Zucchini Bake

My mother used to make a veggie sautee consisting of zucchini, onions, mushrooms and a can of crushed tomatoes. It was delicious, light, great with brown rice and it became a regular meal of mine for a long time. I decided to build upon (bastardize?) the recipe and that led me to the Zucchini Bake recipe posted below. The Zucchini Bake is pretty basic, but it is filling and yields leftovers. I like to make a batch on a Monday night and have the leftovers for lunch and dinner over the next couple of days. And I *think* it is South Beach Phase 1 friendly. Just make sure you watch your cheese intake during the day so you don't exceed your limit and maybe be picky about the sauce you use...

Zucchini Bake

Ingredients:
1 large zucchini (or two small) sliced into thin round pieces
1 onion, diced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 jar of your favorite gluten free pasta sauce (Check out Classico - they specify on the back label whether or not they are gluten free. And I love their sauces)
1 package shredded lowfat cheddar (you might not use the ENTIRE package - that's up to you)
1 pkg (roughly 1 pound) leanest ground beef you can find
Olive Oil

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375. Coat a pan with olive oil, add the onions and garlic and sautee until onions are becoming translucent. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Meanwhile, pour half of the pasta sauce into the bottom of a lasagna pan. Layer half of the zucchini slices over the sauce, sprinkle with cheese and cover with the meat/onion mixture. Top with remaining zucchini slices, then layer the remaining sauce on top and sprinkle with more cheese until well covered. Bake for 25-30 minutes (until zucchini is soft and cheese is melted).

Quick and Dirty Mac n Cheese

While on a mission to find healthy versions of mac n cheese, I came up with this gem by accident. I had the ingredients and I decided I should try it. Instant hit for me and the boyfriend. I'm a fan of this recipe mostly because it consists of three ingredients, takes little effort (or skill) and tastes good.

Ingredients:
1 serving of your favorite gluten free macaroni (use the suggested serving size on the package)
3 wedges Light Laughing Cow cheese
1.5 tsp grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:
Boil your pasta per the instructions, then strain. In a bowl, use a fork to mash the Laughing Cow. Add the pasta to the bowl and blend with the cheese, then stir in the parmesan. Eat. If you like it creamier, add more Laughing Cow. For more of a kick, add more parmesan. Double the batch as needed. :-)

Dear Grilled Cheese: I've missed you

When I first received my diagnosis, I didn't think it would be a big deal to adjust because I'd never craved carbs. In fact, I didn't much care for bread and was very picky about pasta and pizza crusts. I didn't expect to miss much. But there's so much more to being gluten free than just avoiding bread and pasta. SO. MUCH. MORE. But there will be more blog posts on that subject. Today, we're talking about something very dear to my heart :-)

After a year of living gluten free, I suddenly found myself missing sandwiches. Something about tuna salad on whole wheat seemed so heavenly. And, of course, my old friend: Grilled Cheese. Grilled Cheese sandwiches were my go-to meal for years. If I was eating at a restaurant that had grilled cheese on the menu, I ordered it. If I was having a bad day or a lazy day, grilled cheese. If I wanted a bowl of soup, grilled cheese was the side dish. I think you see where I'm going with this. While I wasn't nuts about bread, I was beginning to realize that bread was the vessle for the cheese. The yummy melted gooey cheese. I missed it.

Up until that point, every gluten free bread I had encountered was awful. I don't even know how some of those companies can justify calling it bread - but I suppose 'Sour Cardboard' wouldn't really hold up in the market. (Stories surrounding the search for decent bread for Thanksgiving stuffing will appear later...) But back to the grilled cheese. One marvelous day I was checking out at Whole Foods and the cashier noted all of the Certified Gluten Free items in my cart. She asked me if I had tried Udi's. I went back in search for it upon her recommendation and I am so glad that I did.

Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain bread reunited me with my old love, grilled cheese. In fact, Udi's is opening new worlds to me. Worlds of gluten free sandwiches and stuffing and french toast. And oddly enough, I like it so much better than I'd liked any other sandwich bread in my gluten days. I even love the crusts, which I always used to loathe with a passion. Friends used to joke about the mess I made tearing the crusts away from my sandwiches. But it had to be done - those crusts were seriously messing with the grilled cheese mojo. But Udi's crusts are delicious. I actually eat slices of Udi's as a snack and find it hard to stop with just a couple of slices.

I prefer the whole grain over the white, but everyone is different. I suggest trying both to see which you prefer. But whichever you choose, stick a few slices of lowfat cheese in there (or some goats milk cheddar if you have issues with cow's milk like I do) and grill it up for instant joy. So, to Udi's I issue a special thank you, to the young woman at Whole Foods I issue a much bigger thank you, and to any readers out there who miss good sandwiches - go forth and Udi.

http://www.udisglutenfree.com/