In my last post I mentioned that I was going to experiment with gluten free ratios and start weighing out my recipes.  To hold myself accountable (because we all see how well I’ve done with posting my bread experiments) I decided to join the Gluten Free Ratio Rally that Shauna Ahern of Gluten Free Girl started last month.  The Rally experiment for this month was quickbread. The challenge was to make a gluten free quickbread using the ratio specified in Michael Ruhlman’s book, Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking.

Silvana of Silvana’s Kitchen and author of Cooking for Isaiah is hosting the Gluten Free Ratio Rally Roundup, so go by her site to see the full list (and links) of everyone who participated.

Recipe Creation

The ratio for quickbread is 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, and 1 part butter.  Since I was late getting signed up for this month’s challenge I didn’t have the benefit of reading about the other bloggers’ experiments and using the community spreadsheet to work on my recipe calculations.  I just started with the formula, said a prayer**, and then started working out the recipe amounts. Here’s a step-by-step analysis of how I came up with the final recipe.

First I considered the flour.  This is where normal baking ratios get tricky for those of us who are doing gluten free baking.  For the ratio (and the recipe) to work then your flour mix needs to act like the wheat flour does.  And how the wheat flour acts differs depending on the type of recipe. For example, if you’re making bread then you want the gluten in the wheat flour to develop and create the structure for the loaf of bread. However, if you’re making quickbread or muffins, then you do not want the gluten to activate because that will make the bread/muffin tough.

The flour mix that I usually use has not fared well in my sandwich bread ratio experiments thus far. It seems to be much more absorbent than wheat flour in bread recipes, requiring far more liquids than is called for in the bread ratio. However, I’ve also used that flour recipes to successfully convert other baked goods recipes on a 1:1 basis. I only had one shot at getting this recipe right due to the Rally deadline, so rather than play with new flours I decided to use Mary’s Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Mix without any added xanthan gum.  I did substitute coconut flour for the masa harina because I like to use coconut flour in sweet baked goods.  Coconut flour and masa harina are both very absorbent, so doing a 1:1 substitution is fine.

With that decided I looked through my pantry, freezer, and refrigerator for some inspiration for the flavor of the quickbread.  Two bags of whole cranberries have been hanging out in my freezer since November.  Everytime I see them I think, “I should use those for something.” and then I close the door and go about whatever I was doing and the cranberries continue to sit. Enough with that.  The time had come to make a cranberry flavored quick bread.

Most baked recipes use dried cranberries, rather than whole uncooked cranberries. I knew the flavor would be tart, but I was okay with that since I planned on topping the bread with a cream cheese icing. I also knew that cranberries contain pectin (pectin is what makes jam (n.) jam (v.), and that the pectin would keep the bread from being crumbly. The pectin was my insurance policy against a crumbly mess, since I had planned on not using any gums, or ground flax seeds for this recipe.

Deciding on Amounts

Finally I needed to decide how much of each ingredient should be in the recipe.  I looked at a few quickbread recipes online and they all had around 2 c. of flour. I know that my flour mix weighs 4.5 oz. when I measure it out, so I started with 9.0 oz of flour.  (Since my flour mix is a 9 part ratio, this also meant that I could pour the flours directly into the bowl, measuring them by weight, and not have to make up a batch of flour mix).

The quickbread ratio is 2 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part egg, and 1 part butter. Since I had chosen 9 oz of flour, I also needed 9 oz. of liquids, 4.5 oz of egg and 4.5 oz of butter.  For the liquids I went with the juice of one orange, which ended up being 3 oz and 6 oz. of water.

Large eggs are supposed to weigh 2 oz. (and so one would usually start figuring out amounts by deciding how many whole eggs you want in your recipe), but all of the eggs that I have weighed have been less than that. I cracked 3 eggs into a bowl set on my digital scale and them removed one yolk and some whites until the weight was down to 4.5 oz.  I ended up using the leftover egg for another recipe later that day.

A stick of butter weighs about 4.0 oz, so I used one stick of butter and 0.5 oz. of canola oil.

Now that I had decided on the main components of the recipe, I filled in the amounts of salt and baking powder from the standard recipe in Ruhlman’s book.  I added a bit of vanilla and orange extract and baking soda because it seemed like the right thing to do.  The amount of sugar for the recipe is not addressed by the ratio as you are supposed to alter it based on how sweet  you want the bread to be and the tartness of your other ingredients. I knew that I’d need a good bit of sugar to balance the tartness of the cranberries, but I wasn’t sure how much. I checked the back of the bag of cranberries and used the amount (1 c.) recommended for cranberry relish. With that my recipe was complete, and it was time to bake it and see what happened.

