Everyone’s family seems to have special dishes that are required to be served on Thanksgiving. When I was little, my grandma always had to have an ambrosia salad. (You know, canned fruit and Cool Whip or cream cheese, maybe some coconut. I’m pretty sure hers involved Jello too. It was an ambrosia/Jello mold hybrid.) That particular item has been discontinued.

But Brussels sprouts are another item that always has to be served. For many years this was just frozen steamed Brussels sprouts. Not the most exciting of dishes. And certainly not the best if you’re trying to convert someone to the cult of Brussels sprouts devotees. (I’ve actually been a member since I was a child). My mom got this recipe from, someone, I don’t know whom, but I’m very thankful to this person. Everyone kind of went crazy for it. It might be the best Brussels sprouts recipe I’ve ever tried. No more boring, slightly funky frozen Brussels sprouts!

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup minced shallot (1 medium-large shallot)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 tablespoons water, divided
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• freshly cracked pepper

1. Cut the base off of each sprout, then cut lengthwise into 4-5 slices.
2. Heat a large skillet, with a lid, over medium heat. Add the olive oil. Once hot, add the shallots and cook until soft, 2-3 minutes. Add in the Brussels sprouts, salt, and 3 tablespoons of water. Stir well, then spread the sprouts out in a even layer. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine the mustard, brown sugar, and remaining 2 tablespoons of water in a bowl. Stir well.
4. Check the sprouts after 5 minutes; they should be bright green. Add in the mustard sauce and a few cranks of black pepper. Stir well. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook another 2-3 minutes.

(Serves 4-6)

The mustard sauce has a very honey mustard type flavor. I think the sweetness is one of the reasons so many people like it. However, Mike and I felt it could maybe be toned down a bit. So depending on whether you have plans to convert Brussels sprouts haters or not, you could halve the amount of sugar in the recipe.

If you’re looking for other Thanksgiving ideas make sure to check out my gluten-free cornbread stuffing, spiced cranberry sauce, and mushroom nut loaf.

I’m sharing this recipe in Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Hearth and Soul Hop, These Chicks Cooked, and Full Plate Thursday.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

Stuffing is certainly one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes. It’s kind of a shame people generally only make it at Thanksgiving. My family doesn’t usually do cornbread stuffing, so I thought I’d take a crack at it, and maybe it’ll make an appearance at Thanksgiving this year. Of course, you need to start with cornbread.

Gluten-Free Cornbread

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2/3 cup sorghum flour
• 1/3 cup potato starch
• 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.
2. Mix the cornmeal, sorghum flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir until thoroughly combined.
3. In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs. Add in the buttermilk and butter, and stir to combine.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and mix until just combined.
5. Pour batter into greased baking dish and bake 25-30 minutes, until cornbread is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool completely.

This cornbread goes easy on the sugar since I knew I was going to use it for stuffing. If you wanted to make the bread to eat, I’d probably up the sugar to 1/4 cup. The bread can be made a few days in advance if needed.

Gluten-Free Cornbread Stuffing

• 1 batch of cornbread (from above)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
• 1 small onion, finely diced (~1 cup)
• 2 ribs of celery, finely diced (~3/4 cup)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5-6 fresh sage leaves, minced (~1 tablespoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a medium-sized casserole dish. (Around 7×11 inches).
2. Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter. Once heated, add the onions. Cook for a couple minutes, then add the celery. Cook for 4-5 minutes, then clear a spot in the pan. Add the garlic. Cook for half a minute to a minute. Stir into the onions and celery, then remove pan from heat.
3. Crumble the cornbread into a large mixing bowl. Add the onion mixture, sage, rosemary, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Add the vegetable broth and stir until all the cornbread is moistened. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
4. Spoon into greased casserole dish. If desired, dot with remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until stuffing is just beginning to brown. Remove and serve.

(Serves 6)

Make sure you really mix the spices and onion into the cornbread crumbs. I apparently didn’t do as well as I thought, and I had some bits that were rather bland and others that were pretty spicy.

