Walnut Butter (Plain or with Molasses)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound raw walnuts
• 1-2 TBSP Blackstrap Molasses
• Pinch Real Salt (to taste)
• Pinch Cinnamon (optional)

METHOD:

1. Find a clear jar (note this recipe fits perfectly in a left-over, well washed better than bullion jar and it have it ready to use a bit later.
2. Spread out in a single layer 1 pound of raw walnuts.
3. Roast the nuts in a toaster oven at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. Watch closely. These burn quickly. We want to toast them just short of burning.
4. Blend in a food processor or blender with an S blade until smooth. DO NOT add ingredients until the mixture is smooth. Knock down the sides as needed so the materials stay engaged in the blades.
5. When the nut butter is at its desired texture, transfer it to the prepared clean jar.
6. Stir in optional flavorings, as desired, by hand with a spoon. One good method of measuring things like maple syrup or molasses is to put a coat on top and stir it in.
7. Cover tightly. Refrigerate.

Pesto Sauce (AIP, Paleo, Vegan)

Fabulous, tasty, E A S Y ! Have some basil growing in your garden (I do) or have a bunch in your community share agriculture box? Then, you are going to want to make this delicious treat!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 Cup Basil (fresh leaves)
• 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese (vegan)
• 1/4 Cup Olive Oil (high quality)
• 2 large cloves of Garlic (peeled)
• 1/8 tsp Real Salt
• 2 TBSP nuts or seeds* (for example: pine nuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, hemp hearts, sunflower seed flour or what ever you’ve successfully reintroduced on AIP, or skip this)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Blend until well incorporated.
2. Enjoy! This recipe is the vegan version of SOURCE. For more details see the original recipe.

RESULTS AND TIPS:

• This is a basic, go-to, recipe.
• You can modify it, if desired, to add heat such as adding to taste hot sauce, cayenne pepper, or horseradish (for nightshade free) but it doesn’t need anything to be tasty and worth the time/ingredients to make it.
• Serving suggestions include: palmini noodles, zoodles, glass noodles, konjac noodles, chickpea noodles (for casserole dishes), spaghetti, as a “pizza” sauce, as a bread spread or in dipping oil, as a mayo substitute, and so much more.

pesto on palmini angel hair pasta

“Parmesan Cheese” (Vegan)

Diary-free, Vegan, AIP, Paleo friendly, Gluten-Free, Biblically clean food, and GOOD tasting!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup hemp hearts
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp real salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a high-speed blender or food processor. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge. Be prepared! It won’t last long! : )

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

• This goes awesome with this nightshade-free pasta sauce.
• Spread butter, olive oil or pesto over the top of an unbaked pizza crust. Top with this seasoning. Bake.
• Sprinkle atop boiled plantains for a nightshade-free potato substitute.
• Use any place where you would ordinarily think of using the sprinkle type of Parmesan cheese.

Greek Seasoning

AIP friendly (minus “black pepper”), vegan friendly, and tasty!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 TBSP oregano
• 1 TBSP basil
• 1 TBSP onion powder
• 1 TBSP garlic powder
• 1 /2 TBSP dill
• 1 tsp real salt
• OPTIONAL 1 tsp black pepper *

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix together in small bowl.
2. Using a funnel, place in a clean, recycled, glass jar with a tight fitting lid.

SUGGESTED USE:

• Greek Salad Dressing
• Combined with Olive Oil as a marinade
• Used when roasting veggies.
• To make vegan feta, marinading pressed tofu.
• With lemon juice, olive oil, this seasoning, over plantains for “greek potatoes” (nightshade free)
• Add to ground meat and/or beans made into paste for a gyro meat. You can use ground turkey, lamb, beef, white beans, lentils, black beans or garbanzo.
• Turkey Burgers.
• Bean Burgers.
• As a flavoring for cooked spinach. Add olive oil or butter and greek seasoning.

* NOTE: If you’ve done an AIP or other elimination diet to heal, than you may know black pepper can trigger some people’s inflammatory response. Leave it out of all your seasonings, and adding it back in on a day-to-day bases depending on how your doing, health wise, is one approach to enjoying it without having a mix in the cupboard which needs to be skipped some days, and is useful at other times.

Garlic Bread Sticks (Gluten/Grain Free)

• Make one cassava flour pizza dough crust recipe (below).
• Roll it out for making pizza.
• Cut into sticks shapes.
• Before baking, top with olive oil, garlic, vegan Parmesan cheese.
• Bake as usual.

