Ingredients – serves 4
Salad
2 pounds quartered (not peeled) fresh beets, stems and leaves removed
2 large bunch arugula, stems removed
2 cored and thinly sliced Granny Smith apples
4-ounce goat cheese log

Dressing
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
3 Tablespoons season rice wine vinegar
5 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
9 Tablespoons buttermilk
1 Tablespoon finely chopped shallot
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Wrap beets in foil, making sure to seal into an airtight package.  Roast in the oven for about 80-90 minutes or until beets are soft.

Prepare dressing by whisking together mustard and vinegar in a small bowl.  Slowly whisk in olive oil, then buttermilk, shallot and dill.  Chill until ready to use.

When beets are soft, remove from oven and run under cold water until cool to tough; rub skin off with fingers and cut beets into 1/4 inch dice.

Divide arugula evenly among individual plates.  Add apple slices, then dices beets, topping with small pieces of goat cheese.  Spoon dressing over each salad and serve immediately.

While roasted beets definitely have the best flavor, I have recently found packaged steamed/peeled ready-to-eat beets at FreshDirect and Trader Joe’s.  For a quick salad on a weeknight they are a great substitution.

Here are some tips from Cooking Light on working with beets. For more salad recipes – try my Gluten-Free Tuna Mediterranean Salad, this Pear, Blue Cheese and Endive Salad Recipe or my favorite Avocado, Cilantro and Tomato Salad Recipe.

Healthy Mediterranean Tuna Salad (from Eat Food Nutrition)

Ingredients
2 – 6.5 ounce cans water-packed tuna, drained
1 – 15 ounce can white beans, drained and rinsed well
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions (you can sub shallots or onions)
1 1/2 cups peeled, finely diced cucumber
4 cups chopped spinach leaves (you can sub arugula, mesculun or the green of your choice)
3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons grainy Dijon Mustard
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Coarsely ground pepper to taste
1 heaping tablespoon small capers
Chunks of avocado (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, combine tuna, beans onion, cucumber and spinach. Toss ingredients. Stir in oil, mustard and lemon juice; mix well. Season with pepper and add capers. Mix evenly and serve with avocado garnish.

While I have been on a summer blogging vacation, the rest of the gluten-free blog community has been busy – Sea’s “Adopt A Gluten-Free Bloggger” event, highlights some of the best gluten-free cooking on the Web this summer.

Gluten-free or not, everything just seems to taste better in Italy. I’m sure part of it has to do with being on vacation. But the love and attention paid to food in this country clearly shows. My first trip to Italy was for a study abroad program in 1998. It was during that summer that I met Eliana, a bright, beautiful girl with an indomitable spirit. Little did I realize at the time that we would become dear friends, spending subsequent summers and trips together in Rome, Sicily, Pescara, Terni and even New York.

After leaving Lucca, I took the bus to Firenze (Florence) where Eliana greeted me with a huge hug and Italian kisses. She was kind enough to open her home to me for four days of my vacation.

My first night there I didn’t want to trouble her too much over gluten-free dinner options. I explained that I ate a huge lunch and that I would be fine nibbling on a few things I had brought with me. She looked at me and scolded – “Ma Cate, in Italia si mangia!” “But, Catherine, in Italy you eat!” To Eliana it was no trouble to make something safe for my tummy. She proceeded to put together a salad so full of flavor with such simple ingredients I could hardly believe it. Olives, tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, chickpeas and lettuce dressed with olive oil and salt. I tried recreating it at home last week, but it just wasn’t the same.

Later in the week she made a frittata with sautéed zucchini.

Prosciutto and parmigiano reggiano were plentiful.

Jars of spices and olive oil fill the kitchen that I have had the pleasure of dining in more times than I can count.

Gluten-free travel is simply delicious when you are lucky enough to have friends like Eli.

Next stop: my adventures in Gluten-Free Gelato

Many foods have been eliminated from my diet as a result of Celiac, but I have also discovered and enjoy so many new flavors that I probably come out ahead. Of course I would be glad to have the convenience of eating in a restaurant or at a friend’s house without worry. But I have always enjoyed cooking and food experimentation and my Celiac diagnosis has actually facilitated it. I don’t feel guilty buying a new type of gourmet cheese or a buttery piece of Chilean Sea Bass.

Avocadoes are just one example of a food I hadn’t fully explored until recently. Now I can’t imagine life without the Chicken soup accented with avocados at RICE, or the fig and avocado salsa I learned to make in one of my cooking classes. Below is the makings of the salad that I ate almost on a daily basis this summer:

Katie’s Favorite Avocado and Cilantro Salad (serves 2)
Mesclun greens
1 medium diced tomato
1 medium cucumber diced
½ ripe Haas avocado diced
¼ cup chopped raw walnuts
¼ cup crumbled low fat goat cheese
Chopped cilantro to taste (I like a lot of cilantro)
Season with salt and coarse ground black pepper to taste
Serve with a balsamic vinaigrette

Play with the portions and ingredients. If you hate cilantro (people tend to feel strongly about this herb) try it with basil or cut it out altogether. The key is finding a few ingredients that you can easily throw together and that you love eating. It’s such a waste to buy ingredients and then have them spoil in the fridge.