Gluten-Free Thanksgiving – Continued

Most of the sides I made to accompany our turkey are naturally gluten free. Steamed green beans with toasted almonds, green salad with cilantro dressing, raspberry apple jello, roasted root vegetables, cranberry relish and Graber olives.If you have never tried Graber olives, I highly recommend them. They are quite pricey, but I love them as a special treat on holidays. The flavor is not as strong as a Kalamata olive; they have a subtle but not too salty flavor that delights the taste buds.
Gluten free dinner rolls have been one of my challenges. I finally found a close replica of the white rolls my family specializes in last year, but I couldn’t find all of the ingredients this year. If you have tried gluten free baking, you understand what kind of experimentation it takes to develop new recipes. I wasn’t willing to risk a new recipe with Thanksgiving dinner. Instead, I decided to make brazilian cheese rolls. I used the original Chebe mix. The directions call for 4oz of cheese. Hard cheeses such as a Parmigiano Reggiano work best. I like to use one cheese for 3oz and a colorful cheese more for aesthetics for the last 1oz. This time I chose Piave (my favorite hard cheese) and a hard black wax Gouda for color. They turned out well and left all of my gluten eating family asking for more.

Roasted root vegetables are an easy autumn or winter side. I tossed, peeled and cut parsnips with baby carrots, cubed butternut squash and seasoned the mixture with salt, pepper and dried rosemary. Roast the mixture at 375-400 degrees for 40-60 minutes depending on the size of the veggies.

Have fun playing with your gluten free side choices. Most people won’t even notice the lack of gluten if you focus on fresh ingredients and flavorful herbs and spices.

Tweet Pin It