Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

Recipe Slightly Adapted From: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/09/09/ultra-creamy-red-pepper-hummus-how-to-roast-peppers/

I have made this hummus a few times and it is delicious! I have a couple more hummus recipes to try so if they are successful I will eventually post those recipes too. 

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove
• One 14-ounce/400ml can chickpeas (about 1 1/2 cups cooked)
• 3/4 cup roasted red peppers (You can roast your own and peel the skins off - details in the original recipe linked above - or buy a jar of roasted red peppers at the store.)
• 1 1/2 - 3 tsp. diced pimientos, optional (my addition)
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 2 - 5 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, or to taste - I use 3 Tbsp.
• 2 tablespoons reserved chickpea brine (or water)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling, optional
• Smoked paprika, for garnish

Directions:

1. Open the can of chickpeas and spoon off 2 tablespoons of the brine (liquid). Reserve this for the recipe. Now, drain the rest of the can and rinse the chickpeas well.
2. Add the garlic clove into a food processor and process until finely chopped.
3. Add the drained chickpeas, roasted red peppers, tahini, lemon juice, and reserved chickpea brine into the food processor. Process until the hummus is silky smooth. Scrape down as necessary.
4. Now add in salt and cayenne, to taste, and process again until combined.
5. Scoop into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and garnish with paprika. This hummus will last about 4-5 days in the fridge in a sealed container.

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Golden Lentil Soup

Recipe Source: Julie, who got it from one of her aunts I believe.

I got this recipe from Julie a while ago and have been excited to try it! I was not disappointed. It is delicious! I doubled the amount of celery and carrots from the original recipe. The whole family loved it. It reminds us of the flavors in chicken noodle soup.

Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. oil
8 - 10 celery stalks, diced
6 - 8 carrots, diced or shredded
2 onions, diced
1 lb. dry red lentils (About 2 1/4 c.)
1/4 cup long grain brown rice (I used brown Basmati rice)
12 cups water
1 Tbsp. lemon pepper
1 Tbsp. seasoned salt
1/2 - 1 tsp. salt* (omit or start with less, add more if needed)
1 1/2 tsp. pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
1/4 cup lemon juice (I didn't use quite this much)

Instructions:

1. Dice the celery, carrots, and onions and then cook them in the oil.

2. Add the lentils, rice, and water. Cover and bring to a boil. (About 20 minutes)

3. Bring to medium heat for 25 minutes, covered.

4. Add seasonings and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

5. Add lemon juice and serve.

We enjoy it with hummus and vegetables on the side. Julie said she likes it with tortilla chips, but we haven't try it that way.

*Leftovers will taste saltier the next day, so don't overdo it on the salt!

Healthy Thai Chicken Salad (single serving recipe!)

Recipe by Our Best Bites.

This salad recipe from Our Best Bites has been on my list to try for a while. I finally tried it tonight and was not disappointed! It is crunchy, fresh, filling, and delicious. The recipe is for a single serving, but I did it for the family. The kids ate it too, but I gave them less of the coleslaw mix. I think this would be a great lunch to pack and take to work. :)

Ingredients

1 cup coleslaw cabbage mix
1 cup shredded chicken (abt 4 oz) - I used rotisserie 
1/2 cup cooked, cooled quinoa
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 cup pre-shelled edamame (This was the hardest ingredient for me to find. I ended up getting it at Trader Joe's, but I'm sure a well-stocked grocery store would probably have it.)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/4 cup diced cucumber (or celery)

Dressing:
1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter, PB2, or tahini would be good too
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil (try our yummy garlic oil!)
1 teaspoon agave or honey
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Other Toppings:
1 tablespoon chopped cashews or peanuts
A squeeze of lime

Instructions
Start the quinoa on the stovetop. (Twice as much broth/water as quinoa, bring to boil, reduce and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Make sure to rinse the quinoa if it isn't pre-rinsed.) Get the edamame out of the freezer to thaw. Cook the chicken if not using rotisserie.

Combine cabbage, chicken, quinoa, onion, edamame, cilantro, and cucumber/celery.  Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss with salad.  Top with chopped nuts and serve with a squeeze of lime juice.

