Healthy Old Broad

Healthy Baked Goods Recipes Made Without Gluten and Sugar

Eggplant Ragu

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This is an easy one pan dish to make, and it goes quickly so I suggest you get all the items prepped and ready to add into the pan before you start the cooking.  Also this dish can get too salty so even though chef’s say to salt each layer I suggest you hold back on the salt and taste it before you add too much (believe me I learned that the hard way, I had generously salted each layer and the dish was good but way too salty)

eggplant stuffed

Ingredients:

  • 1 large eggplant – cut in half and the pulp removed from the skin carefully if you plan to serve it the skin – pulp cut into bit size pieces
  • 1/2 large red onion – diced
  • 4 to 5 Roma tomatoes – diced
  • 1 package Uncooked Silican Chicken Sausage with Tomato and Romano Cheese (from Trader Joe’s) – meat removed from casing
  • 1 – 14 oz can of artichoke hearts – drained and chopped
  • 6 oz baby spinach
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in large skillet.  Add onion and garlic to the heated oil with about 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt.  Saute for about 3 minutes.  Add the sausage meat to the pan and crumble into pieces.  Cook the sausage mixture for about 5 to 6 minutes (until almost completely cooked).  Add eggplant to the pan along with the basil, cilantro and thyme…cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the spinach, tomatoes and artichoke pieces and cook until the spinach is wilted and the tomatoes & artichoke are heated thru.  Now taste for salt and pepper and add to taste.

This dish is now ready to be served in the eggplant skins or try it over brown rice pasta.

eggplant ragu w pasta

Stuffed Chicken Breast

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Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Broccoli

This is easy but oh so good. It is a main dish or cut into pieces for a buffet. I have made it numerous times to rave reviews.

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Ingredients:

  • 2 – boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 6 – 8 slices proscuitto
  • 1 orange pepper
  • 1 small ball mozzarella cheese – cut in slices
  • salt and pepper
  • kitchen twine
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Roast pepper on stove top or oven. Place in Ziploc bag to cool. Wipe off excess char and de-seed. Cut in half.
  3. Pound chicken breasts to about 1/4 inch thick as evenly as possible **
  4. Layer the flattened chicken breasts with the 1/2 roasted pepper each, 1/2 of the prosciutto slices each, 1/2 the mozzarella each. Roll tightly and secure roll with kitchen twine (I precut 3 strands for each breast in advance of rolling).
  5. Salt and pepper the chicken rolls
  6. Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes
  7. Let rest for at least 5 minutes. Cut and serve.

**Note: to keep the kitchen counters as clean as possible I line the counter with a couple of pieces of parchment paper and use another sheet on top of the chicken to keep splatter contained.

Another note: add vegetables to the roasting pan and then you will have a complete on pan meal.

Egg Muffins

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Egg muffin with side of avocadoThis is an easy way to have a nutritious healthy breakfast without spending lots of time each day. These are eggs with veggies & herbs baked, store in a Ziploc bag and you can have an breakfast (or lunch or dinner) quickly. It also makes a great egg sandwich.

Egg Muffins

Ingredients:

  • 8 eggs
  • 12 to 15 cherry tomatoes
  • 10 oz spinach
  • 1 cup grated cheese
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley – finely chopped
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/4 cup grated parm cheese for topping
  • salt and pepper
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Heat olive oil in large skillet, add the spinach with a pinch of salt and wilt down. Remove wilted spinach to a strainer to remove excess liquid.
  3. In same pan, add the cherry tomatoes and blister.
  4. In a large bowl add the eggs, whisk together and then add the cheese, spinach, tarragon, parsley and salt & pepper and whisk together.
  5. Pour the egg mixture into the muffin tin, top with the parm cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Sliders

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Getting close to the Fourth of July holiday so how about sliders…using Focaccia Bread cut into slider size with turkey burgers stuffed with cheese.  I served these with Endive Fennel Jicama Slaw.

Sliders

Ingredients (Focaccia Bread):

  • I topped this bread with sautéed shallots
  • 1 loaf of bread will make 9 sliders
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Mix the ingredients on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Ingredients (Turkey Burgers | makes 6 nice size sliders):

  • 1/2 lb ground turkey
  • 2 spicy sausages – casing removed – you can use chicken or pork sausages
  • 1/4 onion – grated into the meat
  • salt and pepper
  • cheddar cheese (or any kind of cheese you prefer.
  1. Combine the ground turkey, spicy sausage meat and grated onion. Salt and pepper to taste and combine. Divide the mixture into equal size sliders, form balls, stuff with cheese and make sure the cheese is surrounded by meat mixture.
  2. Either cook on stove top or grill, add more cheese to melt just before the burgers are cooked.

Ingredients (Ketchup Dressing):

  • 1/3 cup Xyla Ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons Whole Grain Dijon Mustard
  • 1/4 cup Cornichons – finely chopped
  • fresh ground pepper (to taste)
  • 1/4 teaspoon horseradish
  1. Combine all ingredients together and then schmear on the buns.
  2. Add the burgers, a slice of tomato and you are ready to go.

Panzanella Caprese Chicken Salad

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If one type of salad is good why not combine a couple different ones to make one fantastic salad.

It is not easy to find gluten free bread to make good croutons but I have now figured out how to do it….yeah me.  Everyone loves a good Caprese salad but it is more an appetizer than a meal. So I decided to combine the two and add chicken with a basil dressing and it was a “wow”  Don’t freak out about baking your own bread, I have made this Focaccia Bread in several different flavors and it is always good and easy to do (and this olive focaccia makes a yummy sandwich bread).

This might seem like a lot of ingredients and process but it is really easy and totally worth it.

Kalamata Olive Focaccia Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup warm water (around 105 degress)
  • 1 tablespoon XYLA
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast (it is more than one package)
  • 1 1/2 cups Pamela’s Gluten Free Flour
  • 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Dissolve the sugar in the warm water, add the yeast, stir and let stand for about 5 minutes.
  3. While the yeast is doing it’s thing combine the flour, xanthan gum, salt and olives in a bowl.
  4. After the yeast has bloomed add 2 tablespoons and egg to it and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and combine well.
  5. Spray a 9 x 9 inch baking pan with non-stick spray, add the batter, cover with saran wrap and let sit for at least 20 minutes in a warm place to let batter rise.
  6. Remove saran wrap, bake for 25 minutes, let cool in pan.
  7. To make the croutons: slice the bread into croutons place on dry baking sheet in a 300 degree oven for 17 to 20 minutes.

Basil Dressing

  • 1 cup fresh basil
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinager
  • 2 teaspoon Mirin
  1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and you have a very tasty dressing,

The Salad

Combine the following on a platter (you can use as much or as little of each depending on how large you are making the salad).

  • Cooked Chicken: this can be leftover chicken you have, roasted chicken thighs or breast.
  • fresh mozzarella balls or a mozzarella log cut up into pieces
  • pitted Kalamata olives, sliced in half
  • baby Heirloom tomatoes – halved
  • the croutons
  • avocado – sliced up
  1. Place all the ingredients on a platter and drizzle with the basil dressing.