Enjoying Gluten-Free Stuffing

My daughter as some issues with gluten, so I have taken wheat and gluten out of her diet. She claims it’s the worse thing a child could deal with. She has tried many different kinds of gluten free products with a 10 % success rate. So I have taken on the task to create gluten free meals to rescue her childhood.

I try to teach her it’s about embracing what you have and think of your life as an abundance of fresh, whole foods instead of living without certain foods, I usually get an eyeroll.

A food allergy or intolerance becomes the perfect opportunity to create new holiday traditions that focus on fresh, whole foods and allow you to enjoy the company of family and friends.

There are numerous allergy-free products on the store shelves these days but it’s important to read the labels; just because the product says it’s free of your allergen, doesn’t mean it’s healthy.

We all know it’s certainly not your typical Thanksgiving without stuffing and bread. Having food allergies doesn’t mean you have to say good-bye to your favorite holiday dishes. Simply tweak them a bit by substituting gluten-free bread and grains such as quinoa and you won’t even think twice about those glutenous grains.

There are so many ‘Clean’ and naturally allergy-free foods that you can serve with fresh herbs and spices. I recently held a cooking demo and surprise I made gluten-free stuffing, and yes it did not taste like cardboard. Here is the recipe below.

Enjoy!

Contributed by Lester Austin, Lifestyle Coach, Personal Trainer and Chef.
Find him on Facebook  - Lester Austin Life Style @lesteraustinlifestyle

Gluten-Free Stuffing

Makes 6-8 servings

What you need:

1 loaf (Jennifer's) Gluten-Free Bread, cubed

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

4 large stalks of celery, fine dice

1 large onion, fine dice

1 large carrot, fine dice
1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh sage, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

2 Cloves of Garlic, finely chopped

1 tsp Himalayan salt

Fresh cracked pepper

⅓ cup fresh cranberries

4 cups turkey, chicken, or vegetable stock, divided

What to do:

-Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Divide bread cubes between two large baking sheets. Toast until bread is golden brown and dry, about 30 minutes. Remove pans from oven and allow bread to cool.

-Grease a 9x13-inch baking sheet and set aside. Place bread cubes in a large bowl. In a large pot, heat olive oil, then add celery, carrot and onion. Cook until celery just begins to soften, about two minutes. Stirring frequently. Add fresh herbs,garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook until celery and onions are soft and aromatic. Spoon vegetables onto the bread cubes and stir

-Pour about two cups of the broth over the bread. Stir until cubes absorb the broth. This takes a minute. Add an additional cup of broth. Continue to stir until broth is absorbed. If bread seems dry, add final cup of broth. (Bread cubes should be moist but not soggy. It’s okay it the some of the cubes fall apart. This is normal.) Stir in cranberries and  transfer stuffing to prepared pan.

-Cover pan and bake for about 30 minutes, Remove foil and return pan to the oven and bake until golden brown