The main challenge when it comes to making dinner is the repetitiveness of having to find something to cook every single night. Along with that, having food restrictions can make it even harder to find recipes that follow those restrictions and still taste good. Over the past couple years, I have found a love for cooking and wanted to share seven easy, gluten-free recipes to make your life a little easier. Along with every recipe idea, I either attached the website in which I found it on, or I found a website with a similar recipe in case you want more detailed instructions.

1. Stuffed peppers:

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a51551/cheesesteak-stuffed-peppers-recipe/

Ingredients: 

• Two Bell Peppers (either green or red)
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 16 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 lb. sirloin steak, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 16 slices provolone
• Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

Tips:

• Adding garlic can add some more flavor. 
• You can add spinach to it too if you’d like some greens in there.
• If you don’t have steak, ground sausage or basically any other meat will work too.
• It can become a vegetarian dish too if you replace the steak with tofu.
• You can also add either actual tomatoes or just marinara sauce for extra taste

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Cut two bell peppers in half (depending on the serving size you want). Put the halved peppers on a baking sheet and bake in the oven till soft (about 30min). While the peppers cook, start to prepare the filling. Heat the Vegetable oil in a skillet and then add the cut mushrooms and onions along with the salt and pepper. After sauteing them for about 5 minute, add in the cut steak, and add in the rest of the seasoning, and more salt and pepper. Cook for another 3 minutes.  Add provolone cheese to the bottom of each pepper, add the filling, and then top with more cheese. Bake for another 3 minutes and then top with parsley for garnish. 

Salmon Bowl: 

https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a58003/cilantro-lime-salmon-bowls-recipe/

Ingredients: 

• 3 red peppers, sliced into strips
• 2/3 c. olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon
• kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 c. lime juice
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped cilantro, plus more for serving
• 2 tsp. honey
• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• 4 salmon filets
• 4 c. cooked brown rice
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced
• Lime wedges, for serving

Begin by preheating your oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet with parchment paper, place your sliced bell peppers; toss with 1sp oil, salt and pepper, and then bake for around 10 minutes. If you haven’t already done so, begin also cooking your rice. While they’re cooking, begin to make the marinade. Combine the olive oil, lime juice, cilantro, honey, and garlic. Place the salmon in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper. Then cover it with half the marinade and set aside the other half for later. Remove the peppers from the oven and lay the salmon on top. Put the peppers and salmon back in the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes. 

Place the rice in four different bowls, topped with the salmon, peppers, avocado, and lime, placing the extra marinade in a side dish. Enjoy!

2. Coconut shrimp:

Spicy Coconut Shrimp with Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• shrimp
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 pound uncooked shrimp (26-30 per pound), peeled and deveined
• 2 cups fresh snow peas (about 7 ounces), trimmed
• 3 tablespoons light coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
• 1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Tips:

• You can just cook the onions and spices together instead of just adding the spices in at the end; it will give the onions more time to absorb the different flavors and honestly in the end just helps take out a step.

In a saucepan, bring quinoa, water, and salt to a boil. Reduce heat, cover with lid, and simmer for another 12-15 minutes or until the water is gone. Remove from heat and stir with a fork.

In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Then add in the onions and cook for about 4-6 minutes. Once the onions are soft, add in the ginger, curry powder, cumin, salt, and cayenne and cook for about another 2min. Then add the shrimp and peas, cooking for about another 3 minutes or until the shrimp are pink. Once they’re cooked, add in the coconut milk and orange juice and let cook for a couple more minutes in order to heat them up. Then put on top of the quinoa, topping with coconut and cilantro. Enjoy!

