SCD Pancakes

I made these pancakes following a recipe at NoMoreChrohns.com: Jim's Fluffy Pancakes.

Mine don't seem to turn out very fluffy, but they are delicious nonetheless! Great topped with peanut butter and honey.

Minty Peas with Lamb

Today for lunch I made a recipe posted earlier this week on the Grain-Free Foodies blog: Peas with Mint.

The original recipe said that the dish went well with lamb, so I bought some and added it. Below is my (slightly modified) version, which turned out quite well.

Minty Peas with Lamb
Serves 3

Ingredients

• 1 lb package frozen peas
• 2 T ghee (or butter)
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced (I only used the white parts)
• 1/4 c vegetable broth
• 1/4 c coarsely chopped mint
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 lb lamb meat, cubed
• olive oil 

Directions

1. Melt the butter or ghee in a skillet, and sauté the scallions a few minutes, until soft.
2. Add the peas.  Pour in the stock, add the garlic and stir, then cover and reduce heat.
3. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until the peas are nearly done. 
4. Meanwhile, pan fry the lamb cubes in olive oil until thoroughly cooked.
5. Add the mint to the peas, and put the cover back on.  Cook another 2-3 minutes until the mint has wilted.
6. Add the lamb to the peas and serve with yogurt.

SCD Tuna Salad Sandwich

Tuna has always been one of those things I was sure I never liked, even before I was vegetarian. My tastes have clearly changed, because these little sandwiches were delicious!

For the bread, I used the Gluten-free Simple Bread recipe from Elana's Pantry (substituting honey for agave nectar to make it SCD-legal.) The recipe below makes enough tuna salad for two small sandwiches (a meal for one or a snack for two.)

SCD Tuna Salad Sandwich
Serves 1-2

Ingredients

• 3 ounces tuna
• 1/4 cup dry curd cottage cheese
• 2 Tablespoons of SCD-legal mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons purple onion, chopped finely
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• Slices of gluten-free simple bread, lightly toasted

Directions

1. Combine tuna salad ingredients in a bowl, stir, and spread onto toasted bread.

Blueberry Peanut Butter Honey Yogurt

One of my favorite things about following the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is making and eating homemade yogurt. I make mine using whole milk in a Yogourmet Electric Yogurt Maker, and it has turned out perfectly each time. The key to making SCD-compliant yogurt is allowing it to incubate for a full 24 hours, thereby using up most of the lactose (Commercial yogurt is fermented for a much shorter time, and therefore contains a significant amount of lactose.)

This morning I was craving a snack, so I concocted this simple and delightful dish.

Blueberry Peanut Butter Honey Yogurt


Ingredients

• 1 cup SCD yogurt
• fresh blueberries
• natural peanut butter
• honey

Directions

1. Put yogurt into a bowl and top with remaining ingredients.
2. Enjoy!

Dal

Yesterday I made some delicious dal based on a recipe in Sally Fallon's Nourishing Traditions. Here's what I did:

Dal
Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups lentils
• 2 tablespoons whey or lemon juice (I used whey that was left over after straining homemade yogurt.)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/4 cup ghee (clarified butter)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 2 small hot peppers, seeded and chopped (I used Serrano peppers.)
• 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
• sea salt

Directions

1. Cover lentils in warm water. Stir in whey or lemon juice and let sit for 7 hours in a warm place.
2. Drain, rinse, and place in a pot. Add water to cover and bring to a boil.
3. Skim off the foam that rises to the top.
4. Add turmeric, pepper, and garlic.
5. Simmer, covered, for about an hour or until lentils are very soft.
6. Remove lentils from heat and beat with a whisk until creamy. (Mine didn't get very creamy.)
7. Meanwhile, sauté cumin seeds and chiles in ghee until chiles are soft.
8. Add chile/cumin seed/ghee mixture to lentils and stir.
9. Season to taste.

I enjoyed this dish at several meals. It is especially tasty topped with homemade yogurt and avocado.

Crustless Italian Quiche

The other night I made this crustless Italian quiche for dinner. The original recipe is from SCDrecipe.com: Italian Broccoli Quiche.

Crustless Italian Quiche
Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped broccoli
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions

1. Thaw broccoli; drain on paper towels. 
2. Sauté chopped onion in oil in a saucepan; add salt and Italian seasoning. Heat thoroughly. 
3. Beat eggs well, gradually stir about 1/4 of yogurt into eggs; add remaining yogurt, stirring constantly. 
4. Add broccoli and parmesan cheese. 
5. Pour into a lightly greased 9-inch quiche dish. Sprinkle with bacon. 
6. Bake at 350 degrees F (180 C) for 25-30 minutes or until set.

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The final product was a bit watery (I think due to the yogurt), but delicious nonetheless. I think next time I will try adding an almond flour crust like the one I used for the Chicken Tamarind Coconut Curry Pizza.

An open letter to Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI)

In one of my classes this semester, Comparative Systems for Translation, we are currently discussing the health care system in the United States and how it compares to systems in other countries. It has been very helpful to me in clarifying my thinking about the issues, and the letter below is a product of that thinking.

