Gluten Free Las Vegas – Sensi

Sensi at the Bellagio was the first restaurant we went to dinner at during our Las Vegas trip. It gave me a first taste of the exquisite dining options in Vegas, and set the bar very high for the rest of the trip!

Sensi is a gorgeous restaurant with ambiance-enducing waterfalls, four open/glassed kitchens attached to one another in the centre of the space, and amazing service and attention to detail.

The restaurant website describes it even better: Sensi is committed to serving sustainably grown and naturally raised products. Sensi offers a greater purpose to dining involving all five senses. The food and presentation from the four kitchens constantly evolves to produce innovative culinary creations. The kitchen takes center-stage while four complementary cuisines: Italian, Asian, American Grill and seafood specialties take leading roles. Quality, purity and freshness prevail in every creation. Enjoy this truly unique style of dining complete with an impressive wine list and striking carved stone, waterfalls and mirrored chrome.

Enjoy this photographic journey of our experience at Sensi. We’ll definitely be back in the future – make sure to check it out if you’re in Vegas in the future. It’s pricey (like most Vegas dining) but unforgettabe. I can’t wait to go back!

This photo was taken by yours truly. I kind of love it! Just the presentation alone was satiating to my eyes. And the taste exquisite. I can't remember the name of the dessert, but it was made fresh that day by the pastry chef and the server described it as "ants on a log." YUM!!!

My boyfriend's sushi. To stunning to not take a photo, right?!

Yummm.. I'm still thinking about this drink. Although I would typically order a martini or wine, the house-made gingerale. I need to learn how to make this at home!

Do you ever feel left out when the rest of your table gets fresh made bread or buns that just call out your name? I know I do. Well, I've been to three restaurants in the last three years, that served a gluten free bread to the Celiacs at the table. Sensi was one of them - major bonus points! These were delicious and fresh Indian flatbreads served with three different dips. I believe they're called Roti or Chipatis, and made out of chickpea flour. Being served "bread" was an amazing thing.

I wanted to save room for dessert (understandably, right?!) so I opted for delicious steak salad type of dish. That's not what it was called; they had a much better name for it. I shall take notes next time!

I have a shellfish allergy, but these guys sure looked cute! The perimeter of the 4 kitchens had many fresh ingredients displayed which is always nice to see!

I was watching all the magic happen in the kitchen. I'm guessing these were being fire roasted for some kind of tandoori chicken.

This is Executive Chef Royden Ellamar. He was super friendly and allowed me to take photos of his kitchens!

More preparation going on in one of the four kitchens.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

This is already a new favourite that I found on 20 Minute Supper Club. It reminds me of a Vietnamese dish I had at a restaurant awhile back that I tried to recreate. This dish is quite a bit closer to what I actually had!

I took the leftovers of this salad to work the next day, and not thinking, popped it in the microwave.. Oops!  Hot chicken – good. Hot napa cabbage and cucumber? Not so much.. It would make a fine day-after cold salad and that’s what I’ll stick to next time around!

I didn't get any great pics of this one.. Having lighting issues in my 'new' (old) house - really dark and only fluorescent lights, ech.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Ingredients

• 5 cups  boiling water plus 1/4-cup cold water
• 1 pack of rice noodles
• 2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken*
• 1 firm, ripe mango, cubed
• 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1 chinese (napa) cabbage, finely shredded
• 2 T chopped mint
• 2 T chopped cilantro
• 3 T fish sauce (I used Thai Kitchen Fish Sauce)
• 2 T lime juice
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 2 T sugar
• 1/2 tsp  minced garlic
• 1/2 anaheim red chili, seeded, thinly sliced (about 2-tablespoons)

Directions

In a large bowl, pour 5-cups boiling water over rice noodles and let sit until softened, about 5 minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water and drain again. Use scissors to cut noodles in bowl into random lengths and set aside.

In another bowl, combine chicken, mango, cucumber, cabbage, mint and cilantro. In a small skillet set over medium heat, combine 1/4-cup water, fish sauce, lime juice, rice vinegar, sugar, garlic and chili. Stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture starts to bubble around edges. Remove from heat and add 3-tablespoons to rice noodles and toss well.

Transfer remaining vinegar mixture to chicken mixture and toss well to thoroughly coat. To serve salad, divide noodles among 4 bowls. Divide chicken mixture and serve on top of noodles.

* I’ll tell you a secret – I actually made this dish with leftover cornish game hen! But I didn’t tell me brother who was over at first, because I was worried he wouldn’t eat it!

Moroccan Chickpea Salad

Moroccan Chickpea Salad - this one scores a 10/10 for gluten free leftover-worthiness!

My friend Erin (who by the way works at a winery, how cool is that!) sent me this new recipe she found. She’s an allergy-laden foodie like me and I take her recommendations very seriously! This dish was a nice, light change from the really heavy meals my bf and I typically make, and my stomach actually felt great afterwards! (My stomach has been giving me the cold shoulder as of late).

Erin found this recipe on a new Canadian recipe site, 20 Minute Supper Club. I pretty much followed this particular

recipe verbatim, (unusual for me!), but I didn’t need to take any “short cuts” this time. I bought all the ingredients, every single one, and it was truly an easy dish to make! No cooking!!

Okay, I did actually cook. I baked some chicken breasts as per Erin’s suggestion and threw them on top. Good call Erin!

Here she be!

Moroccan Chickpea Salad

Ingredients

• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 med. tomato, diced
• 1 med. onion or 6 green onions, diced (I used green onions – very tasty!)
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1/2 cup of feta cheese
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 T red wine vinegar
• 2 T fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
• 1 T fresh parsley
• 1 tsp fresh mint
• 1 T  ground cumin
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Toss diced vegetables & drained chickpeas. Stir dressing ingredients together. Pour over veggies and toss.

Easy as pie!

Naturally, I doubled this recipe as thankfully so – it made great leftovers, no reheating necessary!