Monica's Recipes Archives - Page 9 of 19 - Towers Family Chiropractor

Turnips with Carrot and Onion

June 22, 2018 by towers

Turnips are the round tap roots of the turnip plant. Folks from the South may be familiar with turnip greens but the root is good also. If you’ve never seen them in the produce section, they’re about the size and shape of beets but they are white with a purplish blush around the top. Give this low-glycemic vegetable a try–it’s a nutrient-dense Brassica without the characteristic strong taste of this family of vegetables.

Serves 2

1 turnip (the size of a big orange), chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large carrot, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped fine
2 Tbsp. ghee or coconut oil or a mix of the two
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1/2 tsp. cumin powder
1/4 tsp. clove powder
salt to taste

Slice off the top end of the turnip and carrot and scrub them very well before chopping–no need to peel as long as you can remove all the dirt with a vegetable brush. Melt oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and stir for a few minutes. Add the spices and stir again. Add the carrots and turnips and stir well continuing to cook over medium heat. Cover but give a stir to prevent sticking every few minutes. Check for tenderness after 10 minutes and cook until tender–carrot and turnip pieces should be easily pierced by a fork. Serve immediately.

Coconut Whipped Cream

May 22, 2018 by towers

Dairy-free whipped cream? Yes, this really works. Just be sure your can of classic organic coconut milk (only the full fat version) is very cold by refrigerating it overnight. Then once you open the can, be sure to scoop out only the white solid part (not the liquid in the bottom of the can) that has set up in the upper half of the can. The liquid in the bottom can be saved and used for smoothies. Keep the white solid part cold until you are ready to “whip”. Also, chill the bowl you will be using to whip the “cream”.

1 can organic, full-fat coconut milk, chilled in the refrigerator overnight
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Scoop out the solid white coconut in the top of the can (as described above) and place in a bowl that has been chilled in the refrigerator. Whip with an electric beater. When beautifully creamy, add the honey and vanilla. Beat again until well mixed. Serve immediately or chill until served.

Macadamia Chocolates

May 22, 2018 by towers

Wholesome ingredients make the best desserts. These chocolate pieces are yummy alone or as topping on berries served with coconut whipped cream. Other nuts can be substituted for the macadamia nuts. Also, this mix would work as a chocolate layer on peanut butter or almond butter squares or fat bombs. Desserts do not have to be high in starch or sugar–I prefer them being higher in good quality fats. Here’s a good example of that principle.

2 Tbsp. cacao butter
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 Tbsp. ghee
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
2 Tbsp. honey
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. Redmond’s or Himalayan salt

Spread the chopped nuts in the bottom of a 8X12-inch shallow baking tray or dish. Set aside.

Melt first three ingredients in a double boiler–only warm enough so that it melts. Mix well Take off heat. Stir in the honey, cacao powder, vanilla, and salt. Beat until thoroughly mixed and smooth; pour over the nuts. Refrigerate until hardened–at least 2 hours. Cut into 2-inch squares. Remove with spatula and serve cold.

Marinated Cauliflower

May 14, 2018 by towers

When the summer heat hits, vegetables served cold are a good way to go. Cultured or fermented vegetables are very popular now but don’t forget about marinating the more fibrous veggies too–cauliflower and broccoli are perfect for marinating. By partially cooking them before marinating them they are easier to digest but will still be crisp.

Other ingredient options are olives, grated carrots, chopped sweet red pepper, minced parsley, scallions, etc. I hope you have fresh herbs from your backyard or patio–fresh is best!

This mix of vegetables can be served over mixed salad greens or in place of steamed vegetables on your “perfect plate”.

Serves 4

Dressing for marinade:

1/4 cup of avocado oil
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. unpasteurized apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. prepared yellow mustard
1 Tbsp. minced, fresh oregano leaves or 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 cup chopped, fresh chives or 1 Tbsp. dried chives
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Vegetables:
1 head of cauliflower, broken and cut into small florets
1/4 cup pitted, chopped olives of your choice, optional
1 cup shredded carrots, optional
1 cup chopped sweet red pepper, optional
1/2 cup minced parsley, optional
1/2 cup chopped scallions, optional

Mix the dressing by placing all dressing ingredients except the chives in a blender container and blend well. Stir in the chives. Set aside and steam the cauliflower

Place the cauliflower florets in a vegetable steamer with the lid on and steam over boiling water for about 5 minutes–watch closely, stirring a few times, and pierce with a fork each time you stir. As soon as you can pierce a floret, remove steamer from heat and rinse the cauliflower with cold water briefly. Do not overcook! Place them in a bowl. Add dressing and other vegetables. Stir well until vegetables are coated with the dressing. Refrigerate until well-chilled for at least 2 hours. Serve cold.

Onion Flatbread with Caraway Seed

May 7, 2018 by towers

Grain and gluten-free, these squares made with mainly onion and dry shredded coconut are best served warm right out of the oven. The caraway seed is optional. I have served them with salad or soup instead of crackers. They are also delicious with a cheese spread made by blending together 1/4 cup feta cheese (I use sheep’s milk) and 2 Tbsp. mayonnaise and some fresh, minced chives if you have them.

Makes about 20 2-inch squares

1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. ghee
2 cups dry finely shredded coconut
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 egg yolk
3 Tbsp. arrowroot flour
1 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. ground caraway seed (grind whole seeds in blender)

Melt ghee in skillet. Saute chopped onion for about 5 minutes over medium heat stirring a few times. Remove from heat. Place all other ingredients into a food processor. Add the sauteed onions. Process until thoroughly mixed. Place the mixture into an oiled medium-sized baking pan. Rub 1 tsp. olive oil into the palms of your hands and press the “dough” evenly so that it is about 1/4-inch thick. Bake at 300 degrees F until lightly browned and dry to the touch. Baking time will depend on the size of your pan and how thick you spread the mixture–expect about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into 2-inch squares. If you want more of a cracker rather than a moist flatbread, return the pan to the oven and let them bake longer at about 250 degrees F. Monitor closely so that they don’t over-bake. Serve warm, or refrigerate for later and warm again before serving.

Avocado Salad Dressing

May 7, 2018 by towers

This mild, creamy dressing works well with stronger tasting salad greens such as escarole, endive, radicchio, and arugula. It’s easy to make with a blender. If you like garlic, 1 clove of garlic is optional.

Makes about 1 cup of dressing.

1 avocado
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt about 1/2 tsp. or to taste

Place all ingredients in a blender container and blend until smooth. Add a Tbsp or two of water if thinning desired.

Coconut Sesame Snack Mix

April 9, 2018 by towers

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

March 28, 2018 by towers

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

March 20, 2018 by towers

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

March 10, 2018 by towers

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.

« Previous Page

Turnips with Carrot and Onion

Coconut Whipped Cream

Macadamia Chocolates

Marinated Cauliflower

Onion Flatbread with Caraway Seed

Avocado Salad Dressing

Coconut Sesame Snack Mix

Butternut Squash Soup

Celeriac Soup

Tapioca Pudding

Good Nutrition

Polenta

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