Simply . . . Gluten-Free Quick Meals: More Than 100 Great-Tasting Recipes for Good Food Fast (11 page)

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter. Once the oil is hot and the butter has melted, place one or two of the dredged chicken breasts in the pan—do not overcrowd! Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until they are well browned. Turn and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on the other side. Transfer the cooked chicken breasts to a serving dish and cover with aluminum foil to keep them warm. You can also put the plate in a warm oven. Repeat the procedure with the remaining chicken breasts.

Add the wine or chicken stock and lemon juice to the skillet. Scrape the bottom of the skillet to release all the browned bits of almond. Add the capers and cook until the sauce has reduced by about half; it should be the consistency of light syrup. Stir in the remaining butter until melted.

Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts, top with chopped parsley, and serve with lemon slices or wedges.

Quinoa Pilaf

3 teaspoons olive oil
1/2
cup finely minced white or
yellow onion (about
1/2
medium onion)
1 cup prerinsed quinoa
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1
1/2
cups water
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
¼ cup slivered almonds
1 scallion, white and green parts
finely minced
¼ cup finely minced flat-leaf
parsley
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced white or yellow onion and cook for about 2 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Add the quinoa and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes; you want the quinoa to lightly toast, but you do not want the garlic to brown. Add the water and salt. Increase the heat, bring to a full boil, cover, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender.

While the quinoa is simmering, toast the almond slivers in a dry skillet over high heat until they are lightly browned and fragrant, stirring often. Watch them carefully so they do not burn. Remove from the heat and set aside.

When the quinoa is done, remove from the heat and let sit in the pan, covered, for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and fluff with a fork. Add the scallion, parsley, and almonds. Drizzle with the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil and toss to combine. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed.

Arugula Salad

12 ounces baby arugula, washed
and dried
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed
lemon juice
Kosher or fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ounce Parmesan cheese,
shaved with a vegetable
peeler

Place the arugula in a salad bowl. Toss with the olive oil and lemon juice and season to taste with salt and pepper. Shave the Parmesan on top and serve.

Blueberry Fool

2 cups fresh or frozen (slightly
thawed) blueberries
2 to 3 tablespoons agave nectar
(or sugar) depending on the
berry sweetness
1¼ cup heavy whipping cream

Reserve four berries for garnish and place the remaining berries along with the agave (or sugar) in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth.

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Reserve some of the whipped cream for garnish and fold the puree into the remaining cream until almost all the streaks are gone. Spoon the Blueberry Fool into 4 pretty goblets. Garnish with the reserved cream and berries. Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to an hour or so.

Tapas Party

MENU

Sangaritas
Spanish Tortilla
Glazed Chorizo Bites
Manchego-Stuffed Peppers
Roasted Shrimp with Romesco Dip
Mini Almond Orange Cakes

C
ocktail parties are my favorite way to entertain. People mingle and get to know each other, there is no setting the table, and the atmosphere is relaxed and easy, allowing me to enjoy my own party. This tapas party is by far my favorite cocktail party theme.

To keep things simple, instead of stocking a full bar I like to make one cocktail for the evening, in this case Sangaritas—a sangria with tequila-soaked fruit. Add sparkling and still water, and a bottle or two of red wine to round out the bar. For a nonalcoholic “mocktail,” mix the juice from the zested oranges used in the Mini Almond Orange Cakes with sparkling water and ice. The sangarita just gets better and better as it sits, so if you have time, make it the night before. I like to use Malbec, a red wine from Argentina, in my sangarita; it is just as delicious as Spanish wine but less expensive.

If you have more than ten people coming over, you can easily add platters of Spanish cured meats from the deli counter, Spanish almonds and olives, and a nice chunk of Manchego cheese with some fruit to fill out your cocktail party buffet.

I always serve something a little sweet at cocktail parties and think it fitting to make it in miniature form to go along with the whole finger food aspect of cocktail parties. If you prefer, you can bake the Mini Almond Orange Cakes as one large cake; just pour the batter into a well-greased, 8-inch cake pan and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Serves 8 to 10

Quick-Cook Strategy

• Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees for the mini cakes. Once they are done, increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Once the peppers and shrimp are done, turn on the broiler.

• Get the sangarita mix started, and while the fruit is soaking up the tequila, prepare and bake the mini cakes.

• A microplane grater makes fast work of zesting the oranges for the mini cakes.

