Some deliciousness

I have recently stumbled onto some delicious things and I thought I would share. Because I'm nice like that. And because these are two things I previously thought to not be so delicious.

First off, cornbread. I've never had anything but feelings of ambivalence toward cornbread, even before I stopped eating gluten. To make it taste good I felt like I had to use an alarming amount of butter. But I have stumbled across a delicious recipe for vanilla cornbread. It is a dessert and it is delicious. Thank you gluten free goddess for this light yet filling recipe.

Vanilla Cornbread

1 C cornmeal
3/4 sorghum flour*
1/2 potato starch or tapioca starch*
1 C light brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 rounded tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp xanthan gum**
1 egg, beaten
1/2 plus 2 TBS light olive oil
1 C very warm water
1 TBS vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9 inch cake pan (I used an 8x8 pyrex and it was fine).

Whisk together dry ingredients then add wet ones. Beat by hand for about a minute. Add a couple of TBS water if batter is too thick (should be like cake batter). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until center is firm to touch. Allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes on a wire rack so it doesn't fall apart.

I served this with homemade whipped cream and fresh strawberries. It was delicious!

*I just put in 1 1/4 C of my favorite gluten free mix. If you're on a regular diet, congratulations. Also, you can just use 1 1/4 C regular flour.

**Us gluten free folk have to use xanthan gum to thicken up our breads and bread-like foods because of the lack of gluten.

And then we have eggplant. I didn't have a whole lot of exposure to eggplant before I went to China last summer. I'm not sure that was the best introduction to such a pretty looking vegetable. I was jet-lagged and experiencing morning sickness and it was cooked in all these weird sauces. After that trip I vowed I would never eat eggplant again. Fast forward to today. I was ambling up and down the farmer's market downtown and saw eggplants for a fabulous price and thought I would give them another try. I'm so glad I did.

Delicious Eggplant

Cut an eggplant or two (however many you want)length-wise. Brush both sides generously with olive oil and place in the bottom of a broiler pan. Sprinkle each slice with some coriander and place about 6 inches from the broiler for 5 or 6 minutes. Flip them over and sprinkle the other side with coriander. Broil for 5 or 6 minutes (I let mine get a little crunchy. mmmmmm). Pull them out and sprinkle with lemon juice, basil (fresh or dried), and salt. Eat them hot.