The Best Rockin' Guacamole with Tomatillos + Lime

Fabulous, party worthy gluten-free guacamole.

Joey's Kicked Up Rockin' Guacamole Recipe with Tomatillos + Lime

Apparently in some circles Joey's guac is famous. But lest I be considered indiscreet, we won't name names. Let's just say, this guac is rockin'. The best guacamole this side of the Mississippi. (Thanks to Will, for styling the limes.)

6-8 ripe avocados (depending upon the size)
3 tomatillos, chopped
2-3 ripe red tomatoes, seeded, chopped
1 small red or sweet onion, diced fine
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 jalapeño peppers, seeded, diced fine
1 big bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Sea salt, to taste
3-4 fresh juicy limes

Peel and pit the avocados; cut the fruit into chunks and toss into a large bowl. Add the chopped tomatillos, tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeños, and cilantro. Toss with your bare hands. Season with sea salt to taste. Squeeze fresh lime juice all over the guac and mix again. Taste test. Add more salt or lime, to taste. Taste test!

Put on Brazilian music.

Serve in a festive bowl topped with lime wedges. Break out the tortilla chips.

Notes:

This recipe was mucho fabulous- and we scarfed it down with New Mexican style blue and yellow corn tortilla chips. And si, some of Joey's also famous margaritas.

It was the perfect appetizer for my Roasted Corn Chowder. And it would be fab as a side dish with any of my Mexican recipes and vegetarian recipes.

For the texture aversive, mash the guac smooth and leave out the chunky veggies.

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares

Easy, gluten-free yum. Chocolate chip cookie squares.

I needed a chocolate cookie bar recipe STAT. We were invited to coffee at neighbor Joey's this morning. And Babycakes, you don't go empty-handed to such a generous hunky guy's casa, now do you? So I got busy.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares Recipe

I'm always experimenting; these little temptations arose from a desire to have a chocolate chip cookie without having to stand there for an hour rolling balls of dough and babysitting batches of baking cookies. I happen to like coconut (and the way it moistens crumbly gluten-free dough) so there is flaked coconut in this recipe. I know. Not very traditional for a chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.

But do we care?

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F [if you live above 5,000 feet, set your oven temp to 375 degrees F]. Lightly oil or line with parchment a 10x13-inch baking pan.

In a mixing bowl, beat together:

3 large free-range organic eggs

1/2 cup safflower oil or Spectrum Organic Shortening

2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract

Add in and beat:

1 cup firmly packed organic light brown sugar

Add in and beat:

2 cups Pamela's Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix* or other self-rising gluten-free baking mix

Stir in:

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut*

1 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for the top

Using a rubber or silicone spatula, spread the dough evenly in the baking pan. Add extra chips to the top and lightly press into the batter.

Bake on a center rack until the bars are set and golden brown - about 21 to 25 minutes, depending upon your oven and altitude - and do not over-bake - you want them a bit chewy.

Allow the bars to cool on a wire rack before cutting.

Makes 15 to 18 squares.

I wrap the squares in foil when cool, and freeze them in a large zip-lock freezer bag.

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Karina's Notes:

• Make these GF/CF with a dairy-free self-rising flour mix and dairy-free chips.

• If you do not have Pamela's try using another all-purpose leavened gluten-free baking and pancake mix; or substitute your own personal favorite g-free flour blend and add a teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum or guar gum.

• If you don't want the chewy texture of flaked coconut but desire the extra moistness it imparts to gluten-free baking, try processing the coconut into a fine crumb.

Vegetarian Green Chile Recipe

Fresh roasted Hatch green chiles.

Steve brought home two more bags of fresh roasted green chiles, still warm. Hot and spicy Hatch chiles are my favorite. The fragrance is smoky, sweet and spicy all at once. I wish Blogger provided smell-a-vision. I got cookin' and whipped up a vegetarian version of my New Mexico green chile.

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Alex's Favorite Baked Chicken Mediterranean

The view on our evening walk.

There's been a hint of fall in the air. The deep night sky glitters with stars. Mornings are cool, bordering on chilly. I stand outside the portal's edge, in the sand, sipping a mug of yerba mate, and scan the cottonwoods along the bosque below, looking for the tell-tale tinge of gold.

Soon they will be yellow, a golden trail north that snakes along the Chama River. It will be time for stacking pinon to burn in the kivas. I relish the warmth of the cozy fires to come, the evenings spent wrapped in thick sweaters reading, sipping cognac.

And for the first time in years I am not dreading winter.

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Parmesan Rice Crisps with Roasted Tomato Salsa

Just another Sunday spent chillin' under the portal. I had a package of stale brown rice tortillas (Food for Life wraps) on hand and decided to experiment. Good things often spring from two simple words. What if...

