Tag Archives: gluten-free

Paleo Spaghetti.. before the Italians even invented Spaghetti!

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I was inspired by Elana’s Pantry’s post on how to EASILY make Spaghetti Squash. It IS super easy, super fun, and makes super awesome paleo noodles! 🙂 Yes it takes a while to bake, but plan ahead, throw this squash in the oven while you are doing other things and the actual preparation part (scraping out the flesh into noodles takes <1 minute)! Serve with a hearty Bolognese meat sauce, like this Paleo Sloppy Joe’s sauce, or simply as a dessert with some butter (or coconut butter) and cinnamon! 🙂

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Ingredients

  • One large spaghetti squash (~3 lbs)

Directions

  1. Place whole (uncut) spaghetti squash on a parchment paper lined baking sheet
  2. Bake at 350° for 60-80 minutes
  3. Allow to cool
  4. Cut squash open (long side) with a knife
  5. Scoop out seeds
  6. Scrape the flesh out of the squash into stringy noodles
  7. Voila!

dit-elle-Esther

Carmelized Onion Tart

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This is a delicious onion tart. Not quite paleo with the dairy, but great for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

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Ingredients

  • 3 onions
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream, half’n’half, milk or plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 cup Swiss or cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

  • Melt butter in large frying pan
  • Thinly slice onions by running them through the food processor on the slicer blade (takes <60 seconds)
  • Saute onions in butter for 30 mins on medium heat, stirring once in a while, until onions are translucent, soft, and started to brown and caramelize
  • If they have not started to brown, turn up heat and caramelize them a bit, stirring so as not to let them burn
  • While onions are cooking, whisk eggs and milk or yogurt
  • Cover glass pie pan with cooking spray, add onions, cheese, and pour egg/milk mixture evenly over it
  • Bake for 30 minutes on 350* or until golden brown around edges, bubbly and hot
  • Serve warm, great paired with soup and salad!

dit-elle-Esther

Spiced Honey Almonds

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A great snack for the holidays – or anytime really! 🙂Blog honeyalmonds

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1/2 Tbsp butter
  • 3/4 tsp garam masala (find in bulk section)
  • 1 tsp sesame seeds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup raw almonds

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 325* and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  • Melt honey, butter, garam masala, sesame seeds and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat
  • Add almonds and stir to coat
  • Spread mixture on the baking sheet in a single layer
  • Bake for 10 mins, cool and serve or store in an airtight container for ~4 days

These store well in an air tight container for up to 4 days.

dit-elle-Esther

Pumpkin Bread Bars

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Perfect fall treats! Serve warm or cold, eat them as dessert or breakfast or a snack on the go. Inspired by Elana’s Pantry, these are delicious pumpkin ‘bread bars’! I call these pumpkin bread bars, because they are a sort of cross between bread and bars. I used raisins, but you could use chocolate chips (and or chopped nuts) as an other yummy variation! 🙂Blog pumpkinpaleobread3 blog pumpkinpaleobread2 Blog pumpkinpaleobread1

Ingredients

  • ⅓ cup coconut flour (1/3 cup is NOT a typo 🙂 – coconut flour is very different than wheat)
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup fresh roasted pumpkin or winter squash (I used acorn squash – excellent)
  • ⅓ cup honey or agave syrup
  • ¼ cup coconut oil
  • ½ cup raisins or chocolate chunks

Directions

  1. In a food processor, combine dry ingredients
  2. Pulse in eggs, pumpkin, honey and oil until well combined
  3. Stir in raisins or chocolate chips by hand
  4. Transfer batter to an 8 x 8 inch baking dish or a pie dish
  5. Bake at 350° for 20-30 minutes
  6. Cool and serve

dit-elle-Esther

Tzatziki Sauce

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This is a no frills, super easy, super yummy tzatziki sauce! Serve with fresh cut veggies as an appetizer, as a dressing for gyros, lamburgers or Greek salad. Any recipe that can be made in a food processor is a winner in my book!blog tzatziki1

