Fried Zucchini Slices

So, it's late summer. That means: zucchini. And lots of it. Creative, allergy-friendly, non-boring zucchini dishes are always welcome in our repertoire. Since I found an allergy-friendly bread crumb at the co-op the other day, I thought I'd try my hand at fried zucchini & pattypan squash slices. They were a hit!

INGREDIENTS:

• a few medium-sized zucchini
• several pattypan squash
• 1/2 cup (ish) palm oil shortening
  
• a few pinches of sea salt
• a few handfuls of bread crumbs
• a few handfuls of nutritional yeast

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl mix sliced zucchini & squash with bread crumbs, salt & nutritional yeast.
   
2. Heat up a skillet of shortening (you can pretty much use any frying oil you want - we made it last night with palm oil shortening, but this afternoon we used rendered chicken fat).
   
3. Pour bowl of zucchini into the skillet. Let it fry for a few minutes and then stir while frying a few more. The bread crumbs and yeast will brown and the zucchini & squash will get tender. Don't over cook, or your veggies will get soggy & mushy.

Yield: easily serves four as a side dish.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Add spices to the bread crumbs: basil, oregano, rosemary
  
• Add some aromatics: onions, garlic, ginger
• Serve with some chicken and/or baked potato wedges for a full meal
  

coconut-molasses stir fried veggies

We have hit harvest time, the time of abundance. Fresh veggies are coming out our ears, so it seems. What better way to enjoy lots of veggies at once than a quick & easy (and of course, delicious) stir fry.

We just had this for lunch. Lily just told me that she's "not really a big fan of this stir fry." When I asked her what didn't she like, she said the "taste of all of it." Well, then. Aevryn and I thought it was great. Aevryn is also currently eating a wedge of lemon. Make that, Aevryn is currently spitting out a wedge of lemon. So, perhaps her palette is suspect. Lily and I just had a conversation about when you don't like something, the cook isn't going to jump right up and make you a brand new meal. I offered to let her forage in the fridge for a meal or she could try her stir fry again. Guess who's decided the stir fry is good after all (once we took out the onions)? Gotta love my houseful of negative first responders.

INGREDIENTS:

• Whatever veggies you have on hand. We used: cauliflower, broccoli, onions, green onions, cilantro, left over shredded cabbage, left over shredded kolrabi
• roughly 1/2 cup or so of bone broth (we freeze ours in pint-sized jars so that we always have broth on hand). You can easily sub water.
• roughly 1/4 cup coconut milk
• coconut oil
• juice of half a lemon
• sea salt
• pepper
• 1/4 cup or so nutritional yeast
• 1 TBSP molasses
• I would have added ginger, were it in the house. I thought it was when I started gathering my ingredients. Oh well. Blame it on the kitchen gnomes.
  

I feel compelled to make it known that I really don't measure out my ingredients. I do pinches and handfulls and drizzles and squeezes. My measurements here are really just approximations.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Saute onions (& ginger).
   
2. Add bone broth, veggies (including herbs), coconut oil. Season with salt & pepper.
3. Simmer until veggies are tender. (When the broccoli turns bright green, you know it's done!)
   
4. Add molasses, coconut milk, nutritional yeast. Stir well.
   
5. Simmer until liquid is mostly absorbed and a thick sauce remains.

Yield: lunch for one adult (with an admittedly healthy appetite) and two small children.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Serve over rice or rice noodles.
• Add seafood or chicken or beef.
• Try honey instead of molasses.

