Learn with recipes

This light and flavorful salad n dressing tastes very similar to major Japanese chain restaurants and pairs stupendously with Asian main dishes...

Prep: 15 Mins.
Servings: (6 to 8)

INGREDIENTS:

Dressing (Yields 1-1/2 cups):
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet white onion
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons ground ginger (or 2 tablespoons freshly grated)
2 tablespoons minced celery
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Sandras Restaurant-Style Japanese Salad Dressing (Click for recipe)...

Salad:
1 bunch heart of romaine, sliced into 2-1/2" x 1/4" strips
1 carrot, shredded
3 celery ribs, thinly sliced on the diagonal


Garnish:
--Toasted sesame seeds

METHOD:

Add all dressing ingredients in order listed in blender.  Place lid on top, and blend on high speed for a minimum of 30 seconds, until dressing is smooth. Let dressing stand a minimum of 4 hours in refrigerator for flavors to meld before serving.

Add all salad ingredients to a medium glass bowl, and toss to combine. (I like to place the salad in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to ensure it is cold prior to serving.)

When preparing individual servings of salad, top each with a light drizzle of dressing and a sprinkling of sesame seeds. ~ Enjoy!

The best gluten-free pizza crust to date.

Gluten-Free Pizza Crust, Goddess Style

For years I've missed pizza. Not because there isn't gluten-free pizza available. It's out there. You can find it if you look hard enough. Take a gander in the frozen food aisle of your favorite natural market. Snoop around in the dairy case, next to the gluten-free bagels. You might even hit pay dirt at your local pizza joint (if they understand the ins and outs of cross contamination). So yeah. There are some choices out there.

Problem is, most gluten-free pizza sucks.

It's usually heavy on the chewy aspect. Or dry as dirt. With zero flavor. Yawningly bland. Certainly nothing to brag about. I mean, you wouldn't eat it if you didn't have to. You know what I'm sayin'? It's okay in a pinch. If you're famished on a Friday night. But it's not exactly inspiring.

And it's not from lack of trying, this pizza deprivation.

I've been rustling up g-free versions our nation's most cherished Italian import since week one of going gluten-free twelve years ago. I've made pizza crust from cookbooks (bready and yeasty). I've tried gluten-free mixes (and tortured my loyal little body with bean flour bloat). I've rolled out yeast-free biscuit dough (not bad, actually, but not real pizza). I've topped Italian style flatbread with roasted vegetables. I tried the whole Chebe thing (gum city). While some attempts proved passable, they never hit that elusive sweet spot. They failed to quell the longing. I used to make my own pizza dough, you see, before I discovered I harbored a faulty gene predisposing me to celiac disease. I was never a frozen pizza kind of gal.

I used to knead pillows of dough on my antique bread board, humming along to Crowded House. Ignorance was bliss. For awhile. And Friday night was always homemade Pizza Night.

So I've been a tad bereft on pizza-deprived Fridays.

But last week I started experimenting with a gluten-free dinner roll recipe. And as I tore a warm roll in half, golden and crusty and tender in the middle, it hit me.

This would make a fabulous pizza crust! I murmured to my husband through a mouthful of fresh baked loveliness. I tore him off a piece. He munched. And nodded.

So I tweaked and baked.

And lo and behold. A new gluten-free pizza crust was born.

And this one doesn't suck.


Read more + get the recipe >>