Easy Gluten Free Stir Fry (chicken, pork, beef or vegetarian)

Have an extra chicken leg or spare pork chop?  Make stir fry!  Did you buy the family pack of steaks?  That tiny one that nobody eats makes a great addition to stir fry.  Did you go crazy at the farmer’s market?  Don’t let all that fresh veg go to waste, make stir fry!

In case you can’t tell, we love stir fry!  It’s fast, is a great way to use leftovers and is easy to stretch for a week of gluten-free lunches.   The only caveat is that you have to be really careful and read your labels.   Sauces and stocks are favorite hiding places for gluten, and just because a company didn’t list wheat on the label the last time you bought it doesn’t mean that they haven’t changed the formula.  (Ask me how I know…)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked rice (brown or white)
• 4 cups cold water
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• *1 cup meat (chicken/pork/beef), cubed
• 3 – 4 small carrots, julienned
• 1 medium green pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 medium red pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cups of pea pods
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken broth (substitute beef broth for beef)
•  **ginger, garlic, onion powder to taste

*A few thoughts on meat: Meat is an optional ingredient, if you prefer vegetarian, then omit the meat.  (You’ll want to use vegetable broth in place of chicken broth as well.)  Also, meat can be previously cooked, as in leftovers, or raw.

**Fresh ginger and garlic add a wonderful, robust flavor to this dish but can easily be substituted with powdered versions.  If you have fresh ginger and garlic on hand simply add them to the pan with the onions, otherwise, wait until the end to shake over the cooked veg.

Directions:

1. Add water, rice and a pinch of salt to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover with  tight-fitting lid and simmer 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.  Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Heat large fry pan, wok or dutch oven and add oil.
3. If using previously cooked meat proceed to step 4, otherwise saute meat until no longer pink.
4. Add carrots, onions, red and green peppers to pan, continue cooking on medium heat until onions are softened.  If you are using fresh ginger or garlic add to pan now.
5. Stir in pea pods, mushrooms, soy sauce, chicken broth and remaining spices.  Add meat if using leftovers and continue cooking until liquid is mostly absorbed.
6. Spread cooked rice on a serving platter and top with meat/veg mixture.  You can also just add the rice to veg mixture in the pan.  It’s not as pretty, but if you are using it for lunches it will be easier to measure out into daily servings if the meat/veg/rice is already mixed.

Note: Total cook time is about 30 minutes.

Substitutes: You can substitute any veg in season or on hand.   (Broccoli works great but is messy!)  Rice noodles also make a great alternative to plain rice.

 

May is Gluten Free Awareness Month – Who Knew?

I just happened across the website for Celiac Central and discovered that May is Celiac Awareness month, who knew?  It’s an easy to navigate site with tons of useful information including a list of gluten free manufacturers, product reviews, a shopping guide for where to find gf products and links to gf blogs.

I haven’t had time to read everything, but it’s definitely worth visiting if you are looking for more information about Celiac Disease or living gluten free.

 

Have You Tried the New Market Basket?

It’s a little late for an enabler alert, but we gave in to the hype and went to the new Market Basket on Elm Street last Sunday and thanks to their grand opening sale were able to completely fill the freezer with meat and gluten free bread.  (Serious, I bought no fresh veg and had to run to Hannaford after work on Monday.)  All in all it was an amazing adventure which is  high praise from two people who hate food shopping.

I’m going to sidetrack a bit about the bread.  I don’t usually buy gf bread, but after the great xanthan shortage I had to break down and get a loaf to keep on hand.  Hannaford recently raised the price of Udi’s from $5.99 to $6.99 so when I saw it at Market Basket for $3.89 I stocked up.  (There is a reason we have a stand alone freezer…)

Getting back to the original plot, we were a little disappointed by the gf selection in the bakery, they only had cheesecake when we were there, but were completely blown away by the overall lower prices and fact that they had everything on our list.   I realize that it’s a new store and they should have everything in stock, but I’ve never had the experience of food shopping where every item on my list was checked off.

As you can see from the freezer case they seem to have crammed as many products as possible into one freezer, but don’t be alarmed, this isn’t everything.  Not only are many other gf products distributed throughout the store, but they are conveniently flagged on the shelves with bright green “gluten free” product tags.  (You can see one on the top shelf in the case .)  Checking the small print on every bottle and jar to find hidden wheat is no fun in a crowded store, so you will understand when I say that Mr. GF was thrilled to be have the large green tags to point him to the gf products in every aisle.

After blowing our shopping budget on gluten free bread and meat we discovered that they very thoughtfully stashed some gf items amongst the candy at the check outs for those desperate impulse buys.

I know it’s impossible to see from the picture, but the peanut butter bar and the cranberry almond bar are both gluten free.

All in all I would have to say that I am hopeful.  After my recent Hannaford experience (it’s been two weeks and they still don’t have xanthan gum) I was starting to worry that the supermarkets were going to treat gf food as a fad and stop carrying it, but now that Market Basket is in town and not only has such a large selection, but goes out of their way to highlight it, I am a little more confident that I won’t have to make everything from scratch.