Soy-Free Teriyaki Sauce & Mandarin Pasta Salad

Soy-Free Teriyaki
I LOVE asian food. LOVE it. Although most asian soy is fermented, and therefore doesn't pose a health risk with my allergy, it really isn't something I keep in the house. I wanted to make This Recipe for Mandarin Pasta Salad, but didn't have teriyaki or soy sauce, and didn't really want to bring them into my house, SO I sat and thought about the flavor profile of soy sauce:

Mostly, it's salty right? And so I began

-1 c water
-1 tsp black truffle salt (any salt will do, but i thought the mushroom salt especially mimicked that soy flavor. I bought this a long time ago at the oil and vinegar taproom i mentioned before. It's pricey, but also intensely flavored so something i use sparingly.)
-1/4 c Brown Sugar
-1 Tbs Honey (i used ginger infused honey)
-1/2 tsp Garlic
-1/4 tsp Ginger

Everything into the pot! Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add in a slurry of:

-1/2 tsp cornstarch and 1/4 c cold water.

Simmer until desired thickness. I just let it go on medium-low heat for like 20 minutes. Let it cool. This recipe is also gluten free so...bonus? *This isn't going to be super dark in color like a traditional sauce.

Mandarin Pasta Salad
*As usual, I've tweaked the recipe and reduced the portion for 2, but this link will take you to the original recipe.

• 1-2 c bowtie pasta noodles- cooked and cooled
• 2 cups spinach leaves
• ⅓ cup peanuts
• 1-2 mandarin oranges, peeled and divided (we buy halo brand oranges, they're like cuties but mandarin instead of clementine)
• ¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

dressing

• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (rice wine would be better but is harder to find)
• 1/4 cup oil (we use peanut oil)
• 1 tablespoon minced red onion
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Additional garlic and ginger to taste (i did about 1/8 tsp each)

Combine everything, toss w/ dressing just before serving and yum!

Sweet Potato Pasta

Most of our meals are not planned. I got a new veggie spiraler the other day and also found a bag of sweet potatoes in my pantry from before thanksgiving. I'm not huge on sweet potatoes, despite them being super super healthy for you, and despite having been on GAPS before, but I thought why not. I spiraled them up and just kind of went with it. It was the first time I ever attempted this dish, and while tasty had some lessons to be learned :)

• 2 Tbs Butter (or ghee or omit)
• 2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Small Onion, minced
• 2-3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 2 Large sweet potatoes, noodled 
• 2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Tbs Sour Cream (optional)

If you don't have a spiraler, you can use a veggie peeler to make flat fettucine noodles. If you are using a spiraler, I have read that most have issues with sweet potatoes- personally i think because of the shape. For my spiralizer, i had to choose potatoes that were skinny enough to turn. I did spaghetti noodles, but wonder if the fettuccine style might be more pleasing to look at on the plate

I melted the butter, added the olive oil, and sauteed the onions and garlic. I also added some crushed red pepper because i like it. I added the noodles, tossed to coat, put a lid on it and left it to steam. I waited til they were cooked through before adding the balsamic, but i don't know that that was necessary.

This is sauteeing in olive oil with onions and garlic. Leaving it uncovered and just sauteeing for 2-3 minutes would have given me curly, al dente noodles.

 I melted in the sour cream around the 5 minute mark and it added a very pleasant richness to the dish. Add your protein so it is warmed through (i did canned clams) and devour.

*This is admittedly not the prettiest dish I've ever made, but it was tasty at every stage in the cooking process (it smelled amazing cooking in the butter and onions and tasted great too). The sweet potato is definitely edible at every stage in cooking, so i might make them more al dente in the future. The balsamic cream sauce was also delicious, but the dish would probably be prettier if i made the sauce separately :)

Vegetarian Lumpia

My mom traveled a lot as a kid (and is now a travel agent) and lived some pretty incredible places. I'm sure you know by now means that i grew up eating some rather non-traditional dishes for an American kid. One of my favorites growing up was Lumpia- a phillippino springroll filled with beef, bacon, potato, onion, carrot, and cabbage. I made this recently, but without the proper wrappers had some trouble rolling and frying them, so we ended up just eating the filling out the bowl. Tonight I needed a quick sidedish, so i omitted the meat and ended up with tasty pan fried vegetables.

Vegetarian Lumpia Sidedish

Time: 10-15 minutes
Serves: 2

• 1 Large Potato, peeled and diced
• 1/2 Small Onion, diced
• 1 Carrot, julienned, minced, or in peels (however you like)
• ~1/4 head of Cabbage, sliced thin.
• ~1 tsp Black Pepper

Place all the vegetables in a hot pan with about 1 Tbs of oil. Cover with a lid and cook until potatoes are done, about 10 minutes. Coat liberally in cracked black pepper, stir, and salt to taste. Serve alongside protein of choice.

I always have these vegetables in my house so it's a quick and tasty choice

*For the full version, add 6 strips of bacon, diced and 1lb of ground beef. Let the filling cool before you roll it into eggrolls. Lumpia wrappers are a special kind of wrapper- wheat and rice and super thin. Look for them in an Asian grocery store!