Brittany of Real Sustenance chose Thanksgiving Dishes as the theme for Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free this month, so I’m sharing this recipe with her. Linda of The Gluten-Free Homemaker chose Stuffing as the theme for her Gluten-Free Wednesday event. I’m also sharing there, plus making appearances in the Hearth and Soul Hop, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

Did you know that artichokes have two peak seasons? Most people think of artichokes as a spring vegetable, but they do have another peak in the fall. I decided to make use of artichoke season and try something beyond the standard steamed preparation.

• 2 large globe artichokes
• 3/4 cup pearl onions, peeled and ends removed
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• lemon wedges (for garnish)
• extra virgin olive oil or a few pats of butter (for garnish)

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a sharp, heavy knife, slice off the stem and top of each artichoke. Pull off the tough outer leaves. Trim the ends of any remaining leaves using scissors. Slice the artichokes into quarters lengthwise. Use a paring knife or spoon to scoop out the fuzzy “choke”.
2. Place the artichokes and onions in a large casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Add a few large pinches of salt and a few good cranks of black pepper. Mix well so that everything is coated.
3. Place dish in the oven and bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, rotating the artichokes one or twice, until artichokes are browned and pierce easily with a sharp knife. Remove from the oven.
4. Serve immediately, garnished with extra virgin olive oil or butter and some lemon wedges.

(Serves 4)

Like apples, artichokes will discolor once cut. You can dip the artichoke in water with some lemon juice added to stop the discoloration. Or you can work fast and be OK with a little bit of browning.

Depending on how much you pruned when you were preparing the artichokes, the outer leaves will probably not be entirely edible. You can pull the leaves off and eat the lighter-colored end by pulling the leaf between your teeth. The inner leaves should all be OK for eating though.

The pearl onions came about when inspiration struck while I was at the grocery store. At the time I wasn’t thinking about how obnoxious it would be to peel that many. While not difficult it is time-consuming. You could achieve a similar taste by using shallots or small onions cut into fourths or eighths, depending on the size.

I think the artichokes would work great as an appetizer or could work as a main course next to a pilaf.

These artichokes are also being shared in Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Mele Cotte.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival! Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free is being hosted by Iris of The Daily Dietribe this month. She chose to highlight the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or the Lantern Festival. Iris related that when she lived in NYC she used to love going to Chinatown to buy pastries, but that doesn’t work anymore with her current dietary restrictions. In that vein, she asked all of us to cook up our favorite Chinese food or dessert in a way that does work for our needs.

I kept things pretty basic with a fried rice recipe. I did read somewhere (I can’t seem to find it anymore) that foods that are red are served because red is for good luck, so I made sure to include some red bell pepper. Otherwise this is a pretty standard fried rice recipe that can be tailored to fit whatever foods you have on hand.

• 3-4 cups chilled cooked rice
• 2 eggs
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 pound (8 ounces) mushrooms, sliced
• 4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• small knob of ginger, minced
• 4 scallions or green onions, chopped (1 tablespoon reserved for garnish)
• pinch of crushed red pepper
• ~2 tablespoons peanut oil or another oil with a high smoke point
• 1/4 cup water, sherry, white wine or shaoxing wine
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free tamari or soy sauce

1. Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Beat one of the eggs in a bowl. Add about 1/2 teaspoon oil to the wok.  Add the egg and quickly swirl the wok so the egg makes a thin pancake. Allow to set–this should only take a matter of seconds–then flip the egg. After a few more seconds remove the egg from the wok and place on a cutting board. Repeat with the other egg. Roll each egg into a tube and slice. Set aside.
2. Add 1 teaspoon of oil to the wok. Add the bell peppers. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the pepper begins to brown around the edges, around 3-5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
3. Add another teaspoon of oil to the wok. Add the mushrooms. Fry, stirring occasionally, until slightly browned, around 3-5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok. Add the garlic, ginger, scallions, and crushed red pepper. Fry for 30 seconds, then add in the rice, making sure to break up any clumps. Stir well, then fry for a few minutes, until rice is starting to brown.
5. Return the peppers, mushrooms, and eggs to wok. Add in the water and tamari. Cook until everything is heated through, a couple minutes. Remove from heat, garnish, and serve.

