Grain Free Green Food (SCD)

Green Dip with Gluten-Free and Grain-Free Crackers

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I thought I would share an SCD and grain-free green dip today along with a cracker recipe.  The dip has become a favorite in our house as of a few weeks ago when I was searching for a recipe to help our youngest “like” cucumbers.  I came across Jacqueline’s blog at sweetbeetandgreenbean.net and a great recipe for Cucumber and Cilantro dip.  Just click on the name and the link will take you to the recipe on her site.

The tweaks I made for our family so that the dip follows the Specific Carbohydrate Diet are:

• I changed the milk or cream to homemade coconut milk

That’s it!  We like this with crackers or veggies and even as a topping for Taco Night.  Everyone at the table in our house can have it which is a bonus!  You might be asking how it gets so creamy?  The secret is the avocado… it sometimes reminds me of a smooth guacamole if I add enough cilantro and some green or red onion to the puree.  What’s better, you can make this ahead and it won’t turn that funny color that avocado’s are so notorious for just as long as you use the lemon juice (or lime juice if you prefer).  I have had this in the fridge for two days and it still has a nice green color!  I have also found that you can add just a little more coconut milk and it turns from a dip to a dressing, perfect for taco salad.  Very versatile… thanks Jacqueline!

In the picture are two crackers we routinely have in our house.  On the left is Glutino’s Gluten Free Cracker, Original flavor.  These are so delicious!  I just wish Glutino would do something different with their packaging so that the crackers would have a better chance of staying whole, rather than in pieces!  Some times it seems that we get crumbs not crackers.

On the right is my homemade Parsley Lentil Crackers.  These are grain-free and SCD… yes, you read that right!  When one follows the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, you come to a point where you miss certain textures.  That happened to me very early on.  Recently, I was doing some reading on sprouted lentils at goneraw.com and came across a cracker recipe (just click the site name to check it out).  I made some adjustments so that I could have them.  They are so addicting!  Here’s my version below.

Grain Free Parsley Lentil Crackers

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sprouted lentils
• ½ cup ground sunflower seeds (if you can tolerate nuts, ground almonds would work well here too)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or less if you don’t like too much tang
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• ½ – 1 tsp honey
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp Braggs seasoning
• ½ tsp salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients really well in a food processor.
3. Spread on silpat lined or oiled parchment lined cookie sheet about ¼” thick and sprinkle with salt.
4. Bake in 10 minute increments, turning the pan until crackers are crisp. If browning too much, lower oven temp even further.
5. Once crispy, turn oven off and leave crackers in oven to cool. Once oven is cool, remove crackers from the oven.
6. Break into squares and serve with dip or salsa.
7. Store in airtight container.

Really, you won’t be able to stop at just a handful!  If you need help with sprouting lentils, Kimi Harris at thenourishinggourmet.com has a great post on how to do this.  It is really easy to follow, just click here.

Enjoy green things today!