0 Recipe: Vegan Lentil Soup with Spinach and Avocado

Lentil soup January 13, 2015, 1:03pm

Lentil soup is one of my go-to recipes.
It’s vegan. (But you can add sausage to much delight!) 
It’s food allergy free. (Top 8 allergen free, but not for you legume allergic folks, natch)
It’s hearty. 
It’s incredibly healthy.
It only takes about an hour to cook.
And it has infinite varieties. 

This week, my lentil soup includes spinach, a squeeze of lemon and a half a perfectly ripe avocado. Here’s the recipe. Makes 4, 1 cup servings.

Lentil Soup with Spinach and Avocado

INGREDIENTS
1 cup of green lentils, rinsed 
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch of fresh ginger, skinned and minced
2 carrots, scraped and chopped
1 large bay leaf (or two small ones)
Fresh baby spinach, one handful per serving of soup (broccoli, chard, kale, collards or escarole works beautifully here, too)
¼ fresh lemon to garnish (lime would be perfect, too!)
½ ripe avocado to garnish
Salt and pepper to taste
Water (you could use commercial chicken broth or veg broth if you like, just cut out the salt)

DIRECTIONS
In a large heavy bottomed pot on medium heat, sauté onions in olive oil until translucent and fragrant (5-7minutes). Add in garlic and ginger and sauté for 2 minutes, also until fragrant. Then add carrots and sauté the whole lot for another minute or two.  Add lentils and bay leaf, stir into veggie mixture until coated and mixed through. 

Add 8 -10 cups of water and one teaspoon of salt (you can add more salt and/or water as needed). Bring the whole mixture to a boil and then simmer for 45-minutes to an hour until lentils are tender. Adjust seasonings i.e. add more salt and freshly ground pepper.

When you’re ready to serve, add your favorite greens and warm through by stirring into the soup still simmering on the stove. It will only take a minute or two for the greens to cook and brighten; that's when they are at their best. This step is crucial: if you cook greens with this soup (which you can absolutely do) they tend to get soggy, overcooked and sad. You want bright green, happy greens like you see in this picture. 

A squeeze of lemon brightens the whole dish and lemon (any citrus) helps the body digest the nutrients in green veggies.

Avocado is perfect on top: a smooth, cool texture on top of hot and hearty. Also, because it’s a vegan, almost fat free soup, the healthy fat in avocado will help you feel full longer. 

Enjoy!

Detail: Recipe: Vegan Lentil Soup with Spinach and Avocado

0 Recipe: Pasta with Lemony Arugula

Rice pasta, arugula and lemon

After a long day filled with food allergy coaching client sessions and meetings and an evening out with friends at an art opening at a very cool venue, I arrived home, starved and dinner was unplanned. Add to this that I had an oral allergy syndrome reaction to something I ate at lunch (probably the raw tomatoes and bell peppers). So my mouth needed something non-nightshade based, something way safer on what was clearly a high pollen day. 

My fridge was filled with stuff for salad (like more peppers and tomatoes) and the huge box of arugula. In the back was one portion of pasta still in the bag. And I had a bunch of lemons in the bin. 

A hop over to Google and I found two easy recipes, one from Epicurious and one from Martha Stewart that I quickly combined to create my own. In the time it took to make the pasta (about ten minutes), voila! Not only was dinner done but I had a delicious, vegan, light, non-oral allergy syndrome inducing delight.

***

Rice Pasta with Lemony Arugula
Adapted from Epicurious & Martha Stewart

Ingredients

1 portion safe-for-you pasta, dry
Splash of olive oil like Lucini EVOO
1-3 gloves sliced garlic (as desired)
Juice and zest from one lemon (organic if available)
Handful of baby arugula (or any greens you have on hand, kale, spinach, broccoli)
Accompaniments: freshly grated Parmigiano-reggiano, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, squeeze of lemon, red pepper flakes

Preparation

Cook safe-for-you pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain BUT reserve some of the cooking water. In same pot, heat oil and sauté garlic on low heat until fragrant. Add lemon juice, zest, salt, pepper and pasta water. Bring to a gentle simmer, reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. Add the handful of greens to the lemon and EVOO “sauce” and stir until bright green and warmed through. Add pasta. Stir until mixed. Adjust for seasoning. Transfer pasta to your dish. Top with additional grated Parmigiano-reggiano, a light sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice, if desired.

