In The Spotlight! Gluten-free Olive Rosemary Loaf From New Cascadia Traditional

Another Friendly Favorite!

This is one damn good hard loaf from New Cascadia Traditional, Portland's first gluten-free bakery. Soft, chewy center with juicy, whole black olives and hints of rosemary. Yummm. This bread is so good, it's hard to tell it's gluten-free.

New Cascadia only bakes their olive rosemary loaf on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and it's so good it practically flies off the shelves. They sell it at the Saturday Portland Farmer's Market, at New Seasons Markets, and at their bakery/cafe on the corner of SE Market and 6th.

It stays soft for 2-3 days, which is really great for gluten-free bread. It's excellent with soups and salads, dipped in olive oil, and served with cheese (goat and sheep for me.) It's a crowd pleaser at parties, even for gluten eaters.

I'm sorry that my readers living outside the Portland area can't also enjoy this product. But you will know where to go when you come for a visit.

For a complete list of the purveyors who sell New Cascadia's baked goods, click here.


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In The Spotlight: Harvester Gluten-Free Pale Ale

Another Friendly Favorite! Enjoy a pint of crisp, bitter/sweet, well balanced pale ale from Harvester, Portland's only dedicated gluten-free brewing company.

Harvester is a relatively new, up and coming brewery. They can be a daringly experimental with their beers from time to time. For instance, I bought a bottle of their new IPA, and it was so bitter that I found it undrinkable. However, these guys are learning as they go, and in a few months, their IPA may be their best beer on the market.

But as far as their pale ale is concerned, they've got it figured out. It's consistently good and satisfyingly refreshing. Just remember to be careful when removing the cap. Some of them don't come off that easily.

In The Spotlight: Glutino Gluten-free Lemon Wafers

Another Friendly Favorite! Glutino Gluten-free Lemon Wafers. Crispy, sweet, tart, delicate, lemony wafters as light as air. Mmmmmm. Need I say more?

My only complaint is that I eat way more than I should in one sitting. Their wafers also come in chocolate and chocolate vanilla. I can't eat them because they're made with dairy. Glutino makes good products, so I bet they're good.

They usually cost just under $5, but right now (October 23, 2012) they are on sale at New Seasons Market for $3.99.

Go get your wafer on.

Gluten-free, Dairy-free Pumpkin Pie Recipe

During the holiday seasons of years past, I spent hours in the kitchen experimenting with gluten- and dairy-free recipes and dreaming of my delicious first bites. Many times, the actual results were utter disappointments, and I would be the only one at holiday parties chewing through my embarrassingly semi-edible breads and desserts while everyone (including me) pretended not to notice how bummed out I actually was.

But times have changed, and pumpkin pie not only tastes good again, it's delicious!

My entry here is also a review of two products: Bavaria Mills Pre-made Gluten-Free Pie Crust (Pair) and Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Evaporated Cane Juice. 

The evaporated cane juice was grainy, so I mixed the sugar blend with the eggs before I put the pumpkin in, giving the cane juice time to dissolve.

The gluten-free pie shell from Bavaria Mills was okay. Its texture was great, but the bare crust's flavor was slightly bitter, dry, and lacking in salt. Simply put, it's a vehicle for your filling and nothing more. Overall, I give it a B, because it comes in handy when you're in a hurry. I would use it again. 

Gluten-free, Dairy-Free Pumpkin Pie Filling

(EDIT: if you want to use regular sugar, you can substitute it for the cane syrup crystals. The original recipe called for 1/2 C brown sugar and 1/4 C white sugar. I'm sensitive to white sugar, so I went looking for an alternative.)

▪   3/4 Cup Evaporated Cane Juice

▪    1/2 Teaspoon Sea salt

▪  1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

▪   1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cloves

▪   1/4 Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

▪   1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

▪   2 Eggs

▪   1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

▪   1 15-oz Can Pumpkin Puree

▪   1 Cup Coconut Milk 

Needed: 1 Unbaked Pie Shell. 

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

Combine the cane juice, sea salt, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon in a small bowl. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Beat in the sugar mixture until cane juice dissolves. Add vanilla and pumpkin puree, and mix until smooth. Fold in the coconut milk, making sure it is evenly distributed. 

Pour the filling into the unbaked pie crust. Bake for about 60 minutes or until a butter knife comes out clean.

Allow the pie to cool on a wire rack for 2 hours. 

I recommend refrigerating it over night, to let the spices mingle. 

Bavaria Mills Unbaked Gluten-Free Pie Crust

(EDIT: I don't provide a gluten-free pie crust recipe here, but if you're looking for one and you need a recommendation, comment in the box below. Also, look for my upcoming apple pie recipe, in which I review a gluten-free pie crust mix. That one will come out before Thanksgiving.)


For those of you who can't enjoy soy-based whipped cream with your pumpkin pie, try vanilla flavored Enlightened Creme from Enlighten Your Palate. See my previous article about Enlightened Creme for images and details. For a list of retailers who carry Enlightened Creme, click here. 

