Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls

I know what you're thinking. Have I gone off my rocker? What happened to being gluten-free? That, dear readers, is the beauty of these rolls -- they are gluten-free. And sugar-free. But they don't taste it. The vegetarian's been heating them up for after-work snacks and every time I bite into one my first thought is: "I'm cheating; I'm so going to regret this." But of course I'm not. And I don't.

They're also my most successful venture into gluten-free (and yeast) baking to date! How can it contain yeast and still be sugar-free? The sun-dried tomatoes have enough sugar that the yeast feeds off of them without any sugar necessary! And a successful gluten-free free adaptation of a "normal" recipe that I had bookmarked but couldn't imagine being able to try. What recipe, you ask? This one from Sass & Veracity, a blog I happened to stumble upon while on my endless search on how to sneak more cooking greens (like spinach) into our diet.

And these fit the bill perfectly. Have them plain, as a snack, with a plate of Burrata & Tomatoes, an Asparagus Tortilla, Sungold Tomato & Cannellini Bean Dip or Watermelon, Feta and Arugula Salad. And of course a glass of Research Cab. Bon appetit!

Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls
adapted from Sass & Veracity

• 1 pound spinach
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (two packages) active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned
• 3 egg whites
• about 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 6 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour, plus additional
• Cornmeal (no more than 1/4 cup)

Pour two inches cold water into a pot and add spinach. Place heat on high and steam 5-10 minutes, until spinach is wilted. Remove and drain. When cool, wrap spinach in a clean dishtowel and ring out excess moisture. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together yeast, salt, spinach, feta and tomatoes. Place egg whites into a measuring cup and add lukewarm water until you have 3 cups of liquid. Stir into the spinach mixture. Add flour one cup at a time and stir gently with a wooden spoon just until combined. Cover bowl with a clean dishtowel and place in a cold, turned-off oven for 2 hours to rise (this is always the scary part for me!).

After dough has risen (phew!), prepare your baking pan: place a sheet of parchment paper on it and sprinkle with cornmeal. Now divide your dough into ten even-sized pieces. The dough will be a little sticky but easy to work with (at least mine was). If you need to, sprinkle with a little bit of extra flour. Roll (in your hands) into a ball, then place on your prepared baking pan. Repeat nine more times with the rest of the dough. Place in the oven for 30 minutes to rest.

Remove pan from oven and allow to rest an additional 30 minutes. Place a tray (I used a roasting dish) on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 450F.

After dough has rested sufficiently, dust the tops of the rolls with flour and snip an X into the top of each with clean kitchen scissors. Slide the baking pan with the dough into the oven, on an upper shelf. Fill up a measuring cup (or two) with VERY hot water -- as hot as your tap can get. Pour this water into the dish at the bottom of the oven. Close the door quickly (you're creating steam to help the rolls cook evenly. Bake 20 minutes. Cool before serving. Enjoy!

Links:

• Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls from Sass & Veracity
• Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Rolls from MyRecipes.com

Rustic Citrus Jicama Scramble

When the vegetarian and I first started this blog, I realized I needed to change my reading materials. I first discovered the world of food blogs back in 2005 when I was a student living in Paris and stumbled upon Chocolate and Zucchini. So I'm certainly no stranger to food blogs. But vegetarian food blogs? I had always found them too limiting. Of course, now that I (almost exclusively) cook vegetarian food, they don't seem quite so limiting anymore. And since I do sometimes get tired of adapting omnivore recipes for our kitchen, it's a welcome change to find a recipe that "needs" no tweaking. Plus, I get to learn about new (to me) ingredients that are often found in vegetarian kitchens. What's not to like?

One of the first vegetarian (actually vegan) food blogs I started following was Kathy's Healthy. Happy. Life. At that time (four months ago), I bookmarked this Rustic Citrus Carrot Scramble. Well, life got in the way (as it always does) and now it's May and I've finally found the time to start making some of the recipes saved in my "Blogworthy" folder. Of course, I tweaked the recipe to make it more springlike, most notably substituting jicama, a sweet root vegetable, for the carrots. I sauteed the jicama and tofu in some neutral canola oil along with some sesame oil, a sour-sweet orange, some white vinegar, salty soy sauce, sour lemon zest and kosher salt. I even used nutritional yeast for the first time; it took some getting used to but I'll definitely experiment with it more in the future! Kathy recommends this for breakfast but we had it for dinner, over kaniwa (a grain very similar to quinoa) and accompanied by Pinot Gris, with Kasseri cheese for dessert (for me). Bon appetit!

Rustic Citrus Jicama Scramble
inspired by Healthy. Happy. Life

• 1 pound firm tofu
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 2 cups jicama, chopped
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 orange, peeled and sectioned
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 2 pinches black pepper
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• pinch kosher salt

Wrap tofu in a clean kitchen towel and place on a plate. Put another plate on top and weight it down with cans and/or jars. Allow to sit and drain for 1 hour (or as long as possible).

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Swirl in canola oil. Add onion and saute 2 minutes.

Toss in jicama, sesame oil, orange and soy sauce. Unwrap tofu and crumble it in as well. Stir in nutritional yeast, lemon zest and pepper. Cook for another 4 minutes, mixing well and lowering heat and adding more oil if necessary. If pan seems dry, you can also break up orange and distribute its juices.

Turn off heat and add vinegar and salt. Let sit 2 minutes to cool and thicken. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!

Inspirational Links:

• Rustic Citrus Carrot Scramble from Healthy. Happy. Life.