In the cold weather especially the sudden winter chill that has returned, we always reach for comfort foods - well, at least I do. This week was no exception. Whilst at our local Westfields shopping centre, I walked past Guzmen y Gomez store and immediately wanted to eat there. Great customer I am, I see the sign and the front of the store and immediately drool and have to eat there - a marketing person's dream I am sure!
The reason that I do like to eat here is that it is fresh food, prepared reasonably quickly and it is delicious, but most of all it is gluten free! They have a number of items on the menu that are gluten free with my 'usual' being the Chicken Burrito Bowl.
They also have fantastic corn chips, delicious when eaten as soon as you receive them as they are hot and also gluten free. These are the corn chips used in the nachos.
Guzman y Gomez also have corn tortillas, that technically are gluten free, which are used for the quesadillas and tacos. The only snag is that they are toasted on the same press that the wheat tortillas are toasted on. For some people they may be happy with this, but I prefer not to tempt fate, so I personally prefer not to try these.
As a GF eater, I do enjoy stopping by Guzman y Gomez for a bite to eat without the worry of 'what can I eat?' There are more stores popping up so stop by one for lunch on the run or a fun dinner, my only recommendation is that you approach the chilli sauce with caution - it is extremely hot!
For your nearest Guzman y Gomez visit their website: http://www.guzmanygomez.com
When hosting a BBQ in the cooler months I don't really want to have lots of cold salads that are more suited to summer evenings.
My mother-in-law was on a weekend away with her sister and one lunchtime they had a delicious potato salad that everyone devoured. Naturally everyone asked the chef for the recipe but alas there were no measurements to the amount of each ingredient that was required. I have used this list of ingredients and come up with a recipe that I like and goes perfectly with BBQ-ed meat of your choice and fresh spinach salad.
Make this salad as close to serving as possible so the vegetables are still warm. Alternatively roast the vegetables then reheat or keep warm in the oven and assemble at the last minute.
Bron's Warm Potato Salad
200g potatoes washed and cut into largish pieces - I used baby chat potatoes
1/2 sweet potato peeled and diced into similar sized pieces to the potato
1/2 red capsicum diced into pieces a little smaller than the potatoes
2 tbsp of gluten free egg mayonnaise (I use SW Real Whole Egg Mayonnaise from most supermarkets)
2 tsp of Dijon seeded mustard (they are not listed as gluten free but the ingredients are ok)
1 spring onion finely sliced up
a small handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
Par boil the potatoes then put them into a 180 degree oven drizzled with olive oil and salt to roast for about 20 minutes or until they are golden and crispy.
Roast the capsicum in the oven with olive oil and salt, put these in much later than the potatoes as they will cook much faster usually in about 10-15 minutes.
Stir together the mayonnaise, mustard, fresh basil and shallots and set aside.
Once all of the vegetables are cooked, place in a bowl. Pour the salad dressing over the warm vegetables and mix the dressing through. As the vegetables are warm, the dressing will become a little more ruby, making it easier to mix through.
Top with the remaining torn basil and eat immediately.
I have had a dilemma of late, mainly due to jet-lag, where I arrive home from work and I don't particularly feel like cooking anything but my stomach is telling me a different story: need food now!
Sometimes I will get takeaway on the way home but this is not what I prefer to do. Instead of taking the 'easy' approach and order in, I pick-up the frypan and a couple of eggs and I am away.
There are many variations that you can make when preparing an omelette for dinner. The beauty of eggs is that you can fry or scramble and have them on toast, not taking more than ten minutes from shell to table with minimal preparation.
To have a dinner that is a little more colourful, I tend to fry up some vegetables, set them aside, make my omelette and top it with the vegies and some freshly grated cheese. Dinner is done with some delicious vegetables included.
Quick Vegetable Omelette for One
1/4 onion, finely diced or two spring onions chopped
1 clove of garlic finely chopped
a handful of cherry tomatoes, diced
1/4 red capsicum, diced
2 eggs, whisked a little just enough to break up the yolk
a handful of baby spinach
a handful of grated cheddar cheese
a little olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a small fry pan and gently fry the onion, garlic, tomatoes and capsicum until they are soft-ish. The tomatoes will start to become rather soft and a little sauce-like. This is fine, set aside for the moment.
Add the eggs to the pan with a little salt and pepper and swirl it around so that the bottom of the pan is covered in egg. Let this cook a little until is begins to solidify. Once you are at this stage, sprinkle the cheese over the eggs then add the spinach then the already cooked vegetables. Leave to cook for a minute or two then carefully fold the omelette over in half and leave to cook for another few minutes.
Once the cheese has melted and the spinach has wilted, serve and enjoy.
You will find that some of the innards of the omelette will spill out a little, as mine has in the photo, this is perfectly fine. If it does bother you simply adjust the amount of the ingredients in the filling to avoid this happening.