Variation
I added a variation the other night: butter beans with lemon, EVOO, salt & pepper on top. Oh yum!

Vegan, easy. yum!

Detail: Recipe: Pasta with Lemony Arugula

0 Recipe: Kinnikinnick Oreo Chocolate Bark

 

Ooh la la!

 
For my holiday party this year, I made three new desserts: King Arthur Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cake with Orange Buttercream frosting, Dark Chocolate and Pomegranate bark and Kinnikinnick Oreo Chocolate Bark.

This last recipe was but far the easiest: just two “ingredients” yields fantastic results: perfect for vegans and gluten-free peeps as well as Kosher, nut-allergic and dairy-allergic friends. Also it was beloved by children and adults. The dark chocolate kept the bark from being too sweet and the sandwich cookie, well, it’s just everyone’s favorite cookie hands down. OK, maybe just me. But my 3 year old guest and my 80 year old guest both had three servings of the bark. The Kinnikinnick version of a sandwich cookie tastes so close to the “real” thing that your guests won’t know the difference. Mine certainly didn’t.

Food Allergy Tips:

Use only clean bowls and utensils to make the dessert. Give an extra wash with hot soapy water if there’s any doubt.

Once made, store away from any “allergenic” foods in your fridge by using a clean, enclosed Tupperware container that's properly labeled (e.g. Sloane's Nut-Free Dessert).

Hold on to the Enjoy Life Foods and KinniToos Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookies bags with the labels and ingredients for anyone who asks, so they can determine if this treat is appropriate for their needs.

I used KinniToos Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookies but you could use their vanilla vanilla cookies or their chocolate chocolate ones depending upon your taste. (You could also use Oreos, if suitable for your food allergy needs). 

I used the 69% dark chocolate morsels from Enjoy Life Foods which are vegan, top eight food allergen free but you can use any safe-for-you chocolate.
Now go make this right now. And try not to eat it all. 

Kinnikinnick Oreo Chocolate Bark

TOTAL TIME
10 minutes, plus chilling

Ingredients

9 ounces (1 bag) dark chocolate morsels by Enjoy Life Foods
10 KinniToos Chocolate Vanilla Sandwich Cookies coarsely crushed, reserve a little to sprinkle on top

Preparation

1.  Fit a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Place the chocolate in the bowl and stir until fully melted, about 5 minutes.
 
2. Remove the bowl from the pot and stir most of the coarsely crushed cookies into the melted chocolate.

3. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour melted chocolate mixture onto the sheet. Use a spatula to smooth the chocolate into one even layer about 1/4 inch thick (it does not need to fill the entire sheet). Sprinkle chocolate with remaining cookies and press into the chocolate. 

4. Chill the chocolate for 20 to 30 minutes or until firm. Break or cut into pieces and store in an airtight container.  

Detail: Recipe: Kinnikinnick Oreo Chocolate Bark

0 Recipe: Allergen-Free, Dark Chocolate & Pomegranate Bark

Bark about to go into fridge to cool

I saw this recipe in the New York Times for "Dark Chocolate and Pomegranate Bark"
and as I just tried Enjoy Life Foods new dark chocolate morsels I thought what a great idea to combine the two. 

I followed the recipe to a tee and here are my additional notes to make it as allergen-free as possible:

1. I made my own candied ginger using a Food52 recipe. It was quick and easy and meant I didn't have to search for a candied ginger that was tree-nut free. (Here are some other recipes: David Lebovitz, Alton Brown and the Kitchn.

 2. I pulled fresh pomegranate seeds from this technique video from Food52.
In many stores, you can buy pomegranate seeds, but I don't who or how they were pulled. Doing it yourself is quick, easy, a perfect task for little hands if you have kids joining you in making this recipe and you know there has been any cross contact.

3. In the instructions for the recipe, there is a missing step and it's crucial. Once you sprinkle the second half of the pom seeds on top, press them down into the bark. Otherwise, when it cools, they will pop off. As mine did. It wasn't any less delicious, but it was messier and not as elegant looking; there were pock-marks where the seeds once were.


