Baked Mozzarella Sticks without Egg

I have several friends that have kids with allergies to eggs. I love finding new ways of making healthy fun foods without eggs and gluten whenever possible. In this recipe I used panko bread crumbs but you can easily use gluten free bread crumbs witch are available at just about any store. These mozzarella sticks are surprisingly light and delicious.

Ingredients:

5 sting cheese sticks cut in half to equal 10 sticks total

1/4 cup tahini paste

1/4 cup water

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tbs dried oregano

1 tbs olive oil

1 cup of your favorite marinara sauce for dipping

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees

Start by mixing 1/4 cup tahini paste with 1/4 cup water in a bowl. Use a wire wisk and mix together well then set the bowl aside. In another bowl add bread crumbs and sprinkle in salt, pepper and dried oregano. Use your hand to mix all the dried ingredients together then get ready to assemble. 

To assemble you may want to line up your ingredients from left to right. Start with the string cheese sticks, then the bowl of tahini paste, followed by the bread crumbs mix and lastly a baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.

Take one string cheese stick and dip it the tahini paste until it is coated, then dip it in the bread crumbs till coated and place it on your baking sheet. Continue this process till all 10 string cheese sticks are coated. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over each stick to help the bread crumbs brown. Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 4 minutes no longer then 5 minutes. Keep an eye on your sticks to make sure they don’t melt. Once baked then they are ready to serve with your favorite marinara sauce.

Yield: 10 mozzarella sticks

Lemony, Garlicy, Cheesy Grilled Artichoke

As I’ve said before Artichokes are a great source of protein and fiber. We eat artichokes once a week in our house and everyone loves them. They are filling, healthy and tasty. Because we eat them so often I am always trying to cook them in a different way. This recipe is easy and extremely tasty, I will definitely be dong this again!

Ingredients:

1 artichoke cut in half

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

3 cloves of garlic minced

the juice of one lemon

a pinch of salt and pepper

Boil the artichoke halves until fully cooked. May take about 45 minutes. Once they are cooked let them cool slightly so you can handle them. Once you can handle them cut out the fuzzy beard in the middle of both halves.

In a bowl combine parmesan cheese, minced garlic, the juice of one lemon and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix together.

Preheat grill to medium heat.

Stuff about half of the mixture in between the leaves of the artichoke. (Do not fill the middle space where you removed the beard until you flip the artichokes over on the grill.) Brush the cut side of the artichoke with olive oil and place them cut side down on your grill. Let them grill for about 5-10 minutes till you have nice grill marks then turn them over.

Fill the middle with the rest of your cheese and leave artichokes to continue grilling until cheese has melted. May take 15-20 minutes. Then they are ready to serve.

Yield 2 servings