From Gluten Free Gigi's dairy free, soy free, nut free recipe box:
My next big gluten free adventure away from home begins tomorrow!
I’ll be out of my kitchen and on the road spending several days attending a special conference to learn the latest on gluten free living from the top researchers, dietitians, and authors. It's the 37th Annual Gluten Intolerance Group Education Conference.
Of course, I’ll be seeking great-tasting, healthy gluten free meals along the way...
The prospect of traveling and finding places to eat gluten free may be daunting for you. It was for me after I first learned I needed to be gluten free.
Over time, though, I've found easy ways to do it. I'll be sharing those with you more and more on my website. Since starting my blog a year ago, I've already reviewed a few local restaurants and provided some pointers. (By the way, I can't believe I'm already almost upon my one-year blogaversary... we'll have to do something special for it!)
Now I'm starting to review other locations and destinations near and far... and how I go about doing it gluten free. In fact, I'm in the process of putting together a special report about a MAJOR destination for you. I'm doing my research while I'm on this trip...
With all the travel preparation for the conference and my special report, I’ve kept my meal planning even more simple than usual this week!
...On to Our CC&C Gluten Free Grand Finale!
Wrapping-up our four weeks of Cocktails, Cookouts & Cool Treats, I know you’ll appreciate this easy gluten free grilled meal!
Here you'll find some Fourth of July ideas too!
First, what do you say we get started with a fun, refreshing cocktail!?
Cinnful Apple
“Cinnful Apple” cocktails are ideal for sharing. One bottle of Woodchuck Granny Smith Apple Cider makes 2 cool, crisp, refreshing drinks. We can find some friends and enjoy a little of this “good kind” of cinn! For 2 refreshing cocktails, we will need:
2 shots Cinnamon Schnapps (I use Hiram Walker “Original Cinn”)
1 (12-ounce) bottle Woodchuck Granny Smith Apple Cider
2 Chilled 8-ounce Irish Coffee mugs
2 good friends (or you can save one for seconds!)
“Cinnful Apple” cocktails are ideal for sharing. One bottle of Woodchuck Granny Smith Apple Cider makes 2 cool, crisp, refreshing drinks. We can find some friends and enjoy a little of this “good kind” of cinn! For 2 refreshing cocktails, we will need:
2 shots Cinnamon Schnapps (I use Hiram Walker “Original Cinn”)
1 (12-ounce) bottle Woodchuck Granny Smith Apple Cider
2 Chilled 8-ounce Irish Coffee mugs
2 good friends (or you can save one for seconds!)
The key to this drink is making sure our schnapps, cider and glasses are ice cold. We'll pour 1 shot of schnapps into each chilled glass and top off with cider. It's that easy! Now... Enjoy!
Keep some of those bottles of cider handy, too. We’re not just using it for our cocktail. It’s showing-up throughout our meal to add an extra layer of bright tartness to each dish.
Let’s start cooking. For this menu we're making BBQ RIBS... Tender, juicy baby back ribs to pair perfectly with my special mustard-based sauce that’s sweet, tangy, and has a bit of kick!
We'll get the ribs going first. They take a little over an hour to cook. Two pounds of baby back pork ribs should be perfect for feeding four.
Cooking them most of the way in the oven, we'll transfer to the grill right before serving.
After preheating the oven to 350 degrees, it's time to line a shallow baking pan with aluminum foil. A large cookie sheet works well.
Then we'll place the ribs on the pan and sprinkle them with salt and pepper... about 1/4 teaspoon of each.
Next, we need to cover the ribs with another piece of foil...
Then, it’s into the oven! Set your timer for 1 hour 20 minutes.
While the ribs bake, there's plenty of time to stir up a batch of my fantastic Carolina Style BBQ Sauce and to make our One-Bowl Grilled Slaw.
Let’s begin with the sauce!
Gluten Free Gigi’s Carolina Style BBQ Sauce
1 cup yellow mustard
1/2 heaping cup brown sugar (loosely packed)
1 cup Woodchuck Granny Smith Apple Cider
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 Tablespoon mild yellow curry powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne powder
1 teaspoon raw coconut aminos
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance soy free spread
We’ll combine all the ingredients in a 2-quart saucepan and whisk them to blend.
Then it’s time to cover the pot and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Occasionally, let’s peek-in and give a stir with the whisk for consistency.
With the sauce simmering, we'll fire-up the grill and get going on those veggies for our One-Bowl Grilled Slaw side dish (see below). To keep our veggies from sticking, we’ll brush the grill grate liberally with olive (or vegetable) oil before heating.
When the 30 minutes for the sauce is up, we’ll remove the pan from the heat (keep covered) and allow the sauce to cool. We’ll set aside 1/2 cup of the sauce for basting our ribs on the grill later.
A Gluten Free Gigi Tip: This sauce is excellent for basting grilled pork or chicken. Store leftovers in a glass jar with tight-fitting lid in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (it’ll never last that long!).
For our One-Bowl Grilled Slaw, here’s what we’ll need:
One-Bowl Grilled Slaw
1 small Savoy cabbage
1 Vidalia onion
3 Tablespoons olive oil (plus additional for brushing on grill)
1/4 cup Woodchuck Granny Smith Apple Cider
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
With the grate coated with olive (or vegetable) oil and the grill heating-up to a medium-high temperature, we’ll remove and discard the first set of outer leaves from the cabbage and the outer skin from the onion. That will give us a clean cabbage and onion to cut into quarters.
