One of the first food blogs I started reading was Gluten Free Girl. I read, and read, and kept reading, for a long time, almost four years now. I enjoy her writing style and I use a lot of her recipes as inspiration. Her cornbread is a household favorite.

I like what she writes and cooks, so I was excited to try some of the recipes from her new book. Not only because they were gluten-free (though they are) but because they looked brain-meltingly delicious. There were three recipes that were for the making: Seared Shrimp with Garlic-Almond Sauce; Pasta with Anchovies, Lemon, and Olives; and Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies.

I took the Seared Shrimp with Garlic-Almond Sauce to a Labor Day BBQ, where it received rave reviews. The garlic-almond sauce was so, so good and complimented the shrimp... and the grilled portobellos, zucchini, onions, and everything else we had on hand. There was no way we were wasting any of that sauce.

The pasta, I'll admit, I thought would be a harder sell. Pasta with anchovies, lemon, and olives sounds relatively innocuous, but I'm rather anchovy-averse. In the spirit of trying things out, though, I made this. Somewhere along the line, my thoughts on anchovies were entirely revamped. The anchovy, lemon, and olive had bright, happy, zesty flavor that combined so well and made such an impression. This pasta convinced me that anchovies deserve a second look.

And... brownies.
Yum.
I can be picky about brownies, and these Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies came in pretty high on the list. The crust was nicely crispy and the centers were fudge-y and soft and delicious. And perfect with ice cream. They didn't last long.

This food is good. None of what I made was met with a qualified "well, they're good for gluten-free" - they're just good. I, personally, am not gluten-free, and to be honest, I didn't make these simply because they were gluten-free. I made them because the food that Shauna and Danny make is amazing, plain and simple. These are recipes that will pop up again and again in my kitchen in various forms for years to come - as it should be with good food.

They're from Gluten Free Girl and the Chef: A Love Story with 100 Tempting Recipes.