Pineapple Shrimp with Cilantro

I had dinner at a friend's house and she made a delicious Shrimp dish with Mango Salsa. I absolutely loved it and decided to make it for myself. I did not have any mangos so I substituted it with pineapple. I also did not have chili powder or chipotle powder so I improvised and used gluten free soy sauce and red pepper flakes. This gave the dish a slightly different taste, but still absolutely delicious. I am not a huge fan of spicy foods, they taste great but I just can't take the heat! This dish still captures the tropical fruit flavors with a little less spiciness. I made if for my dad when he came to visit me last winter and he enjoyed this dish as well. I wish I had taken a picture, but I forgot! When I make it again I will be sure to remember that and upload the pictures for you!

This recipe be can be eaten alone or served over your choice or white or brown rice. Either way it's simple and easy and really hits the spot for a quick and flavorful meal.

Ingridents

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 pound medium shrimp
1 5.5 oz can pineapple chunks
1 tablespoon gluten free soy sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoons red pepper flakes


Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the garlic and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and pineapple, stir-fry 2 to 3 minutes longer, until the shrimp turn pink. Remove from heat.
Mix together the soy sauce, lime juice, red pepper and cilantro. Pour over the shrimp and stir.
Serve warm alone or with a side of rice. If serving with rice sometimes I mix the cilantro with the rice rather than with the shrimp!

Low Fat Gluten Free Banana Bread

I had a few bananas in my fridge that were begining to turn brown so I decided to make my favorite, gluten free banana bread. I love this recipe and I always sprinkle a little extra cinnamon and nutmeg on the top before I put the bread in the oven. This recipe calls for half of the sugar and fat used in most banana bread recipes I have made before. But it is still moist and sweet, no one would even know the difference! For extra sweetness add chocolate chips and if you like a crunch add nuts! Sometimes I even add both, I make half a loaf with chocolate chips for my mom and half with walnuts, which I love. Sometimes I substitute the chocolate chips and walnuts for raisins.

Ingredients:


• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/3 cup tapioca flour
• 2 Tablespoons flax seeds
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3 over-ripe bananas (should equal at least 1 1/2 cup of mashed banana)
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Grease a medium sized bread pan

Mix together all the dry ingredients except for sugar

Add the chopped nuts or chocolate chips if you are using them.

Mix the wet ingredients, including the bananas and the sugar. Use a food processor or electric mixer, which I use and it works just fine. If you don't have one of those, mash the bananas, then whisk in the other wet ingredients

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix lightly with just a few strokes

Pour the mixture evenly into the greased bread pan. I always sprinkle a little extra cinnamon and nutmeg on top before I place it in the oven

Bake for 40 min, middle of the oven, until browned & a toothpick comes out clean. The first time I baked it for 45 minutes and it came out a little drier than I would have liked. I reduced the cooking time by 5 minutes and the bread was a little bit more moist. Another way to mositen the mixture if you do not have enough bananas is to add a little bit of water to the wet ingredients.

Cool on a rack in the pan for 5 minutes, then take it out of the pan and let it cool on a cooling rack. I love to eat this when it is still warm with just a tad of butter!

Quinoa with sauteed Apples and Almonds

One of my best friends introduced me to quinoa last year, and I absolutely love it! Quinoa contains more protien (16g, some varieties have more) than any other grain and is a great source of fiber (7g per serving)- which I need as part of my high fiber diet. It is also high in magnesium and iron, and is 100% gulten-free. Quinoa is light and easy to digest. It's not heavy like many other grains and can be used in a variety of dishes. My favorite is this recipe from Cooking Light, which I've altered just a little to better satisfy my love of cinnamon and apples. This recipe makes 4 servings (1 cup per serving).

Ingridients:
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 3/4 cup chopped onion
- 3/4 cup finelly diced carrots
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 cup chicken broth (vegetarian version: vegetable broth)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnaom
- 2 cups diced unpeeled apples
- 1/4 cup slivered almonds
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

This recipe required me to rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve, in a large bowl and rub the grains together for 30 seconds before cooking. I always skip this step...

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a saucepan over med-high heat. Add onion, carrot and garlic. Sautee for 5 minutes or until the onion is tender and carrots begin to brown.
Stir in broth, water, quinoa and cinnamon. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a forl.

While the quinoa is simmering, in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat, heat 1 teaspoon oil. Add the apple and sautee for 7 minutes, until apple begins to brown. Add apple, almonds and pepper to quinoa and toss to combine. Serve warm.

This is also great cold over spinach salads!

The original recipe calls for 2 cups of vegetable broth, but I used half chicken broth and half water. In my recipe I also added 1/4 teaspoon more cinnamon, 1/2 more apples and 1 tablespoon extra almonds and I think it tasted better this way than the first time I made the original recipe.

Thai Yellow Curry Chicken Soup

After my recent trip to Asia I fell in love with Thai food. Two of my favorite dishes were Tom Kha Gai (coconut milk soup) and Yellow Chicken Curry. So I decided to combine the two and make a yellow curry paste and coconut milk soup with chicken. I like the yellow curry because it is less spicy than other varities of curry, but I'm sure the recipe would work with any type of curry paste. This is a very quick and easy recipe to make! This recipe makes about 4 servings.

Ingredients:

2 cup water

2 cup coconut milk

4 Tablespoons Yellow Curry Paste

1 inch fress ginger, thinly sliced

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into chunks (or shrimp)

2 stalks lemongrass

1 onion, cut into big chuncks

1 tomato, cut into bite size peices

1 cup broccoli

1/3 cup sliced carrots

1/3 cup sliced celery

In a medium sized sauce pan add water and coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add the yellow curry paste. Stir. Add vegetables, ginger and meat. (You can use any vegetables you would like, mushrooms, potatoes, bell peppers). Cook until meat is cooked thoroughly, stirring occasionally. Serve warm.

I've made this recipe twice. The first time I used coconut milk and the second time I used lite coconut milk. The first came out thicker than when I made it with lite coconut milk. But if you are on a low-fat diet than use the lite. I also added a handful of coconut flakes to the soup, I don't think I could really taste the added coconut though. I've also used cherry tomatoes in place of plum tomatoes. You can really use almost any vegetable you like!

 I've made this recipe with leftover thanksgiving turkey meat, which was precooked and it came out great! It didn't need to be cooked as long when I used already cooked meat. I added the vegetables first and cooked for about 3 minutes then added the turkey until the it was warmed all the way through and the brooth was hot.

In Thailand we were always served a side of rice with our meals. Adding plain white rice to the soup also tastes great! Enjoy!