Gluten-free Celery Boats

There’s been much change around here of late. Not only does my blog now have a new home, but there’s also my new eCookbook. They both launched a bit over a week ago, the same week that my eldest two kids started at a new school and my littlest started kindergarten. It was a huge week, that’s for sure, and the whole family has been in need of a little down time.

This past weekend, we found ourselves with no commitments so decided to book in to a nearby caravan (tourist) park for a little family holiday. The accommodation was beautiful and the kids had a blast in the water park and swimming pools. All was going brilliantly until my eldest slipped and then broke a front tooth – it just pretty much snapped in half. And yes, it was an adult tooth. Horror!

Amongst the chaos of trying to find an emergency dentist to look at it on a Saturday night, and the cries of shock and pain (from both parents and child), my middle daughter quietly retraced steps to the scene of the incident and found the missing bit of tooth. I have no idea how she did it, but for quite some time she has been known as the one person in the family who can locate any missing item at any time. She excelled last night.

So off to the dentist we went, eventually. The tooth was bonded back into place, nerve damage may have been avoided, and my daughter’s sparkling smile has been restored. We even managed to enjoy ourselves for the rest of our little holiday, and are planning the next visit.

All that suffered, in the end, was this post. It was meant to be up last night, but instead I spent the evening in a dental practice trying not to appear too squeamish at the sight of the half-tooth and the sound of all those scary dental tools whirring away.

So here’s my belated recipe – simple celery boats. I’d been thinking about the humble gherkin and how it’s regarded as being a bit daggy these days, but oh boy, when you mix it with cream cheese, it really is heaven on a celery stick! You get the sweet and sour tastes, the crunch of the celery against the softness of the cheese, and a little smattering of flax seeds for an added bit of pop.

And then there’s the spiced bean mix – so easy to prepare with a great hit of protein and fibre. I’m pretty fond of these little boats.

They’re quick and easy to prepare – I recommend making the fillings the night before, and then simply spreading over celery sticks the next morning before putting into the lunchbox. Serve with some sliced chicken breast and cold gluten-free pasta for lunch.

A word of warning, though – at first blush, the bean mix may look like a nut paste. If your school or kindergarten has a nut free policy, you may need to warn your child’s teacher that the celery boats are a bean spread and not a nut paste.

Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 celery stalks, washed, trimmed and cut into 7 cm lengths.

Bean Spread

100 g tinned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

½ tsp gluten-free barbeque seasoning

½ tsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Mash with a fork.

Cream Cheese and Gherkin Spread

15 g gherkin, finely diced (approximately ½ a gherkin)

35 g cream cheese

¼ tsp flax seeds

Combine all ingredients in bowl.

Method

Spread a generous amount of each spread into celery sticks. Serve.

Makes approximately 3 sticks of each spread.