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Gluten Free Main Dishes

Egg And Aloo (curry egg with potato).

Did your mom fry the eggs after boiling them and before making the curry? While it seems that’s the traditional way of making this comforting dish, our mom would simply boil the eggs and add them (cut in 1/2) to the curry base. Additionally I don’t recall that she ever added potatoes or aloo to it.

3 tablespoon veg oil
7 hard boiled eggs
1 medium onion (diced)
3-4 cloves garlic (smashed)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 scotch bonnet pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon ground masala
1 1/2 – 2 tablespoon curry powder
1 3/4 cups water
1 medium tomato (diced)
3/4 teaspoon salt (adjust)
4 medium potatoes (pre-boiled in salted water)
2 tablespoon chopped parsley

Notes. May I recommend following along with the video below as much more about the recipe is discussed there. If making this dish gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to ensure they meet your specific gluten free dietary requirements. You’ll notice that I finished with chopped parsley, traditionally chopped Chadon Beni (culantro) would be used. Alternatively chopped cilantro (coriander) could be used. Should you want to add Caribbean Green Seasoning after adding the onion and garlic, it would make a great addition.

Heat the oil in a wide pan over medium flame and fry the boiled eggs (peeled) until they form a slight crust and take on a golden color. How dark you want it is totally up to you. Remove and set aside.

Reduce the flame to low and add the onion, garlic, black pepper, scotch bonnet pepper (any spicy pepper you like and in the amount you can tolerate), ground masala and cook for 3 minutes (same pot).

Now add the curry powder of your choice and cook for a further 3-4 minutes on low.

Turn the heat up to med/high and add the water, which you’ll bring to a boil. Then add the diced tomato and salt and cook on a rolling boil for 4 minutes (med/low heat).

It’s now time to add the pre-boiled potato (aloo) to the pot.

This will allow the potatoes as well as the eggs to absorb that lovely curry sauce we created. Add the eggs back to the pot now.

Tuck everything under the curry sauce and cook on a simmer for 4-5 minutes.

Now determine if the salt is to your liking and adjust if necessary, then top with the chopped parsley and reduce the sauce or gravy to the consistency you prefer. In my case I shut off the stove after adding the parsley and allowed the pot’s residual heat to thicken things up for me.

Mom would usually serve this with Sada Roti, but I was too lazy to deal with flour, so I heated a buss-up-shut (paratha) roti I had in the freezer.

Should you want to add a teaspoon of ground roasted cumin (geera) the final 3-4 minutes of cooking, it will further enhance this curry dish.

Gluten Free Vegetarian

Okra and Tomato Stew.

I can’t recall which of the French Caribbean islands my friend was from (I’ve been disconnected from him for a few years now, so I can’t ask) but this is a dish he taught me how to make. Okra (say ochro in the Caribbean) in a rich tomato sauce served over steamed rice, with stewed fish.. a dish we made (and enjoyed) during our college days in Hamilton.

You’ll Need…

1 lb okra (cut into 1 cm wheels)
1 can tomato (I used stewed tomatoes)
4 tablespoon veg oil (divided)
1 medium onion (diced)
3-5 cloves garlic (smashed)
4 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon pepper flakes
1 tablespoon golden brown sugar
1 1/2 cup chicken stock

Important! Please go though the full list of ingredients if making this gluten free to make sure it meets with your gluten free dietary needs. Especially the stock you use. Speaking about sock, I used Chicken stock, but to keep this vegan / vegetarian, please use vegetable stock.

Wash and air dry the okra, then trim (the ends off) the okra and cut into 1 cm thick wheels.

Heat 3 tablespoon of vegetable oil on a medium heat in a wide pan. Toss in the okra and stir well. The goal is to get the edges brown.

5-7 minutes later, turn the heat down to low and remove the okra. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the same pan, toss in the onion, garlic and thyme. Cook for 3-4 minutes. During this time you may add the black pepper and pepper flakes (leave out if you don’t want the dish spicy).

Create a space in the middle of the pan and add the tomato paste and stir well – cook for a minute or two. This will caramelize the natural sugars in the tomato paste and give the dish a lovely sweet undertone.

Add the can of stewed tomato (540ml) and smash the tomato with your spoon to break it down a bit. Add the bay leaf, red wine vinegar and salt. To help balance the flavors, add the brown sugar.

Turn the heat to medium, add the stock, bring it to a boil and reduce to a smimmer for 8-10 minutes.

Now add the pre-cook okra to the pot and bring back to a boil. That okra will absorb all the tomato goodness and plump up. Feel free to remove the thyme stems and discard.

5-6 minutes after adding the okra and it should be done. (cook longer if it’s too runny), taste for salt and adjust accordingly (* chicken stock had a sodium element to it so it was to my liking) and keep in mind that it will thicken further as it cools.

Enjoy on steamed rice! BTW, you can add chunks of your fav fish to this dish if you wanted. Just adjust the seasoning accordingly.

Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Gluten Free Side Dishes

Spectacular Cherry Tomato Salad.

With an abundance of plump Cherry Tomatoes in our garden and the thousands of requests I get for more recipes in the #MeatFreeMonday series on YouTube, I thought I’d share (while not “Caribbean”) a simple and delicious salad with you all.

You’ll Need…

1- 1 1/2 lbs cherry tomatoes (sliced in 1/2)
1/2 large red onion (sliced thinly)
2 tablespoon chives (chopped)
1 clove garlic (crushed)
3 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt (divided)
3/4 teaspoon black pepper (divided)
2 tablespoon honey
2 sprigs thyme (leaves)
1/2 orange (juice)
1 cup bocconcini cheese (pearls)

Important! If doing this recipe gluten free, please go though the full list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs. If doing this recipe vegan, use what you normally use to replace cheese. Feel free to add nuts and dried fruits to the salad if you wish.

Wash and prep the ingredients. Slice the tomatoes in half, trim off the leaves of the thyme, slice the red onion VERY thin, crush the garlic and give the chives a fine chop.

  • The tomatoes, chives and garlic were from my garden.

Now it’s time to make the dressing. In a bowl, add the olive oil, balsamic, 1/2 of the black pepper, 1/2 of the salt, garlic, thyme leaves, honey and orange juice and whisk until combined.

It’s time to assemble things. Add the chopped tomatoes to your salad bowl and top with the sliced onion, then sprinkle on the remaining salt and black pepper.

Now add the cheese (feel free to add your fav).

Pour on the salad dressing and top with the chives. Give it a good mix and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes for the flavors to marinate and come together (mix again before serving). This will also allow the cheese to soak in some of the dressing.

Fresh chopped basil (I’m not a fan, so while I do have it in my garden, I sparingly use it) and diced cucumber is a great addition to this salad.

Should your tomatoes be tart, you may need to add a bit more salt. Enjoy! Drop me your comments below, tag me on Instagram and don’t forget you can now get my cookbook – The Vibrant Caribbean Pot, 100 Traditional And Fusion Recipes @ CaribbeanPot.com/CookBook/

Garlic herbed mushrooms in a red pot with a wooden spoon
Gluten Free Vegetarian

Garlic Herb Mushrooms.

I guess I should start off with the customary Nothing About The Recipe Is Caribbean! That said, this Garlicky Herb Mushrooms was one the most requested recipes last year, after I posted a pic on Instagram. It was only natural that it was part of my #MeatFreeMondays series on YouTube.

You’ll Need…

1 lb button mushrooms (cleaned)
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion (diced)
3-5 cloves garlic (crushed – depends on how much you like garlic)
3-4 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon parsley (chopped)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3-4 tablespoon white wine
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon pepper flakes

Important: If doing this recipe gluten free, please go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs.

Cleaning Mushrooms – You’ll see TV chefs and food personalities recommend using a brush to brush off any dirt off the mushrooms and to never wash them. NOPE! Not for me. I wash and air/paper-towel dry my mushrooms. I know too well the kind of dirt they grow in. Just my personal choice.

In a wide pan on a medium heat, melt the butter in the oil, then add the onions. Immediately turn the heat down to low and cook gently for 3 minutes.

After-which, turn the heat back up to medium high and add the mushrooms. Stir well to coat with the onion flavored oil/butter combo.

BTW, the bigger mushrooms I cut in half. The reason why I recommend a wide pan above, is so each mushroom can touch the surface of the pan. We’ll get a lovely color and caramelization.

After about 7-9 minutes, you should see the mushrooms shrink in size and develop some color. The bottom of your pan will have brown spots (that’s FLAVOR).

It’s now time to get that ‘flavor’ working for us. Pour in the wine to degalze the bottom of the pot (use apple juice or veg stock if you want). Cook for a minute, then add the pepper flakes, parsley, thyme, salt, black pepper and garlic. Stir well to get all that garlic and herb niceness all over the mushrooms. Turn the heat back down to low as we don’t want to burn the garlic and herbs.

Cook for a further 2-3 minutes.. basically until the garlic warms through and perfumes the dish.

Definitely not a “Caribbean” dish, but mushroom lovers will be thank you for making this one. I guarantee you this Garlic Herb Mushrooms will be a regular on your menu and you will get requests for it.

If you can, please support. And should you have questions about this recipe or anything food related, be sure to Ask Chris.