Category Archives: Apps, Snacks & Sides

Gluten free, dairy free, paleo, sugar free, grain free appetizers and party foods

Baba Ghanoush & Cucumber Sliders

| 2 Comments | Apps, Snacks & Sides, Beatty Protocols, In The Kitchen, Recipes

Baba Ghanoush & Cucumber Sliders | grain free, dairy free, vegan | AmandaNaturally.comThis recipe came out of troubleshooting the following food-related challenges  opportunities I was posed with last week:

  1. We have cucumbers growing like crazy in our garden right now, and I needed to use them up in any way possible. They were large field cucumbers, which worked just fine, but I think smaller english cucumbers (with no seeds!) might work a bit better.
  2. We received an eggplant in our weekly CSA bin, and I don’t normally cook with eggplant. To be honest, I don’t really love eggplant, but I didn’t want it to go to waste. This is what I will do with eggplant going forward! 
  3. I needed to create an appetizer that I can eat (grain, dairy, legume free), but that was also vegetarian friendly. Guacamole is usually our go-to, but that was already being brought to the event, so it was time to get creative!

So many appetizers are based on bread, and since bread is such an epically nutrient-poor, processed food (even the gluten-free versions!) I thought I would use cucumber slices in place of a cracker or crostini, and top it with baba ghanoush (roasted eggplant dip). To make sure the dip didn’t slide off the cucumber, I cut the cucumber into thicker discs, and scooped out the flesh in the middle to make it a little cup. They worked great!

You could easily use this same approach and fill the cucumber cups with guacamole, egg/tuna salad, salsa or hummus/bean dip (if tolerated). 

Baba Ghanoush & Cucumber Sliders
A delicious, nutrient-dense appetizer that is free of grains and dairy. Vegan friendly as well!
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Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
30 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
30 min
Baba Ghanoush
  1. 2 medium eggplants
  2. 2-3 cloves garlic
  3. 3 tbsp tahini
  4. 1 lemon, juiced
  5. 1 tsp cumin
  6. ½ tsp sea salt, plus extra for sprinkling
  7. ¼ cup olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Cucumber Sliders
  1. Cucumbers
Instructions
  1. Slice eggplant into ¼ inch rounds.
  2. Sprinkle with sea salt and place in a colander in the sink.
  3. After 10 minutes, rinse off and pat dry with a tea towel.
  4. Turn your oven to broil.
  5. Lay eggplant rounds on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt.
  6. Broil 10-15 minutes, flipping once, until eggplant is golden brown and soft.
  7. Remove from oven and let cool.
  8. Once cool, peel/cut off skin. Add eggplant to food processor.
  9. Add remaining ingredients and mix until creamy.
  10. Meanwhile, slice cucumber into discs, about 1 inch thick.
  11. Scoop out half of the inner flesh, taking care not to go all the way through.
  12. Fill with baba ghanoush.
Notes
  1. To fill cups nicely, place dip in a piping or a ziploc bag with the corner cut off. Pipe dip into cucumber cups.
  2. Other dips would work great as well
  3. - salsa
  4. - tuna/egg salad
  5. - guacamole
  6. - ranch dip
  7. - hummus or bean dip (if tolerated)
Amanda Naturally http://www.amandanaturally.com/
 

Guacamole Recipe + Avocado Tutorial

| 0 Comments | AIP, Apps, Snacks & Sides, Beatty Protocols, Kitchen Tutorials, Recipes

Guacamole & Avocado Tutorial | AmandaNaturally.comAvocado’s are the best. They are jam-packed with nutrients, fibre and healthy fat. And they’re freakin delicious too!!! Adding half an avocado to your eggs, salad, or burgers, is the perfect way to not only get in some additional nutrition, but to make sure your meal will be filling for hours. Also, please note that the fat/calorie content of the avocado is not to be feared. The era of “1/8th avocado per day” is long gone. Avocados are not going to jack up your cholesterol. They’re not going to make you gain weight (unless you go bananas on them, but that can happen with any food) – I regularly eat 2-3 halves/day, often more if I’m hungry. Enjoy this yummy food free of worry forever and ever! 

A lot of people are a little nervous the first time they buy an avocado. That’s totally normal. It’s a weird little fruit that requires a few tricks to peel/open it and not destroy it in the process. This article is designed to help de-mistify the avocado and teach you how to make the food that avocado shines in…guacamole!

Step 1 – Determining if Your Avocado is Ripe!

Okay so this is probably the trickiest part of the whole process and it is pretty important. Once you cut into that avocado, it will no longer ripen. If you open it up and it’s really tough inside, there’s nothing you can do but toss it. So how do you determine if your avocado is ripe? I personally use the squeeze test: 

Not Ripe: avocado is hard as a rock and bright green

Almost Ripe: avocado gives slightly when you squeeze it, but still fairly hard

Salad Ripe:  avocado gives when you squeeze it and leaves a slight indent. Perfect for salads and burger toppings.

Guac Ripe: avocado easily gives when you squeeze it and stays indented. Fabulous for guacamole, and still totally great on salads and burgers!

Over Ripe: avocado is black; you squeeze and it easily gives way to the pit inside; the inside feels like liquid; or there’s mould on it.

The more you use the squeeze test, the better you’ll become at determining if the avocado is ready to go or not! However, if that’s a little too subjective for you, I recently saw this neat trick floating around Facebook. Originally from Northwest Edible Life – this photo shows how removing the stem will tell you if the avocado is ripe or past its prime:

Step 2 – Storing Your Avocados

If your avocados are hard as rock, store them on the counter for a few days to let them ripen. Speed ripening by keeping them near other fruit such as bananas and apples. (Warning: this will also ripen the fruit faster!)

