One thing I don’t love about gluten-free baking is the amount of effort required to “recreate” the properties and flavors of wheat. It is inevitable that I’ll be missing that one obscure gluten-free flour required to make a perfect cookie.
Of course, I always have plenty of rice flour on hand. I use it constantly for various recipes, so when I encountered this cookie recipe featuring rice flour, I was thrilled. I was even more excited by the short list of ingredients. Talk about easy to whip together!
But even better, these are delicious (if a bit crumbly) cookies. I brought them to the office..and they were gobbled up quickly. One co-worker confessed to eating more than a few all by herself. These would be great for afternoon tea, holiday parties, or even as a dessert after a dinner of small plates.
Lately, my local grocery store has kicked up the gluten-free offerings…or rather, food producers are expanding their gluten-free product lines. However you want to look at it, this is good news. Particularly if you’re in the market for decent tasting ready-to-eat meals.
The Evol product line caught my eye because of the catchy name and clear packaging. The gluten-free label was clear, and for the first time in a good couple of decades, I picked up a couple of frozen chicken burritos to see how they’d taste. Evol also makes about 18 other gluten-free products (list here), ranging from tacos to chicken tikka masala to mac and cheese.
This great gluten-free burrito from Evol includes guacamole in addition to chile-lime flavors, chicken, corn, and beans.
I decided to try the two chicken burritos. One is your basic gluten-free chicken. The other was gluten-free chicken with a side of guacamole. While the instructions suggest you should thaw the burritos in advance — great if you pop one in your lunch bag for later — I hadn’t planned that far ahead, so it took about three minutes cooking time in my microwave instead of the two noted on the package.
This gluten-free burrito from Evol is great for quick lunches.
While the burritos cooked, wrapped in a damp paper towel (to keep the tortillas from drying out), I popped the frozen guacamole packet into some hot water to thaw. I also pulled out some chile sauce from our local taco joint.
Step two in cooking the Evol gluten-free burritos: wrap in a damp paper towel to help the tortillas remain soft and moist.
I loved the chicken burrito with the side of guacamole (green packaging). It had a cilantro lime flavor, black beans, rice, and corn. For a frozen burrito, it had a lot of flavor. I’ll definitely buy this one again.
While the Evol burritos are in the microwave, thaw the guacamole in hot water. It takes just a few minutes.
The other chicken burrito (blue packaging) didn’t have as much flavor for me. It was good if a bit bland, but won’t be my first choice the next time I’m at the grocery store. Both burritos cooked well, and, thanks to the damp paper towel, the tortilla wraps were chewy but not tough.
Overall, I’m pretty impressed with these burritos — and am eager to try other products in the gluten-free line…especially the lemongrass chicken.
Have you tried the Evol products? What do you think?
Tip of the Week
Like all gluten-free breads, gluten-free tortillas dry out very quickly. If you purchase a package, either use it quickly, or keep it frozen — refrigerators dry them out. The paper towel trick I used on the Evol burritos will help refresh dry tortillas to a degree.
Menu of the Week
After writing the above, I made a trip to the grocery store where I picked up another burrito and the chicken lemongrass (I love the flavor of lemongrass!). I also priced gluten-free tortillas — the ones that mimic flour tortillas, I mean. At $6.99 for eight tortillas, I suggest you stick with traditional corn tortillas unless you really need a burrito or wrap.
One overlooked aspect of corn tortillas is how delicious they are as quesadillas. They are also ridiculously easy to make — perfect for snacks or one of those evenings when you just want to eat, not think.
Even though I know I can’t have them, I always find myself studying the Eggs Benedict section of brunch menus. They always seem like the perfect item…yet I must move onto another section so I can eat something that won’t make me sick.
At home, however, I am not so constrained. Of course, the chance of me having gluten-free English muffins on hand — or having the time to make them from scratch — is pretty much non-existent. Luckily, there are lots of great substitutes, letting you focus your energy on making a perfect Hollandaise sauce and building your own Benedict. Continue reading “Gluten-Free Eggs Benedict”
I’m thinking a lot about great sauces for meals. Particularly about sauces that elevate meats and vegetables without adding a whole lot of effort to the overall meal. Most of these sauces take just a few ingredients and a few minutes.
Why sauces? Mostly to liven up meals. Sure, a well-cooked chicken breast seasoned with salt and pepper is delicious, but how about a well-cooked chicken breast with a tangy tahini dipping sauce on the side? Or roasted vegetables with a great vinaigrette? Continue reading “Fast Gluten-Free Sauces for Meats and Veggies”
Recently, I tackled the project of reorganizing my kitchen cupboards and drawers. I still have a lot of work to do (I suspect this is a never-ending project), but I learned a lot about myself. Particularly about how I manage my spices and seasonings.
