SCD Lemon Sage Green Beans

For Valentine's Day, I made a special dinner for my honey and me. This was the vegetable dish that I made and you'll see the rest of the menu in the next two posts. I make this green bean dish all the time and I never get tired of eating it. I've made it for years and it just happens to be SCD-friendly without any extra effort.

1/2 pound green beans, ends snapped off
1/4 cup onion, minced
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/2 Tbsp dried sage
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 Tbsp olive oil or other fat
Salt to taste

Since I made this to accompany roasted duck, I actually used the duck fat instead of olive oil this time and it was really, really good. Sometimes I use bacon grease and other times I stick with olive oil. Saute the onion in the fat until it is soft and translucent. Add the almonds and let them brown a little bit. Blanch the beans for about 3 minutes in boiling water, drain and add to the onions. Then just add the lemon juice, sage and salt. How easy and delicious is that?

SCD Apple Latkes

We're not Jewish - not really religious at all unless you consider food a religion (I do). So if there is a holiday on the horizon that can be celebrated with food, you can bet I'll be excited about it. Hanukkah is just a little more than a week away and I started thinking about making SCD latkes. I began looking around for potato alternatives and found recipes for zucchini and apple latkes. Since I like mine with applesauce, I decided that apple latkes were the answer. These didn't turn out as pretty as I would have liked but they were very delicious and I have 10 days to work out the aesthetics. Serve these with SCD yogurt for a happy Hanukkah treat.

2 large apples
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup almond flour
2 Tbsp butter for frying

After peeling and coring, grate the apples and drain out as much juice as possible. Whisk together the eggs, honey, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the apples and the almond flour. Heat the butter in a large skillet and drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the the pan. Flatten a little with a spatula and let them fry on the first side for about four minutes.  Then flip them over and fry for another few minutes.  Let them drain on paper towels for a minute and then serve with yogurt.

Happy Cranberry Day! SCD Cranberry Sauce

A lot of people refer to Thanksgiving as Turkey Day, but I like to think of it as Cranberry Day. The cranberries are pretty much the star of the show, as far as I'm concerned.  They go so well with everything on the table - I like to have a little bit of them in every bite.  I love them so much, that I once spent an entire summer going by the name Cranberry when we had to choose camp names at Girl Scout camp.  My husband and daughter are also crazy for cranberries and always hang around to lick the pot when I'm done cooking them.  So my Thanksgiving post is about the cranberry sauce.  This is how I make it SCD-friendly:

2 pounds cranberries
2 cups apple cider
1 cup (or to taste) honey
A few strips of orange peel
Tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves

Wash the berries and put them in a big pot with the apple cider.  Bring them to a boil and let them boil until they start to pop open.  Don't stand too close or you might get hot cranberry juice in your face as they pop.  Lower the temperature to medium-low and add the honey, spices and orange peel.  I don't actually measure the honey so I'm just guessing on the amount.  I just keep adding and tasting until it's the sweetness I like.  Let it simmer, stirring occasionally for about half an hour until the sauce is thick.  Let it cool and serve at room temperature.

SCD Baba Ghanoush

Pre-SCD, my go-to party dip was usually hummus.  Now, with garbanzos out the window, I decided to try making baba ghanouj.  The flavors are very similar and the best thing is, you don't even have to make any modifications to make it SCD-friendly.  Just make sure the tahini you get doesn't have anything added to it. I use a brand called Joyva.  You can dip all kinds of veggies in it - I like zucchini slices and strips of red bell  pepper.

2 eggplants
4 cloves garlic
Juice from one lemon
1/4 cup tahini
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt and cayenne to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Cut the eggplants in half and rub them with olive oil.  Put them on a foil-lined baking sheet, cut side down.  Poke the skins with a fork in a few places to let the steam out as they bake.  Roast them for 30 minutes.  The next step isn't necessary but will give the finished product a smoky flavor, which is really nice.  Turn your broiler on and move the rack up so the eggplants are just a few inches away.  Broil for about 10 minutes or until the skins start to char and blister.  Remove them from the oven and let them cool down.

Scoop the flesh out of the skins and into a strainer to let excess liquid drain.  Put the eggplant, garlic, lemon juice, tahini and spices into a food processor.  With the food processor on, slowly add the olive oil into the tube until the mixture has a creamy, silky texture.  Serve it with cut up vegetables for dipping.

SCD Pickled Beets

Pickled beets are a big favorite in my family.  My sister claims she knew that her guy was the one when, the first time she went to his house, he offered her beets he had pickled himself. We really are that serious about pickled beets!  With a few very small changes to the way I used to do it, I made SCD pickled beets that my husband devoured with glee.

6 beets
1 cup white vinegar
salt to taste
2 Tbsp honey
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Cut the ends off and scrub the beets well.  Simmer them in boiling water for about half an hour.  Remove from the water and let them cool until you can handle them.  Remove the skins.  Slice them into thin rounds and set aside.  Bring the vinegar, honey, salt, cloves and cinnamon to a boil.  Chop up the garlic and add it and the beets to the boiling vinegar.  Let the beets sit in the boiling mixture for a minute or two and then cool.  Put them in a container with a lid and stick them in the refrigerator.  You can eat them right away and they are delicious!

Faux-tato Salad - SCD potato salad

I think one of the reasons my husband fell in love with me was that he loves my potato salad. This summer, we were heading to a family barbecue and he was lamenting the fact that he couldn't have potato salad anymore. So I came up with this faux-tato salad and it was pretty awesome.  Here's what I did:

1 butternut squash
8 hard-boiled eggs
2 Tbsp dill pickle relish (you may have to chop up your own pickles because a lot of store-bought relish has illegal ingredients)
1 Tbsp chopped shallot
Mayonnaise (homemade is recommended but I use Trader Joe's mayonnaise which apparently doesn't have any illegal ingredients - use at your own risk)
Spicy brown mustard (make sure to check the ingredients on your mustard)
1 Tbsp vinegar
3 strips of bacon (I use Hempler's which isn't cured with sugar)
Salt & pepper
Paprika for garnish

Cook the bacon and set aside on a paper towel to drain. Boil the eggs for 12 minutes. Then cook the squash - I do it in the microwave. Cut it in half and cover the cut sides with plastic wrap. Put them in the microwave and cook each half for about six or seven minutes - it should be soft but not mushy. You can use other kinds of squash too - butternut is kind of sweet so you might try a more neutral-flavored variety if you'd like. Make sure the squash, eggs and bacon are all totally cool before combing the ingredients or the mayonnaise will cook a little and the whole salad will be gross. Cut up the eggs and squash, crumble the bacon and mix with the other ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle paprika over the top. Let it chill for a bit before eating.

I think my husband fell in love with me again when I made this for him!