I’ve always been a huge fan of beer, and it was probably one of the hardest things to give up when I first embarked on my gluten-free diet. Luckily, these days it’s fairly easy to find gluten-free beer, and I’ve finally been able to add it back in to my diet (although I have to admit it wasn’t so lucky for my belly!).
Another of my all-time favourite foods is cheddar cheese, so I just knew that this beer and cheddar soup was going to turn into a new favourite even before I tried it. It’s creamy and sweet, very satisfying, and frankly one of the most delicious soups I’ve ever tasted, if I do say so myself! You can use strong cheddar if you prefer, but the mild cheddar seems to melt much better. Besides, the beer gives it plenty of kick anyway. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Heat the butter in a heavy soup pot over medium heat.
Add the onions, celery, and carrot and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook until the onions are soft and translucent, around 5 minutes.
Add the salt, nutmeg, cloves, pepper and 425ml of the broth.
Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk the sweet rice flour with the remaining 75ml of broth until smooth. Then add it to the pot, stirring constantly until the soup thickens slightly.
Remove soup from the heat and stir in the cheddar cheese until it is completely melted.
Just before serving, open the beer, add it to the soup and bring it up to serving temperature over low heat.
Garnish the soup with the parsley and paprika and serve immediately.
Another typical Mediterranean delight, this red cabbage and apple recipe is sure to knock your socks off if you’ve never had it or anything similar before! You can find a lot of different variations of the dish if you travel around the Mediterranean countries, but the basic idea is always the same: very tender red cabbage mixed with a sweet fruit (I’ve used apples, but some people make it with raisins, oranges or apricots) and seasoned with some kind of aromatic spice, usually cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg.
The dish works well either as a salad to go along with your main meal, or as an appetiser. I also find it makes a great topping for sausages or hot-dogs, something like a less vinegary coleslaw. Just be careful not to drop any of it on your clothes, especially white, as it does stain quite easily. Speaking of the colour, if you find that the red cabbage starts to turn blue when you’re cooking it, it means you haven’t used enough vinegar, as this is necessary to keep the colour from leaking out. If you think it’s already got enough vinegar, a little bit of lemon juice will also do the trick quite nicely. (Also try this cabbage and barley soup.)
Lately I’ve been trying to eat more whole-grain foods, but at first I had a hard time getting down plain, whole-grain brown rice. It’s just so heavy and seemed to always get stuck in a ball at the back of my throat. I’ve always loved Indian pilau rice, so I decided to try and make something similar with organic brown rice. This Indian-style brown rice recipe is the result.
As with most Indian dishes, you need a lot of ingredients that you might not have in your kitchen, so a trip to the shops might be in order before you can start making it. In any case, I’ve tried to keep the ingredients list as short as possible and only use the most common Indian herbs and spices. I also added frozen peas to the mix to try and make it into a full meal in itself, although the best thing to do is to top it off with your favourite curry. It also goes quite nicely with my baked tofu in peanut butter sauce recipe.
You Need:
500g organic brown rice
1.5L water
100g frozen peas
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
2 tbsps unsalted butter
Seeds from 8 green cardamoms
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fresh chopped ginger
1 cinnamon stick
8 cloves
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tbsps fresh chopped coriander
Steps:
Melt the butter in a 3 litre pot over medium heat.
Add the garlic slices, cardamom seeds, fresh ginger, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon sticks and sauté for about 2 minutes or until the garlic starts to brown.
Add the rice and sauté for about a minute, stirring constantly and making sure all the rice gets coated and toasted with the butter and spices.
Add the water, salt and turmeric and bring to the boil.
Add the frozen peas.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 30 minutes or until the rice is tender. The exact time varies greatly depending on the brand of rice used.
Drain off any excess water.
Mix the fresh coriander into the rice and serve with your favourite curry.
I’ve always been a huge fan of beer, and it was probably one of the hardest things to give up when I first embarked on my gluten-free diet. Luckily, these days it’s fairly easy to find gluten-free beer, and I’ve finally been able to add it back in to my diet (although I have to admit it wasn’t so lucky for my belly!).
Another typical Mediterranean delight, this red cabbage and apple recipe is sure to knock your socks off if you’ve never had it or anything similar before! You can find a lot of different variations of the dish if you travel around the Mediterranean countries, but the basic idea is always the same: very tender red cabbage mixed with a sweet fruit (I’ve used apples, but some people make it with raisins, oranges or apricots) and seasoned with some kind of aromatic spice, usually cloves, cinnamon or nutmeg.
Lately I’ve been trying to eat more whole-grain foods, but at first I had a hard time getting down plain, whole-grain brown rice. It’s just so heavy and seemed to always get stuck in a ball at the back of my throat. I’ve always loved Indian pilau rice, so I decided to try and make something similar with organic brown rice. This Indian-style brown rice recipe is the result.
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