Split Pea Soup

Who needs ham? pppffftt! This recipe came from my Dr.'s elimination diet. I simply added some more spices. I brought some to her because I loved the taste; Let's just say it's "kid tested, mother approved."

Split Pea Soup
Serves 6


3 cups dry split peas, well rised
2 quarts water
1tsp salt
1 bay leaf
½ - 1 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 onions chopped fine
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced (I chopped them)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar

Combine peas, water, salt, bay leaf, and mustard in 6-quart pot. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered for about 20 minutes. Add vegetables and spices except for salt and pepper, and simmer for another 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water as needed. Add salt, pepper, and vinegar to taste.

Gluten Free Mac n Cheese

I took this from Alton Brown. I had some leftover cheddar and fontina cheese from a platter. I looked up a recipe and decided to use brown rice macaroni, almond milk instead of cow milk, and brown rice flour. I don't know if it was "better" for me, it tasted good.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound brown rice elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons brown rice flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 3 cups almond milk
• 1/4 cup yellow onion, grated
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large egg
• 6 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
• 6 ounces fontina, shredded
• 1 teaspoon seasalt
• Fresh black pepper

Topping:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup crumbled gluten free crackers

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quartcasserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

Remember to save leftovers for fried Macaroni and Cheese

Roasted Eggplant Marinara

Ingredients

1 medium to large eggplant

1 cup of your favorite marinara sauce

2 teaspoons of chopped garlic

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions

preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat the eggplant with Olive oil, garlic and salt. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, turn after the first 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with foil for 20 min. Peel the eggplant and blend it smooth with a food processor or blender. (easier with a food processor) Put the eggplant in a sauce pan and add your favorite marinara sauce. This recipe calls for 1 cup but you do it to taste. Heat the sauce on low, covered for 30 minutes to an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Make it your own. I've added mushrooms with the eggplant to roast. Add basil, rosemary, curry, to tailor it to your desired dish. Enjoy with pasta, rice for stuffed peppers. GO FOR IT.

Butternut Squash Pizza

PIzza without tomato sauce! I found this great recipe for Butternut Squash Pizza Sauce. I have not eaten tomatoes all summer. It was a bummer. Fall is here, and it's time for squash. I came across this recipe on wikia.com and modified it a bit

Ingredients for the Sauce

• 1 butternut squash
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 dash salt
• 1 dash black pepper
• Veggie Stock
• chopped herb such as basil, riosemary, sage

1. Peel and cut squash into small cubes. place in a pot with garlic cloves, cover withwater or veg broth.
2. Bring to a boil and simmer until squash is extremely tender. drain liquid (reserve about ¼ to ½ cup.) **I used a pressure cooker for this step. Same ingredients, less broth, you don't cover the squash with liquid when you use a pressure cooker.**
3. Process squash in food processor / hand blender while adding a little bit of the liquid. Note: don't be too generous with the liquid. if your sauce is too runny, you will end up with a soggy pizza.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste
5. Add chopped herbs. Options: basil, sage, thyme, parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary. This is an important step. It will be the foundation of your pizza. It will determine what kind of cheese goes best. What type of wine to pair with it. What toppings will go on.ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES!!!!!!!!

3 minute Pressure Cooker Chili

Ingredients

1T olive oil
1 butternut squash
1 yellow, 1 red bell pepper chopped
1 can of organic black beans w/ some liquid reserve
1/2 cup of organic soyrizo (optional)
1T fresh grated ginger
1 T ground coriander
1 T Cumin
Red Cayenne pepper or chipotle pepper, to your liking start with 1 teaspoon
1/4 cup of stock, or water
1/4 cup of sauce(I used home made pepper sauce, you can use tomato sauce)
2 portabella mushroom caps
Sea Salt
Black Pepper





Add oil and ginger in pan and turn the heat up to high, toss in the squash, and peppers saute with a 2 pinches of sea salt and as much fresh ground black pepper as you like. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, giving a stir after each addition. Make sure the mushrooms are last and go on top. Put the cover on the pressure cooker. Let the steam build. When it starts to "whistle," lower the heat to medium, enough to keep the pressure still steaming away, and set your timer for 3 minutes. When 3 minutes are up, take the pot off the heat and do a quick release, (Make sure you consult your cooker directions to know what the quick release is for your cooker) and let all the steam out. You can open the lid when the steam is out and have some piping HOT chili.

