Norway Recipe Box: Fiskeboller Pasta with Zucchini and Potatoes

This is part of my Norway recipe series, developed while living in Trondheim for four months.  These gluten-free recipes include items I was able to easily find locally and cook without access to an oven or microwave, and using no more than two stove burners.  This means they can be prepared in the typical kitchenette unit found in less expensive Norwegian apartments and hotels. Click Here for the full series. 

Fiskeboller Pasta with Zucchini and Potatoes

Fiskeboller are a very traditional Norwegian fish dumpling.  Normally I don't like fish.  Once a year or so I will try something fishy just to remind myself of that.  Because these are mixed with dumpling material and light spices, the flavor is mild enough to be good for that once a year test.  In flavor, fiskeboller are a lot like scallops.  They also come pre-cooked. 

Finding gluten-free fiskeboller was surprisingly easy.  Potato and tapioca starches are much less expensive here than wheat flour, so at least half of the packages I checked had no gluten ingredients.  The ones I used were in the refrigerated section of the supermarket.  There are also canned fiskeboller, which are much more common and more strongly flavored.

The very mild flavor means that you don't want to throw in anything to overpower them, like peppers.  I stuck to potatoes and a white sauce (very traditional) but added some color with zucchini, and mixed it up with some gluten-free rotini pasta and shaved jarlsberg cheese.

Equipment:  12 inch frying pan with lid, pot, colander, whisk, spatula


Ingredients
(serves 4.  Reserve half the pasta and cheese to cook the next day if intending leftovers.  Norwegian word for each ingredient in bold).

 1 500 gram package fiskeboller, drained of juices
 1 large fresh zucchini, chopped
3-4 small yellow or red potatoes, sliced thin (potet)
1/2 large onion or 2 small, sliced thin (løk)
2 cloves garlic, minced, divided (hvitløk)
2-3 white mushrooms, sliced (sopp)
 2-3 tablespoons potato flour (potetmel) or corn starch (maisstivelse)
1 package gluten-free rotini (or substitute extra potatoes)
2 cups milk (melk)
Olive oil for cooking (oliven olje)
chopped slices of Jarlsberg cheese to garnish 


Set pot of water to boil for the pasta, and heat frying pan to medium.
Add oil to the frying pan and heat until it runs freely.  
Add onion and half the garlic to the oil and stir until fragrant
Add potatoes and stir-fry until starting to brown.  
Add 1/4 cup water and cover; turn heat down if necessary to medium-low.
Cook covered for five minutes.
Remove lid, add zucchini and more oil if needed, stirring until starting to brown.  If there is a lot of water left, turn up the heat a little.
Replace lid and cook another 5 minutes or until potatoes are tender. 
Add mushrooms, stir-fry until they darken, then remove all vegetables from pan.    

Start the pasta cooking (only as much as you need for this meal; cook it fresh for leftovers) 

Add the remaining garlic and some oil if needed.  Cook until fragrant.
Turn the heat down to medium-low. 
Mix potato flour or corn starch into cold milk, then pour into pan with the garlic
Use the spatula to stir, scraping the bottom of the pan to pick up cooked-on residue. 
As it starts to clump, use the whisk to smooth out the sauce.  Add more milk if it needs to thin. 
When it is evenly thick and bubbling, add vegetables back into the sauce, along with the fiskeboller.  
Let simmer over low heat until the pasta finishes cooking and the fiskeboller is warmed through, stirring occasionally.  

Drain the pasta. Place cooked pasta in a large bowl, top with the mix, and garnish with chopped slices of Jarlsberg. 

Reheat leftover sauce in a lidded pot or frying pan on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until everything is hot.  Cook up fresh pasta and chop fresh Jarlsberg to serve with the leftovers. 

Gluten-Free in Trondheim, Norway (Part 5: Recipes)

While these will also be available on my Recipes page, they are developed in Trondheim, Norway using ingredients I could easily find there, as well as the tiny no-oven kitchenettes I found in rental studios.  Generally these are for two people, with occasional leftovers. Hopefully this will be a handy index to get started cooking in Norway. 



