Healthy Flour-less "CHOCOLATE" Cake

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

This makes a great treat for your children and guests who are not on a casein-free diet.

Ingredients:
300 g carob chunks
350 g unsalted real butter
4 organic eggs, separated
"Sugar" of your choice to taste - I use 180 g Xylitol
300 g walnuts, finely chopped

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 160ºC. Grease deep 20cm-round springform tin, line based and side with baking paper. Melt carob chunks together with butter in a glass bowl over boiling water. Beat egg-yolks and "sugar" until light and fluffy. Add the melted carob slowly and then fold in the walnuts.
Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl until soft peaks form and then fold into the mixture.
Spoon mixture into prepared tin. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 150ºC and bake for another 1 - 1¼ hour. Stand in tin for a while, then turn onto wire rack to cool.

Serves: 6

Enjoy! ♥

Garlicky Butternut Squash with Sage

By: Esther Vasa

Butternut Squash - a powerhouse of nutrients. In particular it is rich in B6 a much essential vitamin to maintain a healthy nervous and immune systems. This is a good choice vegetable for those of us with Multiple Sclerosis. It also is rich in potassium and fiber. Last but not the least, it is loaded with phytonutrients and antioxidants. The color indicates that it is a good source of betacarotene.

Ingredients:
Butternut Squash - 1
Garlic - 5 cloves (minced)
Sage - 1 tbsp (chopped leaves)
Nutmeg - a big pinch
Cayenne Pepper - a pinch
Himalayan Salt to taste
Unsalted Sunflower seeds - 1 tsp
Extra Virgin Olive oil - 1 tsp (optional)

Preparation:
Peel, deseed, cut and steam butternut chunks. I did not peel mine; I just steamed the whole vegetable by having a few cuts on the surface at random spots and then deseeded. Mash the steamed squash or put it in food processor to make a thick paste. Transfer into a bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix it well and garnish with sunflower seeds and enjoy!

Alternate Options: Simply enjoy the steamed squash or use the mashed squash to make a soup or use the steamed bits in gluten-free pasta or garnish the steamed squash with rosemary and cinnamon (raw honey optional).

M(S)ayonnaise

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk (organic)

2,5 ml mustard

30 ml natural lemon juice

225 ml olive oil

225 ml avocado oil

himalayan salt

Procedure:

You can use a food processor, electric- or handmixer ~ I prefer using the food processor. Beat the egg yolk, mustard, lemon juice and salt together. Mix the oils and add drop by drop... If you pour in the oils too quickly, the mixture will "divide". When pouring in the oil, you'll see that the mixture will thicken. When all the oil is mixed together in the mixture, the mayonnaise will be ready. Keep in the refrigerator. Makes 250 ml. Enjoy! ♥

Alternate Option:
You can use half an avocado instead of egg yolk, if you are on an egg-free diet.

Carrot-Spinach Stir Fry

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:
Large Carrots - 5 (Grated)
Spinach - 5 cups (chopped roughly)
Onion - 1 (diced)
2 tbsps vegetable stock or you could use a tsp of olive oil
Garlic - 8 cloves (minced)
Cayenne Pepper - a few pinches
Turmeric - 1/4th tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/8th tsp
Peanut Powder - 1 tbsp
Himalayan Salt to taste

Preparation:
Heat up a steel pan lightly and bring the stock to a boil (or if you are using oil just let it warm up a bit. Do not heat up your oil at high temperature). Let the onion pieces cook for a bit and then add the grated carrot. Fry this for about 5 minutes. Add the rest of ingredients except spinach and let them cook for another 4-5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add spinach. Toss well and serve it with any GFCF bread or brown rice.

Serves: 4-5

Thin-Crust Pizza Base

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

Ingredients:
2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
Stevia or sugar of your choice to taste
2 cups gluten-free plain flour
½ teaspoon himalayan salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Procedure:
In a small bowl mix the yeast and "sugar" with ¼ cup lukewarm water and whisk with a fork until it begins to bubble. Let sit for 10 minutes, whisking occasionaly, until it becomes slightly thicker and creamy.

Combine flour and himalayan salt in a mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the yeast mixture and 1 cup lukewarm water and quickly work to a soft dough adding water as needed to make a very soft, but not quite sticky dough. Cover the bowl and let sit for 30 minutes in a warm part of the kitchen. The dough will rise slightly.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead lightly. Cut dough in half and roll each out into a ball.

To par-cook the pizza base for later use, grease (with unsalted real butter) 2cm x 23cm pizza tray or 1 large tray. With oiled fingers press the dough into a thin round ont he tray and prick with a fork. Let sit while oven heats to 220ºC.

Brush pizza base with olive oil and bake for 12 - 15 minutes. The pizza base will be dry and firm and very lightly golden on the edges.

