Healthy Rainbow Vegetable Salad with Turmeric Roasted Chickpeas

If you have children and are in need of some inspiration on getting them to love their veggies, then this kid-friendly recipe is for you. I'm visiting my family in Wisconsin now. My children love to play with my brother's four children who are all about the same ages as mine. Now, my children love their vegetables, but my brother's children are not the same. They are a little more hesitant to have a gigantic pile of raw vegetables fill their plates. My oldest niece is the most adventuresome when it comes to new vegetables. She always asks what I'm eating and wants to try it. The other day she tasted purple daikon radish for the first time and loved it, as well as sliced raw kohlrabi. So when I introduced her to this salad, she literally could not stop eating it. Even before dinner was served she was stealing the lettuce and vegetables off the platter!

Beautiful, bright colors excite children. Why do you think candy is dyed with the most brilliant colors? A platter of fruits and vegetables arranged in a beautiful way is pleasing to the eyes, and even before we eat, our eyes send messages to our brain to begin producing digestive juices in preparation for what is before us. If you make the vegetable presentation appetizing to your children, you might be more likely to naturally gain their acceptance in eating a plate of fresh vegetables. The key to children trying something new, and enjoying it, is patience and persistence (keep offering it)!

Choose their favorite rainbow-colored fruits and vegetables for the salad! For the red color, try diced red bell pepper, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped red radishes, or diced red apple. For the orange color, try chopped orange carrots, diced orange bell peppers, cubed roasted sweet potatoes, or cubed roasted winter squash. For yellow try, Turmeric-Roasted Chickpeas (recipe below), raw corn from the cob, yellow bell peppers, yellow carrots, sliced yellow zucchini, or grated yellow beets. For the green color there are so many options! Try chopped cucumber, blanched green beans, diced avocado, chopped celery, chopped raw broccoli, blanched frozen peas, diced green bell peppers, or thinly sliced green kale. For the blue/purple color try diced red onion, grated raw beets, fresh blueberries, diced purple bell peppers, or roasted purple potatoes. Let me know in the comment section below which vegetable combination you used and how your children liked it. :)

Cherry Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream (dairy-free, paleo)

It's summer! Time to break out the ice cream maker and whip up some dairy-free ice cream. Plus it's cherry season right now. This coconut milk-based ice cream is a perfect way to indulge in both antioxidant-rich cherries and dark chocolate. Serve it as a sweet treat after dinner, or a healthy mid-afternoon snack for your kids. This cherry chocolate chunk ice cream comes from my Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook.

Be sure to use full fat coconut milk in this recipe. The hemp seeds give it some extra creaminess, healthy fats, and amino acids. You can easily omit the chocolate if you are on Phase 2 of the Elimination Diet. You can also replace the cherries with blueberries, strawberries, or diced mango. All variations are delicious!

Dairy-Free Vanilla Cashew Creamer Recipe

Are you working to eliminate dairy from your diet and in need of a creamy "milk" to add to your morning coffee or tea? I've been making this dairy-free cashew creamer for over a decade and never get tired of it! I don't drink coffee but like to add it to turmeric-ginger spice tea, Dandelion Root Chai, roasted dandelion root tea, and sometimes a maca hot chocolate drink I make.

I know many people who follow a paleo diet and like to add coconut milk or coconut cream to their tea or coffee, but every time I try this I'm quite repulsed by the overwhelming coconut flavor! This cashew creamer does not overpower the beverage that it is added to, yet still offers a warm, rich flavor. If you own a high-powered blender then you can whip up this recipe in minutes, if not you will need to soak your cashews for a few hours in a bowl of water (and then drain) before blending. Another option, if you don't own a high-powered blender or are out of raw cashews, is to add a large spoonful of raw cashew butter to your blender along with 1 to 2 cups of water (plus the other ingredients below) and blend into a creamy milk! I do this on occasion if I'm out of cashews and the milk is so smooth creamy.

Even though this dairy-free cashew creamer is so rich and creamy, it is actually full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats! In fact, 82% of the fat in cashews is unsaturated, and about 66% of that is monounsaturated. Cashews are also a great source of some very important minerals, including magnesium, manganese, copper, phosphorus, and zinc!