***

Allergen-Free Dark Chocolate and Pomegranate Bark
Adapted from Melissa Clark & The New York Times

TOTAL TIME
10 minutes, plus chilling

Ingredients

9 ounces dark chocolate morsels by Enjoy Life Foods
2-3 T minced candied ginger
2 c fresh pomegranate seeds (from one fresh pomegranate)
2 t flaky sea salt

Preparation

1.  Fit a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl. Place the chocolate in the bowl and stir until fully melted, about 5 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pot and stir the crystallized ginger and half of the pomegranate seeds into the melted chocolate. 

2. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour melted chocolate mixture onto the sheet. Use a spatula to smooth the chocolate into one even layer about 1/4 inch thick (it does not need to fill the entire sheet). Sprinkle chocolate with remaining pomegranate seeds and press into the chocolate. Then add sea salt. 

3. Chill the chocolate for 20 to 30 minutes or until firm. Break or cut into pieces and store in an airtight container, separating the layers with wax paper. This is best served the same day it’s made, otherwise condensation may form on the surface.
 

 ***

The result is an adult tasting treat that’s juicy, spicy, sweet, fruity and salty. I served it at my holiday party and it received oohs and ahhs from the little jewels that are those pomegranate arils. Once someone took a bite, the dark chocolate, the hint of salt and the juiciness of the seeds - wow.

Detail: Recipe: Allergen-Free, Dark Chocolate & Pomegranate Bark

0 Pascha Allergen-Free Chocolate: 8 Facts About Pascha Chocolate

Pascha chocolate sent me some samples of their top eight allergen-free chocolate to try. Before I do, I had a chance to ask Courtenay Pascha chocolate some questions about this new chocolate and how they ensure it’s free from the top eight allergens.

These foods - milk, eggs, fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod), Crustacean shellfish (e.g., crab, lobster, shrimp), tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pecans), peanuts, wheat, and soybeans - are identified by the FDA as causing ninety percent of all food allergic reactions in the United States. Remember, that anyone can be allergic to anything at any time, so please contact Pascha chocolate directly about your food allergy needs.

***

1. What’s the history behind why Pascha chocolate was created?

PASCHA was created to make ultra-pure delicious chocolate that is safe for anyone to eat.  It was not until Simon Lester, one of the founders, realised how life threatening and altering food allergies can be, when one of his daughters had an anaphylactic reaction to food, that the penny dropped that someone really needed to come out with a completely allergen-free great-tasting chocolate.  Simon's background was in the chocolate business in the UK and while most people don't think of chocolate and allergies, the reality is that almost every chocolate plant in the western world uses milk, various tree nuts, peanuts, soy and often wheat, gluten and egg.  Because of the difficulties of cleaning a chocolate manufacturing plant once these ingredients are inside the plant a residual amount is left behind - which is the danger point for people with food allergies.

2. Where and how is PASCHA chocolate made?

PASCHA is made in Latin America, close to the source of the bean.  One of the things we had to do was be very sure of where the ingredients were sourced from and how they had traveled, to avoid risk of cross contamination - eg from storing cocoa beans in warehouses as they journey across the world. By going to where the cocoa beans are grown and making the chocolate there we can gain much more visibility and control over the ingredients going into PASCHA.

3. PASCHA chocolate has very few ingredients. We love that! One of them is chocolate "mass". What is that?

In making chocolate from beans you take the shells off the bean and grind them up (to create nibs).  When you heat these nibs and grind them you get a viscous mass that is unsweetened molten cocoa bean.  We call this cocoa liquor.  Cocoa mass is another word for cocoa liquor, but the liquor can be cooled and forms solid chunks - hence cocoa mass.  We refer to it as cocoa mass but in fact it is in liquid form when it moves into our chocolate making process. 

4. You state that the product is top 8 free but only mention 6 allergens on the labels  (“gluten” is not an allergen)?

The 7th and 8th allergens which PASCHA is free from are fish and shellfish. We did not include fish and shellfish on the website or label due to some feedback from consumers regarding their perception of fish and shellfish in chocolate. I agree it is confusing and we will revise our statement. Thank you for the feedback.

