Tag Archives: allergy elimination diet

Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Happy Thursday.  I hope you all are having a great day.  I thought I would pop in  and show you a quick, slightly zhuzh-ed up version of one of my favorite recipes, Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Spicy Feta-Olive Salad, from The Traveler’s Lunchbox.  I’ve mentioned it previously here and here, but in the last year we have gone from eating it as a side to having it as the main event.  I also tweaked it just slightly, bulking it up a bit and getting rid of what seemed like an unnecessary ingredient.  Again, my alterations are so minimal, I am in no way claiming this as my recipe, just letting you in on some changes we’ve enjoyed.  If you are doing the allergy elimination diet, or are vegan, whole-foods, plant based, etc.,  you can absolutely use this recipe.  Just be sure to leave out the feta, maybe substituting a big dollop of hummus for some creaminess.

Basically, once upon a time, I had a quarter head of purple cabbage languishing in my crisper drawer and a feta-olive salad that seemed open to new ideas.  So I chopped up some cabbage and slapped it in to the mix.   Then, while my mom was visiting recently, we left the oil out of the dressing so that she could eat it, and, lo and behold, it still tasted absolutely great.  So, cabbage is often in and oil is out to this day.  Although, may I say that, on this exact day, the sweet potatoes I purchased were so dry, I seriously considered putting some over the finished product just to lube it up a bit.  Anyway, that’s the story.  If you try this version (or the original) let me know what you think, or if you can think of any other additions/substitutions that might be good.  P.S.  I really love the salad/topping over tuna (yep, the kind packed in oil in a can, though I’m sure it would be lovely over fresh tuna).  Sorry, I’m weird like that (don’t judge, just try it)!

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Spicy Sweet Potatoes

Serves 4-6 as a main.

Ingredients

  • 4 medium to large sweet potatoes
  • 1 1/2 C diced red cabbage
  • 1 1/2 C diced red bell pepper
  • 3/4 to 1 cup diced red onion
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup pitted, chopped black olives
  • 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 to 1 cup goat or sheep’s milk feta, as you like (skip this to be a.e.d. friendly and dairy free)
  • 1/2 to 1 lemon
  • 1-3 cloves of garlic (we embrace garlic on a deep level!  suit yourself), minced
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Directions

  • Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Place clean sweet potatoes on foil or pan and bake until a knife slides easily through the flesh.  This will depend entirely on the size of your potatoes, but plan for at least 30 minutes.
  • Prepare all vegetables, herbs, and cheese.  Dice can be small, medium, or large depending on your texture preference.  Place together in bowl
  • If you have time, toast spices in a dry pan.  In a small bowl, combine spices with garlic and lemon juice (and olive oil, if desired).  Stir, whisk, or shake to combine.
  • Pour dressing over veg, and fold until ingredients are well mix and evenly coated.
  • Pile mounds and mounds onto your piping hot sweet potato, and dig in.

jasoneats

 

 

Soup of the Day: Summertime Black Bean Soup

I don’t know about you, but growing up in the south soup was not a summer food.  At least not in my house.  We ate cold food whenever possible, and my mother did her best to forget that we owned a stove (not a judgment, just the facts: she is the best mother in the world and she will be the first to tell you that she gets “hurmpy”– hot grumpy).  Given that background, I was surprised to find on our recent trip to Mexico that soup was served every day.  Yes, in Mexico, during their hottest season, delicious, delectable soups were offered every evening: beet soup, lentil, vegetable, chickpea, onion. . .they were varied and, despite the heat, perfect.

Well, I suppose Jason took a liking to the idea; in spite of the 90 degree plus weather here in Virginia he has requested soup a few times since we came home.  The one I’m going to share with you today we eat as a full meal, rather than a soup course, but I imagine you could make it fit beautifully into a larger menu.

This recipe is inspired by a long time favorite from the Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread cookbook by Crescent Dragonwagon, Cuban Black Bean Soup Santa Fe.  If you are on the lookout for a fantastic and healthy cookbook that you will turn to again and again, I highly recommend this one.  Beyond that, I suppose both our recent trip and the beautiful, abundant produce available at the market just now are responsible for the evolution of this soup.  Doing the Allergy Elimination Diet?  This soup is a great option for you.  Enjoy.  (Please forgive the rotten pictures; I just can’t seem to work the camera properly these days :S ).