If you are following the Elimination Diet, then this recipe can be used in Phase 3 during the reintroduction of nuts.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake (grain-free, dairy-free, nut-free, paleo)

Spring is finally here! I just want to soak up each and every moment of sunshine we have, as it's been a particularly dark and rainy last couple of months. This healthy gluten-free lemon poppy seed cake will surely brighten any day! Serve it for Easter brunch or as part of a Mother's day breakfast. It's not particularly sweet, but definitely bursting with lemon flavor. It's quite easy to make and free of many of the common allergens, except eggs. The lemon-honey glaze on top seals in moisture and adds even more lemony flavor. I think you and your family will enjoy it. My children just love this cake!

This grain-free, paleo cake recipe is actually an adaption of the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffin recipe from my new Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. A few years ago (in 2014) I was asked by the Institute for Functional Medicine to create a Lemon Poppy Seed Cake recipe for a special banquet dinner event held during the their annual conference that year. This is the recipe that I created and that was served to hundreds of IFM members that evening (in individual miniature bundt cake form with fresh berries on top)! My friends and family have been making this recipe since....and now I'm finally sharing it with you. Enjoy!

Spicy Slow Cooked Beef Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Avocado-Cilantro Cream

I really love being able to toss ingredients into my slow cooker in the morning in order to have a meal ready to go later in the day, don't you? There's just so much less stress, and I feel so organized, with a clean kitchen going into dinnertime! This recipe for tomato-free, paleo slow cooked beef can be used in a multitude of ways. If you don't want to stuff it into baked sweet potatoes then you could use it as a taco filling for corn tortillas, Brown Rice Flour Tortillas, or simply served with sautéed kale and cabbage! If you or some of your family members eat dairy you could put the beef into the sweet potatoes and then top with shredded raw cheese and place in your oven under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese (some of my children like this)!

I first made this with some of my lacto-fermented hot sauce (yes, I cooked my precious sauce)! After that I wanted to recreate it using some of the same ingredients from my sauce that everyone could find and use. This recipe contains bell peppers and hot peppers, but no tomatoes, and it's not too spicy (my children eat this). If you are following our Elimination Diet and have tested out ok for peppers and beef then you can enjoy this during the rest of Phase 3. In fact, you could even use this recipe for testing beef in Phase 3! I hope you enjoy it!

Dairy-Free Sweet Potato Buttercream Frosting (refined sugar-free, vegan)

It's not easy coming up with a whole food-based frosting that is as nutritious as it is tasty, but way back in 2010 I came up a sweet potato icing recipe based off of the ingredients I was using in the liquids for this Buckwheat Cinnamon Roll Recipe. I've made a number of different variations on this theme and included some in my cookbooks. I have even made this into a chocolate sweet potato frosting! Below you will find a delicious dairy-free sweet potato buttercream that you can use to frost your cakes or cookies.

Use this frosting to make sandwich cookies using my Gluten-Free Shortbread Cookie Recipe, or use it to frost your favorite cupcakes. Using orange-fleshed sweet potatoes will create a beautiful orange frosting (perfect for fall holidays), while using white-fleshed sweet potatoes will create a gorgeous white frosting (to replace those sugary vanilla frostings).

Buckwheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread (gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, xanthan gum-free)

Today I wanted to share a recipe from my Nourishing Meals cookbook with you—another kneadable gluten-free bread! Creating a recipe for kneadable gluten-free (and xanthan gum-free) bread took me years and years to develop.

I still remember walking into my oldest daughter’s first week of preschool. The smell of freshly baked spelt rolls wafting throughout the house like a sweet perfume pervades my memory. My daughter took great care in carefully kneading each ball of dough into the shapes of her desire. The warm rolls were always served with raw honey and butter. All week she looked forward to bread day.

A few years later my second daughter was entering preschool. We found out she was sensitive to gluten during her toddler years, so she could not participate in the process of bread baking in preschool or kindergarten. I was at a loss for what to do. Yes, I was able to replace the gluten with gluten-free options, but none she could knead. None where she could be part of the process of grinding the grain into flour. None that connected her to the meaningful work that the whole process of bread baking imbued.