A Gluten Free Gigi Tip: When you're cutting the cabbage and onion, be careful to keep the cores intact. This helps keep pieces from falling into the coals on the grill.
Then we’ll place our veggie wedges in a large bowl and drizzle them with 1 Tablespoon of the oil, turning to coat each piece.
We'll use this bowl for the entire recipe and, keeping it simple, we don't even have to clean it!
The vegetables are ready for the grill...
This part goes fast... We just need to grill the veggies for 2-3 minutes per side. We’re going for grill marks, but no extreme charring. After we've got our grill marks on all three sides of our vegetable wedges, we’ll place them back in the bowl to cool down...
When they’re cool enough to handle, we’ll cut the core out of each piece. We'll "rough chop" what's left into bite-sized pieces.
We’ll place these pieces back into our bowl, add the remaining ingredients (cider, oil, hot sauce, salt, & pepper), and give everything a good toss.
Our side dish is done... and all in the same bowl! We'll cover it with clear wrap and set it aside until we’re ready to serve.
By this time, our ribs should be ready to come out of the oven and head for the grill!
On our way out the door we’ll grab a basting brush and that 1/2 cup sauce we set aside earlier. If you don’t have a basting brush for the grill, not to worry! The back of a large serving spoon is great for slathering on the sauce too...
With our grill still at a medium-high temperature, we’ll place the ribs on, meaty side up, and brush on some sauce.
After 8-10 minutes, it's time to flip them over, brush again, and give them 8-10 minutes more...
That's it... We’re ready to shut off the grill and serve our simple and delish grilled BBQ and vegetable meal!
Then...
No Matter How Busy, We Have to Have our Cool Treat!
We’re used to making our own dairy free ice creams around here.
Busy with preparation for our trip, though, we need super simple!
We're going to cool it down for this meal with one of my simple sundaes... vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream topped with Dairy Free Coconut Milk Whipped Topping!
Two of our good friends will come in very handy... the awesome vegan team at So Delicious and Savvy Vegetarian.
We’ll rely on So Delicious for their creamy, smooth, vegan Vanilla Bean made with Coconut Milk Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert. Then, to make it extra-decadent, we'll whip-up a batch of homemade dairy free coconut milk whipped topping!
I’ve adapted a wonderful recipe from our new friend, the Savvy Vegetarian. With her recipe, our Blendtec blender, Red Hot Momma, can have our creamy dessert topping ready for us in less than a minute...
We only need 3 ingredients!
Dairy Free Coconut Milk Whipped Topping
1 can full fat refrigerated coconut milk (I use Thai Kitchen)
1/3 cup powdered sugar (heaping)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Busy with preparation for our trip, though, we need super simple!
We're going to cool it down for this meal with one of my simple sundaes... vanilla bean coconut milk ice cream topped with Dairy Free Coconut Milk Whipped Topping!
Two of our good friends will come in very handy... the awesome vegan team at So Delicious and Savvy Vegetarian.
We’ll rely on So Delicious for their creamy, smooth, vegan Vanilla Bean made with Coconut Milk Non-Dairy Frozen Dessert. Then, to make it extra-decadent, we'll whip-up a batch of homemade dairy free coconut milk whipped topping!
I’ve adapted a wonderful recipe from our new friend, the Savvy Vegetarian. With her recipe, our Blendtec blender, Red Hot Momma, can have our creamy dessert topping ready for us in less than a minute...
We only need 3 ingredients!
Dairy Free Coconut Milk Whipped Topping
1 can full fat refrigerated coconut milk (I use Thai Kitchen)
1/3 cup powdered sugar (heaping)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
To start, our can of coconut milk has been in the fridge. It needs to be cold so the fat and water portions separate. When we open the can, the solid portion will be on top.
We'll carefully scoop that into the blender of food processor.
We're left with the liquid...
A Gluten Free Gigi Tip: Don’t toss out that leftover liquid! You can add it to soups or curries, or use it as part of the cooking liquid for rice, quinoa, or other gluten free grains. It’s also a terrific addition to a smoothie!
Next we'll add the sugar and vanilla and blend our ingredients to get a smooth, creamy mixture.
We're ready to pour that silky goodness in a serving dish...
And enjoy a dollop of our dairy free delight right on top of the So Delicious vegan ice cream... Consider adding a dusting of cocoa powder too! I love, love, love Valrhona. Yes, it's an indulgent ending to our grand finale grill meal. We’ve done such a fantastic job all June long, I say we deserve it!
A Gluten Free Gigi Tip: If you have any Dairy Free Coconut Milk Whipped Topping left you can store it in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days. Chilled, it will thicken so just give it a few minutes at room temperature before serving.
~g~
Beginning Wednesday, watch Twitter (@GlutenFreeGigi) and Facebook ("Gluten Free Gigi") for updates on my travels!
I’ll be live-tweeting interesting bits from the conference. I'll also tweet from a very magical place while I'm working on my new special report for you!
Also keep an eye out later this week as I will write about Celiac Disease in my Side of Science.
That's not all... I’ll check-in this weekend for a special edition of Sipping Sunday!
Then I want you right with me all month long in July... We'll be heating things up with a new theme, new recipes, and lots of FUN!
I’m so glad you're a part of our growing GlutenFreeGigi.com community! Thank you!
Until next time...
Rest assured I'll have more gluten free, dairy free, nut free, soy free and sometimes vegan (and even raw foods!) foodie fun for you!
xo,
Gigi
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