Gluten free - grain free - can be dairy free - refined sugar free - egg free - nut free - vegetarian
This is a recipe I created after a friend described some amazing Vegetarian Nachos she ate from a food truck!  Took me a couple of trials to get the balance of flavours right, by my whole family loves this (although that could be more to do with the fact that it's a treat to have chips for dinner!).
    You don't have to put cheese on top- it's still super yummy without it, especially if you serve it with guacamole!  I fry up all the ingredients in the pan, put some cheese on top and place under the grill (broiler) to melt the cheese. I serve it with corn chips on the side.   I'm not a fan of putting it all in a dish with the chips under the filling and putting it in the oven- I don't like the soggy chips on the bottom and the burnt chips sticking out at the top!  Up to you, though!  We use plain corn chips (ingredients should be just corn, oil and salt), and organic if possible.  Blue corn chips can be a fun change- whilst quite normal in America, they haven't become as popular in Australia.  These are also made with another American-staple :  Black Beans.  These are not common on Aussie supermarket shelves, but I get mine from my local organic food store.  If you struggle to find them, use Kidney Beans.
    If you don't want to use cheese or corn chips, this is also a really nice meal served over brown rice.

I find this is enough for two meals for our family of 4.  I freeze the second portion for later for a quick and easy meal.
Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oil (coconut or olive)

• 2 large onions, diced
• 1 paper bag full of mushrooms, diced
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• 1 green capsicum, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 170g can tomato paste, plus 3x cans full of water
• 1 heaped Tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 heaped Tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 heaped Tablespoon smokey paprika
• 2 heaped Tablespoons cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 x 425g cans (BPA free) Black Beans
• 1/2 bunch coriander, chopped (and some reserved for garnish)
• Cheese of choice (optional)
• Corn chips

For Guacamole:

• 2 avocados
• Juice of half a large lime
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• In a very large, heavy based pan over medium heat, place the oil and onions.  Fry until soft and starting to colour
• Add the mushroom and cook till soft and significantly reduced in size
• Add the garlic and capsicums and fry, stirring for 1 minute
• Add the tomato paste and water, spices, salt and pepper, and black beans.  Stir well.
• Reduce heat to low and cook for about 10 minutes to let the flavours infuse.  If it starts to get too dry, add another can full of water. 
• Stir in the coriander leaves at the end.
• Taste and season further if required.
• If not adding cheese, serve with corn chips, or over rice.
• If adding cheese, smooth out the top of the vegetables in the pan, and spread desired amount evenly over the top of the vegetables.  Place under a pre-heated hot grill (broiler) until cheese is melted and golden brown.  Serve in bowls with chips or rice.  Garnish with reserved coriander.

For the Guacamole:

• Mash the avocado flesh in a bowl with a fork, then stir in lime juice and salt and pepper.  You can also add a little chopped coriander if you like.
  
• tip for keeping the Guacamole from going brown:  leave the avocado seeds in it until you are ready to use.  If you don't use all of it, put the seeds back in, cover it and keep it in the fridge. 
  

Gluten free - dairy free - refined sugar free - nut free - egg free - vegetarian
   This is a quick-and-easy post for you today...something that I've thrown together a few times (no doubt a little differently each time) that I thought I'd write down for you.  The original inspiration came from something my little sis' threw together one night when we were visiting, but I've added and subtracted to make it my own. 
    In case you haven't picked up on it by now, Sweet Potato is my all-time favourite vege, and I'm always keen to try it out in new ways.  You can also find my Sweet Potato Soup and Sweet Potato Bake on the blog.  This recipe is boiled!  It has lots of lovely immune boosting properties, with coconut oil, garlic and ginger, and lots of yummy veges.  You can serve it as a complete meal, or with some cooked meat on the side (crumbed chicken or fish, sausages, steak, or pork chops would be my pick). 

