Dairy Free | Dinner Menu
I am finally back in a kitchen! Not my own yet, but I am back home in Winnipeg visiting my family so I have my parents kitchen at my disposal. I was so excited to start cooking! I invited my brother and sister-in-law over for dinner tonight and decided to test out some new recipes on them and my parents. Family = good guinea pigs. I kept it simple because it was just the 5 of us and I knew my cooking skills would be rusty after over a 2 month hiatus! Tonight I made vegetable ratatouille, creamy sun-dried tomato chicken and avocado chocolate pudding. Every recipe is dairy free because my sister-in-law is allergic. Dairy doesn't always agree with me either, so it was a win win for everyone! See how I made each recipe below!
Vegetable Ratatouille
I chose the vegetable ratatouille just because it looked so pretty in the picture! I found the recipe in a magazine, so it didn't give a lot of detail, but it turned out great! You can basically customize this to your tastes. Use any vegetable that is in season. I found that the heartier vegetables cooked down the best. The amount of vegetables you use will vary depending on the size of your baking dish. You can do basically any size to cater to how many people you are feeding.
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups of store bought marinara sauce
1 zucchini
1 tomato
1/2 purple yam
1 small sweet potato
1 red onion
1 beet
1 green squash (I forget the name)
salt & pepper to taste
3 tbs olive oil
feta cheese (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and get out a 10x12 casserole dish (any size dish will work, you may just use more/less veggies)
2. Prepare all of vegetables by cutting them into 1/4 inch rounds. If the vegetable is too big (ie/ tomatoes), I cut the round in half or quarters so it would fit nicely
3. Put 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce in the bottom of the casserole dish. Begin laying out all of the vegetable rounds around the dish. It took a bit of maneuvering, and if I did it again I think I would start around the outer edge and work my way in. Once the dish is full, drizzle 3 tbs of olive oil over top and sprinkle with salt & pepper
4. Bake uncovered in the oven for 45 minutes or until vegetables are browned and the marinara sauce is bubbling. If dairy isn't an issue for you, top with feta cheese
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken
I love eating chicken but it can get boring! I am always on the lookout for a good chicken recipe that isn't dry and is easy to serve when having guests over. The reviews for this chicken recipe were really good so I thought I would try it out. There is a lot of extra sauce leftover at the end so it would be great served with rice as a side. The original recipe is from My Natural Family and you can find it here. I made a few changes below:
Serves: 6
Prep Time: 15 min
Cook Time: 45 min
Ingredients:
6 chicken breasts
1/4 cup corn starch
salt & pepper
3 tbs olive oil
1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup dehydrated sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1 tbs Italian seasoning
1 can lite coconut milk
1 cup low sodium chicken stock
pinch red pepper flakes
fresh oregano or basil
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and put corn starch in a bowl and season with salt & pepper.
2. Heat large skillet over med-high heat and add 2 tbs of olive oil. Toss each chicken breast in corn starch mixture until coated and place in skillet, 3 at a time depending on how big your skillet is. Cook ~2 min on each side until browned, remove from pan and put in a 9x13 casserole dish (I used 8x12 because it is all my mom had)
3. Add 1 tbs of olive oil to the same skillet and saute the onion for 2 minutes
4. Add garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and saute another 30 seconds
5. Add coconut milk and vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling pour over chicken in the casserole dish
6. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 45 minutes
7. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with fresh oregano or basil
Avocado Chocolate Pudding
I have seen this made on the Food Network a few times and have always wanted to try it. It is also a great dairy free dessert. It is so simple and tastes great! Don't get me wrong, it doesn't taste like your typical chocolate pudding, but it's a great alternative!
Serves: 5
Prep Time: 5 min
Ingredients:
3 avocados
2 bananas
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tbs honey
3 tbs maple syrup
3 tsp coconut oil
Instructions:
1. Blend all ingredients in a blender until well combined
2. Divide into serving dishes and chill for 30 minutes
3. Could serve with a dollop of whipped cream or coconut cream to keep it dairy free
My little sous chef :)
I had SO much fun cooking again! All of the recipes were a hit and I will definitely be making them all again. Shout out to my mom for being my "sous chef" and taking over when I had to feed Everly! I am cooking dinner for my parents and in-laws tomorrow night so stay tuned for more recipes!
Best,
Stacey