Ingredients

  • 1 8oz container of Greek yogurt
  • 1 hothouse cucumber, peeled & diced
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • Splash of lemon juice
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh dill (or dry)
  • 1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • Salt / pepper to taste

Directions

  • Put everything in a blender
  • Process until well combined
  • Transfer to a separate dish, cover and refrigerate
  • Let flavors meld for at least an hour for best taste

This Tzatziki sauce is not quite as thick as some recipes – I saved a few steps by NOT pressing water out of chopped cucumber or de-seeding it, but it tasted great!

dit-elle-Esther

Star Cookies

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Inspired by Elana’s Pantry, these Star (and Moon!) Cookies are a fun fall treat. I went to a Waldorf school a long time ago in a far away land.. and sun, moon and star cookies were an autumn tradition as part of the Moon Lantern Festival, which I’ll blog about another day. In the meantime, enjoy these high protein, not too sweet cookies.blog starcookies2

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Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
  • small dash of sea salt
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • ½ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 5 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
  • 1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Directions

  • In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients
  • In a smaller bowl, mix together coconut oil, agave and vanilla
  • Mix wet ingredients into dry, then chill dough in refrigerator for 1 hour (or overnight worked as well)
  • Roll out dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper until ¼ inch thick
  • Remove top piece of parchment paper and cut out cookies with a small star cutter
  • Using a metal spatula, place stars on a parchment lined baking sheet
  • Bake at 350° until lightly browned around the edges, 5-8 minutes
  • Cool completely prior to handling cookies

Super mom tip: these are great as a frozen treat and thaw quickly in room temperature for a few minutes! They are a nice high-protein/low-glycemic snack for little tummies.

dit-elle-Esther

Classic pumpkin pie

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So it wouldn’t be fall without pumpkin pie and I couldn’t wait till Thanksgiving to try out a gluten free (GF) version of this traditional pie! I made some minor tweaks to the classic Libby’s Pumpkin Pie recipe (the one on the back of the cans) and it turned out great! First, I substituted a gluten free (GF) crust and second, I used coconut palm sugar (1:1 ratio to regular white sugar) since that’s what I had in the house. The pie was a little darker in color, but it was EXCELLENT!

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Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup sugar (I used coconut palm sugar – which has a lower glycemic index than regular sugar cane sugar)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 can (15 oz) 100% pure pumpkin
  • 1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
  • 1 unbaked 9″ deep-dish pie shell (I used a gluten free pie crust from Wholly Wholesome)

Directions

  • Mix sugar, salt, spices in a small bowl
  • Beat eggs in a large bowl and stir in pumpkin and sugar/spice mixture
  • Gradually stir in evaporated milk
  • Pour into pie shell
  • Bake in preheated 425* oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350* and bake 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean
  • Cool n wire rack for 2 hours.
  • Serve immediately or refrigerate
  • Top with whipped cream! 🙂

Super mom tip: Don’t keep that many spices stocked? Save a step and use 1 3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon/ginger/cloves.

dit-elle-Esther

Spinach-Artichoke Dip with Bacon

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This is a warm and toasty dip, perfect for fall and winter – it’s great for potlucks, football Sundays, or just good comfort food to snack on! 🙂Blog artichokedip1 Blog artichokedip2

Ingredients

  • 1/3 c mayonnaise
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2x 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened by letting sit at room temp for ~20 mins
  • 3/4 c grated parmesan cheese
  • 5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (tip: put slices flat between paper towel and microwave for ~1min per slice)
  • 1 or 2x 14 oz cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
  • 1 10oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry

Directions

  • Oven to 350
  • Place mayo, garlic, cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with mixer till well blended and creamy (you can also do this in your food processor – which I’m a huge fan of for quick & easy blending)
  • Stir in parmesan cheese, bacon, artichoke hearts, and spinach
  • Spread mixture into an 11×7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray
  • Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese
  • Bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated, bubbly and starting to turn golden around the edges
  • Serve with carrot sticks