Braised Balsamic Chicken

Another recipe Sheri sent my way that we really enjoy! Our favorite sides to go with it are green beans and a salad with peppers, cucumber, feta, pine nuts, and a simple balsamic dressing or this Honey Crushed Red Pepper dressing. 

Picture and recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 25 Minutes Ready In: 35 Minutes Servings: 6

"Rich, slightly sweet balsamic vinegar intensifies the flavors of tomato and herbs in this chicken saute."

INGREDIENTS:

6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1 teaspoon garlic salt ground black pepper to taste 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, thinly sliced 3/4 c. sweet bell pepper, sliced (optional, my addition)

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 teaspoon dried rosemary 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Season both sides of chicken breasts with garlic salt and pepper.
2.	Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat; cook seasoned chicken breasts until chicken is browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add onion; cook and stir until onion is browned, 3 to 4 minutes. (You can throw in some sliced sweet bell peppers here too, about 3/4 cup.)
3.	Pour diced tomatoes and balsamic vinegar over chicken; season with basil, oregano, rosemary and thyme. Simmer until chicken is no longer pink and the juices run clear, about 15 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

Broccoli & Red Pepper Stir Fry

This yummy veggie dish tastes very fresh. It is great paired with Asian Lettuce Wraps!

Recipe and picture from:
http://www.raisehealthyeaters.com/2014/04/broccoli-red-pepper-stir-fry/

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups broccoli
• ¼ cup broth (or water)
• 1 large red bell pepper cut into strips
• ½ medium onion, sliced
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• ½ tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Add oil and garlic to a skillet over high heat. Once the garlic begins to sizzle (not brown) add broccoli and sauté until bright green. Add broth, remove from heat and cover for about 2 minutes.
2. Return skillet to high heat adding the onions and pepper. Sauté another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in lemon juice and salt.

*Update 7 Feb. 2018: Today I roasted the stir fry instead of doing it stovetop and it was even better! Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Put the broccoli on a sheet pan and spray with olive oil then sprinkle with salt. Roast for 10 minutes, then add the slice red pepper and onion (I tossed these with a little more olive oil and sprinkled with garlic powder). Roast another 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and toss with some lemon zest and juice. Add more salt to taste.

Perfect Brown Rice

Sheri's favorite way to cook brown rice :)

1 1/2 cups brown rice (can substitute some quinoa)
2 1/2 cups boiling water (can use part chicken broth (but reduce salt) if you want the flavor)
   1 TB butter (or 2 tsp oil)
   1 tsp salt

Place rice in 8X8 pan.  On stovetop, bring water to a boil and add butter (or oil) and salt, stirring until melted and dissolved.  Pour water over rice.  Cover tightly with foil.  Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

(Optional step, but makes it fluffier): Remove foil, fluff with fork, and cover with thin kitchen towel (wrapping around sides and tucked underneath tightly so it doesn't touch the rice), and let sit for 5 minutes (to absorb moisture). Uncover and stand 5 more minutes before serving.

*Sometimes I substitute quinoa for part of the rice so you have a rice/quinoa mixture, and it works great.  Substitute equal amounts of quinoa for rice (if you use 1/2 cup quinoa, use 1/2 cup less rice).  I usually use 1/2-3/4 cup quinoa when I do this.  I have never tried using all quinoa, but it would probably work with these same cooking instructions.

**Leftovers can be used with milk and cinnamon/sugar, in rice pudding, added to soups or burritos, or added while sauteing vegetables and meat to eat over salads or in fajitas.

Pork Tenderloin with Broccoli and Pineapple

Juice 3 lemons
1 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. sea salt
Pinch of Stevia (could use agave or honey as well)
Pinch of ground cinnamon
(6)- 4 to 6 ounces sliced pork tenderloin

Broccoli florets
Fresh pineapple sliced into rings

Prepare the marinade:  Mix the lemon, juice, garlic, parsley, rosemary, oregano, salt, Stevia, and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Put the pork in a large zippered plastic bag and pour the marinade into the bag.  Close tightly.  Marinate in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes, although overnight is best.