PIZZA DOUGH (From Ottos Website)

Ingredients 

• ½ cup warm water (approximately 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit)
• 1 packet (2 ¼ teaspoons) active dry yeast (we recommend Red Star Brand)
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup Otto’s Naturals – Cassava Flour
• 5 Tablespoons arrowroot flour
• 1 Tablespoon coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup olive oil

Instructions  

1. Prepare yeast mix: In a small bowl, add warm water and sugar. Mix to dissolve. Sprinkle yeast in. Mix to dissolve. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to activate. It will get foamy on top; if it doesn’t, the yeast may be bad.
2. Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl to combine.
3. Lightly whisk eggs and olive oil together in a small bowl.
4. Add egg mixture and activated yeast to the dry ingredients.
5. Mix to form a dough ball. Transfer ball to an oiled bowl, cover with dish towel and set aside in a warm place (70-80°F is ideal) to rise for 1 hour. It will not double in size, but it will rise a little.
6. Once dough has risen, preheat oven to 550°F. Preheat pizza stone, baking sheet or metal pan.
7. Place the dough on parchment paper. Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough (if necessary) and shape dough with your hands by pushing down (on top of parchment, so it doesn’t stick) and roll with rolling pin. Flatten your pizza about 1/8-1/4-inch thin. Roll the crust thick or thin (to your liking) by shaping with your fingers and rolling the edges. Use extra cassava flour if dough is sticking.
8. Place your toppings on the dough. Lift the whole piece of parchment paper with pizza on top and transfer to the preheated baking sheet.
9. Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes until dough is firm and slightly golden, pulling out halfway and removing parchment paper. For a crispier golden crust, allow a few more minutes. Allow more time if cooking at lower temperature.

Ranch Seasoning Blend

Continuing in the DIY Seasonings Blend, this useful, sized to fit in a clean, recycled spice jar, ranch seasoning blend is vegan, can be AIP or Paleo, and so much more making it one of your most versatile cupboard spices. You will find yourself reaching for this blend, over and over again, to switch up the flavorings you eat frequently due to allergens.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 TBSP Chives (dried)
• 1 TBSP Parsley (dried)
• 1 TBSP Basil (dried)
• 1/2 TBSP Real Salt
• 1/2 TBSP Garlic (powder)
• 1/2 TBSP Onion (powder)
• OPTIONAL: 1/4 tsp black pepper (omit if AIP)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Measure each seasoning into a bowl.
2. Mix to combine.
3. Using a funnel fill the mix into an empty, clean, air tight, glass jar with an air tight lid.

TIPS:

• This recipe works well for a seasoning you use from the cupboard and therefore you need to use dried ingredients.
• Powdered format is suggested verse things like onion or garlic flakes, chunks, because your suggested use cases may include items not cooked. If, however, you intend to use this spice in cooked sauces exclusively, feel free to use the flaked versions as desired.
• Suggested uses include:
  – use to make salad dressing (vinegar and oil with seasoning mix to your tastes)
  – as a cracker or cassava tortilla flavoring (sprinkle atop crackers before baking)
  – use when making a sheet pan meal–the ones with your choice of veggies and protein in the oven. drizzle the sheet pan meal with your choice of oil and then sprinkle on this seasoning before roasting in the oven.
  – mixed with mayo for a tasty sandwich sandwich spread
  – in olive oil for a tasty “bread dip” (AIP vegan tortillas, pita, or “bread” made with cassava or with sweet potatoes as the base) or as a tasty drizzle over the “same old” steamed veggies such as broccoli or what ever your dietary allergen restrictions require you to eat frequently
  – mix into yogurt (soy, dairy, or coconut) or cream cheese (vegan) or sour cream (vegan, AIP, etc)
  – sprinkle over vegan cottage cheese
  

Plantains Waffles (Reboot-Coconut Free)

Back in June, I made waffles from Plantains and posted that recipe here. Having finished up that last batch, recently, I decided to give the same recipe another try, slightly different. There is absolutely nothing wrong, what so ever, with the original recipe–I just simply want to switch up the ingredients so we are not eating the same thing too many times in a row. Specifically: coconut related products.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 peeled and boiled plantains
• 1 TBSP Molasses
• 3 TBSP Water
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 TBSP white vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS:

Take left over boiled plantains, equivalent to two plantains, and place them in a container you will be able to use with your immersion blender. Add remaining ingredients. Blend until a smooth batter forms. Spoon approximately 1.5 TBSP of batter into each “mini” waffle well of a properly pre-heated mini waffle maker you’ve sprayed with a neutral flavored oil so the waffles do not stick. Wait about 5 minutes for these waffles to cook. Carefully remove to cooling tray. Enjoy right away or freeze. If you do freeze these to enjoy later, be certain to fully cool before placing in to the freezer. Mine were too moist so that I needed to dab them with a clean cotton kitchen towel to absorb the moisture before freezing.

