OMG Slaw! GF, V, SCD, BED & Paleo!

Hey everyone!

How was your Fourth of July!?

Mine is going great! I'm up in Wisconsin at my family's lake home with my entire family. I'm having so much fun! My little niece, Baby A, is here, and she is just the gosh darn cutest thing in the entire world.

It's so much fun to see things through her eyes and watch her discover things for the first time.

So for Independence Day, we had a traditional BBQ cook out. My dad made beer boiled brats and hamburgers on the grill, and I made a delicious dish to share.

Since I was feeding a big number, (10!!), I decided to make a dish that goes a long way, and is a crowd pleaser.

Let me tell you this was a HIT! Everyone LOVED it and gobbled it up.

I've decided to call it my "OMG Slaw," since that's what everyone said when they ate it..."Oh my gosh this is AMAZING!"

And this colorful dish is Gluten Free, Vegan, Specific Carb Diet and Body Ecology Diet friendly, and Paleo!

Here's what you need: (Serves 10)

1/2 head purple cabbage, sliced thin
3 large carrots, sliced into matchsticks
1 red pepper, diced
8 radishes, sliced thin on a mandolin
24-30 sugar snap peas, sliced thin
1 red onion, sliced thin
1 avocado, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, minced
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
3 pinches salt

Dressing
1/3-1/2 cup almond butter
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
3 Tbsp Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
Juice of one lime
8 drops pure liquid stevia (SCD use 1/2 tsp honey)
2-3 Tbsp water

First, prep all your veggies. Cut them as thin as possible by either carefully using a mandolin (use the hand guard!) or with a sharp knife. In the largest bowl you have, combine the veggies. Add your pinches of salt, seeds and cilantro, and toss to mix.

Then, in a Pyrex measuring cup or a separate bowl, make your dressing. Using a microplane or grater, grate your ginger directly into the Pyrex, then whisk to combine the other ingredients. You'll need to add about 1-2 Tbsp water to thin out the sauce into a "drizzly" consistency.

Coat all the veggies with the dressing, and serve garnished with more seeds.

Refrigerate before serving. It will keep (and keep getting better) for three days in the refrigerator.

Oh my goodness this slaw was so freaking awesome. I can't even begin to describe the bright, fresh flavor of this slaw. There's nothing like spending the day on the lake, and enjoying a cold, crisp salad for dinner. It was so refreshing.

I'm serious, everyone flipped out over this salad. There were NO LEFTOVERS! People were licking their plates, the dressing was so good.

First of all, it is a beautiful dish. You eat with your eyes first, and this definitely jumped off the plate. There was purple and pink, green, red and orange! So beautiful.

And the texture was so satisfying. The cabbage was so incredibly crunchy, and the avocado was nice and creamy. Finally, the seeds gave a chewy, salty pop that really hit the spot.

Finally, that dressing. It was nutty and bright from the lime juice and apple cider vinegar. It was a little sweet, and wonderfully fresh from the cilantro. Cilantro and lime are a match made in heaven:)

What a treat. Seriously so good. This week is going so well. We're celebrating my niece's first birthday, and my graduation while we're here. I made a gorgeous gluten free cake with coconut oil frosting for Baby A's birthday celebration. I'll post about that soon. It was a hit!

Question for all my lovely readers: There's a new trend with food production called aquaponics, which is a sustainable food growing system circulating water between fish and plants. It's herbicide/pesticide free and uses less water than traditional farming. How do you feel about it? Would you buy produce grown using aquaponics?

OK, see you soon!

Daikon Chips w/ Guacamole! GF, V, BED, SCD!

Happy Tuesday! How's everyone's week going?

OK...serious question...Who watched the Bachelor?! :D

Guilty as charged. I know, I know...such garbage....but I like it:) I thought the prank he pulled on Desiree was not cool...not cool at all.

Also -- If you want to be on the GFHT Email List to receive my recipes in your inbox, leave me a comment with your email, or email me @ Caralyn4@gmail.com and I'll add you to the list!

So anywho...onto the Food!

I think I have a subconscious longing for chips...haha...I see people eating them on the subway all the time, and since I can't have them on the SCD, I think I subconsciously want them...which is weird, because growing up, I was never even really a "chip person!!"

Soooo, I made Daikon Radish Chips with Red Pepper Guacamole!

Wait wait wait...daikon radishes? What the heck are those?.......Well, they're those big white tube-looking veggies in the produce section. They also come looking like white carrots, but I bought the big tube -- perfect for chips.

And come on...annything with guacamole is a winner!

And it's Gluten Free, Vegan, Body Ecology Diet and Specific Carb Diet friendly!

Here's what you need: (serves 1)

1 daikon radish, sliced thin on a mandolin
1 zucchini, sliced thin on a mandolin

Guacamole:
1 avocado, mashed
1 garlic clove, grated
2 Tbsp red onion, minced
squeeze of lime
big pinch of salt
2-3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped

Mix Ins:
1/2 red pepper, small dice
6 cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Carefully slice your radish and zucchini on a mandoline. Place the slices on 2 tin-foil-lined, olive-oil-sprayed baking sheets in a single layer. Spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

Meanwhile, make your guacamole. Mash your avocado in a bowl with the salt, garlic, and lime. Stir in your cilantro and onion. Then, fold in your desired Mix Ins.

Serve your chips with your guacamole and devour!

