{Dairy and Gluten Free} Chicken Alfredo Food Fighters Copycat

I have been captivated by a show called "Food Fighters". If you haven't heard of it, it might be worth a google. It is a fun show where home cooks challenge experienced world renowned chefs to various cooking battles. The judge panel has no idea who cooks what and decides which dish they like best. The home cook contestants can earn more and more money, the more battles they win.  A gal on the show made one of her favorite dishes which involved a creamy alfredo with roasted jalapenos, sun dried tomatoes and an arugula pesto.  I was drooling while I watched. Needless to say she won the challenge and I decided to try my hand at making it allergy friendly. I did it tonight with some sweet success. I love her combination of flavors.  So fun!  Just to warn you, the arugula does have a peppery flavor so go light on adding pepper to your sauce or chicken. Also, if you don't like peppery flavor go light on the pesto. Note: Even though there is jalapeno in this it is not spicy. Make sure you don't include any seeds, as that is the spiciest part of any pepper.


6 chicken tenders

Vegan alfredo sauce (see directions below):
2TBS brown rice flour
2 TBS tapioca starch
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of daiya mozzarella cheese
unsweetened rice milk
3 cloves of crushed garlic
Roasted Jalapeno chopped
3/4 cup sun dried tomatoes chopped


pesto:
2 cups baby arugula
drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves crushed garlic
salt to taste

Sprinkle chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Cook in the oven at 375 for 15-20 minutes until cooked through. Put the jalapeno on the grill and turn until cooked. (alternative methods are to cook it on a grill pan, or put it in the oven on some tin foil on broil, turning it until browned). After it is cooked, put it into a bowl and cover tightly with foil immediately. Let sit. This will finish cooking the jalapeno and make it tender.   

To make the cream sauce: Take 1 cup of the daiya mozzerella cheese. Put in a saucepan. Turn on medium low. Sprinkle with 4 TBS of the GF flour mixture and crushed garlic . Add rice milk a little at a time. Stir regularly and wait. It will thicken and you will need to add a little more rice milk. Add rice milk until it is thickened to a nice cream sauce. Remove the stem and seeds of the jalapeno and chop the remains. Add this and the chopped sun dried tomoato to the alfredo sauce. Let it simmer on low, stirring periodically. While sauce is thickening boil water for the gluten free pasta. For secrets to how to make perfect gluten free pasta go here.  Put the pesto ingredients in a small blender and blend. Use just enough olive oil for it to be a creamy pesto sauce. To achieve this add a little more olive oil and if it's not enough add a splash more. Set aside the pesto. Chop the chicken into bite size pieces. When the pasta is finished toss with the alfredo sauce and chopped chicken. Salt to taste. Take a tablespoon of the pesto and smear it on the bottom of each plate in a nice design. Top with a serving of the pasta.  Garnish with a leaf or two of baby arugala. Serve! I am posting this at Allergy-free Wednesdays.