As you can see from the pictures, the bread turned out really well. It was tart as expected, but I thought that was a perfect excuse to pile on more icing.  The natural pectin in the cranberries did a great job of holding the bread together – very moist and dense which is how I like quickbread.  John, who is not a huge fan of cranberries, ate a whole slice without stopping to even put it on a plate.

Recipes are rarely done after one attempt, and this recipe is not “finished”.  Next time I’ll reduce the amount of cranberries and increase the sugar. The bread itself did not taste sweet and I think that there should be at least a hint of sweetness. I’ll also increase the amount of orange extract in the bread and icing, and top the icing with a few sprinkles of orange zest.  This is going to make a very nice holiday bread after a few more tweaks.

**For many years I questioned the usefulness of prayer. I never doubted that my prayers were heard, but I never felt like I received any answers. The problem turned out to be that I wasn’t listening and looking for answers. Over the past few years I’ve realized that God often answers my prayers by giving me an idea that I wouldn’t have otherwise had.

For example, before I started this bread I asked God to help me write a good recipe because I knew that I’d only have time to bake one loaf this weekend.  Then at key points while I was writing the recipe I mentally stopped to listen.  When I was feeling uneasy about the flour mix, I remembered the cranberries and how they release pectin when you boil them.  When I felt uneasy about whether the amount of liquids needed to be adjusted after I boiled the cranberries, I remembered that I could just weigh the liquid and make sure that it was the right amount.  These may seem like obvious steps to take, but I promise you that before I stopped to mentally listen for a thought from God I was completely frustrated and unsure.  Then He gave me an insight and I was able to go on confidently.

God answers my prayers like this all the time. Sometimes the answer is a thought. Sometimes it’s a Bible verse that I am able to understand in a new say. And the more that we live by faith and depend on God (not our own efforts) for our daily bread, the more we’re able to see him answering prayer through physical means.**

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Quickbread

3 oz. brown rice flour
3 oz. corn starch
2 oz. sorghum flour
1 oz. coconut flour

1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4.0 oz. unsalted butter

3 oz. orange juice
6 oz. water
7.5 oz. sugar
12.0 oz. whole cranberries

4.5 oz. egg
0.5 oz. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. orange extract

Instructions:

Step One: Measure the water, orange juice, sugar and cranberries into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved and then reduce heat to bring the mixture down to a simmer. Simmer until the berries began to pop – 10 to 12 minutes. Set the berry mixture aside to start cooling.

Step Two: Measure the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix thoroughly with a fork. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the butter lumps are the size of peas.

Step Three: Measure out 4.5 oz of egg.  A large egg is supposed to weight about 2 oz.  I used 3 eggs and then removed a yolk and some whites to bring the weight down to 4.5 oz. Whisk the eggs until no whites are obvious. Add the oil (approximately 1 Tbsp) and extracts and mix again.

Step Four: Pour the cranberry mixture (still pretty warm) into the flour mixture.  While whisking the eggs add a small amount (2 – 3 Tbsp) of the batter to the eggs to temper them.  Repeat this twice and then add the eggs into the batter. Stir thoroughly.

Step Five:  Grease a loaf pan. Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake the bread at 350 degrees F for 50  minutes. The bread should have slightly browned around the edges and the loaf top will be spring back when touched.

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Who doesn’t love a creamy chip dip?  This spicy Jalapeno Artichoke dip is one of our favorite gluten free snacks.  I based the recipe off a dip that the Publix deli makes.  While I’m sure that the Publix version is delicious, I don’t feel comfortable buying food from their deli due to potential cross-contact issues. So, I jotted down the ingredients from the food label and came up with my own amounts and then added a couple of special ingredients.

Obviously this recipe won’t work for someone who is dairy free and casein free too. However, as I was writing this post, it occurred to me that one could probably make a very nice dairy-free version using white bean puree. Cashew butter and nutritional yeast might be good additions too.  If anyone tries that, send me an email and let me know how it turned out (maryfrances [at] glutenfreecookingschool [dot] com.)