Disclaimer: As a rule, I do not participate in partisanship. I seek to approach politics from a moral standpoint, and to discuss issues themselves rather than contribute to divisiveness by arguing for the sake of arguing. Please feel free to comment, but please also keep it civil :)

Dear Mr. Sensenbrenner,

I am a 24-year-old graduate student and I was recently diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which led to my being hospitalized for three weeks. This was completely unexpected, and I considered myself to be very healthy before suddenly getting sick in early January.

My out-of-pocket medical costs for this year have already reached several thousands of dollars, and more bills continue to arrive in the mail each week. Considering that I already have over $50,000 in student loan debt, to say that my unexpected illness has caused a financial burden is an understatement.

However, I consider myself lucky—I have a family to support me, I have a job and I am financially stable, and I have private health insurance. I am confident that I will be able to continue to receive quality health care, and that I will eventually pay off my debts.

The problem, Mr. Sensenbrenner, is that many of my fellow Americans are not as lucky as I am. Many do not benefit from a support network like mine. Many have lost their homes and their jobs due to economic forces beyond their control, and many—far too many—do not have health insurance coverage.

In a country with as much wealth and resources as United States, it is morally unacceptable for quality health care to be available only to those who can afford it.

I understand that your plan is to establish a tax credit for the purchase of private health insurance. While this may make insurance slightly more affordable, it is wholly inadequate and can hardly be called reform. Even if someone who is currently uninsured is able to purchase insurance as a result of the tax credit, this does not guarantee that they will be able to pay for their health care. As my example clearly illustrates, holding private coverage does reduce the impact of health care costs on individuals—were I uninsured my medical bills would surely be in the tens of thousands rather than the thousands of dollars—however, it does nothing to guarantee that health care will be affordable for all Americans.

The current health care system in the United States is lamentably defective, and requires fundamental changes. It ought to be focused on health rather than money, include a robust public option, give individuals true freedom to make decisions that affect their health, extend health care to everyone within our borders, and produce happy, healthy, and engaged citizens.

I understand that President Obama’s plan will not achieve all of these goals. It, too, is far from adequate, but it is a step in the right direction. Clearly, protecting people from being denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions, or dropped from their plans when they get sick, and especially making preventive care completely free—all elements of President Obama’s plan—will do far more to reduce costs and improve the health of our great nation than will a lousy tax credit.

It is for this reason that I urge you to rise above partisan politics and respond to the crying needs of the American people by supporting the health reform bill.

Thank you.

Daniel Greuel, independent voter

Garlic Lime Salmon with Lime Mayo

The other day I made a meal inspired by a recipe that I found on SCDrecipe.com: Lime and Garlic Salmon with Lime Mayonnaise. I served it with steamed broccoli and cauliflower, and it was all rather tasty!

As for the salmon, I adapted the original recipe and sort of combined it with the tutorial on How to Pan Fry Salmon on eHow.com. The following is more or less what I did:

Garlic Lime Salmon with Lime Mayo Serves 2

Ingredients

GARLIC SALMON

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large salmon filet
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

LIME MAYONNAISE

• 1/2 cup mayo (150G) (I used Trader Joe's prepared mayo, but you could also make your own)
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped dill

Directions

1. Combine garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper and rub/coat salmon with this mixture.
2. Drizzle olive oil over the top and bottom of the salmon fillet, rubbing it into the meat. Let rest 5 minutes.
3. Preheat your frying pan over high heat until droplets of water "dance" on the metal, then turn the heat down to medium.
4. Place butter into the frying pan and allow to melt.
5. Add the salmon to the hot butter in center of the pan.
6. Let sizzle for 2 minutes, then use your tongs to loosen the fillet from the pan to avoid the flesh from sticking (unless using a non-stick pan)
7. Cook the salmon for 5 minutes on each side, then check for doneness by inserting a tooth pick or paring knife into the center of the fillet and pulling it out. If it comes out clean, the salmon is ready.
8. Combine all Lime Mayonnaise ingredients.
9. Serve salmon topped with lime mayo.

Chicken Tamarind Coconut Curry Pizza

Tonight I made an amazing SCD pizza!

The crust recipe came from Sarah Maurer on the scdinfo Yahoo! group, and I improvised the rest. It turned out quite well, I must say.

Chicken Tamarind Coconut Curry Pizza
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1-1/2 cups almond flour

 (I used 1 cup blanched almond flour and 1/2 cup unblanched almond meal)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil


• 2 eggs


• ½ teaspoon salt


• 1 clove garlic – finely chopped
• 

1 teaspoon basil


• 1 teaspoon oregano (I didn't have any oregano, so I omitted it)
• 

1 teaspoon parsley


Toppings:

• Tamarind Curry Simmer Sauce (see notes below)
• Freshly grated monterrey jack cheese
• 1 grilled chicken breast, cubed
• Sliced bell peppers

Directions:

1. Combine crust ingredients in a bowl and form into a dough ball.
2. Spread oil onto a pizza 
pan or stone and then roll out dough onto it.
3. Bake the 
crust at 375°F for 5-7 minutes.
4. Add sauce and toppings, and bake at 375°F for another 8-10 minutes.

Notes:

I found the Maya Kaimal curry simmer sauce at Larry's Market in Brown Deer, WI. A picture of the container is below, along with another showing the ingredients, which appear to be SCD-legal. The product page on the company's website says the following, however, so use at your own risk: 

WARNING: This product is prepared and packaged on machines that may come into contact with dairy, wheat, soy and tree nuts. We regret if you are unable to enjoy our products.