Ingredients (for a main dish for 4 people)

• 2 medium sized sweet potatoes (I leave the skin on, but you can peel it if you wish)
• two handfuls of green beans OR snow peas
  
• 2 large fresh corn cobs
• one large brown onion
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2cm knob ginger
• 1 tablespoon oil or butter for frying (I use coconut oil)

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil (or organic butter if you eat dairy, or olive oil)- melted
  
• 1 tablespoon raw honey
• 1 teaspoon smokey paprika
• a pinch or two of chili powder- more if you like it hot.
• a few grinds each of salt and pepper

Method

• Cut the sweet potato into large, rough cubes.  Cut the beans/snow peas into 3 cm lengths.  Cut the corn kernels off the cobs.
• Dice the onion and finely chop or crush the ginger and garlic.

• In a large, heavy based pot (that will ultimately hold all the ingredients), fry the onions in 1 tablespoon coconut oil over medium heat, until starting to soften.  Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another couple of minutes, until they are just cooked but not very brown.  Remove all from pan and set aside.
• Place the sweet potato in the same pot and just cover with water.  Bring to the boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and simmer until the potato is just beginning to soften. 
• At this point either place the beans/snow peas and corn kernels in the water to boil and cook until desired tenderness is reached, or place a steaming insert on top of the pot and steam the veges with the lid on until desired tenderness is reached.  
• While veges are cooking, mix together the dressing, using  all remaining ingredients.  Shake until incorporated.
• Drain the water from the vegetables, add to the vegetables the onion/garlic/ginger and add the dressing.  Gently stir it all through.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper as required. Serve warm.

    Our pies turned out a little larger than a standard 'party pie' and smaller than a regular meat pie, as we used muffin tins to bake them in. You can make your pies any size you like, really.
     As for the pastry, we used a store-bought, pre-made gluten free puff pastry that was pretty decent.  If you want to make your own pastry, I have made many a lovely pie using this shortcrust pastry recipe (you will need to double it for this recipe).

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (I use coconut oil)

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 1 medium carrot, finely chopped

• 12 button mushrooms, finely chopped

• 500g organic beef mince

• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped or minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons (gluten free) Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
• 1 tablespoon mustard (dijon or wholegrain)
• 1 tablespoon gf corn flour (tapicoa or arrowroot starch will also work)
• 1 1/2 cups (gluten free) chicken or beef stock  
• 1 packet Gluten free (or other) puff pastry or a double quantity of this pastry.
• 1 egg or egg white, lightly beaten, for brushing the pastry lids (if you can't eat egg, use milk)

• butter or margarine or oil spray to grease the pie tins

Method

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan then cook the onion, carrot and mushrooms until slightly soft.
• Add the mince meat and garlic and cook, stirring and breaking up the mince, until all the mince is browned.
• Add the tomato paste, Worcestershire, mustard and tamari and stir til combined.
• Sprinkle the flour over the top and stir quickly until incorporated.
• Add the stock, stir til combined and simmer with a lid on the pan for 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally. It is done when the meat is still nice and moist but there is no liquid still simmering in the pan.
• Cool the meat to room temperature (if you put it in the pastry casings hot, it will cause the pastry to go soggy).

• While the meat is cooling, preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
• Choose your desired size of pie tin. I used a 12 hole muffin tin, with 7cm (3 3/4) inch diameter holes. You can use one large family sized flan / pie dish or even smaller muffin tins for a 'party pie' size.
• Grease your pie tins thoroughly.
• If using packet gluten free pastry, roll out your pastry to nearly double the size of the original sheet. If using home made pastry, roll it out to about 3mm thick.
• Cut out circles that will be big enough to have a 1cm overhang above the edge of the pie hole (for my 7cm diameter pie holes I used a 12cm [5 inch] diameter bowl as my circle template). Gently fit these circles into the pie holes, ensuring you gently push the pastry right into the bottom.
• Pre-cut your circles for your lids. I used a 9cm  (3 1/2 inch) ramekin as my circle template.
• Once meat is cool, spoon into pastry cases and place pastry lids on top. Pinch the overhang of the lid together with the overhang of the bottom shell, so they are tightly stuck together.
• Lightly brush the lids with your beaten egg. Make a little slit in the top of the lid to let steam escape.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes until they are golden and the filling is hot (test by inserting a knife and feeling the temperature of the knife when you pull it out).
• Serve with a generous helping of Aussie tomato sauce.