Fiskeboller Pasta with Zucchini and Potatoes 





Pork Chops with Lingonberry Jam and Pan-Seared Vegetables

Gluten-Free in Trondheim, Norway (Part 4: Daily Grocery Shopping)

See my Gluten-Free Travel page for the whole series.  

Part 4: Daily Grocery Shopping

Maybe you'll get into a really swanky place with a full-size fridge, but the majority of places we looked at have a mini-fridge with two shelves, a tiny crisper drawer, and a little shelf space for a freezer.  For two people, there is room for about two days worth of food, maximum.  That's okay though, because fruits and vegetables here don't seem to store as well as in the U.S., and you should plan to use what you buy quickly.  U.S. habits of weekly shopping go out the window. 

The exception is Sunday, when only convenience stores are really open (7-11, some mini-Bunnpris).  These might have milk, but not many other gluten-free items.

The good news is that the vast majority of Norwegians, especially younger folks, speak excellent English and are happy to switch to English if you ask. 

Things you won't easily find here, that you might be used to finding in a grocery store in the U.S.:

• Trash bags (you buy shopping bags for one kroner at the store, and re-use them for trash and recycling)
• Vanilla extract (you can use vanilla sugar (vaniljesukker) in the same amount as extract)
• Sudafed (prescription-only) or oral decongestants like Dayquil.  Norwegians either tough it out, or use nasal sprays to treat symptoms.

Grocery stores usually carry a small selection of cleaning supplies and hygiene items, but you will need to visit a specialty store for some things:

• OTC meds, mouthwash, vitamins, first-aid supplies:  Visit an apotek (drugstore)
• Cleaning utensils such as brooms and mops, kitchen utensils, etc:  find a hardware store, such as Jernia or Clas Ohlson
• Alcohol:  some light beer is available in grocery stores, but all alcohol over 4.75% is only sold in the state-run Vinmonopolet shops, which are not plentiful and have odd hours.

GLUTEN -FREE SHOPPING

As I mentioned in the last post, these are the grocery stores in Trondheim with excellent gluten-free selections:

•     Bunnpris
•     Rema 1000
•     Kiwi (best produce prices)
•     Meny (has the best overall selection)

 Look for the closest one using Google Maps; preferably within walking distance.


These stores usually have a full set of shelves of gluten-free items all clustered together.  You still need to read labels though, as they might stick some other special dietary items (like vegetarian) in the same area that are not gluten-free. 

PACKAGING:

By law, products with less than 100ppm gluten can be labeled Svært lavt gluteninnhold, or "very low gluten."  These might be suitable for people with light reactivity.  Products with less than 20ppm can be labeled gluten-free:

glutenfri
glutenfrie
glutenfrit
glutenfritt

These are all different ways to say gluten-free, depending on the origin of the product (Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, etc.).  In addition, there may be a little picture of an ear of wheat with a circle and cross through it:
 
Allergen labeling in Norway is fantastic.  If a label has bold-font items, they are potential allergens, and we have found that we can generally trust them to disclose gluten ingredients.  Look for variants on these words:

• Wheat:  hvete  (don't confuse with hvite, which is "white" or hvitelok, which is "garlic")
• variants:  hvetemel (wheat flour), hvetestivelse (wheat starch, may be low or no gluten but cause those with wheat allergy to react), durumhvete (duram wheat), Kamut (species of wheat), Enkorn (species of wheat), hvetekli (wheat bran)
• Barley: bygg
• variants: byggmel (barley flour), byggmalt (barley malt)
• Rye: rug
• variants: rugmel (rye flour)
• Triticale:  tritikale, a rye/wheat hybrid found in northern Europe and Scandinavia. 
• Spelt (same as English)
•  Farro:  emmer 
• Oats: havre (only an issue if you are high sensitivity or cross-sensitive) 

In addition, there may be a "may contain" warning after the ingredients list.  It will read "kan inneholde <gluten, etc.>" or mention "traces of" (spor av).  "Ikke" negates whatever is after it, so "Ikke inneholde" would mean "does not contain."

