Gluten Free For the Win!

Novak Djokovic has been the number three tennis player in the world (behind Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal) for the past three years. Since the start of 2011, he has gone on a 38 match winning streak (40 if you go back to December), collecting seven titles, beating Nadal four times in a row (twice on clay!), and closing in on John McEnroe's best winning streak of all time – 42 – set in 1984. 

His secret? Last year his nutritionist discovered Djokovic has a gluten allergy and he cut the offending protein out of his diet. That one small change has been the tipping point, launching the tennis player on his way to becoming number one in the world if he can make it to the finals of the French Open, which started yesterday and goes for two weeks.

At this point, it's looking like he can't lose.

Crust-less Portabella Pizzas

This recipe is ridiculously easy. I got the idea when grocery shopping and looking at the packages of portabellas that were on sale and thinking of the sausage that was already in the fridge. My favorite pizza from Antonio's before I went gluten free, was the portabella, fresh mozzarella, and pesto. This recreates that pizza, minus the crust and plus the sausage.

Crust-less Portabella Pizzas 

4-5 large Portabella mushrooms

1-1.5 lb sausage (I used a combo of sweet Italian and hot Italian pork)

¼ C Pesto

½ lb Fresh Mozzarella

Grill the mushrooms and sausage

Put mushrooms top down on greased or non-stick baking sheet

Spread pesto onto mushrooms

Cut sausage into one-inch rounds and place them on mushrooms

Slice mozzarella and place on top of sausage

Put in broiler until cheese melts and starts to brown (approximately five minutes).

You could easily make this vegetarian by eliminating the sausage and adding peppers or vidalia onions.

Gluten Free Mac and Cheese

The other night I came home from work/working out at 7:30, hungry and tired. Though everyone else had arrived home before me, no one had taken any initiative to get dinner started. (Does this happen in your house too?) Since it was getting close to grocery shopping day and there wasn't much in the fridge, I figured it was a good time for comfort food. (Any excuse, really.) A quick Google search for gluten free mac and cheese turned up this recipe from Gluten Free Mom (great site!). I tweaked it for my purposes and voila:

Gluten Free Mac and Cheese

1 lb Tinkyada brown rice penne, cooked for 9 minutes or until al dente

3 T butter

2 T rice flour (any GF flour will work)

 ½ t salt

 Dash of pepper

2 cups milk

 ¼ cup finely chopped onion (optional)

2 cloves garlic (optional)

3 cups shredded sharp cheddar (or other favorite) cheese plus more for the top.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and butter a 1 ½ quart casserole.

Cook GF pasta in salted water according to package directions.

In a saucepan, melt 3 T butter. 

Add the onions and garlic (optional)

On medium heat, blend in 2 T GF flour, salt and pepper. 

Stirring constantly, slowly add 3 cups milk (GF Mom says, "I have noticed that GF flour seems to blend better at a higher temperature, so I add the flour and milk at a temperature that is a little higher than I’d use for traditional wheat flour." Excellent suggestion!)

Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.

Add cheddar cheese.  Stir until melted.

Mix with the cooked macaroni and turn into the casserole dish. 

Add more cheese on top. (I probably used an additional cup of combined cheddar, Monterey jack, and mozzarella.) 

Bake, covered, at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes and uncovered for 10 additional minutes if you like the top crispy.

If I had had more energy and not been multi-tasking (talking on the phone, planning daughter's graduation party) I would have added some GF bread crumbs and gone out to the garden and cut some fresh chives to put on top before baking.

I served it with a green salad.  

Verdict: four yums up and we had enough left over for a few lunches.