Turkey Casserole by Jana

Many people are left wondering after the big Thanksgiving dinner: what in the world do I do with all this leftover turkey? Yesterday, I dreamed up a turkey casserole dinner for my family and it actually passed the Kids' Taste-Test (and they can sometimes be chef mom's worst critics!!).

This is a dairy-free and gluten-free casserole that's pretty simple to assemble. I used a slow-cooker to make the sauce ahead of time, but it can also be done using a regular saucepan.

Sauce:

1 Tblspn olive oil
1 1/2 cups turkey broth
1/2 medium zucchini, cubed*
1 medium onion, chopped small
3-4 large basil leaves, whole
2-3 large cloves of garlic, minced
3/4 cup coconut milk
2 medium potatoes, cubed*
1 - 1 1/2 cups turkey, tear into bite-sized pieces or chop
1/3 cup brown rice flour
pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

*the neat thing about this recipe is you can also use some or any of your leftover vegetables from Thanksgiving dinner too (ie. any roast potatoes or yams, carrots, etc)

Combine all ingredients in the slow cooker croque pot, stirring well. Set slow cooker on low heat for 5 hours or high heat for 3 hours.

Casserole Assembly:

340g gluten-free penne or macaroni (I used brown rice pasta but the Go-go Quinoa brand is also nice)
3/4 cup Daiya dairy-free shredded cheese substitute

Towards the end of the sauce cooking time, prepare the pasta by cooking it in salted boiling water until just al dente (usually about 8-10 minutes for the brown rice pasta). Combine the pasta, the sauce and the Daiya shredded cheese substitute in a large bowl until well mixed. Pour into a 9x9" casserole baking dish. Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes, or until top is just golden. Serve with salad or steamed veggies.

RAW MOCHA CHEESECAKE

At the beginning of 2012, my daughter and I were placed on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet due to allergies. It has opened up a whole new world of cuisine for us through our explorations in finding foods we like to eat which do not contain dairy or gluten (some of our past staples). When my birthday rolled around this year, my family and I were in a conundrum about what kind of a birthday cake we could make. Certainly there are plenty enough gluten-free cake mixes and dairy-free icing mixes out there, but my other criterion was that I wanted to find something we could make that was also sugar-free, since I want to be conscious of our sugar consumption as well.

We were delighted to find this great recipe in Sweet Gratitude: a new world of raw desserts by Matthew Rogers and Tiziana Alipo Tamborra. At first my kids thought a "raw cheesecake" without any cheese would be awful, but in the end, everyone appreciated the great flavour and texture of this cake. As well, my daughter, who helped me make it was amazed at how easy it was to put together. We highly recommend this rich and delicious cake!

Chocolate Almond Crust

1 3/4 cups dry almonds

5 Tbspns cacao powder

3 1/2 oz date paste (weight) = soaked dates

1 tsp liquid vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Process all ingredients in food processor until well integrated and sticks together when pressed into a ball. I always add a tiny bit of water if it's too dry. Press the crust into the bottom and halfway up the sides of a spring-form cake pan and set aside for filling.

Mocha Filling

3 cups soaked cashews

1 1/4 cups cold espresso (I used grain coffee so it would be kid-friendly)

3/4 cup almond milk

1 cup agave syrup

2 oz cacao powder (weight)

1 Tbsp liquid vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp lecithin

1 1/4 cups melted coconut butter (low heat - it doesn't take much to melt coconut butter)

Blend all except last 2 ingredients in blender until smooth and creamy. Add lecithin and coconut butter and blend until well integrated. Pour filling into spring-form pan and place in the freezer about 2-4 hours to set (2 hrs for grain coffee, but 4 hrs for espresso - espresso increases setting time substantially). Cheesecake will keep about 4 days covered in the fridge.