We have not yet had an issue with packaged plain raw meat or vegetables having gluten cross-contamination, but tend to wash them off before cooking to be safe. 

At first, your daily trips may involve a lot of time staring at package labels.  After a few trips, you'll have a few favorite brands you buy, and the trip will get faster.  Remember to ask for the number of bags you'll need at the checkout.  They'll cost 1 kroner each, but are nice and sturdy, so they can be re-used either for future trips or trash can liners. 

Next: Recipes

Gluten-Free in Trondheim, Norway (Part 3: Your First Day)

See my Gluten-Free Travel page for the whole series.  

Part 3: Your first day in Trondheim

Unless you're very young and spry, you will probably be too jetlagged to do much your first day (or even your second).  Your goals should include decontaminating the space (if you have your own kitchen), and your first trip to the grocery store.

Decontaminating the Space
There isn't much you can do to keep a shared kitchen clean, so you will have to pre-clean before each meal prep.  This includes washing down the counters and stove, and then thoroughly scrubbing all pots, pans, dishes, cutting boards, and utensils you will use to make and eat that meal. 

If you have your own kitchen, use one of the two washcloths you brought for a full washdown of every surface, item, shelf and cupboard provided in the kitchen unit, as well as eating surfaces such as tables or trays.  Then you have a fully safe space you don't have to worry about.  That washcloth should be thoroughly hand or machine washed before using again, which is why you brought two!

While you're decontaminating, make a note of anything you need to pick up.  There might be ten espresso cups and no water glasses, for instance.  Or plastic forks but no spoons. 

First Shopping Trip

Grocery stores in Trondheim with excellent gluten-free selections:

    Bunnpris
    Rema 1000
    Kiwi
    Meny (has the best selection)
   
Look for the closest one using Google Maps; preferably within walking distance. If you plan to use public transit and have a smartphone, look for options on the AtB website for digital ticketing. 

These stores usually have a full set of shelves of gluten-free items all clustered together.  You still need to read labels though, as they might stick some other special dietary items (like vegetarian) in the same area that are not gluten-free. 

Keywords:

glutenfri
glutenfrie
glutenfrit
glutenfritt

These are all different ways to say gluten-free in Norwegian.  In addition, there may be a little picture of an ear of wheat with a circle and cross through it:

For the first day, don't get fancy.  Plan to do a little shopping every day instead of once a week.  Scandanavia is the home of Schar, one of the largest gluten-free manufacturers in the world.  So you will find shelf-stable bread, cookies, and crackers from Schar, all of which are mighty tasty.  For the first day, I would reccomend the following:

1.  Fresh whole fruit (always gluten-free of course, and easy to recognize)
2.  gluten-free mueseli or corn flakes (a cereal full of fruit, nuts, seeds, and rice or corn puffs)
3.  milk (Tine is the most common brand in Norway and we have not yet had a problem with their milk)
4.  Gluten-free bread or crackers
5.  Babybel or Jarlsberg cheese

If you have other dietary restrictions, you'll need to take it a step further and maybe buy some fresh veggies and vegetable oil for your first meals.  We're pretty dairy-heavy, and I realize that intolerance to lactose and casein are pretty common. 

Lactose-free products are labeled "laktosfrit" (with variations on the ending similar to the gluten-free list above). 

If you still have energy at this point, you could spend some time getting to know your neighborhood, working out bus routes, and looking for car rentals if necessary. 

Next: Daily Grocery Shopping

Gluten-Free in Trondheim, Norway (Part 2: Packing)

See my Gluten-Free Travel page for the whole series. 

Part 2:  Packing

This is the minimum, and typical kitchen you'll find in any single-occupancy, non-luxury space. 

