Easy Cloud Bread--gluten free, NUT-free, low carb, low calorie and STILL good.

I saw a lot of mixed reviews on cloud bread, but I've been wanting sandwiches, and something to dip in soup and sop up gravy.  We've been using commercial cauliflower bread rounds, and they're lovely toasted or as pizza crust, but don't cut it otherwise...so I finally tried these!  I modified the recipe of course, since it didn't even call for salt... c'mon!

 I'm allergic to nuts so all the wonderful low-carb keto bread recipes are useless, for me. 

Ingredients

3 tablespoons cream cheese  (I misread the recipe and used 3 ounces!  Oh well...I'll try it both ways!)

3 eggs, separated
  

1/4 teaspoon baking powder (or a bit more)

1/2 teaspoon salt

Sprinkle of garlic powder 

(I may try additional shredded cheddar, or herbs, who knows?)

The second batch was mostly done in the big oven.

Directions

    Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (yeah, oops, I greased aluminum foil.  Parchment would work better.)

    Take cream cheese (or neufchatel) out of the fridge and let it get warm. Measure, mix in salt, garlic powder, and egg yolks until smooth.

    Place egg whites and baking powder in a glass, metal, or ceramic bowl; beat until stiff peaks form.
 
    Fold yolk mixture gently into egg whites until batter is just combined.

    Scoop 4" rounds onto parchment covered baking sheet and flatten peaks with the back of a spoon if necessary.
 
    Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 17 to 20 minutes.

We both pronouced these more than acceptable!  J. made herb-encrusted roast beef with gravy and they worked wonderfully to sop up leftover gravy.  Tomorrow, a sandwich!

Definitely made a great "Egg McCloudbread" for breakfast  Later, we had ham salad sandwiches...

Baked Zucchini "Fries"

Baked zucchini "fries" for dinner last night...tasty!

It's zucchini season, and we're all delighted with a new way to prepare this lovely vegetable (especially if you find yourself inundated with 'em!) 

We discovered this recipe last year at this time, and we loved it!  (Okay, what's not to like?  Fried crispiness!)

Ingredients

Fresh zucchini*

1 egg, beaten

1/3 c. cassava or coconut flour**

1/3 C. arrowroot flour***

salt

pepper

herbs to taste--I ofte use garlic and Italian mix, but it would be good with curry or Mexican spices, too

How-to

Mix flours, salt, pepper, and herbs or spices.  Cut Zucchini in spears.  Dip in egg wash then roll in flour mixture.

Heat oven to 410 degrees, oil the cookie sheet generously and put fries on it in a single layer, bake for 15 minutes, turn, bake for another 15, and that's that! 

Bet you won't have leftovers...

*Note...this would be fine with yellow summer squash as well.  Or with carrots, or...

** Note #2...Cassava flour is more like normal wheat flour to work with.  Coconut flour is odd stuff, and sometimes soaks up too much liquid. 

This is a gluten free recipe...if you don't have a problem, wheat flour is acceptable

Inside Out Egg Roll Patties

Inside Out Egg Roll Patties

--well actually there are no eggrolls involved, inside OR out, but it sure did remind me of my beloved spring rolls!  Our friend Nona Parry shared the original of this, but Joseph tweaked it to be even better since I'm no longer on elimination-phase AIP.



This is kind of a huge recipe...it made eight patties!  Lots of vegetables in each serving, too.  We ate two each last night, and I'm so looking forward to dinner tonight--leftovers never looked so good!

Ingredients

Oil for frying (toasted sesame oil is best)
1 lb ground pork
1 T minced garlic or powder
1 T minced onion or powder
1 t Red Boat fish sauce
1 t minced ginger
1 t Chinese five spice
½ t salt
½ c plus 2 T coconut aminos
4 c coleslaw vegetables (he used red and white cabbage plus grated carrots)

Mix well the pork, 2 T coconut aminos, and seasonings.
Add remaining coconut aminos to vegetables, then mix everything together.
Divide equally into 6-8 patties.
Pan fry on medium heat for 3 minutes per side in as little oil as possible.
Serve hot. Soy or tamari sauce, wasabi, Sriracha or chili sauce are options.




The coconut aminos made them caramelize a bit in the skillet, which was also wonderful...

