Gluten Free Sandwich Series #3 Featuring Three Bakers Bread

Barbecue Chicken Sandwich Featuring Three Bakers Bread

Precooking (oven roasting) plain chicken breasts and using them through the week saves time in meal preparations. Starting with a plain base allows me to customize the flavor profile so each meal is unique!

Ingredients:

• Oven Roasted Chicken Breast (Turkey or baked tofu can be substituted)
• Roasted Vegetables (or leafy greens)
• Parmesan cheese (optional)
• Gluten Free Bread
• Gluten Free Barbecue Sauce of choice

 

This sandwich is made with slices of oven-roasted chicken breast, sliced roasted vegetables, and sliced imported Parmesan cheese. Gluten free barbecue sauce was added to the bread to provide flavor.

To create the flavorful and moist sandwich with multiple textures, I thinly sliced the Parmesan cheese and added it to the bread so it would melt into the bread. I assembled the precooked parts while toasting the bread:

• I sliced the chicken breast
• I sliced the vegetables

To the toasted bread I added barbecue sauce on each slice then layered chicken on the bottom and vegetables on the top.

Enjoy this sandwich with soup, salad, gluten free chips, or a side of fruit or vegetables!

Gluten Free Sandwich Series #2 FEATURING Potapas

Sweet Potato Tortillas with Oven Roasted Chicken, Garlic, and Bell Peppers

During the busy workweek I try to make food that stretches for a few meals. I prepared two organic chicken breasts (with bone and skin) for the oven. I placed them in non-stick aluminum foil then sprinkled them with salt, pepper, and some olive oil. I baked them at 350 degrees until they were done (these took about 1.5 hours due to their thickness). Once cooled enough, I remove the skin and bone and place the chicken in an airtight container to store.

The chicken prepared this way is ready to be used in a variety of recipes during the week … all that needs to be done is to add a different flavor profile so that it does not taste like I am eating the same chicken every day!

For this meal I also roasted red, yellow, and orange bell peppers in the oven and baked a clove of garlic. This saved energy; as I only had to have the oven on once…and did not add extra heat to the house!

To put my sandwich together I placed two POTAPAS in the toaster oven and sprinkled Italian Blend Cheese over both of them to form a thin coat. When the POTAPAS were done toasting, I added a few cloves of roasted garlic to each one. I placed two slices of roasted pepper (all that fit on one side of the POTAPAS); I used a variety of colors, on one side of the POTAPAS and 1/4 of the chicken breast thinly sliced. I closed the tortilla sandwich and cut it in half.

Ingredients:

1.     POTAPAS

2.     Clove of Garlic

3.     Chicken Breast

4.     Bell Peppers

5.     Italian Blend Cheese

Serving Suggestions:

·      Serve with a bowl of soup, salad, or bowl of vegetables

·      You could serve with GLUTEN FREE chips such as Beanfield’s.

Recipe Variations:

·      Roasted squash or zucchini can be swapped for the bell peppers

·      Turkey could be swapped for the chicken

·      The meal could be made vegetarian by omitting the chicken and adding more cheese – perhaps melted Gouda or Parmesan

Pomegranate + Amaranth = Bountiful Breakfast

Hot cereal is a satisfying meal to start your day. Amaranth is a good choice to use for hot cereal as it is high in protein and will keep you satisfied for a while. Use it before a morning work-out or before heading off to school. The texture and consistency is a bit thicker than Cream-of-Wheat. Add the seasonal fresh fruit of your choice (or diced dried fruit) to the dish when serving and enjoy!

Pomegranates tend to be expensive. You may be lucky and have a friend who has a tree or find a sale in the store. The fruit is worth the splurge from time-to-time as the antioxidant health benefits are tremendous.

Q: How does one remove the seeds from the pomegranate without getting red all over the place?

A: This recipe uses the antioxidant rich pomegranate as the fruit of choice. To remove the seeds from a pomegranate without getting the red color of the liquid to stain your hands and clothes, follow a few basic steps:

First, cut the pomegranate in half from top to bottom. I suggest you put a kitchen towel over the fruit and knife so any liquid sprays into the towel.

Second, put the sliced fruit into a bowl of water. Use your fingers to remove seeds from membrane while submerged into the water. The seeds will sink and the membrane will float.

Third, remove the membrane from the water and drain the water. This will leave the pomegranate seeds to be used in your recipe.

Base Ingredients and Variations:

 

3 3 cups of liquid (I use 1 part almond milk and 2 parts water)

1 1 cup amaranth grain (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

1 1 cup seasonal fruit (or diced dried fruit)

     (I used half pomegranate seeds and half banana slices)

11 1/2 cups nuts (I used slivered almonds for this recipe – look for a nut that goes with the fruit chosen)

1 1/2 tsp almond flavoring (substitute vanilla or maple – use a flavor profile that works well with the fruit you are using)

1 1 tbsp local raw honey (optional addition to top the cereal)

Instructions:

1. Amaranth grains need to be cooked with a ratio of 3 cups of liquid to 1 cup of amaranth. I increased this recipe so that I would have left-overs and used 4.5 cups of liquid to 1.5 cups of amaranth grain. I started by boiling 3 cups of water in a pot then adding the amaranth. As the liquid absorbed into the grain I added 1.5 cups of almond milk .5 cups at a time and stirred to integrate the almond milk.
2.  When the liquid is almost absorbed, add the flavoring and stir. 
3. Let hot cereal rest for 5 minutes and serve or store in an airtight container for later.