It is two burners, a sink, and a mini-fridge in the cupboard beneath the burners. Our's is a fancy newer model and I get a luxurious whole foot of counter-space. Unless you see it in the photos or it is specifically listed, don't assume that the space includes an oven, a microwave, a freezer, a dishwasher, or any other appliance. Plan on working with this much space.

"furnished with kitchen" may mean a range of things.  In one apartment, it was plasticware and paper plates, a worn teflon frying pan, a semi-melted spatula, a bunch of coffee cups, and an espresso maker (Norway is one of the largest coffee consumers in the world).  In another apartment it was a full set of dishes, pots, pans, and utensils (but, oddly enough, no spatula). 

The two most expensive things we invested in new when we arrived were a good sharp knife, and a stainless steel frying pan with a lid (both from Ikea, for around $30 total).

You might want to find room in your checked luggage to bring a few essentials along. All the frying pans we've encountered in the shared spaces have been very worn teflon, and gluten-particles can easily hide in the cuts and scratches to contaminate our food. A deep sautee pan like this one can double as a pot for soups, sauces, and rice, or you could throw in an additional small pot to cook rice at the same time as a stir-fry.  A can opener and a nylon spatula are good additions, as both tend to be difficult to decontaminate.  We found cleanable things like drinking glasses, tableware, etc. at a local thrift shop (Fretex is the Norwegian Salvation Army and have a store on Fjordgata in the city center). 

If you can afford it, investing in a set of backpacking kitchen tools (pots, pans, eating utensils, etc.) would eliminate your dependence on whatever your hosts have stocked. They'd also be nice and compact and lightweight for travel.   

As room permits, I would advise packing the following, in order of priority, to prevent gluten-contamination and to be ready to cook right away on arrival:

1. frying pan
2. dishcloths x2
3. dish towels x2
4. hotpad
5. sharp knife
6. can opener
7. spatula
8. pot with lid
9. scrubber for pot and pan

If you have tons of space, you could throw in things like a rice cooker, but remember that you have to haul it around a lot. Gluten-free flour mixes are plentiful here, but if you really depend on something specific (like tapioca flour) then bring it in your checked luggage.  Remember, though, that you might not have an oven.

If you plan to try and maintain your own dishes in a shared kitchen, add a plastic tote with a lid to the list.  This should take up minimal space, as you can pack clothes and other things into it and around it inside your suitcase. If you plan to simply pre-wash shared dishes, skip the tote.  Your own dishclothes are especially necessary in a shared kitchen, where the provided ones will be full of crumbs. 

If packing pots and pans sounds dubious, know that you can save a lot of space on clothes.  Since so few people have clothes dryers, clothes are often worn several times before washing, and then air-dried on racks or lines. The general low humidity means that most clothes dry within 24 hours even in rainy weather.  I discovered that I had packed ten or twelve outfits when three would have been plenty; even for four months!

Casual dress is the norm, and you'll see people out at restaurants in jeans, hiking boots and windbreakers on a regular basis.  If you are travelling in summer, expect weather similiar to the Pacific Northwest, and bring a light sweater and jacket to layer for cool evenings, a pair of shorts, a pair of jeans (two if staying more than three days), and a few tee-shirts. In fall or winter, skip the shorts and add a second, heavier sweater and a coat, scarf, hat, and gloves.  Winter gear is easily available here, and high quality.

FOR THE FLIGHT


After a cross-continental flight on Delta where I discovered by accident that the fancy handsoap on the plane was designed to leave a layer of wheat gluten on the skin as a moisturizer, we travel with our own hand soap.  Softsoap makes a travel-size body wash that works well and is available at most pharmacies and grocery stores in the travel section. 

Also note that airlines rarely clean the surfaces between flights, and serve lots of gluten.  Wet wipes, even baby wipes, will help you decontaminate your seat area (tray table, screen controls, etc.).