(Of course they didn't need any sauce or dip at all!)

Shirred Eggs, Italian Style...a la' Joseph!

This is a delicious and filling variation on "plain" shirred eggs, which are pretty fantastic all by themselves.

But do try:







Shirred Eggs, Italian Style

Ingredients

1 T oil or grease of choice
1/4 onion, minced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 lb breakfast sausage
8 slices of chopped pepperoni (optional)
1 T fennel seed
1 T Italian seasoning
1 ½ c Nomato Sauce*
4 eggs
Shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses
1 T chives

*Note: if you don’t have a problem with nightshades, you may substitute your favorite tomato-based marinara sauce.

Another note: My skillet is small enough to fit inside our toaster oven, but if yours isn’t, the regular broiler in your oven will do. Or you can just cover the pan until the cheese is melted and the eggs are set up, but it’s not quite as good as it is with the cheese slightly browned.

Directions

In a small skillet, heat the oil or grease over medium high and cook the onion and garlic until tender. Add the sausage, pepperoni, fennel and Italian seasoning. Using a spatula, chop up the sausage as it cooks and cook until sausage is well crumbled and browned.

Add the Nomato Sauce and mix everything together until sauce is well heated.

Open a space in the sauce for each egg, and add the eggs. Cook until the undersides of the eggs begin to set up. Sprinkle with cheese and chives, and place the skillet under broiler until cheese is melted and eggs are almost done to your liking - if you’re going for soft yolks, it’s easy to overdo it.

Allow to sit for a minute or so before serving. The eggs will continue to set up.

Lentil and Spinach Curry--AIP or not!

This is a delicious, inexpensive dish that goes a long way!  Add chicken, shrimp, lamb or nothing at all--we've done it both ways, and love it.

It's also a great way to get lots of vegetables...last time I made it I added cauliflower and zucchini...this time, leftover broccoli, green onions and carrots in addition to the spinach, onions, and garlic that are part of the original recipe.

And yes I DID eat more than that, it was just so good I forgot to take a picture before tucking into it!

1 15 oz. can of lentils or 1 cup (or more) of lentils, soaked in water to cover (soak 2 to 4 hours)
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, sliced
butter, ghee, or oil to saute' them
2 C. frozen chopped spinach or 1 pkg.
1 C. coconut milk
1 C. vegetable broth or soup stock
1 t. salt
1 t. curry powder or to taste (I mostly used AIP nightshade free curry powder this time, in this post: http://starvingartistscook.blogspot.com/2018/12/aip-curry-powder.html)
Black pepper to taste
1/2 t. dried thyme, which I forgot...

Whatever other vegetables you want to throw in...

Saute' onions and garlic till translucent--I did the carrots then, too.  Add coconut milk and broth, then other ingredients. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally.  If you need more liquid, add it. 

Serve with naan, rice, cauliflower rice, quinoa, whatever you like.

SO GOOD.  And enough leftovers for another couple of meals...

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Legumes get a bad rap for a number of reasons...the lectins in them can cause gut permeability (isn't that appetizing?!) and other problems (Beano, anyone?).  But for whatever reason, lentils are the least likely of this family to give you problems, and they have a host of nutrients!  The Paleo Mom gave them a thumbs up recently, so I jumped on it for an occasional meal.

If you use canned lentils or soak them first, you reduce the lectins even further, and so I do.

Ratatouille Again...after AIP

This dish always made a hit–it’s hearty peasant fare with a slightly sophisticated air, and I'd been missing it (you can see our original recipe here.)  I've since discovered that nightshade vegetables and I are not good friends, so today I worked up a new version that works better with my dietary needs.

Nightshades, as you may know, don't do well with arthritis or many autoimmune situations, so I'm mostly skipping tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and eggplant (*sob!*)...and all but potatoes are liable to show up in a traditional recipe for this dish!

I love summer squash and we had both yellow and zucchini, so I just used them and a bit of what we had on hand to fill it out.  Turned out it filled it out a LOT, I've got a huge pot of it.  Good thing we both liked it!

