Chicken Pittas (GF) (NF) (EF)

This is yum yum yum yum yum and sooo easy! In fact, I've been meaning to post this recipe for a long time but always gobbled these up quickly- so it was months before I actually had a plate of these and had the sense to pause for a moment and actually take a photo before eating it up... and it only takes minutes to make! These measurements are approximate.

(serves 1)

Gluten Free
Nut Free
Egg Free

12 x 1inch pieces boneless chicken
2 gluten free pittas
2-3 tablespoons smooth plain yogurt
1/4 cucumber, chopped (removing seeds is optional)
1/5 beetroot, peeled and chopped
1-2 tablespoons garlic infused olive oil
half a level teaspoon Chinese five spice powder
5-10 slices of onion
Salt and Pepper to taste


- In a bowl, stir together the yogurt, cucumber, beetroot, salt and pepper, then set aside

- In a hot frying pan, heat the garlic oil and stir fry the chicken for 4 minutes

- Add the Chinese five spice powder and onion slices, and stir fry for a further 2 or so minutes on medium heat

- Warm up the pittas in a grill or toaster, then halve them and fill them up with the chicken pieces, onion slices, yogurt mixture and serve

NB: An optional extra to add to the recipe which I haven't tried yet (but want to try next time) is to add strips of red/mixed bell pepper to the onion slices so that they are lightly stir fried and add another colour and taste to the meal as well.

Baked Felafels (GF) (NF) (V) (EF) (DF)

I wish I could take credit for this recipe but I should give credit where it's due as actually I found the baked felafel recipe here:

http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/baked-felafel-sandwiches.html

I made some minor changes in my version but it still tasted good alhamdulilah. I should also point out that it was my dad who put in all the effort to make the felafels in the picture below- thanks dad! I found 'free from' gluten free pittas in the supermarket and I seriously couldn't tell the difference between those and the wheatflour version so they were well worth buying.

(serves 3)

Gluten Free
Nut Free
Vegetarian
Egg Free
(Can be Dairy free if you leave out the yogurt)

For the felafels:

1x 450g tin chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1/4 cup minced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsps ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup coriander leaves
2 tbsps olive oil

For the tahini sauce:

3 tbsps tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 cup yogurt (leave out yogurt if on dairy free diet)
2 tsps lemon juice
A little water

For the salad:

1/3 cucumber, chopped
1/5 beetroot, peeled and chopped

4 gluten free pittas, sliced open

- Preheat the oven to 210 celcius/Gas mark 7

- Place all of the felafel ingredients in the bowl of a food processor except for 1 tbsp of the olive oil, then process for 10 seconds

- Stop the motor, scrape down the sides of the bowl, pulse for another 10 seconds until the ingredients are well combined but the mixture is still a bit course

- Form the mixture into 16 felafel balls and brush the remaining oil over them, then place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 mins

- Flip the felafel balls over and bake for 20 more mins until they are crisp and browned

- Combine the tahini sauce ingredients together, adding enough water to make it into a sauce (like thin yogurt) consistency (leave out yogurt if you are on a dairy free diet)

- Chop the cucumber, then peel and chop the beetroot (optional step: combine the cucumber and beetroot with the tahini sauce)

- Warm the pitta for a couple of mins in a toaster or grill, slice it in half widthways, then fill it with 3 felafel balls, 2-3 tbsps salad and 1-2 tbsp tahini sauce and serve

NB: I can confirm that the salad and falafel ingredients are dairy free. I have also checked the ingredients of the gluten free (Sainsburys free from) pittas and realised that they are dairy free too but if you are buying a different brand, then check the label.

Banana muffins (GF) (NF) (V)

I would actually recommend that you add another flavour to these muffins and not just bananas. My mum says these muffins taste better when I add a few fresh blueberries to each muffin which is why I've written that in the recipe. Alternatively, sometimes I add a crushed walnut in each muffin (though obviously ignore that suggestion if you have a nut allergy). Dried cranberries or raisins are also nice. These things add an extra texture as well as flavour which I think makes the muffins more enjoyable. As usual, I use Doves Farm gluten free flour for this recipe.