About a week before your flight, call the airline to confirm that you have requested a gluten-free meal.  You'll be spending a minimum of 12 hours in airports and planes, so make sure the airline is doing some of the work to feed you.  If you have multiple dietary restrictions, you might be on your own.

You'll want to bring snacks.  Remember that you won't be able to bring any liquids over 3 ounces into the terminal, so don't count on smoothies.  You can, however, bring an empty water bottle or thermos to fill at the drinking fountains once you're past security.  Otherwise expect to pay $3.00-$5.00 for bottled drinks.  There are sometimes restrictions on air travel with whole fresh fruits, so it's best to avoid them.  Bring sturdy, filling things like granola bars, dried fruit, carrot sticks, and gluten-free beef jerky and pretzels, and enough to feed you for 24 hours if necessary.  This accounts for unexpected weather delays, as well as the fact that you won't want to immediately go grocery shopping after a 12 hour flight. 

Suggested list for carry-on packing:

1.  handsoap
2.  hand sanitizer
3.  wet wipes
4.  empty water container (fill before getting on the plane)
5.  gluten-free snacks for 24 hours
6.  earbuds
7.  European plug adaptors and step-down converters for phones chargers and laptops (hard to find here, but Radio Shack and Best Buy have them in the U.S.)
8.  Any medication you will need for the trip, in original prescription bottles with your name
9.  OTC pain pills
10.  Anti-diarrhea and antacid meds.



Next up: Your First Day in Trondheim

Gluten Free in Trondheim, Norway (part 1: Finding a place to stay)

This is part one of a series on visiting Norway with a severe gluten sensitivity and/or Celiac.  For the other parts, see my Travel Page.

My partner and I have embarked on the grand adventure of living in Norway for four months (essentially the fall semester).  He is doing research at NTNU, the major university in Trondheim.  Since Norway is a civilized country, they offered a spousal allowance in the grant for me to accompany him.  So I am taking a semester off school myself.

My partner is severely gluten-sensitive.  He has gotten sick several times just by sitting at a table at work where someone ate pizza or sandwiches, or grading papers with crumbs on them, and absentmindedly touching his face or handling his own food. We keep the entire house strictly gluten-free, after a full decontamination when he was first diagnosed five years ago.  (A shout-out to our marvelous group of tabletop gamers, who have been willing to only bring gluten-free snacks to our bimonthly game!)  I avoid eating gluten myself, because I can transfer gluten easily via my skin, clothes, and mouth after I indulge.

So fast-forward to the idea of spending four months trying to live gluten-free in a rented space in a foreign country where we do not even speak the language. It's taking a lot of trial and error, careful reading and translating, and a lot of planning to do.  It's also completely worth it!  Hopefully, some of what I learned will help you plan a trip to Norway, even if you're not staying quite as long.  

STEP ONE:  PLAN AHEAD (selecting a space)

You gotta have a kitchen.  This is something that most folks without food allergies don't understand, because they can order takeout for every meal.  There are a few high-end restaurants in Trondheim that do gluten-free meals (although their level of gluten-free is questionable as they use shared cooking spaces with gluten).  But eventually you will need to make food for yourself, at which point a regular hotel room is too limited. 

The first challenge to gluten-free living in Norway is the predominance of shared space.  The majority of places to live have shared kitchens; especially in a college town like Trondheim.  Bread is an enormous staple here for all meals, so if you are very sensitive, you need to do the digging to find a place with your own kitchen you can decontaminate and keep clean. If you can handle a crumb here and there, you may be able to get by simply by washing dishes and surfaces before prepping each meal, or keeping a set of clean dishes and cookware in a tote separate from your housemates.  

For a Short Stay (up to two weeks):

There are a few "apartment hotels" in Trondheim, whose rates are fairly competitive with Airbnb.  They book quickly though, and they may not have rooms available on short notice or for long blocks of time.

