Recently I had the opportunity to try some delicious soups made by the folks at Kettle Cuisine.  I love making soups and stews in my own kitchen but there are times when the husband’s out of town, or I’m getting home late from a lacrosse game, that I just want an easy dinner that involves minimal work on my part.

Kettle Cuisine makes yummy, hearty soups, in many varieties, that only need to be heated before serving.  Perfect for a solo weeknight dinner or a Saturday lunch.  Most of Kettle Cuisine’s soups are high in fiber and lower in calories than your typical frozen dinner.  More importantly, ALL varieties (including their chicken noodle soup) are gluten-free!  Kettle Cuisine’s founder, Jerry Shafir, started producing entirely gluten-free soups in 2006.  Jerry’s daughter, Kate, was diagnosed with Celiac 20 years ago so he knows how hard it can be to find tasty, healthy, frozen meals that are gluten free.

Some of my Kettle favorites include the chicken soup with rice noodles, chicken chili with white beans, and Thai curry chicken soup.  These soups are filling and won’t leave you hungry. They don’t skimp on the good stuff, like meat, veggies and beans.  When eating one, you don’t feel like you have a bowl of broth in front of you.  I let David try the New England Clam Chowder and he devoured every bite.  He said it was one of the best clam chowders he has ever tasted.  (I’ll have to take his word because I’m not a huge clam chowder fan.)

Kettle Cuisine’s soups can be found all over the country.  Click here to find a location near you.  In Atlanta, you can find them at Whole Foods, Return to Eden, and even at the Kroger on Howell Mill Road.  Check them out for yourself!  You won’t regret sampling this perfect weeknight dinner.  (Warning: These meals will make you wonder why you’ve spent so much time in the past making soups from scratch.)

Running out of dinner ideas?  Are you in a “cooking funk?”  I feel that way sometimes…that’s when I find myself eating sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts three nights in a row.

Here are some recipe ideas to get your creative juices flowing (and your stomach rumbling):

Roasted Beet Salad

Pesto

Egg Strata with Turkey Sausage

Salmon on the Grill

Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas, Spinach & Pecans

Tomato Pie

Summer Squash Casserole

Peanut Butter Crispy Treats with Nutella

Peach & Blueberry Crisp

What are you making in your kitchen this summer?  I would love your ideas to bring some creativity to my kitchen.

Happy Cooking!

Normally, when I travel, my anxiety levels rise, as I’m far away from the restaurants I love and the safety of my own kitchen.  While we were out west, however, I didn’t find myself worrying about food.  Everywhere we went in Wyoming and Montana, people knew about gluten and were willing to accommodate me if they didn’t already have their gluten-free items listed on the menu.  We also didn’t feel limited to only eating at really nice restaurants, as there were plenty of more casual restaurants that had a wide range of options for me.  Particularly in Jackson Hole, I don’t even feel like we began to tap into the dining world, but we did get a great sampling of the yummy (and gluten-free) flavors Jackson Hole has to offer.

On our first afternoon in Jackson, we took a stroll around the downtown.  I spotted the Lotus Cafe immediately and was hopeful that there would be options for me at this quirky spot.  Fortunately, my hunch was right.  Serving everything from Pad Thai to burgers to Indian food, Lotus’ huge menu indicates every item that can be made gluten-free. Basically everything on their menu can be ordered gluten-free, and I really mean everything.  (Their website indicates 99% of the menu can be made GF.)

Many GF treats greeted me in the glass case!

After enjoying drinks at Spring Creek with my friend Beanie, (and attempting to adjust to the altitude) we returned to Lotus for our first dinner in Jackson.  I was immediately overwhelmed by the plethora of options…what a rare treat!

One of my favorite menu items was the gluten-free samosas with spiced peas and potatoes.  This dish, which is basically a large breaded dumpling, is always a no-no for me.  At Lotus, however, they use a combination of brown and white rice flour in their samosa recipe.  Delicious!  The sauce accompanying the dish is amazing too.

GF Veggie Samasos

For our entrees, David and I decided to share, since I could actually know for sure that his meal was gluten-free too.  He ordered the chicken tikka masala (one of our family favorites) and I went with the ‘Fiesta Bowl’ with bison.  The fiesta bowl consisted of a mix of bison, cheese, lettuce, corn chips, lentils and other yummy goodness.  I always like to combine everything on my plate so this dish was perfect for me.  The tikka masala also received positive reviews from both of us and I loved getting to reach across the table and grab a bite off David’s plate and not worry about contamination, gluten, etc.  It’s the simple pleasures in life, right?

Fiesta Bowl with Bison

Chicken Tikka Masala

What a meal!  Oh, and the best part is that Lotus also serves breakfast and lunch.  All of their sandwiches can be prepared on their homemade gluten-free bread.  The whole time I ate my dinner I was planning when we could return to try their other food!  Unfortunately we never got back to Lotus for lunch but we did go for coffee and breakfast a couple of times.

GF & Vegan Zuchinni Muffin (even David loved it!)

If you’re in Jackson, Lotus is the perfect place to go just for a cup of coffee.  We brought our books and would make a morning of it until we got motivated to start moving and hiking.  (More about the hiking and reading later.)  All of Lotus’ baked goods (cookies, muffins, etc.) are vegan, making them dairy free and egg free.  Many of their items are also gluten-free.  Fortunately, I didn’t realize the muffins were vegan until after ordering.  (Usually I shy away from foods that are missing milk, eggs, and butter!)  These muffins were delicious!

