Homemade Marinara Sauce & "Parmesan" Cheese (GF, DF, Vegan)

Over the past couple of years my darling hubby and I have been working to simplify the ingredients in our food. One of the first things that I started to make at home is pizza sauce. I've always made my own spaghetti sauce, so I didn't think this was much a stretch. Turns out I was wrong. Spaghetti sauce with meat is a much different animal than a simple pizza sauce. I finally figure out that if I combined diced tomatoes, EVOO, salt and pepper and a pinch of chili flakes, it was an okay base for a pizza, but it wasn't something that was easy enough to keep on hand. Then one day I figured out that my existing tomato basil marinara sauce was simple and tasty enough to use for both pasta and pizza. 

When we first went GF, pizza was the one I missed the most. Not only for the taste, but also for the ease of picking up the phone or picking up a pie on my way home. Then a few of the conventional restaurant options became available, some of them pretty tasty, so we were back in business, if not out a little cash as those options tend to be expensive. Then we found that dairy was a problem and we were back to the starting point. Ugh, what to do? Well, frankly, we went without pizza for awhile.

One day I saw a post on Facebook that contained a recipe for a "nut cheese". I tried a recipe from a blog the first time and it was waaaayyyyy too salty and the "cheesy" taste from the nutritional yeast was just too prominent - I thought it tasted like the cheese powder in a bad box of macaroni and cheese (and not even a bad BLUE box!).

I decided to develop my own recipe and the results made our homemade pizza taste complete. It's not the ooey, gooey, stringy kind of cheese that you typically get on a dairy filled pizza, but it fills the void much better than any of those plastic make-believe cheeses you will find in the dairy aisle or the health food store.

As for toppings, we run the gammit at our house. Dear daughter likes hers with tomato sauce and "cheese". Sometimes she wants a little pepperoni and other times she's open to add a little of the pizza sausage we get in our CSA bin. Some times she wants me to add pineapple. Darling Hubby likes pepper or the sausage and the nut cheese. He's another fan of pineapple, so I add that if I have it on hand. I'm a bit more of a toppings gal. My favorite pizza is pepperoni or sausage with green peppers, onions, mushrooms, black olives and banana peppers. I'm open to some pineapple as well. We've tried them all and they all work well with this basic sauce and the nut cheese.

Finally, a good pizza crust is something that becomes a quest for many GF folks. There are a litany of recipes on the internet and Pinterest has some pretty good ones. We've not settled on one "best" recipe yet so I'll come back and share that when we do. In the past month, things have been pretty hectic at our house so I finally broke down and bought some Udi's GF crust. I have to say that for the ease of prep, I'm a fan. The taste rivals some of the restaurant crusts as well, so not too bad if you're going this route. In fact, I've decided to keep a few in the freezer for weekend lunches or week night meals on those nights when we have commitments after work and school. 

Definitely make the tomato basil sauce, it's a great sauce that you can put on just about anything - grilled veggies, pizza, pasta of any form and if you have some good GF bread (Udi's dinner rolls, maybe), it would make a great dip. You can also use it as an ingredient in another recipes - e.g., 1 cup in a recipe of mussels marinara. 

Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce

• 1 28 oz can of organic Diced Tomatoes (I like the fire roasted type)
• 2 15 oz cans of organic tomato sauce (I use Simple Truth)
• 1 small onion or half of a large, small dice (any type will do, I prefer red, but have even used Vidalia with good results)
• 1 bunch of basil, torn into small pieces or chiffonade into strips
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (I use the kind from the jar)
• 2 - 4 tbsp EVOO (to taste or your preference for adding flavor and to sauté the onions)
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 large carrot - clean and cut in half vertically (if your carrot is really large, cut it in half and then into quarters so it fits into your pot better)

Place a large sauce pan over a medium-low heat and allow pan to heat while you dice the onion. Add EVOO to the hot pot and allow it to come to temp. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the onions and cook, stirring on occasion so as to avoid browning the onion, add a sprinkle of salt. When onions are translucent, add garlic and stir to distribute. When the garlic is fragrant - 30 seconds or so - add the tomatoes. Stir to combine. Add the pepper flakes and stir again. Add the carrot to the pot. 

Turn the heat to low and allow the sauce to cook for 20 to 30 minutes stirring frequently to keep the bottom from scorching. Allow the sauce to cook until thickened and reduced a bit. Turn the flame off and taste. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Add basil and stir to distribute it throughout the sauce. Allow the sauce to rest for 10-20 minutes. Taste and make any final adjustments of seasonings. Store in the fridge in a clean glass container or in the freezer in batches of 1.5 cups each for a 10" pizza crust.

