The Best SCD/Paleo Chili you have ever tasted!

Posted on May 1, 2013 by livingfullywithout

This delicious savory, spicy and sweet chili is the culmination of over a year of fairly tragic SCD legal chilis. No really. Everyone send Mike an air-five for being a champ and eating burned, bland, s0-hot-your-nose runs, oh and did I mention bland, chilis. However, by painstaking trial and error, I have created the BEST chili recipe! It reminds me of Fresh Fields chili, if anyone remembers the tiny yet incredible diner, in tiny yet incredible Stillwater, Minnesota. Hands down, this is the best SCD/Paleo chili I have tried. I started with this recipe from Paleo Pot and it evolved from there. Credit where credit is due, the Paleo Pot recipe was great but not sweet or substantial enough for an entire meal.

So far we have served it a bunch of ways- plain, over spaghetti squash, over cauli-rice, with Roost Blog’s Almond Thyme Crackers, with onion and avocado, with cheese, etc. Try it out and let me know any fun new combos!

Sweet and Spicy SCD/Paleo Chili Recipe:
2 Bell Peppers (1 Orange, 1 Yellow is my favorite)
1 Red Onion
1 Yellow Onion
1 Jalapeno pepper (Leave half of the seeds in or adjust according to heat preference)
1 lb. Ground pork
1 lb. Ground sirloin
1/4-1/2lb. bacon
4 cups diced tomatoes
1/2 head of garlic (5-6 cloves)
1 TBS Cumin
1 TBS Cayenne Pepper
1 TBS cocoa (optional- remove to make SCD legal)
1 TBS salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red chili flakes
1/4 cup honey
1 cup red kidney beans (pre-soaked according to SCD specifications)
1 cup water
Instructions:
1.) Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place bacon strips evenly. Cook for 9-12 minutes until finished cooking. I love cooking bacon in the oven because it cooks evenly but feel free to cook in the skillet as well.
2.) Brown the pork and beef. Strain the fat and set aside.
3.) Cook all of your veggies to roughly the same size. It doesn’t have to be perfect because you’re going to put half of them in your food processor or blend after cooking.
4.) Combine the spices in a separate bowl. Add all of the veggies, beans and meat to your crock pot. Add the water, spices, and honey and cook on low for 8 hours.
5.) Remove the top and stir to combine. Take roughly half of your mixture (about 5 cups) and blend it in your food processor. Add the un-blended portion to the blended portion and stir to combine.
6.) Serve and enjoy! We like it with avocados, served over spaghetti squash, with grated cheese on the top or just plain. Yum!

Little Dipper’s Homemade Barbeque Sauce

Posted on April 3, 2013 by livingfullywithout

When I was little, I lived in a small rural farming town in southern Minnesota where my dad served as a pastor of a small United Methodist church. My grandparents would come and visit us and on those occasions, we’d frequent one of the two restaurants in town. More often or not, we’d opt for “Daniel’s” over “Burger King”. It was on one such excursion to “Daniel’s” that I received one of my most enduring nicknames. I couldn’t have been more than three. I was sitting next to my Grandpa Marlowe when I noticed him place a large blob of ketchup on his plate. Seeing my gaze, he responded by plopping a large dollop on mine as well. Giving me a mischievous smile he said “Look, Alli, like this!” With that he dipped his finger into the ketchup and licked it off. I was spell bound. And the rest is food dipping history.

Growing up, I dipped all of my food. To a disgusting event. When there wasn’t food to be dipped, I would eat the condiment with a spoon or by scooping it up with my fingers. “Little Dipper” was a charitable term for what became an obsession. Alli had to have her sauce! Even as an adult I would ask for 3-4 BBQ packets- not one, my own ketchup bottle- not a small cup and covered everything I could think of with a thick layer of sweet and spicy goodness.

SCD was a rude awakening. My second day after the intro diet, I tried to make BBQ and failed miserably. I wasn’t deterred and have made at least 20 variations of BBQ over the past year. While I may not have tried every SCD recipe out there, I have sampled a great deal of them to frustrating ends.

Enter the hero of the story. He scales large buildings in a single bound. He consumes large tombs of theology without falling asleep once. He keeps his jokes about yoga to a minimum AND he likes cats better than dogs. But even more significant than all of these virtues is the fact that he alone created the perfect SCD BBQ sauce. Without Mike Niebauer, Little Dipper’s Homemade Barbeque Sauce would not exist.