Do you hate how long it takes for a dip to heat up in the oven or in a slow cooker. Here’s a quick tip for getting dips like this ready quickly. Put all of the ingredients into a large pot and get them up to a serving temperature in the pot. Then move the dip to a slow cooker that you have preheated on high.  This let’s you cut out a lot of waiting time and you still get the convenience of transporting and serving the dip in the slow cooker.

Jalapeno Artichoke Dip

2 cans artichoke hearts, (reserve liquid)
2 jalapenos, minced
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 c. cream cheese
1 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, grated
4 Tbsp. pickled jalapenos, minced
1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Drain the artichoke hearts, but reserve the liquid.  Roughly chop the artichokes, and then add all ingredients to a large pot over medium low heat. Stir ingredients frequently as they warm to prevent burning. Artichoke liquid may be added as needed to thin out the dip. Once the dip is heated through and the cheese has melted, pour the dip into a preheated slow cooker for serving.

A few thoughts:

The spiciness of the dip can be adjusted by increasing or decreasing the amount of fresh and pickled jalapenos and red pepper flakes.  You’re not going to hurt anything by changing the amounts. Well, I guess you could accidentally make it way too hot. So be cautious if you’re increasing the amounts.

If you’re making this for only gluten free folks, it is lovely served a top a slice of GF bread. I made this for a Gluten Free Social that I co-hosted this past weekend with the Birmingham Celiac Support Group and Gluten Free Birmingham and everyone smeared it on top of slices of Udi’s and Rudi’s bread.

If you’re taking this to a large gathering, serve it with gluten free tortilla chips.  And make sure to let everyone know to only use the serving spoon that is in the slow cooker.  Also, you may want to set aside some chips for yourself, just in case someone picks up something gluten with their hands and then reaches into the bag of chips.

(If you’d like more delicious gluten free snacks, I have them!)

Related Posts:

• Red Hot Chile Popcorn – Gluten Free Snacks for the Super Bowl
• Gluten Free Cheese Straws – My Grandmother’s Secret Recipe
• Eat Gluten Free Snacks – Because Gluten Free Should Be Fun!
• Sweet & Salty Popcorn: Easy Gluten Free Snacks for the Super Bowl
• Black Olive Hummus: A Quick, Frugal Gluten Free Snack

There’s nothing particularly glamorous about bean burritos. If you had peeked into our dining room last night you would have had no idea that John and I were celebrating one of the biggest turning points in our lives. But, for us, celebrating my first day working full-time on Gluten Free Cooking School (!!!!!!)  with burritos made of homemade gluten free tortillas and simple, fresh ingredients seemed the most appropriate meal in the world.

These tortillas are an improved version of the gluten free tortilla recipe that I posted  a couple of years ago.  The new version is much more flexible and the dough is easier to roll out. If you’d like to make your own gluten free tortillas, the improved recipe is included in our new e-book.

Bean Burritos:
gluten free tortillas
pinto beans
rice
lettuce
tomatoes

I was cooking by eye last night, so I can only give you a general description of what I did. If I were to make this again I would do the following:

Cook a large pot of white rice (2 parts water: 1 part rice) and a large pot of pinto beans (you can substitute canned beans). Then, add approximately two cups of  beans to a skillet that has been pre-heated with a small amount of oil. Mash about half of the beans with the back of a spoon.  Add a small amount of stock (1/2 cup?) and 1 – 2 Tbsp. of any seasonings that you like. I used cumin and oregano – GF taco seasoning would also be good. Let the beans simmer on medium for until heated through. The mashed beans will soak up the stock, so you may have to add more stock to get a good consistency.

Take a tortilla and layer a small amount of beans, rice, lettuce, and tomato in the center. Roll the left and right sides towards the middle. Then fold the bottom of the tortilla up and over  the fillings and  roll towards the top. Leave the seam of the burrito on the bottom of the plate.

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Our family has found a new favorite weekend breakfast – gluten free waffles! You all know that we’ve been on the gluten free diet for years now, so that first bite of homemade waffles was absolute heaven!  We stuffed ourselves!

The recipe is a  conversion of the “Basic Waffles” recipe in Joy of Cooking. The only change that I made was to swap my gluten free flour mix for the all-purpose flour used in the original recipe. The original recipes lets you adjust the butter from as little a 4 Tbsp for a low-fat waffle to 16 Tbsp for a super yummy, my mouth is in bliss waffle.  We’ve tried 8 and 16 Tbsp and 16 is definitely the way to go.