Raspberry Cashew Muffin

I have a much more positive attitude towards vegan items now that I’ve sampled these amazing treats.  During our time in Jackson, I enjoyed Lotus’ raspberry cashew muffin and zucchini muffin.  So good.  One morning I also ordered the ‘Maya,’ steamed quinoa with apples, cinnamon candied walnuts and organic milk.  Sweet quinoa is quite possibly my favorite culinary discovery while out west.

Maya: Hearty Quinoa with a sweet crunch

Sadly, I did not get to try nearly as many things as I would have liked at Lotus, as we were only in Jackson three short days.  Other dishes that stood out to me on the menu included:

• The Deluxe breakfast sandwich (David ordered this but got it with glutenous bread…he’d done enough sharing at that point.)

David's Deluxe Breakfast Sandwich (can be ordered on homemade GF bread)

• Pad Thai
• Chicken Mango Spring Rolls
• GF espresso chocolate chip cookie

I guess I’ll just have to go back to Jackson to sample the rest.  When I started this post, I thought I would write about all of the restaurants where we ate in Jackson, but clearly I’ve got a lot to say.  The others will just have to wait.  Lotus definitely deserves an entire post to itself.  Thank you, Lotus Café.  I hope to see you again soon.

PS: Lotus also has gluten-free tamari/soy sauce on every table.  Even labeled!  Who doesn’t want a little soy sauce on their raspberry cashew muffin?

Lotus Café -145 North Glenwood Street in downtown Jackson

This weekend I got to check out Floataway Café with our friends John and Lisa, a restaurant that I’ve been eager to try for the awhile. Owned by Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison, the people that also own Bacchanalia, Floataway Café offers delicious food at a more affordable price and more casual atmosphere.  You definitely wouldn’t describe Floataway as ‘centrally located’ to anything really, but it is near Emory University, on Zonolite Road, off of Briarcliff. While we had a bit of difficulty finding this restaurant, located in a restored warehouse, once we were inside, we had a wonderful dining experience, ranking Floataway as one of my top meals in Atlanta thus far.  Not only was the food delicious but they get five stars in the ‘gluten-free friendly’ category.

Fortunately we made reservations in advance because Floataway turned out to be very busy when we arrived.  We waited for about ten minutes in the bar area for our table but the chairs were comfy so I didn’t really notice the wait.  (So much better than standing in a hallway to wait for a table like a lot of restaurants!)  The décor in Floataway reminded me of Bacchanalia, with tall ceilings and drapery.  Quatrano can amazingly transform a warehouse into a beautiful dining room.  Our table was tucked in the back in its own little area surrounded by curtains.  I’m usually distracted by other diners but we were secluded, yet could still feel the bustle of the restaurant.  It seems that the management realized early on that noise would be an issue because of the space, so much of the decoration was put into place to combat the noise.  I didn’t find sound to be an issue at all so problem solved.

The menu at Floataway is only one page but I did not feel limited in my options.  Our wonderful waitress was very knowledgeable and particularly conscientious about relaying information between the kitchen and me.  She even asked me if I could have specific vinegars and served nuts on the side of my salad because they used corn starch and just wanted to be careful.  It amazed me that the chef was so attentive to my dietary needs, particularly on such a busy night.  Sometimes at nice restaurants, the chef thinks he/she knows everything about food and doesn’t ask any questions because the chef thinks he knows all of the answers.  I felt very confident in the food that I was served, even on a busy Saturday night.

Every aspect of my meal at Floataway was delicious, filling and fresh.  The menu changes every day so they make the most of local and seasonal ingredients.  David and I split the ‘Elijay apple salad with arugula and cheddar.’  The dressing went perfectly with the flavor combinations and the salad wasn’t overdressed and soggy either.  For the main course, David and I each ordered gluten-free dinners that we shared.  I love getting to share with others, which is often a rarity for me when dining out.  I chose the quail with wood oven roasted Bartlett pears and balsamic.  This was my first experience trying quail (with the encouragement of our waitress) and it was so good.  I don’t think I will ever prepare quail in my own kitchen, so this was a great opportunity to try it.  I love combining the flavors of pears and balsamic too which went well with the smoky flavor of the quail.  I enjoyed every bite of my portion.

David ordered the oven roasted Springer Mountain chicken for his entrée.  Normally this dish comes with a warm bread salad (obviously full of gluten), but for us they substituted roasted vegetables.  Normally I don’t order chicken at a restaurant but we had eyed this plate on someone else’s table and it looked incredible.  (It tasted as good as it looked.)  I take pride in my own roasted vegetables but these were strong competition.  The cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and carrots that accompanied our chicken were perfectly cooked and seasoned.  They were tender and seemed to melt into the rest of the meal while maintaining their own distinct color and flavor.  Of course David let me eat more than my share of the veggies.

After such an extravagant meal, I usually abstain from dessert, especially since I usually am limited to a scoop of ice cream or a creme brulee.  (I’m sorry but I just have trouble getting excited about crème brule.)  The waitress told us that the gateau victoire with chantilly cream is entirely gluten-free.  She even double checked with the pastry chef because at Star Provisions, they dust it with flour, but at Floataway, no flour is used.  I ordered the cake with a cup of coffee and what a great decision.  Part of why I loved this cake so much was because it didn’t taste as dense as your typical ‘flourless chocolate cake.’  It actually tasted more like cake than a huge hunk of chocolate.  I highly recommend saving room for this tasty treat when you check out Floataway.  If only Star Provisions could make their gateau totally gluten-free!

Overall, a successful evening with delicious food.  We had a great time with friends and did not feel rushed through our meal at all, even though the restaurant was busy.  You should definitely visit Floataway Café, even if you’re not planning on being in the neighborhood!

Floataway Cafe – 1123 Zonolite Rd. NE – Atlanta, GA 30306 – 404.892.1414