My food allergy barbecue beans

I love pork and beans. I can't have pork, garlic, onion, ketchup, celery salt. All that, I would put in my pork and beans with some salt pork, pork belly. I used what I could and I think this works well. So well in fact, my husband asked me to make it for a party that's coming up.

Ingredients

1 can of navy beans

1/2 cup of jalapeño jam

2 Tablespoons of molasses

1 teaspoon of good polish mustard

3 dahses of your favorite hot sauce

1/4 cup of your favorite veggie sauce (ketchup, or tomato sauce)

2 teaspoons of soy sauce

Drain the beans, add all ingredients into a sauce pan and set to low. Simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer you simmer the more flavor will infuse the beans.

Thai Cauliflower Soup

What can I say? I was inspired by watching Master Chef. I had a beautiful head of cauliflower that I picked up at the farmers' market. I loooove Soup. My husband is not a big fan of soup. I usually can get him to try a soup if I blend it. The combination of my favorite Thai seasonings push this over the top. My soup has my stock that I make every weekend when I put a bunch of veggies in a pot and boil with Ginger, salt, pepper, cumin, corriander, tumeric and herbs. You can use your favorite stock, veggie stock, chicken stock.

Thai Cauliflower Soup

Fresh cauliflower 1 Small head

Vegetable Stock 4 cups

Cumin 2 teaspoons

Curry powder 2 Tablesppons

Cayenne Pepper 2 teaspoons

Corriander 2 teaspoons

Salt to taste

Pepper 2 teaspoons

Butter 1 Tablespoon

Fish Sauce 1 to 2 Tablespoons

Lime Juice 1 to 2 Tablespoons

1/2 can of coconut milk

fresh cilantro chopped for garnish

Put a big sauce pot or dutch oven on the range and turn the heat on high. Add your stock and cauliflower, roughly chopped. Add the curry, cumin, coriander, black pepper and salt. Stir. As the stock slowly comes to a boil, add the coconut milk, butter, cayenne pepper and stir. After it comes to a boil cover and turn the heat down to simmer. Wait 1o minutes, then add the lime juice and fish sauce. Add 1 Tablespoon first, then taste. Adjust salt and pepper seasonings and add the second tablespoon of fish sauce or lime juice if you taste something missing. (If you are not allergic to garlic now would be a good time to add some crushed garlic 1 glove and a teaspoon of crushed ginger) Let simmer for another 10 minutes. Blend the soup with a hand blender or in the blender in sections. Back on the stove, Simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve with fresh chopped parsley.

Fish Chowder

Wow, I never thought I could make this without Onions, Celery, and pork fat. Luckily for me, I made a fantastic whole red snapper on the grill and I made stock with the leftovers. I seasoned the fish heavily with my special all-seasoning, brushed it with oil and put it on the grill. The grill was a charcoal grill. I don't think it's the seasoning or the veggies I used in the stock have anything to do with making this chowder; it was the fish bones, head and skin that was left.

Ingredients

serves 6

1 T oil

1 teaspoon of butter

3 Cups Fish Stock

1 Cup of sea clam juice

1 cup of chopped clams

3 large Yukon Potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

1 bay leaf

1 package of frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon Old Bay (or paprika, or cayenne)

1 1/2 to 2 lbs. of white fish. Cod, Tilapia, halibut,

1 1/2 cup of heavy cream

1 T fresh thyme, chopped

1 T chives, chopped

2 medium yellow onions, chopped (about 2 cups)

1/2 cup of dry white wine

The last two ingredients are red and I did not use them in my recipe because they are on the list. I think they would make the dish.

