Gazpacho Cold Soup - Naturally Gluten Free

When the weather is as hot as this week, only one thing is on my mind, Gazpacho soup.

This cold soup is full of vitamins, as it's made with lots of raw vegetables, and because it has ice cubes too, it's cold cold, brilliant.

There are many recipes out there but in my family it's always made the same way.



Ingredients:
6 tomatoes peeled and cut in chunks
1/2 cucumber in chunks
1 green pepper in chunks
1 garlic clove
1 slice of bread in pieces (without crust)
1 tbsp of mayonnaise (could use olive oil instead)
1 tbsp of cider vinegar (or wine vinegar)
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of sweet paprika
1 tray of ice cubes (or 1/2 glass of water and 6 ice cubes if you don't want it too cold)

Instructions:
It is very easy, put all the ingredients except the ice in a bowl and mix with an electric mixer.
You can add a bit of water to help the process along.
Once everything is mixed, add the ice cubes and mix again until smooth.
The result is a very cold soup with bits, marvellous!!!
If you don't like the idea of bits, you can always use a colander to get rid of them, it will be just as nice.

Pasta from Elena gluten free




Pappardelle with tomato, asparagus and chorizo

I bought some pasta from Elena's gluten free way at the Allergy Show.
When I can, I always try to find Italian pasta, specially Pappardelle or Tagliatelle nests, they are my favourites.
There are two brands available from Elena's, Dialsi and Piaceri Mediterranei.

I got a packet of each and recently tried the Piacery Mediterranei Pappardelle.
These pasta ribbons are lovely and I really enjoyed my dinner.
I added a sauce made with tomato sauce (one tin of chopped tomatoes, one tsp of olive oil, half tsp of salt, half tsp of sugar and some ground pepper, cooked slowly for 30 mins or so), asparagus and chorizo.
Fantastic dinner, now looking forward to the  Tagliatelle ;)
My only concern is that the ribbons tend to break after cooking, I guess that is the corn.

Mediterranei Pappardelle Ingredients: Yellow maize flour (49,8%), white maize flour (49,8%), emulsifier: mono and diglycerides of fatty acids)
Dialsi Taglieatelle Ingredients: Rice flour, corn flour
Both ingredients lists are quite short, which I like, no nasty E numbers around.

They are available to buy on her website:
http://www.elenasgfway.co.uk/

Udis Gluten Free breads

I had already tried Udis bagels, and I was curious about their Tiger bread, spotted at the Allergy Show.

I was lucky to get a sample pack and another one of their multi seeded rolls.

There was some Tiger bread to taste at the stall, but I think it might have been cut a while ago, as it felt a bit dry.

Nothing to do with the lovely sample pack I got. It was very soft and very nice, and I've been eating it for the whole week afterwards, only being a bit crumbly towards the end.

What I'll do next time I have a packet is to freeze half so that even if it's just one of me, the second half will be as lovely as the first.

I also got some of the multi seeded rolls to try, and they were very very nice. I toasted them and had them with some ham. A fantastic treat!

The Tiger bread is available at large Tescos (£2.50) and online during their Lifestyle Food fair (till end August, 4 for 3 offer).
 Hopefully if there are enough sales they'll keep them going forward.

Tiger bread ingredients: Tapioca Starch,Water ,Rice Flour ,Potato Starch ,Rapeseed Oil ,Humectant (Glycerine) ,Psyllium Husk Powder ,Egg White Powder ,Yeast ,Thickener (Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose) ,Dextrose ,Potato Fibre ,Salt ,Sugar ,Preservative (Calcium Propionate)

Multi Seeded Rolls ingredients: Maize Starch, Water, Mixed Seeds [10%] (Sunflower, Linseed, Poppy), Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch, Yeast, Black Treacle, Rapeseed Oil, Thickeners (Hydroxypropyl Methyl Cellulose, Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum),Psyllium Husk Powder, Potato Protein Isolate, Humectant (Glycerine), Sugar, Salt, Potato Fibre, Preservative (Calcium Propionate), Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid) May contain Egg

Happy to recommend both products.

