gluten-free | The Spamwise Chronicles

Brussels Sprouts and Heirloom Beans

January 11, 2015 by Stan Santos

I’ve been living in this country for a very long time, and I still can’t get used to winter. Temperature-wise, it’s my least favorite season of all. I much prefer spring and autumn; they’re at least bearable. I used to think that winter was the least interesting season, as far as cooking was concerned. Then, I woke up. Its joys are about comfort and warmth. They’re about chicken soup, laden with fat noodles and flecks of parsley. If you’re adventurously […]

Categories: food, Gluten-Free, San Francisco, vegan, winter • Tags: beans, brussels sprouts, California, food photography, gluten-free, Jennifer McLagan, Rancho Gordo, San Francisco, vegan, winter

Zucchine Alla Parmigiana

November 2, 2014 by Stan Santos

When someone asks me “What do you like to cook?”, I almost invariably answer “Italian”. If pressed for detail, I sometimes answer “Mediterranean-style vegetable-focused cooking, with a strong preference towards Italy and occasional side trips to Spain, the Middle East and India”. In fact, I cook Italian food so much that I sometimes wonder if I lived in Italy in a previous life. When I buy Italian cookbooks, the first section that I turn to is the section on vegetable […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, recipe, summer, vegetarian • Tags: cookbooks, food photography, foodblogs, gluten-free, Italian food, Memorie di Angelina, recipe, summer, vegetarian, zucchini

Mejadra, with Yogurt and Cucumber

July 31, 2014 by Stan Santos

Rice and beans (or peas, or lentils) is a tradition in just about every region I can think of, from the American South (red beans and rice), to India (chana masala, dal and rice), to the Caribbean (Puerto Rican arroz con gandules, Jamaican rice and peas) and points beyond. You can make it with or without meat. It seems to me that if people use meat in this way, it’s more typically used as a flavoring or as a way […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, recipe, summer, vegetarian • Tags: cucumber, food photography, gluten-free, lentils, Middle Eastern food, onion, recipe, summer, vegetarian, Yotam Ottolenghi

Green Beans Braised in Tomato Sauce

July 26, 2014 by Stan Santos

On Facebook, someone mentioned how the style of my cooking so often can be tracked to old-time Italian country cooking. At the time the recession of 2008 hit, I started to eat less meat because of how much it cost. At the same time, I also made a change in how I cooked. Practically everything I make follows a strictly seasonal pattern since I buy produce from my farmers’ market all year round. Another reason is that shortly after I […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, photography, recipe, summer, vegan • Tags: cooking, food photography, gluten-free, green beans, Italian food, Mark Bittman, recession, summer, tomatoes, vegan

Asparagus with Coconut and Cardamom

June 21, 2014 by Stan Santos

This is my interpretation of one of Floyd Cardoz‘s creations at his former restaurant, the now-closed Tabla. Opened in 1998, Tabla was an instant hit amongst New York City’s food cognoscenti. It heralded the arrival of what would be called “New Indian cuisine”, where classical Indian dishes and concepts were re-interpreted via a modern American prism. The restaurant garnered three stars from the New York Times and was consistently ranked amongst the top echelon in the Zagat guidebook. So many […]

Categories: food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Indian food, recipe, summer, vegetarian • Tags: dinner, Floyd Cardoz, food photography, gluten-free, Indian food, summer, Tabla, vegetarian

Spinaci alla Genovese

May 18, 2014 by Stan Santos

Now that we’re in the throes of spring here in New York City, let’s talk about greens. I adore greens of all kinds, whether they’re arugula, broccoli rabe or chickweed, to name a few. Arugula is such an underrated substitute for lettuce; try using it in salads or in pesto. Chickweed has a crispness and a faintly grassy flavor that’s brightened with a vinaigrette of hazelnut oil and lemon juice. When subjected to long, slow cooking, broccoli rabe tames its […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, Italian food, recipe, spring • Tags: anchovy, food photography, gluten-free, Italian food, raisins, side dish, spinach, spring

Chermoula

April 27, 2014 by Stan Santos

If there’s an herb in my pantry that would qualify as an MVP, it would probably be flat-leaf parsley. I go through at least 1-2 bunches a week. I use it in just about everything I make — as part of a battuto, as a garnish, and lately in, chermoula. Chermoula is a condiment of North African origin, and is made with a variety of green herbs, cumin and olive oil. Most people favor it as a marinade, but I […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, photography, recipe, spring, vegan • Tags: cilantro, condiment, gluten-free, herbs, mint, North African cuisine, parsley, recipe, spring, vegan

Spicy Spanish Mussels, with Almonds and Parsley

April 7, 2014 by Stan Santos

It used to be that you could get marrow bones, chicken feet, mussels, chicken livers and so forth for barely a pittance. That’s hardly the case any more. The first time I had roasted marrow bones, it was as an appetizer that totally blew my socks off. That was in 2003, at Prune, a beloved restaurant in the East Village better known for its weekend brunches. It came with a side of parsley salad, sharpened with pickle juice and capers. […]

Categories: cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, recipe • Tags: almonds, dinner, food photography, gluten-free, mussels, recipe, Spanish food

Meat Snapshots

February 20, 2014 by Stan Santos

There’s no real way to sugarcoat this. I do eat meat from time to time, but when I do, I tend to use it as a flavoring and I typically don’t make it the main event. An exception would be the lamb shanks that I posted a pic of a few weeks ago, and the chicken below. On the other hand, while I love a good steak or hamburger on occasion, you won’t find recipes for those on the blog […]

Categories: American cuisine, Chinese food, cooking, food, food photography, Gluten-Free, winter • Tags: American cuisine, chicken, Chinese food, dinner, fish, food photography, gluten-free, leftovers, meat, winter

The Spamwise Chronicles

A blog devoted to the beauty of food.

Tag: gluten-free