Our dinner was Mediterranean- my tasty little zucchini-tomato-mozzarella number- on pesto penne pasta. So I wanted to serve a late afternoon snack with an Italian-Southwestern flair. These super easy crisps were terrific with margaritas.

Parmesan Rice Crisps Recipe

The brown rice tortillas we get locally are usually a bit stiff from being frozen, and sometimes they're so dry I suspect they are stale. But have no fear. These crunchy crisps are a fabulous way to use up stale brown rice tortillas.

4 to 5 brown rice tortillas– I used Food For Life

Olive oil

Sea salt

Garlic powder

Parmesan, grated fine with a microplane grater (or omit cheese)

Dried basil or Italian Herbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush the tortillas generously with olive oil on both sides and arrange them on baking sheets in a single layer. Sprinkle with sea salt. Dust them with garlic powder, to taste; then sprinkle on the Parmesan and dried basil.

Bake until crisp and slightly golden around the edges, about 7 to 10 minutes. Allow the tortillas to cool a bit. Using a pizza cutter, slice the tortillas into triangles and arrange the crisps around a bowl of Roasted Tomato Salsa [recipe follows].

Serves 3 to 4.

Karina's Note:

Vegans can substitute the Parmesan with vegan "Parm" or simply omit to keep it dairy-free.

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Easy Roasted Tomato Salsa

You can roast your own plum tomatoes for this- which is heavenly- or cut to the chase and use Muir Glen fire roasted tomatoes. I won't tell.

1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, seeded, roasted and chopped- here's how to roast tomatoes

2 tablespoons red onion, diced very fine

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar- or lime juice

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle or cayenne pepper, to taste

Pinch of organic sugar or agave

Combine the salsa ingredients in a bowl, cover and chill for an hour.

Taste for seasoning adjustments. Cover and keep chilled for up to 4 days- if it lasts that long.

You can also add any of the following, if your little heart desires:

Finely chopped yellow or green bell peppers

Roasted corn kernels

Chopped jalapeños

Rinsed canned black beans

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Polenta Cake

Delicious, moist polenta cake.

I've been craving polenta cake. Don't ask me why. Okay, ask me. It was the lemon polenta cake in the movie Dinner with Friends. Such a cake! And I didn't have any lemons on hand. But I did have a few ripe bananas. So I thought, Why not make a banana polenta cake? How bad could it be?

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Tequila Lime Salmon

Need a fabulous but easy recipe? Here it is. Marinate your salmon steaks in tequila and lime juice. After a day spent cruising with our friend Joey (no not that kind of cruising, Dear Reader- my life is more tame than you can imagine, trust me) and seeing some of the stunning (dare I say, breathtaking!) overlooks and canyons in northern New Mexico, we turned our little Honda Fit around and jetted back to our casita, hungry, a bit sun washed and giddy (swaying on a high altitude precipice will do that to you).

Joey, of course, immediately began making a frosty batch of vodka martinis (for those of you dying to know, Joey takes his very dirty; in fact, I've never seen a dirtier martini!).

Then we raided the refrigerator. As luck (some might say, near-genius) would have it, I had three wild salmon steaks blissfully marinating in tequila, lime juice, and minced garlic. And Joey brought the cutest little perky heads of Belgian endive, a bag of organic spinach, and three flavors of Haagen Daz sorbet for dessert (mango, raspberry, and lemon). Now do you see why I adore him?

Tequila-Lime Salmon Recipe
 

We plated the salmon steaks on a bed of wilted spinach braised with a touch of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and ground pepper, and a hint of balsamic vinegar while Dashing Husband chose to keep his spinach crisp and raw with a scant drizzle of olive oil. Both ways were good! The endive was trimmed and halved then braised in a little olive oil and chopped garlic - this was Joey's contribution, and Babycakes, it was too yummy.

3 to 4 wild Alaskan salmon steaks

2/3 cup tequila

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

Pinch of organic brown sugar

Dash of Worcestershire sauce

Combine the marinade ingredients in a large measuring cup (tequila through Worcestershire). Place the salmon steaks in a wide shallow bowl and pour the marinade over the steaks. Cover, and pop in the fridge.

Go sightseeing for the afternoon.

When you return, put on a pot of brown rice (add Old Bay Seasoning and a dab of olive oil), wash and cut a few vegetables (endive, and spinach, and carrots work) and chop copious amounts of garlic.

Make some ice cold vodka martinis.

Play music. Talk about life and politics and religion (everything your mother told you not to talk about).

When the rice is done, turn on your oven- 400 degrees F will work.

Arrange the salmon steaks skin side down on a broiler pan or other shallow baking pan.

Pour the marinade into a saucepan.

Place the salmon in the oven on a rack near the top.

Turn the burner on under the saucepan and start reducing the marinade to make your tequila sauce; keep it at a gentle simmer; stir now and then, between sips of a dirty martini and snorts of laughter.

