I met Ellen, the Gluten-Free Diva, at BlogHer Food in San Francisco last fall. It was such a whirlwind of workshops and food that I didn’t get to know her too well and I thought this round of Adopt a Gluten-Free Blogger was the perfect opportunity to get acquainted with Ellen’s new blog. Ellen recently freshened the look and changed the name of the gluten-free blog she started after her celiac diagnosis in 2005. The Diva part of the equation is explained by her music background and her touring schedule with husband, Peter, as they travel the country teaching children’s music. Ellen is even on amazon.com with CDs and a book on teaching art in religious programming. She is busy making music, yet she blogs about gluten-free food and shares some delicious recipes.
We’ve been dining with Ellen this week through her recipes. From the fish tacos with the spicy chipotle mayo to the Spicy Sesame Peanut Noodles and the White Bean Puree with collards there were plenty of vegetables to please my veggie eating family and interesting flavors to spice things up a bit. I got out my mom’s 30-year-old tortilla press for the fish tacos, my pressure cooker for the collards and felt good about using my neglected kitchen equipment. Nothing tastes better than fresh, homemade tortillas, unless it’s fresh tortillas stuffed with spicy fish and guacamole. I did color outside the lines and use chicken thighs instead of tofu for the noodle dish. I had tofu and red cabbage on my grocery list, but they never made it into the cart. I baked chicken thighs with the peanut sauce poured over them. Those were some tender, peanutty thighs that worked very well on top of the Tinkyada spaghetti and stir fried veggies. I was truly amazed at how quickly the bean puree and collards disappeared, even for veggie lovers. I did use extra garlic and a garlicky homemade chicken stock because I was hearing a few sniffles around the house. I just read that collards lower blood pressure. Talk about food as medicine for that meal.
Visit Ellen for more creative gluten-free recipes and to read her diagnosis story. Back in 2005, Ellen pretty much self-diagnosed her celiac disease in the dark ages when some doctors didn’t know if your sister was diagnosed with CD that your alopecia might be CD, too. Sound familiar to anyone?
Lexie’s Kitchen is the headquarters for our Adopt A Gluten-Free Blogger roundup this time. Check back with her for the rest of the adoptions and a great opportunity to get to know some of the best gluten-free cooks.
Nicola, from G-free Mom just posted her adoption of me and it sounds like her guys loved my gluten-free cakes and pie.
You picked a great person to adopt and did a wonderful job doing it. Funnt that you say 2005 was the dark ages, I have been gluten free for almost 18 years – talk about dark ages! That must be more like cave people times
Thanks, Carol. She is pretty special. I can’t even imagine what it was like 18 years ago. Sadly, I still hear the same misinformation and misdiagnosis going on today, but there are bright spots and places to go for help these days.
oo – I’m envying the tortilla press. The fish tacos look amazing. Sounds like you guys ate really well this week. Thank you for spreading the word about Ellen’s recipes. They look great!
One of the things I loved on Ellen’s blog is her comment about her mom on her About page. She says her mom is on her shoulder when she cooks and I feel the same way when I use my mom’s kitchen utensils and recipes. We lost her 16 years ago and my mother-in-law 10 years ago, both to cancer. I’ve got my MIL’s retro 60s mixing bowls I use everyday and think of her, too.
[...] week’s adoption of Ellen from Gluten-Free Diva was a success and the fish tacos were my favorite. I ponder eating gluten-free away from home [...]