Tag: paleo

Crispy Pork Belly

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Crispy Pork Belly

Ingredients

Liquid marinade

  • 3/4c Chinese cooking rice wine
  • 1T balsamic vinegar
  • 2 1/2T coconut amino acids
  • 1T lemon juice (or 1 lime)
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 3 garlic cloves (sliced)
  • 1 sliced red chilli
  • 1 tsp Chinese Five Spice
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 250 ml water

Everything else

  • 1-2 brown onions (cut into wedges)
  • Pork Belly
  • Neutral Oil (i.e. Rice Bran Oil)
  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Water (added at intervals during cooking)

Allergies: gluten free, soy free, dairy free, egg free, nut free

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 220’C.
  2. In a big roasting pan, mix up the liquid marinade.
  3. Cut the onion(s) into wedges and place in a line in the pan. There needs to be enough onion to cut as a support for the pork belly. It will help to moisten the meat and also act as a structural support to keep the crackling raised up out of the jus.
  4. Prepare the pork belly. You will need a very sharp knife in order to score it; I like doing a diamond pattern. This is important not only for helping it to cook but also for cutting it up later in order to serve! Dry the pork belly, apply a little oil over the top, then rub in salt. Crack some pepper over the top as well (if desired).
  5. Place the pork belly onto the foundation of onions (with the fat on top).
  6. Cook at 220’c for 30-40 minutes or until the rind has crackled.
  7. Add 1/2c water to the liquid in the bottom of the pan. Reduce oven heat to 160’C and cook for another hour.
  8. Add 1/2c water to the liquid in the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking at 160’C for approximately another 60 minutes or until the pork is very tender.
  9. Reserve some of the juices to drizzle over the pork when serving. Consider serving with green vegetables and steamed rice. (I chopped up bok choy and other greens, lightly braised them in the marinade, and stir fried before serving as a side dish with the onion, chilli, garlic etc.).

Superhero Smoothie (allergy free)

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Superhero smoothie

Superhero smoothie

Today’s smoothie recipe is free from the top 8 allergens and Miss 2 asked for more (even though it has vegetables in it – bwahaha!). It’s also a great way to get some healthy fats and foods into your system when you’re recovering from the flu and can’t cope with the idea of making soup from scratch!

Ingredients

  • 200ml coconut milk
  • 200ml water
  • 4-6 ice cubes
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 2 slices mango
  • 1/3 cup baby spinach
  • 1 tsp ground chia seeds
  • 1 tsp ground linseed (flaxseed)
  • Optional: drizzle of maple syrup

Optional: Since your smoothie is going to be green anyway, you may want to add 1 tsp of Healtheries Super Greens Smoothie Booster.

Tip: Have the coconut milk in the fridge (or add less water & more ice) so that this will be chilled once blended,

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, nut free.

Directions

  1. Put everything in a blender and blend till smooth!
    • Tip: Most blenders will work more effectively if you put the liquids in first.
  2. Serve immediately while it’s chilled.

 

Candied Salted Caramel Pumpkin Seeds

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Candied Salted Caramel Pumpkin Seeds

Candied Salted Caramel Pumpkin Seeds

I love this recipe! It’s a fantastic candied treat that’s great for parties and for holidays. If you have food allergies in the family, it’s also a great recipe to pass to grandparents who want to spoil the kids! It’s also ideal to take to kindergarten parties and pot lucks as it’s free of all major allergens!

Don’t be put off by the idea of pumpkin seeds – these are nothing like the raw ones that you get in salads. These are as different as corn is after it’s popped and are sweet, salty, and crunchy like M&Ms. They are dangerously addictive and are great eaten straight, sprinkled on fruit crumble, or on top of ice cream.

Ingredients

In the oven:

  • 2c pumpkin seeds
  • 2 1/2T sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • Pinch nutmeg
  • 3T water
  • Oil for roasting dish

Caramel sauce

  • 1 1/2T allergy-free spread (i.e. Nuttelex) / butter
  • 2 1/2T brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt

Allergies: gluten free, dairy free, soy free, egg free, nut free.