125g Gluten free flour
60g butter (or margarine/spread)
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 medium sized ripe bananas
a handful of blueberries (optional)

- Rub the butter and flour together (or mix together with a fork) until it resembles breadcrumbs

- In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, then mix in the egg and honey/syrup and pour the whole thing into the bowl containing the buttery flour mixture

- Stir until the mixture is combined and no floury lumps are left, then spoon into muffin cases in a muffin tray

- If you want to make the muffins with blueberries or walnuts or other additional ingredients then add them in at this point- I half fill the muffin case with flour mixture, then add 3 blueberries, then fill the muffin case right to the top with more flour mixture because they wont rise very much

- Bake in the oven at gas mark 4 for 45-50 minutes and serve warm.

Apple Maple Porridge (V) (NF) (EF)

I've been pondering over a dilemma recently.  I was wondering whether to upload this recipe at all.  I'm not a food stylist so I don't always know how to make food look pretty and porridge never looks pretty so I was wondering if the image of it might look off putting.  Then I realised that this recipe is so incredibly delicious that it would be unfair to deprive my blog visitors of this lovely stuff just because it doesn't look pretty.  In fact there are a fair number of recipes that fit in this category; the pics don't look that nice but the recipes are well worth trying out and taste really good.  Whenever I make this, people enter the kitchen and say "Wow, what's that lovely smell" and are shocked when I tell them it is porridge.  This makes such a nice breakfast and is a great winter warmer.  I once ate this before venturing out in snowy weather and it really helped me to stay warm outside.  You can make this recipe with ordinary cows milk but I prefer to use Oatly Organic Oat milk.  I haven't tried making this using other types of milk alternatives so can't vouch for them.  I make this in a frying pan and it takes less than ten minutes.  I've noticed the way I make porridge is thicker than most, but I just happen to like it that way.

You can view what my porridge looked like here:

Apple Maple Porridge

Half a red (gala or cox) apple, chopped
2/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cups milk (or preferably oat milk)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp raisins (optional)
1/2 tsp ghee (or butter)

- In a pan on medium high heat, melt the ghee, then add the apple pieces and stir fry until lightly golden brown

- Add the maple syrup (and raisins), then pour the oats all over the apples so that the oats spread out as one layer, then after about 20 seconds, use a heatproof spatula to fold the mixture so that the oats are at the bottom of the pan where the maple syrup can stick to it

- Add the oat milk (or other milk if you prefer), then stir the mixture after 1-2 mins

- When the oat milk has reduced and the oats have softened, pour the whole mixture into a bowl and serve

Quick fix easy alternatives (updated)

In recent years, I’ve noticed that supermarkets are catching on to the fact that there are an increasing number of people with food allergies and intolerances, so there are more alternative foods available than there used to be. Alhamdullilah many of these foods don’t even taste like cardboard:P I still don’t like some of the ‘gluten free’ products which list ingredients or E numbers that seem better suited to a science lab than a food list. The biggest change I’ve noticed in my diet is that I can’t order take aways as I used to because most fast foods contain or are coated with breadcrumbs or some other wheat product so these are some ‘quick foods’ I use:

Quick fix easy meals:

- most supermarkets sell wheat free fish fingers so I bake those in the oven with crinkle cut chips (I use the shops own brand of chips and it’s worth bearing in mind that many brands of frozen chips are coated with wheat so check the ingredients list if you want to avoid that)

- Spelt pasta or gluten free spagetti with stir in sauce or pesto (the variety of stir in sauces is endless but my personal favourite is roasted red pepper pasta sauce), but bear in mind Spelt is similar to wheat and contains gluten (if you can tolerate corn then corn spagetti is a good gluten free alternative to wheat pasta).  I must admit I don't like the taste of rice pasta

- I make ‘topless’ sandwiches using toasted “Stamp Collection New York Deli Bread” which is available from Waitrose or select branches of other supermarkets (I normally top the toasted slices with omlette or cream cheese, tuna and cucumber), though I suspect this contains gluten so check the label

- There is a new product I've seen in the shops called Genius bread; it's gluten free but does contain egg and other stuff so check the label.  Having said that, it does taste fairly similar to wheat bread so although it's a bit pricey, it's a good quick fix and is also suitable for home freezing

- An obvious option is jacket potatoes: if I don't have time to bake them then I prick a large potato with a fork, put it in the microwave for 4 mins on one side, then turn it over and cook for 3 mins on the other side (timings may vary depending on the microwave you have), then I cut it open and eat it with cream cheese, tuna, cheddar and sprinkled with salt and pepper

- If you REALLY can't be bothered to cook, supermarkets are starting to sell basic margarita gluten free pizza

- Cereals: check the labels as many are unsuitable for special diets, but I know quinoa pops and some rice cereals are gluten free... I personally love porridge and granola but bear in mind oats contain gluten (albeit low levels of gluten so there is controversy surrounding whether it's suitable for celiacs)

- Soba noodles: I wasn't sure whether to mention these because although there are gluten free soba noodles available (check packets as many brands of soba contain wheat as well but bear in mind 'buckwheat' is not a 'wheat' and does not contain gluten), I tried cooking these the other day and did not like the taste much (which is why I haven't posted the recipe).  I'm hoping it's just a case of finding a better recipe for it cos' it would be so convenient to have decent gluten free noodles around

- Kofte kebabs; make a batch and freeze them so they are ready to eat in minutes whenever you have a bad day and too little time... that reminds me, I need to post a recipe for it- duh, silly me!

Quick fix snacks (bad habits but nice as an occassional treat):

- Poppadoms/Crisps
- Plantain crisps, I think you'll forget about other crisps once you've tried these
- Corn tortillas with salsa (plain corn nachos are best cos' many are coated with wheat flour, check the labels)
- Dried fruit/nuts and seeds
- Chocolate mousse
- Flapjacks (not suitable for a gluten free diet though)
- There are nice wheat free, gluten free ice cream cones available in the shops these days, so I really enjoy those on a hot day with a scoop of vanilla ice cream (check labels as many ice creams contain gluten, egg and other things)
- Fruit; yes I know it's obvious but it's so quick, convenient and healthy that it deserves a mention whether it's just munching on an apple, or chopping lots of fruits up into a fruit salad and sqeezing orange juice over it to keep it fresh
- Salad; another obvious and healthy option but to be honest, I'm not the best person to ask about making good salads, I'm still in the process of learning about that because there are so many varieties out there

I’m sure there’s loads of other stuff that can go on the list but I can’t think of any at the moment. I do intend to post up tasty wheat free recipes though- honest! 

Pizza (GF) (NF) (V) (EF)

I found a decent brand of gluten free bread mix from Lakeland limited with which I can make pretty decent pizza.  I use the Napolina brand of pizza topping tomato sauce, but whichever brand you use (including napolina because I haven't checked the label), check the ingredients to make sure it is suitable for your dietary requirements.  If you're using 'Laucke' bread mix, then grease the pan thoroughly otherwise the base can stick to it- the extra fat also gives the edges a good crust texture.

