Category Archives: candida

Gluten free nut bread

I came across this recipe in the Bob’s Redmill cookbook and was interested in the texture and high nut protein of this bread. What’s great about it is it’s easy to make without bothering with yeast and resembles black russian rye in density. If you don’t have all the nuts on hand, you can just use sunflower and pumpkin seeds. The chia, eggs, flax and psyllium are what hold this together so nicely .This is a great after school snack with a little cheese and will fill your kids up quick. If you want to go another step, you could also slice this up thinly and double bake it to make crackers. This is a delicious winner.

Gluten free nut bread
 
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Author:
Recipe type: gluten free bread
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • 6 TBLS psyllium husk
  • 4 TBLS chia seeds
  • ½ cup ground flax
  • 1 cup pumpkin seeds
  • 1 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
  • 2 TBLS buckwheat or brown rice flour
  • 1½ tsp sea salt
  • 2 TBLS olive oil or coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
  2. Whisk together eggs and oil
  3. Add all other ingredients and stir until well mixed.
  4. Let stand for 10 minutes for seeds to absorb moisture
  5. Push parchment paper into 9 x 5 inch pan
  6. Scoop in mixture and press down flat with a spatula
  7. Bake for 30 minutes
  8. Remove parchment and bread from pan and bake another 30 minutes on rack
  9. Let cool completely before slicing

 

 

 

 

Black kale with parmesan and garlic

This easy salad truly represents winter as  kale and other root vegetables are still available and in season in the markets. This new variety of  black kale is tender and can be eaten fresh. Once you wash and cut the center vein away from each stalk, add lemon juice, garlic , grated parmesan with a little salt and pepper and you’ll be hooked. This is high in iron and my son even likes it now and again.

 

Black kale with parmesan and garlic
 
Author:
Recipe type: salad
Ingredients
  • Bunch of black kale
  • Juice of one lemon
  • ½ cup grated parmesan
  • ½ cup gluten free crutons
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Wash and de-vein kale( cut out any of the thicker stalks from the leaves)
  2. Pat dry
  3. Cut or tear up kale into 2 inch squares
  4. Add ¼ cup parmesan
  5. Add a dollop of olive oil
  6. Salt and pepper
  7. Parmesan crisps:
  8. Put a piece of parchment onto and pan and sprinkle ¼ of parmesan as a thin layer
  9. Let melt at 350 degrees
  10. Once cool, break up parmesan into pieces and add to salad
  11. Add toasted seasoned gluten free crutons for a little extra crunch if you have them.

 

Gluten free socca bread

I love this socca  bread traditionally from Southern France. It’s savory and flavourful and best of all gluten free. Chick pea flour or Channa bean flour can easily be found in the South Asian section of any grocery store. If you can come by at least 2 caste iron frying pans..you can play with the thickness of this lovely bread.  Always remember to preheat your frying pan so you get a nice crisp crust.

Gluten free socca bread
 
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Author:
Recipe type: appetizer
Cuisine: French
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 cup Chick pea flour
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 tsp fresh rosemary
  • 1 medium sliced onion
  • Dried chilis (optional)
  • Fresh cracked pepper and rock salt
  • Olive oil
Instructions
  1. Preheat caste iron frying pan in oven set at 450 degrees
  2. Whisk flour and warm water together until smooth
  3. Add fresh rosemary or any herb of choice, rock salt ,cracked pepper and sliced onion
  4. Leave to rest for 30 minutes
  5. Once temp. is reached ,carefully pull out with oven mit
  6. Add a little olive oil or coconut oil to cover the base of the pan and pour in the batter until it covers the base
  7. Bake for at least 20 minutes until cooked through
  8. Turn on broiler and brown the top
  9. Remove from the oven and flip out onto bread board to cool a little
  10. Cut into wedges and serve warm

 

Lemon mustard baked salmon

This recipe is so easy and so delicious, I make it whenever I have access to fresh sockeye. I used to sear my salmon but I find this recipe much cleaner with less smell and mess. It’s also good for pink which is a little weak on flavour.   I like to serve this with a green veggie such as steamed broccoli or green beans and a starch like brown rice or garlic mash potatoes. This is  great company dinner with little fuss and lots of flavour. If your on a special candida diet , you can always replace vinegar with apple cider and dry mustard with a little coconut oil.

Lemon mustard salmon
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • ⅛ cup olive oil
  • 3 tsp dijon mustard
  • half lemon juice
  • 1 medium fillet salmon cut into 4
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • salt and pepper
  • Minced parsley
  • 4 lemon slices
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees
  2. Mix oil, minced garlic, lemon juice and parsley
  3. Add salt and pepper and mix until a nice smooth emulsion
  4. Place 4 cut fillets on cookie sheet with parchment or foil
  5. Spread lemon mixture over fillets with a slice of lemon on each
  6. Bake for 10 minutes and it's ready to serve.

