Sauces, Dressings, Dips

Luscious Lime Curd

Tis’ the season for berries! You can eat your berries plain….just pop them in. They are great that way, natures natural sugar in their own little packets with fiber and nutrients! Or, you can eat them with Lime Curd! They are delicious both ways. Here is my recipe for Luscious Lime Curd. You can use it any way you like. It has yolks in it….nutritious! It sets up into a nice creamy thickness, it is good by the spoonful!

Luscious Lime Curd

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

1/2 Cup Clear Honey

2 Egg Yolks

1/2 Cup Coconut Oil

1/2 tsp. SCD Legal Pure Vanilla Extract

1/8 tsp. Himalayan Pink Salt or Real Salt

In a medium saucepan, place all the ingredients except the yolks and vanilla. Bring to a simmer. Meanwhile place the yolks in a medium, heatproof bowl. When the liquid in the saucepan comes to a simmer, slowly with a whisk, whisk half of the hot liquid into the yolks in the bowl, whisking constantly. Then whisk the egg mixture back into the liquid still left in the saucepan. Continue to cook over medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, being careful not to boil the lime curd. Remove from the heat, and stir in the vanilla extract. Then pass the hot mixture through a fine meshed sieve to get it really silky. Refrigerate until set up.

Luscious Lime Curd

Eat Your Nutrients!

Toasted Hazelnut Spread

I used to be addicted to hazelnut lattes at coffee shops. The toasty roasted flavor was so good But it was sugar free, fat free, and all the crap I was putting in my body in the name of fitness and health was actually hurting me. My body was starving for nutrients, but at the same time I was fighting belly fat. I didn’t know I could eat real food, good fat, lots of meat and vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, and never be hungry or have “diet” faux food pass my lips again, and get rid of the belly fat. But the most important part to me of all, I am restoring my health and digestion.

Here is a very satisfying Toasted Hazelnut Spread recipe I use to fill my hazelnut cravings!

Toasted Hazelnut Spread

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup Hazelnuts

2 Tablespoons Clear Honey

2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil

1 Teaspoon SCD Legal Pure Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Place Hazelnuts on a rimmed cookie sheet and bake ten to fifteen minutes until skins are blistered. Remove from the oven and place the hazelnuts in a lint free kitchen towel, wrap them and let sit for a minute to steam them. Now, roll them around with the palms of your hands while in the kitchen towel on the counter top to loosen the skins. Pick out the nuts, leaving behind the skins (it is okay if they are not completely skin free, a good bit should have come off). Cool. Place Hazelnuts and the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.

Eat Your Nutrients!

Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Tapenade

Roasted Eggplant & Red Pepper Tapenade

Don’t you love dips and spreads? I do, and it is so nice to know you can make them yourself with great ingredients that feed your body and not only taste awesome, but have nothing but good ingredients. I am also looking for easy and fast! I served this tapenade recently with almond flour crackers. It is good with vegees also, like cucumber rounds, or on top of a salad. The eggplant is peeled before roasting, which makes it easy to digest and pretty when pureed.

Ingredients:

1 Medium Eggplant, peeled and cubed

2 Red Bell Peppers, seeded and diced

3 Green Scallions (green parts only, sliced)

3 Tablespoons Garlic Infused Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley

2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil

1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper

1 Tablespoon – 18 year old aged Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat Oven 400 degrees. Placed cubed eggplant and peppers on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle the olive oil over them and add salt and pepper, then toss until coated. Place them in them in the oven and roast for 40 to 45 minutes tossing a few times during cooking until they are starting to brown and very soft. The last 20 minutes of the cooking time, add the chopped green scallions, toss and continue roasting.

Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Tapenade

Remove from the oven. Cool for five minutes. Then, place the roasted vegetables in a food processor with a steel blade and pulse a few times. Add the balsamic, parsley and basil and continue pulsing until blended to your liking. I like just a few bits of vegetables showing and not completely blended. Add additional salt and pepper to taste if needed.

Serve! This keeps in the refrigerator about a week and can be re-warmed or served cold.

Here is the tapenade served as a shrimp canape.

Roasted Eggplant & Red Pepper Tapenade Shrimp Canope

…..and served with crudites! There are so many options for this!

Roasted Eggplant & Red Pepper Tapenade

I love to hear your thoughts!

Eat Your Nutrients!

Honey Mustard Chicken Wings

If you are craving some tangy, succulent wings that are easy and everyone will love, this recipe is a great choice! The sauce is quick to mix together. They smelled so good when they were baking in the oven, I could hardly wait to dig into them! They would be great the next day in a lunchbox, but we didn’t have any left, so next time, I will need a double batch. They are baked and then finished off under the broiler to get them nice and crispy.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Chicken Wings

2 TBS. Garlic Infused Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Clear Honey

1 Tablespoon Garlic Free Yellow Mustard

1 Tablespoon Djon Mustard

1 teaspoon Ground Cumin

1 teaspoon Chipotle Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1/8 teaspoon White Pepper

two dashes of Habanero Pepper Sauce

2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Lay wings on a parchment lined rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with a little extra Himalayan Pink Salt and Black Pepper (pre-season your meat to build flavor) and bake ten minutes. Meanwhile whisk up the rest of the ingredients for the sauce. After ten minutes of baking, remove wings and brush with some of the sauce…coat them well. Bake another ten minutes, remove from the oven and turn the wings over and brush again and return to the oven ten more minutes. Repeat once more for ten minutes. Keep an eye on your wings. (Depending on the size of them the time will vary. My wings were medium sized and took 40 minutes.) Turn on broiler and broil the wings until they are at your desired crispiness, coating again and turning once. This will only take a minute or two. Serve!

