My partner and I already don’t have traditional Thanksgiving fare since we’re both vegetarians. We’re also not too traditional period and try to do something new and unique every chance we get. Last year we fasted for Thanksgiving. This year we made an incredibly delicious, Candida Diet friendly dinner and dessert. The recipes came mostly from the Eat-Taste-Heal: An Ayurvedic Cookbook for Modern Living cookbook. The highlight was Roasted Tuscan Vegetables - red bell peppers, acorn squash, zucchinis, fennel bulbs and parnsips marinated in fresh basil, olive oil, lime and sea salt and then well roasted with two sauces: Vegan Pesto from The Chopra Center Cookbook : A Nutritional Guide to Renewal / Nourishing Body and Soulcookbook and Cilantro Salsa from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
For desert we had Raspberry Crepes with Sweet Cream with crepes from Eat-Taste-Heal made with quinoa, amaranth and rice flour with coconut milk, filled with rasperries (sweetened with Xylitol) and our recipe for Sweet Cream. Yum.
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cut almond or cashew or macadamia nut butter (approximately 2 1/2 ounces macadamia nuts, whole)
1 teaspoon SteviaPlus®
4 tablespoons Xylitol
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup almond meal
1/2 cup ground almonds
2/3 cup Millet Puffs (Nature’s Path or any other brand that is just puffed millet or brown rice with no other ingredients)
Bake at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes
Cream coconut oil and nutbutter with sweeteners, then beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in almond meal, ground almonds and millet puffs. Rolling in 1" balls and then smoosh into a circle. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake.
Put 1 1/2 cups of mixed frozen blackberries and strawberries in a food processor with 1 1/2 T. Xylitol. Blend, slowly adding unsweetned almond milk until desired sorbet consistency is achieved.
Miss candy? These fruit sours are sugar free and awesome. I’m trying out the Watermelon Splash and Cherry Blast. Both are mighty good! I just ordered the six pack for $13.50 from Emerald Forest. Soon I’ll get to try Raspberry Dance, Citrus Sky, Keylime Dream, and Grape Blizzard.
Spread 3/4 c. of raw pumpkin seeds on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Meanwhile boil a little water and add 1 1/2 t. of hot water to 1/2 t. of good sea salt. Take the seeds out of the oven and dump on the salt water. The seeds will sizzle. Put the seeds back in the oven for 2 or 3 minutes to dry them out. That’s it!
When I feel a little deprived about not getting any decadent treats - I have this hot chocolate substitute. I always feel requited afterwards - and to tell the truth I also feel much better than I would if I’d had hot cocoa with sugar.
1 c. unsweetened almond milk
Stir in Xylitol to preferred sweetness
modified from the recipe at Bob’s Red Mill (bobsredmill.com)
This is my first cake experiment since going on the diet. I will definitely make this one again. As the name implies it is moist and also very tasty.
1/4 c. butter
1/3 c. xylitol
1/2 cup almond meal
3 T. coconut
1/2 t. BP
dash salt
1 large egg
3 T. milk
1/2 t. vanilla
Cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time, and beat until fully blended in. Add milk and vanilla and mix until combined. In a separate bowl, combine flours, salt and baking powder. Beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and beat until creamy. Spread into a greased 4.5 by 8.5 pyrex loaf pan and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
12 oz. your favorite brown rice pasta
2-3 T. water
1 1/2 broccoli spears
1 1/2 cups sliced red peppers
1 1/2 cups canned artichoke hearts (not the marinated kind)
Cook pasta until tender but firm. Drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside to cool.
In large, deep skillet, heat the water and sauté the broccoli, mushrooms, and bell peppers for 5 minutes or until tender-crisp. Remove and rinse in cold water.
Toss with pasta, veggies, artichoke hearts and olives about a 1/4 cup of you favorite oil and apple cider vinegar / lemon juice dressing or use:
1/4 c. olive oil
1 t. garlic, pressed
1 t. salt
Chopped basil to taste
1 t. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
black pepper
Break the silken tofu into pieces and place in a food processor or blender. Add the berries and the lemon extract. Blend until very smooth. Add the xylitol. Pour the mousse into individual serving glasses or small bowls. Refrigerate for 3 or more hours. You can make the mousse the night before you want to serve it. To make the berry sauce, place the thawed berries in the blender and blend until smooth. Taste and add xylitol if desired.
Before serving, pour 3 tablespoons of the berry sauce over each individual mousse.
This recipe was hearty, satisfying, rich tasting and also Candida-Diet safe. It was also fairly easy and quick. I made mine a bit ahead of time and left it in the oven at low to steep in the curry sauce. Delicious!
from Heaven’s Banquet: Vegetarian Cooking for Lifelong Health the Ayurveda Way by Miriam Kasin Hospodar
4 servings
STEP ONE
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 tablespoon ghee or oil
Pinch of hing (optional)
3/4 teaspoon brown mustard seeds
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 tomatoes, chopped
STEP TWO
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 cups (350 g) green beans, cut into 1/2-inch (1.3 cm) pieces
Salt
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
Chopped fresh cilantro (optional)
1. Heat the ghee or oil in a pot. Add the hing, mustard seeds, and ginger and saute over low heat until the mustard seeds "dance." Add the tomatoes and saute for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until they become mushy.
2. Stir in the turmeric, green beans, a sprinkling of salt, and the water. Cover and simmer until the beans are tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Adjust the salt. Sprinkle with chopped cilantro before serving.
VARIATION For heat, add 1 teaspoon or more black pepper in Step 3 or add cayenne or crumbled red chilies to the ghee or oil in Step 1.