(Serves 4-6)

You may have heard this before, but it bears repeating: Fried rice works best with day-old rice. The rice dries out and is not as sticky. Make rice the day before or make fried rice to use up leftover rice you have sitting around (which is probably how it came about in the first place).

I used brown rice, but white will work equally well. I used 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water. After simmering around 45 minutes, I turned off the heat and placed the lid sideways on the pot. I let the rice sit until it reached room temperature, then refrigerated. It made just shy of 4 cups.

Another general stir-fry tip I’ve mentioned before in the long bean stir fry, is that home stir-frying involves less stirring and more frying. Unless you have a wok burner in your kitchen, you need to give the food some contact with the wok. As the recipe says, stir occasionally, not constantly. (If you do have a wok burner, then let me know when I can come cook for you. )

Shaoxing wine is a fermented Chinese rice wine. You’ll probably have to go to an Asian grocer to find it. If you can’t, sherry or dry white wine will do. Or even water.

If you don’t want to bother with the egg pancakes, another option would be to fry the eggs into the rice. Before adding in the peppers and mushrooms, push some of the rice aside to make a spot in the wok, and pour the beaten eggs in. Allow to set, then stir into the rice.

This recipe is also being shared in Slightly Indulgent Tuesday,  Hearth and Soul Hop and What’s Cooking Wednesday.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

I seem to always have beets around lately. I had a failed attempt at pickled beets. But the pickled turnips were a success. They used a beet, but only one. That left me with the rest of a bunch to use. As much as I love the roasted beet plus goat cheese combo, I wanted to try something different. (And I didn’t want to turn on the oven.) I started thinking of other dishes made with beets. Borscht! It’s been on my list of foods to make for a while now. Since it is summer, I thought a chilled borscht was in order.

Chilled Borscht:

• 1 1/2 pounds beets
• 1 medium-large onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 6 cups water or vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2-3 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• sea salt
• kefir, sour cream, or plain yogurt (for garnish)
• hard boiled eggs (for garnish)
• chilled boiled potatoes (for garnish)
• extra lemon wedges (for garnish)

1. Wash and peel the beets. Shred using a box grater or food processor.
2. Heat a medium-large pot over medium heat. Film the bottom of the pot with oil. Once the oil is hot, add the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and golden and just beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Add the beets and the water or stock to the pot. (If using water, add a couple large pinches of salt.) Increase heat to high, cover, and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until beets are completely tender, 45 minutes to an hour.
4. Remove from heat and stir in dill and lemon juice. Allow pot to cool to room temperature, then place in the refrigerator to cool completely.

(Serves 4-6)

An optional fifth step would be to skim any hardened fat off of the soup after it’s cooled. You can certainly skip the chilling step and serve the soup hot if you prefer.

In case some of you are not interested in soup, even if it is chilled, I also made a raw beet and fennel salad.

Raw Beet Fennel Salad:

• 3/4 pound beets
• 1/4 pound fennel (bulb only), plus snipped fennel fronds for garnish
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• zest of one lemon
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt

1. Wash and peel the beets. Shred the beets and fennel using a box grater or food processor. Place in a large mixing bowl. Zest lemon over mixture.
2. In a separate bowl, mix orange juice, lemon juice and olive oil. Whisk well. Pour over beet/fennel mixture. Season liberally with salt. Toss well.
3. Salad can be served immediately or allowed to marinate.

(Serves 4-6)

I used golden beets as I thought they’d make a pretty sunshine-y salad. What I had not anticipated is that the longer you let the salad marinate, the more the beets lose their color and turn an ugly brown-gray color. If you’re going to use golden beets, I’d suggest serving shortly after the salad is made. Or you could make the salad with red beets, and I think you’d have less of an issue with the color fading.

