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December 2017 – surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

surviving the food allergy apocalypse (archive)

Month: December 2017

  • Quick Pumpkin Sausage Sauce

    Quick Pumpkin Sausage Sauce

    Quick Pumpkin Sausage Sauce
    Quick Pumpkin Sausage Sauce

    So, for me, the key to quick weeknight meals lies in advance prep, whether it be making basic ingredients ahead of time (like soup stocks) or finding staples that are safe for me. Because my allergies are pretty basic and don’t include corn (and soy is something I’m mildly reactive to), I can use most canned ingredients. Not canned foods, but ingredients like beans and tomatoes and pumpkin are safe for me. This makes weeknight meals a little easier for me. Denise has to can everything from scratch.

    For this quick meal, I used 5 ingredients I almost always have on hand: onion (often pre-chopped and frozen for quick use later), olive oil, sausage from a local market that makes a great flavorful one (I try to keep one pound in the freezer), canned pumpkin, and chicken or veggie stock — I always have one of these on hand.

    I’ve sauteed the onion and sausage, left the bit of fat in the pan (it is about a tablespoon or so for this brand — if it’s really greasy, maybe drain it — and then used the pumpkin and stock to make thick creamy sauce with no cream. This would be great on pasta, grains, or over veggie noodles of whatever sort tickle your fancy. Plus, it’s 5 ingredients and only 15-20 minutes to cook. I really like the pumpkin in this because it gives the sauce a rich texture, creamy and filling.


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    Quick Pumpkin Sausage Sauce
    Print Recipe
    Servings Prep Time
    4 servings 5 minutes
    Cook Time
    20 minutes
    Servings Prep Time
    4 servings 5 minutes
    Cook Time
    20 minutes
    Quick Pumpkin Sausage Sauce
    Print Recipe
    Servings Prep Time
    4 servings 5 minutes
    Cook Time
    20 minutes
    Servings Prep Time
    4 servings 5 minutes
    Cook Time
    20 minutes
    Ingredients
    • 1-2 teaspoons olive oil (or whatever your favorite oil is)
    • 1/2 cup chopped onion
    • 1 lb sausage We use a local pork sausage that is safe for me, but choose your favorite safe brand or your own recipe
    • 1 can pumpkin puree NOT pie filling. This should just be pumpkin, 15 oz of it.
    • 1 cup chicken or vegetable stock
    • 4 servings cooked grains or pasta
    Servings: servings
    Instructions
    1. In a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat, add the onions and 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Stir. If the onions are not all coated with olive oil, add up to another teaspoon. Because the sausage will have its own fat, you want to use the minimum amount of oil here.
    2. Add the sausage and stir as it cooks until it breaks up. Cook until there is no more pink to it.
    3. Add the pumpkin and smash it in a little. Then start adding the chicken or vegetable stock and stirring until you have a good consistency. If you need to add more or less than called for, do it. Get a good thick sauce, and then simmer it for about five minutes. Taste and add seasoning if needed.
    4. Serve over cooked pasta or grains. Or spaghetti squash, zucchini noodles, whatever floats your boat.
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  • Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice

    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice

    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice

    Since this week’s theme is quick work-night dinners, I thought it might be time to introduce my use of the Instant Pot since I’ve had it for about a year and half now. I know that I’m a kitchen gadget junkie, but I love this thing and I’m considering getting a second one as they just came out with a 8 quart version (mine is the Instant Pot DUO60 6 Quart 7-in-1). I love my crock pots too, but they take advance planning and being around to babysit them. And despite all my food prep during harvest season, advance planning is not something that I’m good at when it comes to work night dinners. I come home from work, read my mail, change out of my work clothes, dub around with some other task, and then I decide somewhere between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. that I ought to think about what I might want for dinner. I basically decide what to eat about 5 minutes before I start making it. What I love about the Instant Pot is that I can make things that would normally take a lot longer and a lot of babysitting on the stove by throwing things in the Instant Pot, sealing it up, setting a timer, and walking away to go do something else while it cooks. There’s a lot less spilling and a lot less potential for me to burn myself or my potholders. If you don’t have an Instant Pot, you can do this in a rice cooker just saute the onions, garlic and peppers in a skillet instead and then add them to the cooker. Or you can do the whole thing on the stove top, as you would normally cook rice but you’ll have to watch it carefully and you may need more water as it cooks.

    You can use this as a main dish, adding some tomatoes, avocados, and cucumbers on top with some cashew cream if you want. If you have some safe tortillas, you could also wrap in it in a tortilla with whatever fixings you’d like. Or you can use it as a side dish and the leftovers as a quick lunch.

    The only warning I will impart is that if you’re cooking for friends who may not have the spice tolerance you do, watch your salsa choice. I used a home canned Roasted Tomatillo Chipotle Salsa which had a good bite, but was a bit much for some of my friends who attended a pot luck I recently hosted.

