Ruby Red Jasmine Rice Salad

Taken from Gluten Free Girl's recipe by Shauna Ahern

1 star anise

nub of ginger, peeled

2 garlic cloves, peeled

1 tablespoon butter (or non-dairy substitute)

pinch of pepper and kosher salt

1 cup ruby-red jasmine rice

2 cups of water

Put the star anise, ginger, garlic cloves, butter, pepper and salt in your rice cooker (or pan).

Add the rice, and then the water.

Stir once, then set the cooker on high to do its magic.

When the rice has finished cooking, deeply fragrant and enticing, spread it out on a large plate. Pick out the nubs of ginger and garlic, and the star anise.

Put the rice in the refrigerator to cool down.

After the rice has sufficiently cooled, toss it with your favorite vinaigrette (we like champagne vinaigrette in particular).

And then top with the following:

pieces of avocado

goat cheese

chive blossoms and stalksfresh cilantro, chopped

shaved asparagus stalks

Great as a summer treat!

Baked French Fries w/ Garlicky Dijon Mayo

I've posted this recipe on my personal blog before but I thought I'd share it on here too. I seriously make these fries all the time and use the dip for other things besides the fries as well. I got this recipe from January '09 issue Cooking Light (which is where I get most of my recipes). I've changed the recipe a little bit based on what I think works better and make it serve 2 people instead of 4 because I usually only cook for 2 and I don't need extra french fries laying there tempting me! They wanted you to bake them at 450 but I found the fries to be way too crispy and almost burnt doing that so I bake them at 400. Perhaps if you make more then 2 servings, you may want to turn up the heat if you find your fries are too mushy.

Ingredients:

-1 teaspoon sherry vinegar (I use normal vinegar if I don't have sherry vinegar)
-1 large garlic clove, minced
-3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
-1 1/2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard
-1 baking potato (you can use more potatoes if you want more, 1 potato feeds 2 people)
-2 teaspoons olive oil
-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt (I add a little minced garlic sometimes too)
-cooking spray

Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine vinegar and garlic in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in mayonnaise and mustard.

3. Cut potatoes lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices; stack slices and cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick strips. Place in a large bowl; cover with hot water. Let stand 10 minutes. Drain potatoes, pat dry with paper towels. Combine potatoes, oil, and salt in large bowl; toss gently to coat (add minced garlic now if you want). Arrange potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes (might need longer if you use more potatoes); carefully turn over and bake an additional 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve with sauce.


Yield: 2 servings (about 1 cup fries and about 1 tablespoon sauce)

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 180
Fat: 7g (sat .5g, mono 4.3 g, poly 1.5 g)
Protein: 3.2 g
Carb: 26.2g
Fiber: 1.9g
Chol: 0mg
Iron: 1.3mg
Sodium: 233mg
Calc: 21mg