Sweet Italian sausage and onion

1-2 lbs sweet Italian sausage

1 Vidalia or sweet yellow onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of fresh garlic, give or take (we love garlic!)
2 summer squash (yellow or zukes or both), chopped
2 medium carrots, sliced
1 stalk celery (optional)
I had a piece of white sweet potato I cubed and threw in...a bit too sweet, I think...
Mushrooms would be good...didn't have any...

Extra virgin olive oil
Spices to taste – basil, oregano, extra fennel

Salt and pepper to taste 

Splash of white wine (we had leftover) or a little water if needed...

 

Note: as each item is browned, it is added to a large pot on low heat on the back burner. To brown this much you either need a BIG skillet (ours is an antique chicken fryer made of enameled iron, with a lid) or you can do it in smaller batches and then dump it all together to finish cooking. (Otherwise it just sort of steams...)

Brown cut-up or broken-up sausage in a little oil.

Brown onion in oil and grease from sausage. 

 

Joseph likes  carrots really done, so I sauteed them with the celery...add the chopped summer squash and brown them together.

Everything should now be put together in the large pot which you will leave on low heat for at least a couple of hours prior to serving.

Saute' carrots, celery and sweet potato, if you've used it...

Zucchini and yellow summer squash...

A little fresh AND dried basil--the dried was from last year's garden...

Toss in the basil, stir it all together, cover and simmer...

If you can stand NOT to eat this the same day, it gets even better overnight, as the flavors “marry.” 

 

You can also remove most of the fat, which rises to the top when cold--but if you've used good ingredients, this is good healthy fat your brain needs, and we don't remove it. (There will be a lot less fat, of course, if you’ve opted for turkey instead of pork sausage, but we virtually never do.)

I missed the green and red sweet peppers, sometimes miss tomato, but hey, it is what it is. (I didn't miss the eggplant!)  I'm still AIP, in the reintroduction phase...I can have fennel seeds with no problem, so I do!

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Joseph pronounced this delicious, and I didn't mind it a bit myself...leftovers will be more than welcome!

M'jeddrah--or Jacob's Mess of Pottage--or Esau's Guile!

I remembered this delicious dish from my farm years, 40 years ago, but lentils didn't fit my current and longtime Paleo/Primal lifestyle--lectins can be bad news.  But recently Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, author of The Paleo Approach, suggested they may be worth reconsidering, for several reasons.

Okay!  Instant reconsideration for me, because I've been jonesing for M'jeddrah for a couple of years!  I found my old recipe again, thanks to a friend, along with several spicier ones from Middle Eastern sites.  We were ON.

(The Middle Eastern recipes call for Avieh, which is a Persian word that simply means "spices," but it refers to a lovely mixture of a variety of spices.  I'm just listing them separately--and I didn't have cardamom but didn't seem to miss it.)

Served with a green salad on top, as well as crisp-fried onions. Half and half, here...

It's a bit beige in the pan, but oh the aroma!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of lentils, whatever color you prefer--mine were regular brown ones
1 cup of rice (I usually use brown rice, and may cut the amount next time--we normally avoid grains)
1 large onion and 2-4 cloves of garlic, sliced
2-3 T. olive oil
3 cups of water
1 t. salt
black pepper to taste

Ground spices (my own version of Avieh):

1 t. Cumin
2 t. Coriander
1 t. Cinnamon
1/2 t. Cardamom
1/2 t. Ginger

1/2 t. Turmeric
1/4 t. Cloves

(Many Avieh recipes often call for dried rose petals, but I'm not a fan and neither is Joseph.  Roses are for admiring and sniffing, at our house!)

Salad greens, whatever you prefer--with tomato, cucumber, radishes, whatever...

Salad Dressing:
   Lemon
   Olive Oil
   Salt and pepper

Or a tart dressing you prefer...we liked Primal Kitchens Green Goddess the first night because I didn't have any lemons!


INSTRUCTIONS:

Soak lentils in water at least 4 hours before cooking.  Pour off soaking water--that removes many of the lectins as well as speeding your cooking time.  (Some people even sprout them for 24 hours or so to increase digestibility and nutritional value, and I may try that next time.)

Gently saute' chopped onions and garlic in olive oil until transparent.

Remove from pan (I used a heavy, deep enameled cast iron chicken fryer), and put the rice in.  Parch, stirring, until it becomes opaque then transparent again.  (This also speeds cooking time.)