Not surprisingly, once I dug into my former spice cabinet, I discovered I bought a lot of spice mixes that had only been used once, maybe twice. Most were years old, which lead to me seriously consider how I handle my spice, herbs, and other seasonings. Mostly, I mix my own…taking a bit of this, a bit of that, and coming up with a flavor profile that really suits me.
About a week later, a friend — one of the best cooks I know — confessed that she’d been making her grilling spice blends. Like me, she used to buy lots of different products; like me, she was going her own way. Unlike me, she makes hers in larger portions so she’s always ready to go.
As you explore gluten-free cooking, you’ll discover that one of the purposes of wheat (or, rather, wheat flour) is to serve as a binder for the various ingredients in the recipe. A binder, to oversimplify, is used to hold ingredients together. Gluten, with its stickiness, is really good at this function.
Gluten also helps baked goods hold their structure while adding elasticity — this lets you form your breads and crusts before baking. Gluten also helps retain moisture. For baking, in particular, gluten is very important.
Eliminating gluten from your recipe means you’re eliminating a very effective binder. Which means, yes, you need to replace this binder with something equally effective. And, yes, different types of binders have different properties. Here’s a primer to help you make binding decisions in your own kitchen.
This is not an exhaustive list, of course. I’ve tried to focus on ingredients that are generally easy to find.
Almond Flour: I like to use almond flour in conjunction with eggs to bind crab cakes and zucchini cakes. It adds a small amount of flavor, but doesn’t overwhelm other flavors.
Chex Cereals: Rice and Corn Chex are gluten-free, and can help make a panade, which is usually made by soaking bread in milk, used in meatballs and meatloaves.
Chia Seeds: Chia helps bind and add structure to gluten-free foods. Chia creates a gel when mixed with water, and helps gluten-free baked goods retain moisture. Chia is neutral in flavor, so it won’t overwhelm a dish. Chia should be used in conjunction with other binders because it isn’t strong enough to help baked goods retain structure.
Corn Flour: Corn flour is used in breads, tortillas, and other foods.
Eggs: Eggs are fantastic binders. The yolks bring water- and fat-based ingredients together. The whites have protein that help foods hold their structure. Eggs also help baked goods rise. If you don’t eat eggs, chia, flax, and psyllium seeds can work as replaceents.
Flax Seeds: Like chia, flax seeds create a gel when mixed with water. The fat and fiber in the seeds means flax works well in baked goods. Flax seeds add a nutty flavor to baked goods. Flax is strong enough to give gluten-free breads structure, but works better with another binder such as chia or psyllium.
Gelatin: Gelatin is a protein-based binder that works very well in ingredients to be served cold or cool.
Guar Gum: Guar gum binds and adds some elasticity to baked goods (it’s not as not as elastic as xanthan gum). It helps the finished product retain its structure.
Milk: Milk proteins, like egg whites, coagulate during cooking. Milk is helpful in conjunction with starch-based binders like oats and rice. Evaporated milk has a higher ration of protein to liquid, making it an even stronger binder in recipes.
Oats: Oats have starch, which helps give structure to foods such as meatloaf. While you can use oats alone in some recipes, the absorbent quality of the grain generally requires you use an egg or other binder to as well.
Potato Flour/Starch: Potato starch is a common ingredient in gluten-free baked goods. It brings many useful qualities to the table. Potato flour is great in foods formed into patties — crab cakes, zucchini fritters, etc. And, potato buds/dried potato flakes are great in meatballs or meatloaves.
Psyllium Husk: For many people, xanthan gum works poorly with their digestive systems. Psyllium husk has emerged as a favorite alternative (I generally substitute it for xanthan gum on a one-for-one basis in recipes). Psyllium absorbs moisture like crazy, making baked goods less crumbly. It also adds fiber to recipes.
Rice: Like oats, the starch in rice helps foods hold together.
Xanthan Gum: Xanthan gum is a staple of gluten-free baking for good reason: it works very well. It’s useful for binding and structure, and helps with elasticity. It binds and thickens, but some people react poorly to this ingredient, so pay attention to how your system reacts.
What other binders do you use in your gluten-free cooking?
Tip of the Week
When baking gluten-free items from pre-made mixes, read labels carefully to determine what “additional ingredients” may be needed. Eggs, xanthan gum, or other ingredients may need to be added in order for the mixes to work properly.
Menu of the Week
Since having a terrific meatloaf dinner at Burbank’s Story Tavern, I’ve been craving meatloaf. I’m eager to steal their idea of giving the slices of meatloaf a quick pan fry to crisp them up before serving leftovers. Also, I’m just plain looking forward to the leftovers!
I will not lie to you: I am a sucker for corned beef hash. In a pinch, Hormel Corned Beef Hash, a gluten-free product, serves as the basis for a hearty breakfast. Seriously, how can you go wrong with the salty deliciousness?