 

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Summertime Black Bean Soup with Roasted Corn and Avocado Salsa

makes 5 -6 main course servings

Soup Ingredients:

2 cups dried black beans, rinsed, picked over, and soaked in water to cover

2 bay leaves

2 Tbs cumin seeds

1 large jalapeno, chopped with seeds

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large white onion, medium dice

2 green bell peppers, medium dice

6 cloves garlic, sliced or uniformly chopped

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

Soak beans overnight in enough water to cover (four cups is a good starting number).  In large pot or slow cooker, combine beans with soaking water, cumin seeds, jalapeno, bay leaves and 1 tsp of salt.  Add 3 cups water and bring to a boil.  Lower heat and bring to a simmer, cooking, partially covered, until beans are tender, roughly 2 hours.

In a large skillet add olive oil and garlic and turn to medium heat.  When garlic becomes fragrant, add diced peppers and onion.  Season with salt and pepper (start with no more than half a tsp of salt. . .you can always add more, but you can’t take away).  The goal here is to sweat the vegetables, not brown them, so keep the heat gentle as you sautee then until softened.

When the beans are tender and the vegetables are softened, using an immersion blender or food processor, blend half the beans (being sure to include the two bay leaves) and 1/4 to 1/3 of the vegetables together until thick and smooth.  Add this and the vegetable mixture to the remaining beans in your large pot.  Stir thoroughly to combine and taste for seasoning.  Simmer for another 20 minutes.  Serve garnished with roasted corn and avocado salsa.

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Roasted Corn and Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:

2 ears of corn

2 ripe avocados

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

lemon or lime

1/8 tsp. chipotle chili powder

Directions:

Set oven to broil.  Line baking sheet with foil.  Remove husks from corn; cut avocados in half and remove seed.  Rub corn and avocado lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.  Broil, turning as needed until uniformly charred.  Avocados will finish before corn.  When cool enough to touch cut corn from cob, remove avocado from skin and cube.  Combine corn, avocado, cilantro, chipotle chili powder and the juice of 1 lemon or lime.

Black Rice Jewel Box Salad via www.oneishungry.com

Black Rice Jewel Box Salad

For a whole host of reasons, we are not having a Christmas tree in our condo this year.  First, thanks to Hurricane Sandy, we only have half a floor.  Second, we are making a long visit home to the land of cotton blossoms for the holidays.  Third, there is a distinct possibility that I am allergic to them (usually that would not be a factor for consideration, but this year, as my doctor put it yesterday, I’m already behind the eight ball!).  Finally, all of our Christmas decorations are in storage, as we eagerly anticipated the possibility of having sold our condo by now.  By the way, yes, the whole losing our floor bit really put a damper on our plans to get this place on the market in a hurry.  On the plus side, we know we will be passing on a mold-free, beautifully re-floored and re-doored apartment to the eventual owners, and that is a nice, cozy feeling!

Because we don’t have any holiday decorations up, my soul has been longing for some traditional seasonal color and sparkle.  Say hello to Christmas on a plate!

Black Rice Jewel Box Salad via www.oneishungry.com

Aren’t the colors gorgeous?  We had a bit of black rice left over in the pantry from the last time we made Broiled Salmon with Spicy Greens and Black Rice, and green beans that didn’t all make it into this fabulous dish.  Tiny clementine segments and small diced red onion are fantastic, but the star on top is the pomegranate seeds.  Breaking into the luscious, glimmering interior of a pomegranate is an aesthetically satisfying experience for me.  You can see why some scholars believe the fruit in the  garden that tempted Adam and Eve was not an apple, but this glorious jewel box of an hundred rubies.

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A light vinaigrette to pull all the flavors together, and your salad is complete.  We had ours with garlic crusted lamb chops; how would you serve it?  Do you have a food that sings “Happy Holidays” to your soul?  Leave a note in the comments below, and tell me all about it!

This recipe is great for those on the Allergy Elimination Diet. IF you are testing for citrus (i.e. have eliminated citrus from your diet) be sure to substitute another fruit or veg. for the clementine slices!  Fresh carrot slices would give the same beautiful color and a fantastic crunch to boot!  This salad opens itself to a world of easy substitution; play around and make it your own.