Inspired by the very real fact that my daughter could not participate in the entire experience of bread baking, I started down a path that was years in the making. I was almost there in the spring of 2010 when I posted this gluten-free baguette and Garlic-Rosemary White Bean Dip. I had been using chia and flax already for a while to help mimic the texture of gluten, but something was still missing. Still determined to create a kneadable gluten-free bread without xanthan gum, I had a flash of inspiration one day. What would happen if I added psyllium husk to the mix? I already knew how it worked to absorb liquid and create a gel, and so I had a pretty good feeling that it might help to mimic gluten in baking recipes. And that was it. I had finally cracked the gluten-free bread code! I eventually shared my Farmhouse Seed Bread recipe here with you in 2011. After many failures and triumphs (and partially edible loaves of gluten-free bread), I finally created a recipe that actually needs to be kneaded—a delicious, chewy round loaf of bread made from whole food ingredients! That recipe eventually morphed into many more gluten-free bread recipes using the basic framework I had developed, including this Buckwheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread and more, which can all be found in my Nourishing Meals book.

Years later, my twin boys entered kindergarten. By then there were so many children who were sensitive to gluten that the class was designated a gluten-free classroom, and their teacher only used my recipes for bread baking day. They ground their own buckwheat flour using a hand crank grinder. Different combinations of teff flour, brown rice flour, buckwheat flour, and arrowroot powder were used to form the dough. My boys would come home with rolls that they had carefully crafted into different shapes, tucked inside of little napkins. “Mom do you want to try my bread?” they called out to me after pick-up. Smiling, I said "yes."

Baking gluten-free bread is quite simple, though it requires a few extra ingredients compared to wheat-based bread recipes. To replace the gluten—the protein that gives bread it’s chewy texture and what helps it to rise by allowing gas bubbles to get trapped—I use a combination of ground chia seeds and psyllium husk. These ingredients form a gel that acts like gluten, allowing gas bubbles from the yeast fermentation to get trapped so the dough can rise. They also help to hold moisture and bind everything together.

Any gluten-free flour or blend of flours can be used in this recipe, but by using raw buckwheat groats, which can be ground into a soft flour using a hand or electric grain grinder, children get to experience the whole process of bread making, from grain to loaf—connecting head, heart, and hands.

Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)

If you are in need of a chocolate fix or are looking for a dessert to impress your guests, then try this easy recipe for flourless, grain-free molten chocolate lava cakes! They are so simple and so tasty. You can even store the batter in the refrigerator and then cook one or two at a time, as needed. I like to serve them with crushed, freeze-dried raspberries or strawberries for an appealing presentation. Crushed, freeze-dried fruit also makes a great replacement for colorful sprinkles on children's treats (like cupcakes or birthday cakes)!

I tested this recipe many times last winter using different types of chocolate chips with varying levels of cacao content. I found that organic 55% chocolate chips (semi-sweet) worked best. The darker chocolate produced a very strong chocolate flavor.....too much for me (and too much of a buzz). You can of course test this recipe with darker chocolate and then report back here in the comments on how it turned out if you'd like!

The batter for these cakes can be made ahead of time and then baked just before they are ready to serve, in fact, that is the only way to make them as they need to be served warm for the "molten effect." I bake them in small glass Pyrex custard cups set on a cookie sheet or baking pan. You should be able to find them at your local grocery store or kitchen store, if not you can order them here. You will need six custard cups for this recipe.

My Favorite Pumpkin Pie Recipe (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo)

Since it is the season for all things pumpkin, I decided to share with you my favorite pumpkin pie recipe. After all, Thanksgiving would not be complete without having a fabulous pumpkin pie! The paleo pumpkin pie filling and flakey grain-free pie crust both come from my Nourishing Meals cookbook.