He gave me the recipe and the first batch for Christmas this past year. It is the perfect combination of sweet and savory with a little bit of kick. Delicious and authentic tasting, I wouldn’t be able to tell it from commercial BBQ. It is in fact, the perfect BBQ sauce. Best of all, it’s incredibly simple to make! Mike Niebauer, you got it goin’ on.

Little Dipper’s BBQ Sauce

1 Can of Organic Tomato Juice (32 oz each)
¾ Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp. onion powder
3 ¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. all spice
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. garlic powder
1 bay leaf
1 ½ Tlb. Yellow mustard
1/8 tsp paprika
¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper
Dash of chili powder
1/3 cup honey
1 ¾ tsp. liquid smoke (I use Wright’s, it’s SCD legal)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients, except for honey, liquid smoke in a large pot.
2. Simmer for 3-4 hours until very thick, stirring occasionally, more so as it thickens.
3. Turn off heat. Remove bay leaves.
4. Add liquid smoke. Stir well.
5. Transfer to a blender and puree well.

Paleo Chocolate Crepes Cake with Coconut Whipped Cream

Posted on April 1, 2013 by livingfullywithout

Today I awoke to a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining through the cracks in my curtains and the temperature of my apartment didn’t make me want to curl up under the covers and go back to sleep. It was fitting that this is the first day that feels like spring because it’s the day we celebrate new life through the resurrection and it’s the day I celebrate being alive! Praise the Lord for these 26 years and for regaining a great deal of my health through eating SCD/Paleo for 11 months now.

To celebrate, I decided to make a special cake. A crepes cake. A stack of thin, sweet, crepes layered with chocolate frosting. I started with the recipe I use for savory crepes and added more honey.

Almond Flour Crepes:

1 cup almond flour
10 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey

I used coconut oil and a 10 inch skillet. I mixed all the ingredients together. I made sure the oil was really hot before pouring 1/4 cup batter into pan and cooked it for about 2 minutes on each side. It made 10 crepes.

Next, I whipped up some chocolate frosting using the recipe I use for my chocolate cupcakes.

Chocolate Frosting:

1/2 cup 100% cacao bar
⅓ cup coconut oil
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan over very low heat, melt chocolate, honey and coconut oil
Stir in vanilla extract
Place frosting in refrigerator for 15-30 minutes to thicken
Remove from refrigerator and whip frosting until thick and fluffy
Spread over crepes and stack them one on top of each other

Lastly, I cut up about 1 cup of strawberries to decorate the cake!

When I got ready to serve it, I used Danielle, from Against All Grain‘s recipe for coconut whipped cream. The only thing I did differently was use Aroy-D coconut milk because I am still off of Guar Gum.

The result was pretty incredible. I shared it with our friend’s Griff and Brittani and we were all enthralled with the fluffy whipped cream contrasted against the firm french pastry taste of the cake. And it photographed so pretty! So pretty in fact that I tilted it too far down and dumped it on the floor! Luckily I am the birthday girl so no one got after me. 🙂

Eaten on hand-painted plates from the amazing Lauren Wilgus at The Handmaden, what a treat! Happy Birthday to me!

Surviving February: Slow Cooker Pineapple and Chili Pulled Pork

Posted on March 8, 2013 by livingfullywithout

February is hands down, the worst month of the year for mid-westerners. It manages to simultaneously never end and speed by, giving the poor chump stuck in a mid-west induced haze of flu, stress, and blizzards, the feeling of slow motion whip lash. You know it’s happening, but you can’t do anything about it. Mid-westerners, we are the true survivors.

Fortunately, February also gives me this frenzied craving for all things tropical. I window shop for dresses without sleeves and blush inducing lengths. At work, I keep my sanity while holding on the phone by clicking on EVERY SINGLE travel “get-away” package that I see. And I make a series of tropical inspired dishes that give me the illusory feeling of controlling my own destiny. Maybe if I eat enough pineapple. I too will win Travelocity’s “Romantic Caribbean Get-Away” sweepstakes.

It hasn’t happened. But March is here. It’s sunny today and I am happy to post pictures of mouthwatering Caribbean spiced pork turned mid-western by virtue of the crock-pot. I snagged the recipe off of paleopot.com and was glad I did. The sweetness of the pineapple and the heat from the chilies made me ignore the blizzard outside. I was so absorbed in the meal I didn’t even notice the snow plow, dutifully stacking snow around my little Vibe, making it impossible to leave.

