Ketchup (Substitute)

Nightshade free. API friendly if you omit black pepper or have reintroduced it.

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 oz notomato sauce
• 6 oz notomatos “paste” (measure this when making this recipe, prior to thinning it out)
• 1/3 cup vinegar
• 2/3 cup water (adjust if using liquid sweetener)
• 2 TBSP Swerve brown (or molasses)
• 2 TBSP Maple Syrup or Spoonables Stevia
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• dash ground cinnamon (or nutmeg)
• optional: horseradish to taste for a bit of heat, if desired.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Heat to boiling.
3. Reduce to a simmer.
4. Cook for about 20 minutes, on simmer, stirring often.
5. Remove from heat.
6. Cool.
7. Store in fridge in an air-tight bottle for approximately up to 2 weeks.
   
   Note: Adjust seasonings and liquids as needed to suit your individual preferences. This can be FROZEN. Try freezing in ice-pop sleeve size containers or ice cubes to have easy to thaw and use portions.
   

Product Review: Tattooed Chef

Recently, I picked up Tattooed Chef products from my local Costco warehouse. I loved this combo! However, I looked and looked and couldn’t find it again at Costco or anywhere else locally. It appears Tattooed Chef’s wonderful products are no longer available. What’s a smart home cook to do?

METHOD

1. Purchase Ingredients in Bulk.
2. Blanch per the best putting-up instructions for each veggie type. See chart for more details, below.
3. Drain.
4. Cool.
5. Coat in Olive Oil and seasonings (Tattooed Chef uses Salt and Pepper).
6. Freeze.
7. Combine the mix in serving size packages and keep in freezer ready to use when you need it.

Tattooed Chef Sheet Pan Packaging:

• Vegetables:The mix contains Brussels sprouts, sweet potato, broccoli florets, red onion, and green zucchini.
• Seasoning:The vegetables are seasoned with extra virgin olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

Second Dish: Garlicy Greens

Vegetables: Spinach, Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Kale And Leeks In A Cheesy Garlic Sauce.

Seasoning: The key to freezing this successfully is getting the cheesy (nutritional yeast, vegan) sauce just right.

RECIPES:

Sheet Pan Recipe: The original packaging mentioned cooking from frozen in a 4oo-450 degree oven for desired browning and texture (approximately 30-40 minutes). Play around with seasonings, as desired.

Greens Recipe: For stove top, heat oil in a skillet, sauté garlic, add frozen greens, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

BLANCHING

For food safety, blanching is necessary. Blanching is a key step to help vegetables maintain their quality in the freezer by deactivating enzymes that cause them to lose flavor, color, and nutrients over time. Blanching is also SIMPLE! What do you do? You boil water, prep your veggies, and blanch for the required time, cool the veggies, lay on a sheet pan in single layer before seasoning and freezing. Then combine into “portions” and if desired vacuum seal like any frozen vegs you would use from the grocery store.

BLANCHING TIPS:

VEGGIE PREP

• Spinach-Remove stems, Wash thoroughly
• Brussels Sprouts-Remove coarse outer leaves; sort by size.
• Broccoli-Cut into florets about 1.5 inches across
• Kale-Remove stems, chop as desired or leave whole.
• Leeks-trim ends, clean, slice in rings or chunks

BLANCH TIME

• Blanch spinach in boiling water for 1-2 minutes
• Blanch Brussels Sprouts by size: Small: 3 min; Medium 4 min; Large 5 min
• Blanch the Broccoli for 3 minutes in boiling water
• Blanch Kale for 2-3 minutes in boiling water
• Blanch leeks 30-40 seconds in boiling water

FREEZER LIFE

• Generally, blanched spinach keeps 8-12 months
• Blanched Brussels Sprouts keep 8-12 months in the freezer
• Broccoli also keeps about 8-12 months in the freezer
• Again, Kale keeps 8-12 months, frozen after blanching
• Leeks also keep 8-12 months in the freezer

Marinara Sauce (Nightshade Free)

This recipe makes about 6 cups and can be cooked in the instant-pot. Cooking in the pressure cooker makes the end-result a more consistent texture.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 ½ cup carrots, chopped
• 1 ¼ cups celery, chopped
• 1 ¼ cup beet, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 TBSP Lemon Juice
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 TBSP Basil, fresh
• 2 tsp Parsley
• 1 tsp Oregano
• 1 tsp Salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Open your instant pot’s lid and turn it on to “Saute” setting. Safety Tip: Keep the lid off, while it is on Saute.
2. Add the olive oil, with the onions and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add carrots, celery, and beets.
4. Continue saute of these items for 5 minutes.
5. Turn off the saute mode on the instant pot.
6. Add the water, lemon juice, and herbs and seasonings to instant pot.
7. Stir to combine.
8. Seal the lid.
9. Set the instant pot for high pressure and 14 minutes of time.
10. Allow the pot to come to pressure.
11. Allow a natural release of the valve.
12. Once the mixture is cooled, process it in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth. Taste. Adjust seasonings if needed or enjoy.

This is approximately 7 net carbs per 1 cup serving.

Basic SF “Jello” (vegan choice too)

1 cup water
3-4 TBSP Gelatin Powder (unflavored, or agar agar for vegan)

Combine above ingredients in a bowl. Allow to “bloom” for 5 minutes. Note: Use 3 TBSP if you want softer Jello, 4 if you want firmer Jello.

