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Tag Archives: gluten free


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African Chicken Peanut Stew

This delicious stew was accompanied by one of my biggest cooking fails. Ever.

I’ve had this recipe on my “to-cook” list forever. I was inspired by a local restaurant, Buraka. They have to-die-for peanut stew and they serve it with really, really great injera. For those of you who haven’t had injera, it’s an Ethiopian flatbread that has a spongy texture and a bit of a tang. Like a cross between a pancake, crepe and… sourdough bread? I’m not sure how to explain it, but it’s awesome.

Sadly, Buraka was forced to close at the end of October. The building it was in is being torn down and turned into another residential building. Sigh. To make it worse, two more of my fave Madison restaurants were also displaced because of this – Husnu’s and Kabul. This closing meant the end of any peanut stew and injera deliciousness. So, I set off to recreate it. I was partly successful. The stew was pretty good. The injera? A total fail. As in – the smell and taste of it made me want to curl up into a ball and die. I obviously won’t be sharing the injera recipe with you today (or ever – I don’t think I’ll attempt it again), but I do have the chicken peanut stew for you.

African Peanut Stew | doughseedough.net

African Chicken Peanut Stew

2 tablespoons canola oil
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 large onion, chopped
3-inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
8 garlic cloves, minced
3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 – 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes
4 cups low sodium chicken stock
1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
1 cup roasted peanuts
1 tablespoon ground coriander
2 teaspoons cayenne, or to taste
salt and freshly ground black peppers
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

cooked rice, for serving

  1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Salt chicken pieces and, working in batches, brown them in the oil. It’s important that you don’t overcrowd the pot. Set the browned chicken aside.
  2. In the pot, saute the onions for 3 – 4 minutes, scraping the browned pieces off the bottom of the pot as you cook. Add in the ginger and garlic and saute for another minute.
  3. Add in sweet potatoes, chicken broth, tomatoes, peanut butter, peanuts, coriander and cayenne and stir well to combine. Taste the sauce, and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper as needed. Place chicken pieces into the pot and bring to a simmer. Cover and let cook for about an hour, or until the chicken is fully cooked and sweet potatoes are tender.
  4. Remove chicken pieces to a bowl and let cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, shred the chicken and place back into the pot. Stir in cilantro and serve hot with rice.

recipe slightly adapted from Simply Recipes


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Turkey Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers & Race Day Recap

Turkey Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers | doughseedough.net

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I know we did! Mike ran his first half marathon and I accompanied him as I ran my fourth. My husband, the man that detests running, laced up his shoes day after day after day to get ready for this race. I am so, so incredibly proud of him. I (lovingly) pushed him and we finished in 2:15. This was a full 15 minutes before our goal finish time (and a PR for me)!

Madison Half Marathon Fall 2013

The day was perfect. A mix of sunshine and clouds. A start temp of 35°F (ish) and some wind. To celebrate his first half and my fourth, I’ve decided to sign up for my second full marathon. I ran my first one September 2012 and vowed to never do it again. But here I am, one year later, starting my training for another marathon. A spring marathon. Which means I’ll be doing my runs in the Wisconsin winter. What the heck was I thinking?! Marathon training is hard. Winter marathon training may prove to be impossible 😉

Ok, so on to these stuffed peppers. I was originally going to remake the last pre-race meal I had of sausage and bell peppers, but I changed my mind last minute and decided to make some stuffed peppers instead. These were easy to make and easy on my pre-race jittery stomach, too!

Turkey Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers | doughseedough.net

Turkey Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers

6 bell peppers
1 pound mild turkey sausage, casing removed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, diced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup white rice
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated, optional (omit for DF)
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly spray a baking dish with olive oil and set aside.
  2. Cut tops off peppers and remove the core and seeds. Place them into prepared baking dish and set aside.
  3. Brown sausage in a large pan over medium-high heat. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to break the sausage up into crumbles. When sausage is browned, carefully drain off most of the grease. Add in onions and garlic and saute for 3 minutes. Add in red pepper flakes, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, pepper, tomato sauce and tomatoes. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.
  4. Pour in chicken stock and rice and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and spoon filling evenly into the 6 prepared bell peppers. Sprinkle with cilantro and cheese, if desired.
  5. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted and browned. Enjoy!


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Dairy Free Zuppa Toscana

This soup is my take on Olive Garden’s Zuppa Toscana without all the dairy. This soup is one of the few things I actually like from OG. I was worried that it wouldn’t taste as good, but it completely met all my expectations. I got the idea to make this soup when a reader suggested that I make a kale and bean soup with my leftover kale.

Dairy Free Zuppa Toscana (Italian Sausage & Kale Soup) | doughseedough.net

Dairy Free Zuppa Toscana

1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
2 yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 medium russet potatoes, cubed into 1/2 – 3/4″ pieces
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 – 15 ounce can white beans (such as great northern or cannellini), drained and rinsed
4 cups dino kale leaves, washed, dried and chopped (or spinach)
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
6 pieces crisp cooked bacon, crumbled

  1. Brown sausage in a dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking it up as it cooks. When sausage is browned, add in onions, garlic, black pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook until onions are translucent, about 3 – 5 minutes.
  2. Add in potatoes and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until potatoes are almost fork-tender, about 20 minutes. Add in beans and kale and cook for an additional 5 – 10 minutes, or until potatoes are fork-tender. 
  3. Stir in almond milk and allow to heat through. Serve hot with bacon sprinkled on top.