This meal was fantastic! Let me just tell you about this guacamole....it is outrageous. In fact, I don't mean to "toot my own horn," but among my family and friends, I'm kinda famous for it. Whenever I go to a party, or dinner get together, people ALWAYS request me to bring my guac. I literally make like a quadruple batch, and it's gone within 5 minutes. It is THAT good. I usually don't put red peppers in it, but I wanted to get an extra veggie in there tonight:)

And the chips were marvelous! I already know that I love zucchini chips, but the daikon chips were such a pleasant surprise! They weren't super *crunchy*...they were more of a chewy texture, but that was fine with me...they were wonderful! Their raw flavor is somewhat intense, but when you bake them, they become almost nutty and scrumptious!

Would I have liked to eat this guac with tortilla chips? Yes. But were these chips the next best thing? Absolutely!

Do you have a signature party dish?

This meal was made possible by two of my favorite kitchen tools: my mandoline, and my olive oil mister! This mandoline is great because it has a hand guard, which I found out the hard way, is a must!! And then my EVOO sprayer makes it so I don't have to use chemical-laden cooking spray. Here are the ones I use:

Sweet & Tangy Gazpacho! Tomato Free! GF, V, BED, SCD!

There’s a funny thing about leftovers — you either love ‘em, or your hate ‘em.

Sweet & Tangy Gazpacho!

So today, I had some of my leftover gazpacho in the fridge, from this meal, which I had pureed to give my tummy a break.

My sister-in-law had some for lunch. She practically dropped her spoon, “Oh my Gosh! Is this on your blog?”

“Uhh, yeah, but just as a trailer sentence — I’m not a huge fan of cold soups.”

“You have GOT to reblog this — it is incredible!”

Red Pepper, Radishes, Carrot, Cucumber, Cilantro! YUM!

Well, you’ve heard it there, folks! I think my sister-in-law is pretty amazing, and so if she says it’s good, I won’t argue!

Gluten Free, Vegan, Body Ecology Diet, SCD!

And did I mention it’s Gluten Free, Vegan, Body Ecology Diet and Specific Carb Diet friendly?!

the almonds give the perfect crunch!

Here’s what you need: (Serves 2)

Salad: Serves 2
1 red pepper, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 radishes, chopped
2/3 a cucumber, seeded and sliced thin
1/4 red onion, sliced thin
fresh cilantro, chopped – about 1-2 Tbsp
1/4 avocado, diced (garnish)

Sauce:
1 Tbsp Almond Butter (I used homemade)
1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
juice of 1/2 a lime
15 drops alcohol-free pure liquid stevia (or 1/4 tsp honey for SCD)
1 tsp grated ginger
water to stretch sauce – about 3 tsp

yum yum yum!

Couldn’t be simpler: Prep all your veggies. After you slice your red onion, soak them in ice water for 10 minutes – this gets rid of the bitter, onion-y bite. Drain and dry them off. Combine your dressing ingredients, and add enough water until it is “liquid-y.” Toss your veggies, the dressing and cilantro into your food processor, and process until your achieve your desired consistency – I like smooth:) Garnish with avocado & chopped almonds! Refrigerate until serving for a cool treat:)

a treat to beat the heat :)

This soup definitely grew on me (I’m not a huge fan of cold soup). But I did love the flavor! It was tangy from the apple cider vinegar, sweet from the stevia, nutty, and slightly spicy from the ginger! It was cold and refreshing on a hot summer day!

super cold and refreshing!

And the creamy, rich avocado was so delightful too! Combined with the crunchy almonds, it was the perfect texture contrast!

buttery avocado!

Another thing I like about this soup, was that it wasn’t tomato based, like many gazpachos are. It was based on the sweet red pepper and cooling cucumber, with a spicy radish note — just delightful!

what a soup!

What do you think about leftovers? Love ‘em or Leave ‘em?

Until tomorrow

Need a food processor? Here's the one I use and LOVE! I literally use it every day!

Tropical Mango Snack Salad! GF, V, SCD!

I’ve got a secret. I’ve discovered a really tasty snack. Sweet, crunchy, cooling, and completely delicious!

beautiful colors:)

I don’t know about you, but when I have a snack, I like to eat good things. And I’m willing to put in a little bit of effort, knowing that the outcome is super scrumptious:)

what a plate!

Also, when you’re on a special diet like the Specific Carb Diet, or the Body Ecology Diet, prepackaged or convenient foods are “no-nos.” So you gotta make it yourself:)

buttery avocado!

So here’s one of my favorite snacks: Tropical Mango Snack Salad!

yum yum yum!

It’s Gluten Free, Vegan, and Specific Carb Diet friendly with a BED option!

Here’s what you need:

1 mango, diced (BED sub red pepper)
1/4 cucumber, sliced thin on a mandolin
1/2 radish, sliced thin on a mandolin
2 Tbsp red onion, sliced thin
1/4 avocado, diced
cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
Juice of 1/2 a lime
1 tsp EVOO
pinch of salt

Carefully prep all your veggies. After you slice your red onion, soak it in ice water for 10 minutes – this gets rid of the bitter onion-y bite. Combine your veggies in a bowl and toss with your dressing. Garnish with cilantro and wedges of lime.

That’s it! So simple!

serve with a wedge of lime:)

And so delicious! This is the perfect snack or side dish! The flavors and textures make it so wonderful! The mango is sweet and juicy, which is highlighted wonderfully by the bright lime juice and fresh cilantro!

Gluten Free, Vegan, Specific Carb Diet friendly!

And the textures! The cucumber and radishes are crunchy, the avocado is buttery and creamy, while the mango is juicy and wonderful!

so delicious!

A delight for palate and for the eyes!

Tropical Mango Salad!

What’s your favorite snack? Are you a sweet or a salty? :)

Until tomorrow!

I love my mandoline! It allows me to achieve a paper thin texture! Here's the one I use: