Elimination Recipe Box: Sauteed Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti squash is one of those weird, fun, tasty miracles of biology.  Does it taste like pasta?  Nope.  It tastes like buttery, delicious squash, but without the mushy squash texture.  So it does pair great with whatever you would pair pasta with, but if you don't expect it to BE pasta, you can appreciate the deliciousness that it is. 

Most recipes for cooking the squash call for cutting it in half first.  I can tell you that unless you have a handy-dandy kitchen reciprocating saw, that will be both enormously hard work and a little dangerous.  The good news is that it's entirely unnecessary. 

To cook the squash, simply jab it a dozen times all over with a sharp fork or paring knife to allow it to release steam.  Then place it on a plate or glass pie dish and stick the whole thing in the microwave for 7 minutes.  Use hotpads to roll it over onto the other side, and microwave for another 5 minutes.  If it is a small squash, shave a minute off each of those times.  Leave the door shut, and let it sit for another 10 minutes.

You can also roast it whole in the oven for an hour, if you are microwave-less.  It is done when a knife goes all the way to the center without much resistance.

Continue to use hotpads to handle it, but it should be fairly easy now to slice in half with a large knife.  Scoop the super-stringy, darker threads and seeds from the middle, then use a fork to shred the squash flesh into spaghetti-like strands.  Try a large spoon to scrape the last bits out if they adhere to the rind.

This basic pile of squash shreds will keep in the fridge for 5 days, and re-heats beautifully in the microwave or stovetop.  It's another good option to make on a Sunday and throw together into a quick side dish or packed lunch all week. 

Now for the sauteed squash:

Ingredients (2 large side servings):

Shreds from 1/2 cooked spaghetti squash (about 2-3 cups, loose)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons minced onion
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley*

*Also try fresh basil and oregano, or add fresh sage while the garlic is cooking, or use a curry spice mix.  

Recipe:

Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat
add garlic and onion, and fry until fragrant (30 seconds)
add spaghetti squash
Cook and stir for 2-3 minutes until squash is tender (add additional oil if sticking)
Add fresh parsley and cook an additional minute
serve warm

Elimination Recipe Box: Roasted Beets

This recipe is Elimination-Diet friendly.  The downside of beets is that they take a long time to cook.  The upside of beets is that they're delicious either hot or cold, so they're great in a packed lunch, and throw needed vitamin C and fiber into your diet.  Roasted beets are worth it, since they're much more flavorful and toothsome than canned varieties, and less expensive.

If the beets come with greens, you can cook them up like swiss chard.  I would make the greens the first night, roast the beets during dinner, and eat the beets the next day.  


Ingredients:

4-6 beets
1/4 cup olive oil
14 cup balsamic vinegar (optional)

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

Peeling beets is just like peeling potatoes, but messier.  Beet juice will stain a lot of surfaces, including countertops, hands, and fabrics.  It's easiest to just station yourself at the sink with a little water running (or a bowl of water if you're in a drought state), 4-6 washed beets, and a vegetable peeler or paring knife. put a plastic cutting board at the bottom of the sink.  Peel and chop the beets into 1/2" by 1" pieces, and rinse as needed. 

Place the beet pieces in a baking dish lined with aluminum foil, or an oven-safe pot with a tight lid (e.g. dutch oven). 

drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and either wrap up tightly in the foil or place the lid.

Bake at 400 F for at least 40 minutes, up to 1.5 hours.  After the first 40 minutes, test for doneness, stir the beets, and add 1/3 cup water if they're looking at all dry on top.  Repeat every 20 minutes. 

The beets are done when they are about the consistency of a canned pear; firm to the tooth but not crunchy.  The easiest way to check is to run a piece under cold water for a moment, then take a bite. 

You can serve the beets warm, or refrigerate them and eat them cold.  I prefer cold, my partner warm.  They stand up to multiple re-heats in the microwave, so make enough to last the week.

Note 1:  I have not personally tried it, but there are a lot of recipes for cooking beets whole in a slow-cooker/crockpot.  Here's one example from Southern Food. 

Note 2: You can also roast the beets whole and unpeeled, wrapped in foil, and the skins should slide off when they're done. It takes longer, and I don't like handling the hot beets, so I peel first.  There's very little difference in the resulting flavor and texture, so see which way you like it!

Note 3:  Beets will add a pink tint to your urine; do not panic and think you are bleeding internally :-)

Elimination Recipe Box: Pan-Roasted Cauliflower

While this recipe is specifically designed to fit a food sensitivity elimination diet, it is tasty enough for anyone, and quick enough for a weeknight side dish. 

I like to use a cast-iron pan for stove-top cooking, as it gives me the nice crunchy savory brown bits that a teflon pan doesn't develop.  I have made this successfully in a steel pan as well. 

