Gluten Free Vegan Recipes

Keeping Up with Changing Times

Times are changing; people are eating healthier.  Many more people are developing allergies to foods.  People want better foods; better food for them and their families.  They are finding cooking from scratch to be a healthy alternative to all the processed foods on the market.  We here and on our sister site, www.emealsforyou.com, are teaming up with registered Dietitian Lisa M. Ronco, MS RD CDN, to provide you with great recipes and meal plans that are healthy and assist you in preparing meals for those family members with health problems.

Currently in conjunction with our numerous recipe and meal plan categories ( to see all the Recipe and Meal Plan categories on emealsforyou.com click here ) we provide recipes and meal plans designed around:

Diet Friendly, good for you, balanced recipes along with Careful and Carefree Meal Plans providing 4 full weeks of meal plans  (3 per day) and snacks (2 per day) fully scalable to the number of people you are feeding.  As an added bonus simply click a button and print a shopping list for your choices.

Gluten Free, gluten free doesn’t have to be tasteless.

Sodium Reduced, healthier recipes for sodium restricted diets.

Vegan, for those who choose a diet based on a respect for the natural world.

Vegetarian Entrée, great ways to get balanced meals.

WOW (Watching Our Weight), our great recipes scaled down but not out.

Our  Weekly Meal Planner provides you with 5-day meal plans with no repeated entrees and 20 full weeks of meals. All of our recipes and meal plans are automatically scalable; design your menu around feeding 1,2,4,6,8,10 or 12 people.  Simply drop the recipes and meal plans in your Favorites Box and you are two mouse clicks away from printing a complete shopping list.

In the coming weeks we will add recipes and meal plans for creating diabetic friendly menus.  Additionally, Lisa M. Ronco, MS RD CDN will be creating a method to provide guidance for those who wish a more “hands on” approach to healthy eating.

Lentils

I feel lentils are way underrated.

• With approximately 26% of their calories from protein, lentils have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any plant-based food after soybeans and hemp.
• Lentils are very rich in folic acid (folate).  They contain more of this important B vitamin than any other unfortified plant food. In addition to protecting against coronary artery disease by lowering levels of homocysteine in the blood, folate helps prevent birth defects. And folate coupled with vitamin B6 (also plentiful in lentils) may help reduce women’s risk of developing breast cancer.
• Lentils contain both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber.  (Soluble fiber is the kind that protects the heart by lowering cholesterol levels, most people don’t get enough heart healthy fiber in their diet and lentils provide an easy way to add fiber.  The same soluble fiber found in lentils also helps to moderate blood sugar levels and promote digestive health.)  Thanks to this fiber, your body absorbs the energy from lentils slowly, which helps keep blood-sugar levels even.
• Lentils are very high in Vitamin C and the B vitamins, and contain eight of the essential amino acids.
• Lentils contain many trace minerals.
• Lentils are one of the highest sources of antioxidants found in winter growing legumes.
• Although rich in amino acids, the standard building blocks of protein, it does lack two essential amino acids, isoleucine and lysine.  This means that other protein foods with these missing amino must to be added to the diet to form a complete protein.  This can be accomplished by eating lentils with brown rice or another protein rich grain.
• A single serving of lentils provides sixty percent of the daily quota for iron, a mineral that vegetarians often lack sufficient quantities of.  Lentils deliver this impressive amount of blood-fortifying iron especially when paired with a food containing vitamin C, such as citrus fruits or peppers.
• You can enjoy an entire cup of lentils and take in only a little over two hundred calories.
• Lentils are helpful for weight loss since their high protein and fiber content promote a feeling of satiety.

…. eat some lentils.

Lentil Dahl with Bean Sprouts and Watercress

Boulder Soup Works makes an amazing red lentil dahl which is vegan, organic, dairy-free, and gluten-free.

It comes in 3 cup servings for $8.

A bit pricey but well worth every penny!

We flash stir-fried some bean sprouts and water cress with Bragg Amino Acids and Bragg Olive Oil as our salad.

This was a tummy treat.

Dairy-free Pesto

When basil is growing like weeds in your garden or its intoxicating smell overwhelms you at the farmer’s market, what do you do with it?  I make pesto…and lots of it.  Here’s my dairy-free version. 

