Menu Monday – now on Tuesday!  We’ve also already eaten more than half of what I planned and there’s quite a bit of week to go.  I’m guessing there’s some take-out Thai food in my future.

Menu Monday 11/16/09

Smoky Spinach Salad with Bacon, Roasted Tofu & Almonds

Mexican Black Bean Soup

Slow-Roasted Pork
Cumin-Cayenne Mashed Potatoes with Caramelized Onions
Broccoli

This recipe is a riff on the spinach salad my mom used to make. I have her dressing recipe written on an index card with no attribution, so its original source is a mystery. Slightly sweet and tinged red from paprika, it’s pretty typical of spinach salad dressings from the 70’s.

Two things about this recipe make it special to me though. The first is the inclusion of celery seeds. I don’t think I ate anything else as a child that included celery seeds. In fact, I don’t think I do now! They’re a key flavor here though, and I keep them on hand just for this. The second thing is that the recipe ends with the instruction to “store with an onion.” While I understand that the point is to deliver a gentle infusion of onion flavor, this never fails to crack me up. I don’t know why I think this is so funny.  Just humor me.

My variation incorporates smoked paprika, tofu and Marcona almonds -  ingredients that would have been entirely out of place in the suburban kitchen of my childhood.  I tempered the sweetness of the dressing and added some garlic.  The crisp bacon and juicy grated carrots stayed.  I wanted to add sweet slivers of fresh pear, but the fruit in my bowl is stubbornly unripe.  I hope you’ll continue the improvisation.  Vegetarian? Omit the bacon and increase the amount of tofu, or add fresh or roasted mushrooms.  Tofu-avoiders can substitute grilled chicken or just live it up and double the bacon.

Smoky Spinach Salad with Bacon, Roasted Tofu & Almonds
Serves 4

Roasted Tofu
14-16 oz extra-firm tofu
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp sugar
1 T gluten-free tamari
1 T canola oil
1 T dry sherry

Dressing
1/4 C red wine vinegar
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp celery seed
4 tsp sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 C oil (I used a mixture of olive and canola oils)

Salad
8-10 oz fresh baby spinach
2 large carrots, peeled & grated
6 strips bacon. cooked & crumbled
1/3 C roasted, salted Marcona almonds

Roasted Tofu
Slice the tofu into 1/2 inch thick slabs. Layer the slabs between paper towels and press gently to extract as much water as possible. Remove the tofu slabs and cut into cubes about 1 inch long.

Combine the paprika, mustard, sugar, tamari, canola oil and sherry in a medium bowl. Add the tofu cubes and toss gently to coat with the marinade. Marinate the tofu for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat mat or parchment paper. Spread the tofu cubes in a single later on the baking sheet, and bake until golden, about 30 minutes. Stir once or twice during baking to ensure even browning. Allow to cool slightly before adding to salad.

Dressing
Combine vinegar, paprika, mustard, celery seed, sugar, garlic and salt in a small bowl. Whisk in oil. Taste and adjust for saltiness and sweetness.  This recipe makes more dressing than you’ll need for the salad.

Salad
Toss washed and dried spinach in a large bowl with grated carrots. Add roasted tofu. Give the dressing a last minute whisk and pour on enough dressing to coat to your liking (you won’t use all of it, even if you like lots of dressing on your salad). Toss gently.

Distribute the salad onto plates and top each plate with some crumbled bacon and almonds.

My husband gets credit for some of the menu planning this week.  I made a grave error in judgment getting dinner at the airport on our way home from LA.  Seafood at LAX?  What was I thinking?  In my defense, the only other choice in our terminal was Burger King, but still . . . not smart.  I spent most of Sunday feeling queasy and not wanting to think about food, so my husband kindly pulled together some ideas.  Today I returned to my usual food-obsessed self and added a taco recipe from Mark Miller’s book and some delicious-sounding rice with spinach and fresh herbs.

Menu Monday 11/9/09

Pasta with Green Beans, Roasted Potatoes & Pesto (from Pasta e Verdura)

Chicken with Edamame & Rice Wine

Tofu Scramble (adapted from Book of Yum)

Maui-Style Snapper Tacos (from Tacos)
Arroz Verde (from The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook)

One of the things that has surprised me about gluten-free baking is how much fun it can be to play with different flour combinations.  At first it seemed overwhelming to face adding five ingredients instead of one when a recipe called for flour.  However, once this became a habit, I started to see how varying the composition of my flour mixture actually gave me more control than I had in my wheat flour baking days.

Because I make waffles almost every weekend, I experiment a lot with flour mixtures to get the best texture and taste combination.  My go-to waffle routine combines a neutral gluten-free flour mix with some almond meal and corn flour (you can see an example at my recipe for Pineapple Mint Waffles).  However, I found that increasing the percentage of starch (tapioca, potato or corn) a bit makes for a crispier waffle.  The downside is that it leaves the flavor a little flat, so I compensate by adding some complexity with fruit, fruit juice, extracts or spices.

I like the way these turned out – nice autumnal flavors, a lacy brown crispness on the outside and a creamy interior.  They were delicious with maple syrup, but next time I might try them with sliced, sauteed apples or fig jam.

Nutmeg Pear Waffles
Serves 2-3

1 T Ener-G egg replacer*
1/2 C sorghum flour
1/2 C almond meal
1/2 C brown rice flour
1/2 C tapioca starch (OK to substitute potato or corn starch)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 T raw sugar
1 to 1 1/2 C apple or pineapple juice
1/2 C applesauce or crushed pineapple
1/4 C canola or safflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 pear, peeled, cored and diced

Combine the dry ingredients (Ener-G powder through sugar) in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, combine 1 C of the fruit juice, the applesauce or crushed pineapple, oil and extracts. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well. Fold in diced pear. If the batter is too thick, add more juice or water to get to the consistency that works best in your waffle maker. Cook in a pre-heated waffle iron until hot and crispy.

*With waffles I don’t bother to mix up the Ener-G powder with water.  I find it works fine to just add the powder to the dry ingredients and increase the amount of liquid in the wet ingredients.

It’s a short list this time because I’ll be in Los Angeles for most of next week.  Any suggestions for gluten-free dining and snacking in LA?  Send me an email or leave a comment if there’s someplace I shouldn’t miss.

In addition to being short, the list is a little heavy on the  tacos this week.  I borrowed Mark Millers Tacos from the library and am trying out recipes to decide if I want to buy it.  Most of the recipes look mouthwatering, so I’m pretty sure that it’s going to be a keeper.

The picture?  That’s Daisy waiting for someone to pet her trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.

Menu Monday 11/2 09

Apple Pear Multigrain Muffins

Chicken with Chorizo Tacos

Portobello Mushrooms with Chipotle Tacos