Friendly Spotlight! Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Tortilla Chips & Sonoma Golden Teff Wraps!

Ingredients: stone ground corn, (one or all of the following oils: sunflower, safflower, canola), brown rice flour, flax seeds, evaporated cane juice, oat fiber, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, quinoa, soy flour, sea salt. 

This crispy little treat came into my possession in a GF snack pack put together by an airline. (Thank you progress!!) I love their subtle sweetness and lightness of salt. They are so good that my picky-about-allergy-friendly-food chef hubby went looking for them at the health food store the next day, and helped me polish off a bag in one sitting! If you're living in Portland, they are on sale for $2.99 at New Seasons right now! (October 18, 2012.) Their other chips are great, but these are by far the best product they make.

Ingredients: water, tapioca flour, whole grain ivory teff & millet,  expeller pressed canola oil, soy lecithin, cultured corn syrup solids, cellulose gum, maltodextrin, carrageenan, and less than 2% of the following: guar gum, sea salt, honey, aluminum free leavening powder.

If you haven't tried these wraps, you should. Pull them out of the bag, and they smell just like flour tortillas made from wheat, and they taste like them too! But they need to be warmed up to make them soft and flexible. They can be used to make wraps and burritos. I haven't tried to make enchiladas from them yet, but I should!

Today's snack: a veggie-melt wrap of crimini mushrooms, chard leaves, and fresh garlic simmered in olive oil, topped with my favorite goat gouda from holland and a sprinkle of cumin. The garlicky olive oil is all the sauce you need for a wrap like this. Just make sure you don't scorch your oil.

My favorite way to warm these tortillas is to throw them onto a hot burner. I have a glass, electric burner, but you can use a hot skillet instead. Don't use any oil or grease, or they'll turn out greasy and gross. Use tongs, and please don't burn yourselves.

As always, my friends. Be well, and enjoy Eating Friendly!

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Introducing The Friendly Spotlight!

Gluten-free, vegan pumpkin whoopee pie from Back to Eden Bakery. A soft, sweet confection that will haunt you after it's gone. No kidding. And it's just in time for the holiday season.

Hey folks! Every day I enjoy great allergy-friendly products, like this melt-in-your-mouth delicious pumpkin whoopee pie from Back to Eden Bakery! Mmmmm. Can you smell the cinnamon and nutmeg?

This delicious whoopee pie is one of the many treats that make me think, "I really need to share this with my readers, without the pressure of writing an entire article on the company that makes it...and eating their line of products and gaining a bunch of weight!" :|

No fair, I already wrote an article on Back to Eden today, right? Okay, okay. But the whoopee pie is one of my Back to Eden Favorites! So this one gets an exclusive plug during the introduction of my new concept: The Friendly Spotlight! From time to time, when I have one of my favorite allergy-friendly products in hand, I will give it a brief mention, without writing a feature article about it.

Look for The Friendly Spotlight! here on Eating Friendly, and on my Facebook and Twitter pages!

As always, my friends. Be well, and enjoy Eating Friendly.

Update: Back To Eden Bakery Now Dedicated Gluten-Free!!

Hands down, Back to Eden is my favorite Portland area allergy-friendly bakery. Why? Because they make it so easy! (Click here to read my previous article about Back to Eden.)

Back to Eden is open seven days a week, from 9a.m. to 9 p.m. (Everyone else is closed on Sundays.) They are a vegan bakery, which means that dairy and egg-sensitive eaters aren't limited one or two choices.

And now they make Eating Friendly even easier!! Last week, they made the switch to dedicated, gluten-free!!

As a frequent diner at Back to Eden, I can tell you that their deserts are always consistent. And now that they are all gluten-free, there are more to choose from, including cookies, coffee breads, cakes, and chocolatey confections! My new favorite is the pumpkin whoopee pie. 

(By the way, the guy at the counter said there's a good chance that Back to Eden will sell single serving pumpkin pies for the holiday season.) 

The change to dedicated gluten-free has sparked an increase in the savory options, and not surprisingly, a rise in lunch sales. Here is a link to their lunch menu.

From left to right: garden salad, curried chicken salad, quinoa pilaf, curried chicken salad wrap, chickpea tuna salad wrap (surprisingly popular!), tomato and kale quiche, tomato and kale cashew tart (one of my absolute favorites!)

Corn and Potato Chowder

Today's soup was a light, yet creamy corn and potato chowder with prominent flavors of cumin and celery. The creamy base was made from cashews. I ate mine with a cheddar, apple, sage scone--a surprisingly moist, salty/sweet biscuit. The scone was light for being gluten-free, and yet it didn't crumble. The only disappointment was that the cheddar flavor just didn't come through. That's vegan cheese for you. It just doesn't make much of an impact.

A closer look at the scone.

Back to Eden is still serving soft-serve and the sundae bar, even though the rainy season is here. For something warmer, try Townshend's Tea or coffee with So Delicious Coconut Creamer.