Base:
165g (about a third of a packet) Laucke gluten free bread mix
150ml tepid warm water
4-5 tablespoons “pizza topping” pizza base tomato sauce
2-3 tablespoons olive oil to grease the pizza pan

Toppings:
Any toppings according to taste can be used but I used roughly:
7 long thin courgette slices (chargrilled on a griddle)
half a red onion, sliced
A few slices of mixed capsicum (red and yellow) peppers
one ball mozarella, sliced

- Pour the warm water in a bowl, then pour the breadmix on top of it and stir continuously for about 3 mins, by which time all the floury lumps should disappear

- Pour the mixture into a thoroughly greased pizza base tray and bake for about 8-10 mins on the top shelf at gas mark 8 until the mixture cooks and solidifies

- Take the base out of the oven, allow to cool for a while, spoon the tomato base “pizza topping” sauce and spread all over the base, then scatter the vegetable topping slices (or arrange them in a design if you prefer) all over the pizza and top it with slices of mozarella

- Bake in the oven for a further 8 mins or so until the mozarella melts and starts to turn a light golden brown

- Slice and serve immediately

Fresco quinoa salad (GF) (DF) (NF) (EF) (Vegan)

I really should not take credit for this recipe because I was inspired by the recipe I’d found on here: http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/512988

I didn’t have any red wine vinegar at home to make it so I used balsamic instead and it still tasted fine but I leave it up to your discretion as to which vinegar you use.  “Red wine vinegar!  Is this really a halal blog?”  I hear you ask…. indeed it is.  You can speak to a sheikh regarding the use of wine vinegar if you want but as a lay Muslim who has looked this up, I should at least explain why I think it’s halal to use.  If you look in the Quran, Allah (swt) did not specifically forbid ‘alcohol’ but rather forbade ‘khamr’ which means intoxicants.  Intoxicants (or mind altering drugs) such as heroin, cocaine, lager, rum, wine etc are all haraam, but remember that vinegar is permitted and has been mentioned in hadith even though it is derived from alcohol.  This is because the process for making vinegar means it does not intoxicate.  Put it this way, have you ever heard of anyone getting ‘drunk’ on vinegar?  This is why I follow the opinion that it is permitted.

This recipe might look a bit like a tabbouleh or cous cous salad, but the great thing about this is that it’s suitable for diets that are vegan, gluten free, dairy free, nut free and egg free and still tastes pretty good.  It’s a very ‘touchy feely’ recipe in that you don’t have to follow it to the letter cos’ it depends on your personal taste, add more herbs or lemon or change a few details to suit your taste if that’s what you would prefer.  I think it would be a great picnic food or side dish for a barbeque.  As it is served at room temperature, I think it would be a good dish to take as a packed lunch- yes indeed I’m all too aware how HARD it can be to find a proper convenient food to eat at lunchtime when you’re trying to avoid gluten cos’ usually it means sandwiches are off the menu, as well as about 90% of other lunch foods in the shops (wraps, pasta salads, takeaway pizza etc).  I also put leftovers in the fridge and ate that the following day so I know it keeps well- if anything, it tastes better the following day!

(serves 2)

Vegetarian (Vegan in fact)
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Nut Free
Egg Free

1 litre water
200g quinoa
Half a (dutch) cucumber, diced
Half a red onion, diced
A third of a deseeded red pepper, diced

4 baby plum or cherry tomatoes, halved
A small handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped (leaves only)
About 10 mint leaves, chopped
60ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of balsamic or red wine vinegar
Grated zest and juice of one third of a lemon
Half a teaspoon, salt
Half a teaspoon, black pepper
Half a tin, chickpeas, drained and rinsed (optional)

- In one bowl, wash and then soak the quinoa for at least 3 hours. In a separate bowl, soak the red onion in the vinegar

- Bring the water to the boil in a large pan, then add the quinoa and let it boil for 10-12 minutes until it has softened

- Drain the quinoa using a large sieve, rinse well in cold water, then set aside so that the water can drain out thoroughly to remove excess moisture (otherwise you risk ending up with a soggy mess)

- Once the quinoa is dry, transfer it into a large bowl, throw in all of the other ingredients and then toss it so they all mix well together

- It can be served as it is, or as a side dish for a picnic or barbeque- alternatively spoonfuls of the mixture can be wrapped in lettuce leaves and served as an appetiser