5. What steps are used to ensure the product is free from all top eight allergens?

First of all the entire plant has to be completely allergen-free - so no operation there must ever use one of the top 8 allergens.  Beyond that we have to ensure that the people who work in the plant do not bring anything allergenic to the plant - so they wear uniforms that provided for them and which can be checked for allergens.  Next we have to make sure that the ingredients coming in are also allergen-free.  In our case we make the chocolate from cocoa bean to bar in the same factory, and we know where the beans are coming from and how they have been transported.  That just leaves the sugar and vanilla and any of our added ingredients like goldenberries which again are from specific known local sources and are checked for allergens.  After that we carry out checks for allergens on the finished product to make sure that they system has actually worked as it is supposed to.

6. What are your future plans for the chocolate (flavors, add ins?)

We want to bring out new flavors for sure, but most important is probably to have product in formats that are most usable for what our customers want - so we will look at packaging developments to do single serve formats or formats that are friendlier for children and for sharing.

7. Where can the product be purchased?

We only just introduced PASCHA in March of 2013 and as of today we are available online only but we are in the midst of discussions with several retailers both large and small so we hope to announce the start of our retail roll-out very soon.

8. Whom do we contact for more information or questions about allergen-free status?

Please contact Courtenay Vuchnich (me) either my email courtenay@paschachocolate.com or by telephone 1-855-472-7242 (4-PASCHA) EXT 102.

9. Final thoughts?

The one thing that really surprises everyone about PASCHA is that it tastes so good.  Somehow with a product that is gluten-free and allergen free there is an expectation that it won't taste very good.  Interestingly with chocolate the reality is different - as you make a simple and pure formulation in an ultra pure environment, you actually get a wonderful pure taste, so it actually ends up being better for all chocolate lovers.

Detail: Pascha Allergen-Free Chocolate: 8 Facts About Pascha Chocolate

0 Recipe: Spiced Chickpeas, Roasted Vegetables & Knife Giveaway

Vegan, top 8 allergen-free goodness

Spiced Chickpeas

1 15 ounce can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 T olive oil (or a neutral oil of your choice)

A mixture of cumin, sweet paprika, turmeric, cayenne, Kosher salt and pepper  - to taste

In a large skillet, warm the tablespoon of olive oil for 30 seconds, then add a sprinkle of each spice to your taste. Lightly toast the spices for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the drained chickpeas and warm through. Easy and yum!

I paired the chickpeas in the picture above with a roasted sweet potato, Brussels sprouts and baby broccoli. The technique for roasted is equally easy. Here’s a breakdown about the basics of roasting veggies on Salon.com.

Roasted vegetables

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Rinse, pat dry (with a paper or kitchen towel) and top and tail your veggies and halve or cut in smaller, uniform pieces. Place pieces on one layer in a pan, sprinkle liberally with olive oil (or an neutral oil of your choice), Kosher salt and pepper. Place in hot oven and roasted until caramelized and yum, about 45 minutes or until soft and fragrant.

***
CONTEST NOW CLOSED

Join me today, May 7, 2013 on my Allergic Girl Facebook page for a chance to win the Wüsthof 3.5 inch paring knife with serrated edge that I used to prep all these lovely veggies. Contest rules: leave a comment on my Allergic Girl Facebook page telling me what veggies you'd like to cut with this fab knife. The contest is open for 24 hours from 9:45am EST on May 7, 2013, winners will be picked using random.org and the contest is limited to United States residents.

Wüsthof 3.5 inch paring knife

Detail: Recipe: Spiced Chickpeas, Roasted Vegetables & Knife Giveaway

0 10 Ingredient Pantry Pasta Dish: Pasta with Kale, Garlic and Chiles

Picture 1 - Fryer chile flakes, garlic and capers

Picture 2 - Adding chopped fresh kale

Picture 3 - Addition of cooked pasta to pans with kale and 

A Pasta Dish Straight From the Pantry was posted in the New York Times April 9, 2013, written by Melissa Clark. It’s a version of a dish I’m certain many of us home cooks have in our virtual back pockets: some kind of pasta, with olive oil, some garlic, some kind of green and some kind of cheese - mine is with frozen peas. As a food allergy coach, I encourage my clients to have go-to dishes that are easy to make, free of their allergens and yummy.