Maybe getting stuck inside isn’t such a bad thing after all…

Paleo Double Chocolate Donuts

Posted on March 5, 2013 by livingfullywithout

About 3 weeks ago we celebrated my husband Mikey’s 32nd birthday! The way I grew up, birthdays are not confined to a solitary party or a nice cake and presents. Rather, a birthday is an event stretching anywhere from 24-72 hours in which the sole focus of everyone’s attention is celebrating the awesomeness that is you. My mom even made all of us girls separate tablecloths, used only on our birthdays. Mine was a spangely magenta masterpiece, while my younger sister favored a light pink velour table runner. Nice work Mom.
Anyway, I was determined that Mikey was going to have the best birthday EVER despite my raging flu, his three hour night class, and all day meetings. The morning of, I got up early and drove to get his all-time favorite breakfast: donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts. I pulled through the drive through and leaned out my window into the frigid mid-western morning and said “Hi, I’m grabbing donuts for my husband’s birthday. Do you have one double chocolate and one peanut cluster?” “Sure do”, came the automatic reply. “Will that be all? Or can I get you one as well?”
Yes. Yes I will have a light, fluffy, yeasty chocolate donut with Bavarian cream. Or a thick, dense powdered sugar donut that leaves my lips frosted with a delectable white ring. Or a few coy, round donut holes, the bane of the dieters existence but ever dear to my own heart.
“No.” I replied regretfully. “That’s all.”
Mike’s birthday passed but I haven’t been able to get the vision of those donuts out of my head! Finally I decided to get serious, and get a darn donut! This is my favorite variation of different recipes I have tried to get the perfect double chocolate, paleo friendly donut.
Ingredients: (Donut)

1 cup almond flour
¼ cup cacao powder
¾ tsp baking soda
2 TBS honey
3 eggs
1 TBS strongly brewed coffee
¼ cup melted coconut oil

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the donut pan very well with coconut oil or oil of choice.
Combine all of the dry ingredients and sift to combine. Make sure to use 100% unsweetened cacoa powder.
Combine wet ingredients except for the eggs and stir to combine. Add eggs and beat until well combined. You should be able to pour into molds. If it is too sticky, add a little bit of water.
Pour into donut mold until 2/3 full. Bake for 10 minutes, no longer. Remove from molds while warm.

Ingredients: (Frosting)

¼ cup coconut oil
¼ cup honey
3 ounces unsweetened cacao in bar form
½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

Heat oil in sauce pan over medium heat until melted.
Add cacao and stir constantly, making sure it doesn’t burn. Adjust heat as needed.
Add honey and whisk to combine.
Remove sauce pan from heat and add vanilla extract. Stir well.
Cool to slightly warm. Dip donuts into chocolate and then let cool. The frosting will slightly harden as it cools. Best when slightly warm.

Dunkin’ Donuts ain’t got nothin’ on me!

Homemade Mayo and the glory that ensues

Posted on February 26, 2013 by livingfullywithout

This is the part of the story where the hero decides that enough is enough and it’s time to kick some butt! If you like that part of the story, read on. Disclaimer, I am the hero in this story. Well, me and my kitchen aid mixer but that’s a given.

When I started the Specific Carbohydrates Diet back in May 2012, I was used to eating lots of creamy, delicious dressings and spreads and I was determined that changing my diet wouldn’t change that. This was illogical for a number of reasons, the biggest being that I was brand new to this kind of cooking and pretty unconfident in the kitchen. Still, two weeks in I decided to try a ranch dressing that called for 1/2 a cup of mayo. The result was a running, eggy tasting mess and a sugar-withdrawal, prednisone induced cry. About a month and a half later I tried a garlic aioli. Aioli is mayo made with olive oil. The running, non-cohesive result led me to the conclusion that mayo was not in my wheelhouse and that I should stick to apple cider vinaigrette.

This February, a promotion at work has left me scrambling for time to cook. I think I have been more of less living off of almond thyme crackers and cheese. And, the salad bar at Whole Foods where the most delicious tuna salad in the whole world gave me the courage to try again. Here is how I did it.

