Swiss Butter Lettuce Salad

This is one of those recipes that I crave as the weather is starting to get warmer. It is a tell tale sign that my body believes that Spring is here. My sweaters go back into the closet, I start running outdoors again, and this salad starts making a regular appearance. You will need:

2 large heads of butter lettuce
1 10 ounce bag of fresh spinach
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained
1/4 red onion chopped
2 roma tomato chopped
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup of fresh grated Swiss cheese
1/2 pound bacon, cooked and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup drained cottage cheese,

Dressing:
3/4 cup of sugar
1 Tbs brown or Dijon Mustard
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups of the oil of your choice (I like olive but it does make your dressing a little more dense)

Start by tearing your butter lettuce and spinach and placing it in a large salad bowl. Never chop your leafy greens with a knife as the sharpness perforates the cells and they basically go limp and wilty. We are going for a fresh crisp salad here. Now add the remaining salad ingredients on top and cover until you are ready to serve. For the dressing combine all ingredients into your blender and let your blender run for about 30 seconds to emulsify everything together.  Don't you just love homemade dressings? I do. They are so much fresher tasting and preservative free plus you have the ability to play with it and add less or more of those ingredients you love. Once you are ready to serve the salad, pour the dressing on and toss everything together. I'm sure you will love this gem of a salad as much as I do!

Gluten Free Cheesecake Fantastico :)

First let me say that this is one of those recipes that you can serve and no one, I mean NO ONE will know that it is gluten free. It is ah-mazing.

Gluten Free Cheesecake with Nut Crust Supreme (Cheesecake filling recipe courtesy of  http://glutenguide.blogspot.com, the crust I adapted from Bette Hagman’s “The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Dessert”)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Gluten Free Nut Crust Supreme
2 cups Pamela’s Gluten Free Baking Mix (I was out of this so I used 2 cups of crushed gf cookies)
½ cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup finely chopped pecans

Spray cheesecake pan lightly with olive oil spray or Pam. In a medium bowl stir together the flour mix and brown sugar. Cut in the butter until fine crumbs form. Stir in the nuts and pat into your pan. The crust will be “crumbly” but will hold together once pressed into the pan. This will be more than enough for one large cheesecake and perhaps for a second smaller pie. Though it tastes so good on it’s own you may just end up eating it!

Classic Gluten Free Cheesecake
4 – 8 oz bars of gluten free cream cheese, softened
1 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon gluten free vanilla

Mix all of the ingredients with a beater until smooth and pour into the unbaked crust. Place in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

While that is baking, prepare the topping.

2 cups gluten free sour cream
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon of gluten free almond extract
Juice from ½ a lemon

Mix the topping ingredients in a bowl. After the first 30 minutes of baking, remove the cheesecake and spoon the topping onto the cheesecake. Be careful not to overfill the pan. Return the cheesecake to the oven and bake for an additional 10-20 minutes. You may want to place a piece of foil under the cheesecake just to catch any drippings. Cooking times can vary dramatically depending upon the amount of topping you choose to use. Watch to see when it starts to solidify but don’t let it stay in so long that the crust begins to burn.
This recipe is easy to make and incredibly scrumptious, I promise.

Udi's Style Oven Stuffing

Ingredients

1 loaf of Udi’s Whole Grain Gluten Free Bread
1 loaf of Udi’s White Sandwich Gluten Free Bread
1/4 cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons of fresh sage (I used 3/4 of a bottle of dry rubbed)
Salt
Pepper
1 cup of unsalted butter
2 onions
1/2 cup of chopped celery
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy crea
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Methods/steps

Lightly butter each side of Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain & White Sandwich breads.
Broil Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain & White Sandwich Bread till slightly brown/toasted.

Allow bread to cool completely on a wire rack.

Put bread in a Ziploc bag and slightly break toasted bread into bread crumbs (or cut into pieces). Place in bowl with parsley, sage, salt and pepper.

Melt butter in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat; add onions and celery saute until onions are softened.

Transfer vegetables to bowl with the toasted Udi’s gluten free bread crumbs. Add eggs, stock, cream and gently toss.

Transfer mixture to a buttered shallow baking dish. Bake, covered, in middle of oven for 30 minutes at 325 degrees. To brown the stuffing, uncover and bake for an additional 20 minutes.