GF Quesadilla Recipe and Variations

One of my daughter's favorite gluten-free lunches is a simple quesadilla, made from Don Pancho's gluten-free wraps and simple cheddar cheese.

For anyone who doesn't know what a quesadilla is, it's a Mexican form of a toasted cheese sandwich. Instead of using bread, most folks use flour tortillas. We must eat gluten-free, however, so we use Don Pancho's gluten-free wraps for our quesadilla's "bread". Slice some cheese, slap it in-between two GF wraps, fry the whole thing in hot oil in a skillet, and voila! You've got quesadilla.

There are some yummy variations on quesadillas though, and I think I should mention these:

• melted cheddar cheese and refried beans inside the quesadilla
• melted pepper jack cheese and avocado in your quesadilla
• chicken, cilantro, peppers, and cheese quesadilla (see picture)
• a quesadilla with jalepeno peppers melted into the cheese (not for the wee little tykes)
• plain old cheese quesadilla dipped in guacamole and/or sour cream and/or salsa
• melted cheese blended with left-over hamburger in your quesadilla
• and my favorite: a combination of some of the above... cheese, hamburger, cilantro, beans, and guacamole quesadilla

Can you think of yummy quesadilla variations that I didn't mention here? Your comments are welcome.

GF Chicken Broccoli Casserole Recipe

I had to look back through old postings to realize this one had never been posted. I couldn't believe it. This is my "ol' stand-by" at home. If I'm too tired to cook anything special, I make this casserole dish and everyone just loves it.

Again, the recipe is my mother-in-law's, with just a few GF adaptations.

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts (frozen ones are fine, but read labels to make sure it's GF)
• Pacific Natural Foods' GF condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/8 tsp. curry powder
• dash of garlic (to taste)
• 1 small package of frozen broccoli
• 3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Boil chicken until cooked clear through. Set the broth aside for another recipe. (I usually freeze it like ice cubes. That way I can add it to soups and gravies a week or more later without it spoiling.)
2. Let chicken cool, then cut it into cubes.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix together garlic, curry powder, and GF cream of chicken soup. Fold in cubed chicken and cheese.
4. Coat the inside of a small casserole dish with cooking spray. Place the entire package of broccoli in the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with chicken/cheese/soup mixture.
5. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes (or until bubbly).

There are times when the broccoli leaves my casserole too moist. Try not to let too much ice get into the casserole dish with the frozen broccoli, or you may have the same problem.

Gluten-Free Teriyaki Marinade (I Use This for Deer Steaks and Wild Game)

Yes, my husband is the great white hunter. But what do you do with all that deer meat in the freezer? Teriyaki is the answer to your gamey-tasting meat. Saturate it in teriyaki sauce, and nobody will ever know it was venison.

Here's my mother-in-law's fantastic teriyaki marinade recipe, with a GF twist:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Tamari GF soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:
Combine all ingredients and mix well. If you want to use this stuff for something other than venison, it might be just as good on chicken, pork, or beef. We use it with all kinds of wild game though--deer, elk, goat, and even bear--and it takes the wild flavor out of the game meat.

I usually marinade the meat in the teriyaki in the fridge for 5-8 hours, then my husband barbecues the meat on the barbecue outside. It goes great with a side of plain white rice and some stir-fried veggies.

Easy Gluten-Free Cinnamon Pull-Aparts

I'm pretty sure I read this one online, but I've made it so many times now, that I can just recite the recipe from memory.

Ingredients:
1 package of GF bread mix
1 cube of butter (margarine is OK if you're dairy free like me, but butter is best)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Directions:
1. Prepare bread mix, following directions on the package, but don't let the bread dough rise and don't put it in the oven yet.
2. Set up a series of bowls in your work space:

• bowl #1 = lukewarm water
• bowl #2 = bread dough
• bowl #3 = melted butter or margarine
• bowl #4 = sugars and cinnamon thoroughly mixed together

3. Have your bread pan close by. It needs to be sprayed with cooking spray, just like it would be for regular bread.
4. Dip your hands in the lukewarm water. By covering your hands in water, you'll find it easier to handle the bread dough without getting all sticky.
5. Scoop out a palm-sized hunk of GF bread dough and roll it in a ball. If you're having trouble making it into a ball because it's sticking, get your hands wetter.
6. Drop the dough ball in the butter or margarine. Make sure butter covers the whole ball.
7. Drop the dough ball into the sugar-cinnamon mix. This time you only want a light coating. Don't let it get too lumpy from excess water and butter.
8. Place the dough ball into the greased bread pan. Repeat steps 4-8 until all the bread dough is in the bread pan.
9. It's possible to use a bunt cake pan for this instead of a bread pan. In fact, I usually find my bread pan can't hold all the pull-aparts, so sometimes I make two bread pans of pull-aparts from one box of bread mix.
10. Allow this bread to rise, just as you would if it were a normal loaf of bread. Bake it in the oven for the same amount of time that it says on the bread mix's package--well, give or take five or ten minutes--check it toward the end. If I use a smaller loaf (like I split the dough in half) then it usually takes a few minutes less than it says on the package. I use the temperature that's listed on the package for this.

Give it a try. You'll LOVE this one!