Sweet Onion Teriyaki Dip/Sauce

Before going gluten-free, I really enjoyed making stirfry with 1/2 cup of teriyaki baste and glaze as the sauce. I hadn't really found a sauce alternative that I enjoyed much, until tonight! I decided to make a dipping sauce for some soft pretzels I made earlier today (recipe will come in a day or two), and wasn't really feeling like the traditional cheesy sauce or anything with honey mustard. I came up with this dipping sauce, and liked it so much that I ended up making stirfry for dinner and stirring this in.

This works great as a dip or as a sauce. If you leave out the cornstarch and water mixture, I bet it would make an excellent marinade too.

***Sweet Onion Teriyaki Dip/Sauce
olive oil, for cooking onion
2 Tbsp. chopped onion (or more, as you desire)
1/2 to 1 tsp. ginger
1/3 cup soy sauce (make sure you're using gluten-free)
1/4 honey
1/2 cup water

1 Tbsp. cornstarch mixed with 3 Tbsp. cold water

In small sauce pan, saute onion in olive oil until onion becomes tender. Stir in desired amount of ground ginger. Remove pan from heat as you add soy sauce, honey and 1/2 cup water. Return to heat. Stir occasionally until mixture begins bubbling. In small bowl, mix cornstarch and cold water. Add cornstarch and water to soy sauce mixture, stirring continuously. Once mixture has thickened, remove from heat.

For my stirfry, I cut chicken into bite size pieces and cooked in olive oil until it was no longer pink. Then I added stirfry veggies and about 1/4 cup of water. Cover skillet and cook until veggies are desired tenderness. I had about 2 cups cooked rice in the refrigerator from a couple days ago, so I stirred that into the chicken and veggies and then added this teriyaki sauce. Quite good! Hope you enjoy it!

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes

With this recipe, I think I discovered two things at once! Not only did I make scalloped potatoes that were dairy-free and still tasted good, I think I might have discovered an alternative to using a can of "cream of ____ " soup in future recipes. Oh, I hope I'm right! Not only was this recipe easy, it also was a money saver because I didn't have to buy an expensive specialty can of soup. And, a lot of those GF soups are not only expensive, but they use heavy cream (not dairy free, and NOT good for anyone's health in any way). So, here it is! (Not the greatest picture, but they tasted great!)

***Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes

4-5 potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup almond milk (or any milk alternative should work fine)
2 Tbsp. cornstarch or tapioca starch
1/4 - 1/2 cup diced onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
3/4 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
olive oil, for cooking celery and onions

Preheat oven to 375. Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a medium-size sauce pan. Over medium heat, saute celery and onion until tender. Slowly add in water and almond milk. Heat to almost boiling. Very gradually, whisk in cornstarch or tapioca starch, until mixed well. If any stray clumps of cornstarch or tapioca starch remain, scoop them out with a spoon. Cook until mixture thickens slightly. In a 1 1/2 - 2 quart casserole dish, layer sliced potatoes. Pour thickened, "cream of celery" soup mixture over potatoes. Bake uncovered for about an hour, or until potatoes are tender and can be pierced with a fork.