1. Heat oil and butter in the bottom of a large pot on medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened (5 min.) Add the wine and turn up the heat. Cook uncovered until the wine reduces by half. (if you don't want to use wine, try 1/2 cup of water.
2. Add potatoes, stock, clam juice, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper, and Old Bay spice. The potatoes should be barely covered with the liquid in the pot. If not add, water so that they are.) Lower the heat to medium and cook covered, until potatoes are almost done, 10-15 minutes.
3. Heat the cream in a separate pot (don't boil)
4. Add the fish to the potatoes and add the heated cream. Return to t stove. Cook on low heat, uncovered until the fish is just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add the spinach after 6 minutes. Keep your eye on the heat. (hopefully you are using heavy cream...if you are not, it will curdle close to boiling)Keep the temperatue so that it barely gets steamy, but not simmering. When fish is cooked just enough, remove from heat.
5. Mix in the chopped herbs. Let soup sit for 30 minutes.

Serve it with crusty bread.

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Swordfish Tacos

Serves 4

3 swordfish steaks

1 pink Grapefruit,

1 T. Cumin

2 teaspoons fresh ground ginger

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

2 teaspoons chili powder, or chipotle pepper

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1 T of paprika

Sour Cream Sauce

1 cup of sour cream

1 lime

1 T of mayonnaise

Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice of it and grate the peel into the sour cream. Add mayonnaise and mix together. Set aside and begin the marinade.

Cut the grapefruit in half. In a large Ziploc bag, squeeze the juice out of the grapefruit and add the rest of the seasonings. Combine in the bag. Then, add the swordfish steaks. Light the grill coals, or wait 30 minutes before cooking. Grill the sword fish for 3 - 4 minutes per side. You can break up the cooked swordfish into desirable chunks or slices. While you cook the fish, you should warm up the tortillas.

Serve with warm flour tortillas, fresh cilantro, shredded cabbage. Fresh cilantro, sour cream sauce, picante sauce, your favorite shredded cheese. (Avocado is good with this although, I can’t have it.)

Enjoy.

Hazelnut Encrusted Baramundi

I had some hazelnuts, I needed a new taste for fish. Chopping the hazel nuts can turn into hazelnut butter very easily. If you have a hand chopper, use that.

2 baramundi fillets

1 cup of rice or almond milk

1 cup of rice flour

2 eggs beaten

2 cups of almost finely chopped hazelnuts

salt and pepper

1/4 cup of oil for frying.

Season your rinsed and patted dry fish, with salt and pepper. Make your coating station by putting the flour, milk, beaten egg and hazel nuts in an individual shallow dish. Take seasoned fish, coat both sides with the milk, then move to the flour, egg wash and press into the hazelnuts to coat. At this point you can put in the fridge to cook for later or get right to it. When you are ready, heat oil in a pan medium to medium high heat. I use safflower oil. Place fish fillets in the pan and depending on the thickness of the fish, cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Turn fish over and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

That's it. I can't come up with a sauce to put on top of it yet. I'm working on it. :)

Tilapia Fajitas

Tilapia Fajitas! I saw this recipe on the back of the tilapia fillet package. Tomatoes, Garlic, and Onions are on the list of food I can't eat. I was delighted to see that I could easily substitute mushrooms for onions. I added cumin to the recipe for an authentic flavor. I think the fresh pineapple is key.

Makes 4 servings

4 Tilapia Fillets cut into strips

½ c diced fresh pineapple

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

2 teaspoons of cumin

2 cups of grated jack or mozzarella cheese

1 cup of sliced baby bella mushrooms (I used this instead of onions, add 1 cup of thinly sliced onions)

½ cup of chopped fresh cilantro leaves

2 T oil

½ red bell pepper, thinly sliced

½ green bell pepper, thinly sliced

4 flour tortillas

Lime wedges & sour cream accompaniments

Combine fish and pineapple in a bowl. Season with salt, pepper, cumin and marinate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat Oil in a large skillet over high heat. Sauté peppers mushrooms (onions) until soft, about 5 minutes. Add fish mixture and sauté until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Arrange tortillas on a baking sheet, top with cheese and warm in heated oven until cheese melts. Transfer tortillas to plates, top with fish mixture and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges and sour cream.