Pomegranate Vinaigrette
This Pomegranate Vinaigrette recipe is the perfect way to dress up a winter salad! Super easy to make with only 6 wholesome ingredients. And it’s vegan and gluten-free. The sunflower seeds add extra creaminess but if you are sensitive to seeds, leave them out.
1/3 cup water
5 small pitted dates
1 T raw sunflower seeds
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1 T lemon juice
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t Dijon mustard
Soak dates and sunflower seeds in 1/3 cup water until soft, at least 4 hours to ease blending. Once softened, blend with raining ingredients until smooth.
Stuffed Winter Squash w/ Lentils and Kale
When it’s peak season for winter squash, when the “meat” is wonderfully sweet, this is a delicious and filling meal all by itself but is especially an attractive main dish for Thanksgiving. It can be served individually in halved or quartered acorn squash, the “bowl” of a butternut squash (my personal favorite) or fill the center of a banana squash. (Although banana squash aren’t usually as sweet.) The savory flavor of the “stuffing” mixes so nicely with the “sweet” from the squash.
If you have food allergies or intolerances and aren’t able to eat seeds or nuts, replace them with avocado. Just dice or mash avocado and mix it into the stuffing. Having trouble with legumes? Replace some or all with more wild rice.
This recipe is from my cookbook Whole Food American Favorites.
4 – 5 acorn squash or other winter squash
1/2 cup wild rice
1 cup green lentils
1 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth
2 medium onions, chopped
1 cup sliced celery
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chopped mushrooms, cremini or white button
1 large bunch of kale, finely chopped
2 1/2 T Holiday Herb Mix (See below)
1/2 cup roughly chopped pumpkin seeds, walnuts, or pecans
1/2 t pepper
Sea salt
Bake squash whole on a baking sheet at 375 degrees for 1 hour or until soft. Let cool. Cut in half lengthwise, scrape out seeds and discard.
Boil 1 cup water in a small saucepan. Add rice, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook 30 minutes until tender. Boil 2 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan. Add lentils, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 30 minutes, stirring once or twice. Over medium-high heat, sauté onion, celery, garlic, and mushrooms in 1/2 cup water or broth until tender. Add chopped kale and 1/2 cup more liquid. Cover, bring to boil, lower heat to medium, and cook 5 minutes. Add herbs and continue to cook until kale is tender. Add more broth or water if needed to keep from sticking. Add cooked lentils, rice, and pine nuts. Mix well and salt to taste. If needed, warm squash halves in 300 degree oven on a baking sheet before stuffing. Fill center of each squash half with lentil-kale mixture. Fills about 8 – 10 acorn squash halves.
Holiday Herb Mix
1/4 cup rubbed dried sage
2 T dried marjoram
2 T dried rosemary
2 T dried thyme
Grind all herbs in a coffee grinder. Store in a glass container.
Spaghetti Squash and Millet Marinara
I love to use cooked millet in place of pasta in Italian style dishes. When added to spaghetti squash, it adds a heartiness to the squash and is much more filling. Millet is high in protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and is a great source of complex carbohydrates that our body uses for energy! If you want energy, eat a high-carbohydrate diet.
1 spaghetti squash, cooked *
1 cup dry millet, cooked**
Marinara (Use your favorite bottled if desired)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 24 oz box Pomi tomatoes
1/2 can tomato paste (3 oz)
1 t basil
1 t oregano
1/2 t turmeric (optional)
1/4 t black pepper
*Cook spaghetti squash in the oven at 350 for about 1 hour until soft. I leave it whole. No need to stab it with a knife or anything . Just place it on a baking sheet and turn on the oven. I’ll put this in the oven in the morning while getting ready for work.
**Boil 2 cups water. Add dry millet, turn heat to simmer, cover and cook until tender, about 15 – 20 minutes.
Saute onion in a dry pan over medium-high heat until it starts to brown. Add minced garlic and stir for 1 minutes. Add tomatoes and tomato paste and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a low boil then turn to simmer. Add herbs and spices. Cook 10 or 15 minutes.
Scrape squash strands into a bowl. Add desired amount of millet and top with marinara.
Cream of Broccoli Soup
6 – 8 cups water
2 heads of broccoli with stalks (enough for 4 cups chopped florets)
Florets from 1/2 head cauliflower
1 medium yellow sweet potato, baked (enough for about 1 cups mashed)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 t marjoram
Fresh group pepper as desired
Place 4 cups water in a sauce pan. Cut off stalks from broccoli, trim, slice and place in a sauce pan with 4 cups water. Add cauliflower florets. Cover and steam until tender.
Saute onion in a soup pot or large sauce pan over medium high heat until it starts to brown. Add a little water if needed to keep from sticking. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add celery, carrots, and chopped broccoli florets. Cook until tender.
When cauliflower and broccoli stems are tender, blend with sweet potato, including cook water from vegetables, until creamy. Pour into soup pot. Add more water if needed to thin. Stir in marjoram and pepper and heat through.
