Pumpkin-Sweet Potato Soup

A gorgeous vegetarian soup for the soul- gluten and dairy-free

Sweet potatoes add body and a boost of color and to one of my seasonal favorites- pumpkin soup. But before I get to the recipe, Dear Reader, I just need to kvetch a little. This won't take long.

You see, I am cooking from the left side of my brain- and I don't like it one bit. Well, truth be told, I'm actually doing more consulting in the kitchen than chopping and stirring and getting my hands all nice and sticky.

Which is exactly the point.

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Gluten-Free Pumpkin Berry Muffins

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Berry Muffins

You're gonna love the taste of these winter berry studded pumpkin muffins. They taste tart and sweet and grainy-tender all at once.

Yesterday we woke up to a surprise. The mesa and distant hills were powdered in white. The first snow of the season (am I ready for this?). The Kokopelli thermometer read twenty-two degrees. Extra thick toasty socks were needed. Steve made a morning fire in the kiva to warm us. Lucky for me, we had baked some pumpkin muffins this week. Tender, comfy break apart soul food for this bone-shivery goddess to nibble with her tea.

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A Trio of Tasty Turkey Recipes

Gluten-free turkey tetrazzini- a retro classic, updated.

Thanksgiving will be cactus quiet here in the desert north of Santa Fe. No traveling. No fuss for us. Yet I felt inspired to thumb through my recipe file today. It's just habit. I guess it's not easy to let go of cooking for a family. Not yet, anyway. I still cook for four- even though we are down to two. I still buy too many salad greens. And big banana bunches that inevitably morph into black and reeking fruit fly magnets. It's okay. I shrug it off. I tell myself I'm on a learning curve. Not a bad place to be at fifty-three. Still learning.

Here are three yummy ways to use up leftover cruelty-free turkey. Consider this my modest Thank You to all you fabulous readers- for all your thoughtful comments, suggestions, and get well messages. You're the best!

Jazzed Up Turkey Tetrazzini

Here's my unconventional dairy-free version of a retro sixties classic. Gluten-free spaghetti makes fabulous tetrazzini.

For the filling:

A dash of olive oil, as needed
1 medium sweet onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 medium carrots, cut into julienne strips (thin sticks)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 lb. sliced Baby Bella mushrooms

12 oz. gluten-free quinoa linguini or brown rice spaghetti cooked to al dente (still firm), rinsed, drained

3 cups hand-torn cooked free-range organic turkey pieces
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

4 tablespoons light olive oil
4 tablespoons white rice flour
2 cups non-dairy rice milk (or milk)
1 1/2 cups gluten-free chicken broth
Optional- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, for flavor
1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
1 teaspoon tarragon or parsley
Sea salt and ground pepper or paprika, to taste

For the crumb topping:

2 cups Crunchy Gluten-Free Bread Crumbs (tossed in olive oil or melted vegan margarine)

1 teaspoon French herbs- or parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease or spray a 10x13-inch baking dish or deep casserole.

Heat a dash of olive oil in a large skillet and lightly saute the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms till tender; set aside.

Arrange the cooked spaghetti in the baking dish.

Toss the turkey pieces in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and season with a little sea salt and pepper.

Add the skillet veggies to the noodles in the baking dish.

Make your sauce:

In a saucepan, heat the olive oil and add the flour; stir to make a paste; briefly stir over heat for about three minutes- to cook out the "flour" flavor. Slowly add a cup of the rice milk and continue stirring until it starts to thicken; add the second cup of rice milk, heat and stir till thickened. I like to use a whisk at this point.

If you are using the nutritional yeast, you can add it in and whisk to combine. Add the broth. Continue to heat gently for another five to seven minutes, stirring often. Add the sherry, tarragon and a dash of sea salt and pepper, to taste. In fact- taste test. If it needs a flavor boost, add a pinch more salt, a dash of herbs or sherry. You can also add a dash of nutmeg or mustard if you like.

Pour the sauce over the veggies and noodles and use a fork to shimmy the goodies so that the sauce seeps in and around- this keeps everything moist and happy.

Top with the Crunchy Golden GF Bread Crumbs. (I like to place a few of the mushroom slices on the top, too- I think it looks pretty.)

Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, until piping hot and bubbling.

To be totally retro, serve with green beans sprinkled with slivered almonds.

Serves 4 to 6.

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These turkey enchiladas are tasty and gluten-free.

Holiday Turkey Enchiladas

You will love these super easy enchiladas featuring torn pieces of tender free-range chicken, lime juice, chunks of sweet pineapple, and spicy salsa. Espeically after Thanksgiving, when all the traditional Pilgrim-inspired foods have shared their hand-holding moment in the fast fading sun.

3 cups of your favorite salsa- spicy or mild

4-5 cups of cooked free-range organic turkey, hand torn or shredded

Juice from one fresh lime

2-4 tablespoons sour cream- light or regular or vegan for dairy-free

Sea salt and ground pepper

Pinch of cumin

Light olive oil, as needed

12 corn tortillas

1 cup diced pineapple

2 4-oz. cans chopped green chiles, drained

2 cups shredded Jalapeño Jack cheese- or vegan Jack for non-dairy

Hot red pepper flakes, to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Pour about a half cup of salsa into the bottom a large lightly oiled 10x13" baking dish- or use two smaller pans, for six enchiladas each.

Place the torn turkey pieces into a bowl and squeeze lime juice all over the cooked turkey; add enough sour cream to moisten; stir; season with sea salt and pepper, and cumin; toss well to coat.

Heat a dash of olive oil in a skillet, and heat one corn tortilla until softened, turning it over once to coat with oil. Place the tortilla into the sauced baking dish; fill with 1/12 of the turkey pieces, and roll up seam side down, placing it at the far end of the dish. Repeat for the remaining tortillas, adding more oil, if needed.

