Enchiladas!

Last week at work I made enchiladas for one of the lunch specials, and I have been craving them ever since! Unfortunately they were made with flour tortillas so I wasn’t able to try them.

This weekend I was looking in the fridge and cupboards to see what we had for dinner, and I noticed I had everything needed for enchiladas! Except for a few spices and seasonings, but the taco seasoning pouch would substitute perfectly!

I started out by sauteing a chopped red onion while browning the ground beef. I added half of the onion to the meat and added some tomato sauce to the other half. To the beef I added the taco seasoning, as well as some cumin, salt and pepper. I added the same to the tomato sauce, save the taco seasoning, as well as some oregano and chili powder. The only thing missing was some coriander, which would have gone really well in the sauce.

When the sauce was warmed and the beef ready to go I started assembling. I started with some of the tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish, and then the rolled enchiladas. I rolled the beef in brown rice tortillas, cut them in half and placed them in the dish. I continued until all of the beef was used up, then sprinkled some grated cheddar on top of the rolls, and then more tomato sauce.

Enchiladas before going in the oven.

The finished product! Sorry it's a little blurry!

The enchiladas were great! They definitely lived up to my expectations, and it was nice to make something different for dinner. My only complaint is that that tortillas get really soft when cooked. They come apart really easy, and even come close to falling apart. But even with that, I will make them again!

Gluten Free at Earls

Last night my fiance and I had dinner with my parents and his dad and step mom to discuss wedding plans. We went to the Earls on Broadway and Fir in Vancouver. I haven’t been to Earls in awhile, so it was nice to check them out again and see what they currently have on their menu.

I started with a “Wild Orchid” martini, which had smirnoff vanilla vodka, strawberry liquer, white wine, soda and lemonade. The Wild Orchid was really nice, and served with an orchid on the side of the glass. I wish I’d remembered to take a photo, but with the chaos of the evening it completely slipped my mind.

We started with a few appetizers to share; warm spinach and feta dip, a pound of hot wings and crispy dry ribs. We asked for the dip without the flatbread it usually comes with, and for tortilla chips instead. My dad also checked with the server about the wings and the dry ribs, and (surprisingly) we were able to eat both! I only had some of the dip, but it was really good. It’s a thick pureed spinach dip with three cheeses, chunks of artichokes and feta sprinkled on top. My dad and my fiance’s dad both really enjoyed the wings and ribs, and even my mom liked them.

We moved onto entree’s with everyone ordering something different; bacon cheddar burger with fries, grilled chicken clubhouse with salad, los cabos chicken tacos, santa fe chicken salad, jeera chicken curry and hickory back ribs with cajun chicken.

I had the Jeera Chicken Curry without the naan. It was served with coconut jasmine rice with the chicken curry on the side. It was fabulous! Except for the one small piece of undercooked chicken I found. Eek! Luckily I had cut into it so I was able to set it aside. After this I checked the other pieces before I ate them, and they were all fine. I hate sending food back, so I didn’t bother since it was just one piece of chicken.

Everyone else really enjoyed their meals, especially my dad who ordered the ribs with chicken.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of Earls, having been glutened a few times at other locations, so it was nice to eat at this location and have a good experience. Our server was very knowledgeable and friendly and checked on everything we asked her about.

We all left full and satisfied, and I will definitely return for another one of those martini’s!

Gluten Free Birthday Dinner! (x 2!)

My birthday was yesterday, and I celebrated on Friday as well as yesterday. On Friday I went to the Moxie’s on Broadway and Burrard for dinner and drinks with friends and family.

I wasn’t as impressed with this location as I was with the one in downtown Vancouver. They were still very knowledgeable about gluten allergies, and let me know how my meal would be adapted so that it was safe, but the whole experience wasn’t on par with the other location. I’m not sure if it was because we were a large group, but the server seemed overwhelmed, and alternated between completely ignoring some of my guests when they were trying to get her attention, and being attentive but forgetting drinks.

Everyone seemed pleased with their meals, but nobody was wowed. For my dinner I ordered a peppercorn steak with sauteed mushrooms. It was served with mashed potatoes and carrots and beans. They left the sauce off of the steak because there is flour in it, and rubbed it with their basic steak spice (I think it was simply Montreal Steak Spice). My mushrooms were fabulous, but my steak was overdone. I asked for it to be medium, and it came pretty much well done. There was a tiny bit of pink, but it was definitely past where I wanted it to be. My carrots and potatoes were great, but the beans were also a little overdone; they were pretty soft.

Luckily, my dinner last night more than made up for this average meal. My fiance took me to Vij’s, an Indian restaurant on W 11th and Granville in Vancouver. Wow. This restaurant was amazing. This dinner can simply be described as an experience. It wasn’t just going out for dinner, it was a dining experience.

Vij’s is a relatively small restaurant (approx 50 seats), that doesn’t take reservations. They serve dinner from 5:30pm on, and I had heard that we should be there around 5pm as to not wait too long (except for that initial half hour!). We arrived around 5:15pm and joined 10-15 other people already waiting. The doors opened and everyone flooded in. As we sat I noticed that with the amount of people who had queued up after us, there were only about two free tables; although these quickly filled.

We were offered complementary chai (fabulous!), and the servers went table to table with canape’s; pakoras, fry like potatoes and soft puffed crackers (kind of like miniature naan pieces, but thinner). I asked about the dishes, and was able to eat the pakoras and the potatoes. Pakoras are traditionally done with chana flour (chickpea flour), but some Indian restaurants cheat and do them with wheat flour. I was very pleased when the server said I could eat these!