"Parmesan" Nut Cheese

• 1.5 cups raw cashew nuts - pieces or whole
• .5 cups almonds - whole or sliced
• .25 cup EVOO
• .25 cup Olive Oil (regular olive oil)
• 1.5 tsp good quality sea salt
• 1 tbsp Lemon juice

Soak nuts overnight in cold water - make sure the nuts are covered with enough water to allow for the nuts to swell during soaking. When you are ready to prepare the cheese, drain and rinse the nuts in a colander. Add the nuts to the work bowl of a food processor. Add salt, lemon juice and the EVOO. Turn the food process to "On" and allow the contents to process until the EVOO has been incorporated and the nuts have broken down into large sand grains. Taste the mixture to determine whether you need to add more salt and adjust seasoning (you can also choose to add a little more lemon juice, but the purpose of the lemon is to add the bite that you typically get from parmesan and not to actually taste the lemon). Continue to process the nuts until the mixture looks like fine grains of wet sand. If you have trouble getting the nuts to break down, add the remaining olive oil by tablespoon until the mixture reaches the texture you want. Taste one last time to adjust seasoning, if needed. 

Clean Spring Veggie Soup (gluten free, dairy free, easy to convert to paleo and vegetarian/vegan)

I enjoyed our long winter for quite a few weeks. However, I've struggled the past two or three as I'm completely sick of wearing the same winter clothes over and over again. I'm tired of being all bundled up, so I've ditched my wool and down coats in favor of a Columbia jacket made for mild weather. Yesterday, I threw on a corduroy blazer and headed out the door without my gloves. Yes, I am ready for spring!

In an effort to hurry things along, I thought I'd make a super easy and tasty veggie soup for lunch today. Darling daughter has swim lessons on Saturday morning, so we do a quick and easy breakfast and then I make a more substantial lunch when we are back home. This recipe is perfect for a weekend as you can make it one day and have plenty of soup for the lunch box for the week. It's also very figure friendly and you can use pretty much anything you have in the fridge or freezer. Like veggies other than what I've used below? Make up your own version, this is really about using what you have on hand and turning it into something warm, filling, and healthy for your family. It's also pretty cost effective as I didn't have to buy any special ingredients and we have more room in the fridge because it's a great way to use up veggies that weren't used up during the week.

Lisa's Spring Veggie Soup

• 3 Leeks, rinsed, white and light green parts only, prepped and well rinsed
• 1 small sweet onion, diced
• 2 bag petite carrots, roughly chopped
• center stalks (lightest green with many leaves) of celery, washed and chopped - use the entire thing - stalks and leaves
• 1/2 a bunch of Dinosaur Kale or other green, chopped (about 3-4 cups worth of greens)
• 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 15 oz can organic chickpeas
• 1 small bag of organic cut green beans
• 1/2 a small bag of petite peas
• 2 boxes stock - I used chicken, but you could easily use veg or beef
• 2 cups water 
• 2 tbsp oil- I used olive, but coconut would work too
• 3 tbsp garlic (I use the garlic from a jar that you buy in the produce section)
• 1/2 tsp ground marjoram
• 3 small bay leaves
• few stalks of fresh thyme, strip the leaves or 1/2 tsp dried

Place a large soup pot over a medium flame and allow the pot to begin to heat up for 3 to 4 minutes. Add oil. Allow oil to heat while you finish cleaning and preparing the leeks, onions carrots and celery. Add carrots, celery, leeks and onions to the pot along with the garlic, marjoram, bay leaves and thyme and 1/4 tsp of salt. Stir well to ensure vegetables and herbs are well distributed. Turn the flame to low and continue to prep veggies while the veggies and herbs cook. 

When the leeks and onions are transparent and the you can smell the herbs, add the stock and tomatoes, stir and cover the pot. Adjust the heat to medium. Leave soup to cook and the flavors to marry for 10 to 15 minutes with the lid on. 

The soup should be at a low boil when you add the kale or green of choice. Stir in the kale, green beans, peas and water. Cover and allow to cook on low for 10 to 15 more minutes. Remove the lid, add the chickpeas along with their juices. Stir again and taste for seasoning. Adjust to taste and serve.

A Cleaner Cauliflower Soup (Paleo, GF, Dairy Free, Easily Adapted to Vegetarian and Vegan)

A friend and fellow blogger pointed out to me the other day that it's been a long time since I've posted a recipe to this blog. You know what? She's absolutely right! Things have been busy, people have been sick, work is crazy.... you know the drill. So today I'm making an effort to get back on track and try to share some of the recipes I am making.

My latest kitchen experiment is a cleaner version of a broccoli soup than I've ever made before. In the past, I would have added milk and cheese and thought that both ingredients were "required" for the end product to be tasty. Now that we have really cleaned up our family's diet that old approach didn't fit any longer so I had to alter my thinking and, consequently, my recipe.

I had a whole cauliflower in the fridge just begging to be used. I'd bought it on a whim after seeing some TV chef make a roasted cauliflower that looked pretty tasty. Unfortunately, time got away from me, the need for a simplified meal took over and there the cauliflower sat, on the top shelf of my fridge sad and lonely. 