Perkier Rocky Road Gluten and Wheat free

What can I say? These little lovelies are gorgeous. They are available in small bites in a tub (£1.5 to £2) or in their regular size individually wrapped (£1) .

They have lots of marshmallows mixed with their chocolate and biscuit, nice!
The ingredients list is quite large though, see below.
Still, nice to have occasionally.

Ingredients: Biscuit 42% (Rice Flour, Vegetable Margarine (Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Salt, Emulsifier (E475)), Partially Inverted Sugar Syrup, Sugar, Cocoa Powder, Sodium Bicarbonate, Stabiliser: Xanthan),Belgian MILK Chocolate 29% (Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole MILK Powder, Cocoa Mass, Emulsifier: SOYA Lecithin, Vanilla Extract) ,Vegetable Margarine (Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Salt, Emulsifier (E475)) ,Marshmallows 9% (Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Water, Gelatine, Anti-Caking Agent: Maize Starch; Flavouring, Colour (E162)) ,White Chocolate Flavour Coating (Sugar, Vegetable Fat (Palm Oil), Whey Powder (MILK), Emulsifier (SOYA Lecithin), Natural Flavouring), Golden Syrup ,For allergens, see capitalised ingredients ,Contains Milk & Soya ,May contain traces of Nuts

Tesco Italian coffee desert (tiramisu) Gluten and dairy free

I found this gluten free and dairy free Tiramisu recently at Tesco (also available was a chocolate mousse that was lovely) in their chilled cabinets. The taste is quite nice and it's free from milk, wheat and gluten and it costs £1.60 for two. It's not the healthiest pud at 250 calories per pot, although the taste is quite nice.

 

Ingredients: Water,Glucose Syrup ,Coconut Oil ,Sugar ,Maltodextrin ,Egg Yolk ,Chicory Fibre ,Cocoa Powder ,Alcohol ,Potato Starch ,Flavouring ,Egg ,Stabiliser (Sorbitol Syrup) ,Egg White ,Thickeners (Agar, Tara Gum) ,Emulsifier (Mono- and Di-Glycerides of Fatty Acids) ,Coffee Powder ,Raising agents (Disodium Phosphate, Sodium Carbonate) ,Preservative (Potassium Sorbate) ,Salt

Fria lemon muffins

These lemon muffins are very tasty, I tried them at the allergy show and was quite impressed with the lemony taste and nice consistency.

I got some free samples to take home and was looking forward to it.
However, I felt a bit unwell after eating them again, I think it is because one of the ingredients is gluten-free wheat, which I didn't realised was there at the show.
I also had some fiber bread to try, but I had the same problem.
After checking their leaflet, I have to say that all Fria products have gluten free wheat, so unfortunately not a range for me.

Ingredients: Eggs, sugar, vegetable oil, wheat starch (gluten free), rice flour, modified corn and tapioca starch,baking powder: bicarbonate and E 450a, thickeners: locust bean- , guar-, tara gum and pectin, salt, emulsifiers: lecithin (rapeseed) and E471 (veg), flavouring (lemon, vanillin)
They are available from Goodness Direct at £3.80

Clives pies

I loved to taste Clive's pies at the allergy show. Their tasting station is one of the best, with mini pastry squares that can be tasted with all their fillings.

I had to consider all my previous purchases, so I only got two of them, Minty Chickpea and French Cassoulet.
They were both very nice, but my favourite has to be the Minty Chickpea.

Ingredients )minty chickpea): Organically produced- tomato 15%, *water, sustainably sourced palm fat, chickpeas 11%, onion, rice flour, carrot, potato flour, maize flour, coconut milk, apricot 3%, tomato paste, buckwheat flour, *sea salt, turmeric, mint, black pepper, herbs.

Each pie weights around 250grams, and has around 600 calories. Available from Goodness Direct (£2.84) & Ocado (£2.54).

I didn't feel unwell in any way eating them, my only concern is the use of palm fat (highly saturated), instead of a healthier option.