This version of this basic recipe meets those criteria and I especially like it for the addition of frying the capers and the red chile flakes, two things I always have on hand and forget to use. Lemon at the end is a must – it brightens the kale and the lifts pasta.  I altered the recipe to suit my food allergies and food intolerance needs - I’m fish allergic and wheat intolerant and it called for wheat pasta and anchovies. Alter it to suit your own food allergy needs and pantry dinner is served in no time!


***

Pasta with Kale, Garlic and Chiles
Adapted from A Pasta Dish Straight From the Pantry by Melissa Clark
Yield 2 servings

Ingredients
Salt, as needed
1/2 pound pasta (I used Tinkyada organic rice pasta)
3 tablespoons good olive oil, more for drizzling
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes, to taste
4 fat garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
2 tablespoons drained capers, patted dry with a paper towel to encourage   browning
1 small bunch kale, chopped (or use 3 large handfuls chopped kale)
Black pepper
Squeeze of lemon
Grated pecorino or Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional and omit if dairy allergic)

Method
1. Bring a heavily salted pot of water to a rolling boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet. Add chiles and a pinch of salt and toast until golden, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add smashed garlic and capers. (Picture 1.) Cook until everything is golden and the capers look crisp around the edges, 3 to 4 minutes. Add kale and 2 tablespoons of the pasta water and sauté until kale wilts and cooks in the pan and is well coated with oil, about 3 to 5 minutes. (Picture 2.)
4. Add drained pasta and toss well. (Picture 3.) Add salt and black pepper to taste. Serve with a squeeze of lemon. I like it with some grated Parmesan cheese, but it's not vital.

Detail: 10 Ingredient Pantry Pasta Dish: Pasta with Kale, Garlic and Chiles

0 Easy Black Beans and Rice

Even though I have a small New York City kitchen (you can see it here in this video I did with Boar’s Head), I always have a fully stocked pantry and refrigerator. So, when I came home last night for a cozy night in with no recent grocery shopping, I went into my trusty pantry and within 20 minutes we were sitting down to this dish:

Vegan, food allergy free: beans and rice with broccoli

Classic Black Beans & Rice
(Adapted from a can of Goya Frijoles Negros)

2 T  olive oil (I use Spectrum organic olive oil)
½ cup onion chopped
1 small bell pepper chopped
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 15.5 ounce can black beans, undrained
¾ cup water
1 T apple cider vinegar
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried cumin powder
red pepper flakes to taste
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add in onions, pepper garlic and sauté until tender. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil then simmer for about ten minutes until flavors have melded.

Serve with steamed organic brown rice (or millet, quinoa or grain of your choice), steamed greens, (like spinach, broccoli, or kale) and even some cheese (or dairy-free cheese substitute like Daiya) would be welcome here.

Enjoy!

Detail: Easy Black Beans and Rice

0 Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup, recipe

The final deliciousness

I made a big mistake. I bought two mega sweet potatoes at the local green market without a plan with what exactly to do with them. Weighing in at one and half pounds each (!), I needed to come up with something. Meanwhile, while I was furiously Googling some sweet potato recipes, I was whipping up a batch of lentil soup. I made the lentil soup very simply, using the recipe on the package as a guide, here’s a version on that recipe from Goya’s website. And then I further adapted it by adding elements of this recipe from a blogger that was new to me,  Eat Yourself Skinny. She’s not food allergy blog related, but vegan and adapted this recipe from "The Kind Diet" by Alicia Silverstone. The result was a superfood-packed soup, lightly spiced and utterly delicious.  

Here  is the original recipe from Eat Yourself Skinny:

2 Tbsp safflower oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 small tomatoes, diced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Pinch of sea salt
2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
7 cups vegetable broth
1 cup brown lentils
1 cup baby spinach or kale

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat and saute onion for about 2 minutes, until soft.  Stir in tomatoes and ginger, cooking an addition 3 minutes.  Stir in turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, cayenne and salt and cook for 2 minutes, tasting to make sure its to your liking.  Next add the sweet potatoes, broth and lentils.  Bring soup to a boil then reduce heat and cover, allowing to simmer for about 30 minutes.  Then add spinach (or kale) and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.  Enjoy!