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Maple Balsamic Quinoa Salad

I’ve been hunting for quinoa dishes ever since my co-worker picked up the world’s largest bag of quinoa from Costco for me. I’ve come across some seriously drool-worthy dishes laden with cheese and other delicious dairy-ness. While I’ve been able to introduce dairy back into my diet with some success, I’m still wary – one bite too many is bad news.

Fortunately, this super easy maple balsamic quinoa salad is 100% dairy-free. As an added bonus, the ingredients in the recipe are fridge and pantry staples for me. I found the original dressing proportions of oil, vinegar and syrup to be way too sweet, so I decreased the amount of syrup and oil. If you prefer a sweeter dressing, use a 1:1 ratio of oil, vinegar and syrup.

maple balsamic quinoa salad | doughseedough.net

Maple Balsamic Quinoa Salad

1 2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup raw unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
4 to 5 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tsp sea salt, plus additional to taste

  1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. Refrigerate until completely cooled, stirring occasionally.
  2. Meanwhile, prepared the dressing by whisking oil, vinegar and maple syrup together in a small bowl.
  3. Add dressing to the cooled quinoa. Stir in cranberries, pecans, scallions and salt until well combined. Refrigerate at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Slightly adapted from Clean Eating Magazine


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Kale BLT Salad

Ok, so there isn’t any “L” in this BLT salad. It should probably be called BKT or BKaleT.  As it turns out, raw kale isn’t really my jam. It tastes like what I think grass might taste like. But, raw kale covered in dressing with bacon? Right up my alley.

My coworker gave me three huge bags of kale – two curly kale and one dino kale. The curly kale went into this salad and I’m still contemplating what to do with the dino kale. I might just make another BKT salad because I’m seriously lacking in the kale recipe department. My coworker kindly included a recipe for this salad along with the kale. A little internet searching led me to the original source – Vegan Yum Yum. Needless to say, I completely un-veganfied it. Not only did I use mayo and bacon, I went and ate my salad with some grilled chicken, too. No regrets 🙂

Kale BLT Salad | doughseedough.net

Kale BLT Salad

2 heads curly kale
12 strips bacon, cooked and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

for the dressing:
1/3 cup low fat mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  1. Wash and dry kale. Remove the stem from each leaf with a pair of scissors, a knife, or your fingers. Stack leaves on top of each other and slice into thin strips. Place kale strips into a large bowl and toss with bacon, cherry tomatoes, and red onion.
  2. To make the dressing, whisk all ingredients together. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.

slightly adapted from Vegan Yum Yum


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Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

I love challenges. I needed a dessert for a dietetic intern potluck. The catch – I wanted everyone to be able to enjoy it and one intern eats vegan and another gluten-free. Bring on the challenge, baby! I scoured the internet far and wide (ok, I only used Google and Pinterest) and ended up combing a bunch of different recipes to get this final product.

I got the base cake recipe from Eggless Cooking. It’s made with beets and chickpeas. I was really skeptical at first, but I decided to give it a try. Turns out you can’t even taste the chickpeas or beets! I used canned chickpeas and beets to cut down on prep-time and it turned out pretty well.

These cupcakes were soooo decadent. It’s not really cake-like. More fudge-like perhaps? They’re dense, rich, and definitely chocolatey!

(Sorry for the bad photo - I took this minutes before running out  
the door to get my butt to the potluck!)

Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
yields 12 cupcakes 

For the cupcakes:
2 cups chickpeas, canned or freshly cooked
3/4 cup beets, cooked
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips*

  1. Remove the thin outer skin from the chickpeas. Enlist help if you can – this will take a while! Use a food processor or blender to puree until smooth with a tablespoon or so of water.
  2. Puree beets into a smooth paste, using the cooking water.
  3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cupcake pan with liners and set aside.
  4. Melt chocolate chips in microwave in 20 second increments, stirring after each until completely melted.
  5. Combine chickpeas, beets, and sugar in the food processor or blender until completely smooth – no lumps allowed! Puree in coconut oil, baking powder, coffee granules, lemon juice, and vanilla extract until well combined.
  6. Blend in the melted chocolate chips into the chickpea and beet mixture and let the food process or blender run for a couple minutes to allow chocolate to distribute evenly throughout the batter.
  7. Pour batter into prepared cupcake pan and bake for 40 – 50 minutes.
  8. Remove pan from the oven and place on a wire rack. Let the cupcakes cool completely in the pan.
  9. Remove cupcakes from cupcake pan when cool and frost with chocolate frosting (recipe below)!
For the frosting:
1 can regular coconut milk, opened and refrigerated overnight – do not shake!!
1 cup Smart Balance, room temperature
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 – 6 cups powdered sugar
  1. Scrape the thick layer off the top of the coconut milk into a large bowl. Add in Smart Balance and beat until well combined and smooth.
  2. Mix in cocoa powder and vanilla extract until well combined.
  3. Gradually add powdered sugar into frosting, 1 cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached**.
  4. Use immediately or refrigerate, covered.

*I used Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips and they were pretty darn tasty!
** I ended up using some of  coconut milk left in the can to thin out the frosting and give it another boost of flavor. I ended up using about 5 cups of powdered sugar in addition to about 1/4 cup of the coconut “water” that was left in the can.