Meanwhile, quickly braise the endive, and the spinach (in two different pans) and saute the carrots (yup, in another pan).

Keep an eye on the salmon steaks while all the braising and sauteing is going on- this is why Chefs get the big bucks. After about 6 minutes, turn the salmon over and cook briefly to crisp the skin. Cook till fork tender, maybe a minute.

You're ready to plate. Spoon the tequila sauce over the steaks.

Light some candles. Eat. Drink. Live a little.

More salmon and fish recipes

Shrimp Fried Rice

Salmon & Spinach Goat Cheese Strata

Garlicky Shrimp & Spinach Bake

Pineapple Salmon Brown Rice Bake

5 Foods to Live For

Chocolate's gotta be on the list, right?

Yes, it's Meme time again and this time around I've been tagged by Susan at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen to declare my 5 Foods to Live For. Asking someone who must live gluten-free due to celiac disease to list five foods to live for is an ironic and thorny question. If she had asked me, say, ten years ago, my list would have sported Italian semolina pasta as my number one. Following a close second? A tie between a crispy crusted French baguette and a chewy, salty rosemary foccacia- dipped in number three, extra virgin olive oil. Fourth would have to involve chocolate, perhaps a dense, rich slice of Devil's food cake. Number five?

Suddenly I'm feeling a little woozy.

This has-been (once upon a time) list ought to be named, 5 Foods to Die For. In some other incarnation I'm sure it is. Celiac is that serious. Yup. It can tumble you downhill so fast you'll be cringing- more than usual- at thinly veiled envy, er, I mean, compliments (Wow, you look amazing! Bitch. What are you- a size zero?) and discussing plans with your husband on how he'll look after your sons once you're gone.

Gone? he will ask with a raised eyebrow and a glint in his eye that begs to spark the levity he knows from experience simmers just beneath your gloomy inscrutable surface. You're not going anywhere, he declares with a bear hug, wrapping himself around your alarmingly bony shoulders.

Learning at mid-life that in order to survive you must be gluten-free every single day for the rest of your life is a mixed blessing. Yes, it's a relief. You haven't woken up in the third act of some Stephen King movie titled, Wasted. There is, finally, a reason you can point to. A culprit.

And the cure? The cure is simple, the doctor will tell you. Avoid gluten. And? you ask expectantly. There will be a shrug, followed by, You'll be fine. The depth of this nutritional advice is astounding, you think to yourself in utter and complete awe. Out loud, you murmur, Oh, okay, glancing at the faint remnants of powdered sugar on his charcoal wool trouser leg.

Finding five foods to live for is easy for me. After five years of living gluten-free I have forgotten what it is like to eat and live spontaneously, to stop, on an impulse and try a new bakery or a new cafe or the new restaurant in town. I must read every label of every single food, every ingredient that goes into my mouth. I make grocery lists in my sleep. I pack food for even the shortest trips away from home, knowing there will be nothing safe I can eat during an emergency. Well, if I'm lucky- a bottled water in a vending machine.

Eating now is sober business.

It's not just something to do on a whim, or out of boredom, or even, politeness. Every single food choice has to be conscious (How Zen, you think to yourself, chewing your brown rice. Maybe Buddha was a celiac?). For those of us intolerant to gluten, each bite we take is either healing or destructive. It's as simple as that.

And this is the hard part. To regard food as a possible enemy, as something adversarial, even life threatening, like some nasty virus or invisible bacteria, can turn any food loving girl's concept of nourishment and pleasure upside down. In fact, it is the antithesis of pleasure (unless you happen to be a masochist).

No, it's not easy to be even a quasi-foodie or comfort-foodie like me, when you have to keep your guard up. Strict vigilance isn't exactly, um, sexy.

Luckily, I was born with a resiliency and fluidity that has served me well in my life; and I have adjusted to my limitations and the stringency of living gluten-free. I still have foods I adore. I get pleasure from cooking. Sharing meals with those I love is as important now (if not more so!) than it was before I learned about celiac disease.

And after some minor and major adjustments, food has become equal to pleasure once again.

So, without further ado, my 5 Foods to Live For - aka Five Foods to Eat Before You Die Meme - are:

1. Roasted green chiles- fresh from a New Mexican roadside stand

2. Garlic- rubbed, minced, chopped, roasted

3. Extra virgin olive oil- organic and fruity, from Italy

4. Wine- both red and white, from velvety dry to clean and crisp

5. Tomatoes- in every shape and color and size, raw, cooked, and sun-dried

Wait, wait! But then there is organic dark chocolate and sweet potatoes and blueberries and peaches and vanilla bean and fresh corn tortillas. Sigh.

How lucky can a girl be?

Rather than tag five others (the bloggers I've asked have already done it - shows you how late I am getting into this) I invite readers to post their own list here (in comments) and write about it- especially those living gluten-free.