So, I decided that in this most vexing of winters we needed some healthy, tasty soup. I read a number of recipes for cauliflower soup using search terms like:  clean, vegetarian, vegan, healthy and paleo. Many of the recipes were moderately rated, so I was a little concerned. Then I started reading the reviews  of some of them and realized that some of my tried and true tricks might produce a soup that would earn a higher rating than those in my research. 

One of my favorite tricks is to use onion, celery and carrots in nearly everything I cook. I love matchstick carrots and add them to salads every time, but I've also thrown a handful into my enchilada filling, various sauces I make and nearly anything else that seems that it would benefit from a little carroty sweetness. I also buy baby carrots and lately have found bags labeled as "petite" which are smaller and seemly sweeter than the others. I use these in a variety of preparations as well as the obvious lunch box application. I will cut a handful into coins if I'm making chicken and dumplings (one of darling daughter's favorites), I threw a large handful into this soup as no added prep was needed and it was an easy way to ensure a flavorful end product.

Another favorite is celery. I think celery gets a bad rap. It's stringy - yes, yes, it can be - it can have a harsh flavor - especially if it's darker green - and it's not as sexy as some of the newer veggies that have hit the produce section of your market (e.g., jicima, star fruit, pomegranate). I, however, love, love, love celery, but I choose wisely when I buy it. First, celery is a winter veggie, so if you're trying to buy it in July, be extra careful as it may not be as sweet and mild as in the winter. Second, I think the lighter green the better the taste, so I avoid stalks of all dark green celery as I usually find they're bitter. Next, I buy the whole celery instead of the bags of celery hearts. I do use the darker outer stalks, those go in the bottom of my roasting pan for chicken or a beef roast, but if you're going to eat it raw, say in chicken salad, you want the lighter stalks near the middle. I do taste the darker stalks before I use them and if the stalk is bitter I throw it in the trash as I work hard to make a meal and I don't need anything working against me.

Last, but certainly not least are onions. I love onions. Sweet onions and red onions are my favorites. I like red onions in my salad as they are a bit more nutritious (see this page if you want to know more). I use sweet onions when I make things like French onion soup or Onion Dip (I like Ina's recipe for onion dip) and I thought they would bring flavor a balance to this soup. Sometimes you want that good old fashioned onion flavor - like in chicken soup or spaghetti sauce, but for this preparation and a few others, a sweet onion produces a more tasty end product.

Add just a few more ingredients to the carrots, celery and onions and you'll have soup. Give this one a try, it's pretty easy. The hardest part, I think, is whizzing it at the end, so it is easy enough to be a weeknight meal. It also makes enough for leftovers, especially if you serve it with salad or sandwiches. If you make it, let me know what you think.

Lisa's Winter White Cauliflower Soup

• 1 large sweet onion, cut into 8ths 
• 4 good size green onions, cut into 2" or 3" chunks
• 3 stalks of celery - lighter green stalks, cut into 2" or 3" chunks
• 1 cup baby carrots - straight from the bag, no need to chop (I used petite size)
• 1 small head Cauliflower, cut into 2" or 3" chunks
• 2 small bay leaves
• 3 tbsp dried parsley
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste (black)
• 1/3 cup GF all purpose flour blend (I used King Arthur)
• chicken or vegetable stock - 2 boxes
• 3 slices bacon (if vegetarian/vegan use olive oil)

Place a soup pot over a medium heat. While pot heats, cut the bacon into 1-2" pieces with kitchen shears. When the pot is hot, add bacon by placing individual strips around the bottom of the pot so that you don't overlap too many pieces - this will help with even cooking of the bacon. Stir after the bacon has started to cook a bit and then occasionally again until the bacon is cooked through and has rendered its' fat. Remove the cooked bacon to a paper towel lined plate. Pour off most of the bacon fat, leaving about 2 tbsp in the bottom of the pan.

Return the pan to the heat and add the onions, celery, and carrots to the pot, add a pinch of salt and stir. Allow the veggies to cook until the sweet onion is translucent. Add the flour and stir well to coat all of the vegetables and distribute the flour. Allow the flour to cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring often so that the ingredients don't burn. 

Add the cauliflower and bay leaves. Stir to distribute then add the parsley, crushing it between your palms as you add it to the pot. Stir again, then add the stock. You want the liquid to nearly cover all of the vegetables, but not quite. If you have too many veggies sticking out of the stock, either add more stock or sub good old water. Allow to cook, stirring often, until the cauliflower is soft and the carrots are cooked through. 

Remove from heat, remove bay leaves and puree using either an immersion blender or by pureeing small batches in your counter blender. If you have a water-proof food processor, you can use that too, but mine would leak.

Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to suit your palate. Serve with bacon crumbles that you used to render the fat for the soup. A green salad or a sandwich makes a nice complement to this soup and a filling winter meal that's easy on the cook!

Makes 8 servings