City Living Hotel and Apartments has an English website.Ttheir rooms seem to start around 600 kroner a night for a room with its own fridge and shared access to a large communal kitchen.  A "Superior" room with its own kitchenette starts at 700 kroner per night.  The Trondheim location is right in the City Center and close to everything you will need or want in Trondheim. 

Trondheim Leilighetshotell has an English-language page, and includes pricing information (starting at 700-900 kroner a night for a studio apartment with a small kitchen).  It is a poor location if you don't have a car.  It is quite a hike to the nearest grocery store, and not always with sidewalks.

There are much more expensive options (starting around $1500-$2000 kroner a night) but if you can afford those, you should be working with a travel agent for the best up-to-the-minute accommodations.  

For a Long Stay (or if the hotels are full): 

You will need http://translate.google.com

Generally a lifesaver, but has some tricks to know.  Good for translating specific websites, but navigation often suffers within the translator.  For instance, with Airbnb, you'll want to open specific listings in the original website, THEN paste the individual listing into translator to read in a second tab.  The image gallery in most cases will also work better in the original site, so don't try to view images through the translator.  If you have the translator app, it will suggest corrections to misspelled words, which happens as often in Norwegian as it does in English.

http://www.airbnb.com

AirBnB is perfect for short-term rentals in actual homes in Norway (generally up to a month).  You pay a flat rate per night, week, or month and it includes all utilities for a fully furnished place. As with all of these websites, some places are listed incorrectly as the entire apartment or house when it is really a shared space.

http://hybel.no

Hybel is a Norwegian site for listing short and long-term rentals and sublets.  Long-term rentals in Norway means two to three years, so you are looking for short-term if you are just visiting. 

http://www.finn.no

This is the Craigslist of Norway.

Both Hybel and Finn are buyer-beware; they do not have the guarantees or payment system of Airbnb.  If you're staying for more than a week, you may want to book two or three nights via Airbnb, then look for a better place once you are here.

Pitfalls:

Number of rooms: Apartments are listed as the number of rooms, but Google translate interprets "2 roms" as "two bedrooms" when in fact it means the entire flat is two rooms: probably a living/dining area and a sleeping area.  1 rom is a studio, which may have one or two tiny beds or just a sofa bed.  The number of rooms does not include the kitchen and bathroom.

Meters square: Again this does not apply to the kitchen and bath; only the primary rooms.  It is often listed incorrectly.  If a listing has a large number of rooms but a small square meter listed, it is probably a shared space and you are only getting a bedroom.

Bedsit: The cheapest option you will see will be for a bedsit, which is a single tiny bedroom in a dorm-style space with a shared bathroom.  There may or may not be kitchen or laundry facilities.  Many bedsit places seem to be rented on the assumption that the occupant will survive on takeout.

Parking: If you plan to have a rental car, make sure there is parking available.  Public parking is much more expensive the closer you get to the city center.

Cost: Housing is not cheap in Norway, and Trondheim is especially expensive.  For your own space, expect to pay in the neighborhood of 8000-11000 kroner per month, or 500-1000 kroner per night in or near the city center (in the bend between the river and the fjord).  Prices drop as you get further away from town, but the necessity of having a car rises proportionately. type "NOK to USD" into Google to get a currency converter. 

Location: Norway is an extraordinarily low-crime place compared to the U.S., so I would not be especially concerned about "safe" and "unsafe" neighborhoods.  Instead, the focus should be on amenities.  Grocery shopping is something you should plan to do every day, as many places only have mini-fridges in the kitchens with space for two or three meals.  Our American habit of having everything available in one store is also a hard one to break.  Use Google maps to search for the following near your prospective place:

Grocery stores with excellent gluten-free selections:

• Bunnpris
• Rema 1000
• Kiwi
• Meny (has the best selection)

Other potential needs:

•  apotek (drugstore), as grocery stores don't carry any kind of over-the-counter medications like aspirin.  
• Hardware store (Jernia or Clas Ohlson are the most common chains)  Here is where you will find brooms, mops, adhesive hooks, tools, and often kitchenware such as pots, pans and utensils.  You could also visit Ikea by bus, car, or taxi for your cookware. 
• Things to do:  Are the places you want to visit in Trondheim nearby? 
• Fretex:  The Norwegian Salvation Army stores have the same assortment of kitchenware as the U.S. thrift stores, and might be your best bet if you just need a few basics.  Remember to re-donate when you go. 