Note: If nut allergies are not a concern,this recipe will also work well with peanuts, cashews, and almonds.

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180’C and lightly oil a baking dish (I used a silicon flan / pie dish).
  2. Mix all of the oven ingredients together and pour into the baking dish. Note: the water is important because it helps the spices to stick to the pumpkin seeds (and the seeds will absorb the water a little as they puff up during cooking).
  3. Bake the pumpkin seeds for 20-25 mins until golden and crunchy.
  4. Once the pumpkin seeds are cooked, mix the caramel sauce ingredients together in a pot. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the ingredients have melted and turned a deep golden brown.
  5. Mix the caramel sauce and pumpkin seeds together until well coated. Spread on a tray and allow to  cool.

Chocolate Banana ‘Yoghurt’ (Dairy free)

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Chocolate Banana 'Yoghurt'.jpg

Chocolate Banana ‘Yoghurt’

I was looking for dairy free alternatives to yoghurt and similar products. This is a similar recipe to the Chocolate Avocado Mousse but is the consistency of pouring yoghurt instead of mousse.

Note: This recipe is best made with a food processor (or possibly an electric beater)

Ingredients

  • 1 large banana
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 3/4c coconut milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • 3-4T brown sugar.

Allergies: gluten free, soy free, dairy free, egg free, nut free.

Directions

  1. Blend until smooth.
  2. Serve immediately or chill.

How to make Teriyaki sauce (soy & gluten free)

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Teriyaki Pork stir fry.jpg

Teriyaki Pork stir fry

I posted recently about discovering Coconut Amino Acids as a soy replacement and they are the secret for making Teriyaki Sauce that is soy free. Miss 2 LOVED it đŸ™‚

There are two recipes below, one for a small amount (i.e. for a stirfry) and one for a larger amount (i.e. for marinating chicken thighs).

Allergies: soy free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free, tree nut free.

Ingredients (stir fry)

  • 2T coconut amino acids
  • 1 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • pinch salt
  • pinch pepper
  • 1 T brown sugar
  • 1T rice vinegar

Ingredients (marinade)

  • 6T coconut amino acids
  • 3 tsp crushed garlic
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/8 tsp pepper
  • 3 T brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 T liquid honey
  • 3 T rice vinegar
  • 3 T dry sherry

 

Source: “Allergy-Free and Easy Cooking. 30-minute meals without gluten, wheat, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, and sesame.” by Cybele Pascal

Chocolate Avocado Mousse

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Chocolate avocado mousse.jpg

Chocolate avocado mousse

I’d been hearing about this as a paleo recipe and realized that it would be a great allergen friendly recipe to try with Miss 2 (who thought it was yum!). It’s a seasonal dish that’s wonderful to make when avocados are cheap. It’s creamy, chocolatey, and doesn’t taste like avocado at all.

Note: This recipe is best made with a food processor (or possibly an electric beater). I tried using a smoothie blender but the mixture was too thick and I ended up beating it with a fork (which is why it ended up a little lumpy).

Ingredients

  • 240g flesh of ripe avocados
  • 40g cocoa powder
  • 1/4 – 1/2c coconut milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt
  • 3-6T brown sugar.

Directions

  1. Blend until smooth.
  2. Serve immediately or chill.

Smashed avocado (easy avocado dip)

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This is an easy dip to make that is great to eat outside in the garden paired with home made crackers.

Ingredients

  • 1 large avocado
  • 1T olive oil
  • 1T lemon juice
  • Salt to taste

Note: This is an easy recipe to scale to the number of people you’re serving. If you’re using a small avocado then change the olive oil & lemon juice from a Tablespoon (15ml) to a dessert spoon (10ml).

Allergies: soy free, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free.

Directions

  1. Scoop out the avocado with a spoon.
  2. Smash up with a fork.
  3. Mix in olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.

 

Allergies: soy free, dairy free, egg free, peanut free.