A second round of food re-introductions is under my belt! I successfully welcomed back hemp seeds and almond butter into my life! Almond butter never tasted so good! You might start to recognize a pattern here, as everything I re-introduce tastes like heaven. I literally ate the almond butter by the spoon-full! I’m sure all the AIP Nazis out there would cringe if they heard about my unorthodox approach to re-intros….sorry, not sorry! I know I’m supposed to take small amounts at a time, but I will admit my indulgence was equivalent to a serving size at a time. I just didn’t go down that crazy route of tasting a microscopic bit here and there before splurging in a whopping whole two-tablespoon serving. I went straight for the two tablespoons. For the hemp seeds, I added these to my cauli-banana porridge in the morning for some extra protein. While I love hemp seeds, I felt like a plain spoonful of the little nibs would be rather mealy and, well, hempy….not as pleasant as a scoop of almond butter.

My most exciting culinary endeavor this past week was my carob bread. Wednesday was Valentine’s Day, and normally I make hubby’s favorite food, like chicken parmesan, or a new York strip steak, or he’s even tapped into his ethnic roots and made me homemade Thai food before! This year, since my diet is sadly limited, I made an AIP-friendly meal for us both to enjoy, including dessert. I prepared another batch of cilantro chicken meatballs with sweet potatoes and broccoli, but, for dessert, I whipped up a carob-beet bread, which concocted better in my head than it executed in person. It wasn’t my greatest baking feat, but it still served its purpose as an after-dinner treat. The beets gave the bread a molasses-like aroma and taste, which was pleasant, but perhaps a tad overpowering. Carob is a great AIP-friendly alternative to cocoa powder, so that was my intention here – to re-create the ever-popular chocolate-beet cake, but with carob instead. No offense to carob powder; it has its time and place, but in this recipe, that earthy, rich chocolate taste cannot be matched by anything other than cocoa itself. Good thing I get to re-introduce cocoa powder next week! The bread also had a surprisingly moist and spongey texture, and it was a great compliment to my chamomile tea.

Since peas are once again part of my regular routine, I decided to make spit pea soup this past weekend, and I managed to keep it vegan. I make a killer pea soup using Ina Garten’s split pea soup recipe, but I use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. Normally, this recipe contains potatoes, but since I am still avoiding nightshades, I omitted the potatoes, and I can tell you first-hand, I didn’t miss them one bit in the soup! It was fantastic sans-spuds! I might make this a regular thing now?! I still cannot find a store-bought vegetable broth without tomato paste in the ingredient list, but, on a quest to perfect my own stock-making skills, I prepared my own veggie stock for the soup. I cut the carrots and celery into large chunks and tossed in whole garlic cloves, and didn’t strain them from the stock, as the pea soup recipe already calls for carrots and garlic, and the addition of celery lent a wonderful depth of flavor. I did allow the broth to simmer for a few hours before it was soup-ready, removing only the onion skins and bay leaves. After adding in the dried split peas, diced onion, more salt, and lots of dried oregano (that’s the secret!), I allowed the soup to simmer for about two hours on the stove, until the peas began to break down and thicken the broth. To serve the soup, I finished each bowl with a luxurious drizzle of fresh, fruity extra virgin olive oil. Perfection!

Carob-beet bread

3 cooked beets, with juices

1 large overripe banana

1 cup cassava flour

2 tsp. arrow root starch

1 tsp. baking soda

4 Tbsp. carob powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 350F. In a food processor, puree the beets in their juices with the banana, vanilla extract, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar. In a separate bowl, mix the cassava flour with the arrow root starch, baking soda, and carob powder. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until everything is mixed evenly. Pour the batter into a non-stick loaf pan and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the center comes out clean. Allow the bread to cool before removing it from the loaf pan.

Nightshade-free split pea soup

1 lb. dried split peas (green or yellow), rinsed and drained

1 recipe of homemade vegetable stock (see below), OR 3 quarts store-bought veggie broth

3 Tbsp. dried oregano

½ onion, diced

Salt to taste

Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle for serving

In a large stock pot, bring the vegetable broth to a simmer. Add in the diced onion, peas, oregano, and salt. Allow the soup to simmer for about 2 hours, or until the peas begin to break down and thicken the soup. Add water, as needed if the soup becomes too thick or if too much of the liquid has evaporated and the peas are not tender yet. Add more salt to taste. When the soup is ready to eat, the peas should be slightly mushy and tender and the consistency should be thick and chunky. Serve hot with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top.

Homemade vegetable stock

Skin of 1 large onion

4 cloves garlic, peeled

8 large carrots, washed and top-end removed

8 stalks celery, washed and root-end removed

2 dried bay leaves

3-4 Tbsp. sea salt, to taste

4 quarts of water, more as needed, as liquid evaporates

Fill a large stock pot with the water. Cut the carrots and celery into large chunks. Toss the carrots, celery, garlic, onion skins, bay leaves, and salt into the pot of water. Bring the stock to a simmer and allow it to cook for several hours, adding more water and salt as the liquid evaporates. The stock should begin to develop a golden color from the onion skins and carrots. The longer you cook the stock, the more depth of flavor it will have. When the stock is finished cooking, remove the onion skins and bay leaves. Use right away, or refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for several months.