Three Bean Chili Casserole

Last summer, before we truly embarked on the elimination diet adventure, we loved one-pot meals. Especially meals I could cook bit by bit throughout the day - say, chop veggies in morning; cook beans/meat later; then just saute aromatics & stir in spices before dinner time- and still be tasty & fresh in the evening. We were tomato-free at the time, still eating legumes, and trying hard not to eat very much meat. This was a filling meal that really hit the spot at the end of a long summer day. It's also perfect to take to potlucks - i.e. it travels well.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup cooked chickpeas (1/2 cup dry)*
  
• 1 cup cooked kidney beans (1/2 cup dry)*
  
• 1 cup cooked green beans, chopped
• olive oil
• 1 onion
• a couple stalks of celery
• 1 jalapeno, minced (leave some seeds if you want spicy)
• 2 tsp cane sugar, maple syrup or honey
• 1/4 tsp clove
• 1 Tbsp cumin
• 1 Tbsp paprika
  
• 1tsp coriander
  
• 1/2 tsp allspice
  
• 1 tsp oregano
  
• sea salt
• black pepper
• 1 cup bone broth (or water)
• juice of one lemon

*it's best to soak your beans overnight, then rinse them before cooking in fresh water. 1 cup of dry or soaked beans cooks in 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer covered for 45ish minutes (until the water has been absorbed and the beans are soft all the way through). Soaked beans will cook faster than dry beans. They are also much more easy for your body to digest.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Saute finely chopped onions & celery in olive oil
2. Add cooked beans, jalapeno, spices & sugar/sweetener
3. Add broth/water & lemon juice
4. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with Guacamole & Sorghum Bread.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Add chopped, peeled, cored & seeded fresh tomatoes (or a can of tomatoes or tomato paste plus more broth)
• Add fresh cilantro
• If you can do corn chips, eat it like salsa/dip (this was our favorite way)
• Put it on brown rice tortillas or noodles
  
• Add green and red peppers, sauteed with the onions
• Add mushrooms
• Serve over rice, quinoa, or millet
• Replace beans with ground turkey or shredded chicken
• Add a 1/2 cup nutritional yeast

"Best Ever" Quiche

There is something fundamentally comforting and delicious about a big fluffy slice of quiche. They are incredibly easy to make and, if you load 'em up with greens instead of bacon, they're healthier than you would think. I have fond memories of mini quiche at my grandma's house every Christmas. She always had them catered in, so I assumed they were this super difficult, expensive endeavor. I felt kind of cheated out of years and years of quiche-making when I finally attempted one and it was no big deal. Traditionally, quiche is made from wheat dough pie crust, eggs & cream, plus "fillings" - i.e. cheese, bacon, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach... Ours is a little more Spartan, but it still hits the spot when you find yourself in a quiche-y mood.

INGREDIENTS:

• Potatoes - the amount is going to depend on the type & size - we've used 6 medium white potatoes or 8 small red-skinned potatoes; peeled & grated
• safflower oil
• sea salt
  
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup rice milk
  
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• lots of kale (one bunch from the grocery store is good; I've been using the kale fresh from my garden and it has been wonderful - I highly recommend growing your own food whenever possible)
  
• handful of mushrooms, sliced
  
• one onion, cut in half and finely sliced
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peel & grate potatoes
2. Fry them in safflower oil like hashbrowns - fry on one side, letting sit for a few minutes getting golden, then turn over.
   
3. Push hashbrowns down into a greased glass pan (we use an 8x8 pyrex or a round casserole pan - whatever you've got on hand will be fine)
4. Saute onions & mushrooms in safflower oil, sprinkle with sea salt; let them cook down until the onions are nice and soft
   
5. In a mixer (or with a whisk), blend eggs together on high until eggs get frothy. Add a pinch or two of sea salt and black pepper as it mixes.
   
6. Add rice milk while mixer is running. Add nutrional yeast. Mix for a few minutes more.
7. Prepare kale by ripping leaves off of stem (like you would chard or spinach). Rip or chop the kale into small pieces.
   
8. Layer kale over potatoes.
   
9. Pour eggs over potatoes & kale.
10. Sprinlke with nutrtional yeast, covering the entire top surface - this will give you a "cheesey" coating on top

Bake at 375*F for 45 or so minutes. Start checking on it around the half hour mark. Every oven and bakeware combination is different. You will know it's done when it's fluffed up and the top is "set" (firm to touch).