YIELD:

8 Mini-Waffles.

RESULTS:

With this coconut-free method, the taste is much more neutral than the coconut milk version. As a result, these waffles can be used in the direction of going sweet with toppings/add ins or add ons, or it could be used as sandwich rounds going in the savory use category. The resulting waffles look “chocolate” but they certainly do not taste “chocolate” what so ever. They toast nice. They freeze nice. They could be used for a Boston brown bread replacement (sans the standard gluten in that old-fashioned recipe more popular in my great-grandmum’s era).

Onion Rings

This is more of a method, worth experimenting with, than a true recipe. While playing around with the Tempura Batter the other day, I had more sliced raw onion in “ring” shapes, than batter. Not wanting to waste anything, I gave it a try without any batter. Wow. What I discovered is if you stop cooking these not-battered raw-onion rings pieces at just the right time, they have a bit of the crunch of onion rings.

Peel and cut the onions, like you would ordinarily do for making onion rings. (My oil was already hot, but heat your oil if you need to do so). Drop your onion ring shapes, un-breaded, directly into the hot oil. Turn if needed (some of mine needed turning-some “rolled” on their own) about half way through the cook time. Stop cooking before the onion becomes translucent. I stopped when it looked white-firm yet, but was beginning to get fragrant from the cooking process. Drawing these out of the oil, and allowing to cool and drain, salting them lightly and then eating tasted surprisingly like eating an onion ring–it had some tooth appeal in the sense it was a bit crunchy like a traditionally breaded onion ring–yet all while being gluten free, egg free, dairy free for those avoiding those common allergens.

Result:

Worth tweaking and playing around with as a side dish or quick snack. Also, these can be made in small batch sizes and in a small frying pan with hot oil in about 1/2 the way up the pan without getting out the dedicated deep fryer (which can also be handy if you share your kitchen with other allergen-cooking folks).

Fried Plantains

Once boiled, and cooled, plantains are close to potatoes and can be enjoyed by those with nightshade allergies. Likewise, it is very common to add bell peppers to fried potatoes, but it is a nightshade too. We replace a similar role of bell peppers in the form of cactus.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Unripe Plantains
• 1/4 cup diced or minced onion
• oil or broth (enough to “fry” the ingredients; choices can be olive oil, ghee, butter, broth, or water)
• 2 cloves garlic (or the equivalent garlic powder to taste)
• seasonings (such as one or more of the following: celery salt, seasoning salt, salt, Italian Seasoning, Oregano, Basil, Thyme, nutritional yeast, etc.)
• celery (1/4 cup chopped)
• 1/4 cup cactus

METHOD:

1. Peel and dice plantains.
2. Place plantains in a sauce pan with enough water to cover.
3. Boil for 15 minute or until fork tender.
4. Drain.
5. Cool.
6. Meanwhile, chop veggies: garlic, onion, celery, cactus.
7. Add onion, celery, and cactus to your pan. “Fry” (with your choice of water, broth or fat of choice) these until translucent.
8. Add plantains.
9. Cook until well combined. Season to taste with your favorite seasonings. Note: because you can switch up the seasonings, this makes this dish a GREAT side dish, or a main meal. To make it a side dish, pick the seasonings which will compliment your main dish. To make a main dish, add meat to the pan. Suggestions are protein sources such as vegan (beans, lentils, etc) or beef, breakfast sausage, hot dogs, etc.

Lemon-Pepper Asparagus

Great complement to the Salmon Recipe I posted yesterday. I served this with as a side dish, along side the salmon, and with a generous helping of SF frosted carrot cake for dessert for a special occasion but it is simple and quick to make–great too when the days are HOT and you don’t want to heat up the entire kitchen!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 well-drained can asparagus
• 2 TBSP butter
• lemon pepper seasoning
• minced garlic (from a jar or fresh from 1-2 cloves)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Grab a well-seasoned cast iron pan.
2. Place pan over medium heat and allow to begin to warm.
3. When the pan is beginning to throw off some heat towards your hand safely above it, then add butter to the pan and let it melt.
4. Next, liberally coat the butter in the pan with our lemon pepper seasoning. Within moments, this should begin to become very fragrant. NOTE: If the heat is too high, you may need to add more butter, so watch closely.
5. Add garlic to butter sauce and allow it to cook until garlic is fragrant.
6. Add drained asparagus. Cook long enough to heat asparagus through and to coat it with the sauce.
7. Enjoy!