So go find yourself some beets. While many people think of them as a cold weather food, they are in season right now. You’ll probably have better chances of finding the smaller, more tender ones. If you don’t have issues with firing up the oven, you could also try this Beet Salad with Almonds I posted forever ago. Or make a roasted beet and goat cheese salad.

Also shared in Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Full Plate Thursday,  Hearth and Soul Hop, and Wellness Weekends.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

My parents have grown tomatoes for a long as I can remember, and this summer is no exception. They’re definitely in the “we have way too many tomatoes and not enough things to do with them” stage. They’ve been mentioning this bounty for a few weeks now, and the little voice in my head that gives me recipe ideas said, “try tomato jam.” So I took some tomatoes off of their hands and got to work.

• 3/4 pound ripe tomatoes, cored and finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
• 1 dried chile de arbol, crushed (or a pinch of crushed cayenne pepper)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons lime juice

1. Place all ingredients in a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer about 1 hour, until mixture takes on a jam-like consistency.
2. Remove from heat and spoon into a cup or pint-sized jar. Refrigerate. Jam will keep for about a week.

(Makes ~1 cup)

This is definitely a recipe that you want to use fresh summer tomatoes for. If you use tomatoes that don’t taste like much, you’ll have jam that doesn’t taste like much. I used a mixture of roma and cherry tomatoes. My perusal of tomato jam recipes indicated that roma tomatoes were most frequently called for, but I saw people using cherry and beefsteak and all sorts of other heirloom varieties. The fact that they are fresh and ripe is the key.

I’m also sending this recipe to Susan from The Well-Seasoned Cook who is hosting Weekend Herb Blogging this week.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

Mike and I tried out a local tapas restaurant recently, and Mike had a wonderful mushroom ragout with balsamic drizzle and lots of other fancy words in between. Since it was quite delicious and we’re both mushroom nuts, he asked me to recreate it at home.

First, I looked into what exactly is a ragout? I really enjoyed this definition from Wikipedia:

The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat. The potential ingredients are many; ragouts may be prepared with or without meat, a wide variety of vegetables may be incorporated, and they may be more or less heavily spiced and seasoned.

I’m sure there are some chefs out there who have an opinion about that.

Apparently I’ve been making ragouts forever; I just didn’t have the name for it. Armed with this information, I can now charge $8 for a plate of mushrooms.

• 1/2 pound (8 ounces) crimini/baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons water
• big pinch of dried parsley
• big pinch of dried thyme
• sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• olive oil
• 1/2 pound (8 ounces) fresh spinach

1. Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Film the pan with oil. Add the mushrooms. Add a pinch of salt and a couple cranks of pepper. Stir well. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms have released all of their water and the water has cooked off, about 10 minutes.
2. Push the mushrooms over to one side of the pan and add the garlic. Once the garlic is fragrant, around half a minute, stir into the mushrooms.
3. Add the parsley, thyme, vinegar and water. Allow the liquids to reduce until the pan is mostly dry. Remove from heat.
4. When mushroom pan is almost finished, heat another medium to large-sized skillet over medium-high heat. Film the pan with oil. Add the spinach and season lightly with salt and pepper. Saute until spinach has wilted, about one minute. Remove from heat.
5. Divide the spinach between two small plates. Then top each with half of the mushrooms. Serve.

(Serves 2)

It actually works better to cook the mushrooms in a smaller skillet where they will be overcrowded. That way they all cook in their own juices, which ups the flavor.

If you want an extra rich dish, use butter in place of the olive oil. Or stir in a pat of butter right at the end. I wrote the recipe vegan, and I figured people can add dairy if they so choose.

The recipe works just as well if you throw the spinach in with the mushrooms once the mushrooms are almost finished. The presentation doesn’t look quite as nice. But, it means less pans to clean. Your decision.

While I really enjoyed just the mushrooms and spinach, if you wanted to stretch the dish, I think it would work nicely over pasta, or maybe a rice pilaf. Or maybe just wild rice if you wanted to be extra fancy.