Serves 8, theoretically. The four of us can easily polish off an entire quiche for dinner.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Add 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• Try adding bacon or sausage
• Try subbing the rice milk for maybe 3/4 cup chicken stock
• Instead of kale, use chard, collards, spinach, turnip greens or any other green (or combination of greens)
  
• Use broccoli instead of greens
  
• Experiment with different potatoes/combinations to see what you prefer
• Instead of potatoes, use sweet potatoes
• Try using lots of different mushrooms plus a well carmelized onion or two
  

Flatbread a la Pita Pockets

I miss bread. A lot. This rice bread available at the store is a. expensive (over five dollars for a tiny loaf) and b. not very good. It's actually pretty good toasted with coconut oil, but that's about it. It is absolutely terrible for sandwiches. So, we've been without bread for a long time. I've grown accustomed to the lack of sandwiches (lettuce wraps or straight-up salads are surprisingly satisfying in their stead).

Recently, though, I stumbled upon a recipe for a GF sandwich wrap bread. With a bit of futzing, I came up with a really tasty and surprisingly easy pita-type bread for sandwiches or burgers. (Real burgers! with lettuce and ketchup* and everything!) We had a nice pseudo-normal summer meal with those burgers and sides of carrot sticks and Better Made potato chips (fried in "safe" cottonseed oil - safe because it does not cause us an allergic reaction; "safe" because it is a GMO crop and heavily laden with pesticides). Better Made chips are also made in Michigan (where we are) so that's a bonus.

* homemade ketchup recipe to be posted soon!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package of dry active yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 tsps sugar
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup tapioca or potato starch/flour (we used potato)
• 2 tsps xanthan gum
  
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
• 2 eggs
• extra oil & flour for oiling & flouring pan

DIRECTIONS:

• Proof yeast: stir packet of yeast into 1/4 cup warm water. Stir in sugar. Wait 10 minutes, or until yeast has at least doubled in size with a nice head (foamy top).
  
• Mix all dry ingredients (rice flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, sea salt) and set aside.
• In a stand mixer, combine wet ingredients (1/2 cup water, vinegar, oil, eggs) and mix well.
• Slowly add dry ingredients to wet.
  
• Beat on medium for roughly four minutes until it turns "doughy"
• Oil & lightly flour a "jelly roll pan"
• Scrape dough onto pan, press as thin as possible (fill pan) (oiling your hands first helps keep the dough from sticking to them)
  
• Prick dough all over with a fork
• Allow dough to rise 35-40 minutes in a warm area
• Bake for 10-11 minutes at 425*F - top will be slightly browned

If you allow the bread to cool for 15-30 minutes before using, it will become very soft and flexible. Cut the pan into 8 equal pieces (roughly the size of a commercially prepared piece of sandwich bread) and then slice those like you would to separate the top and bottom of a hamburger bun. Store the bread on the counter in a plastic zipper bag - do not refrigerate as it will get crumbly and stiff. I don't know how long this bread will store on the counter. The longest a batch has lasted in our house is roughly 24 hours.

Yields: 8 servings

Turkey Tacos with Brown Rice Tortillas

I blanked on dinner tonight, so I just browned some frozen turkey and made do with what we had in the house. Luckily I had bought brown rice tortillas last time I was at the store. Also, we always have avocados and green salsa around. Easy as pie. Or tacos, as it were.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1lb free-range ground turkey
• 1 cup chicken stock (or water)
  
• 1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded & chopped
  
• 1 large zucchini, diced very small
• fresh cilantro
• green onions or chives
• 1/4 cup (or more) nutritional yeast
  
• spices: 1 Tbsp cumin, 1 Tbsp paprika, 1/4 tsp clove, 1tsp sea salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano
• juice of 1 lemon
  
• 1 cup shredded raw cabbage or lettuce or other greens
• 1 can of Green Salsa - or make your own with jalapenos, tomatillos, onions & salt
• 1 avocado
• 1 package Brown Rice Tortillas
• 1 -2 Tbsp safflower oil
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Brown turkey. Add stock a little at a time to help turkey thaw. [If you are using fresh turkey, add the stock with spices after turkey has browned.]
2. Add water, green onions, nutritional yeast & spices. Simmer for a few minutes, stirring.
3. Add zucchini, chopped cilantro, and tomato. Simmer on low-medium with lid on while preparing the next ingredients.
4. Finely slice/shred greens. Set aside.
5. Cut avocado in half, scoop out pit with spoon. Scoop out flesh from skin with spoon. Cut up into chunks.
   