Use any variety of baked winter squash in this recipe, such as sugar pie pumpkins, butternut squash, sweet meat squash, hubbard, or kabocha. Use this recipe for making Homemade Pumpkin Puree if you have a lot of squash that you would like to cook and freeze. Otherwise, just cut the squash in half, scoop out the seeds, and place the halves flesh-side down in a large glass baking dish with a little water in the bottom of the pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes, or until squash is very tender. Since you are going to blend the pie filling you can just measure out the cooked squash without first making a puree. So easy!

Creamy Asparagus Soup with Cashew Dill Cream (dairy-free)

Spring is in the air…well at least for us on the west coast. I've been making some variation of this very simple dairy-free asparagus soup that I think you're going to love. The raw cashew-dill cream adds such a nice touch to the soup. It's optional though, in case you are allergic to cashews.

Did you know that asparagus is an excellent source of inulin? Inulin is a starch that we cannot digest—specifically belonging to a class of soluble fibers called fructans. It passes undigested to the large intestine where our beneficial bacteria, such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, break it down and use it for food. When we have thriving colonies of beneficial bacteria in our intestines we absorb nutrients at a much higher rate, we are protected from pathogenic organisms, our immune system response is balanced (meaning we don't react to food and environmental allergens as easily, like pollen and dust). Beneficial bacteria also produce vitamins (like B vitamins) and amino acids!
Asparagus also contains a significant amount of vitamin K1, a nutrient used for blood clotting. K1 can also get converted into K2 in the body, where it is then used in different protein structures to shuttle calcium around. Asparagus helps to increase beneficial organisms in the intestines that are also capable of converting K1 to K2. Although the conversion rate of K1 to K2 is small in the intestines, the form (MK-7) works at small concentrations. Vitamin K2 is a necessity for strong, healthy teeth and bones! You can also find K2 in hard cheeses, natto (a fermented soy product), pastured butter, egg yolks, liver, and beef.

Have any of you heard in the news that vitamin D and calcium supplementation is dangerous and can increase your risk for heart disease? Did you know that the risk for a heart attack is not because you are taking vitamin D or calcium…it's because the calcium is not being delivered where it needs to go and instead ends up being deposited in blood vessels contributing to calcification. If you have enough vitamin K2 circulating around then it is able to form proteins that facilitate calcium being deposited in the bones and simultaneously swept out of the vessels. 

Date-Glazed Banana Donuts (grain-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free)

I have to tell you that it's been over a decade since I've had any kind of donut but lately my kids were asking about them. I think they tried a gluten-free donut at a party years ago but that's been their only exposure. So I decided to invest in some safe non-stick donut pans and try making baked grain-free donuts. I don't by any means think grains are bad, I just love to use alternative flours. The combination of almond flour and arrowroot creates a very good texture, in fact, most people would never guess these donuts were gluten-free.

Most non-stick bakeware contains PFOA's. These toxic compounds are beginning to get phased out, but are still present in much of the bakeware used. PFOA's affect thyroid function, blood sugar regulation, body weight, and are endocrine disruptors (which means that you can increase your risk for hormone-related cancers like breast cancer). We highly recommend getting rid of all non-stick bakeware and replacing it with safe alternatives like stone or stainless steel. I use these donut pans made from recycled steel. They have a silicone coating which creates a non-stick barrier without all of the chemicals.

To make these donuts you will need at least 4 very ripe bananas. I posted some photos of my 2-year old mashing bananas to my Instagram page as well as to our Facebook page! If you already "like" our Facebook page but are not receiving our posts in your feed then be sure to stop by our page and leave a comment under some of the posts. This will help to get our posts in your feed!

How to Make Raw Vanilla White Chocolates (dairy-free, vegan)

Today I have a special Valentine's treat for you—a healthy recipe for raw white chocolate! This recipe uses just a few ingredients and is dairy-free. Traditional white chocolate usually contains sugar and milk solids, along with cacao butter. My recipe uses raw honey and raw cashew butter, as well as raw cacao butter. If you can't handle the buzz dark chocolate gives you then try this recipe. It's caffeine-free but still has some of the feel-good compounds found in chocolate.