If you don't plan to have a car, you will want to see how far you are from major bus routes.  Google Maps is fairly unreliable for transit outside the U.S., so go straight to the source and look at the AtB transit website, available in English here:  https://www.atb.no/?lang=en_GB

The transit system here is safe, reliable, and widespread.  When you arrive, get a transit card and load it for the time you will be staying for the best price.  It is much more expensive to buy individual rides as you board.

Next:  Part 2, Packing for Norway

Recipe Box: Baked Falafel with Tzatziki Sauce

I try to walk a line between fresh ingredients and convenience.  Some things (like fresh parsley) make a big difference to flavor and are worth getting fresh whenever possible.  Others (like chickpeas) work just as well from a can, and you don't have to start the day BEFORE you are craving these delicious little patties of garbanzo goodness.

Falafel is one of those foods that are claimed by multiple countries, and which have very loyal adherents to specific ingredients.  Cilantro or parsley?  Egg or no egg?  Coriander or cumin?  There are strong regional differences between Falafels, but no recipe is really "correct."  It's about what tastes good to you.  I like a really strongly-flavored, garlicky falafel.  There's a lot of fudge room in the recipe as well.  If you add more or less onion, it will survive just fine.   

Falafel:

1 small bunch fresh parsley (1/2 cup chopped.  You will need an additional 1/4 cup for tzatziki sauce)
1 can chickpeas or garbanzo beans (they are the same thing.  You will get about 1 cup beans, drained)
1/2 small white onion (about 1/4-1/3 cup, chopped)
2 cloves fresh garlic (you will need an additional clove for tzatziki sauce)
dash lemon juice
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
dash salt, black pepper
1/4 cup gluten-free bread crumbs (I use Udi's, but see below for substitutes)
1/2 tsp baking powder

4 tablespoons olive oil for baking

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Oven rack should be in center of oven or just below.  If it is too high, the bottoms will not brown.

If you own a food processor, this becomes easy.  Just process everything but the baking powder and spices until it is like wet sand, then mix in the spices and baking powder.

If you're like me and don't have the kitchen space, mince the garlic, onion, and parsley.  Add everything but the baking powder together.  Use your hands to knead and squish until you have reduced the chickpeas to mush with pieces in it.  This will be messy, but also kinda fun!  Mix in the baking powder last.

Brush a rimmed baking pan/cookie sheet with 2 tablespoons olive oil.  Form the dough into small flat patties of no more than 1/4 cup each.  Brush the tops with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. 

Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, then carefully flip and bake for another 15.  Make tzatziki sauce while baking.  Serve warm with sauce in a gluten-free wrap or salad.

Tzatziki Sauce

1/3 cup sour cream or plain greek yogurt
1/3 cup grated or shredded cucumber (peel on)
1 finely minced garlic clove
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
dash lemon juice

Mix all together and let sit in fridge for at least 20 minutes for flavors to blend.  Keeps well for 2 days, stir before serving.  


*Breadcrumb substitute:  I love Udi brand's bread crumbs, but they're not available everywhere.  A toasted and crumbled slice of gluten-free sandwich bread would work well.  You can also use 1/4 cup sweet white rice flour, 1/4 cup chickpea flour, or 1/4 cup bean flour instead.  Plain white rice flour would not work, as you need it to work as a binding agent.  A gluten-free all-purpose flour blend with lots of starch should work well.  If using gluten-free Bisquick, omit the 1/2 teaspoon baking powder called for in the recipe.