Black Rice Jewel Box Salad

serves 4-6 as a side

Salad

2 cups of cooked rice, cooled slightly

1/4 of a small red onion, small dice

2 clementines (or carrots), segmented (or slices)

handful of fresh green beans, sliced on the diagonal

pomegranate seeds

Vinaigrette

1 Tbs sherry or red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp maple syrup

2 1/2 Tbs olive oil

Assemble salad. Place vinegar and salt in mason jar or bowl, and agitate until salt has dissolved.  Add mustard and maple, and shake or whisk to combine.  Now add oil, and shake it like a piggy bank!

Allergy Elimination Diet Baked Apples

Happy Friday, my friends!  Before we all slide gratefully into the weekend, I want to share one last recipe for the week. These luscious baked apples are designed with allergy elimination diet participants in mind, but they are really a gorgeous treat for anyone.  So haul out those left-over cranberries (and if you are feeling a little naughty, grab the caramel or homemade whipped cream as well. . .not you a. e. d.’ers) and add these to your weekend breakfast/brunch list.  These apples can be prepped and stuffed the night, or several days, before baking.  Peeled or not, it doesn’t matter, just be sure to rub the naked bits with lemon juice or brush them with maple or agave to keep them from discoloring.  To make your cavity, you may use a corer, melon baller, spoon, or, my favorite, a sharp edged 1/2 tsp. measuring spoon.  You are not going all the way through the apple; leave at least a 1/4 to 1/2 in of flesh at the base.

If you are not on an allergy elimination diet, or if you are, and you are not avoiding oats, by all means throw a handful of gluten-free rolled oats into the mix.

Allergy Elimination Diet Baked Apples

make 2 med/lg apples

2 apples (I always prefer pink, but use your favorite, so long as it is firm and good for baking)

(2 Tbs. g.f. oats optional)

2 Tbs. chopped cranberries

2Tbs. pumpkin seeds

2 tsp. flax seeds

1 tsp. chia seeds

1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

1/4 heaping tsp. ground cinnamon

pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. coconut oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 tsp. + maple syrup (extra to brush over outside as desired)

lemon juice

Hollow out cavities in apples, being careful to remove very hard core areas.  Rub exposed apple flesh with lemon juice. Mix all remaining ingredients and divide evenly between apples.  The size of your apples could change the amount of filling needed.  If using apples immediately, preheat oven to 375.  Place apples in baking pan lined with tin foil.  Bake until knife blades slips through apple flesh with a bit of pressure, but still solid (you don’t want stuffed applesauce).  Remove from oven and serve immediately.  If making ahead wrap apples individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 3 or 4 days.

This Is How They Do It Down Under: Aussie Burgers

Can you be homesick for a place you have never called home?  I miss Australia. I miss the smell of the air, the sounds of the voices, the quality of the sunlight, and the amazing wildlife.  To try and assuage my longing a bit, I decided to make a very Australian version of an everyday food: the humble hamburger.

An Australian hamburger has several key elements that differ from the typical American variety:  sliced, cooked beets, fried eggs, and capsicum, a condiment made from bell peppers  and spices that is used as a sandwich spread.  Also, rocket, a play on the French rocquette or arugula, is typical rather than lettuce, at least in restaurants.   I wasn’t able to find any capsicum on short notice, but the beets, egg, and arugula were enough to bring a cozily reminiscent taste to the meal.

Of course, every burger needs a fry, just ask my husband.  His food wish is my command, so here are two recipes for the price of one.

Oven Thyme Fries

serves 4-6

2 med.-lg. russet potatoes, cleaned (and peeled if not organic), and cut in 1/4 to 1/3″ thick stick, or wedges, or whatever you like

olive oil

kosher salt

fresh or dried thyme

Preheat oven to 450.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Toss cut potatoes with olive oil, salt and thyme.  Cook in oven, turning over gently once, until goldeny brown or done to your liking.  Check at 15 minutes and again every 5 minutes after.

Aussie Burger

serves 4

1+ lb. ground beef (or turkey or your meat substitute)

kosher salt and pepper

bacon optional (a really, really good option)

rocket/arugula

red onion

tomato

1 cooked beet (canned or boil it yourself with water and a touch of vinegar), sliced

1 egg per person

capsicum (or condiments of your choice)

buns optional

Heat cast iron pan on medium heat.  Separate ground meat into four equal portions and, manipulating it as little as possible, form into patties.  Salt and pepper the outside of the meat.  Place on hot pan and cook to desired doneness.  Fry eggs in a bit of olive oil or butter (just a touch).  Layer on your goodies and enjoy this, perhaps unusual, treat!