If your avocados are perfectly ripe, or when they reach that desired ripeness on your counter, move them to the fridge. You get a few extra days out of them this way – unless of course you want to eat them all at once! I find if I move the avocados to the fridge as soon as they hit the “salad ripeness” (ie. as soon as they give a bit under pressure), they last a good week before they move into that over-ripe zone.

Step 3 – Opening Up The Darn Thing

1. Using a sharp knife, cut into the avocado, lengthwise. The pit will stop you from going further. Rotate the knife all the way around the pit.
2. Twist the 2 halves in opposite directions.
The pit will stay in one half. If you are only eating half, choose the one without the pit. Store the half with the pit still in it, in the fridge. This will prevent it from browning.
3. Using a chef’s knife, sharply strike the pit with the sharp side of the knife. The knife should stick into the pit.
4. Hold the avocado steady and twist the knife (as it’s attached to the pit).
Voila!


Step 4 – Making Guacamole

Ingredients:Guacamole & Avocado Tutorial | AmandaNaturally.com

  • 3 ripe avocados 
  • ½ red onion (or 1 small onion)
  • juice of 2 limes
  • 1 cup loosely-packed cilantro
  • sea salt, to taste
  • green onion to garnish (optional)

Directions:

1. Cut open avocados. Slice avocado horizontally and vertically (a.k.a. make a grid with the knife).

2. Use a spoon to scoop out the avocado into a bowl.

3. Juice 2 limes and add to the bowl.

4. Dice red onion finely and add to the bowl.

5. Season with a bit of sea salt and mash away! I use a potato masher, but a fork or meat tenderizer both work fine.

6. Taste and season with more sea salt, or add additional lime juice, based on you preference. Top with green onion if desired and enjoy! My personal preference is to enjoy guac with plantain chips or clean potato chips. The hubby loves it on organic blue corn chips!

GUAC HACK: If you’re making guacamole in advance and you don’t want it to turn brown, there are 3 tricks you can use:

  1. Cover with lime juice (downside: much more lime flavour)
  2. Place saran wrap directly on the guac so no air can get in (downside: plastic, waste)
  3. Place the pits of the avocados in the bottom of the bowl, right in the guacamole. I learned this trick from a dear friend of mine who’s Argentinian and says that’s the only way to do it. This is what I do now!

 

So tell me – what’s your favourite way to enjoy guacamole??

Watermelon Jello

| 1 Comment | AIP, Apps, Snacks & Sides, Beatty Protocols, Recipes, Treats

Watermelon Jello | AmandaNaturally.comWhen I was in grade school, we were always allowed to bring in a treat for the whole class on our birthdays. Since my birthday was in June, and it was usually hot out, my mom would always make jello jigglers for me to take! They were always a huge hit because they were delicious, refreshing and fun. Making your own jello jigglers is super simple and can be incredibly healthy, as long as it’s not with the artificially sweetened, food dyed, jello brand.

The flavour of homemade jello that I tend to make the most often is watermelon, simply because a large watermelon is a lot of fruit for 2 people to polish off before it goes bad. By turning it into jello, not only do you extend the life of the watermelon, but you have the opportunity to make an incredibly nourishing treat! Why is homemade jello so nourishing? Because gelatin, especially the grass-fed variety, is the breakdown product of connective tissue. And the best way to support our connective tissue, is to eat it! Why would we want to support connective tissue? Well it’s the scaffolding that our entire body is built upon. More specifically, it’s what keeps the gut strong (ie. not leaky!), our joints healhy and our skin firm and elastic. For more info on the benefits of consuming gelatin, check out this post. I love using homemade jello when working with parents on healing their kids guts, but adults can enjoy them just the same!

 

Watermelon Jello

1. Cut open watermelon and chop into pieces or scoop out using a spoon.

 

Watermelon Jello | AmandaNaturally.com2. Puree in your blender. You will likely have to do this multiple steps since 1 watermelon can give you a lot of material to work with! This watermelon gave 13 cups of pureed juice. (Optional: strain watermelon juice to get rid of the pulp. I’ve done this before but I find it unnecessary and time consuming. The only benefit is you get clear jello, instead of the cloudy layer on top – which I actually kind of like the look of!)

3. Stir in some raw honey and a pinch of sea salt, to your taste. For 13 cups I used 1 cup of honey. A good ballpark number is 1-2 tbsp honey per cup of watermelon. (You can absolutely omit the honey altogether and just use the fruit juice!)

4. Measure your total liquid amount (watermelon + honey). Mine was 14 cups.

5. Place half the liquid in a pot over low heat. Stir frequently and heat until very warm. DO NOT BOIL.

6. Meanwhile, place the other half of the liquid in a bowl and add the gelatin. The amount you need is 1 tbsp gelatin per 1 cup of liquid. So I used 14 tbsp gelatin (or ¾ cup + 2 tbsp). Let the gelatin bloom for about 5 minutes, while you warm the other half of the liquid.

7. Once the gelatin has bloomed (either entirely or mostly), and the liquid in the pot is very warm, dump the gelatin/liquid mixture into the pot. Whisk thoroughly to combine.

NOTE: Small batches work well with allowing the gelatin to bloom and simply whisking it in. I find with large amounts of gelatin like this, the gelatin clumps together. So when you dump it into the pot, use an immersion blender to break up all the gelatin.

8. Pour mixture into silicon muffin liners/tins, cake pans or chocolate moulds.

9. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before popping out of moulds or cutting into jello jigglers. You can simply cut into squares, or have some fun by using cookie cutters! 

 

Did any one else’s mom make jello jigglers when they were a kid? Every time I make these I get super nostalgic!

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