Pineapple Salsa Chicken Enchiladas

This a super easy chicken enchilada recipe for a family weeknight supper.

Alex was home from college late this week to help weed out the books, clothes, and gear he no longer needs (in anticipation of our big move). We recycled a van full. (Where does all this stuff come from?) The fun part was looking through his drawings and art projects. We saved those, of course. I have bins full of the boys' work, from their very first crayon drawings to their high school video projects.

It's been a bittersweet week. This process stirs up plenty of old ghosts- but I'll save those thoughts, Dear Reader, for another day. I'll share a recipe with you instead. It's not exactly foodie territory.

But there is never a scrap left over.

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Gluten-Free Cheddar Pasta Bake Recipe

A retro classic gets a g-free makeover

Gluten-Free Cheddar Pasta Bake Recipe

For those cooking gluten-free pasta for the first time, the trick is to not over-boil it- keep it very al dente, as it continues to cook in the cheddar sauce. If you'd like to make this a one-dish supper, add broccoli florets to the pasta before you bake it. Cornbread crumbs make a tasty crunchy topping.

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Jalapeño and Lime Hummus

Kick up your hummus. Why be boring?

I love weekends. Not because they provide a significantly different routine for us. We work at home. Translation: we work every day. But the energy is somehow more relaxed on the weekend. I don't feel guilty blogging in my pajamas on a Saturday (past noon, that is). And we do at least tryto knock off work earlier than usual, reconnoitering at the fridge in late afternoon to assess the food situation.

We typically begin our rummaging in the kitchen pantry, looking for a snack. Some tasty tidbit to tide us over until dinner. We might make guacamole, or pesto, or hummus. We sit and nosh. And talk. Make plans. Lately it's been all about the big move to New Mexico. Which is why I flavored my hummus with jalapeños and lime, of course.

And, Babycakes, was it ever good. Me gusto!


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Crustless Quiche with Roasted Vegetables

A slice of gluten-free quiche loaded with roasted vegetables

Crustless Quiche with Roasted Vegetables Recipe

A short and sweet post today. Last night I made more roasted vegetables than we needed- just so I could use them today in a quiche. Nestled good-for-you goodies baked in a creamy, cheesy custard. What's not to love?

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Lemon Yogurt Cake

A lovely gluten-free lemon cake recipe.

Ever since I saw Ilva's sumptuous Almond and Ricotta Cake I've been jonesing for something with lemon. The odd thing is- her cake doesn't even have lemon (strange the way our mind works and sweeps us away along memory traceries of scent and flavor) but I started craving a cake laced with citrus- not too sweet and not too light. A cake with character and heft.

The day I decided to bake, of course, I had no ricotta, but I did have organic plain yogurt and plenty of blanched almond flour. Inspired by Ilva's recipe, I tweaked her ingredients with those I had on hand and baked up a lovely simple cake that reminds me of a coffee cake I remember liking as a child, a bakery cake called Louisiana Ring made by Freihofer's- yet in truth, that cake featured a hint of orange rather than lemon.

There's that memory glitch again.

Some intuitive leap from taste to taste. An image, a smell can trigger a remembrance as vivid as the day you experienced it, enhanced, I imagine, by hindsight. This ability sharpens as you get older.

Time seems to condense into the senses (invoking forgotten details). You start believing the Buddha's theory about ten dimensions. You start savoring the smallest moments. Your husband hands you a mug of green tea, the steam rising in the late afternoon sun slatted through the bamboo window shade, and a loss from the past heals for a moment.

Next time I make this recipe I think I'll use oranges.

Lemon Yogurt Cake Recipe

For this recipe I used blanched almond flour which is slightly softer and more flour-like than straight almond meal processed from raw almonds. I've made cakes with both. I thought the blanched almonds worked well in this cake. The lemon peel imparts a little chewiness.

1 cup blanched almond flour

1/2 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of fine sea salt

1 cup packed organic light brown sugar

5 medium free-range organic eggs

4 oz. light cream cheese (or butter or vegan margarine), softened

1/2 cup organic plain or lemon yogurt- low fat is fine

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Lemon zest (fine grated peel) from 1 fresh lemon

1 teaspoon bourbon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch Springform or cake pan with buttered parchment paper.

In a bowl whisk together the almond flour, sweet rice flour, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt and sugar.

Beat the eggs in separate large mixing bowl until they are light and foamy. Beat in the cream cheese and yogurt until combined.

Add in the lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla; beat to combine.

Add in the flour mixture a bit at a time and beat on medium speed for a minute or two.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake in the center of a pre-heated 350 degree F. oven for about 40 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of the cake emerges clean.

Cool on a wire rack; and release from the pan. Dust with powdered sugar.

Makes 10 servings.

This cake freezes well. I just ate a piece warmed slightly. It's moist and tender.

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Make Mine a Gluten-Free Cheese Sandwich

When food bloggers were challenged by a recent article in Food & Wine magazine to write with more verve and snap than a "boring cheese sandwich" I knew I had to head to the kitchen. Not to begin unwrapping my favorite snowy goat cheese (creamy with only a slight tang and a finish that barely flutters with August grass blowing in a southerly Aix-en-Provence wind breeze) but to bake.

Because, Dear Reader, in order to make a cheese sandwich- boring or not- you first need bread.

And bread is a rare event in my gluten-free kitchen. I bake bread perhaps twice a year, even though it's the perpetual tap-dancing Holy Mother of a Grail to the ever widening gluten-free world, the numero uno item verboten most newly minted celiacs yearn- with quasi-religious fervor- to replace.

The reason for my culinary indifference?

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Dark Goddess Cake

A rich dark gluten-free cake made with almond flour

This recipe is one I've played with for years. It began in the nineties as one of those trendy flourless chocolate things with ten eggs, and has evolved into mere semi-indulgence with only seven eggs and some extra cocoa powder for a little more structure.

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