Allow to cool completely before wrapping and storing in the refrigerator for 1 - 2 days, or in the freezer.

To use prebaked pizza base, thaw frozen base, spread lightly with olive oil and desired toppings and bake at 250ºC for 10 - 15 minutes. (Picture ~ Moroccan spiced chicken and cherry tomato topping)

Makes two 23cm pizza bases or 1 family size pizza base.

Enjoy! ♥

ElderFlower Recipes

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

The Elder Tree ~ Sambucus Nigra: the elder is an ancient and treasured tree from Europe, also known as "the medicine chest tree". It is extremely versatile and has few equals as a food and medicine. Every part of the elder is usable. The flowers added to skin and bath products are simple exquisite! (Margaret Roberts)

SOOTHNG SKIN LOTION:
Boil two cups of fresh elderflowers in two litres of water for 20 minutes. Cool, strain and use as a splash lotion or in the bath for eczema, psoriasis, dry itchy skin, sunburn, rashes, heat rush and even mosquito bites. For acne and oily problem skin make and elderflower vinegar. (Recipe to follow...)

MOISTURISING SKIN CREAM:
Heat one cup of natural aqueous cream in a double boiler with one cup of elderflowers (shaken off their stems) for 20 minutes. Strain, cool, add two teaspoons of almond oil, and mix well. Bottle into sterilised jars with tight-fitting lid and label clearly.

ELDERFLOWER VINEGAR:
Steep enough elder flowers to fill a glass bottle, cover with apple cider- or balsamic vinegar and place in the sun for 10 days. Give it a daily shake. During the time strain out the elderflowers twice, and replace with fresh flowers. Strain again and pour into attractive bottle with a good screw top and add a freshsprig or two of elderflowers for identification. Label clearly. (Margaret Roberts)

Blue Cornmeal Muffins with Jalapenos and Oregano

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:
Organic Blue Cornmeal - 1 cup
Organic Corn Kernels - 1 cup
Brown Rice Flour - 1 cup
Unsulphured Blackstrap Molasses - 1 tbsp
Raw Honey - 1tbsp
Baking Powder - 2 tsp
Organic Eggs - 2
Olive oil - 4 tbsp
Fresh Oregano Leaves - 1 tbsp
Jalapeno Peppers - 2 tbsp (de-seeded and diced)
Homemade Almond Milk (unsweetened) - 1 cup
Himalayan Salt - 1tsp

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 425F. Mix cornmeal, rice flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Blend eggs, molasses, honey, olive oil, jalapeno peppers and almond milk in a blender until smooth. Mix the blended mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold in the corn kernels and oregano. Just divide the batter in 12 muffin cups. Each muffin cup is 3/4ths full approximately. Bake for about 20 minutes. You could just make your bread similarly; just bake in a bread baking tray and voilà that is your bread with blue cornmeal! Enjoy the muffins with curried chicken or any soup!

Variations: Instead of jalapeno peppers, you could use cayenne pepper (a few pinches). Instead of oregano, you could use either sage or thyme. I prefer less or no sweetener. You could use two tbsp of raw honey, if you like. You could use potato-oatmeal milk or rice milk or organic hemp milk or any other alternate milk if you are on a casein free diet.

GFCF Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

By: Esther Vasa

GFCF Oatmeal Raisin Cookies make a great snack for your children. You could enjoy a cookie or two once in a while.

Ingredients:
Gluten Free Oats - 1.5 cups
Brown Rice Flour - 1 cup
Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Banana - 1 (mashed)
Raw Honey - 1/4th cup
Olive oil - 2 tbsp (inevitable for this recipe)
Organic Black Beauty Raisins - 1/4th cup

Preparation:
Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Mix oats, brown rice flour, baking powder and raisins and set aside. Blend banana, honey and olive oil and mix this into the flour mixture. Take a handful of this mixture and press it on a lightly greased cookie sheet or a baking tray. Bake the cookies for 10 -12 minutes. Makes around 12 cookies.

Potato and Vegetable Curry

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 red thai chillies, seeded, chopped finely
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 kg potatoes, chopped coarsely
600 g pumpkin, chopped coarsely
500 ml vegetable stock
250 ml coconut milk
200 g green beans, halved
100 g baby spinach leaves

Preparation:
Heat oil in large saucepan; cook onion garlic, ginger and chilli, stirring until onion softens. Add spices; cook, stirring about 2 minutes or until fragrant. Add potato and pumpkin, stir to coat vegetables in spice mixture. Stir in stock and coconut milk, bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, covered, about 20 minutes or until potato is almost tender. Stir in beans, simmer, covered, about 5 minutes or until potato is just tender. Remove from heat, stir in spinach. Enjoy!

Serves: 4

Homemade GFCF Croutons

Homemade GFCF Croutons are inspired from GFCF Gnocchi recipe.

