Whole Foods Gluten Free Bakehouse Pie Crust, Two Ways

This weekend I created two meals using Whole Foods' Gluten Free Bakehouse pie crusts. I had not yet used this product and it did not disappoint. We’ll be eating the leftovers tonight!

Both of these recipes are two of my favorite meals from my pre-celiac days and they are naturally gluten free, except for the pie crust. The Whole Foods crust worked perfectly with both meals and my non-celiac friends couldn’t tell the difference.



Tomato Pie: This pie is perfect for Atlanta right now, since you can get gorgeous tomatoes at your local farmers’ market. You should not make this pie unless you have great tomatoes…grocery store tomatoes will make for a mediocre pie. This meal is a family favorite from growing up on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. As you’ll see, this is an incredibly simple, yet delicious recipe.



Directions:

- Cook GF pie crust at 350 for 15 minutes and let cool
- Peel four large tomatoes and cut into thick slices (have extra tomatoes in case you need more)
- Put first layer in cooled pie crust (use small pieces of tomatoes to fill in gaps), and sprinkle with chives, basil, salt and pepper
- Repeat for second layer
- Mix one cup of Hellman’s mayo and one cup of shredded cheddar cheese and spread over top of tomatoes
- Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes (the mayo/cheese layer of the pie will start to brown)

Quiche: A great meal for Sunday brunch entertaining, I made the quiche in the morning and then reheated it for about ten minutes once our guests arrived. I served it with a simple mixed green salad and strawberries. Nothing too complicated, but looked pretty on the plate.

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Cook 4 oz. of Hormel bacon , cut into ½ inch pieces. Remove from heat and drain grease.
- Glaze pie crust with egg yolk.
- Stir together 4 lightly beaten eggs, 1 cup 2% milk, and 1 cup cheese. Add ½ t. salt and ¼ t. pepper.
- Add bacon to mixture and pour into pie crust.
- Cook for 35 minutes, or until the top starts to brown.


Notes about the crust: The crust tasted great and very much like pie crust, but it did seem a little salty to me. I have not yet used this crust to make a sweet pie so I’m not sure what it will taste like with something sweet baked in it. Also, the edge of the crust did not ‘brown’ as much as I would like (even when basting it with egg yolk) so I might adjust the temperature a little bit in the future. Two pie crusts come in a package and the sell for around $5.99. I think this is a very reasonable price. The crusts keep in your freezer indefinitely, but you want the crust to get to room temperature before you start baking. The crust also reheats well when eating leftovers.

Thank you Whole Foods for making a pie crust to help us GF eaters make yummy, quick and savory meals!

Southern Stir Fry

I’ve started working at a great produce shop called The Local Farmstand. I love working here for many reason, but I’m particularly obsessed with the fact that I am constantly surrounded by fresh, local, and gorgeous vegetables. I feel fortunate that I get to spend the day talking to people about food, how to prepare it and thinking about what my next, delicious, gluten-free meal will be.

One of my favorite recent creations is Southern Stir Fry, a great way to use local produce and get lots of good flavor. Southern Stir Fry is basically a stir fry for summer veggies, so it’s great if you have a CSA and aren’t quite sure what to do with that one squash and few pieces of okra. Last week I made it twice, once with okra as my main component and the next time with baby squash. You could also use zucchini, eggplant, or sweet peppers.

Southern Stir Fry can be a side dish or an entrée depending on what else you plan on serving. (If I want it to be a main dish, I serve it with risotto. The flavors go well together.

Ingredients:
- 3 T. olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup red wine
- 3 large fresh tomatoes, chopped
- 1 lb. summer vegetables chopped (I used combinations of okra and summer squash)
- Thyme
- Bay leave
- salt pepper


Heat pan with olive oil on medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sauté for another minute.

Add red wine and continue to cook and stir. Let about half of the wine evaporate.

Add thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper, tomatoes and whatever other veggies you plan on using. (Don’t worry too much about amounts of veggies. It’s totally fine to use more or less.)

Turn temperature of stove to low and cover pan. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The tomatoes will start to melt but the other vegetables will maintain their shape and some firmness. Serve warm. Enjoy!