Can't Resist Them - Honey Mustard Chicken Wngs

Can’t Resist Them – Honey Mustard Chicken Wings

Thick and Rich Italian Tomato Sauce

Italian Tomato Sauce with Zucchini Noodles

This recipe for Italian Tomato Sauce is thick and rich with a lot of flavor. You can make it in larger batches and freeze it too ,so you always have good sauce on hand. You need a food processor or immersion blender for this recipe.

Thick and Rich Italian Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 – 25 oz. cartons or cans of Strained Tomatoes

1 orange bell pepper, diced (they are the sweetest)

1 Tablespoon Garlic Infused Olive Oil

1 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan Pink Salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tsp. ground fennel

1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning (I used Spicely Organics certified gluten free)

1/2 Cup Dry Red Wine

Place garlic infused oil, diced orange bell pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of Himalayan Pink Salt in a dutch oven or large stock pot and cook on medium high heat until soft and starting to brown. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer on stove top with sauce partially covered with the lid for approximately 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce will reduce, thicken up, and get infused with all the seasonings you added to it. Using a food processor or immersion blender blend the sauce until smooth incorporating all the orange pepper so there are no chunks. Serve! The sky is the limit. I served it over zucchini ribbon noodles.

Spring Strawberry Sugar Snap Pea Salad

I am so happy to see the Spring produce start to come in at my local organic market. This week, I picked up some beautiful organic sugar snap peas and strawberries that inspired me to make this bright and colorful salad. I paired it with an orange vinaigrette, and it was a big hit! I sliced the sugar snap peas into 1 inch pieces and lightly sauteed them in olive oil and Pink Himalayan salt before adding them to the salad, so they are still crunchy.

Spring Strawberry Sugar Snap Pea Salad

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 Head of Organic Iceburg Lettuce

5 pieces of Sugar Free or Honey Sweetened Bacon cooked until crisp

2 Cups Organic Sliced Strawberries

1 Cup Organic Sugar Snap Peas

1/2 Cup Marcona Almonds (chopped), or Slivered Almonds

1/4 Cup Sliced Scallions, Green Part Only (the white part is a FodMap, so if you are low FodMap Avoid White Part)

Orange Vinaigrette (See Recipe Below)

Saute the one inch sliced sugar snap peas in olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon of salt until tender, crisp, just 2 minutes. Add other ingredients except dressing to a large serving bowl, top with sugar snap peas, then toss with Orange Vinaigrette, sprinkle with a little more Himalayan Pink Salt (Kelly Bejelly of A Girl Worth Saving just wrote an informative article on the benefits of this salt), pepper, and serve. A delicious spring salad! This is one of my favorite salad dressing at the moment. I love the bright orange flavor.

Orange Vinaigrette

Orange Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Teaspoons Organic Orange Zest

2 Tablespoons Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

1 Tablespoon Clear Honey

1 Teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Black Pepper

2/3 Cup of Blood Orange Olive Oil or Unflavored Olive Oil (the blood orange gives it an extra orange boost.)

Whisk Together the ingredients and serve!

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

I love really good sauces. They add a lot of flavor and interest to food and can be used in so many ways. It is hard to find commercial sauces that have clean ingredients. Here is one loaded with nutrition. It is actually fun to make. It is good served with meat and drizzled on vegetables. It also makes a good dip for homemade Paleo/SCD crackers. The red peppers makes the sauce sweet and loaded with Vitamin C, and it has good fats from olive oil and walnuts or pine nuts.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Preheat Oven to 425 degrees.

Ingredients:

2 Red Bell Peppers
3 Tablespoons Toasted Walnuts or Pine Nuts
3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Himalayan Pink Sea Salt
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon 18 year old Balsamic (SCD Legal if Aged 18 years) or 2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

Roasted Peppers: Cut the peppers in half, remove seeds and sprinkle with Himalayan Pink Sea Salt. Place cut side down on parchment lined cookie sheet and roast 15 – 20 minutes or until they start to blacken. Make sure they blacken so the skins peel off easily and you get the roasted flavor. Cool the peppers for a few minutes, then carefully remove outer skin. Meanwhile toast your walnuts or pine nuts over medium heat in a dry saucepan on the stove top. It should take 2-3 minutes. Pine nuts toast faster so keep an eye on them. If you are eating SCD make sure your balsamic is 18 year old (so there is no residual sugar) or use red wine vinegar.

Add skinless peppers to a food processor with the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. That’s it! Serve it warm over grilled chicken, fish, vegetables, lamb. Use your imagination! Below I put some leftover leg of lamb on a scallion carrot pancake and drizzled it over the top for an afternoon snack. This keeps in the refrigerator for a week.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Drizzled over Lamb and Scallion Pancake

Won’t Miss a Thing Ranch Dressing!

Won’t Miss A Thing Ranch!

Garlic Infused Oil and Chives makes this dressing Rock! Garlic is a FodMap and not allowed on a low FodMap diet, but garlic Infused oil is allowed, and it is a fantastic replacement. I buy my oil from Fustini’s Oils online. You can find it at local oil and vinegar shops. The dressing is creamy, thick and tangy. My daughters (age 11 and 13) prefer it over any store bought versions. So here it is, I hope you love it! Let me know!

Makes: 1 1/4 Cups