Healthy Old Broad

Healthy Baked Goods Recipes Made Without Gluten and Sugar

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.

Pork Chops and Gravy

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It is easy to make and can be done in one pan, what’s not to like?

Pork Chops and Gravy

Ingredients:

  • 2 1″ thick bone in pork chops
  • smoked garlic sea salt (or Kosher salt with granulated garlic) and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 large shallot – finely chopped
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. heat oil in cast iron skillet.
  3. salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops, place chops in hot pan and sear on each side (remember brown means flavor) for a few minutes. Move pan to heated preheated oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
  4. While pork chops are resting on a platter, combine the remaining ingredients and make the sauce in the cast iron skillet & cook for 10 minutes.
  5. I served mine with blanched asparagus with a little lemon juice.

Cranberry Apple Cornish Game Hens

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This can be Thanksgiving made easy. Not expecting a big crowd, don’t want to sweat cooking a huge bird, well this can be the answer to have an elegant Thanksgiving dinner without all the fuss and mess. This recipe is not only for Thanksgiving, it is really good for a throw back to an elegant meal at home.

Cranberry Apple Cornish Game Hens

Marinade Ingredients

  • 1 12oz bag fresh cranberries
  • 1 medium honeycrisp apple (or really any sweet apple) – chopped in small pieces
  • 4 inches fresh ginger grated
  • 2 cups water
  • 1/2 cup XYLA
  • 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
  1. Place all the ingredients into a pot on the stove top, bring to a boil, reduce to med/high and cook as you hear the cranberries popping, this takes about 10 to 15 minutes.
  2. After the marinade has cooled, set aside 1 cup to use as gravy for the hens. Place the remaining marinade in a large Ziploc bag with the hens and let sit on the counter at room temperature for 1 hours.

Cornish Game Hens:

please note that the hens come frozen so you need to plan a day ahead to defrost them in the refrigerator.

  • 2 Cornish Game hens – defrosted
  • fresh thyme
  • fresh oregano
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • chives for garnish – chopped

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  2. Remove the hens from the marinade, place in a roasting dish, add the fresh thyme and oregano to the inside of the birds, sprinkle the top of the birds with the salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. Bake in oven for about 85 to 90 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 7 to 10 minutes. I topped the dish with chopped fresh chives.
  3. Remove the herbs from the inside to the birds. I served this over Shitake Mushroom RisottoShitake Mushroom Risotto. You can serve the hens whole or cut them in half.

Pesto

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While your garden is abundant with basil it’s a great time to make pesto and it is really easy to do and it stores wonderfully in the freezer. Since I don’t know how much basil you have I can’t tell you how much oil you will need…just add the oil until the mixer is the consistency you like…I tend to make it on the thick side as you can always add more oil or pasta water when you use it.

Pesto

Ingredients

  • fresh basil
  • 3 to 4 cloves of garlic
  • parmesan cheese
  • olive oil
  • lemon juice
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor.
  2. Portion into serving sizes in Ziploc bags and freeze.

1001 Island Dressing

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Everyone has a recipe for 1000 Island Dressing but I have amped up the flavor to make it 1001 Island Dressing…use it to dress your burgers or your salads

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup mayo
  • 1/2 cup XYLA Ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon capers – drained and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 4 to 5 drops Sriracha

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl and you have a tasty dressing.