Avgolemono (Greek egg-lemon soup)

This soup is amazing. It's vegetarian, gluten-free, easy to make, and really refreshing on a hot day. You can vary the thickness with the milk and butter content -- I halved the milk and butter from the original recipe I had, and it was still thick enough for me.

Picture source

Ingredients

1 cup milk

1 Tbsp. gluten-free flour (or cornstarch)

6 egg yolks, beaten

2 quarts chicken broth

1/2 cup rice

3-4 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup chopped parsley (or more to taste)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (or more to taste)

1 grated lemon rind

salt and pepper

Directions

Beat together milk, flour (optional -- if you want a thinner soup, omit the flour), and egg yolks in a bowl and set aside.

Bring the broth to a boil in a medium/large pot and toss in the rice. Cook for 20-25 minutes. Add in the milk and egg mixture and cook for another minute or two on low heat. Remove from heat, add in parsley, lemon juice, lemon rind, butter, and season to taste.

Moist Banana (or pumpkin!) Bread

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a long time. It has never served me wrong! One day maybe I will remember to take a picture before eating the banana bread, but it's unlikely. :) Though now (October 2014) I've actually managed to take a photo of the pumpkin variation before eating it, so here it is:

As a warning, start checking the bread after 45 minutes. Sometimes I need a full hour, but usually it's more like 50 minutes. On the other hand, be careful not to lose too much heat from the oven by checking too often, or it'll be dry by the time it's finally baked through. Once you've gotten to know your oven, just use your judgement!

Ingredients

3/4 to 1 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 - 1.5 cups flour (depending on your preference)

3-4 very ripe bananas, mashed - if using frozen, defrost fully beforehand 

Preheat oven to 375F and grease a loaf pan. Blend together first four ingredients (mixing vigorously with a fork is fine). In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ones and mix lightly (do not overmix). Fold in the bananas. Pour mixture into loaf pan and bake for 45-60 minutes.

Variations

1. Try adding 1/2 cup of chopped nuts and/or dried fruits.
2. Make it gluten free: replace the 1.5 cups of flour with 1.5 cups of gluten free flour (as always, I recommend Gluten Free Mama's Almond Blend) and add about 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum. If you don't have xanthan gum, that's fine -- the bread will come out a little flatter and more dense, but no less delicious.
3. Pumpkin bread! Replace the bananas with a can of (unsweetened, unflavored) pureed pumpkin.