I cannot leave you with a recipe for chili, and not give you some cornbread to go with it.
A piece of crusty cornbread, a warm bowl of chili, a crisp kale salad, and a really good magazine .... the perfect way to spend a chilly saturday afternoon.
There is also no better way to feed a large group of hungry friends on football sunday. A quick batch of cornbread and big pot of chili, and you’re happily feasting.
There are a few things I look for in a cornbread to consider it really good:
1 – a crusty top layer
2 – a moist inner layer
3 – not so crumbly (you know, the kind that you can barley eat because it crumbles to bits)
bonus – super yummy things to flavor it like chilies and herbs.
double bonus – vegan or gluten-free (without knowing the difference).
So if I am going to post a recipe for cornbread, you know it has to pass this test. In case you’re wondering, this cornbread scored 120% (extra 10% for the chilies and rosemary + 10 more % for being gluten-free).
When I started working on this, the first and only blog I consulted was gluten-free girl. Shauna sure does know her stuff. Her recipe for gluten-free cornbread is flawless and absolutely delicious. I did make just a few tweaks. I know that not everyone is as ambitious as she is to make their own GF flour (ahem, me) but she does include an awesome video how to do it if you are interested. I also include a milk-free option because even though whole milk does do a wonderful job, it is not an ingredient I typically use. Lastly, I used maple syrup as a sweetener which is not only better for you than white sugar, it compliments this recipe so well. And of course I threw in some extra yummy things like rosemary and serrano chilies. Killer cornbread is born.
Gluten-free, although it might not be a new term in the world of food, it is a new term in my kitchen. With many friends and family who have become gluten-free recently, I found myself having to come up with gluten-free meals to make at home. No biggie, right?
Well, I have found this particularly tricky since, as you may know from following my blog, I avoid dairy as much as possible mainly because of dairy allergy I discovered I had about a year ago.
Bread & cheese, two of the most wonderful and easy foods to throw together. Who doesn't love bread and cheese?
People who have to live gluten and dairy free, that's who.
I always thought to myself ... okay ... I can sacrifice most of the butter and cheese as long as you don't take my bread away from me. Please.do.not.take.my.bread.away.from.me. And thankfully, I have zero sensitivity to gluten. However, I am discovering more and more that friends, and friends of friends, and family are having trouble with the gluten. So, you know what that means. Dinners and dinner parties around here are including less and less gluten. And, you know, it might not be such a bad thing.
Luckily, there are tons of great recipes and alternatives out there for doing things both gluten and dairy free.
Sometimes I just want to take a giant piece of bread and slap some soft, tangy, gooey goat cheese on top and call it a day. I had yet to find anything that really replaced that taste and gorgeous texture. I really needed to come up something that would nix that craving.
This recipe right here might be the answer.
Let me start with the "creamy" leeks. The creaminess comes from a tofu base. I know that might not sound so exciting, but hear me out. The tofu is blanched to get rid of any bean-like taste. Then a lot of other delicious seasonings are added to give it a lovely flavor. Once you throw it in with the caramelized leeks, it's heavenly.
Socca, if you're not familiar with it, is a crepe that is made with garbanzo bean flour and then baked. It is super easy to make, high in protein, and it's gluten-free.
Slap those leeks on top of the rosemary and garlic socca, place some roasted tomatoes on top, and you have one yummy, creamy, delicious, gluten-free and dairy-free snack or party-time app that everyone can eat.