Beyond Rice and Tofu

This week I am hosting the Gluten Free Menu Swap. I hope you’ll join us! Please check back later in the week too, to see what other folks have planned.

Each week there is a theme for the Gluten Free Menu Swap, but you can always participate, regardless of whether you follow the theme. Since my cucumbers are beginning to come on, I figured that I needed to hear some new ideas on what to do with cucumbers and so this week’s theme is Cucumbers! I looked around myself for some new ideas for cucumbers. I found a couple of recipes which are bookmarked for later – Bavarian Potato-Cucumber Salad, Cucumber Soup and Spicy Cucumber Noodle Salad with Edamame. And I also have a couple of cucumber recipes already posted here – Spicy Ginger Noodles and Spicy Tofu with Vegetables and Cucumber Salad.

As part of my typical meal planning process, I went looking in the garden, refrigerator, freezer and pantry to see what needs to be eaten. I found some homemade pizza sauce in the freezer. And in the refrigerator I found some fresh green beans, parsley, cilantro, a red bell pepper, a few green onions, lots of cucumbers and the end of our snow peas.

Of course, today I also went to the Farmer’s Market and picked up a couple of things. First off, fresh sweet corn! Woo-hoo! The first of the season for me. And the same gentlemen had fresh, in-the-shell, black-eyed peas. I also spied some fingerling potatoes and I grabbed a bunch of beets to try. And I have quite a bit of basil that needs to be harvested and processed into something, probably pesto, which I will then freeze.

I recently harvested my garlic for the summer, but today I bought a couple more heads of another variety with the intent of planting one of the head’s in the fall. (Yes, in case you didn’t know it, garlic is planted in the fall and harvested in early or mid-summer.) This year’s harvest was of Red Rezan, a hard-necked variety from Russia. We bought it last summer from Boxcar Farm at the Santa Fe Farmer’s Market. I am saving a couple heads of it for planting in the fall and the rest is stored in the pantry for the year. Today I bought a variety called Inchelium Red.

Below is this year’s harvest. Not bad! They were a little small, but it is garlic!

My in-laws are coming into town later this week and we aren’t quite sure what we will decide to do while they are here, so I am keeping it flexible. I do know my Texas-raised mother-in-law will appreciate the fresh black-eyed peas I found so I will wait until she is here to make them. Plus she can help me shell them! (Hi Martha!) I am sure we will be doing the last-minute clean-up before they get here too, so I need some quick and easy dinners so as to allow us to get all that stuff done this week.

So, for this week, here’s the plan:

Fresh Corn on the Cob, Green Beans and Fingerling Potatoes and Cucumber Salad – I am like my mother in that I could make an entire meal of corn-on-the cob but I figure I should probably eat something else with it!

English Muffin Pizzas with Salad (with cucumber) – I will use the Food For Life Gluten Free English Muffins and the thawed, homemade pizza sauce I found in the freezer. Maybe some pesto.

Italian Rice Salad – we didn’t get to this last week.

Honeyed Beet Quinoa Summer Salad or Balsamic Dressed Roasted Beets on Salad Greens – our first trial of beets, we’ll see which one sounds good.

Fresh Black Eyed Peas and Tomatoes – when I saw these at the farmer’s market today, I already knew what I would do with them, thanks to Amy at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free! Of course, we won’t be making it with the bacon, but I might sub in some of the Trader Joe’s soy chorizo instead or some smoked paprika or Liquid Smoke. And if it isn’t too hot, I might turn on the oven and make some cornbread with Talon de Gato Blue Corn Cornmeal.

Grilling – probably some tofu steaks, maybe some salmon or chicken for me and our guests, vegetables, maybe some pineapple again. Corn on the cob? We’ll see.

That’s it for me, and so for the other swappers:

Wendy at Celiacs in the House is rolling in fresh produce this week, from her own garden and the farmer’s market. I love the picture showing how to contain out-of-control squash! She too has plenty of cucumbers and they have been eating them in tzatziki on Greek turkey burgers. Maybe I need to make some Greek turkey burgers and tzatziki for my guests this week! Hmmm… She also discovered a cucumber and black-eyed pea recipe that I could use for my fresh peas. I think we were on the same wavelength this week with the cukes and black-eyed peas…

Over at I Love Nectarines, it’s Susan’s birthday and she has some yummy plans. She says she is taking it easy this week with some simpler recipes, mostly salads and leftovers, but she’s going to try making an angel food cake and a sour cream coffee cake to celebrate! We’ll be waiting to hear how it goes, Susan! The tiramisu from last year looks wonderful! I personally haven’t made an angel food cake in quite a few years, although I did make a sponge cake recently that was quite tasty and did involve whipping many egg whites. Not many cucumbers on her menu this week except in the salads, but she did suggest trying stir-fried cucumbers – and I just might!

Heather at Celiac Family is serving up Kalyn’s Tomato, Cucumber and Avocado Salad this week, among many other yummy items. She also has another cucumber suggestion – in spring rolls, which are a fun alternative to sandwich bread, especially as a cool summer treat. They are also having some fun this week with popcorn (and other stuff) for a light dinner one night! Sounds good to me!

That’s it for this week, but again, please check back later as I will be adding links to other Gluten Free Menus as they become available!

And be sure to check out the home of the Gluten Free Menu Swap for more information and let Cheryl know if you would like to host in the future.

This menu is also cross-posted over at Org Junkie and the hundreds of other menu plans. Check it out!