Zucchini hashbrowns

One of my favorite side dishes, pre-candida days, was hashbrowns. Until recently, I just had to salivate watching other people eat hashbrowns.

But now, I can make ACD-friendly hashbrowns out of zucchinis, which I happen to have an enormous supply of in my garden. It was by accident that I discovered that zucchinis make a good substitute for potatoes in hashbrowns.

I was drying some shredded zucchini in the oven as an ingredient for a veggie pizza crust. I looked at those shredded zucchinis crisping in the oven and suddenly, they looked like hashbrowns.

These days, whenever I pick a good-sized zucchini from the garden, I shred it up in the food processor and make it into Zucchini Hashbrowns.

Ingredients (for 1 serving):

1. Shredded zucchini from 2 medium-sized (or larger) unpeeled zucchinis
2. 1/2 cup chopped onion, red and green peppers
3. salt and pepper to taste
4. Fresh basil or parsley for garnish
5. olive oil pan spray

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spread the shredded zucchini on a large baking sheet, sprayed with pan spray
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper
4. Spray the zucchini with olive oil. Use an olive oil mister or purchased pan spray.
5. Bake the zucchini until browned and crispy.
6. In the meantime, saute the onion and pepper in a skillet.
7. Add the crisp zucchini shreds to the skillet and mix.
8. Garnish with fresh herbs for serving.

Black bean fudge

Black beans are loaded with antioxidants, protein, and fiber which allows the carbohydrates to be absorbed more slowly. What could be better than turning this wonder food into a ACD-friendly treat?

Carob or Chocolate Black Bean Fudge
Ingredients:

1. 1 can black beans with no added sugar
2. 1/4 cup carob or cocoa powder
3. 1 T. no-alcohol vanilla
4. 1/8 cup sunbutter and 1/8 cup coconut oil (or 1/4 cup coconut oil)
5. 10 or more drops of alcohol-free stevia

Directions:

1. Drain and rinse the black beans
2. Put beans plus all other ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth (add more sunbutter or coconout oil if needed)
3. Spread mixture in an 8-by-8-inch square pan, lined with parchment paper or plastic wrap.
4. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into 24 pieces.
5. Optional: Melt 1 T. each additional sunbutter and coconut oil and mix. Spread on top of the firm black bean fudge as a topping.
6. Other options: Add seeds, nuts or peppermint extract to the mixture.
7. Note: I chose a blend of sunbutter and coconut butter for the fudge because it had less saturated fat. Too much saturated fat causes me difficulty because my gallbladder was removed. The fudge will not stay as firm as when you use only coconut oil. I just keep it frozen to deal with that problem.

Black beans can be added to many treats that contain chocolate and carob, and no one will be the wiser. I recently made black bean, chocolate brownies for my husband, and he had no clue until I told him what the secret ingredient was. The addition of the black beans turned the brownies into a much healthier treat.

Cauliflower rice and nori rolls

Thanks to Brandon who left a comment recently, I decided to make cauliflower rice and use it in truly low-carb/vegan nori rolls. They were delicious with this addition.

Cauliflower rice is super easy to make. All you need is a head of cauliflower, a food processor, microwave and microwave-safe bowl. Wash, trim and cut the cauliflower into pieces. Toss the pieces of cauliflower into a food processor. Process until the cauliflower is turned into rice-sized pieces.

Place the cauliflower rice into a microwave-safe dish with a cover and microwave for a few minutes. Do not add water to your cauliflower as it already has enough moisture of its own.

To make nori rolls, spread sunflower seed pate as the base layer on a nori sheet. Add cauliflower rice and matchstick-sized pieces of cucumber or other veggies on top. Roll up tightly. Cut into threes and serve. Or wrap and store for later.

Sunflower Seed Pate

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked for 6-8 hours (can be sprouted if desired)
2. 1/2 cup chopped celery
3. 1/2 cup shredded zucchini
4. 1/4 cup diced red onion
5. 2-4 cloves garlic
6. 1/4 cup tahini or sunbutter
7. 2 T. Bragg's amino acids
8. 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
9. 2-3 T. lemon juice
10. 1 tsp. cumin
11. dash of cayenne
12. 1 tsp. sea salt

Place all the pate ingredients in your food processor. Process until desired consistency is reached. Note: you can be creative with this recipe. Each time I make it, I vary it slightly. Add other veggies if desired. It stores well in fridge.

Avocado Carobsicles

I just made my first frozen treats with my new popsicle molds. They're not beautiful but they are tasty and full of nutrition. The ingredients include avocado, which is low glycemic and loaded with antioxidants, and silken tofu, a good protein source.

I omitted the sweeteners I saw in similar recipes and replaced them with stevia. They still taste good to me but if you are not used to eating a no-sugar diet you could try some agave nectar. I used carob powder but cacao or cocoa powder could be used instead.

Avocado "Carobsicles"

1 pkg. silken tofu, drained
1 medium avocado, pitted
1/2 cup unsweetened hemp milk
1 tsp. guar gum
6 T. raw carob powder
1 T. alcohol-free vanilla
liquid stevia to taste
pinch sea salt

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Add additional hemp milk if needed.

Pour mixture into individual popsicle molds. This can be tricky especially if your mixture is too thick. Freeze the "carobsicles" until solid, about 4-6 hours, depending on your freezer. Run under hot water to release your popsicle.

Gluten-free energy bars

Finding an ACD-friendly energy bar is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Of course, the packaged ones are loaded with sugar and carbs. What would you expect? That's the stuff that provides energy when you exercise.

I do a lot of cycling, including some long-distance rides but those pre-packaged energy bars won't work for me because of my candida issues. It took some searching on the internet and experimenting but I finally came up with my own ACD-friendly energy bar. It's got lots of good stuff in it and gives me some "go power." I tweaked a recipe from Thrive Fitness.

Carob Strawberry Chia Energy Bars

Ingredients:

1. 1/4 cup carob powder
2. 1/4 cup vanilla rice protein powder
3. 1/4 cup white chia seeds
4. 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
5. 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
6. 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
7. 1 tsp. lemon juice
8. Sea salt to taste
9. 1/2 cup sprouted quinoa
10. Liquid or powdered stevia to taste

Directions:

1. One day ahead of time, prepare the quinoa seeds. Soak in water for six hours. Drain and place in a seed sprouter. Once the seeds have formed tails from sprouting, place them in a food dehydrator and dry to the touch.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a food processor.
3. Spread the mixture (1/4 inch thick) on a sheet in your dehydrator. Dry for about one hour. Then flip and continue drying. Total drying time: about two hours.
4. Cut into pieces of desired size. Freeze until ready to use.