Kielbasa & Kale Stew

This is just a rough recipe: adjust proportions to suit.

1 turkey kielbasa
chicken stock
6 medium carrots
1 bunch kale
2 medium onions
1/4 cup (or so) red wine
red pepper flakes
(salt if needed---depends on your stock)

Slice the kielbasa, carrots, kale, onion into smaller than bite-size pieces. Cook the vegetables and kielbasa in the chicken stock and add water as needed so everything is covered. Add the wine. When the carrots are soft, enjoy.

The wine is optional, but you'll be amazed how much it improves the soup.

Sweet curry squash

2 chopped yellow onions
entire butternut squash, diced (1/2 inch pieces)
1/2 cup cashews or macadamia nuts
oil
garlic
salt
sweet curry powder and other Indian spices
cardamom
red pepper flakes
lemon peel (or orange peel)

1/3 cup raisins
orange juice
honey

scallions to top

Cook onions with oil, salt, and Indian spices to transluscent, and set aside. Cook squash with oil and all spices to just short of soft (and definitely not mushy) and nuts to browned. Add onions back in, add raisins and splashes of orange juice, and drizzle on a bit of honey after orange juice has reduced. Sprinkle chopped scallions on top when serving.

Spaghetti squash biryani

1/4 roasted spaghetti squash
2 large onions, chopped
1/8 cup raisins
1 cup cashews
1 peach, diced
oil
salt
1 T sweet curry seasoning
1 T tandoori seasoning
1 T ground cardamom

Saute onions and cashews in oil with salt and half the spices until browned, and set aside. Heat up roasted spaghetti squash and raisins in the pan with salt and the remaining spices, stir in onions and cashews, and add the diced peach. Serves 4.

The spaghetti squash and fruit will add plenty of sweetness, so you don’t need any honey or sugar in the dish.

Summer "Pasta" Salad

I finally figured out how to replace the starch in my favorite summer food!

Summer "Pasta" Salad

All measurements are approximate.

1 head cauliflower
4 medium tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
freshly grated parmesan and/or romano
salt/black pepper to taste

Chop the cauliflower into small bite size pieces. Steam until tender. Drain well.

Chiffonade the basil leaves (roll leaves into a cylinder using a big leaf as a wrapper, then use a good knife to chop into thin strips). Chop the tomatoes.

Mix together the warm cauliflower, tomatoes, basil, olive oil, vinegar. Salt to taste, but not too salty. Serve with a generous sprinkle of grated parmesan.

Optional: add leftover chunks of cooked chicken or other protein

Curried potatoes and eggs

2-3 medium onions, chopped
6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
3 cups cooked fingerling potatoes, sliced 1/8 inch thick
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup plain yogurt
grapeseed oil
salt
black pepper
garlic powder
Penzeys garam masala (coriander, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, charnushka/kalonji, carroway, cloves, ginger, nutmeg)
Penzeys tandoori seasoning (coriander, cumin, paprika, garlic, ginger, cardamom, saffron)
Penzeys sweet curry (turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek, ginger, nutmeg, fennel, cinnamon, white pepper, cloves, cardamom, black and red pepper)
1/2 Tbsp honey
splash orange juice
finely chopped fresh dill
Optional: 1/4 cup finely chopped toasted almonds, or 1/2 cup toasted cashews


In a hot pan, fry onions with oil, salt, and spices. Set aside onions when transluscent. Add oil to the pan, and fry potatoes with salt, spices, and orange juice. When potatoes are starting to brown slightly, add yogurt, tomato sauce, eggs, onions, salt, spices, honey, black pepper, and optional nuts. Mix together and cook until sauce is slightly reduced, adding water if sauce reduces too far. Stir as needed to prevent scorching. When ready to serve, sprinkle dill on top. Can be served hot, warm, or chilled.

Salt and spices should be added at every stage, since the onions, potatoes, eggs, and yogurt will all tend to mute the spices. The honey is not to make the dish sweet, but to counteract the sour flavor added by the yogurt.

Baked Kale Chips

Kale doesn't show up in my house very often, but every now and then some sneaks through the door. And after discovering baked kale chips, I might invite it in more often!

The short version:

Wash and dry kale. Dry it again. Get it really dry. Now drizzle it with olive oil and mix it around so the leaves are coated. Bake for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees on a foil lined pan. Sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, smoked paprika (or whatever savory blend of herbs you have and like). Enjoy the crisp of potato chips with the thrill of eating your dark leafy greens.

If that sounds good, but you want better written details for the process, I got the recipe from glutenfreegirl.

If you bake, and if you eat gluten free but not grain free, or if you just like reading someone who really enjoys life, you'll like glutenfreegirl. Though I'll admit to being rather envious since my problem is carbs not gluten, so I can't try most of her recipes.

Squash latkes

2 cups roughly grated butternut squash
1 cup roughly grated onions
2 eggs
3 Tbsp almond flour
salt
optional: garlic, cinnamon, cayenne

After grating squash and onions, let sit for 15 minutes and then press out the excess water. Mix all ingredients together. Fry pancakes (3" across, 3/8" thick) in oil until brown on each side. Serve with applesauce.

This is a standard potato pancake recipe, with the grated potatoes replaced by a mix of squash and onions and the wheat flour replaced by almond flour. You can change the ratio of squash to onion to suit your taste.

Chicken a la King

This meal for using up leftover chicken or turkey was a childhood favorite that involved canned mushroom soup and puff pastry. My variant doesn't have the crisp of the pastry, but the sauce is much tastier!

In a pot large enough to contain everything, slowly brown:
1 medium onion finely chopped
about 1 cup of shitake mushrooms slice
3 crushed or minced cloves garlic or 1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp butter (or bacon fat if you have it)

As the onions and mushrooms cook, add spices to taste:
Salt (start with 1/2 tsp, you may want more---the sauce should be pretty salty)
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp ground rosemary
1 tsp smoked paprika (or plain paprika or powdered ancho, optional)
pinch cayenne or chipotle (more or less depending on your taste for heat)
add more oil (use butter or your preferred cooking oil) if the onions start to burn

When the onions are nice and brown, add
2 tbsp red wine (optional, but worth it if you can)

After the wine has cooked off, add
1/2 cup yogurt (more for a thinner sauce)
1/4 cup milk (or water)

Stir until smooth. then add
1-2 cups cooked chicken cut into bite size pieces

Cook until the chicken is hot.

Serve it over cooked spaghetti squash, baked winter squash, cauliflower, or almond flour biscuits.

Grain-Free Peanut Butter Brownies

1 cup peanut butter (add salt if using unsalted peanut butter)
2 eggs (add a third egg for more cake-like texture)
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon, or 1/4 cup cocoa for chocolate flavor
Optional: 1-2 overripe bananas or 1/2 cup applesauce

Mix all ingredients together. Bake at 350° in a buttered 9"x9" pan for about 30 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean).