Did you know that food bloggers with dietary restrictions get excited when they come across a recipe they can eat? At least this one does. It can seem like a constant game of guessing and trial-and-error to determine which foods my body will tolerate.
Due to my compromised gut health – even though I’ve made leaps and bounds in gut healing – my body is prone to becoming sensitive to foods. I’ve found it essential to remove potential trigger foods, such as eggs, during times of increased stress, such as traveling. I’ve also realized the importance of varying my diet. For example, when I discovered tigernuts, I enjoyed them daily for a while. Then, I took them to my nutritional/energy practitioner and discovered that my body wanted a break from them.
So, with that said, I’m always on the lookout for recipes that…
- Offer a wide variety of flavors and preparation techniques
- Introduce new ingredients I can enjoy
- Avoid potentially problematic foods for me
Enter Nourish: The Paleo Healing Cookbook by my friend and fellow blogger Rachel at Meatified!
Let me summarize my excitement about this cookbook:
- Over 120 recipes suitable for the Autoimmune Paleo Approach. But you don’t need to be following that protocol to enjoy the recipes! All recipes are grain, dairy, nut/seed, refined sugar, and egg free.
- While the book does in include some AIP-friendly treats to satiate your sweet tooth, it focuses on savory dishes and a variety of vegetables. This is reflects an ideal healing diet – it’s all about the nutrients and veggies, with the occasional homemade dessert.
- Rachel’s recipes provide an accessible introduction to ingredients from which I’ve shied away, including beef tongue and chicken hearts. She uses simple preparation methods and shares the secret to making these ingredients palatable for everyone in your family.
- These recipes will get you out of a protein rut, which is an all too common conundrum. Tired of baked chicken and salmon? Mix it up with beef cheeks, canned sardine fillets, and more!
Paleo Spinach Artichoke Dip from Nourish
Rachel is kindly sharing a recipe for Paleo Spinach Artichoke Dip from the book. I know you’ll love the recipe, and don’t forget to check out Nourish, available on Amazon! It will also be hitting bookstores soon.
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) coconut or avocado oil
- ⅓ cup (45 g) diced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup (120 g) peeled summer squash
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- 6 oz (170 g) drained jarred artichoke hearts
- 2 tbsp (8 g) nutritional yeast
- ½ tsp ground mace
- 6 oz (170 g) package of frozen spinach, thawed
- Add the oil to a saucepan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and garlic to the pan while you peel and chop the summer squash. Cut the summer squash into pieces that are the same size as the diced onion, then add to the pan and stir to coat with the oil. Cook until the squash is tender, stirring occasionally so the squash doesn’t brown, about 10 minutes.
- Transfer the softened vegetables to a blender and add the chicken broth. Gently squeeze the artichoke hearts to release any excess water before you weigh them out. Add the artichoke hearts, nutritional yeast and mace to the blender – process until you have a thick, smooth, “creamy” sauce.
- Pour the sauce back into the saucepan and return to the stove top at a low heat. Drain the spinach and squeeze out any excess water, then chop finely. Stir the frozen spinach into the sauce and simmer until the dip is warmed through. The dip probably won’t need any additional salt because of the artichoke hearts, but taste now and add any extra salt if you wish. Serve the dip warm and enjoy. Try pairing it with Pita Wedges (page 222 of the cookbook).
So excited to see this recipe, and I’m going to try it next week. Family coming in soon, so this will be perfect!
Oh I have yet to try nutritional yeast – does it taste good? I am cutting out dairy for a while to figure out where some inflammation is coming from so anything cheesy tasting and nutritious would be good!
This looks great but I’m wondering about the nutritional yeast. Many of us with food sensitivities and gut issues also struggle with Candida and yeast is a huge no no so I’m very surprised that it would be an ingredient used in Paleo or AIP cooking. Am I mistaken about this?
Thanks so much for sharing your recipes and acquired knowledge. You’re a great help to many!
Nutritional yeast has deactivated yeast in it. It is delicious and healthy with no repercussions.
I agree with this comment. Most nutritional yeast is now pasteurized and/or GMO. (There are only two brands that aren’t, apparently.) I strongly recommend anyone on an AIP diet steers clear of it. When you’re working so hard to get your gut healthy, taking nutritional yeast is like suddenly deciding to play Russian roulette:-( Am scouring the net for a good spinach artichoke dip recipe that has no yeast. Seems impossible to find …
Am making this for an appetizer today. Actually am going to add Shrimp to it to add another dimension. Hope it works out (will try a little first before adding too much-just in case)! Thank you for this great looking recipe and Happy Easter. LG
Printing this one out so I can make sure to gather up ingredients. Excited to try, since the yummy artichoke dip that my local co-op sells in the deli is based on cream-cheese. I buy it not infrequently anyway because a) yum and b) such a good pair with raw broccoli. Looking forward to trying my own without the dairy. Plus, never hurts to have a recipe that calls for some of the summer squash that my beloved CSA farm piles into the boxes week after week mid-summer 🙂
The pictures of your recipe looks very delicious, it attracts me. I also love your ingredients and your step by step instructions in this recipe . I can’t wait to try and taste it…Thanks for this healthy and nutritious recipe. Perfect for a day…
This looks great, but my son can’t have squash. Any ideas for a good substitute here?
Do you think replacing the broth with water would make this a little tasteless? If so, any ideas of how to make this vegetarian and tasty? I have a lot of non meat eating friends and family and would like to make this to share.