Ingredients:

Tuna Salad

2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of cayenne (optional)
1 cup canola oil*

Instructions:

I separated the egg yolks from the whites. I froze the egg whites for use later. To the egg yolks I added the lemon juice, water and honey and carefully whisked in a small porcelain bowl.
I used my sauce pan to heat about 3 cups of hot water until it was simmering. I placed the porcelain bowl with the egg mixture into the sauce pan. From here, I whisked the egg mixture constantly, heating until the egg mixture reached 135 degrees, measured with a candy thermometer. Also, around 130 it started to thicken. From here, I removed it from the heat and dipped the bottom in cold water to stop it from cooking and let it sit for 5 minutes to cool. I think it’s pretty important to temper the eggs. At 135, it will kill any bacteria present.
I transferred the egg mixture to my kitchen aid mixture and started to whisk at a slow speed. From here, I added the mustard, salt and cayenne.
Now comes the tricky part. Increasing the speed of the mixer, I slowly, almost drop by drop, added the oil down the side into the egg mixture. The egg mixture has to “hold” the oil and so it needs to be slow. Continue until the oil is gone.
Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes until cold. And you’ve got some homemade mayo!

*I know there is a lot of debate in the SCD community about canola oil and its safety. If you have concerns, feel free to substitute peanut oil or olive oil.

So creamy! So fluffy! So delicious! And best of all, it enabled some truly awesome meals this week! First out much further ado:

Tuna Salad Ingredients:

2 cans of tuna, packed in water with nothing added
4 T. diced celery
5 T. high quality mayonnaise
2 T. Dijon or other good mustard
1-2 t. finely chopped dill
1 T. honey
1/4 t. cayenne (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. So simple. Just mix it up and chill. Serve with lettuce, on a sandwich or by itself! Yum!

I followed 101 Cookbooks recipe for Egg Salad and served it with Almond Flour and Thyme Crackers. It was great! I would have loved it on cashew bread as well.

Bacon Wrapped Dates and Chipotle Mayo Ingredients:

This little piggy had bacon wrapped dates

1/4 cup mayo
1/4 t. chipotle chili mayo
1 T. lemon
2 t. finely diced jalapeno pepper
1 small clove of garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper to taste
5 strips bacon
10 medjool dates

Instructions:

1. Blend all mayo ingredients together and chill. Delicious!

2. Cut 5 strips of bacon in half. Wrap ten medjool dates in the bacon and cook for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

To conclude. The hero succeeded and was not defeated by soul-less food and made many delicious dishes and lived happily ever after. The End.

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Posted on February 11, 2013 by livingfullywithout

Butternut squash lasagna isn’t terribly original. In fact I’m pretty sure I’ve seen Rachel Ray do it, which means I usually pass but in this case I decided I’d give it a go. Every gluten-free, paleo, low-carb blogger seems to have their own recipe. I wanted to try and incorporate some signature “SCD” foods into mine, such as my homemade goat milk yogurt and favorite store bought (but still SCD legal) marinara.

I was really happy with the result! It was hearty and the squash “noodles” held up very well. Mike and I both agreed that similar to pasta lasagna, it actually tasted better re-heated! I’ll definitely be making this again soon!

Butternut Squash Lasagna

Butternut Squash Lasagna– cook in 10.5 by 7.5 inch pan

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash (Try to get one with a long “neck”)
½ cup SCD Yogurt (Goat milk yogurt is my favorite for this recipe)
½ lb. ground beef
2 cups shredded cheese (I like havarti, aged cheddar, and goat cheddar)
1 TBS basil
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp thyme
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp chili powder
2 cups SCD legal marinara sauce (I use Lucini)
2 TBS coconut oil

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place squash in oven for 10 minutes to soften before removing. Continue to heat oven.
Mix together all spices. This will make about 4 TBS of spice.
Combine ground beef with 1 TBS of spice mixture. Mix well, using hand to combine if necessary.
Heat 1 TBS of coconut oil in a 10-inch skillet. When hot, add ground beef and brown, stirring to prevent burning. Decrease heat to medium to avoid burning if necessary. Once it has finished cooking, drain oil and fat. Keep warm.
Remove squash from oven. Use mandolin to slice squash into long pieces, approximately ¼ inch thick and 4-5 inches long. If you don’t have a mandolin slicer, use knife to slice thinly. You will need enough slices to create 3 layers of “pasta”. How many slices you need will vary, depending on the size of your squash.
Use the second TBS of coconut oil to coat the bottom of your pan, so that the first layer of “pasta” does not stick to the bottom.
Assemble your lasagna!
- First a layer of butternut squash
- Next, spread a thin layer of yogurt followed by a layer of cheese
- Sprinkle 2 tsp of your spice mixture
- Add a portion of the ground beef
- Top with about ¾ cup marinara
- Repeat!
- After you have three layers of squash, conclude with adding a final layer of cheese after the marinara
Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes. Serve while hot or refrigerate and re-heat. The advantage of refrigerating and reheating is the squash will have absorbed more of the marinara, making it less saucy and more like lasagna. Delicious either way!

