Mushroom Polenta "Muffins"

When I recommend taking a gluten holiday to my patients, I am often asked, "but what will I eat without bread and pasta? " While there are lots of gluten-free bread and pasta alternatives on the market these days, there are also LOTS of foods that are naturally gluten-free, really tasty and very inexpensive. Polenta is a great example - it is made from corn meal, tastes yummy, and costs pennies to make.

Gluten is a protein found in grains that some individuals can develop sensitivity to. Gluten containing grains include wheat, barley, rye, spelt, oats, triticale, and kamut. Why are some people sensitive to gluten in wheat? In the last 50 years, wheat has been bred to contain 50% more gluten protein. Farming and agriculture has been around for only 10,000 years which is nothing compared to human genome. Our genetics, which haven't changed as much, are not used to this large protein content in grain causing some individuals to develop sensitivities.

Ingredients:

1 cup of course corn gritts or corn meal (Bob's Red Mill brand works well)

3-4 cups water

2 medium portobello mushrooms finely diced

1/2 yellow onion finely diced (can also use shallots or leek)

olive oil

1-2 Tablespoons of butter (optional)

1-2 Feta cheese (optional)

salt

pepper

Directions:

Saute mushrooms and onions in olive oil in a medium size sauce pan with cover until they are golden brown

Add 3 cups of water and bring to boil

Add corn meal, cover, and turn hear on low

Stir occasionally to avoid burning the bottom

You may need to add another cup of water

When the corn meal reaches soft and slightly runny consistency, turn off the heat

Add salt and pepper to taste

Add butter and feta cheese. This is completely optional. I've made polenta completely vegan and with butter/feta and both versions tasted really good.

Ladle the mixture into a muffin pan that's been sprayed with olive oil. I use ceramic muffin pans in lieu of teflon or aluminum ones and have had no "sticking" issues. One cup of corn meal yields about 12 polenta muffins.

Let the polenta cool in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.

Heat in the oven before serving.

Serve with garlicky spinach and tomato sauce.

Enjoy!

Black bean soup with lemon balm

My super sweet sister in law gave me a bag of dried lemon balm from her herb garden. Its proper latin name is melissa officinalis. It is a lemony smelling herb that is a member of the mint family. Dried lemon balm makes a great tea that can help with digestion, fighting viruses and is very calming. However instead of making a tea, I decided to incorporate it into a soup. While trying to decide which soup to make, I remembered that while living in Phoenix, I tried an amazing Persian lentil soup with ginseng. So, last night, I decided to make a variation on that recipe with my newly acquired lemon balm and a can of organic black beans. I bet this recipe would work well with mint or ginseng.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 stalks of celery washed and diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 3-4 tablespoons of dried lemon balm with stems/twigs removed
• 1 can of organic black beans
• 1 handful of brown rice
• 2 tablespoons of braggs amino acids
• olive oil
• cumin
• salt
• pepper
• 3-4 cups of water

Directions:

1. Saute the onion in olive oil in a medium sized soup pot until it becomes translucent
2. Add lemon balm and cumin and continue to saute until the onions begin to brown
3. Add braggs amino acid, carrots and celery and continue to saute until the celery is soft
4. Add water, cover with a lid and let simmer until the water begins to boil
5. Add black beans and rice and let simmer on low heat until the rice is soft
6. Add salt and pepper
7. Puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender
8. Adjust salt and enjoy!