best dessert

Horseradish Potato Salad Bliss

Red Potato Salad Recipe with Horseradish

Fabulous gluten-free red bliss potato salad with horseradish.

Ready for some spud love? Here's one of my favorite potato salad recipes. And just in time. Summer has arrived almost instantaneously here in the desert north of Santa Fe. Last week I was layering t-shirts and hoodies to keep warm. I stood shivering at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market (wind always makes me cranky). It felt more like March than May. This weekend? It was quintessential summer weather. Hot bright sun. Dry air. An almost too-warm casita. We turned on the ceiling fans.

On weekends like this you kick off your shoes and peel off your long sleeved black jersey, opting instead for the lime green tank top. You feel your bones begin to knit as you soak up the longer daylight and linger by the roadside during post-dinner walks in the rose hued sun. You smile at the young jackrabbits and their impossibly erect ears. And your thoughts turn to dining al fresco, sitting beneath the dappled shade of the portal with a chilled glass of white and a zesty potato salad.

Life in the slow lane.

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Gluten-Free Blueberry Oat Muffins

Blueberry Oat Muffins - Vegan recipe - Wheat-free Gluten-Free

Gluten-free blueberry oat muffins.

We woke to the sound of water. It is raining in the desert this morning. The overflow is spilling over the edges of the canales, splashing onto the wedges of flagstone scattered in the sand around our casita. It feels like we are living inside a Zen fountain- waterfalls on all sides. The mesa is hidden in mist. The air is heavy with the scent of juniper and wet bark. I am deeply comforted by all of this.

Moisture is a rare commodity here.

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Pork Roast with Mushrooms and Brown Sugar Apricot-Pomegranate Sauce

Slow cooker pork roast with apricot jam.

My first pork roast recipe- ever. And it's a home run. I apologize for the sports metaphor but I've been sitting at my desk for an hour. And not a single sentence has been birthed. Even after one hot mother of a mug of coffee (and a decaf peppermint green tea that really doesn't count because, well, it's tea), I'm still in a post Sunday fog today, basking in the afterglow of a Sunday afternoon spent with friends. We ate and drank our way through six hours of non-stop conversation. I get all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it. And I'm more than a little tempted to wax poetic about friendship and how we choose our true family and what a head banging blue-in-the-face relief it is to sit at a table with soulful people who wrestle with big questions and hunger for authenticity and integrity while also making you laugh out loud without covering your teeth and feel proud of your mayo-free potato salad.

But I won't. I'll tell you about my first pork roast instead.

I'll say it up front. It took decades to get me here- to ease into a place in my life where I might actually, finally, consider buying a hunk of pork and roasting it. I started off slowly, slyly, trying turkey bacon ten years ago. Then I graduated to the real deal roughly six years ago. Organic Sunday smoked bacon. Nitrate-free, of course. And when my body did not protest and the world as I knew it did not go up in a hellish ball of blistering flames, I decided to move on to the hard stuff. I was ready.

It was finally time to roast a pork loin. And Dear Reader- was I intimidated. You know it. In fact yours truly was almost quaking in her Rocket Dogs. Well, maybe not quaking. More like, shivery-nervous. So I decided two things.

First- that I would use my trusty slow cooker. Simple. Familiar. Not too much to screw up. Second- that I would make a sauce with pomegranate juice and a jar of apricot jam. It just seemed like a good fit.

And guess what? Tender, juicy, tangy-sweet deliciousness ensued.

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Pomegranate Smoothie - Dairy-Free

Pomegranate smoothie- dairy-free bliss.

I'm delirious. I could blame it on the wind. There is a loco spring wind here in New Mexico, you know. And it can make you, well. Crazy. It rough rides up the Chama River like nobody's business and bitch slaps the mesa behind us. It buffets the casita absolutely senseless and whips tumbleweeds into missiles. I'm not kidding. There are moments when you wonder if the roof will lift off.

You start looking out the window for flying monkeys.

So you hunker down and pull out pots and pans to conjure mashed potatoes into colcannon just to cope. You bake comforting Roasted Vegetable Lasagna. You feel like whipping up your own brand of frenzy.

In the gentle guise of a vegan smoothie.

Because you crave pomegranate. We all know deep and vibrant hued fruits are good for us. You've read about all those studies, right? How all those yummy antioxidants and goodies like anthocyanin feed our brains and keep us sharp, on the edge, where we need to be?

Psychology Today reports that preliminary results indicate that people who eat a cup of blueberries a day perform 5 percent to 6 percent better than a control group on tests of motor skills. I'm not good at math (will blueberries help?) so I'm unsure if "5 to 6 percent better" is a huge deal, but. Hey.

For the sake of my asymmetrical motor skills (I was the geek who was never- ever- picked for any team in school) I'm willing to eat a few more blueberries, pomegranates and cranberries. Not because I harbor hopes of better motor skills.

But because they taste so good.

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May Brings More Than Flowers- it brings celiac awareness!

May is Celiac Disease Awareness Month. Around this little casita, that's no big deal. After all, we live with celiac disease 24/7 (and have been gluten-free- in our various kitchens- since December 19, 2001). Living gluten-free- to us- is second nature. But what about the over two million and several hundred thousand other celiac citizens- the vast sea of the Undiagnosed? You're out there. Somewhere. Swimming in gluten. And you don't even know it's wreaking havoc.

This post's for you.

Throughout the month of May, Gluten-Free Goddess will be spotlighting gluten-free recipes that pop up in sweet and unexpected places- especially food and cooking blogs, and sites that don't necessarily focus on gluten-free cooking. Spotting and tagging safe recipes for celiac disease in a blogging community with a passion for taste, fresh ingredients and style will be not only fun- but help to raise awareness for celiac disease.

Read on for the first fabulous find.

The first tempting recipe find is this sexy Warm Steak and Orange Salad posted by food writer and recipe developer Amy Sherman at Glam Dish- tasty morsels served with style. It's impossible to feel deprived when you can dig into a dish like this. Get more Amy at her Cooking With Amy blog, too. She's got some tasty gluten-free recipes to share- like these delightful crepes.

Find out more at Celiac Central: The NFCA

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Roasted Vegetable Magic

Fresh veggies chopped and tossed with garlic and olive oil.

What do you throw together for dinner when you're just too tired to cook?

That is my question to you, Dear Readers. Chances are you've been there. I know you have. Dog weary. Emotionally spent. A tad cranky. Blood sugar perilously low. It's way past time to eat. The kids have been munching cereal straight from the box. And there you are, staring into the pantry without a trace of culinary passion and only the scantiest clad hint of inspiration.

What you really want to do is strip off the remains of the day and sink into a welcoming tub with a chilled glass of Riesling and hope that dinner will magically appear in an hour.

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Gluten-Free Dessert Recipes

The best gluten-free dessert recipes at Gluten-Free Goddess®.

Looking for fabulous gluten-free dessert recipes for your celiac sweet tooth? Here is my collection of truly tasty gluten-free treats- from buckwheat chocolate chip cookies to praline pumpkin pie, from rich dark chocolate brownies and cupcakes (with mocha frosting!) to easy fruit crisps and elegant coconut layer cake. All my dessert recipes are wheat and gluten-free, and many are egg-free and dairy-free, as well.

Make today delicious. xox Karina