You should be able to find all of the ingredients at your local health food store or online. One lucky person can win all of the ingredients, plus two silicone candy molds, for this raw white chocolate recipe on Facebook! That's right, I am doing my very first Facebook giveaway for you! Just go to our Facebook page and look for the giveaway photo at the bottom of this post. Leave a comment under the photo there. Drawing will end Monday, February 10th 2014, at 9pm PST.

Vanilla Coconut Cream "Cheesecake" (dairy-free, gluten-free, vegan)

Hello dear readers! I have a special treat for you today....literally! A dairy-free, grain-free "cheesecake" made from my Soured Coconut Cream recipe. This no-bake recipe is so simple to make and will delight your friends and family. I've tested it many different ways to get the perfect ratio of ingredients, in fact maybe too much, because now I want nothing to do with coconut milk!

The secret little ingredient in this recipe that helps hold it together and lighten it up is....agar powder! Agar is a gelatinous substance derived from red algae. When it is mixed with a liquid and heated it forms a gel. You can actually make vegan "jell-o" with it using fruit juice. I use this brand of agar powder. Make sure you don't use agar flakes, as the amount needed is different as well as the fact that they need to be soaked in a liquid before using them. You may be able to substitute grass-fed gelatin but I'm not sure on the amount. You would need more than a teaspoon for sure, maybe 1 tablespoon?

If you don't want to use the raspberry topping, try drizzling each slice with warm chocolate sauce and topping with fresh berries. You can use the Chocolate Ganache recipe here if you like.

Homemade Dairy-Free Sour Cream (nut-free, soy-free, vegan)

Do you ever crave that rich, creamy taste of sour cream but are sensitive to dairy products? I created a very simple replacement for sour cream that can be dolloped over baked potatoes or yams, spooned over beans and rice, added to tacos, used to make a layered taco salad, or used to make no-bake "cheesecakes"!! Seriously, where can't you add a spoonful of this rich dairy-free sour cream?

This recipe can actually be found in my brand new, completely revised Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook. I created a whole new chapter entitled "Get Cultured!" full of healthy cultured foods like this one. Think Live Hot Pepper Relish, Pickled Basil Beets, Kombucha (with flavor variations), Coconut Milk Yogurt, and so much more! I just couldn't wait to share this recipe with you so I decided to post it today. If you are interested, the new book releases on April 29th, 2014, and is available for preorder now!

Coconut Banana Ice Cream Bars (dairy-free, gluten-free, nut-free)

The other morning I slept in and came downstairs to see my oldest daughter, Lily, put a pan of something into the freezer. I asked her what she made and she responded: "frozen coconut banana cream bars." We all enjoyed them as a treat throughout the day. Then later I saw her on the computer (which rarely ever happens) and asked her what she was doing. "Oh, I'm just typing up a recipe for a blog post" she responded. So what you see written below, including all of the photos, is by my 11-year daughter. She's posted to my blog a few times before with her Seaweed Snack Recipe and Sugar-Free Flavored Lemonade. 

My notes: You can see a photo of what my version of this recipe looks like here on Instagram. It was originally a pie recipe, but Lily has made it into a crust-less bar recipe. If you want a crust you could try the chocolate cookie crust recipe that goes along with this recipe on page 433 of my book or use a 1/2 batch of this grain-free Banana Coconut Cookie recipe....pressed into the bottom of the pan, baked, and then cooled before adding the filling. 

Dandelion Root Chai Tea

I'm so excited to share this dandelion root chai tea recipe with you today! It makes a great coffee substitute for those of you who are trying to reduce caffeine intake. I don't know about you, but I just love warm spicy drinks like chai tea, especially in the wintertime. I prefer to make my own because coffee shop chai is usually far too sweet for me. I've been working on perfecting a chai tea recipe for some time now. Yesterday I was inspired to add dandelion root to my recipe after reading this article on the amazing cancer-fighting effects from consuming dandelion root extract.

Dandelion root tea is earthy and slightly bitter. It's excellent for assisting the liver with detoxification as well as being stimulating to the digestive system. Chai spices are warming and also stimulate digestion. You are welcome to play around with this recipe and add other spices such as fennel seeds, nutmeg, star anise, or black tea leaves. Additionally, if you are sensitive to the bitter flavor or are unaccustomed to the flavor of dandelion root, you may consider starting with 1 or 2 teaspoons instead of a tablespoon.