Next: add 1 cup hot water to mixture in bowl. Whisk to combine. Add 3/4 cup any sugar free flavored drink powder mix. Stir to combine.

Pour into a 9×9 container and refrigerate for a few hours. Cut. Serve. Enjoy.

Blueberry Dessert

Quick. Easy. Vegan.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 cups frozen blueberries
• 1 lb package (drained) firm tofu
• 8 softened, pitted, dates
• 1/2 cup nut butter

METHOD:

1. Toss the above ingredients into your blender.
2. Process until smooth.
3. Enjoy.

Nomato Sauce (Nightshade Free Tomato Sauce Substitute)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 TBSP olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 beet root, peeled, cubed
• 2 cups water or veggie broth
• 1 cup carrot, diced
• 1 cup celery, diced
• 1 cup butternut squash, cubed
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp basil 
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp maple syrup

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Saute over medium heat for 5 minutes the olive oil, onion, garlic, carrot, celery, and squash.
2. Next, add the beets, herbs, and seasonings. Continue to saute for 2 minutes more.
3. Add in the red wine vinegar. Cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add water and maple syrup.
5. Bring to a boil.
6. Reduce heat, cover, simmer for 30 minutes on low or until all of the veggies are soft.
7. When mixture is cool, blend until smooth.
8. Freeze or enjoy right away.

Cream Cheese (Vegan)

A dairy-free alternative you can DIY at home without store-purchased preservatives (especially if you make your own vegan yogurt)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup vegan yogurt
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp thyme, nutmeg, or nightshade-free seasoning powder
• 1/2 tsp real salt
• 3 TBSP chopped chives

NOTE: this is a nightshade free version of this recipe source:

Protein Brine

This is really more of a method than a recipe but often times in our modern era, meat/protein doesn’t taste as savory when cooked at home, verse going out to eat or shopping from the supermarket deli department. Why is that? In a word: Salt.

Is it unhealthy? perhaps, you be the judge. Is it savory? Yes. Improves the flavor. What else? It gets some of the blood of the animal out of the meet. You will see, when using a brine on meat, the water is very bloody immediately. This improves the flavor.

BRINE INGREDIENTS:

1 gallon water
1 cup real salt

BRINE METHOD:

For every gallon of water, add one cup of salt, stir, add meat. Cover. Allow to soak for 12-24 hours. Discard bloody salty brine water. Cook as you would normally.

Pad Thai

This recipe is a grain-free version similar to Pad Thai. What to use for noodle base? Some things to try could include: spiralized veggies such as zucchini, carrot ribbons from a veggie peeler, cabbage, kohlrabi, artichoke, or palmini noodles.

INGREDIENTS:

• Noodle Base of choice (see note above)
• 1 block firm tofu (pressed, cubed)
• 1 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 cup mung bean or broccoli sprouts
• 2 green onions (sliced)
• No-Peanut Sauce recipe
• Optional but encouraged Garnish: Fresh Cilantro, Thai basil, Lime wedges.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Crisp the tofu: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add cubed tofu and cook until golden on all sides (about 8–10 minutes). Remove and set aside.
2. Sauté the veggies: In the same pan, lightly cook garlic for 30 seconds. Add carrot, cabbage (if using), and zucchini noodles. Sauté for 2–3 minutes—just until tender but not mushy.
3. Bring it together: Return tofu to the pan. Pour sauce over everything and toss gently to coat. Add bean sprouts and green onion. Cook 1 more minute to warm through.
4. Plate and garnish: Serve hot with fresh herbs, seeds, and a lime wedge.

Enchilada Sauce (Nightshade Free)

Sometimes, having an enchilada-style sauce option is just what you need. You can use it for traditional enchiladas, Mexican-spiced casseroles, on left overs, and on Mexican-style pizza snacks, and so much more.

Ingredients:

• 2 TBSP Olive Oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup no-mato-style pasta sauce* (see note)
• ½ cup veggie broth or “no-mato v8“
• ¼ cup water (to thin if needed)
• 2 tsp garlic
• 2 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp cilantro or 2 TBSP fresh, finely chopped
• 2 tsp cumin powder (or 1 tsp whole seeds and 1 tsp powder)
• 2-3 tsp horseradish powder or 1-2 TBSP grated root
• Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Saute the olive oil, garlic, onion for about 5 minutes. (If you want a more intense flavor, add 1 tsp whole cumino seeds towards the end of this saute process–you want them to cook in oil for about one minute or until fragrant. Stir so they don’t burn)
2. Add all remaining ingredients except horseradish, salt and black pepper.
3. Bring ingredients to boil.
4. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
5. As the sauce begins to thicken a bit, add the seasonings in (horseradish, salt, and black pepper) to taste.
6. Adjust the spices to taste.
7. Remove from heat. Cool. Use an immersion blender to process sauce until smooth. Use as you would any other enchilada sauce.

NOTE: * Make the no-mato-style pasta sauce batch, as directed, only leave out the Italian seasoning. Keep this batch, minus the Italian seasoning, to use for recipes like this one, or when “tomato paste” is called for in any recipe you are trying to make.