reserve the rest of the veggies.

Serve the noodle/chicken mix with the raw veggies and lettuce leaves - yummm!

Veggie Lasagna

This is such a rich and delicious lasagna, I think I actually like it better than meat lasagna with red sauce. It is a really pretty meal as well, all the vibrant colored veggies and the rich cheeses and cream sauce. So yummy.

Chunky Vegetable Lasagna

Ingredients:
1 box gluten-free lasagna noodles
3 cups chopped veggies (broccoli, red pepper, green pepper, carrots, spinach, etc.)
15 oz. ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, pressed
3 Tbsp. rice flour
2 cups milk
1 egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella
3 Tbsp. butter

Directions:
Cook and drain noodles. In a large bowl, mix chopped veggies with salt and pepper. In another bowl, mix ricotta, Parmesan, parsley and egg. In a 2 qt. saucepan, melt butter, add garlic and saute for 2 minutes. Stir in flour, stir continuously stir until smooth and bubbly. Remove from heat, stir in milk, boil stirring continuously for one minute.

Layer noodles in pan, spread 1/2 of cheese and egg mix on top, layer with noodles. Spread 1/2 of veggie mix, top with 1/2 the mozzarella cheese. Layer again with noodles, spread with remaining cheese and egg mix, layer again with noodles, spread remaining veggie mix.

 Pour milk sauce evenly over top and sprinkle the last cup of mozzarella on top.

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes until hot in center and veggies are soft. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Greek Lemon Chicken

Luke and I were lucky enough to travel to Greece for our honeymoon - it's the most beautiful place on earth, with the best food I've ever had. I love fresh Greek salads, lemons, herbs, vinegar - all of it.  My sister made this recipe a while back and posted pictures of it - it looked so good I had to try it. The recipe is from Pampered Chef and is fairly simple.  

 Greek Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

2 tsp. lemon zest

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp. olive oil

4 large cloves of garlic, pressed

2-3 tsp. dried oregano leaves

3/4 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. ground black pepper

2 medium baking potatoes

1 red bell pepper, cut into 1" pieces

1 medium red onion, cut into wedges

8 oz. fresh whole mushrooms

4 split chicken breast halves (I used boneless, could use bone-in)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 1 qt. bowl, combine lemon zest, lemon juice and olive oil. Press garlic into lemon mixture. Add oregano, salt, black pepper and set aside. Cut each potato lengthwise into 8 wedges; place in a 9 x 13 baker. Add bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, half of the lemon juice mix, toss to coat. Place chicken on top of vegetables; brush with the remaining lemon juice mixture. Bake 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through, basting chicken and vegetables with pan juices after 30 minutes.

Veggie pizza

I love this in the summer. As the weather gets warmer and fresh fruit and veggies become more readily available I love to make this pizza.  Luke loves this one as well, as it includes a flaky crescent crust and I love it because it involves cream cheese.

Recipe:
2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls (you could substitute GF pie crust or GF pizza crust depending on which consistency you'd prefer)
8 oz. cream cheese
1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Dip mix (for GF you could substitute garlic powder/salt and additional seasonings to desired flavor)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Assorted chopped raw veggies (broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, green onion, green pepper, carrot, black olives, etc)

Spread out crescent rolls on cookie sheet and pat together to form a crust, bake just until golden brown.  Cool completely.  Mix cream cheese and dip mix well, spread on cooled crust, top with chopped veggies.  Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, keep chilled.