**

My adaptations were that I added the following to a few cups of already made plain green lentil soup. I found that this soup is very forgiving and you kind of can’t make a mistake.

1, 15 ounce can of organic diced tomatoes
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1 1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
Pinch of sea salt
¾ of pound of sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 large handful of ribboned curly kale


I toasted the spices in some olive oil, added the sweet potatoes and the can of tomatoes and gave that a good stir to blend the spices and then added the already made green lentil soup. I simmered all of the ingredients together until the sweet potatoes were soft. Here’s my special trick, only when I was ready to eat a portion did I add the kale and then let it cook for about 2-3 minutes until it was wilted but not soggy. I like my greens bright. Such a happy soup. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Detail: Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup, recipe

0 Plentils, Enjoy Life Foods

I’m mental for Plentils. I received samples from Enjoy Life Foods of each flavor a few weeks back and thought: oh, I’ll just try one chip of each flavor, to get a sense, ya know – no biggie. Ahem, I had one bag. Of each flavor. By myself. Which means, I liked them. A lot.

I’m not a snacker by nature; I’m not a chocolate person or salty treat person but I gobbled these up. My favorite right now is the pizza flavor but the dill and sour cream is a close second.  Truly, I loved them all and they are all the more delectable because they are made from one of my trusted brands Enjoy Life Foods who makes top 8 free goodies.

Yes, top 8 allergen-free. So even though they have dairy-tasting flavors they have no diary in them. Here is their nutritional information and Enjoy Life Foods's allergen policies.

When I asked point blank how these tasted like dairy yet contain no diary, here’s Enjoy Life's official statement: “We utilize the assistance of flavor manufacturers, who, through the use of natural flavors create a proprietary mix that reproduces the taste and olfactory properties of dairy without using actual dairy ingredients.”

If you have a dairy allergic loved one, contact Enjoy Life Foods directly about your needs. Take into deep consideration that eating a dairy-tasting product, may not be for you either emotionally and physically.

If you have a peanut and/or legume allergic loved one, check with your board certified allergist about the best course of action for you with a product made from lentils.


If you want to try some for FREE, please sign up to my newsletter. For Food Allergy Awareness Month (May 2012), Enjoy Life Foods will be giving away the whole line (4 flavors) to three lucky winners. But you have to be signed up to enter! Good luck and thank you Enjoy Life Foods for another delicious, safe treat!

Detail: Plentils, Enjoy Life Foods

0 Hosting an Allergic Guest, Tips

*UPDATED March 15, 2012*

Another nice idea, ask your allergic guest if they have favorite brands that they like that you can easily purchase to use in your meal like safe pasta, safe bread, safe cookies.

***

Tonight, I’m having a secular Shabbat dinner for 12 and there will be an allergic boy in the house. It’s always interesting to host someone with different allergies. J’s allergic to allergic to yeast, dairy, mushrooms and peanuts. And I will have two Kosher guests as well. Think it’s tricky? No problem for this allergic girl.

Above is my shopping cart (yes, those are Peeps you see on top).

Here’s what I’m making, which is top 8 allergen-free:

Main:
Corned beef – Mosey’s
Cabbage
Potatoes
Carrots

Vegan main plate:
Baked sweet potato
Steamed kale & collard greens
Sauteed lentils

Dessert:
Sloane-made peppermint patties
Strawberries & oranges

And here are my best tips in a quick list for hosting an allergic guest:
·      I asked for his full list of allergies, ahead of time
·      I sent him my menu, ahead of time
·      I made slight adjustments to my menu (I scratched using mustard/wine/vinegar, not needed)
·      Anything that had a label or package, I kept
·      All pots, pans & utensils were given a second wash pre-use
·      All highly touched surfaces will get an antibacterial wipe down (I have dairy in my home)          
·      My allergic guest will get a tour of the kitchen, the ingredients & the meal upon arrival if he likes
·      My allergic guest will be the first served if he likes

***

Do you host allergic girl or boys other than your own? How do you make adjustments?

Detail: Hosting an Allergic Guest, Tips