Super mom tip: This is another dish that freezes super well and can be reheated.

dit-elle-Esther

Paleo Warm Butternut Squash Salad with Apple Cider Dressing

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I got this recipe off of the Food Network (scribbled the recipe onto a notebook while watching the actual show not online!).  I’ve made a few changes, but feel free to refer back to the original!  It’s SO yummy, and relatively easy (especially if you cheat and get the pre-cut butternut squash ha!)

blog Butternut Squash SaladIngredients

  • 1 (1 1/2-pound) butternut squash, peeled and 3/4-inch) diced.  If I’m in a hurry, I grab 2 bags from Trader Joe’s, but I still cut those pieces in half because they are pretty big.
  • 2 tablespoons Olive Oil (I usually just drizzle over the top of the butternut squash and don’t measure :))
  • 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup.
  • Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste
  • 1/3 C Dried Cranberries
  • 3/4 C Apple Cider
  • 2 tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 2 Diced Shallots or I’ve also used 1/3 C diced red onion
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 4-5 cups (or really, you choose depending on how many mouths you have to feed!) of spinach or arugula.  I personally LOVE arugula, but our boys don’t.  When I make this for friends, it’s arugula.  When I make it for the family-spinach.

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  • Place butternut squash on a large cookie sheet.  Drizzle maple syrup and olive oil over the squash, grind a little salt and pepper over and toss around until coated.
  • Bake squash for a total of 15, but take it out and toss every 5 minutes, and add cranberries on the last 5 minutes (at the 10 minute mark)
  • While squash is baking combine cider, vinegar, onions/or shallots, and a little salt and pepper in a small sauce pan.  Bring that to a boil and stir for about 6-7 minutes so that it reduces.  Take off heat and whisk in mustard.  (original recipe calls for adding a 1/2 a cup of olive oil now, but I forgot to do that once.  It tasted fine, so I’ve left it out ever since :))  You choose!
  • Place salad greens in a large bowl.  Toss in butternut squash mixture and dressing.  Pepper to taste.
  • Online recipe also calls for walnuts and freshly grated Parmesan.  I’m fairly certain the tv show didn’t/or I just forgot to write it down.  In either case, I’ve never added either, but feel free (and let me know what you think!)  I have sprinkled pumpkin seeds on the top for crunch and it was yummy too!

Super Mom Tip

I’ve turned this into a meal (not vegetarian), by adding some sliced aidells smoked chicken and apple sausages into the butternut squash mix at the same time as the dried cranberries.  The flavors all go so well together!

  • dit-elle-Lauren

Paleo Salmon Chowder

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I’m taking a break from pumpkin today and making this hot and delicious salmon chowder that is full of veggies and protein! I love making this with a combination of canned AND fresh salmon – but you can do one or both – whatever is easier for you! As there are no flour/grains, dairy or legumes in this recipe, it’s very paleo friendly!

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Ingredients

  • 3 slices of bacon, diced
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp dried dill or 1 Tbsp fresh dill
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
  • black pepper to taste
  • 2 stalks celery
  • 1-2 cups finely chopped or small cauliflower florets
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • One 7.5oz can salmon (red, pink or other) including juices
  • One 14 oz can coconut milk, full fat
  • Extra minced dill for garnish

Directions

  • Cook the bacon in a large saucepan over medium-low heat until bacon fat is released. Add onion, dill, bay leaf, black pepper, cayenne, and cook until bacon is firm but not crispy
  • Add celery, cauliflower and chicken broth and simmer until vegetables are almost tender, 5-7 minutes
  • Add salmon chunks and juices and simmer for a few more minutes
  • Stir in coconut milk and simmer
  • Remove bay leaf before serving

Super mom tip: This recipe does great in the freezer. Freeze small batches of soup for easy re-heating later!

dit-elle-Esther