Grilled Steak/Chicken & Asparagus

I think grilling is a great way to produce a variety of dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free meals. With just some basic seasonings and marinades, you can create easy and great tasting food that everyone in the family can enjoy. As the weather has started to warm up a bit, we've begun firing up our grill more often. Here are two allergy-friendly grill recipes that my family really enjoys.

RECIPE for Grilled Flank Steak With Rosemary by Bon Appetit

Recipe Notes:

• The marinade in this recipe is very flavorful and can be used on other meats. As you can see from my picture, I like to apply it to chicken. When using chicken breasts, I like to pound the meat to about 1/2 inch thickness prior to marinating.
  
• I have found, along with other reviewers, that the additional salt in the recipe is not necessary and can result in an overly salty end-product depending on the thickness of your meat.

RECIPE for Grilled Asparagus With Balsamic Vinegar by Cooking Light

• This makes a great side. Just a very tasty way to cook up some asparagus.

Simple Teriyaki Chicken

If you enjoy Asian foods, there are many dishes that you can make that are dairy-free, egg-free, and nut-free. Here is one of those classic dishes - Teriyaki Chicken - that is allergy-friendly, very easy to make, and simply very good. It's from Ellie Krieger, the health-conscious celebrity chef on the Food Network. I really like her version of the teriyaki marinade. You can use it on other meats or tofu too.

RECIPE for Teriyaki Chicken Thighs by Ellie Krieger

Recipe Notes:

• If you are allergic to or avoiding seeds, omit sesame seeds.
  
• If you don't prefer the spiciness, omit the red pepper flakes. It tastes fine without them.
  
• For kid-friendly eating, try this with chicken drumsticks. I've done this many times. Rather than broil I like to roast them in a 450 degree oven for about 30-35 minutes.
  

Quick & Tasty Chicken Tagine

If you're in the mood for something just a teensy bit more exotic, try this tasty dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free chicken tagine recipe from Rachel Ray. A tagine, as I recently learned, is traditionally a slow-cooked dish originating from North Africa. I believe this particular dish has Moroccan flavors and it also happens to be one of Rachel Ray's "30-minute-meals", so no slow-cooking going on here (which is fine by me). By using chicken breast, this dish can be cooked in a short amount of time and it holds onto all the aromatic spices quite well.

This is a very flavorful dish that works well with the couscous that is also part of the recipe. It's aromatic with some subtle sweetness coming from the dried fruit ingredients. If you have the spices on hand (cumin, coriander, sweet paprika, tumeric, cinnamon) I'd definitely give this recipe a try. And even if you don't, consider making this at a later point in time. It's fast and it adds variety to the regular meal rotation.

RECIPE for Quick Tagine-Style Chicken by Rachel Ray

Recipe Notes:

• Don't get too caught up in having all the ingredients called for. I didn't have dried prunes or raisins on hand, and ended up using dried cranberries. I also didn't use any of the condiments. Many recipe reviewers also used different types of dried fruit or didn't use any at all and still enjoyed the dish.
  
  
• Taking a cue from several reviews, I added just a touch more spices to ensure optimal flavor.
  
  
• Vegetarian/Vegan Version: As noted in the recipe, eggplant or tofu may be used in place of the chicken. Vegetable broth can be substituted for the chicken broth.
  

Turkey Meatloaf

Here's a dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, wheat-free, and soy-free turkey meatloaf recipe that was really much better than I expected. Let me first qualify this by saying that I did opt to make this with wheat ingredients (substituted panko bread crumbs for the quinoa) so I can't really comment on the recipe exactly as written. However, if you are simply looking to avoid dairy, eggs, and nuts like me, then I would definitely recommend this recipe with the use of dairy-free/egg-free bread crumbs. Since eggs are often used as a binding ingredient in meatloaf, I was happy to find that this version without eggs held up very well. I was able to easily cut bite size pieces for my 3-year-old without it crumbling at all. Overall a great meal option that was easy to make, nutritious, tasty, and popular with the kids.


RECIPE for Turkey Meatloaf by Delicious Living

Recipe Notes:

• As mentioned above, try this with dairy-free, egg-free bread crumbs (wheated version of the recipe). I made it with panko crumbs and it worked out great. You can probably find these Japanese-style breadcrumbs in the international section of your grocery store.
  
• Mix a bit more ketchup (~2 Tbsp) into the meatloaf mix to further boost the flavor
  

Giada's One Pot Chicken Stew

I'm a recent Giada De Laurentiis fan. You may be able to tell given that this is my third Giada (yes, we're on a first name basis now) recipe post in a short amount of time. I've never really paid much attention to her before because she specializes in Italian cooking and when I think of Italian food I think of cheese. However, in my continuous search for flavorful, allergy-friendly meals to cook, I've actually found that she does have some no cheese, non-dairy recipes (or cheese-optional recipes) and they have all been consistently good.

Here's another one of those recipes I've tried. It's great because it's hearty, nutritious, and you can cook it all in one pot. Perfect for a cold day or when you just want some warm, comforting food.


RECIPE by Giada De Laurentiis