3. Basic cheesy pasta and red sauce 

Ingredients:

• Gluten free noodles
• A can of tomato sauce 
• Oregano
• Thyme 
• Salt 
• Chile flakes 
• Pepper 
• Mushrooms 
• Onions
• Garlic
• Ground sausage 
• spinach
• Basil 
• Parmesan 

Tips:

• Most gluten-free pasta doesn’t taste the best the next day, so make sure to make the right amount for the servings you need. 
• Baking all of this in a pan in the oven topped with another layer of cheese, gluten-free breadcrumbs, and cooked bits of bacon for about 15 minutes can also taste really good.

This dish is pretty straight forward and probably doesn’t need too much explaining, so here are some quick, straightforward, instructions…. Boil a pot of water for your noodles (I know so surprising), and once fully boiled, add in your noodles (most gluten free noodles take around 8 minutes). While they’re cooking, begin to cook the sausage by frying it in a pan with some oil. Once the sausage is cooked, add in the mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Then pour in the tomato sauce. Add in the chile flakes, pepper, salt, oregano, and thyme. Drain the cooked noodles; then add them to the sauce. Mix together along with the parmesan cheese and spinach. Put a lid over it and turn the heat to low; cook for another 2 minutes in order to melt the cheese. Add basil on top and enjoy!

4. Thai Coconut soup:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/146035/the-best-thai-coconut-soup/

Ingredients: 

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 1 stalk lemongrass, minced
• 2 teaspoons red curry paste
• 4 cups chicken broth 
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 3 (13.5 ounce) cans coconut milk
• ½ pound fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pound medium shrimp – peeled and deveined 
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• salt to taste
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Tips: 

• If you don’t like shrimp or you just don’t have them, chicken is a good replacement.
• Tofu is also good in this soup if you’re vegetarian or just want to add it for more protein (I usually add in squared pieces when I add in the coconut milk).
• This makes a LOT of soup, especially if you put it over rice, so maybe half the recipe. 
• I usually will add a little bit more lime juice and more of the other ingredients that add flavor. 
• Putting this all over rice, or adding rice noodles is also good.
• I will usually add tamari (gluten-free soy sauce) instead of adding salt 

Put the oil in a large pot, and heat over a medium flame. Then add in the lemongrass, ginger, and curry paste, stirring for one minute. Began to slowly pour in the chicken broth, following it with fish sauce, brown sugar, and mushrooms, letting it simmer for (about) 15 minutes afterwards. *If you chose to add chicken instead of the shrimp, put in the chicken now or cook it in a separate pan (I personally usually cook it in separate pan so I can make sure it’s cooked)* . Then add in the coconut milk, shrimp, lime juice and salt, cooking the shrimp till they’re pink. Once everything seems cooked, put your soup in a bowl over your rice, noodles, or just by itself if you choose. Top with cilantro and enjoy!

   5 / 6. Easy Tacos and Cabbage salad (two different dinner possibilities in one recipe ):

Ingredients for tacos:

• Corn tortillas
• Avocado 
• Steak, ground beef, chicken, shrimp (whatever kind of meat you like to have in tacos. Honestly even ground sausage can work if that’s all you have, or if your vegetarian, you could use tofu.)
• Cabbage salad
• Fresh onion
• Cilantro 
• Oregano 
• Thyme 
• Salt
• Pepper
• Chile flakes 
• Minced or crushed Garlic
• Cumin 
• Olive oil

Ingredients for cabbage salad:

• Cabbage 
• Carrots
• Green onions
• Rice ramen noodles *optional* 
• Rice vinegar 
• 2 tbsp Sesame seeds 
• Brown sugar 
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Ramen noodle seasoning packet 
• Sesame oil 

Tips:

• If you use a half a head of cabbage, then you should use about 3 greens onions and 3 medium sized carrots 
• You can cook the ramen, or if you want it to be crunchy, you can just soak it in the dressing for a couple minutes before putting it on the salad. 