Ingredients:

1-2 heads of fresh cauliflower
olive oil
2-3 cloves minced garlic

Recipe:

Wash cauliflower and break off florets at the stem.  Slice larger florets so that everything is about 1/4" thick, but leave the small ones whole.  Discard the main stem and leaves, unless you are motivated to someday make vegetable stock from scratch, in which case add it to the veggie scrap bag in the freezer. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat until the oil flows like water

Add cauliflower and garlic, and stir to coat.  Add more olive oil as needed to get everything a little oily.

Stir every two minutes or so, or as needed to prevent burning (but let it get a little brown between stirrings).  Total cooking time should be about 10 minutes, with the cauliflower still a little crisp.  Run a piece under cold water and taste it to see if it's to your liking.

Serve warm, but leftovers can be tossed with cooked quinoa for the next day's lunch.  

Recipe Box: Gluten-Free Banh Mi

Banh mi simply means bread, and you can usually find these Vietnamese sandwiches in the form of a baguette stuffed with all kinds of deliciousness.  At some places, like the Tin Drum chain of restaurants and some food trucks, the banh mi is referred to as a "Vietnamese taco" and is served on flatbread.  While baguettes are possible to make gluten-free, flatbread is quick, easy, and delicious.

In fact, when I set out to search for a flatbread recipe, I had no idea that I already had one.  Many recipes for gluten-free wraps or pitas online use a ridiculous amount of xanthan or guar gum to create the chewy flexibility.  For some folks, that's fine.  For my partner and I, xanthan gum really messes up our digestive system and we feel really ill for a few days if we have too much.  So the recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring caught my eye for being gum free.  Then I noticed that her recipe was pretty much traditional Pão de Queijo (Brazilian tapioca bread) but rolled out and pan-cooked instead of baked into rolls.  Maybe this should have been an obvious solution considering the chewy deliciousness of Pão. 

The best timing on this is to make the dough first so that it can rest in the fridge.  Then matchstick the veggies to give them time to pickle.  Then prep the rest of the filling ingredients.  The exception of course is if you're slow-cooking some fancy pulled pork or something, in which case that obviously has to happen first. 

With Pão de Queijo you bake the dough while it is still warm and sticky, but for wraps they really need to sit in the refrigerator until quite cool to make them workable.  Otherwise you will never be able to roll them flat.  Do not skip this step, but if you need to shortcut it you can separate the dough into individual balls (about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup each), flatten them slightly, and stick them in the freezer for 10 minutes.  I have not yet frozen the dough completely to see how it behaves after thawing, so don't leave them in longer than you have to.

Once you have the dough made up, it can sit in the fridge for three days wrapped air-tight in plastic wrap.  This makes it perfect for quick meals, as you can just tear a couple of hunks off, cook them up, fill them with leftovers or lunchmeat, and have a hot meal in 20-30 minutes. 

Ingredient substitution:

If you can't find daikon radishes, use half the amount of shredded red radishes and increase the carrots.
If you can't find shisito peppers, which might be sold at an Asian grocery as sweet peppers, then you can substitute a combination of green bell pepper and jalapeno pepper to your desired spiciness.  Dice or shred the seeded jalapeno very small. 

WRAPS:  (full Pão de Queijo recipe here)
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup butter, cut into chunks
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups tapioca flour (also sold as tapioca starch)
2 cups shredded or grated cheese (anything meltable: mozzarella, cheddar, colby, etc.  We use the bagged pre-shredded Mexican blend or mozzarella from Publix)

THE DOUGH:

• Bring the milk and butter to a full rolling boil, stirring often to prevent scorching
• Remove from heat and dump in the tapioca flour all at once and stir vigorously until it is all moistened
• Move to stand mixer with paddle or dough hook attachment
• Mix on low until cool enough to touch without scorching, but still warm (may need to stop and pull the sticky dough off the beaters if it clumps)
• Add half the eggs, beat until incorporated, then repeat with the other half
• Add the cheese and beat until incorporated
• Separate into two or more chunks and cool completely in fridge (up to an hour).  Will cool faster in smaller pieces, or rolled out into a long snake.  
• Dough keeps in fridge for 3 days if tightly wrapped.

THE WRAPS:

• Preheat a cast-iron or non-stick skillet at least 10" in diameter to medium heat
• Tear a chunk off the dough about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup in size.  
• Flour a surface with tapioca starch (have more on hand)
• Dust the dough with starch and roll out, dusting as it sticks, to preferred thickness.  Tortillas can be very thin, roti should be about 1/8 inch thick.
• Cook on skillet for about 2 minutes. Should be stiff enough to pick up with a spatula, with brown spots on the underside.
• Flip and cook for an additional 2 minutes. If desired, brush with olive oil and garlic/herbs, then flip and cook an additional minute.
• move to a plate and cover with a paper towel to keep warm, or use a tortilla warmer.
• These do not keep well in a cold lunch, but can be re-heated by cooking on a hot skillet for 30 seconds each side.