Figgy Oat Bars
After being on an elimination diet for a year I learned to be totally satisfied with fruit for dessert. However, when my fig tree produced an over abundance I wanted to try making some kind of dessert. I took a Banana Oat Bar recipe that I have and used figs instead of bananas, left out the nuts and dates and it worked great!
25 figs, trimmed (leave on skin)
1/4 cup of red flame grapes (For extra moisture and sweet. I had an abundance of them as well.)
2 cups rolled oats
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 T apple cider vinegar
Blend figs, grapes, and vinegar in a high-powered blender until smooth. The seeds in the figs make this very thick. Place oats, baking soda and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix well. Pour pureed fruit over oats and mix so that all the oats are moistened. Transfer batter to an 8 X 8 cake pan and bake at 350 for 15 – 17 minutes. Cool before cutting.
Green Spanish Rice
On an elimination diet I always have cooked rice and sweet potatoes on hand. For this recipe I use the yellow fleshed sweet potatoes instead of orange. They have a firmer texture and believe it or not, replace the texture of beans, which are often not tolerated by those with food sensitivities. This is one of my more advanced stage recipes. I wasn’t able to add tomatoes or chili powder until after a year. When I was finally able, halleluia!
Cooked short grain brown rice
1 small baked sweet potato, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped or can chopped tomatoes
1 t turmeric
2 t chili powder
4 cups finely chopped broccoli
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
1/4 t black pepper
Salt to taste
Sauté onion in dry pan until it starts to brown. Add garlic and cook 1 minutes stirring constantly. Add tomatoes and cook until juicy. Add spices and broccoli. Cook until broccoli is tender. Add sweet potato and desired amount of rice, cilantro and pepper. Heat through if needed. Salt to taste.
A nice addition is chopped almonds or pumpkin seeds.
Raw Strawberry Pie
Ounce for ounce, strawberries have more vitamin C than citrus fruit. They are one of the “dirty dozen” so if you want to limit your pesticide exposure, only buy organic strawberries. This recipe is from my cookbook Whole Food Goodness.
25 pitted deglet dates
1/2 cup water
6 cups sliced strawberries
Soak dates in water to soften for blending. Blend 1 cup of straw-berries, dates and water until smooth. Pour this sauce over remaining strawberries. Pour over Raw Nut Crust. Let set for 1/2 hour.
Raw Nut Crust (for one pie)
1 cup almonds or other nuts and seeds
15 soft pitted dates
1 tsp vanilla
Chop finely in food processor until it starts to stick together. Press into a pie plate or 8×8 cake pan.
Mediterranean Lentil Salad
Vine-ripe tomatoes and fresh basil are key to making this salad amazing. It’s one of my husbands favorite summer meals. This recipe has been revised from my original recipe for “Lentil Salad” in my cookbook Whole Food Goodness.
1 cup lentils rinsed
2 1/4 cups water
2 cloves garlic minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cucumber cut in small pieces
2-3 medium tomatoes coarsely chopped
4 oz. chopped spinach
1/2 cup black olives, drained, rinsed and chopped
1/2 cup thinly slice red onion
1 cup fresh chopped basil
3 T balsamic vinegar
Fresh ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Bring water to boil. Add lentils, lower heat, and simmer for 30 minutes, until tender. Add more water if needed. Transfer to salad bowl to cool. When cool, add remaining ingredients and mix well.
Sour Cream Frosting
This frosting goes perfect with Vegan Carrot Cake but could be folded into a fruit salad. Leave the lemon out for a delicious “whip cream” for Vegan Pumpkin Pie.
1 cup light colored sweet potato (not orange “yam”)
15 small pitted dates soaked in ¾ cup water
1/4 cup raw cashews
Juice from 1 lemon (add zest if you like more lemon flavor)
Blend all ingredients until smooth. Use just enough water to make it a thick cream. You will need more water is using pecans.
Vegan Carrot Cake
“Got a chance to try the carrot cake recipe. We are hooked! I have already made it twice. “
“This is the best Carrot Cake I’ve ever had” was one dinner class participants comment. This cake is moist and very decadent with no oils, processed sugar and it’s gluten free if using gluten free oats.
1 cup pitted dates soaked in 1/2 cup water for at least 4 hours
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 ½ t baking soda
1/4 cup grated apple (about 1/2 apple, any variety)
1 packed cup finely shredded carrots
1/2 cup raisins
Add nuts, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda to a food processor work bowl. Chop until coarsely ground and mixed well. Add dates and soak water, vanilla and vinegar. Process to a thick dough. You may need to help it along with a fork. Then add in shredded apple, carrots, and raisins and mix to incorporate evenly. Alternatively, transfer dough to a large mixing bowl before adding carrots and fruit and mix them in with a fork. Spread dough in an 8×8 cake pan and baked at 350 for 20 minutes. Spread with Sour Cream Frosting or add dollop when served. .
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