Gluten Free Waffles

1 3/4 cups all-purpose gluten free flour mix
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

3 large eggs
16 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 c. milk (soy, cow, rice, etc)

Cooking Directions:
1. Mix first four ingredients together in large mixing bowl.
2. Beat the eggs together until frothy. Add the milk and stir again.
3. Slowly pour the melted butter into the egg/milk mixture. Stir constantly to prevent the eggs from cooking.
4. Now add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix just until all of the flour is wet. You don’t have to get all of the lumps out.
5. Pour the batter onto a hot waffle iron. Follow the affle iron manufacturer’s directions for cooking. For ours we use 1/2 c. batter and let the waffle’s cook until there is no more steam coming out.

Additional Notes:
1. Let your eggs and milk come to room temperature. If the eggs and milk are cold, then they will resolidify the melted butter when you mix them together.
2. These waffles are not sweet, so you can add sweet or savory toppings to them. You could also 1/4 – 1/2 cup of raisins, cheese, bacon, nuts, sliced bananas, grated coconut to the batter before cooking.

Related Posts:

• Gluten Free Spiced Apple Pancakes
• Breakfast on a Budget – Cream of Corn Cereal
• Gluten Free, Soy Free All Purpose Flour Mix
• Spoonbread Corn Muffins Inspired by Tayst in Nashville
• Gluten Free Bread: Banana Bread

This is a picture of my stove the morning after Christmas.

The monkey bread that I made on Christmas morning was a little dry and the only milk-like substance in the house was a half empty carton of Silk Eggnog.

So my little elf helper and I pulled out “Joy of Cooking” (picture a dirty white cookbook with a disintegrating spine and round burn marks from where I accidentally turned on the wrong stove burner) and improvised a recipe for Eggnog French Toast.

It was delicious!

Eggnog French Toast
(6 servings unless you have a two year old bottomless pit)

2/3 c. Silk Eggnog
4 large eggs
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
6 thick slices of gluten free bread
butter or margarine

1. Mix the eggnog, eggs, syrup, vanilla, and salt in a shallow dish.
2. Soak the slices of bread in the mixture until completely saturated.
3. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat and add a dab of butter.
4. Place the bread into the skillet (don’t overcrowd; you’re going to need flipping room) and cook until the underside is golden. Then flip the French Toast and cook until the second side is golden (it doesn’t take nearly as long).
5. Serve hot with maple syrup and any other sweet things you can find in the pantry (but don’t tell my husband that this is why our chocolate chips disappeared!)

If you haven’t found a gluten free bread that you like, try my recipe for Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread.

Related Posts:

• Gluten Free Waffles
• Breakfast on a Budget – Cream of Corn Cereal
• Light and Fluffy Gluten Free Biscuits
• Your Gluten Free Bread Baking Questions Answered
• Fresh Blueberry Scones – Gluten Free, Casein Free

My mind has been drifting towards Thanksgiving this week and I’ve been testing out a few side dishes. Side dishes are, after all, my favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal and all of you give me a great excuse to enjoy them for weeks instead of one little weekend.

This recipe is from my Dad and is one of my all time favorites. There is no way that I can have just one serving.  My mom usually has to give me a look on my 3rd trip back for more =)  Don’t skip on the butter the first time you make it. I know that it’s an obscene amount . . . but it’s worth it.

Dad’s Brown White Rice

1 c. white rice
1 stick of butter or butter sub
14 oz. beef broth
14 oz. chicken broth
dash of garlic powder
1/2 lb. white button mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1. Place all ingredients into a 2.5 quart casserole dish.
2. Bake at 425 degrees F for one hour.

*Vegetarians – I substituted 28 oz. of water, 2 tsp. Better than Bouillon Vegetarian Chicken and 2 tsp. Better than Bouillon Vegetarian Beef for the broths.
*Casein free – Try 1/2 c. of olive oil if you don’t have a non-dairy butter substitute.

Related Posts:

• Gluten Free Sausage Balls
• An Amazing Brined Gluten Free Turkey Recipe for Thanksgiving
• Gluten Free, Casein Free Bread Stuffing for Thanksgiving
• Green Bean Casserole (Gluten Free & Casein Free)
• Mixed Green Salad with Apples & Pecans, Buttermilk Honey Dressing

Last Monday morning I was cleaning up the kitchen and discovered that we had somehow accumulated 10 very ripe bananas in the back of the freezer. John has been asking for a loaf of banana bread for several months and he’d obviously done a good job at stashing away the bananas that I would need for the bread.  After the bananas had thawed on the counter for a bit (and after I had rearranged the kitchen) I settled in for a bit of baking.