To start I wanted to order the “garam masala sauteed portobello mushrooms in porcini cream curry”, but the server let me know that there is flour in the sauce. Instead we ordered the “mutton kebabs with Bengali style curry”. These were served as two kebabs, a small dish of curry and a cleansing bit of a fruit salad (mango, blueberries and mint).

Mutton kebabs with Bengali style curry

The kebabs were amazing. Although, after my fiance took his first bite I was worried I wouldn’t be able to eat them, because he said they were spicy. And when he thinks something is spicy, then I’m going to find it extremely spicy! He must have just had a spicy bite, because my kebab was okay. I can’t remember the last time I had mutton, and I really enjoyed it. The best part was that instead of regular naan bread, the restaurant had a corn style naan for Celiacs! I was able to dip the bread in the sauce and mop up my plate! Fabulous!!

My gluten free naan.

For our entrees Joel ordered the “grilled pork tenderloin and baby back ribs with pistachio and glazed orange on split pea and spinach mash”, and I had the “organic chicken with crimini mushrooms in creamy saffron curry”.

Joel really enjoyed his meal. The part that stood out the most (although a small part) was the pistachios. He mentioned them all the way home!

Pork tenderloin and ribs

Our meals were accompanied by rice and naan (naan for both of us), and it was so nice to be able to mop up the sauce with my bread!

My chicken curry was amazing. It was served with a small chicken breast as well as some leg meat underneath. The curry was mild but still really flavourful, and there was a type of mint puree underneath the chicken as well.

Chicken with mushroom curry

My only complaint with my dish is that there weren’t many mushrooms. With mushrooms being in the description of the dish I expected there to be more.

Vij’s is an incredible restaurant. The food is amazing, the atmosphere is great, the service is impeccable and even the drinks are original. One thing I noted, and thought very nice of the restaurant, is that they serve chai, drinks and canape’s to the people waiting outside to be seated.

Vij’s is different than any other Indian restaurant I have eaten at. I described it last night as “classy curry!” I will definitely return, and would recommend this restaurant to anyone interested in Indian food. And even those who aren’t, as Vij’s will definitely convert!

All in all I had a lovely birthday weekend, bookended with good company, drinks and food!

Moxie’s Has Gluten Free Moxie

I returned to Moxie’s for dinner on Friday night. After my great meal there two weeks ago I had high expectations. And they didn’t disappoint! I went with two friends, and we were able to get a table on the patio. It was a lovely evening, and we were there for a late dinner, so the weather was perfect. The patio at this Moxie’s (Robson and Bute), is a bit small, but not at all crowded.

We ordered drinks to start, accompanied by yam fries which are served with two dips. The dips were a chipotle mayonnaise and a kind of curried mayo. The server assured me that they yam fries were gluten free, save for a chance of cross contamination from the fryer. Their yam fries are pretty standard, but the dips were fabulous. I would go back just for these dips!

Our server was great. As soon as I mentioned being Celiac she grinned and assured me she knew all about it, as her father and sister both have Celiac disease. We got to chatting a bit about our dads, and I instantly felt at ease that there would definitely be no glutening during the evening.

My friend, Sarah, and I both ordered the Grilled Chicken Breast with Pineapple Salsa, and Amy ordered the Herbed Oven Roasted Chicken.

Amy’s chicken came with a “white wine, lemon and thyme reduction, topped with herbed goat cheese and crispy sage, accompanied by wild rice pilaf and seasonal vegetables.” She had ordered this meal the last time she was at Moxie’s and really enjoyed it, so she wanted to try it again. Her season vegetables were carrots, and they were the only downside of her meal. Sarah also had carrots with her dish, and they both said that they were under-cooked. They couldn’t even cut into a couple of them. But other than that, Amy loved her chicken, especially the goat cheese on top of the chicken breast.

Sarah’s and my chicken were also fabulous. They came with “two 5 oz grilled seasoned chicken breasts served with wild rice pilaf and your choice of seasonal vegetables.” I ordered broccoli instead of the carrots, and I’m glad I did after hearing Amy and Sarah’s comments about their vegetables! After we ordered the manager came by and let me know that the rice pilaf the dish came with might have traces of gluten in it, so I ordered steamed jasmine rice instead.

Sarah took a bite of her rice and told me that it tasted like Uncle Ben’s! I don’t actually think they would use a pre-made rice mix, but that would explain why I couldn’t eat it!

The chicken was really nice, and with two small chicken breasts it was a very generous portion. The pineapple salsa on top of the chicken was really nice, but I think adding some red onion to it would have improved it just a bit. It had pineapple, green onion, cilantro and red and green peppers in it, so I think red onion would have fit in perfectly. Although, I put red onion in my own grilled pineapple salsa, so maybe I’m a little biased!

My grilled chicken with pineapple salsa

After another nice evening at this Moxie’s I am looking forward to going back. It’s so nice to find a restaurant (expecially a chain restaurant) that is incredibly knowledgeable about Celiac disease, and one that I feel so at ease at.

My Kinnikinnick Treats!

My boy took a trip to Edmonton this past week to visit his brother, and while there I sent him to Kinnikinnick for me! Kinnikinnick is a gluten free food company that is based out of Edmonton, and has a bakery in their store.

I browsed online to see what I was hoping for, and found a few things. I was especially hoping that they still had the focaccia bread they did last time I was there. I sent the boy a list with a few things and he went to the bakery, armed with my requests!

He definitely exceeded my expectations! He returned home with lemon poppyseed muffins, donuts, graham crackers and focaccia bread! So far I’ve only tried the muffins, and they are fabulous. It’s been so long since I’ve had a poppyseed muffin I’d almost forgotten what they taste like!

The muffin was so good, I’m looking forward to an excuse to make s’mores with the graham crackers!

My gluten free treats!