Pour the remaining salsa over the rolled tortillas. Top with the diced pineapple, then the green chiles. Sprinkle with cheese and red pepper flakes.

Bake in a 350 degree F. oven until the enchiladas are bubbling and heated through, about 30 minutes.

For a homemade authentic green chile sauce recipe, try here.

Serves 6

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Gluten-free nachos, Baby.

Turkey Nachos

Here's a non-conventional way to use up cruelty-free turkey leftovers Santa Fe style. Use a combo of organic blue and yellow corn chips and scatter on lots of sliced pickled jalapeños. It's an unbeatable combination.

3 heaping cups organic blue corn tortilla chips

3 heaping cups organic yellow corn tortilla chips

Extra virgin olive oil

2 cups hand torn cooked free-range organic turkey pieces

4 oz. Cheddar or Jack cheese, shredded- use vegan cheese for dairy-free

A big handful of organic sweet grape tomatoes, halved

3-4 tablespoons chopped pickled jalapenos- or use chopped mild green chiles

A sprinkle of good chili powder or chipotle powder, to taste

Chopped fresh cilantro, if desired

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large roasting pan with foil or parchment paper.

Layer the blue and yellow corn tortilla chips in the bottom of the lined pan; drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and hand toss to coat evenly.

Scatter the turkey pieces on top of the corn chips. Sprinkle with half of the shredded cheese. Layer the tomatoes, jalapeños, and the remaining shredded cheese. Believe it or not, drizzle a little more olive oil all over the the nachos. Add a dusting of spices, to taste, and chopped cilantro, if desired.

Bake in a hot oven for about seven to ten minutes, or so, until the cheese has melted and the nachos are happy and sizzling.

Crack open some crisp and cold gluten-free beer. You can even be post-holiday decadent and serve these nachos right from the roasting pan. Okay, I admit it. We're casual here. We eat nachos right out of the pan- with our fingers.

Serves 4.

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Holiday Tips

Getting through the holidays gluten and dairy free can be tough. Let me tell ya. But then, the holidays were always a challenge for me because I was mostly vegetarian for decades (meaning ovo-lacto vegetarian and sometimes vegan). In truth, Gentle Reader, my holiday foods have often tended, shall we say, to be a tad different from mainstream holiday fare.

Being the wild and free goddess-in-training I was back in those golden zen-kissed crunchy pre-celiac days, I learned early on how to tweak traditional recipes and reinvent old favorites- like using coconut milk as a vegan (non-dairy) sub in whipped sweet potatoes (everyone loved this!) and subbing butter and cream with vegetable broth and crushed roasted garlic in fluffy smashed potatoes. No one missed the animal fat (unless they were just being polite).

My stuffing back then (baked as a casserole) was naturally gluten-free. I used cubes of toasted cornbread tossed with a skillet of softened onions, celery, chopped apple and cranberries seasoned with a touch of curry- then moistened with broth and baked till golden- sometimes with pine nuts or pecans on top.

Instead of serving green beans swimming in canned mushroom soup (because I never- and I mean, never- got the appeal of that goopy combination) I roasted fresh green beans in sea salt and balsamic vinegar- just until tender-crisp. Or did this simple but elegant recipe with pomegranate glaze.

Lucky for me, I enjoyed thinking "outside the box". And in my vegan years- not once- did I make a turkey out of tofu.

Who needs tofurky when you have Sweet Potato Black Bean Enchiladas?

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Acorn Squash with Green Chiles and Equal Love

My kinda squash. Kicked up with green chiles.

I deeply (if not profoundly) doubt the ever expanding food blog galaxy needs yet another squash recipe, but.

I can't help myself.

Right before the Charlie Brown style tile floor smack down (aka hip incident), I threw together a flavor combo I am crazy about. Nutty for. Head over heals smack your lips and toss aside your chaste maple syrup Pilgrim traditions for. That's right. I got radical.

I added chopped roasted New Mexican green chiles to my roasted acorn squash. And a sexy pinch of cumin. A golden drizzle of fruity olive oil. Impudent changes to the way we do things around here that would have sent a certain lanky, curly-haired ex-boyfriend of mine scurrying for his cream of mushroom soup casserole. In other words, Gentle Reader, home to Mommy.

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Gluten-Free Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips

Gluten-free banana chocolate chip bread. Yum.

Score one for banana bread lovers. After more than a few banana-induced mishaps (who knew baking egg-free gluten-free casein-free banana breads would prove so harrowing and unappealingly gummy and well, just plain spirit crushing?) Steve and I produced a sweet and tender banana loaf worthy of a mention.

A shout of big thanks goes out to my buddy Clare from Massachusetts (you remember Clare- she generously shared her brownie recipe with me back in the day). Clare posted her banana bread recipe on the Celiac Listserv last week. I veganized Clare's ingredients to make this recipe egg-free and dairy-free. And then, well, I simply had to add chocolate chips. After all, chocolate is goddess food.

And what's a banana without a little chocolate?

Just another naked banana.

And when you have a partner/husband like Steve (who, by the way, as you would expect, has been a champ through my hip healing process- hefting laundry, dusting (yes, that's right, dusting), bringing me mugs of hot apple cider (with a cinnamon stick!) and just plain cooking up a storm on my famished behalf)- who sweetly asks, Would you like me to grill your slice of Banana Chocolate Chip Bread?--- you blush, Dear Reader, and realize (once again) you've married the right man.

The man who knows you like your chocolate dark and melty and warm on your tongue. For breakfast.

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Gluten-Free Grains: Quinoa, Rice + Side Dishes

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Quinoa, Rice and Side Dishes