Top Eight Free: Your Guide to Allergy-Free Eating

This is my improvisation of Sally Schneider’s improvisation of Paula Wolfert’s recipe.  Phew.   The lamb roasts slowly for seven hours, making it a perfect holiday meal, because you can prep it in the morning and then forget about it until dinner time ans spend time with your guests.

My version is alcohol-free, and therefore lower in histamine than the [...]

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In addition to making a wonderful pizza sauce, this pesto is great when tossed with pasta or spooned over chicken breasts. 
 
1 cup hulled pumpkin seeds (toasted or untoasted)
1 cup cilantro, packed
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon salt
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
 
Toast pumpkin seeds in a large skillet over medium heat until puffed, [...]

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Caramelized onions are a simple way to increase the richness of flavor in just about any meal.   Sprinkle them over steamed green beans, toss them into your spaghetti sauce, or use them to top your pizza. 
 
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 vidalia onions or other sweet onions, cut into rings (or substitute regular yellow onions plus 1/2 tespoon sugar)
pinch [...]

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This is my version of a rustic Italian dish from The Italian Country Table, by Lynne Rosetto Kasper.  It is more of a technique than a specific recipe — use whatever vegetables look best at your farmer’s market.  I ommit the eggplant and the results are still delicious.
1 small eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large or 2 small zucchini, [...]

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This is the simplest way I’ve come across to preserve that great late-summer taste of ripe red peppers. 
6 - 8 large red peppers, cored and seeded, and chopped into 1-inch chunks
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
1 medium onion, sliced (optional)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place peppers, garlic, [...]

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These veggie burgers freeze and re-heat well.  They are mild-tasting enough to go with just about anything you’d like to top them with — from the traditional ketchup and mustard to my favorite, salsa verde.   They leave sandwiches behind and enter the realm of dinner-you-would-serve-to-guests when topped with Oven - Roasted Red Peppers, and served [...]

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Ah, Spanish rice.  A dish that evokes church potlucks of my childhood.   One of my favaorite church games (along with counting the number of times the minister said “uh” or “um” during the sermon) was trying to guess the number of Spanish rice casseroles that would be laid out side by side, each in its [...]

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I used these wonderful round summer squashes that I found at my farmer’s market for this recipe, but regular long zucchini will work just as well.

 3 cups cooked basmati rice (I used white, but you could also use brown)
6 zucchini or summer squash
3 small carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
4 roma tomatoes, diced
1 [...]

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You may have noticed that I like chickpeas.  What’s not to like?  They’re versatile and high in protien, fiber, and iron.  Not to mention that they taste good too.  Here’s a salad to showcase fresh, ripe green beans from the farmer’s market.
3/4 pound green beans, washed and trimmed, and cut into 2-inch lengths
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and [...]

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This is a Thai syle tapioca pudding that is egg and dairy free.   It is creamily wonderful served with cool slices of mango on the side.
1/2 cup tapioca pearls (non-instant)
2 1/2 cups water
1 can coconut milk
pinch of salt
1/3 cup sugar (Taditional Thai recipes call for palm sugar.  Turbinado is a good substitute, or just use [...]

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