 

Gluten free hearty beef stew

 

The first frost has  come in the garden and I’m finally starting to pull up huge, I mean huge parsnips. Although I never used to like them as a kid, I now find the flavour sweet, creamy and extremely satisfying.  I’ve been trying to get creative with this overabundance of root vegetables and thought the first thing to make is a hearty stew to ward the winter blues. If you can get it, you really want organic stewing beef from the local butcher with a little fat on it for flavour. Here’s a recipe I found somewhere a while back and modified for gluten free. Remember, the key to rich flavours is taking your time when browning the meat until nice and crusty. You can add any root vegetables you like . Sometimes, I add some frozen peas near the end for added colour.

stew

Gluten free beef stew
 
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Author:
Recipe type: gluten free beef stew
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs organic stewing beef
  • 2 large carrots
  • 2 large potatoes
  • 2 parsnips
  • 2 sticks of celery
  • bunch of parsley
  • 2 large onions
  • 6 cloves of garlic( add as much garlic as you like)
  • 1 can san marzano whole or diced tomatoes( these tomatoes are sweeter if you can find them)
  • 1 bottle of red wine
Instructions
  1. Dry stewing beef thoroughly and roll in brown rice flour
  2. Once the creuset pot is very hot, add a little oil and begin searing each piece of meat on all sides
  3. Make sure meat is well seared to seal in the juices and bring out the flavour
  4. Remove meat from pot and add onions and garlic until browned
  5. Add half of potatoes, carrots,celery,parsnips, minced parsley
  6. Add can of tomatoes
  7. Add meat back and pour in red wine until stew is just covered
  8. Add 2 or 3 bay leaves, spring or thyme , rosemary and salt and pepper
  9. Put on lid and leave to simmer on low to medium for at least 4 hours
  10. Lift lid at this point and add the rest of veggies and cook for at least another 30 minutes until vegetables are tender.
  11. The meat should break apart easily when ready.
  12. Season a little more to taste.
  13. I like to add little tabasco once served.

 

 

Gluten free buckwheat galettes

I came across this traditional French recipe and was delighted with its simplicity and delicious flavor. Once again, my son approves so it must be a good one.

buckwheatgalette

Galette should bubble up before flipping.

buckwheatgalette2This makes 13 lovely crepes..I like to add a little jam and yogurt to the middle and roll up…yum!

Gluten free buckwheat galettes
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: French
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 cups buckwheat flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 cups warm water
  • ½ tsp salt
Instructions
  1. Put everything in a bow and whisk
  2. Once well mix, leave to rest for at least ½ hour.
  3. Using a high quality non stick pan set temp to med. until hot
  4. Add a little coconut oil to the pan and add 1 ladle full of mix
  5. Quickly turn pan until you have a nice thin crepe
  6. Make about 13 galettes

 

Turkey mole chili

I love this recipe especially when you add green chilies to spice it up. It’s a great meal for a cold winter day. I try to buy ground organic turkey. Ground chicken works great, too. I also use good quality san marzano canned tomatoes if you can find them. They are always sweeter and more flavourful . I also like to soak up and cook my black beans the day before so I’m ready to go. My 6 year old likea this recipe as long as I take out the raisins and omit the chilies. Enjoy!

Turkey mole chili
 
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Author:
Recipe type: gluten free
Cuisine: mexican
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 lb organic ground chicken or turkey
  • 2 med minced onions
  • 4 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 minced green pepper
  • 1 bunch minced cilantro
  • 3 cups organic chicken stock
  • 2 TBLS dark coco powder
  • 2 TBLS chili powder
  • ½ cup raisins
  • 1 can(4.5oz) pickled minced jalapenos
  • 3 cups cooked black beans
  • 1 can diced tomatoes
Instructions
  1. Heat up pot and brown minced onions,garlic, green pepper and ground chicken or turkey
  2. Once browned, add tomatoes,spices,raisins, black beans, chilis and chicken stock
  3. Cook for about 1 hour
  4. Before serving, throw in chopped cilantro.
  5. Serve with grated cheese, yogurt and tortilla chips

 

 

 

 

Caribbean squash soup

This soup is so delicious and nutty. I love to make it on a snowy winter day and spice it up with some caribbean hot sauce.

