Spicy Pepper Pie! GF, V, BED, SCD!

You know what I love? Life’s simple pleasures.

The fresh smell after a good rainstorm, waking up to birds chirping, seeing a hummingbird, your dog getting so excited when you come home.

Spicy Red Pepper Pie!

I was lucky enough to experience all 4 of these this week. I am one lucky girl:)

Gluten Free, Vegan, Body Ecology Diet, SCD!

So for dinner tonight, I made a Spicy Pepper Pie! Crispy Almond Tart Shells filled with Rich Roasted Red Pepper Cream! Superb!

so dramatic:)

And it’s Gluten Free, Vegan, Body Ecology Diet, and Specific Carb Diet friendly! (Say that 5 times fast!)

what colors!!

Here’s what you need: (serves 1 with leftover cream – just make more crusts for 2-3 servings)

Crust:
1/4 cup almond flour
1 egg white (Vegan Option: 1 flax/chia egg)
1/4 tsp salt

Cream:
1 red pepper, roasted
1/3 head cauliflower, broken into florets, and steamed
1 small clove garlic
1/4 cup cashews
sprinkle of chili powder and paprika
salt and pepper
1 green onion, chopped

mmmm!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the ingredients for your Chips in a small bowl. Take some parchment paper and cut 4 medium-sized squares— roughly 4 x 4. Spoon half of the mixture onto 1 piece of parchment. Put another piece of parchment on top and spread it out fairly thin. LEAVE THE TOP PAPER ON…it will be a parchment paper sandwich! Repeat with the other half of the mixture. Then, place the “parchment sandwiches” over the cups of an upside-down muffin tin. Carefully mold them around the cups so they form little bowls. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Then, when you take them out of the oven, let them cool on the muffin tins, and then carefully peel the parchment off! YUM!

ready for the oven!

To roast the red pepper, I literally set it on our gas flame burner and kept turning it with tongs until it was completely charred. I then put it in a bowl and covered it with plastic wrap so that the steam loosened the skin. Then, after about 15 minutes, the charred skin peels right off (use your hands or paper towel), and you’re left with a wonderful, roasted pepper! If you don’t have a gas flame, you can do the same right under the broiler! After you peel the skin and take out the seeds, chop the flesh and set aside.

wait a sec, there’s cauliflower in that?!

Meanwhile, steam your cauliflower for about 5-6 minutes until fork tender. Take out of the steamer and let cool slightly. Combine it, your red pepper, and other cream ingredients in the food processor, and process until thick and creamy, scraping down the sides twice.

the green onion finishes it off perfectly!

Fill your almond tart shells with the cream sauce, and garnish with green onions!

so healthy and wonderful!

There will be leftover cream sauce, which is also great as a dip for veggies or chips, or as a sandwich spread!

This meal was great. I’m not going to exaggerate to my Happy Tummies and say it wasfabulous, but it was pretty doggone good! I would make it again, but just not for company. That’s the straight-shootin’-truth:)

crunchy almond crust!

Here’s what I enjoyed about it — The flavor was slightly smokey, slightly spicy, and very complex. The salty/nutty almond crackers definitely elevated it – providing contrast in both texture and flavor.

what a plate!

I think I would have been more of a fan if I hadn’t been eating pureed foods for the last week. :)

smokey, sweet and spicy!

And just incase you were beginning to fear that this was becoming a “baby-food blog” — don’t fret:) This was my last pureed recipe – back to normal tomorrow!

delicious!

What are some of your “simple pleasures?”

See ya tomorrow! (Spoiler alert….it’s Friday!!!) ;)

Need a food processor? I love mine...here it is: