Tomato Free Marinara Sauce

I've been using a nightshade-free nomato sauce for a couple of years now.  I tried a new recipe today, which is much quicker and easier to make, and also very tasty.  It may become my preferred nightshade-free marinara sauce recipe.  http://www.adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com/2010/01/tomato-free-marinara-sauce/

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, finely chopped

1 or 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 overflowing Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 can small beets, drained (reserve liquid), and puréed (in food processor or blender)

1 can pure pumpkin purée

1/4 cup dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

Salt & pepper to taste

2 Tbsp reserved beet juice

1-1/2 tsp corn starch or arrowroot powder

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oil in a large sauce pan.  Sauté onion and garlic until translucent and a little browned.  Add lemon juice and vinegar, mixing well.  Simmer about 5 minutes.  Add the puréed beets and pumpkin, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper, and mix together well.  In a small bowl, stir or whisk together beet juice and corn starch/arrowroot powder.  Whisk into sauce and cook about 5 minutes, whisking/stirring constantly.  Beets will discolor if cooked too long, so don't.  This only took 20 minutes to make.

This may be used on pasta or as a pizza sauce.  Cooked ground beef or turkey can be added to turn it into a meat sauce, and adding sautéed veggies is always good in a spaghetti sauce.

Low, Slow Oven Baked Ribs

One food I didn't eat often but really liked was BBQ ribs.  I never tried to cook them myself - I only ate them at restaurants, or occasionally the pre-cooked, packaged ones from the grocery store that just needed heating.  Since eliminating nightshades from my diet, ribs are something I really miss.  I tried a BBQ sauce and crockpot short rib recipe awhile back, but that just didn't satisfy my craving.  So today's attempt at nightshade-free BBQ ribs is a low temperature, slow cooking oven recipe  http://www.food.com/recipe/low-slow-oven-baked-ribs-super-simple-303245 using a nightshade-free blueberry BBQ sauce recipe (http://molliessoupkitchen.blogspot.com/2015/09/blueberry-bbq-sauce-nightshade-free.html).

INGREDIENTS

3-4 pounds ribs (baby back or St. Louis style pork ribs)

Salt & pepper

1 cup BBQ sauce

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Separate ribs into serving-sized portions.  Rub with salt and pepper.  Place with meat side down in greased baking or roasting pan.  Cover pan with aluminum foil.  Bake 3.5 (for small baby bake ribs) to 4 hours in 225 degree oven.  Pour off grease.  Turn ribs so meat side is up.  Slather with BBQ sauce (or cover with a layer of sauce) and bake uncovered another 25-45 minutes, until meat is tender and falls off bone.  Additional BBQ sauce may be added.

Blueberry BBQ Sauce (Nightshade free)

I'm going to cook some St. Louis style ribs later today.  And I'm going to try out a nightshade free blueberry BBQ sauce.  It's very pretty, at least 😊.  I got the recipe from the Primal Palate paleo blog http://www.primalpalate.com/paleo-recipe/blueberry-bbq-sauce/

INGREDIENTS

2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

6 whole Medjool dates, pitted and cut into quarters

2 Tbsp dried sage

4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2 Tbsp ginger root, freshly grated or finely chopped

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25-30 minutes, until thickened.  Either use an immersion blender or move to a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth.

Can be kept in the refrigerator 10 days to 2 weeks.