Caribbean squash soup
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Squash soup
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2 roasted acorn squash
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 2 chopped onions
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • ½ teaspoon celery seeds
  • 2 fresh chopped fresh tomatoes
  • 5 cups kitchen basics chicken stock ( or vegetable stock)
  • ⅓ cup dry white wine
  • 1 TBLS honey
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
  1. Cut squash in half and roast at 400 degrees until soft in the center. Let cool
  2. Throw chopped onions,garlic and tomato in a pot
  3. Scoop out squash and add to pot
  4. Add box of chicken stock
  5. Add wine, cinnamon,honey and salt and pepper
  6. Simmer for at least 30 minutes until onions are soft
  7. Remove bay leaves and use hand stick blender to puree all ingredients
  8. Add cream and a dash of carribean hot sauce just before serving.
  9. Delicious!

hotsauce

You’ve got to get the West Indian Hot sauce..it really makes the soup! enjoy.

 

Gluten free candida free dal curry

This curry is my quick and dirty go to recipe when there’s very little in the fridge but lentils and rice. It cost pennies to make and goes along way on a budget. It’s quick  and easy to make and always satisfying. If you like it spicy, you can always add extra chilies.

dal

I found a tomato in the fridge along with some wilted cilantro and sliced up some onions and minced ginger. The key to making this flavorful is to fry up the spices first to activate  their flavor.  This serves 4 people and there’s lot of leftovers for lunch the next day.  You can always half the recipe if you want to make less.

Here’s the recipe for Curry Dal:

2  cups red lentils

4 tsp mustard seed

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp coriander

2 or 3 TBLS minced cilantro

3 TBLS grated or finely minced ginger. ( you can always put in less but I love the taste of ginger.

4 tsps Tumeric

1 minced tomato

8 cups water ( you can add more water if you want a thinner result)

Add salt to taste once cooked.

dal2dal3

Once you get your pan heated, throw in the onions and stir around until clearish. You can then add the mustard seed and fry up until it starts to pop. Then add all spices and stir up. You can then throw in the lentils, tomato and cilantro and top up with water and leave to cook with the lid on medium heat for about 45 minutes.  I add about 3 tsp of coarse salt at  the end to taste. Serve this with some steamed brown basmati rice and drizzle with yogurt or kefir and you have a great comfort meal every time. dal4dal5

Gluten free swedish meatballs

In my pre candida days, I had the regrettable experience of ordering the swedish meatballs at Ikea. I hadn’t ordered these in years and had a fond memory of this comfort food. To my horror, these rubbery salty balls didn’t even resemble meatballs but some sort of commercial by product. I was inspired to recreate this old classic with quality ingredients and gluten free to boot.  I had to think of a way to substitute bread crumbs for a gluten free product. Brown rice flour works nicely and holds the meat together.

Although I do try to avoid pork, every so often I get a craving and have to satisfy my need. I go to my favorite butcher, Windsor meats, and they sell a local, organic  pork and beef that has loads of flavor. Mixing pork and beef always creates a more flavorful meatball..ask the italians!

swedish meatballs

To make dinner for 4, I like to use 2 lbs of meat and there are even left overs!

Here is the recipe for gluten free swedish meatballs:

1 lb ground organic pork

1 lb ground organic beef

1 egg

3 tbls brown rice flour( you can add more if it seems too wet)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground pepper

3 minced garlic cloves

2 tbls cornstarch or 4 tsp arrowroot flour

1 tsp thyme

1/4 cup of half and half cream

4 cups beef stock

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine all above ingredients to get a wet meaty mixture. Form into 1 inch balls and put on a cookie sheet. Put in the oven on the  middle oven rack and cook each side about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. If you’re worried they’re not quite cooked, don’t worry, they be heated in the beef sauce.

swedishmeatball3

In the meantime get your peeled potatoes boiling..these take about 20 minutes.

Mince 1 medium onion and 2 cloves of garlic and fry in the pan for about 10 minutes until golden. Add 4 cups of beef stock to the pan. I like to use kitchen basics as it is gluten free and quite flavorful. For this recipe I used corn starch to thicken the sauce but if you’re on a strict candida diet, I would recommend arrowroot flour which also works. Just take a bit of the stock out of the pan in a measuring cup and add flour until well mixed. Add it back to the sauce and whisk in until all the lumps are broken down. This sauce takes at least 20 minutes for the sauce to thicken.

swedishmeatball6swedishmeatball7

Add the meatballs to the sauce and let simmer about 15 to 20 minutes. Near the end, I like to add about 2 large tablespoons of my homemade tayeberry jam. Canned cranberry sauce also works nicely. Of course, don’t add the jam if you’re on a candida diet. If you’re feeling indulgent and not dairy intolerant, a dollop of half and half cream tastes great in the sauce. Leave your meat balls to simmer. In meantime, drain your potatoes and mash and season how you like. Get the steamed broccoli ready and your dinner is complete. My husband says this is great comfort food and I have to agree. Enjoy!