Masala Chicken and Vegetable Stew (Nightshade-Free)

I love curry dishes, but curry powder typically contains chili peppers (a nightshade vegetable). If you are following the Elimination Diet and craving curry, try this stew! It's warming, though not as spicy as a typical curry would be. I use garam masala powder, cumin seeds, and turmeric powder to create a flavorful dish without chili peppers. I know it's not authentic at all, but it is totally satisfying if you are on a nightshade-free diet or elimination diet!

Consuming nightshades (potatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, goji berries) can trigger joint pain, migraines, skin rashes, acne, GI upset, and inflammation in SOME people. Are you sensitive to nightshades? Please share your experiences in the comment section below. If you think nightshades might be an issue for you, the best way to determine that is to do an Elimination Diet.

Garam masala is a staple spice blend at our house. I use it a lot to flavor roasted vegetables, or garbanzo bean dishes. Garam means warm, and Masala means spice blend. Garam masala typically contains cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, black pepper, and coriander.

Simple Slow-Cooked Chicken Curry

The days are getting shorter, colder, and busier! Having simple, nourishing meals ready to eat when you get home from work or school is so important. Now that the weather has changed, I've been using my slow cooker more often. This chicken curry recipe is so simple that I almost didn't post it! I've made it a number of times in the last few weeks. Too many actually, because now my children are starting to complain!

Today I forgot to add the tomatoes which caused the stew to lack some flavor and "oomph!" Adding something acidic, like tomatoes, helps to balance flavors. A little freshly squeezed lime juice can remedy a lack of tomatoes though!

You can add different vegetables to the pot if desired, just make sure to cut them large enough so they maintain their shape and don't turn to mush during the long cooking time. Try sweet potatoes, rutabagas, potatoes, or chunks of peeled and cubed pie pumpkin! If you want to add zucchini or red bell pepper then add them in during the last 30 to 60 minutes of cooking (less time if you have your slow cooker set on high, more if it is set on low).

Butternut Squash, Kale, & White Bean Soup

There is nothing more nourishing than a bowl of warm vegetable bean soup on a chilly autumn evening! This simple soup can be made in about 30 minutes, perfect if you are crunched for time on a busy weeknight. I like to keep small containers of cooked beans in my freezer so I can pull them out and whip something up in a hurry! You could of course use canned beans, and if you do, the best brand to buy is Eden Organic. They use BPA-free cans and also cook kombu seaweed in with their beans, which helps to make them more digestible.

If you are not yet in the habit of cooking beans from scratch, here is what I do: after the kids go to bed I will sort through a couple of cups of dry beans (usually about 4 cups) and pick out any rocks or clumps of dirt, then rinse the beans in a colander. Then I place them into a large glass bowl and cover them with a few inches of warm water. Be sure to add enough water! Whenever I ask Tom to soak beans or nuts, he never adds enough water and in the morning they will have all expanded and be exposed to air. He's learning, slowly. ;-)

Healing Nettle Chicken Stock

Stocks or broths can be used in many different ways, well beyond soups. Homemade stock is far more nutritious than store-bought stock, even the organic brands. For one, commercial stocks, whether chicken or vegetable, use many different "natural" flavorings. What is a natural flavoring anyway? It can be anything, but most often it is a man-made chemical, often containing MSG (free glutamic acid). Did you know that the FDA classifies MSG as "natural" and by using other terms such as "natural flavoring" or "yeast extract," manufacturers can somewhat deceive label-reading consumers into buying their products? The flavoring industry is a billion dollar industry. Most of us won't buy a product that doesn't taste good. Humans have receptors on their tongues for glutamate, the amino acid we recognize as the common "meat" flavor in foods. Using MSG in foods such as chicken stock is a way to cut corners and create a cheap food for a profit. And unfortunately, MSG is a neurotoxic substance causing headaches and in large amounts, possible damage to the brain (in B6 and magnesium deficient people). By making your own stocks using high-quality ingredients, you create so much flavor you would never need to add anything else to them.

Here is an ingredient list for an organic chicken stock made by a well-known company: Organic chicken broth (filtered water, organic chicken), Organic chicken flavor (organic chicken flavor, sea salt), Natural chicken flavor (chicken stock, salt), Sea salt, Organic evaporated cane juice, Organic onion powder, Turmeric, Organic flavor.

Now let's look at the ingredient list for a homemade stock: Organic chicken carcass, onions, garlic, leeks, celery, carrots, parsley, rosemary, thyme, black peppercorns, Herbamare, and fresh nettles.

Fresh Vegetable Curry

We love curries around here. Our children have had the opportunity to enjoy a variety of curried dishes from a young age. Their taste buds know the flavors well. I made this recipe for dinner tonight and there was very little conversation during mealtime. A sign of a good meal!

I've been very busy lately with my garden projects. I'll post photos to my blog soon! I also recently took a solo trip for six days to Breitenbush Hot Springs and the Oregon Coast. It was so lovely to get away and relax for a while!

When making a stovetop vegetable stew, it is important to cut your vegetables into certain sizes and know how long each takes to cook. It is not very appetizing to have crunchy potatoes and over-cooked cauliflower! For example, potatoes and carrots take quite a while to cook so I always add them in the beginning. Green beans take a moderate amount of time, and cauliflower cooks up quite fast. Think about the size you cut your vegetables. If you dice the potatoes too small they may become very mushy by the time everything else is done. If they are too large, they won't ever cook thoroughly. Cooking is a dance with your ingredients.

A word on spices: make sure yours are fresh! Old spices lack flavor and are often bitter. they can drastically change the outcome of your finished dish. If they are older than 6 months it is best to compost them and start with fresh spices. You'll love the difference.