I’m sharing this recipe in Weekend Herb Blogging, a weekly event that highlights herb and plant ingredients. This week it’s being hosted by Simona at Briciole.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

This recipe comes from my dad. You can tell because it involves lots of butter.

My parents have “Monday Night Dinner” with some good friends–they take turns making dinner for each other every week. Sometimes I weasel my way into free dinner.

My dad made green beans like this last week. While we were eating he mentioned it would be really good to add radishes to the dish. I was already loving just the green beans and almonds, but once I heard about adding radishes I knew I had to make it for the blog. As I mentioned in my cucumber radish salad recipe, I love radishes and feel that they don’t get used enough. Judging by the comments on the post, it’s probably because many people don’t like them. Poor radishes. If you are a radish skeptic, this is the recipe to try. Cooking mellows the radishes out. Plus you get to enjoy fresh summery green beans.

• 1 pound of green beans, washed and trimmed
• 1/2 pound of radishes, washed and sliced
• 1/2 of a  medium red onion, diced
• 1 ounce (about 2 tablespoons) slivered almonds
• 1 tablespoon butter
• sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1. Bring a medium-large pot of water to boil. Once boiling, add the green beans. Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until beans are bright green. Drain and run under cold water until beans are cool. (Or shock the beans in an ice bath.) Set aside.
2. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add the slivered almonds to the pan. Toast for a couple minutes, until almonds are fragrant and slightly brown. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Return the skillet to the stove and set over medium-low heat. Add the butter. Once butter is melted and has started to bubble, add the onion. Cook until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the green beans and radishes. Add a large pinch of salt and a generous sprinkle of pepper. Stir well and allow the green beans to heat through, about 5 minutes. Check seasoning. Remove from heat and garnish with the toasted almonds. Serve.

(Serves 4)

I am submitting this recipe to My Legume Love Affair–a monthly event featuring all things legume hosted by Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook. This month is the 4-year anniversary of the event. It is open through July 31. Check Susan’s site in early August for the entire roundup.

This recipe is also being shared in Full Plate Thursday, Real Food Weekly, Seasonal Sunday and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

These pickles are fast and easy. It’s been a long-time goal of mine to dabble with pickling. My first batch of pickling cucumbers showed up in the garden this week! I was excited to finally have the opportunity to give pickling a try.

I opted to make my own combination of pickling spices, but you are more than welcome to use a store-bought version. This just allowed me to tailor the spices to my taste buds (surprisingly, despite all my recipes for sweets, I am not a fan of sweet pickles). Refrigerator pickles might not last as long as a traditional pickling and canning, but they are super tasty.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 6-8 small-to-medium pickling cucumbers
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 3 cups white vinegar
• 2 cups water
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced in long, thin slivers
• 8-9 cloves of garlic, about 3 in each container
• 2 tbsp kosher salt (Any salt without iodine will work.)
• 2-4 cups fresh dill weed, depending how much flavor you want (I went heavy.)
• 3-6 whole dried cayenne peppers depending on the level of desired spice, one in each jar unless you want it really hot
• 3 quart-sized jars with lids (I used 2 quarts and 2 pints to experiment with different levels of spice.)

Pickling spices:

• 1 tsp mustard seed
• 2 tsp green peppercorns
• 2 tsp white peppercorns
• 1 tsp celery seed
• 6-8 bay leaves, around 2 per jar

First sanitize your containers. I ran mine through the dishwasher.

Slice cucumbers in quarters or into rounds and set aside. I opted to try both for this experiment.

Next you will prepare all the other ingredients that will be packed in the jars with the cucumbers. Wash the dill. You can chop it or leave the sprigs whole (which is what I did). Halve and then quarter the yellow onion, slice into thin slivers. The garlic cloves should be left whole, but slightly crushed. If using whole, dried cayenne peppers, rip the stem off of each pepper. If these are not available, crushed red pepper will work.

Combine all the pickling spices in a small bowl.

