Ever wondered what they ate in Europe before the potato? Pease porridge was one of the staples of the diet. Who doesn’t love a good pea soup with ham hock or sausage? Ever thought that mushy peas might make a fantastic pizza sauce? It does. We had a little pea soup left over from dinner last night so I thought I’d give it a shot. My pea soup was made with beef broth and lots of ginger, onions and garlic, and made a lovely bright green flavorful sauce.

This recipe also makes a great gluten and grain free thin crust pizza using almond flour, the recipe for the crust is from a fantastic cookbook I have just gotten: Recipes for the Specific Carbohydrate Diet by Raman Prasad.

Crust:

• 2 t olive oil
• 2 c (220g) almond flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c (115g) dry curd cheese
• 1/4 t salt

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Although my partner grumbles and complains to high heaven about the smell while I am making kimchi, he usually eats it up and wants more. I have taken out the chilis for this recipe of kimchi and added in burdock root, so it isn’t by any means an authentic Korean kimchi, but we like it. It also makes a quick salad when added to steamed broccoli and sunflower seeds, then tossed in olive oil.

Makes about 2 quart jars (depending on size of cabbage)

Brine:

• 1 litre filtered water
• 4 T himalayan or sea salt

Vegetables:

• 1 medium napa cabbage, shredded
• 6 medium organic carrots, grated
• 1 large daikon radish, julienned
• 3 medium burdock roots, julienned

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Last night I decided to try an almond torte with cherries and cream. The BC cherries are fantastic and I get raw cream from our local herd-share fresh every week, in fact I have just gotten back from picking up my share.

The almonds probably come from California. I did find a online farm-stand that would ship me nuts from the farm in 30 lb boxes, but I haven’t gotten around to doing that yet. Most almonds are pasteurized these days, unfortunately. As usual my oven burnt the hell out of my tortes. As a result I use a lower temperature for a longer time that might normally be used for a torte, feel free to experiment with the temperature.

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Rose hips can easily be made into a vitamin C rich tasty spread. I make this recipe with dates and apples to sweeten the rose hips. It is best to cook rose hips even though heat breaks down vitamin C. There is also an enzyme in rose hips that also breaks down vitamin C very quickly which is neutralized by heat. Therefore it is important to cook the rosehips long enough but not too long!

I like this method because it can take a really long time to clean rose hips individually and remove the hairs and seeds from them. Simmering them and then straining them through a moulie or sieve helps this process to go faster.

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With the rise of environmental toxins, many women are having increased problems during their period. I have been drinking this tea, with slight variations for a few years now and it really helps to balance and even out a wide variety of menstrual symptoms. There are a lot of other herbs that can be used and are especially useful for women, so please get to know which herbs work best for you by experimenting a little.

I use a large, plain white Chinese tea pot that holds about 6 cups of water. I have a tendency to use a lot of the various herbs and it varies depending on how much of the herb I have and how I am feeling that day. These amounts are therefore not set in stone.

• 2 T nettles
• 1 T sage
• 1 t fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 t camomile
• 1 pinch yarrow blossoms
• 6 c water, boiled

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The first time I made this recipe I was working in Burma (Myanmar) at a 5 star Renaissance International hotel. One of the long-time expatriates that frequented our catering services was an older, leathery-skinned alcoholic Swedish lady. She had somehow managed to get the Swedish ambassador to Thailand to come to a dinner party at her house when he was in town.

She insisted I follow a very particular recipe when making the marinated salmon which has a relatively higher ratio of sugar than many gravad lax recipes. The Swedish usually have this salmon on their smorgasbords and always serve it with this delicious mustard dip. I have altered the recipe slightly here to use honey instead of sugar for a GAPS and SCD friendly recipe.

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This dip is generally served with Swedish gravad lax, but is good on crackers or as a dressing for salads.

• 6 T olive oil
• 4 t cider vinegar
• 3 t mustard (powdered)
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t honey
• pinch of pepper

Method: Mix mustard, salt and cider vinegar together. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking quickly, blend the oil into the mustard. Add honey and pepper to taste.

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When I was a kid, my favorite recipe to make at Christmas were Swedish spritz cookies. I used to get up at dawn and pinch a few of them from the cookie jar to nibble in bed before anyone else was up. In those days I was using refined sugar and flour, but I think originally these cookies were made with blanched almond flour and honey. Made this way they taste like toffee or almond roca while at the same time being healthier!

• 1/2 c honey
• 1 c butter (softened)
• 1 egg
• 1 t almond essence (optional)
• 2 1/2 c almond flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 t baking soda

Method Beat together butter and honey, add beaten egg and almond essence (I like to substitute cardamom for the almond essence sometimes) and beat well. Add the almond flour (to blanch almonds just pour boiling water over your almonds, let sit a couple minutes, then rub the skins off with your hands and discard). I use a coffee grinder to process my almonds into flour which works very well. Add in the salt and baking soda and mix. Chill for about 20 minutes. Use a cookie press on a greased baking sheet or just spoon the mixture out about a couple inch apart from each other. Bake for about 10 minutes in a 250 degree F oven.

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Apple sauce! Everyone knows how to make it, I have found a way to do it with minimum processing and I love to add lots of spices to my apple sauce. This is great for Almond Pancakes or for Apple Sauce Souffle.

• 5 lb organic apples
• water to cover the bottom of the pan
• vanilla pod
• 1 inch ginger root, sliced
• 1 stick cinnamon bark
• 4-5 cloves, whole
• 4-5 cardamom pods, whole
• 4 black peppercorns
• 2 handfuls of pitted dates

Method: Cut the apples into quarters and core them. Add water to cover the bottom of the pan and the spices and vanilla pod. Allow to simmer covered until the apples are very soft (I let mine simmer on low for a few hours, the smell of apples cooking lowers blood pressure and smells fantastic). When the apples are nearly ready add the dates and cook until soft.

Let the apples cool and then peel the skin from the apples and remove all of the whole spices. Mash the apples with a potato masher or moulie. This combination of spices gives the apple sauce a chai flavor.

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This is a great recipe for folks who are gluten-free or who are on the GAPS or Specific Carbohydrate diet. Easy to make and tasty.

Serves 3

• 3-4 eggs separated
• 2 T fat (butter, lard, etc)
• 1 c almond flour
• 1/2 c apple sauce
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/4 c kefir or yogurt (optional)
• 1 T honey (optional)
• 1/2 t salt

Method: Mix the egg yolks, fat, apple sauce, almond flour and cinnamon. I like to add a bit of yogurt or kefir and to pretend that it is a sourdough pancake, but that is optional. Just add a bit more apple sauce if the consistency is too thick. I use home-made apple sauce which has a lot of flavor and is quite sweet, so you can also add honey if you like a sweeter pancake.

Whip the egg whites up until they form stiff peaks. Fold them gently into the other mixture and fry by the spoonful on a hot griddle with lots of butter or lard. Serve them with home-made apple sauce and kefir or yogurt!

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