    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice

    I did a slide show of my “mise en place” just for fun, and to take up less space:

    Instant Pot DUO60 6 Quart 7-in-1 buttons
    Instant Pot DUO60 6 Quart 7-in-1 buttons
    Onions and garlic sauteing in Instant Pot
    Onions and garlic sauteing in Instant Pot
    Onions, garlic and orange bell pepper sauteing in Instant Pot
    Onions, garlic and orange bell pepper sauteing in Instant Pot
    Mixture after adding all other ingredients but before cooking
    Mixture after adding all other ingredients but before cooking
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice after cooking in the Instant Pot
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice after cooking in the Instant Pot
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
    Print Recipe
    An easy weeknight meal on its own or wrap in safe for you tortillas with lettuce and tomatoes.
    Servings Prep Time
    4-5 people 5 minutes
    Cook Time Passive Time
    5 minutes 35 minutes
    Servings Prep Time
    4-5 people 5 minutes
    Cook Time Passive Time
    5 minutes 35 minutes
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
    Instant Pot Black Beans and Rice
    Print Recipe
    An easy weeknight meal on its own or wrap in safe for you tortillas with lettuce and tomatoes.
    Servings Prep Time
    4-5 people 5 minutes
    Cook Time Passive Time
    5 minutes 35 minutes
    Servings Prep Time
    4-5 people 5 minutes
    Cook Time Passive Time
    5 minutes 35 minutes
    Ingredients
    • 2 Tablespoons grape seed oil (or other safe for you oil)
    • 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
    • 4 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 cup bell pepper, seeded and chopped (optional – I often have chopped bell peppers in my freezer as I chop up the extras from recipes and freeze them so they don’t go to waste.)
    • 2 cups brown rice (rinsed well)
    • 2 cups water
    • 2 cups salsa (I used my home canned salsa)
    • 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed (I used my home canned beans)
    • 1 teaspoon cumin
    • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
    • Instant Pot
    Servings: people
    Instructions
    1. Place oil in Instant Pot. Press the “Saute” button and wait until it says hot. Add onion and garlic and saute until onions begin to become translucent. Stir often being careful not to burn garlic. Add bell pepper and saute for a minute or so. (If frozen, saute until it softens a bit).
    2. Add rice, water, salsa, black beans, cumin, and salt and stir well.
    3. Make sure your silicon ring is in the lid properly, and place lid on Instant Pot and turn the steam release handle to sealing. Press the Manual button and press the plus button for high pressure, and set the time to 28 minutes.
    4. Once the clock has run down, you can either use natural cool down release or you can turn the steam release handle to venting to release the pressure. Once the pressure has been released, remove the lid and stir in the cilantro. At this point, you’re all set to serve!
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  • Quick Work-night Meals: Rice Salad

    Quick Work-night Meals: Rice Salad

    White square plate with dots on the edges, with a green salad topped with a rice mixture and bright mandarin oranges
    Rice Salad

    December’s theme is “food for all those days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s that aren’t holidays.” Or, to be less wordy (never my strong suit): quick work-night meals. Meals that you can prepare after a long day at work or doing whatever it is you do that makes you tired. You still have to eat, right?

    Today’s recipe is more of a “recipe.” This is salad for people who want to eat more vegetables, maybe even specifically more greens, but also really want hot food. Who has time to make food AND a salad? Well, honestly, with salad boxes, I guess anyone, but I don’t actually really like salad. So in this dish, I have topped some mixed greens (spinach and baby chard mixed with some arugula) with a hot rice skillet using leftover rice mixed with black beans, earthy mushrooms, crunchy veg (either water chestnuts or jicama — you pick) just a touch of onion, olive oil, vinegar, and cilantro — and topped all of that with oranges.

    What you get is a simple one skillet (assuming you have rice already — if not, it’s two pots. Sorry.) meal heavy on the vegetables, low on the salt, with straightforward flavors. It’s hearty and satisfying but not heavy. Perfect for between food-heavy holidays, right?

    White square plate with dots on the edges, with a green salad topped with a rice mixture and bright mandarin oranges


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    Rice Salad
    Print Recipe
    Servings
    4-5 servings
    Servings
    4-5 servings
    Rice Salad
    Print Recipe
    Servings
    4-5 servings
    Servings
    4-5 servings
    Ingredients
    • 2 Tablespoons olive oil divided
    • 2 Tablespoons onion chopped, optional
    • 1 cup mushrooms chopped
    • 16 oz black beans cooked (rinsed if canned)
    • 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
    • 1-2 Tablespoon vinegar I liked white wine vinegar for this
    • 1 cup water chestnuts or jicama chopped
    • 1 cup cilantro roughly chopped
    • 1 can mandarin oranges or 2 segmented oranges
    • 5 cups mixed greens of your choice
    Servings: servings
    Instructions
    1. If you don’t have cooked rice, make some. You don’t really need leftover rice for this. I just like to cook a large pot and use it during the week.
    2. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. You’ll use the other in a few minutes. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Cook until translucent.
    3. Add the chopped mushrooms, and stir well to coat with oil. Cook until they shrink and give up their moisture.
    4. Add the black beans. Stir well. Then add the rice. Add the second tablespoon of oil and mix until the rice and beans are well incorporated. Add the vinegar.
    5. Stir in the water chestnuts/jicama and cilantro. Remove from heat and let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes, until the crunchy vegetables are warmed.
    6. Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning if necessary — salt, pepper, more oil and vinegar, whatever appeals.
    7. Serve the rice mixture over your mixed greens with the oranges on top. If needed, you can add an oil and vinegar dressing or a bit of orange juice, but I don’t find this needs it.
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