Cabbage salad instructions:

Cut up your cabbage and green onions and mix them together in a large bowl. Then grate your carrots and add them into the bowl. Begin to make your dressing by mixing together *about* ⅓ cup rice vinegar, *about* 2 tbsp seeds, *about* ¼ – ½ cup sugar depending on how sweet you want it, some salt, pepper, *about*  ½ sesame oil, and then one packet of ramen noodle seasoning packet (and the crunched up rice ramen noodles if you’re choosing to add them)

Tips:   

• If you choose just to make the cabbage salad, adding chicken on top can give it more protein. 
• If you choose to add steak, you could marinade it before hand for about a hour or two for more flavor. 

Taco instructions:

First begin by cooking whatever meat you’re choosing to put into your tacos ( I’m just going to say ground beef so as not to get confused ). Get a skillet and begin to heat up olive oil in a pan. Once heated add in the ground beef. Also at this time, begin to heat up your tortillas by wrapping them in tinfoil, and placing them in your oven at around 350 degrees. Once the meat is about half way cooked (when there’s not much pink left), begin to add in your spices. Add in the oregano, thyme, chile flakes pepper, salt, and cumin. I personally don’t use any measured amount of these, but rather just add a certain amount of each in, till it tastes good ( it does not take much of them though, maybe like 1 tsp of each oregano and thyme for about 3 tacos worth of meat). Continue to fry the beef until it’s fully cooked, then add in the crushed garlic and set aside in a separate bowl. Get out your tortillas, place some of the cooked beef in each of them, then add the cabbage salad on one side of it, and the slices of avocado on the other. Add the cut onion and cilantro over it all along with a sprinkle of salt. Enjoy!

7. Hot and Sour Soup:

In cookbook: Joy of Cooking 

Ingredients:

• 7 ounces extra firm tofu; drained 
• 4 tbsp tamari 
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 3 tbsp cornstarch 
• Another 1 ½ tsp cornstarch
• 1 boneless pork chop, ½ inch thick, cut into thin *about* 1inch long ¨matchsticks¨
• 3 tablespoons water
• Another 1 tsp water
• 1 large egg
• 6 cups chicken broth (low sodium) 
• 1 cup bamboo shoots cut into thin strips
• 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced (stems removed)
• 5 tbsp chinese black vinegar (or 1 red wine vinegar and 1 balsamic vinegar mixed together)
• 2 tsp of chilli oil or just 1 depending on how spicy you want it
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 3 scallions, sliced 

Tips:

• In the original recipe it says to set something heavy on top of the tofu at the beginning to let all the liquid get out of it, which is not necessary, but you can do this step if you’d like to.
• If you want leftovers, You can double or triple the recipe (this makes a LOT though, probably enough to last about 5 people a couple days).
• If it’s not spicy enough, you can add some sort of hot sauce 

Begin by putting chicken broth into a large pot over medium heat. Then whisk together 1 tbsp of tamari, sesame oil, and 1 tsp cornstarch in a medium bowl, adding in the pork, and then let it sit for at least 10min. While that’s sitting, combine 3 tbsp of cornstarch with 3 tbsp of water in a small bowl, mix them together, and then set them aside. Then mix the last ½ tsp cornstarch with the last 1 tsp of water in a small bowl along with the egg; beat with a fork till combined.  Once the chicken broth is to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and then add the bamboo shoots and mushrooms, letting simmer for about 5 minutes ( until the mushrooms are tender ). While that’s simmering, chop the tofu into ½ cubes. Add your cubed tofu and pork, along with the marinade, into your broth. Continue to let it simmer till pork is no longer pink (around 4min). Then add in the cornstarch mixture (not the one with the egg) into the soup, increasing heat to medium high, cooking until the soup thickens and turns translucent. Turn off heat; stir in vinegar,chili oil, pepper and the remaining 3 tbsp of tamari. Lastly, without stirring, use a spoon to slowly drizzle thin streams of egg mixture into the soup. Let the soup sit for 1 minute and then turn the heat back to medium high, bringing soup to a gentle boil, and then remove from heat again. Then gently stir the soup, as to move around the egg and serve. Enjoy!