*I used fresh herbs instead of dried

Grill Pork, pineapple rings, and broccoli.  (Put pineapple and broccoli in a grill basket)

We put the pork and pineapple on a bed of brown rice.  I ate my broccoli on the side, but some put it with the pork and pineapple.

Source: "The Fast Metabolism Diet"

Smoothies

I typed up some of our favorite smoothies for mom and thought I'd share them here too just in case others would like them.

Green Smoothie

1 1/2 cups almond milk

1/2 cup of coconut water (I never add this.)

2 leaves lacinato (dark greens) kale, spinach, or Swiss Chard, coarsely chopped

1/4 avocado

1/2 cup  mango chunks

Blend until Smooth.

Mango and Coconut Milk Shake

1 cup mango chunks

1/2 cup pinapple chunks

1 1/2 cups coconut milk

1-2 teaspoons brown rice syrup or stevia, to taste

Blend until smooth.

Blueberry, Carob, and Almond Milk Shake

1 cup blueberries

2 teaspoons raw carob powder, cacao powder, or cocoa*

1 1/2 cups almond milk

1 to 2 teaspoons brown rice syrup or stevia, to taste

1/2 cup ice (I've never use this.)

Blend until smooth.

*Cacao powder is the same thing as cocoa powder, but the raw form is usually called cacao.  It is preferable because it's packed with nutrients, including magnesium, and is high in antioxidants.

 

Energy Shake with Almond Butter and Cardamom

1/4 cup almond butter

1 tsp. ground cardamom (good without this too if you don't have it.)

1 1/2 cups purified water

1 cup frozen peaches

1-2 teaspoons brown rice syrup or stevia, to taste

Blend until smooth

Fluffy Rice Pancakes

These are definitely fluffier than the other pancake recipe I posted! Some of us prefer these and some of us prefer the other recipe. These are harder to cook, since they stick and fall apart more easily. We haven't tried the Sautéed Apples but they look good.

Rice Pancakes - Makes approximately 14 (4-inch) pancakes.

 1 1/3 cups rice flour
 ½ cup millet flour
 2 tsp. baking powder
 ½ tsp. baking soda
 ¼ tsp. salt
 1 Tbsp. apple butter
 1 Tbsp. ghee
 Egg Replacer to equal 2 eggs (Refer to recipe below.)
 1½ cups rice milk
 1½ Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Mix the almond or rice milk with the vinegar and allow them to stand for 5 minutes until curdles form. Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat apple butter, oil, egg, and milk. Add dry mixture and stir gently. Be careful not to over-mix. Serve with Sautéed Apples (refer to recipe below).

Egg Replacer - equals one egg 

 1/3 cup water 

 1 Tbsp.whole or ground flaxseed 

Place the water and flaxseed together and allow to gel for about 5 minutes. This mixture will bind patties, meat loaves, cookies and cakes as well as eggs do, but it will not leaven like eggs for souffles or sponge cakes. Increase amounts accordingly for additional egg replacement.

Sautéed Apples - Serves 2 

 2 apples, washed 

 ½ Tbsp. olive oil or ghee 

 2 tsp. cinnamon 

 2-3 Tbsp. apple juice 

Thinly slice apples and sauté in oil until softened. Add cinnamon and apple juice and simmer, stirring, uncovered for a few more minutes. 

Source: http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780195371109/pdf/00_Mullin_Appendix_3.pdf

This is where I got a lot of information for our elimination diet.

Rice Flour Dosa

This is a South Indian breakfast that's like a savory crepe. We ate ours with fried onions/ground venison. I omitted the green chilis and used ground cumin, coriander and curry. I cooked this in ghee.

Prep Time:          5 Mins  

Cook Time:        10 Mins

Yields:                5 to 6

INGREDIENTS:

1 Cup - Rice Flour

3 tbsp – Semolina (I used millet flour)

2 Cups - Water

1 - Medium Onion

2 - Green Chili

1/2 tsp - Cumin Seeds

1 tbsp - Chopped Coriander Leaves

1 tbsp - Chopped Curry Leaves

To Taste - Salt

To Cook - Oil

METHOD:

Finely chop onion, green chili, coriander and curry leaves, keep aside.

