Kids love finger foods. Let's face it-don't we all? Especially when the yummy bites are crispy coated pieces of gooey cheese or savory eggplant.
My 7 year old "Jesse bear" is blessed with autism and he adores mozarella cheese sticks. Though he is not really affected by the casein in milk products, he does get quite excitable and agitated with gluten and high carbohydrate foods. He had Ritz crackers during homework time today as a snack and his concentration went out the window. Never doing that again. Some of us may be affected by gluten in other ways. In that case, this may be the recipe for you.
One evening I decided to make Jesse baked mozarella sticks. Gluten free baked mozarella sticks. Though the cheese didn't hold up too well being long in the oven, my boys all scarfed them down just the same.
And my husband and I really loved the eggplant sticks. They literary melted in our mouths. I especially loved them with the Korean dipping sauce. Which I served with Korean BBQ beef sandwiches that evening. (Recipe to come.)
Gluten Free Breading
Ingredients:
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup gluten free bread crumbs
cooking spray
Directions:
Please note, each of the breading recipes are for one batch of either cheese or eggplant.
For Mozzarella Cheese Sticks, slice 8 oz of mozarella cheese into 16 pieces of 1/2 oz strips.
Serve with 1/2 cup warm marinara sauce.
For Eggplant Sticks, slice one large eggplant lengthwise into even strips about 1/2 inch wide-no need to peel the eggplant.
Serve with 1/2 cup warm marinara sauce and/or Korean dipping sauce.
Serves 4. Prep 10 min. Cook 5-25 min.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
Arrange brown rice flour, beaten egg and gluten free bread crumbs into 3 separate platters or pie plates.
Dip either cheese or eggplant first into rice flour, then beaten egg, then gluten free bread crumbs, using one hand for the dry dip and one hand for the egg dip.
Cheese Sticks:
Lay the cheese sticks onto the prepared baking sheet.
Place cheese sticks in oven and bake for 5-8 minutes, turning over halfway through bake time. Cheese sticks are done when breading is slightly crispy and cheese is oozing.
Arrange on platter and serve with warm marinara sauce. Serves 4.
Eggplant Sticks:
Lay the eggplant sticks onto the prepared backing sheet.
Place eggplant sticks in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, turning over halfway through bake time. Eggplant sticks are done when golden brown and vegetables are tender when poked with a sharp knife.
Serve with marinara and/or Korean dipping sauce. Serves 4.
Korean Dipping Sauce
2 Tb low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp pressed garlic
1/2 tsp chili paste
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
1/2 Tb green onion, sliced thin
Combine all ingredients and serve with favorite tempura vegetable.
I hope you enjoy these quick bites! My family and children sure did.
Do you have a favorite gluten free recipe you'd like to share? Or an autism friendly specific recipe? Post to my Pinterest Group, #Autism Community Pinners-Recipes for Autism
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