6. Prepare tortillas - rub the surface of each tortilla with safflower oil and nuke in microwave for 10-15 seconds. Alternatively, have oven preheated on warm/low and toss them in the oven for a few minutes.
   
7. Check meat/zucchini - the water should be mostly absorbed. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or so.
8. Stir in lemon juice and throw some fresh cilantro on for garnish.
   

We eat ours by putting a line of the turkey filling down the middle of the tortilla. Then add avocado and fresh cabbage (and spicy green salsa down the middle if you are Dave or I). Last we attempt to roll the tortillas up. Even with the warming and the oiling they are a bit... brittle, shall we say. Lily likes to rip up the tortillas and make mini tacos. Dave likes to eat them with a fork. I manage to hold mine together long enough to eat it like a burrito. Aevryn kind of just goes for it and eats with her fists - inelegant yet effective. You could also toast the tortillas and make nachos or taco salad. The possibilities are endless.

Serves 6, if everybody eats just one (large) taco/burrito.

ALTERNATIVES:

• Additions: raw onions, raw tomatoes, salsa, sauteed peppers & onions, mushrooms - whatever you have in the house
  
• Make avocado into guacamole and spread onto tortillas first
• (VEGETARIAN): swap meat for quinoa or beans & rice

Grain-free Turkey Chili with Guacamole

We are big fans of Tex-Mex influenced cuisine. (We are fans of many cuisines, as you will learn.) This Chili is easy, fast and filling.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1lb free-range ground turkey
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 small green pepper, diced
• handful of mushrooms, diced
  
• 4 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded & diced
• 1 large zucchini, diced (Apparently, I like dicing things!)
  
• homemade chicken bone broth (you can use water instead)
• spices: sea salt; pepper; ground cumin; clove; allspice; ground coriander; paprika; oregano
• fresh cilantro leaves, whole & diced
  
• lemon
  
• olive oil
• nutritional yeast
• medium avocado

DIRECTIONS:

1. Saute onions, peppers, mushrooms, zucchini in olive oil, sprinkled with salt. Set aside.
2. Brown ground turkey. Add bone broth as needed to keep meat from sticking to pan. Once meat is cooked, add reserved onion mixture. Stir.
3. Add diced tomatoes, chopped fresh cilantro and more bone broth. Simmer.
4. Add spices. I used: handful (well, a palmful, really) each of paprika & cumin. Liberal pinches of sea salt & pepper. Small pinch each of oregano & ground coriander. Dash each of clove and allspice. Stir well. Continue to simmer.
5. Add a couple handfuls of nutritional yeast. Stir well and continue to simmer bone broth down.
6. Once you've reached desired thickness, stir in the juice of most of one lemon, cover and let sit.
7. For guacamole, I just mash up avocado with oil oil, sea salt & lemon (or lime) juice, fresh squeezed (squeeze a bit of the lemon into the guac and then squeeze the remainder into the chili).
   

Serve the chili in a bowl with a dollop of guacamole in the middle, garnished with fresh, whole cilantro leaves.

The yield is hard to guess. This recipe easily fed all four of us for dinner with plenty left over for the girls and I for lunch the next day (and me for breakfast the following morning).

We like to make enough to have left overs. For lunch tomorrow, I will put the chili (sans gauc, because 1. it doesn't keep well & 2. my kids devour it so there's never any left) in on leafy greens - kale, lettuce, steamed cabbage - and eat like a taco. Yum!

Alternatives:

• instead of ground turkey, use free-range ground beef, buffalo, chicken, fish, whatever.

Vegetarian Alternative:

• The meat can be swapped for quinoa, millet, or rice & beans.
• Instead of swapping meat for grains, use as a meatless taco stuffing and put on brown rice tortillas - brushed with oil and nuked in the microwave or heated in the oven to soften.