Pesto is a great way to capture the essence of fresh basil for using in recipes all year long.  What I love about this dairy-free version is that it utilizes Rawmesan, a vegan, gluten-free parmesan substitute made from cashews, nutritional yeast, herbs, spices and Celtic sea salt.  Rawmesan’s consistency is the same as regular parmesan, so you will get that chunky texture that is pesto’s signature.  In addition, this recipes calls for both walnuts and pignolis.  The walnuts provide a depth of flavor that I really enjoy, as well as some omega-3 fatty acids, which are always a welcome addition.  The recipe calls for a 1:1 ratio between the two nuts, but I suggest doing a little trial and error to find the ratio that works best for you.

Dairy-free Pesto

1/8 cup walnuts

1/8 cup pignoli nuts

4 – 5 garlic cloves, chopped

2 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, de-stemmed

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper

2/3 cup olive oil

1/2 cup Rawmesan

Place the walnuts, pignolis, garlic, basil leaves, salt and pepper into a food processor and process for 30-40 seconds.  Then, while the processor is running, slowly pour in the olive oil (through the feed tube) until the pesto is completely blended .  Add the Rawmesan and blend until smooth.

Tip for making bigger batches: Use less salt and olive oil than what the doubled/tripled recipe calls for.

Storage tip:  For long-term storage, pour the pesto into ice cube tray wells and freeze.  Remove as needed and thaw.  The wells act as good portion sizes so you can take out only what is needed.

Serving suggestions:

• drizzled over fresh summer tomatoes
• drizzled over an omelette
• as the sauce for bruschetta
• as a dipping sauce for grilled shrimp
• as a pizza sauce (in lieu of red tomato sauce)

Tomato Florentine Soup With Pasta and Beans

I wanted to duplicate the delicious tomato florentine soup I had in my dining hall, and I couldn't find a recipe that had exactly what I wanted - so this is what I came up with! Also, it's totally vegan and can be made with gluten-free pasta!

Zucchini Pasta Primavera (Raw Vegan)

Super yummy!!

Raw Vegan Kale Chips

This was my first time ever making Kale Chips. I found this recipe online from pure2raw.com. They were so yummy! A great way to eat your greens-you could easily eat a whole head of kale in one sitting. :) For more raw/vegan recipes check out www.bellaraw.blogspot.com

Green Mango Smoothie (Raw Vegan)

(LFRV) This is a quick delicious way to get some greens in and ensure all the iron is absorbed properly thanks to the Vit C in the mangoes. The spinach amount is a starting point and you can always increase it if your tastebuds will allow. You can also switch the water out for coconut water if that's something you do. ENJOY!

Orange Slaw Wraps (Raw Vegan)

Quick, easy & very delicious!!

Zuchinni Pasta With Marinara Sauce (Low Fat Raw Vegan)

No oil, salt, allium family, none of the extra stuff! Straight deliciousness!! You can also try cucumber "noodles" or even some prefer celery noodles!! Celery is easier if you don't have a spiralizer - just follow around the curve with the veggie peeler.

Sweet Marinara over Zucchini (Raw Vegan)

(LFRV) This is most excellent.

Persimmon Pie (Raw Vegan)

(LFRV) Absolutely amazingly delicious & energizing!!!

Tropical Fruit Salsa Wraps (Raw Vegan)

(LFRV) These are absolutely delicious when you want something light & refreshing. You could also add in some diced avocados but these are great without!!

Gluten-Free Sugar-Free Waffles

This recipe is a combination of the "Banana-Nut Waffles (Gluten-Free and Vegan" and "Gluten Free Waffles" recipes (from this site) with some small modifications of my own. Our family is both gluten and sugar free for a number of different reasons. My thanks to all chefs that help make eating fun with dietary restrictions. The kids loved these as it brought back many happy memories of eating waffles on a Sat. morning.

Vegan Quinoa Waldorf

A fresh and hardy side dish for those with food allergies, vegan lifestyles or just looking for something different. I have food allergies and to be honest I am tired of rice, rice and more rice. This is a great alternative to rice and looks beautiful. For those who like to make life a little easier when they can, pre-cooked quinoa can easily be found at your local health food store like Whole Foods. Prep time includes the use of chilled quinoa. For those creative people out there, feel free to add your own ingredients or substitutions. Great alternatives or adds include chunked pineapple, pistacios or almonds in place of walnuts (or leave them out for those with nut allergies), mandarin oranges, chopped peaches or nectarines, etc.