Soothing Red Lentil Soup

It has been cold lately, very cold! It seems as if soups and stews are the daily staple now. Today I'd like to share with you a fairly new recipe of mine. One that was created about a week and a half ago. A warming, nourishing......soothing red lentil soup.

We've been very busy lately, and frankly who hasn't these days. I have made multiple batches of this soup since its creation and it has been just perfect for a quick, warming lunch or an easy dinner. The soup is chock full of greens, ginger, garlic, and onions...just the thing to boost the immune system during cold and flu season. I do use a little citrus to liven up the flavors but the soup is tomato-free.

We brought this soup up to the mountains with us in a large Thermos last weekend and it was just the thing to warm our bellies after an afternoon of sledding. My 5-year old nephew was just in town visiting with my mom. He liked the soup so much that he asked me to make sure I would send the recipe to his mom. He ate bowlfuls of it everyday while he was here! He also asked me to make sure I send her the Milk Chocolate Cupcake recipe and the Molasses Cookie recipe!

Spiced Chicken and Rice Stew Recipe

When the weather cools, having recipes for warming, nourishing, gluten-free soups and stews is essential. This chicken and rice stew can also be made vegan by replacing the chicken with kidney beans or pinto beans. Sometimes I make two versions of the same meal for the vegan in our house, though other times we usually have enough leftovers to have a complete meal.

If you are interested in reading more on Celiac Disease and the myriad of nutritional considerations that go along with it then check out Tom's review article that was recently published, entitled, Digestive and Nutritional Considerations in Celiac Disease.

Today's recipe can be made in a snap if your rice is precooked. We almost always have leftover cooked grains hanging around the kitchen which makes dinners go quickly and easily. I like to use short grain brown rice in this stew but I imagine long grain rice or even quinoa would work too.

Serving some sort of raw veggie salad with a stew like this helps to digest the meal. A quick cabbage slaw made from chopped savoy cabbage, grated carrots, chopped parsley, and fresh corn off the cob is quite delicious. I make a dressing that is almost identical to the dressing I use for my Spring Slaw, only replacing the apple cider vinegar with champagne vinegar.

Chipotle Black Bean and Yam Stew Recipe

This black bean stew is warming and comforting, just perfect for a blustery fall day. I like to serve it over cooked quinoa topped with a cilantro and cabbage slaw (recipe to follow). It just feels better to eat something raw with a cooked meal. I always feel my meals are better digested this way.

The great thing about this soup is that it is tomato-free. I love tomatoes and put them in nearly all of my soups and stews, though I know some people need to avoid them. With this recipe I use fresh lime juice to provide the acidity.

Tom made a very large pot of this black bean stew last week. I actually wanted to post it then but didn't even have a second to take a photo and get on the computer. Now that I am back from my trip to San Francisco I had a chance to make it again today and now share it with you.

Simple Dinners for Busy Days

Although life seems to have eased up a bit now that our twin babies are, well, 15 months old tomorrow, the pace has begun to ramp up. Most days I feel like a sheep dog herding cattle. For example, the other day I was out for a morning walk with the boys while the girls were in school. The boys really enjoy walking for part of it and if were up to Sam, he would walk for miles without stopping. As we neared the duck pond on a wooded trail near our house the boys began to merge onto the trail that leads down to it.

I stop the baby jogger and round them up like two footballs under each arm. Back on the trail again, I walk behind them and keep them on track until we are past the pond.

I feel like we are finally beginning to get back into a rhythm. As life changes, we are constantly adjusting to find our center, then it changes again and a new center needs to be attained. I think it took me at least a year since the boys were born to begin to regain my center.

Now, life happens once again. Driving children to and fro. Play dates, outings, family meals....life. Wonderful life!

Yesterday I barely had a chance to sit down let alone think about what I was going to make for dinner. Tom left for Seattle early in the morning and didn't get back until we had just finished dinner. After I dropped the girls off at school in the morning I went to the gym to workout. Feeling good, I decided to try a class I had not done before. Body Combat. OK, the name says it all. I usually do the yoga-type classes and so felt somewhat like a klutz in this one. But hey, I did it.

A sauna, a shower, and an errand later, Grace gets picked up from preschool. Home, lunch, boys nap, wrap Lily's birthday presents (she turns 7 tomorrow), pick Lily up from school. Home, nurse the boys, sit down with the kids for a little while.

5pm. Time to make dinner. But what and quick? The kids are hungry. Two minutes later I have a plan.

Chicken & Vegetable Stew with Biscuits.

My mom used to make Chicken and Dumplings or Chicken Pot Pie quite often as we were growing up. She always cooked from scratch and made balanced meals for us. Not only were her meals balanced but they tasted good! Those flavors still linger with me to this day. This stew is somewhat a reflection of her chicken pot pie filling.

A few days ago I cooked a whole chicken on the stove to make chicken noodle soup. There was plenty of meat already in the soup when I began to pull the breast meat from the bones so I decided to save it for something else.

I almost always have carrots and celery in the fridge and potatoes and onions in the pantry. If you have chicken or vegetable stock, a little arrowroot powder, and some salt and herbs on hand you are good to go.

From start to finish the whole meal took me 30 minutes to prepare and cook. We were sitting down and eating dinner by 5:30pm! Now I know most of you work or are busy stay-at-home moms that could appreciate a meal like this. A very similar recipe also appears in my cookbook. We served the stew with some gluten-free, dairy-free biscuits made with sorghum flour.

The nice thing about adding the cooked chicken at the end is that this meal can also be made vegan. (Like for Tom who has been vegan now for 28 years!) I took some out before adding the chicken. You could easily stir in a little bit of cooked beans if desired. Tom had it with a large scoop of leftover cooked quinoa.