Birthday Brunches and Almond-Flour Banana Cupcakes

Posted on February 4, 2013 by livingfullywithout

There is something magic about opening up your home for entertaining. Whether it’s the cleaning up the “lived-in” qualities of your rooms, planning the menu, considering the food restrictions of the guests, buying flowers for the vases or just anticipating the arrival of the guests, it’s magical! It fills my thoughts for days before and drives me to spend way more time than I have preparing food.

This past fall, my younger sister Anna moved to my town! I wish I could say it was to be with her cool older sister, but really it was so should could get an awesome education, explore Chicago and make great new friends. Check, check and check! For her birthday this year, I decided to throw her a brunch! Because I am a selfish cook that wants to eat all of the food that I make (and because I fear cross-contamination) I made all foods either SCD legal or Paleo.

A is for Anna!

I wanted to serve a variety of foods so after weighing my options, I settled on this menu:

Crust-less quiche made with SCD goat milk yogurt (Find my recipe here)
- Broccoli, sautéed onion and swiss chard
- Bacon, sautéed onion and kale

Grain-free granola served with fresh fruit and coconut milk (Find Danielle’s recipe here)
Fresh fruit with Paleo chocolate fondue (Find my recipe here)
Paleo chocolate cupcakes (Find the combo of recipes I used here)
Annie’s Blend Tea (A mix of two of her favorite teas in fill-able tea bags)
Anna Banana Cupcakes (Recipe below!)

Grain-free granola with coconut milk and topping options

When we were growing up, we would celebrate our birthdays at our Grandma Beth’s house and she would inevitably make us her famous Banana Chocolate Cake for our birthday cake! Sweet, almost to the point of being too sweet, it was sheer birthday indulgence and we always look forward to it. Since being diagnosed with Crohn’s, I haven’t been able to tolerate sweets as well and since beginning SCD, there has been no Banana Chocolate Cake for me. I decided to try and re-create one of our childhood favorites in Paleo form. I experimented with several different versions of this recipe before settling on this one.

They are light and moist with a lovely fruit driven sweetness. Topped with rich Paleo chocolate, they brought a rush of nostalgic childhood memories for me and smiles for us all!

The original Anna Banana and her darling friends!

Anna Banana Cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups of almond flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice, or a mix of cinnamon, ginger, allspice and clove in diminishing proportions
3 medium bananas (Make sure they are over ripe or they won’t mash and give you the texture you want)
2 eggs
1/3 cup raw honey
1 tsp vanilla

Icing:

For the frosting, I launched from this recipe of Elana‘s at Elana’s Pantry. However, I made some alterations. First of all, I halved the recipe. I used 1/2 of the Ghiradelli 100% Unsweetened Pure Cocoa Baking Bar (about 1/2 cup). Second of all, I added 1/3 cup of raw honey and kept the 1/3 cup of coconut oil. I decreased the vanilla to 1 tsp. I followed all other instructions.

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 300. Line a cupcake/muffin tin with paper liners.

2. Mix together all dry ingredients until well mixed.

3. Blend eggs, honey and bananas in an electric mixer until smooth with no large chucks of banana.

4. Fold in dry ingredients.

5. Fill the tin about 3/4 of the way with batter. They won’t rise a lot but aren’t too dense. (I use an ice cream scoop to fill mine).

6. Cook at 300 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

7. Top with Elana’s icing after letting the cupcakes completely cool.

Me posing with empty plates and feeling soooo smug. 🙂

Paleo Candy Bars

Posted on January 29, 2013 by livingfullywithout

Mike and I ate so so so bad B.C. (before Crohn’s) We dated and were engaged long distance and when I came to visit, we’d spend the whole weekend eating fake chinese (fasian), fried everything and sugar galore! When we went to movies, we’d sneak in at least 3 different types of candy bars and multiple soft drinks. Honestly, it was awesome.

But eating like that has a high cost (Crohn’s being just one of them) and since starting the SCD, I’ve tried hard to monitor my sugar intake. However, going to the movies bums me out. I miss my candy and soft drinks! Last night, Mike and I decided to go to “Argo” and I decided to do something about the candy situation.

As a disclaimer, eating these on a regular basis isn’t a part of a healthy, whole living plan. But once in a while, man does it hit the spot!