Curry

Asian food is a favorite for us and over the years I've tried my hand at making different dishes. For 2 years, I've been telling my husband I could make curry if i tried and today I did it. The important thing in this recipe is making the sauce, and you can put whatever vegetables you want in it.

Time: ~30minutes
Serves: 2-4 depending on how soupy you like it

Step 1: Begin making rice- my husband HAS to have rice with a curry dish
Step 2: The Sauce

-2 cans of coconut milk (i buy this in bulk from back in my GAPS days)
~12inches of lemongrass (since it's january, we just bought the two stalk pack at the grocery store), sliced and separated
-1 Shallot minced
-2-3 garlic cloves minced
-1/4 tsp ginger powder or a thumbnail piece of ginger
-2 Tbs Red Curry Powder
*Extra Cayenne to taste
-1/2 tsp fish sauce
-2 Tbs Brown Sugar (or Honey for GAPS/paleo)
-Juice of half lime

Bring coconut milk to a simmer. Add lemongrass stalks and shallots. Simmer ~5 minutes before adding remaining ingredients.

Step 3: At this point i also added my vegetables (we did sliced carrots and cabbage with cashews, but bell peppers, water chestnuts, stewed tomatoes, snow peas, broccoli, and bok choy are good too) Simmer for 5-10 minutes before adding a cooked protein. We bought our shrimp pre-steamed so they just needed heated through. Curry can simmer for quite sometime so if your protein is raw, just add it and cook it through (or cook it separately and add to the pan). Serve over rice. Optional: Top with crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro. Turned out yum! just like the Thai restaurant. I won't say I'd try to compete with anyone who makes curry as a staple part of their diet, but as an avid consumer of Thai food, this was delicious!

Bonus: You can also cut out 1 can of coconut milk and thicken this recipe with 2-3 TBS of peanut butter for a great curried peanut sauce to dip shrimp or chicken in!

Lemony Cabbage

This is primarily a sidedish, but i also make it as a snack!

-1/2 cabbage
-2 Lemons, zested
-1 Tbs of Lemon Infused Oil
-Salt and Pepper to Taste
-Basil (optional)

Cut the cabbage to pieces of your liking, i generally cut it in 1"-2" squares, or thick slaw straws. Add cabbage to a hot pan and top with lemon oil. Stir to coat. Add zest of 2 lemons and juice of 1 lemon. Let simmer to a doneness of your liking- i like just barely translucent with crunch. Salt and pepper before serving. If desired, toss with basil before serving with a protein of your choice.

A Vegan For Dinner- Mushroom Tarragon Pierogi, Grilled Vegetable Salad, and Cucumber Slaw

Tomorrow, an old friend is coming to visit, and has over the years transitioned to veganism. I will be sharing the recipes for our vegan table spread.

First thing first is to understand what veganism is and to what degree your guest follows it. Vegans do not eat animals or animal by-products. The big difference here between cooking vegetarian and cooking vegan is that most vegetarians are lacto-ovo, meaning they eat milk and eggs. Vegans do not. Most vegans do not eat honey and a small percentage do not eat fungus (mushrooms, the yeast in beer). I roll my eyes at the fact that a great number of them wear leather, but such is life. A bigger challenge here is that in our house, we don't eat soy which is often what would replace dairy. My guest eats both honey(logic: without bees there are no fruit and vegetables and beekeepers have a vested interest in fighting colony collapse disorder) and fungus (cuz who really feels bad for the fungus? it's so hard to empathize with fungus). I googled vegan dishes and found this link, which is excellent, and selected the grilled vegetable salsa from there! The rest are vegan adaptations of things we eat everyday.

Our vegan lunch will consist of: Mushroom Tarragon Pierogi,Grilled Vegetable Salsa, Thai Cucumber Salad, and Fresh Watermelon. I prepared most of it this evening for serving tomorrow.


Mushroom Tarragon Pierogi
While pierogi are not grain free for the paleo people, they are something i make by hand and keep in the freezer. More importantly, the super basic dough recipe that i use just so happens to be vegan.

-1 pack Mixed Shrooms (about 1 cup)
-2-3 Tbs Tarragon
-Salt to Taste

In a food processor, blend mushrooms and tarragon into a finely minced paste. Transfer into a pan with olive oil, add more tarragon if desired and salt to taste. Make your pierogi shells, fill, boil, freeze, and sautee. 1 pack of mushrooms will fill approximately 15 pierogi.


Grilled Vegetable Salad
*While I'm calling this grilled, the lazy in me just used my stove top
-1 Zucchini- chopped
-5 Ears of Corn
-1 Onion- diced

Basically, grill up your favorite seasonal vegetables and mix them together in a bowl. Then toss them with this dressing:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes) I’m sure lemon works too

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 small garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro (or herb of choice)

1 tsp maple syrup (or other sweetener)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt & Pepper, to taste

I made this the day of, but prepped the dressing the night before

Thai Cucumber Salad

2 cucumbers, spiraled or slices (I spiral mine on basically an apple-corer-peeler-slicer)

1 Tbs peanut butter- melted

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (I keep this in the cupboard because I love Asian cooking)

2 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and serve immediately. You can also use this sauce for "Asian slaw" with cabbage and carrots