• Prepare the Romesco Dip in the food processor first and then you don’t even have to wash it out to make the Manchego-Stuffed Peppers.

Sangaritas

2 bottles red wine, such as Malbec
2 lemons, washed and cut into
wedges
2 oranges, washed and cut into
wedges
¼ cup agave nectar (or sugar)
1/2
cup tequila
Club soda (about 8 ounces)

Place the red wine in the freezer to chill it while preparing the fruit. Combine the lemon and orange wedges with the agave (or sugar) in a bowl. Press the fruit gently to expel some of the juices. Pour in the tequila and let macerate for 15 minutes.

Pour the wine into a large pitcher, add the fruit along with the tequila, and stir to combine. Refrigerate until serving time. The sangarita mix can be made up to 2 days ahead. To serve, pour into wineglasses and finish each with a splash of club soda.

Spanish Tortilla

¼ cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and
smashed slightly
3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme
1
1/2
pounds baby Yukon Gold
potatoes, sliced about ¼ inch
thick
2 teaspoons kosher or fine sea
salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
12 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat the broiler.

Heat the olive oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic cloves and thyme sprigs and cook for about a minute to infuse the oil with their flavors. Remove and discard the garlic cloves and thyme sprigs. Add the potatoes, salt, and pepper to the oil in the skillet and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to cook the potatoes through without browning them too much; a little color is fine. If the potatoes are browning too fast, reduce the heat. Add the sliced onion and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and beginning to brown and the potatoes are fork-tender. Reduce the heat to low.

Pour in the beaten eggs and gently pull the edges of the egg mixture to the center as it cooks so that any uncooked eggs run underneath. Once the eggs are set around the edges and the mixture looks mostly cooked, place the skillet under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the eggs are fully set, golden, and slightly puffed.

Run a dinner knife around the edge of the tortilla to loosen it and slide it onto a serving platter or cutting board. The tortilla can be served warm or at room temperature. Cut into wedges to serve.

Glazed Chorizo Bites

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds cured chorizo (the type
you slice, not crumble) cut into
1-inch chunks
¼ cup balsamic or sherry vinegar
2 tablespoons honey

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook until the edges start to brown and the chorizo is heated through, 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even browning. Drain off excess fat. Add the vinegar and honey to the skillet, increase the heat to high, and cook, stirring, until the liquid becomes thick and syrupy, 3 or 4 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Manchego-Stuffed Peppers

Two 12-ounce jars whole roasted
red peppers
1/2
bunch fresh thyme
8 ounces Manchego cheese
1 cup blanched, slivered almonds
2 tablespoons balsamic or sherry
vinegar
1/2
teaspoon kosher or fine sea
salt
1/2
teaspoon freshly ground black
pepper
Olive oil for drizzling

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Drain the peppers and pat them dry with paper towels. Cut each pepper in half lengthwise and set aside. Set half the thyme sprigs aside.

Cut the rind off the cheese, cut the cheese into chunks, and put in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pull the leaves off the remaining thyme sprigs and add to the food processor along with the almonds, vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Process until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Measure and reserve about ¼ cup of the mixture. Spoon some of the mixture onto each red pepper half and roll up the pepper. Place seam side down in a 9 × 12-inch baking dish. Repeat with the remaining peppers. Top the peppers with the reserved cheese-almond mixture and the reserved thyme sprigs. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until heated through and the topping is nicely browned. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

Roasted Shrimp with Romesco Dip

2 pounds fresh or frozen, thawed,
large shrimp, peeled and
deveined, tails intact
Kosher or fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lemon
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2
cup blanched, slivered almonds
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/2
cup jarred roasted red
peppers
1 teaspoon smoked, sweet, or hot
paprika (use hot if you like
spicy)
1 tablespoon balsamic or sherry
vinegar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Place the shrimp in a baking dish and sprinkle with about a teaspoon of both salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and toss to coat. Roast the shrimp in the oven for 5 to 6 minutes, or until they turn pink and are firm to the touch.

While the shrimp are roasting, make the Romesco Dip. Put the almonds and garlic clove in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse to grind. Add the roasted red peppers, paprika, vinegar, and a big pinch of salt and pepper and process until combined. With the machine running, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the olive oil through the feed tube until the mixture becomes a thick dip. Transfer to a small serving dish. Serve with the roasted shrimp.