In a wide bowl add rice flour, semolina, salt-- mix well. Add water in small quantity and make loose dropping consistency batter.

Add onion, chili, coriander and curry leaves, cumin seeds and mix well.

Heat a pan and drop one ladle or small bowl of batter from outside to inside in circular motion and another ladle inside to make circle or to fill the gaps. If you won't get perfect circle don't bother, drizzle oil in dosa corner and cook until sides becomes light brown.

Flip dosa and cook for a minute in medium to high heat or until gets cooked, crispy.

Repeat same for rest of batter and every time pouring dosa mix batter well or water will come on top.

Serve hot or warm with chutney.

Notes

Semolina helps to make dosa crispy.

Always pour from outside to inside and try to make circular pattern. Don't overlap batter while pouring; it will make dosa very thick and it won't be crispy.

Each time before making dosa, mix the batter well.

If you’re making in large quantity, after a while you may need to add more water to get batter to good pouring consistency.

Cook in high to medium flame to get golden brown, crisp dosa.

Source: http://www.indiankhana.net/2013/11/instant-rice-flour-dosa-dosa-recipes.html (has more pictures)

Rice Flour Pancakes

This makes flat pancakes. This has been my kids favorite breakfast during our elimination diet. We eat them with applesauce (no sugar added) and bananas.

INGREDIENTS:
x4     x1

12      3 eggs (OR 3 T. ground flax mixed with 1 cup water; 
          so ¾ c. flax, 4 c. water for x4)
2 c.    1/2 cup milk (I used rice milk)
¼ c.   1 tablespoon olive oil
2 t.     1/2 teaspoon salt
4 c.    1 cup rice flour

DIRECTIONS:
1. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl; stir in the milk, oil, and salt. Whisk in the rice flour until no dry lumps remain. Cover the bowl and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour or in the refrigerator overnight.

2. Heat a lightly-oiled griddle (I used ghee) over medium-high heat. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry. Flip and cook until browned on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/rice-flour-pancakes/

Ghee

You may be wondering, what is ghee? "Ghee is essentially clarified butter that is cooked a bit longer until the clarified butter is golden and the milk solids at the bottom are toasted (but not burnt!)." Another definition: pure butterfat left over after the milk solids and water are removed from butter.

This was allowed during our elimination diet, even though "dairy" was not allowed. We've used it a lot in recipes, on bread and for greasing pans and griddles.

Directions: 

Place 1 pound butter in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring butter to boil. This takes approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium. The butter will form a foam which will disappear. Ghee is done when a second foam forms on top of butter, and the butter turns golden. Approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Brown milk solids will be in bottom of pan. Gently pour into heatproof container through fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store in airtight container being sure to keep free from moisture. Ghee does not need refrigeration and will keep in airtight container for up to 1 month.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/ghee-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Gluten Free Bread

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Ingredients

6x         1x

6 c.       1 cup rice flour 
6 T.       1 tablespoon agave nectar
             1 3/4 teaspoons gluten free baking powder OR

4:4:2 t.  (2:2:1 ratio of cream of tartar:arrowroot:baking soda)
3 t.        1/2 teaspoon salt
6T:2c.   1 egg OR 1 T. ground flax seeds mixed in 1/3 cup water (let sit 5 minutes)
3 c.       1/2 cup milk (I used rice milk)
3/4 c.    1/8 cup olive oil or ghee

cinnamon and raisins, optional

Method
Combine the dry ingredients and give them a good dry mix to ensure even distribution.
Beat the egg lightly and add it and the other liquids to the dry ingredients.
Mix thoroughly; the batter should be similar to the consistency of a muffin mix.
Pour the batter into a greased small loaf tin.
Place on the center rack of the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes.
Check with a skewer to ensure the loaf is baked right through.
Allow to cool in the tin for 30 minutes.*

For some other variations, during the mixing stage you could try adding cheese, fruits, or some favourite herbs or spices. Use your imagination.

*The recipe says to cool completely for 30 minutes, but we ate it warm with ghee and raisins and we all loved it! This reminds me of corn bread. It's been our go-to treat during our elimination diet.

 source: http://www.squidoo.com/simple-gluten-free-bread-recipe