Sidenote: If you’ve never used frozen bananas, you’ve got to try it. It really is fun (and a bit gross) to squeeze the thawed bananas out of the peels =)

I was feeling a little nostalgic so I decided to use a recipe from my high school’s cookbook. The recipe was contributed by a long time family friend, which seemed appropriate for a recipe that I can remember eating since I was a child.  I did my best to stay true to the recipe, but I did reduce the sugar and make the recipe gluten free and casein free. I would have added 2 c. nuts, but we didn’t have any and I didn’t really miss them.

And it was so good! We ate banana bread at least twice a day for four days and the first words out of David’s mouth each morning was “anana bread”. John thought that the bread was a little mushy when we had our slices right out of the oven, but I liked it. The bread stayed moist the entire four days that it took us to eat it, and I was just keeping it inside of our bread container in the refrigerator.  I microwaved our slices for a few minutes each morning, and they came out wonderfully moist. They did not need any butter, which I really appreciated since I am trying to feed us healthy foods.

P.S.  That’s a picture of David and his gluten free banana bread breakfast.  I was about to get a shot of the banana bread when the camera batteries died =(

Gluten Free Banana Bread
(makes 2 loaves)
This recipe is definitely different than our normal gluten free bread. Don’t get the two confused!

2 c. sugar
2 c. coconut oil
4 eggs

4 cups gluten free flour
2 tsp. xanthan gum
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. baking powder

1/2 c. soy milk
2 tsp. cider vinegar
3.5 c. mashed bananas*
4 tsp. vanilla

1. Cream sugar and  coconut oil until just combined. Mix in eggs.
2. Mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients together in separate bowls, and then add alternately  into the sugar/oil/egg mixture starting and ending with the flour mixture.
3. Divide the dough into two greased 10″ loaf pans and cook for 1 hour at 350 degrees F.

*10 frozen bananas, but it will depend on the size of your bananas

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Sometimes I really want a food that is traditionally made with meat…like crab cakes or sausage balls. Since the meat part of those recipes is just not going to happen (for health reasons), I’ve had to get creative with beans. And surprisingly enough, if you season the beans correctly you can make something that tastes very, very much like the real thing. (I got one of my co-workers to taste test my Kidney Bean Sausage Balls and she agreed that it tasted like a real sausage ball!) With these white bean “crab” cakes you get all of the tastiness of crab cakes, minus the shellfish allergies and other things that we don’t want, like animal protein and fat.

The first night that I made the crab cakes, which is one of our favorite gluten free vegetarian recipes, I was also really wanting a creamy salad of some sort. Since I was out of the usual suspects (pasta, English peas and carrots) I decided to see what I could  do with the fresh fruit and veggies that I had on hand. The result is a cool and refreshing summer salad featuring corn and juicy,fresh peaches. This is one of those dishes that should have given us leftovers, but didn’t because John and I both kept going back to the fridge for more bites!

White Bean Crab Cakes

(Serves 4 – 6 )
1 c. onion, diced
1/2 c. celery, diced
1/2 c. red bell pepper, diced
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced

1 lb. white beans, cooked and drained *
2 green onions, green parts only and sliced
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. parsley, minced
3/4 tsp. stone ground mustard
1/2 c. mayo or Vegannaise
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1 1/2 Tbsp. Old Bay Seasoning

1. Saute the onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in a little olive oil or water over medium low heat until the vegetables are tender.

2. Mix the vegetables and all other ingredients in a large bowl.  Some of the beans will fall apart when you do this, and that’s just what you want. If you’re using canned beans, give half of them a spin in the food processor before adding them in.

3. Form the mixture into small cakes, approximately 2.5 inches in diameter. You can either pan-fry them with a little olive oil and a medium-hot skillet or bake in the oven at 350 F until they are golden. I prefer the texture of the pan-fried cakes, but the oven baked cakes hold together better.

4. Serve the cakes with tartar sauce, or my Savory Peach and Corn Salad.

*You can substitute 1 lb. of crab meat, if you like.

Savory Peach & Corn Salad

2 cans of corn (11 oz), drained (feel free to use fresh if you have it)
1 ripe peach, diced
1/8 c. celery, diced
1/8 c. pecans, minced
1/2 red bell pepper
mayonnaise or Vegannaise, to taste
red wine vinegar, to taste
parsly, minced , to taste

Mix all ingredients and chill for 30 minutes, if you can wait that long.