Mix the vinegar, water, cream of tartar, salt and pickling spices in a large sauce pan. Heat all ingredients over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until almost at a boil. Remove from heat once you reach this point. We have a family favorite cook book by Justin Wilson, Home Grown Louisiana Cooking. Wilson’s advice for heating pickling liquid: “Don’t bring to a boil. Stir the liquid with your finger; when it gets too hot to keep your finger in, it’s ready.” As you might guess, Wilson’s cook books have a lot of Louisiana flair and are littered with humorous stories about the culture and food of his era. While certainly not vegetarian, they’re still fun to read.

I’m not actually recommending you to stir the liquid with your finger. I just wanted to give you a general idea of how much to heat the pickling liquid. I cooked all the spices, but if you want a more organized and even system of adding the spices to the individual jars, cook just the vinegar, cream of tartar, salt and water. You can distribute the spices into the jars without heating them.

Let’s pack the jars! I started each jar with one clove of garlic, a small portion of sliced onion, a cayenne pepper, and a chunk of dill. Next, pack down the sliced cucumbers, followed by a second addition of each of the ingredients (if you only want lightly spiced pickles skip the second cayenne). Repeat this process until your jar is tightly packed full of ingredients.

Once the jars are packed, distribute the bay leaves by scooping them out of the heated pickling mixture and placing 1-2 in each jar. Using a funnel, slowly pour the liquid into each of the jars. You’ll notice a lot of the spices stay in the sauce pan. Distribute the remaining spices evenly throughout the jars with a spoon.

Place the lids on the jars and refrigerate. Let the pickles sit for at least 24 hours. If you allow the pickles to rest longer, they will pick up more flavor. I made it a whole 36 hours before cracking open a jar (but that’s why I made 4 jars).

Makes 3 quarts.

With so many other fresh vegetables and fruits at a surplus right now, I’m ready to move beyond cucumbers. Expect more recipes throughout the summer.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)

The weather finally decided to shift into summer, and it’s been hot–which is when many people turn to salads. And in fact, The Gluten-Free Homemaker’s monthly challenge is to create a salad.

I love cucumber salads because they’re so refreshing. This salad is easy to throw together and perfect to share at a picnic or enjoy as part of a light lunch.

There are endless variations of cucumber salads. I chose to add radishes because they are one of my favorite summer vegetables. I feel that they don’t get used enough, so I try to make use of them frequently. (For example, my blood orange and radish salad.)

• 1 large cucumber
• 1 small bunch of radishes
• 2-3 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon mirin
• sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper

1. Wash the radishes and cucumbers. Trim off the ends. Thinly slice the radishes. (You should have about 2 cups.) Halve the cucumber lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds. Then thinly slice into half-moons. (This should also be about 2 cups.)
2. In a large bowl, toss with the vinegar and mirin. Add a few generous pinches of salt and a liberal sprinkling of black pepper. Stir well.
3. Salad can be served immediately or chilled about half an hour, then served.

(Serves 4)

Mirin is a sweet rice cooking wine. If you can’t find it, whisk some sugar with the vinegar before adding it. Or you could whisk in a liquid sweetener like agave syrup. (I’m not so sure about honey since it has a distinctive taste, but maybe?)

Apple cider vinegar or sherry vinegar would be good substitutes if brown rice vinegar cannot be located.

I half peeled the cucumbers because I like the way it looks for a salad like this. You could leave all the peel on, or take it all off. It really comes down to personal preference.

I kept this recipe pretty basic. There are numerous ways to fancy it up. A little chopped onion would add extra bite. The flavor profile could be changed with some freshly chopped herbs like dill, basil, or mint. Or you could add some soy sauce for an Asian inspired dish. The salad could be made creamy with some sour cream or mayo. I’m sure you can think up more. Give it a try.

This recipe was also featured in Full Plate Thursday and Real Food Weekly.

Looking for More Gluten-Free Vegetarian Recipes?

I recommend The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen, by Donna Klein. (Click here to see it on Amazon.)