Recipes to bring cheer to the Christmas dinner table

Wild Rice Stuffing

Serves 8 to 10

This recipe, from O, the Oprah Magazine, makes a great alternative to traditional bread stuffing. I use fennel to replace some of the celery because we like the anise flavour, but you could use four stalks of celery instead. I used a prepackaged brown and wild rice mix from my local grocery store. 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 1 cup diced fennel 1½ cups white or cremini mushrooms, sliced 3 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped or 1½ tsp. dried 2 cups prepackaged mixed brown and wild rice 4 cups chicken broth 1 teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon pepper

In a large pot, heat one tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and fennel and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about five minutes. Add mushrooms and continue cooking three more minutes. Add sage, rice, broth, salt and pepper. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook 45 minutes, without lifting lid. Remove from heat.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Serves 4

Tabbouleh, the Middle East- ern salad, is usually made with bulgur, which is made from wheat. New York Times food writer Mark Bittman came up with a delicious version that subs quinoa for the bulgur in this recipe from his cookbook Food Matters (Simon and Schuster). This salad is delicious year-round, and it’s a nice way to balance the potatoes, stuffing and gravy of a traditional Christmas meal. We use cherry tomatoes at this time of year when flavourful larger tomatoes are harder to find. The recipe is easily doubled, and we usually add even more vegetables than what the recipe calls for. You can leave out the olives if you’ll be serving the salad to anyone with a sulphite allergy. ½ cup quinoa, rinsed and drained Salt ⅓ cup olive oil, or more as needed ¼ cup lemon juice, or more as needed Black pepper 1 cup roughly chopped parsley 1 cup roughly chopped fresh mint ½ cup green onions, white and green parts, chopped 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped About 6 olives, black or green, chopped 2 celery stalks (leaves included if possible) 1 English cucumber, diced

Put the quinoa in a small saucepan with ¾ cup water and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and bubble gently until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, 15 minutes or so. Remove from the heat and let rest, covered, for five minutes. Toss the warm quinoa with the oil and lemon juice and sprinkle with pepper. (You can make the quinoa up to a day in advance: Just cover and refrigerate, then bring to room temperature before proceeding.)

Just before you’re ready to eat, add the remaining ingredients and toss gently. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more oil or lemon juice as needed, then serve.

Iced Cut-Out Cookies

Makes about 30

Easy Eats is an online magazine devoted to glutenfree cooking. The editor, Silvana Nardone, has also written a cookbook called Cooking for Isaiah, packed with dairy- and gluten-free recipes for breakfast, salads, soups, and decadent brownies, loaf cakes and pies. After several failed attempts to make cutout sugar cookies during the holidays, we achieved success last year with this wheat, dairy and nut-free recipe adapted from Easy Eats magazine. 2 cups gluten-free flour* 1½ teaspoon baking powder ¼ teaspoon salt ½ cup dairy-free margarine, such as Earth Balance, softened 1 large egg, at room temperature 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon lemon or orange zest (optional)

*Homemade gluten-free flour blend: 1¼ cup brown rice flour 1 cup white rice flour ¼ cup ground flaxseed 1 cup tapioca flour 1 cup sweet rice flour 2 teaspoons xanthan gum (available at most health-food stores and grocery stores with well-stocked gluten-free sections)

In a medium bowl, combine flour blend, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl and using a hand-held mixer on high speed, beat the margarine until fluffy, about two minutes. Add the sugar and beat for one minute more. Add the egg and beat until combined. Beat in zest, if using. Divide the dough into two discs, wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Position rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Cover a clean work surface with a large sheet of wax paper. Place one unwrapped dough disc on top and cover with another piece of wax paper. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to ⅛ inch thick. Remove the top piece of wax paper. Using cookie cutters dipped in tapioca flour, cut out as many shapes as possible, and using a spatula, place on the prepared baking sheets with at least one inch between each cookie. Repeat with any remaining dough, refrigerating if needed.

Bake, one baking sheet at a time, until golden at the edges, 8 to 10 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheets before transferring to wire racks to cool completely. Repeat steps 2 and 3 with the second dough disk, letting the baking sheets cool to room temperature between batches.

Icing

2 cups icing sugar, sifted 1 tsp. vanilla extract 5 tablespoons soy milk Food colouring (optional)

In a large bowl, combine the icing sugar, vanilla and soy milk. Using an electric hand-held mixer, beat until smooth. Add more soy milk to thin to the desired consistency. Divide the icing into smaller bowls and tint with food colouring, if using. Use to decorate cookies.

Bûche de Noël

Serves 6 to 8

This recipe, already glutenfree, can be made dairy-free by choosing a margarine made without milk ingredients, like Earth Balance. Make sure the cocoa does not include wheat or milk in the list of ingredients. It is adapted from the bûche that appears in Nigella Lawson’s cookbook Feast (Alfred A. Knopf Canada).

For the cake 6 eggs, separated ⅔ cup granulated sugar 2 tsp. vanilla ½ cup cocoa

For the icing 1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips* 2 cups icing sugar 1 cup dairy-free margarine, like Earth Balance, softened 1 tablespoon vanilla 3-5 teaspoons icing sugar to decorate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, leaving a generous overhang at the ends and sides, and folding the parchment into the corners to help the paper stay anchored.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy and thick, then add about one-third of the sugar and continue whisking until the whites are holding peaks.

In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar until they are pale and thick. Add the vanilla extract and sieve over the cocoa, then fold both in.

Lighten the yolk mixture with a couple of dollops of the whites, folding in gently, and then add the whites in thirds, mixing carefully to avoid losing the air.

Pour the cake mixture into the lined pan, and bake for 20 minutes. Let the cake cool a little before turning it out on to another piece of parchment paper.

To make the icing, melt the chocolate and let it cool. Put the icing sugar in a food processor, and blitz to remove any lumps, add the butter and process until smooth. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and vanilla and pulse again to make a smooth icing.

Trim the long edges of the cake, as well as the shortest edge, which should be toward you. Spread some of the icing thickly over the cake, going right out to the edges. Roll up from the short side facing you, taking care to get a tight roll from the beginning, and roll up to meet the short end. Cut one or both ends slightly, at a gentle angle.

Use the cake trimming to make as many branches as you wish, and then icing the log with the remaining icing, covering the cut-off ends as well. Create wood-like texture by going along the length of the log with a skewer, etching in knots and so on if you feel creative. Dust with icing sugar if you wish.

* Look for a dairy-free chocolate like Enjoy Life. Some brands of chocolate chips are made without milk ingredients, but you must check the labels carefully because most contain milk.