Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan

We definitely eat a lot of chicken in our kitchen. I'm somewhat of a picky eater (no red meat for the most part, though I will cook it now and then) and with Scott being allergic to gluten, we usually meet in the middle at chicken or seafood. 

I try to change recipes so that chicken doesn't get boring. You can make it so many ways. Last night I had the idea to make chicken parmesan. I actually went down the health food aisle at Jewel (local grocery store) and found these Schar gluten free breadcrumbs for around $4.00 a bag. 

I do want to add that about a month ago, I wanted to try making chicken parmesan as well, except I could not find gluten free breadcrumbs. Instead I found gluten free croutons in the health food aisle, and I actually had the idea to grind them in a food processor and use those. It worked WONDERFULLY for breadcrumbs. I have also heard of people using toasted Udi's or some other gluten free bread and putting it in the food processor. Sometimes you just have to be a little more creative!

Scott often tells me one of the things he misses most is any sort of "crunch" in his diet. What he really means is things like: croutons in a salad, breading on chicken or meat, etc. I was hoping these bread crumbs would do the trick, and they did! Everything was great.

Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan


What You Need:

3-4 thin chicken breasts (if they are thicker, you can pound them out)
1 egg
1/2 cup gluten free breadcrumbs (I used Schar pictured above)
1/4 cup vegetable oil or canola oil (You CAN use Olive Oil but I have heard this makes it bitter so I never do it)
1 tablespoon grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp chopped basil
1 tsp Nature's Seasoning (or salt and pepper)
1 jar tomato sauce (I used Trader Joe's Garlic Marinara)
Serve over GF pasta (I used Trader Joe's Brown Rice Spaghetti)
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

What To Do:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and boil a pot of water for the spaghetti
2. Create an egg wash to coat the chicken by beating an egg in a shallow bowl.
3. In separate bowl, mix gluten free breadcrumbs, basil, Nature's Seasoning (or salt and pepper) and parmesan cheese to create breading mixture.
4. Individually dip chicken breasts in the egg mixture, and then coat in the breading mixture. Place on plate once finished. Bread each piece of chicken and set aside.
5. Heat vegetable/canola oil in a medium sized skillet until hot. Add chicken breasts to oil and cook until breading is brown. Make sure to flip the chicken and cook both sides of the breading.

6. Blot with paper towels to remove excess oil and place in an oven safe dish.

7. Top chicken with grated mozzarella and place chicken in oven for about 15 minutes (depending on how thin the chicken is) or until cooked.

8. While waiting for the chicken to cook in the oven, boil GF pasta as directed and drain.

9. Heat tomato sauce in a medium saucepan. I actually added some half-and-half to the tomato sauce. I do not ALWAYS do this, but I had some on hand still from making the Shrimp Scampi last week.

10. When chicken is cooked, take chicken out of the oven and serve chicken over gluten free spaghetti topped with tomato sauce.

Everything turned out great. Even though these breadcrumbs are a little more pricey, they seem like they're going to go a long way. I had plenty leftover and put them in the fridge for future use. I wasn't sure they would cook up as well as regular breadcrumbs, but they did! Enjoy!

Honey Chicken Kabobs

I have found the perfect marinade for kabobs. I have experimented again and again trying to find the perfect flavor... and I finally figured it out. Since most pre-mixed marinades have gluten in them, I've started to make my own sauces using gluten free ingredients. This is my favorite one for grilling... We made them last night, they were delicious! Keep in mind you can vary the veggies however you want. This time, I just used red and orange bell pepper, and pineapple.  When I usually make them, I used pineapple chunks, red pepper, green pepper, and onion.

In the past I have also added: mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes.. Anything goes!

Also, we make them on the grill but you could easily do them in the oven on a cookie sheet @ 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

Honey Chicken Kabobs

What you need:
(double recipe as needed, this makes 3-4 kabobs)

3-4 skewers (If you are using wooden skewers, make sure to soak them in water first)
2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, defrosted and cut into 1" chunks or so
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
Pineapple chunks
1/2 c. honey
1/4 c. soy sauce (La Choy is gluten free)
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

What to Do:
1. Chop chicken, peppers, onion.
2. In a small bowl, mix honey and olive oil.
3. Whisk in soy sauce.
4. Add garlic and pepper.
5. Let veggies and chicken marinate in mixture for at least 30 minutes (I have done it as long as one day).
6. Alternate chicken, vegetables, and pineapple on skewers.
7. Heat grill and place skewers on grill, rotating every 5 minutes. Brush leftover marinade on skewers if desired (we usually do this). Grill until chicken is fully cooked and serve over white rice.

I don't know what it is about these skewers... but something about the flavor is great. The honey really makes it, in comparison to other marinades. Also, it doesn't need to be just for skewers. You could use it for regular chicken or steak on the grill as well. Enjoy!