Paleo Candy Bars:

1/2 bar 100% Cacao (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup raw, unfiltered honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup roughly chopped roasted almonds
1/4 cup raisins

Instructions:

Heat coconut oil, honey and raw cacao over medium heat in small sauce pan until all ingredients have melted. Stir to prevent burning.
Add vanilla extract and remove from heat.
Make sure to pre-soak your almonds! Roast at 250 degrees for 2-3 hours with a sprinkling of sea salt.
Add almonds to your food processor and pulse until roughly chopped.
Mix almonds and raisins into the chocolate mixture.
Pour chocolate mixture into a cold ice tray, filling about 1/2 of the way up.
Freeze for at least 1 hour.
Crack the tray like you would ice. They fall right out! Store in the fridge to keep from going soft but they will keep their shape at room temperature.

Indian fried “rice” with Chicken Coconut Curry

Posted on January 28, 2013 by livingfullywithout

At least two times a week I am surrounded by the delicious, pungent and seductive smells of Indian spices. As a medical social worker at a refugee resettlement agency, I work with a lot of Bhutanese clients. These are the Lhotshampa people, ethnically Nepali people who were forced out of Bhutan and have lived for over 20 years in refugee camps in Nepal. I just love working with them. They bring with them an incredibly tight knit community, amazing hospitality, great work ethic and amazing cooking (among other things). A couple of times a week I will go to do a home visit and spend an hour or so inhaling the most incredible smells of their cooking. They share a lot of the spices I commonly associate with Indian cooking. B.C (before Crohn’s), I ate my weight in Nepali food– huge mounds of white jasmine rice, Aloo Achar (potato salad) and lentil curries. So delicious! Now I have to refuse the hospitality of my hosts using my limited Nepali to explain that I’m so sorry (mauf garnus) but I have food allergies! Explaining the SCD bacteria theory is a little beyond me for now.

A post by Jenni from Urban Poser on Indian “fried” rice made me think about trying to recreate a basic Nepali curry recipe. I followed her instructions for making the rice pretty closely. More Nepali delicacies to follow but for now, try this out! Make sure to look at Jenni’s original recipe as well. Her photos are out of this world!

Indian “Fried” Rice:

1 medium head cauliflower
3 tsp coconut oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 serrano chili, finely chopped
1 medium sized carrot, chopped in small pieces
1 cup peas
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp whole yellow mustard seed
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp corriander
1/8 tsp chili powder
1.5 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp honey
2 TBSP cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 lime, squeezed

Instructions:

Wash and chop cauliflower and put it in food processor. Pulse until it resembles rice. See Jenni’s recipe for recommendations on hand grating.
Heat 1 TBSP of coconut oil in 10 inch skillet. Once it’s hot, put a layer of the pulsed cauliflower over the oil. Watch it carefully and scrape to keep from burning. When it starts to brown and almost burn, remove from heat and put on the next layer, adding coconut oil as needed. Keep warm.
Once finished, add 1 TBSP of coconut oil. Once hot, add carrots and serrano chili. After 2 minutes, add chopped onion. Stir to keep from burning. After 5 minutes, add peas and lower heat. Add the “rice” back in.
Mix all the spices together and stir. Once well combined, add to the hot “rice” mixture and stir in 1 tsp honey.
Finish with 2 TBSP of cilantro and squeeze lime over it.

Indian fried “rice”

Coconut Chicken Curry:

1lb boneless skinless chicken breast
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 medium carrots
1/2 medium onion
3 peppers (I use 1 yellow and 2 smaller red)
2 tsp curry powder*
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 can coconut milk (Make sure it is SCD legal. I use Aroy-D, Trader Joe’s or Natural Valley)
2 tbsp cilantro (or more!)

Instructions:

Cut chicken into 1 in pieces.
Combine salt and pepper.
Coat chicken in 1/2 of it.
Cook chicken in skillet with coconut oil. Set chicken aside.
Add more oil to skillet and saute carrots, peppers, and onion for 5 minutes or until tender crisp, stirring occasionally.
Stir curry powder, raisins, coconut milk, and remaining salt/pepper mixture and add to skillet.
Add chicken and simmer for 3-5 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.

Simmer for a few minutes to thicken

*Curry powders can very from company to company. Make sure that you know all of the ingredients in yours! I recommend Penzey’s or The Spice Hunter.

Serve while hot! The cauliflower rice will absorb the coconut milk so don’t combine, rather pour over to keep the rice texture. Dari Ramro (so good)!