Tavern in the Square

Hi everyone! I wanted to write today about one of our favorite places to eat in the Boston area that has delicious gluten free food. Tavern in the Square has six great locations throughout the Boston area.

They used to have a separate gluten free menu that included all the items, however they have recently combined the menu's so there is just one menu with all the gluten free items clearly indicated. They serve all their sandwiches on a gluten free roll. They have tons of appetizers, sandwiches, salads, entrees and sides that are so good. My particular favorites are the nachos, spinach and artichoke dip, feta and avocado salad, tomato mozzarella melt, the burger is always a good choice, turkey burger is great and the mashed potatoes are wonderful. The only downside is they don't have many gluten free deserts. They have trivia two nights a week and one night have a deal on burgers I think. I haven't taken pictures of the food so unfortunately I don't have any for you, but I'll add some when I go next time!!

Stop by and let me know what you think!

Gluten Free Apple Muffin Recipe!

It has certainly felt like fall up here in Boston recently and as I mentioned in a previous post, Mike and I went apple picking about two weeks ago. I made an apple pie to use some of the apples, have been eating them in my lunch every day but still have tons of apples! We both love apple muffins, so I tried out a recipe I found and altered it to be gluten free. They were super easy and turned out great! Mike brought some to work and we brought some down to the cottage this weekend; everyone seemed to love them so I have the recipe to share with you all! 

Chunky Apple Muffins

• 2 medium apples - I used Gala but I'm sure whatever you have in your produce bowl would be just fine
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour - I used King Arthur because that's what I had
• 1 teaspoon xantham gum (omit if your flour blend already had this)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk - if you don't have buttermilk you can substitute 1cup milk + 1tbsp lemon juice. Let it sit about 5 minutes and it works just fine!
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12-cup standard muffin tin with cooking spray; set aside. Peel and core the apples. Cut up in 1/4 inch squares. 

Whisk together sugar, flour, xantham gum, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add diced apples; toss to coat. 

Whisk together eggs, buttermilk and butter in a small bowl. Gently fold wet mixture into flour mixture until combined. Divide batter amongst the 12 cups; they will be pretty full. Bake until muffins are brown around the edges - about 18 minutes. Let muffins cool slightly and ENJOY!

Penguin Pizza - Boston

This past weekend Mike and I went to the MFA in Boston for an assignment I had to do for school. Mike went to Northeastern which is right next to the MFA so he's spent a fair amount of time at the bars restaurants in the area. By far, one of his favorites is Penguin Pizza. I think he likes it more for the beer than the pizza, but that's besides the point. I had been to Penguin Pizza before but they didn't have gluten free last time I went. I called just to make sure - turns out they have gluten free dough now! We walked our way over there and got a cute little table in the corner. WARNING: no matter what season it it, it will be very hot inside. We ended up getting the traditional pepperoni and the Aegean pizzas, both on gluten free crust. To be honest, the crust was OK. It almost seemed like it needs to be pre-cooked before the toppings were put on because it seemed a little too doughy for me. It wasn't horrible though, as evidenced by the fact that we ate every last piece of both pizzas. It had good flavor and was about 10" big. We were pretty hungry so we got two, but one was way too big for just me. On a not starving day, we would have been fine with just one split between the two of us. I forgot to take pictures, but they wouldn't have shown much anyways because they put so many delicious toppings on that you can't even see the crust! 

Another plus, they had a couple different kinds of hard cider and I think two gluten fee beers. 

After pizza we were off to see our sweet friends Kim and Jan whom we hadn't seen in forever! The perfect treat to end a great night :)

Give it a try and let me know what you think! 

Ginger Exchange - Thai food in Boston

Last night my good friend Sam and I had a little bit of a girls night, complete with Thai food take-out and red wine. Gluten free Thai food can be a little dicey, unless you go to Ginger Exchange or have Ginger Exchange delivered right to your front door. We have always gone to or ordered from their Cambridge location, but it looks like they have a new location in Boston! Their menu indicates everything that is gluten free, including all sushi except things with eel, crabstick, eel sauce or tempura. They also give you packets of gluten free soy sauce! Their sushi is always fresh. The fish seems to melt in your mouth. If you sit at the bar inside you can watch them make it right in front of you. Some of our favorites rolls are the eastern keys, spicy tuna, salmon avocado, mount fuji (NOT gluten free), and over the rainbow. They have a lot of rolls that look great that do not seem to be gluten free. I have not tried asking them to make the roll without tempura; maybe worth a try!

They also have delicious gluten free pad thai. Every so often I get a craving for pad thai and this is always my go-to!

Let me know what you think if you happen to go!