Hubby's B-Day gluten free dinner

Goodmorning to everyone. I'm sitting here waiting for the house to warm, just to get the chill off, don't tell my husband, before I work out. You see it has to be flippin' cold before my husband turns on the heater, but secretly I have turned it on a couple times in the morning. We've been using our fireplace lots lately. Anyhoo, let's move on shall we. My husband had a birthday monday so let's see what I made him shall we?


Dave loves a good veggie loaf, mashed taters and greenbeans mixed with peas. I wanted to change up the loaf a bit since I do make them quite a bit, always making them different, there are one or two I will always go back to but I found this one that absolutely turned out awesome!
I found it at I Am Gluten Free orignially from Gluten Free Goddess. Thanks girls!

Karina's Veggie Loaf
Serves 8
adapted by Ellen A.
and re-adapted by JoLynn

1 ? 2 tablespoons olive oil
6 oz cremini mushrooms, diced or sliced
5 large leave Swiss chard or any greens( I had on hand about 6oz. of frozen spinach)chopped.
1 red pepper, diced
1/4 cup oven-roasted grape tomatoes (or sun-dried tomatoes)
1 carrot, cut into chunks
1 cup cooked brown rice, packed
½ cup almonds
1/2 cup walnuts
½ cup gluten free bread crumbs
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2tsp dried oregano
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp wheat-free tamari
1 egg-replacer equivalent (Ener-g or I used 1 tbsp flaxmeal + 3 tbsp water, whisk until frothy)


Maple Sauce:
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
½ cup Ketchup
2 tsp. honey mustard or whole grain with a bit of agave added.

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet and cook the red bell pepper. Once the bell pepper is almost soft add the mushrooms and your greens, cook until until soft. Remove from heat and put into a large bowl, set aside. Put the raw carrot, cooked brown rice, and nuts in a food processor and mix until the mixture forms a coarse meal. BE CAREFUL NOT TO OVERPROCESS UNLESS YOU WANT A MUSHY LOAF. Toss into the mixing bowl with the other vegetables and the breadcrumbs. Add the herbs and spices, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, and tamari. Add the flax meal mixture(or egg) and stir until well-blended. Press the mixture evenly into an oiled loaf pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients with a whisk. Pour the maple sauce over the top of the veggie loaf and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the loaf from the oven and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes. This will make it easier to cut, though it will still be a little fragile.
My son loves the leftover loaf for a sandwich.

Dessert for the birthday guy was chocolate chip cookies. I was going to make him a carrot cake but he loves chocolate chip cookies and when I usually make them I add oatmeal and stuff that he doesn't care for. He prefers the good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie. So I broke down and used Soy Free Earth Balance and ener-g egg replacer to make these. He was very happy indeed! Yay!