Cooking with Summer Squash

One of my favorite summer foods is squash. You can find squash easily and in great quantities during the summer in the southeast. Last summer I shared a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with my sister-in-law, Alden, and we were blessed with all of the squash and zucchini we could imagine.

If you love fresh vegetables and fruit, a CSA is a great idea for the summer. You get a delivery each week from the same farm of whatever vegetables are growing on that farm at that moment. It forced me to cook and experiment with unfamiliar produce such as bok choy but I also learned to make my own pesto (due to the unlimited basil we received for a few weeks) and gluten free zucchini bread. I would recommend sharing a CSA with a good friend because then you don't feel as if you're wasting food when you're out of town on vacation and it's a fun excuse to cook together!

When joining a CSA or going to a local farmer's market, you're guaranteed to encounter plenty of squash. There are many ways to cook squash but today I wanted to share two delicious squash dishes that are family favorites. Both of these dishes are great for entertaining because they don't require much hands on attention once the cooking process begins.

Simple Roasted Summer Squash: This dish is very simple, easy and flavorful and you can make it in small or large quantities (sometimes a CSA will only give you one piece of squash which can be difficult to find a recipe and use for just one).

Ingredients:
Summer squash, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
Onion, sliced
Olive oil
Salt/pepper
parmesan cheese

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Slice squash into 1/2 inch round pieces. (If it's a larger squash/zucchini, I then cut the rounds in half.)
3. Slice up an onion.
4. Place onion and squash on cookie sheet and drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper on top. Mix up onions and squash in olive oil. Lay onions and squash flat on cookie sheet.
5. Cook for 15 minutes then using a spatula, flip onions and squash and cook for another 15 minutes.
6. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and bake for another 2 minutes.
(Note: I like the squash to be nice a browned before taking them out of the oven, but they also taste good when not browned.)

Dot's Squash Casserole: This recipe is my grandmother, Dot's, old recipe. My mom made it last week and I'm going to make it today using squash from my in-law's garden in Linden, VA that is overflowing with summer vegetables right now!

Ingredients:
3 pounds summer squash, chunked
3 medium onions, chopped
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup water
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
(the original recipe also calls for crumbled crackers on top but we just skip that step now to make it GF! I think it tastes better without it anyways)

Directions:
1. Cook squash & onions with water, sugar, salt and pepper until mashable (about 45 minutes).
2. Beat two eggs lightly.
3. Add milk to eggs and mix well with squash. Add butter and mix.
4. Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes.
This recipe freezes well also!

Enjoy the abundance of squash during the last month of summer! Feel free to add your own squash recipes.

Chickpea Pizza Recipe (From July 2009 Bon Appetit)

While called a ‘pizza’ in the recipe, I see this more as a flatbread that is a great side dish. I envision it as a replacement for Naan when making Indian food. It’s super easy and very economical. No mixer required and very minimal ingredients. I found Bob’s Red Mill garbanzo bean flour at Whole Foods for less than $2.50.

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups chickpea flour (same as garbanzo bean flour)
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups water, divided
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
6 Tablespoons e-v olive oil
Freshly ground pepper
6 Tablespoons parmesan cheese (I left the cheese off of Chris’ pizza)

Recipe:

1. Sift chickpea flour and salt into a large bowl
2. Gradually add 2/3 cup water, whisking until smooth
3. Whisk in the remaining 1 1/3 cups of water and rosemary
4. Let sit for 30 minutes
5. Preaheat broiler. Spray large nonstick broilerproof skillet with nonstick spray. Add 1 T. oil.
6. Heat skillet on stove over medium high heat. Whisk batter and pour half of mix into skillet.
7. Drizzle with 2 T oil. Cook until top is almost set (about 4 min.), piercing bubbles with a knife.
8. Sprinkle with 3 T. cheese and pepper. (Leave cheese off of dairy free pizza)
9. Broil pizza 4 to 5 minutes, until golden. Slide onto platter.
10. Repeat to make second pizza


Tonight I’m going to reheat the leftovers and add pesto and tomatoes. Serve it with a great salad and it’s dinner!