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Coconut Sesame Snack Mix
Great snack mix for carrying or travelling. It provides fats to satiate and to get you burning fats but also is a good source of fiber– plus there are few if any calories from carbs. Experiment with different types of balsamic vinegars to vary the flavor.
4 cups organic coconut “chips” (large shavings of dried coconut meat with no added ingredients)–available from health food stores or wildlyorganic.com
1/4 cup organic sesame seeds
2 Tbsp. ghee, melted
2 Tbsp. vanilla balsamic vinegar (the good-quality Italian import–locally available at Oliveto)
1/2 to 1 tsp. Celtic or Himalayan salt
Melt ghee on low heat–don’t get it hot, just warm enough to melt–and place in large bowl (or melt the ghee in a large metal bowl). Add balsamic vinegar and mix well. Add the coconut chips and toss until all the coconut chips are coated with the ghee/balsamic mix. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and 1/2 tsp. salt over the coconut and mix well. Taste and add more salt gradually to taste if desired. Spread evenly in a large baking pan. Place in oven on lowest setting (my oven has a drying convection option at 140 F) and leave until thoroughly dry (3-6 hours) If your lowest oven temperature is higher, be very careful to watch for overbaking–drying time may vary widely depending on oven temp. You are not trying to toast or even lightly brown this snack mix–just want to dry it very well for storage and portability.
Butternut Squash Soup
Butternuts store very well so they are well worth growing in your garden if you like to put away food. We have some in our basement in a room that is not heated and they are in great shape after 6 months in storage! It’s time to empty the root cellar so here is a soup that makes good use of them as well as our stash of garlic.
Serves 4-6
1 butternut squash
3 leeks
3 stalks celery chopped
3 large cloves garlic
1/4 cup ghee or coconut oil
1 cup coconut milk
2 tsp. ground cumin seed
pinch cayenne (optional)
your favorite salt to taste
black pepper, optional
Prepare vegetables. Wash the butternut and bake whole in a 350 degree F oven for about 1 hour until easily pierced with a knife. Remove from oven, cut in half, and let cool while preparing other vegetables. For this recipe the leek tops are used to add flavor to the broth but they will later be removed because they are too fibrous. To prepare the leeks, cut off the roots of the leeks, and then cut off top two-thirds of the leaves. Wash them well but do not chop–set aside. Now wash the bottom third (the white part of the root) being sure to wash out any soil between the layers by cutting lengthwise and spreading out the layers under a stream of water in your sink. Now chop this bottom third of each leek.
Melt ghee or coconut oil in soup pot. Add the chopped leeks (not the tops), chopped celery, cayenne, and cumin and simmer over medium heat to soften for about 5 minutes giving an occasional stir. Add the crushed garlic, stir well and then add 4 cups of water. Put the leek tops in the soup pot folding them up if necessary to submerge them in the liquid. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cover with the lid cracked. Simmer for 1 hour or until vegetables are very tender.
While the vegetables simmer, scoop out the seeds from the butternut and discard. Scoop out the flesh (discard the skin) and place in a bowl. Set aside.
Now remove the leek leaves from the soup pot with a fork avoiding removing the other vegetables (be careful as they are hot–place in a strainer so that the broth on them drips through the strainer back into the soup pot). They have done their job flavoring the broth and can now be discarded. Next, use an immersion blender and puree the mixture in the soup pot. Add the butternut squash and puree again until smooth. Add the coconut milk stirring well. Warm through on medium low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Celeriac Soup
If you are not familiar with celeriac you have a new vegetable friend to look forward to meeting! I first had a celeriac soup years ago in a Waldorf School cafeteria and its extraordinary goodness never left my memory. I have tried to re-create it since and this recipe is as close as I’ve gotten so far. The one I had likely had dairy in it and this recipe is dairy-free. It does have potato in it but the amount is very small so I would still categorize this recipe as low carb. If you have access to good quality milk or cream (from organically fed and grass-fed cows) and tolerate it well, it would be a delicious addition to this soup.
Set aside some time to prep all these vegetables–that’s the hardest part of making this soup.
Give it your best shot and let me know how yours turns out!
Serves 8-12 (consider freezing some)
2 large celeriac root (lately available at the Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op or Earthfare)
2 large leeks
2 large yellow onions
4 celery stalks
2 medium-sized red or Yukon gold potatoes
1/4 cup ghee (or coconut oil but I like the buttery flavor ghee imparts)
3 cups chicken broth (see recipe)
Water, enough to cover vegetables (see directions below)
fresh chives, finely chopped,to garnish
salt to taste
black pepper to taste (optional)
The only part of the leek that you add to the soup is the bottom third–the part that is mainly white. After cutting the bottom third off and cutting off the roots, slice into quarters lengthwise 3/4 of the way down so you can rinse all the soil out from between the rings of leaves. Once clean, chop fine. (The upper two-thirds of the leeks should be kept for broth; I used the leek tops–which I cut off the day before I made this soup when I was making the chicken broth.) Wash the celeriac well, peel with a vegetable peeler, and then chop into 1/2 inch cubes. Chop the onions and celery fine. Peel the potatoes and chop into 1/2 inch cubes.