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 (medium sized)

Millet Flour - 1 cup or Brown Rice Flour - 1 cup

Egg Substitute for one egg

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Himalayan Salt to taste

Extra water to make the dough, if you need.

For Garnishing

Extra Virgin Olive oil - 2-3 tsp

Grated Garlic - 1 large clove

Dried Parsley and Basil - 1 tsp

Black Pepper - a couple pinches

Himalayan Salt - optional

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes until they are cooked well but still intact. Peel and mash well. Make sure there are no lumps. Set it aside to cool down a bit (may be 10-15 minutes). Then, add the egg whites and first add 1/2 cup flour with salt and baking powder. Mix well and add more flour little by little until you get the right dough consistency. The dough should resemble your tortilla dough. Roll into 1/2 inch pipes and cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Preheat the oven to 350F and very lightly grease a baking tray and line up the 1/2 inch dough pieces. Bake anywhere from 20-30 minutes tossing the pieces every 10 minutes until you see the nice and brown croutons. Allow the croutons to cool down for 20-30 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, mix the olive oil, salt, pepper, grated garlic and dried parsley and basil. When ready, toss the croutons in this mixture until each crouton gets coated with this mixture.

You can use these croutons on salad or in soup or just enjoy it as an entrée or a snack.

Steamed Lentil and Rice Cakes (Idlis)

By: Esther Vasa


Ingredients:
Black Gram - 1 cup
Cracked Rice or Idli Rava - 2 cups
Water to soak both the lentils and cracked rice
Himalayan Salt to taste
Idli cooker (an appliance)

Preparation:

Idlis served with Peanut Chutney

Soak the lentils and cracked rice separately for 4-5 hours. Blend the lentils in a blender until smooth adding just enough water to make a smooth paste (DO NOT ADD TOO MUCH WATER!). Drain the water from the soaked cracked rice or idli rava. Mix the blended lentil paste into the cracked rice. Add salt and let it ferment for six hours or so. This is your idli mix.

Sandwiched Idlis

When ready, add a glass of water into the idli cooker. While this gets heated up fill up each idli plate with a spoon of idli mix you prepared above. Slowly place the idli stand with the plates filled into the idli cooker. Let the idlis steam for 10-15 minutes. Don't open the cooker's lid right away. Let the idlis cool down in the cooker for 20 minutes or so. Then remove each idli with a spoon carefully.

You can serve idlis with Peanut Chutney or Peanut Powder.

To serve with peanut powder, mix the peanut powder in a teaspoon or two of olive oil and apply to each idli on one side and make it like a sandwich.

Peanut Spread

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:
Peanuts - 2 cups
Garlic Cloves - 8
Curry Leaves - 6 sprigs
Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp or more depending on your taste
Himalayan Salt to taste
Tamarind deseeded and cleaned - cherry tomato sized ball

Olive oil - 2 tsps for making a spread from 2 tsps of peanut powder

Preparation:
Toast the peanuts in a frying pan until the peanuts are slightly toasted. Add the garlic cloves, curry leaves and tamarind and continue to toast for another 10 minutes or so. Switch off the stove and allow these to cool just before you put in a dry mixer. Put all the toasted ingredients and salt and chilli powder and blend in the dry mixer until you find all the ingredients powdered. You could use this as a toast spread by mixing the powder in a couple teaspoons of olive oil.

Peanut Chutney

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:

Peanuts - 1/2 cup

Small Onion - chopped roughly

Tomato - 1 chopped

Green Chillies - 3 or more if you like

Split black gram - 1 tsp

Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Olive oil - 1 or 2 tsp

Curry Leaves - 1 sprig

Himalayan Salt to taste

Water - 1 cup or as needed to make a paste

Preparation:

Toast the peanuts and when they are toasted add the chopped onions and green chillies to the nearly toasted peanuts and toast for another 3-5 minutes. Blend the peanuts, onions, chillies and tomatoes with salt and water until you get a smooth paste. Transfer into a serving bowl.

In the pan that you used for toasting, add the mustard seeds and let them splutter. Then, add the split black gram and toast the seeds till they change the color to light brown. Finally, add the curry leaves as well and toast for a few more seconds. Put this onto the peanut chutney that is in the serving bowl. Allow these to cool and then just add the cold olive oil and mix and serve the peanut chutney with either idlis or dosas or with bread or brown rice.

We don't heat up oil in this recipe also!

Beetroot and Parsley Bread

This bread is gluten-free, casein-free and yeast-free.