THE FILLING

Makes about 4 wraps.  Multiply the recipe if you want leftovers for the next few days.

THE PICKLE:
1/2 cup carrots, shredded or cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup daikon (white) radish, shredded or cut into matchsticks
1/4 cup red onion, shredded or cut into matchsticks
1/4 cup shishito peppers (sweet mild peppers) seeded, shredded or thin sliced 
1/2 cup white or rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup white sugar

Boil the water, vinegar and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved.  Let cool (can quick-cool in fridge or freezer)
Pour over veggie mix, mix well, and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
Drain off liquid. Leftovers are good in fridge for up to 3 days

OTHER INGREDIENTS:  (All optional)
 Chopped cilantro
lime juice
meat (chicken, beef, and pork are most common)
shredded or matchsticked cucumber
mayonnaise

A little meat, a lot of pickled vegetables, a smear of mayo, a handful of cilantro and a drizzle of lime gets you what you see in the photo.  But as this is a pretty versatile wrap, you could fill it with just about anything and be happy with the result. 

Recipe Box: Sesame Noodles with Bok Choy

A fresh, tasty, hearty meal or side dish that makes a great lunch the next day.

Ingredients (makes 6 full servings):

1 12-16 package rice noodles (more noodles = lighter flavor/less sauce)
2 Tablespoons toasted sesame seeds)

Veggies:
1 lb bok choy or baby bok choy, leaves and stems chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, minced
6-10 oz mushrooms, sliced
peanut or sesame oil, for frying (2-4 tablespoons)

Sauce:
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (can sub apple cider vinegar)
2 tablespoons tamari sauce
1 teaspoon sweet chili paste
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup corn starch in 1/2 cup cold water

Directions

Set a pot of water to boil for the noodles
Chop/mince all the veggies
Pre-heat a frying pan or wok with 1 tablespoon oil
Make the sauce:  Combine all but the corn starch/water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Once it boils, stir in the cornstarch/water, and continue stirring until it is evenly thickened.  Reduce heat to low and keep warm.
Put the noodles on to cook (6-8 minutes, or per package directions)
When the oil is hot enough to spit with a drop of water, stir-fry the veggies in batches, making sure you do not overfill the pan.  Add oil as necessary.  Before each batch, fry a proportionate amount of garlic and pepper until fragrant, then add mushrooms and bok choy.  Pull it from the pan when the bok choy leaves are wilted, but the stem pieces still have some crunch.  Set aside vegetables in large metal bowl.
Once noodles are finished cooking, drain and add to bowl with veggies.  Pour sauce over all and mix well.
Sprinkle top with sesame seeds before serving.  

Roasted Balsamic Brussel Sprouts (Gluten-Free)

Brussel Sprouts have an unearned reputation as the child torture device of the vegetable world.  They do have a cabbage-like flavor when steamed (or too old), but it turns out that when you roast them, they come out pretty darn tasty.  I made these for someone who despises brussel sprouts in any shape or form, and he took seconds.  The vinegar browns to a sweet glaze on the sprouts. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Ingredients:
1/2 pound brussel sprouts 
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

You can leave brussel sprouts less than 1/4" diameter, but cut larger sprouts into halves or quarters.  Cut the end off the stem, then slice lengthwise along the stem so that the leaves are held together with part of the stem in each piece.

Combine the oil and vinegar and toss brussel sprouts. Set in a pan so that they are 1-2 layers deep. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Serve immediately (they reheat well but don't keep long).

This works beautifully with other dark green vegetables, including broccoli or parboiled green beans. 

Roasted Garlic-Herb Potatoes (Gluten-Free)

Ingredients:

5 pounds of potatoes, washed and cut into 2" chunks
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (sub olive oil for vegan)
3 Tablespoons fresh chopped chives (half the amount dried)
5 cloves fresh garlic, minced (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
2 teaspoons fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
2 teaspoons fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Spread potato chunks in 9x12 casserole dish.
Cut pats of butter and place on top of potatoes.
Evenly distribute herbs over top of potatoes and butter.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Cover with foil.
Bake at 350 F for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender, stirring potatoes halfway through.
Remove foil, stir potatoes.
Turn oven up to broil.
Broil 3-5 minutes until tops are crusty brown.

Jicama: A Crunchy, Gluten-Free Snack

Jicama is a satisfying crunchy snack that is starchy enough to satisfy a craving for chips or toast.  It has a texture close to a crisp apple, but a flavor that is bland and slightly sweet with a spicy, earthy edge and so goes well with strong flavors. 

To prepare:
Cut the peel from the jicama.
Slice into carrot-stick size portions (approx 1/4" to 1/2" thick by 3" to 4" long)
sprinkle liberally with lime juice
sprinkle lightly with sea salt
sprinkle moderately with chili powder

If you want to combine flavors on a veggie platter, jicama pairs well with cucumbers, carrots, and (odd as it sounds) watermelon or mango.