P.S. Sorry to be vague with some of the amounts.  Sometimes I like a little bit of mayo and vinegar and sometimes I want more. I’d suggest starting with a small amount of mayo and then gradually working up to the amount you want. Then start with the vinegar and parsley and do the same.

P.P.S. To choose a ripe peach, hold the peach near your nose and sniff. If you smell peachy goodnes, then it’s ripe. If not, put it back and keep looking.

Related Posts:

• Gluten Free Sausage Balls
• An Amazing Brined Gluten Free Turkey Recipe for Thanksgiving
• Gluten Free, Casein Free Bread Stuffing for Thanksgiving
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• Mixed Green Salad with Apples & Pecans, Buttermilk Honey Dressing

A few weeks ago I posted a lesson on How to Make Gluten Free Scones Like a Bakery. Several of you asked for my scone recipe, so I made it again this weekend so that I could take pictures for the post. It was a close thing on the pictures though. I had to snatch the serving dish away to snap a few shots before John and David had seconds. The final scone count was John – 4, David – 2, Mary Frances – 2.

Fresh Blueberry Scones

Ingredients:
2 c. Gluten Free, Soy Free All Purpose Flour Mix
1/3 c. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 c. soy or rice milk
1/2 c. frozen blueberries
Cinnamon Sugar

Directions:
1. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
2. Cut the vegetable shortening (or vegan butter) into the dry ingredients until the largest crumbs are the size of peas.
3. Add the egg and soy milk to the dry ingredients, and mix until everything is thoroughly combined.
4. Fold the blueberries into the dough and knead a few times so that they are evenly distributed.
5. Cut your scones into wedges and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Drizzle melted butter over the top and sprinkle with Cinnamon Sugar.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes.
7. Hide your share of the scones before the scone-starved husband and child realize they are out of the oven!

Related Posts:

• Gluten Free Breakfast Scones
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I didn’t seem to scare anyone with my suggestion of adding black bean flour to chocolate cake, but I still thought I’d follow that post up with a more traditional cooked bean recipe.

Black Olive Hummus is my fall-back recipe when we need a quick appetizer. We always keep chickpeas and olives on hand and I can whip up a batch of this in less than five minutes for a hungry babe or hungry guests.

Black Olive Hummus

2 cans chickpeas, reserve liquid from one
2 Tbsp. tahini
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp. cumin
5 sprigs cilantro
12 black olives, jumbo size
salt, to taste
lime juice, to taste
paprika

Directions:
1. Place the chickpeas (drained), tahini, garlic, cumin, and cilantro in a food processor. Turn the processor on and slowly pour in the reserved liquid, and then process for an additional 30 seconds or so. At this point you should have a thin, creamy dip.

2. Stir in the salt and lime juice until you’re happy with the taste of the hummus. Then add in the olives and pulse the processor until the olives are broken up into small, but still visible, chunks.

3. Spoon the hummus into a serving dish and sprinkle on a tad of paprika. If you’re not watching your fat intake you can also drizzle a small amount of good olive oil over the top.

P.S. Feel free to adjust any of the seasonings to taste. It’s taken me two years to write this post because it’s taken me that long to remember to actually measure the ingredients as I make it!

Serving Suggestions:

• As a dip for raw veggies, such as carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, grape tomatoes, and cabbage slices.
• Oozing out of a hummus sandwich. I love hummus sandwiches with a slice of good cheese, ripe tomato, lettuce, sliced avocado, and salt & pepper. (All served on slices of “Finally, Really Good Sandwich Bread”, of course.
• Spread on a slice of piping hot Multi-Grain Flat Bread.
• Mixed with a salad for a heart-healthy salad dressing.

P.S. If you don’t have all of the ingredients available, you can try this simpler hummus recipe. It won’t be quite as flavorful but will be a little easier to make. It’s gluten free as well.

And if that’s not enough, look at my recipes for other gluten free snacks!

Related Posts:

• Red Hot Chile Popcorn – Gluten Free Snacks for the Super Bowl
• Gluten Free Cheese Straws – My Grandmother’s Secret Recipe
• Eat Gluten Free Snacks – Because Gluten Free Should Be Fun!
• Jalapeno Artichoke Dip: Easy Gluten Free Snacks for the Super Bowl
• Sweet & Salty Popcorn: Easy Gluten Free Snacks for the Super Bowl