Banana Almond Butter Muffins (gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free)

I like to make this healthy grain-free muffin recipe after my children go to sleep at night so they have something nourishing to eat for breakfast—especially helpful on really busy mornings! The other day my daughter wanted to know how much protein each muffin had so she worked out how many grams of protein each ingredient contained and then divided the total number by 12. She came up with 6.3 grams per muffin, not bad.

I generally use roasted almond butter in my baking recipes, including the recipes in my new Nourishing Meals cookbook. The brand I like to use for these recipes is Zinke Orchards. Although this almond butter is not certified organic it does come from spray-free almonds, and at a very good price. For eating or raw recipes, we like to use raw organic or raw sprouted almond butter.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Creamy Yam Frosting (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)

I thought these healthy gluten-free chocolate cupcakes with bright orange frosting looked quite festive for halloween. You could even offer them to your children in exchange for their candy loot! My children normally go trick-or-treating and then come back home and give most of their candy away to the last of the trick-or-treaters. Oh what joy they have in doing this! Then they put whatever remaining candy they have next to their bed and in the middle of the night the hungry candy gnome comes to take it away. In exchange he leaves them some healthy treats like pomegranates, herbal tea bags, and oranges. Seriously, my children think pomegranates ARE candy and are absolutely thrilled to each have their own left by a mysterious candy gnome! If you plan on using this tradition with your children, it is best to start when they are young.

Hazelnut Pumpkin Spice Muffins (gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free)

I know it is a wee bit early to be posting pumpkin recipes. In fact, the winter squash and sugar pie pumpkins are not quite ready for harvesting yet in our garden; but these cool crisp mornings are beginning to remind me of spicy pumpkin treats! Yesterday morning I baked up a batch of these healthy gluten-free muffins to have for the children as an after-school snack. After school we went to the river and played until dinnertime. These muffins kept them satisfied until we finally sat down for a late dinner. Beautiful, sunny September weather calls us to spend a lot of time outside here in the Northwest.

I used organic canned pumpkin in this recipe. If you use puree made from a freshly baked pumpkin or other winter squash you may need to place it into a fine mesh strainer to let the extra moisture drip out. I have found that canned pumpkin has much less moisture than Homemade Pumpkin Puree.

Strawberry Cheesecake Bites (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan)

Today we have another guest post from a fellow blogger and friend, Hallie Klecker, who has created an amazingly simple and nutritious "cheesecake" recipe for a mini muffin pan. Hallie has a fabulous cookbook and blog that are both gluten-free, dairy-free, and revolve around whole foods. She tells her story below. ~Ali

I’m so honored to be guest posting here today! I’ve been reading Ali's blog for years, literally. I went through quite a rough patch when I first went gluten- and dairy-free. Sensitivities to these foods left me malnourished and underweight, so in the first few months of eliminating them from my diet, I made significant efforts to gain weight eating nutrient-dense foods. Scouring the web for nutritious recipes, books, and other resources led me to Ali and Tom.

I subscribed by email right away to this blog and found myself checking my inbox eagerly every day, hoping for a new recipe! Over time, as I became healthier and pursued my education in holistic nutrition, I launched my own blog, Daily Bites, to share with others the nourishing food that came out of my kitchen. And just last year, I published my first cookbook, The Pure Kitchen, which contains 100 gluten- and dairy-free recipes designed to keep cooking simple, fresh, and healthy.

Without a doubt, Ali and Tom definitely played a key role in inspiring me to launch both my blog and my book. Although we’ve never met in person (yet...), I like to think that we’re partners in spreading the delicious message of gluten-free, whole food nutrition.

This recipe for Strawberry “Cheesecake” Bites is the perfect example of a “whole food dessert.” I’m trying to develop more and more recipes these days with an emphasis on simple, easy-to-find ingredients that are as natural as possible. This means no gluten-free starches, xanthan or guar gum, or crazy specialty products that cost a fortune to ship. Just natural, whole foods straight from nature.