Valentines Day: Shrimp Scampi, Parmesan Asparagus, Cheddar Bay Biscuits

For Valentines Day, I wanted to make something a little more fancy. I decided to make Shrimp Scampi using gluten free angel hair (by DeBoles). I also used the recipe for Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits, substituting Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix for Bisquick. The vegetable I went with was asparagus.  Everything was delicious! I could not believe how great the biscuits turned out. Recipes and pictures are below!  This is definitely an indulgent meal. Enjoy!

Gluten Free Shrimp Scampi 


What You Need

8 oz (1 box) gluten free angel hair
1 lb shrimp (I used jumbo, but any size would work)
2 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. dry white wine
1/2 lemon, squeezed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp. fresh basil, finely chopped
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 c. half and half

What You Do:
1. Using large pot, bring water to a boil. Cook angel hair, drain, and set to side.
2. Melt butter and olive oil together until warm. Place minced garlic in mixture. Add shrimp.
3. Let shrimp saute for 3 minutes in butter/oil/garlic mixture. Add wine and squeeze lemon into mixture.
4. Mix in half and half and pepper.
5. Put pasta in a large serving bowl and top with shrimp and sauce mixture. Top with parmesan cheese and chopped basil.

Gluten Free Cheddar Bay Biscuits

What you Need 

(double as necessary... this made 5 biscuits)

1 cup Bob's Gluten Free Pancake Mix (or any gluten free pancake mix)

1 oz shredded cheddar cheese

1/3 cup water

2 tbsp. melted butter

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/8 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. onion powder

1/8 tsp. parsley

What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 375. 

2. Mix together pancake mix, cheese, water. Drop biscuits onto cookie sheet. Place in oven. 

3. Melt butter and mix in seasonings. 

4. After 5 minutes, take out biscuits and pour mixture evenly over biscuits. Bake an additional 6 minutes or so until biscuits are done. 

Parmesan Asparagus

What you need

15-20 spears of asparagus

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1 tbsp. grated parmesan

1 tsp. minced garlic

What you do

1. Heat olive oil in pan over low heat

2. Add garlic to oil

3. Add asparagus, turning every couple of minutes

4. Season asparagus with salt and pepper and cook until tender

5. Toss with parmesan cheese and remove from heat. Serve. 

Everything was delicious. Like I said, I could not believe how much the biscuits rose and how similar they were to regular biscuits. They were great. The meal was rich but it was for a special occasion. I'm not sure I'd make this one regularly, but it was definitely great and Scott loved it. The angel hair was excellent. I could not even tell the difference. 

Stir Fry (We Love La Choy!)

As you may know, cooking asian inspired foods can sometimes be difficult with a gluten allergy. So many of the soy products contain gluten.

Did you know that La Choy sauces and most products are gluten free? We love their soy sauce, because of it's reasonable price as compared to other sauces... and they also have a Sweet and Sour sauce, a Teriyaki sauce, and the most recent to come out: Orange Ginger sauce! I saw this at the store and grabbed it immediately.

We LOVE orange chicken so I thought this would be an easy way to do this at home, gluten free! It turned out great. Here's what I did:

Easy, Gluten-Free, Orange Chicken Stir Fry

What you need:

La Choy Orange Ginger Sauce (can substitute any gluten free or La Choy sauce you'd like)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 bag frozen asian vegetables (can use fresh vegetables if you would like, but this is so easy!)

1 tsp minced garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Optional: Fresh pineapple or mandarin oranges

Serve over white rice (I use Frozen Organics ThaiJasmine White Rice, 3 minutes in the microwave and delicious, they also make brown rice)

What you do:

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in skillet. Cook chicken breasts until cooked throughout, seasoning with salt and pepper to your liking. When chicken is cooked, dice it into smaller pieces and place it back in the skillet.

2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in separate skillet, and place vegetables in skillet with 1 tsp minced garlic. Cook about 5-7 minutes if frozen. If fresh, they may cook faster. 

3. Add about 1/2 cup La Choy Orange Ginger sauce to chicken skillet. Heat with chicken, and add optional fruit (I used fresh pineapple).

4. Transfer vegetables to skillet with sauce/chicken/fruit when sauce is heated. Mix together and continue to heat until heated through. 

5. Serve over white or brown rice.

It was delicious! Scott finished a HUGE plate and ate the rest for leftovers the next day. It was very easy too. You can certainly use fresh garlic or fresh vegetables, but if you're looking for something to do in about 20 minutes, you can buy these ingredients ahead of time! I can't say enough about the rice we use either. I get it at Dominick's, and it's about $4.00 for a box of 3 bags. Each bag of rice is PERFECT for 2 people, and it is the closest I've ever found to chinese restaurant's "sticky rice." It cooks perfectly and tastes great.

Remember, you can use any La Choy sauce. We were so excited to try this one. It's very good! I think the fresh fruit made it, personally. Next time I will probably add mandarin oranges.

Enjoy!