Melt the ghee over medium-low heat in a large soup pot. Add the onions and leeks. Stir and simmer over medium-low for a few minutes. Add the potatoes, celery, and celeriac. Stir well and continue to heat for a few more minutes. Now pour in enough water to just cover the vegetables. Bring to a boil and then immediately lower heat to medium low to keep the soup simmering. Cover the pot but keep the lid cracked. Simmer for a few hours until all vegetables are soft. Remove about 3 cups of the soup and place in a bowl. Puree the rest of the soup until creamy with an immersion blender. Add the chicken stock and the soup that was set aside in the bowl (which provides texture to the soup) and stir well. Heat a few more minutes until evenly heated through. Salt to taste. Add pepper as desired. Serve hot, garnished with chives.
Tapioca Pudding
This modified old-fashioned dessert is a refreshing gluten-free and dairy-free pudding. I used the recipe on the back of the tapioca granule package. Traditionally milk is used but here I use coconut milk. Also, I replace 1/2 cup sugar with 1 Tbsp. of honey and some stevia extract so this dessert is not high in carbs. Since I love cardamom in desserts, I add it also. Serve this pudding over some fresh or frozen berries.
Serves 4
1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
3/4 cup water
1 cup classic canned coconut milk diluted with 1 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp. ghee
2 egg yolks and 1 egg white
2 Tbsp. honey or 2 Tbsp. organic sugar
zest of one organic lemon
stevia extract to taste
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
2 cups fresh or frozen berries of your choice
Soak tapioca granules in 3/4 cup water in a bowl for at least 30 minutes (best to soak overnight). Leave the soak water that is not absorbed with the pearls. Place soaked tapioca and its soak water in a double boiler and add the diluted coconut milk, cardamom, beaten egg yolks, and salt.. Stir well. Now place double boiler over boiling water and leave for 10 minutes or so without stirring while it heats up and granules on the bottom start to cook. As soon as the mixture starts to simmer, begin to stir it (you should notice that the tapioca granules have swelled and become translucent) and heat for another 10 minutes while it continues to simmer and thicken. Remove from heat. It will thicken more as it cools. Now beat 1 egg white (discard the other) in a bowl with an electric beater until stiff, white peaks form. Add honey, lemon zest, and vanilla to the beaten egg white and beat briefly. Remove tapioca mixture from heat. Let cool for 10 minutes and fold beaten egg white in until uniform mixture forms. Taste and add stevia if desired. Pour an equal amount into each of 4 dessert cups. Top with 1/2 cup berries per cup. Also may serve cold.
Lentil Soup
If you haven’t tried sprouting lentils yet, this recipe will perhaps provide some incentive. Your soup will be easier to digest and cook much more quickly. Directions for sprouting can be found in an earlier post here. Do not substitute dry lentils as they will not cook thoroughly when you follow these directions.
Makes about a gallon of soup
2 quarts of sprouted lentils (1 quart dry)
3 large carrots, chopped fine
1 quart of chicken broth
Place these three ingredients in a large soup pot and bring to boil and immediately reduce the heat so that the mixture just simmers. Cover with a lid that is left cracked open. Now proceed by preparing the next mixture.
2 Tbsp ghee
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 large onions
3 leeks
4 stalks of celery
1 quart of water
1 can of organic classic coconut milk
2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp dried mustard powder
2 Tbsp organic wheat-free tamari
1-2 sea salt to taste
Prepare the vegetables. For the leeks, cut off 2/3 of the leaves but don’t discard–wash well and then save them for adding to your next batch of broth. Take the leek “roots” and slit into quarters and wash well as dirt tends to get trapped inside. Chop the leeks, celery, and onions into 1-inch sized chunks. Melt the ghee in a separate soup pot (a smaller pot is fine) from the lentils and add the olive oil. Add the chopped vegetables and saute until softened for about 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the spices but not the tamari. Stir for a few minutes. Then add the water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat so the mixture simmers. Leave this simmering until the vegetables are tender and easily pierced with a fork. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Add the coconut milk and tamari. Stir well. Now add this mixture to the big soup pot that contains the lentils. Add enough water to make a thick soup (not a stew). Taste and add salt as desired.
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GF/DF Vegetable Quiche
Good news! You can make a yummy quiche without bothering with a crust. So not only is it fast, this recipe is gluten, dairy, and grain free plus it is low carb.
The veggies in the egg mixture may be altered but the mixture for the bottom of the quiche (which is like a crust) is best left as is–but then I love sesame seeds. Try the caraway–I love it too! We had this with a salad and butternut squash last night but it would be good leftover for breakfast.
Serves 2
“Crust”
1 large yellow onion,chopped
2/3 cup of sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. ghee
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. ground caraway seed, optional
Melt ghee in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions, sesame seeds and salt. Stir until onions have softened–about 3-5 minutes.
Transfer mixture to a pie pan (pyrex is best). (Don’t wash the skillet–use it again as described below.) Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Egg Mixture
6 eggs
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp. ghee
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
1 Tbsp. dried sweet basil (fresh is better if you have it–about 1/4 cup chopped)
3/4 tsp. sea salt
black pepper, if desired
Beat the eggs in a bowl with a whisk or hand held beater and add the basil, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well and set aside.
Using the same skillet, melt the ghee over medium heat and then add the onions stirring for 3-4 minutes until softened. Add the crushed garlic and stir well. Remove from heat and transfer onion mixture to the egg mixture in the bowl and stir well. Pour gently over “crust”. Bake for approximately 30-45 minutes until set, lightly browned and knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Don’t over-bake or it will be dry. Serve warm or cold.