Ingredients:
Grated Beetroot - 1 cup (packed tightly)
Gluten Free flour - 1 cup (a combo of millet flour and brown rice flour should do as well)
Chopped Parsley - 3 tbsp
Jalapeno - 1 tbsp (de-seeded and diced)
Himalayan Salt - 1/8th tsp
Sweetener either raw honey or brown sugar - 2 tbsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp (inevitable)
Organic Egg - 1
Baking Powder - 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 8 (quartered)
Pure Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Make sure the flour has no lumps (pass through a sieve if needed). Mix the flour, salt and baking powder and set aside. Blend all the other ingredients except cashew nuts in a blender (leave a tbsp of olive oil to grease the baking tray). Put the blended mixture over the flour mixture along with cashew nuts and mix well with a spatula. Transfer this into a greased bread baking tray. Bake the bread for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. You get about ten thick slices.

Spring Mix Salad

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:
Spring Mix - 1 small bag or box
Beetroot - 1
Cucumber - 1
Grape Tomatoes or Cherry Tomatoes - 15-20
Prunes - 10
Boiled Kidney Beans or any other beans - 1/2 cup (optional)
Juice of one lemon
Cayenne Pepper - a big pinch
Extra Virgin Olive oil - 2 tsp
Balsamic Vinegar - 1 tbsp
Himalayan Salt to taste

Preparation:
Clean and put the spring mix in a salad bowl. Peel and slice beetroot and cucumber and halve the slices. Put the beet slices, cucumber slices, grape tomatoes, prunes and boiled beans (if you are using) into the salad bowl. In a mixing bowl whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cayenne pepper and salt and mix the dressing into the salad. Toss the ingredients well. Serve this salad cold.

Serves: 4-5

Lovely MS Oven Fries

By: Elna Botes van Schalkwyk

Preheat oven to 220ºC.
Thinly slice 1 kg unpeeled baking potatoes lengthwise.
In a large bowl, combine 30 ml Olive or Avocado Oil, 10 ml chilli powder, 2,5 ml thyme, 2 ml Himalayan salt and 1,25 ml cayenne.
Add potatoes, tossing to coat.
Place on 2 baking trays and bake for 30 to 45 minutes or until browned and crisp.

Serves 4.

Enjoy!

Curried Quinoa with Potato and Green Peas

By: Esther Vasa

Ingredients:
Quinoa - 1 cup
Potato - 1 (diced)
Green Peas - 1/2 cup
Himalayan Salt to taste
Red Chilli Powder - 1/8th tsp
Coriander Powder - 1/8th tsp
Cumin Powder - 1/8th tsp
Cinnamon Powder - a pinch
Clove Powder - a pinch
Water - 2 cups

For Garnish:
A handful of mixed peppers
Fresh Cilantro - 1 tbsp (chopped finely)
Extra Virgin Olive oil - 2 tsp
Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Preparation:
Rinse quinoa thoroughly for four times. Drain water each time using a fine mesh strainer. Toast the quinoa on a heated pan (NO OIL, please). When it starts changing color, add the diced potatoes and fresh green peas and fry quinoa along with the veggies. When the quinoa looks nice and toasted (slightly brown color), add water and all the spices and salt. Bring quinoa to a boil and then lower the heat and allow it to cook for another 10-15 minutes or until you see the white curvy thread around quinoa. Allow the quinoa to cool down for about 1/2 hour. Then garnish with mixed peppers, cilantro, mix in the lemon juice and olive oil. This is now ready to enjoy!

Once again, notice we haven't fried the veggies in oil. Instead we drizzled the oil after quinoa was cooked and cooled.

Serves: 4

Baked Sweet Potato served with Red Leaf Lettuce Salad

By: Esther Vasa
Red leaf lettuce contains protein, carbohydrate, fiber and vitamin A. Sweet potato is rich in antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties. It is an excellent source of Vitamins A & C, manganese, potassium, iron and fiber.

Ingredients:
Sweet Potato - 2
Red Leaf Lettuce - 1 head
Tonato - 1 (diced or sliced)
Cayenne Pepper - a couple pinches
Extra Virgin Olive oil - 3 tsp
Lemon Juice - 2 tbsp
Walnuts - 8-10 (coarsely crushed)
Toasted Pumpkin seeds / Pine nuts or Sunflower Seeds - 2-3 tbsp
Himalayan Salt to taste
Black Pepper - to taste

Preparation:
Bake the sweet potatoes at 400F for about 30-40 minutes. Pull out and cut them into 1/2 inch slices. When they are cold enough, run them in a mixture of a tsp of olive oil, salt and black pepper. Set them aside.

Clean and cut the red leaf lettuce into bite-sized pieces. In a small bowl whisk together 2 tsp olive oil, salt, some black pepper and lemon juice. This is the dressing for the red leaf lettuce salad. Toss the red leaf lettuce, tomatoes and the dressing. Finally, top it with walnuts and the seeds you are using.

Enjoy your baked potatoes with salad. Quite filling and yummy!