Put drained lentils and onions back in the pan with about 3 cups of water.  Some say boiling water, but I didn't see any difference.  Add spices and salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, if you're opting for crisp onions on top, chop more onion and start to frying.

Simmer with a lid for about a half hour or so, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice and lentils are cooked; keep an eye on the pan.  If lentils stick, add more water.  (The original recipe called for simmering for an hour...I would have had a burned mess!)

Make a salad of greens, cucumber , radishes, tomato, whatever is crisp and cool. Toss with a lemon and olive-oil dressing.







Put a generous dollop in a bowl, top with the salad and crisp onions.  You'll likely want seconds and STILL have leftovers, this is enough for 4 people at least.

German-style Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

This dish is traditional for some, on New Year's, and although it's not part of our yearly tradition, it was delicious!  We'll be making it again...with tweaks.

The *original recipe is not Paleo/Primal or AIP compliant, and I needed to tweak it quite a bit...so here is my version!  (AIP with my successful reintroductions, I mean...eggs, seeds...)

You can add tomato sauce if you wish, and some do, but nightshades are off my plate, it appears!  No problem, we loved it anyway.  You can also serve it with mustard, and use almost any combination of meats.  I used ground beef and ground pork. 

Ingredients:

    Cabbage for Rolls:

    1  medium head cabbage
    1 to 2 teaspoons salt
    
    For the Meaty Filling:
    12 ounces ground beef 

    same of ground pork

    1 large egg
    1/3 cup crushed chiciarrones (our usual substitute for bread crumbs, but if gluten or grain's not a problem for you...)

    1 T. gelatin (optional, but helps make up for the lack of gluten)
    1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (I omitted paprika--nightshade!)
    1 teaspoons salt
    1 teaspoons dried marjoram
    1 T. maple sugar
    1-2 T. apple cider vinegar
    1 T. Worcestershire sauce (I make the AIP version)

    Black pepper to taste
    1 to 2 strips bacon or 2 T. bacon grease
    2 cups beef or vegetable broth (or your home made bone broth)

    Extra!

    1 jar or can of German style or home made sauerkraut

    For the Sauce:
    1 tablespoon cassava flour

Prepare the Cabbage

Peel old discolored leaves from the outside of the head of cabbage.

Using a sharp knife, cut the core (stem) out of the cabbage, leaving a cone-shaped hole.

Place the cabbage head in a large pot and add a few inches of water, enough to steam it well.  Add a teaspoon or two of salt. Bring the water to a boil, put on a lid, lower the heat, and steam for several minutes.

Let it cool!

Peel the outer leaves off, carefully, trying not to tear them, and drain. You can always return the cabbage to the pot to steam more if the inner leaves don’t want to come apart. 

I actually made one more little roll for a total of 8 in all...

I love my square iron pan for browning...I browned 4 at a time to avoid crowding.

Make the Filling and Form the Rolls 

 While the cabbage water is steaming or cooling, mix the chopped meat with the egg and other ingredients.  Make into 8-10 log shaped rolls (about 1/3 C. mixture for each roll.

Lay out a cabbage leaf as flat as you can and cut out the thickest vein (only 1/3 of the way up the leaf) to make it easier to roll the leaf. Place a meat roll in the thinner portion of the leaf.

Fold the roll on three sides, then roll to the thickest part (like a burrito).

Tie it like a gift package (in quarters) with kitchen string or, in a pinch, regular thread.

Cooking

Brown the cabbage rolls on two sides in the bacon fat.  Move to Dutch oven or deep pan.

Add sauerkraut (and any leftover vegetables you want...I had some cooked cauliflower and threw it in too.

Add broth (or enough to cover the pan to a depth of 1/2 inch), cover the pan with a lid and simmer 40 to 50 minutes, adding more of the remaining beef broth as necessary.

Transfer the cabbage rolls to a warm serving dish and snip off the string.

Add the cassava flour to the remaining juices in the pot and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened.

Pour over cabbage rolls. Top with reserved bacon bits, mustard, ketchup, or whatever you desire!

Delicious the next day, too!

* Adapted wildly from https://www.thespruceeats.com/