A Good Snack to Have on Hand

In her book The Gut Flush Plan, author Ann Louise Gittleman includes several recipes.  I made this Tangy Tapenade yesterday and find that it is a delicious, nutritious snack!  It's great to have this in the fridge, along with some cut veggies, to help when you have the munchies. 

Ann Louise's Tangy Tapenade
Serve this delicious and flavorful blend on grilled poultry, fish, or a burger, and, of course, with raw or steamed veggies.

2 T pitted black olives
2 T green olives with pimentos
2 T drained capers
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup flaxseed oil
3 T fresh lemon juice
salt and cayenne pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or electric blender, and pulse lightly to blend.  Do not puree.  Transfer to a container with lid and refrigerate until serving time.  Store leftover tapenade in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Makes 1 cup or 4 1/4 cup servings.

I cut up some celery, carrots, zucchini, daikon radish, and bell peppers to dip in the tapenade.  Yum!  I have it all in the fridge, ready to grab when I get hungry.  Also, I made a salad dressing by mixing a spoonful of the tapenade in some olive oil, and adding more lemon juice.  It came out great!

Party Food Ideas for the Dietarily Challenged

What can you serve at a party that's gluten-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free that your guests will also want to eat?  That was my challenge for today since I am hosting an Oscar party tomorrow night.  I think I did okay!  (Thank goodness for Whole Foods!)

Here are some things I came up with:

1.  Rice crust, no cheese veggie pizza

 

I also got some regular pizzas for the other guests but this pizza is delicious enough to serve anyone.  You don't miss the cheese (well, almost) because the caramelized onions make it taste so good!  It's also sugar free because they use agave syrup instead of sugar in the crust.  (It's not yeast free however, but I suppose I can bend the rules a little bit for a party.)

2.  Popcorn

I found these cute little popcorn bags at a party supply store and am planning on serving popcorn in them.  

3.  Black bean hummous and guacamole are great party foods, served with some chips and baby carrots for dipping.  These rice chips taste delicious! 

Also, you can't go wrong with Terra chips.  They look beautiful (like potpourie!) and taste good too!

4.  Olives - I found some that have no vinegar in them.  (They are in salt water and citric acid instead.)  Stuffed with garlic and jalapeno peppers, they are sure to be a hit!


5.  Roasted nuts -  Get an assortment of raw nuts (brazil nuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, almonds, walnuts, are my favs) and drizzle them with a little olive oil.  Then, you can sprinkle them with whatever spice you want (curry, paprika, or cinnamon) and roast on a cookie sheet in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes. Yum!

5.  And for dessert......black bean brownie sundaes!  I love this black bean brownie recipe.  (I promise, you'll never taste the  black beans!)  The only modification I make is that I use olive oil instead of butter.  (This makes it dairy free and it's still super  yummy!)  I top the brownies with some sugar-free coconut milk ice-cream.  This is my favorite (it's the Cherry Amaretto flavor):

Any other fabulous party food ideas out there?