Soy Free Party Food

Tis the season for parties. And my husband and I have actually been invited to a small gathering at the home of one of my co-workers. It's a bit of a potluck with each guest bringing an hors d'oeuvre, dip or some other nibble. He has warned me that when they were purchasing their party foods, they forgot about The Soy Thing."You might want to bring something that you know is safe for you," he said, "I don't know what others are bringing."

Now, I'm not a completely unreasonable person most of the time. At least, I hope not. With family and very close friends, I do expect a modicum of respect and caring and thus my rant over the Thanksgiving meal; but I do understand that The Soy Thing can be overwhelming and downright annoying for regular people. Our office luncheon this year is being catered at $12 a plate. I did inquire as to what was being served and just told my boss and the co-worker coordinating it that while my husband (who is a volunteer at my office) will have no problem with this meal, I'll pack my own. I even offered to pay for my plate to make the budget come out right. I think they were surprised, but did not argue with me over much about it. And they did not accept my offer to pay for something I can't eat.

But here is a co-worker I actually like and who actually likes me, inviting my husband and I over for a cup of cheer and a few nibbles. He was concerned enough to warn me and that is good enough for me.

So, what shall I bring?

I'm inclined to keep it simple and go for a tray of peeled shrimp with a cocktail sauce made from fermented catsup (see page 104 in Nurturing Traditions). Note: I think she spells catsup incorrectly, but I could be the one incorrect on this.

I have some thinly sliced Wild Alaskan Salmon in my freezer. I hope to try this recipe in the future to make my own lox. I'm going to pull out a package of that and let it thaw. Then I'll take some of my yogurt cream cheese (ironically, the stuff left over from making whey) (page 87 in Nurturing Traditions), mix it with some capers, minced organic green onion and a little garlic and cumin, salt and paper. This mix will be smeared over the salmon. The salmon gets rolled up and then sliced into "wafers" or "pin wheels" and served with a little chopped parsley from my garden sprinkled over it. Red, green and white: I can't get more into the holiday spirit than that!

If I can get a good deal when I go to the fish market for the shrimp, I may also pick up a pint of fresh, local oysters and then swing by the store and get some Smithfield Bacon. Now, I do know that Smithfield is generally associated with the very evil people of big ag, and bacon with nitrates is not something I normally consume. But bacon wrapped oysters baked and sprinkled with a tiny bit of Old Bay, is just a stunningly decadent treat once a year.

It's kind of like Christmas cookies. I'm still trying to get my brain wrapped about how I will handle that dietary disaster. The Chocolate Cherry Truffles I shared here, are one idea. And I like the Sugar Plum recipe I snagged from Nourished Kitchen. I'm pretty sure I can adapt Snickerdoodles to a sprouted wheat and real butter and use organic sugars. But what is the NT answer to the white flour, white sugar, rolled and cookie cutter with colored icing? I mean, these things are memory makers for our family and my boys still talk about decorating cookies with me every year. I want a couple of cookies that I will be able to make with my future grand children that will hold the same magic for them.

Any ideas?

The Chocolate Fix

I have found that over the course of the last year, as I'm working my way further and further from processed foods and eating more healthy food; my craving for sugary treats like cookies and cake has diminished quite a bit. What has taken longer to lose is an occasional, overwhelming desire for chocolate candy. What has kept that in check is the challenge of finding a chocolate candy that does not contain soy.

There are a few. One that I have found is made by Rapunzel. They make an Organic Dark Chocolate bar that is soy free. It does contain organic raw cane sugar, organic cocoa beans, organic cocoa butter, and organic vanilla. One square will usually satisfy me for a week or more. The last bar I purchased survived on my kitchen counter for well over 3 months before we finally finished it off with a glass of red wine.

Recently, however, my local source for all things healthy is a tiny health food store in Callao, VA that just recently opened. It's called The Health Nut. They now have a web site. It is run by a delightful couple who reclaimed their health by learning to eat healthy food. He is a master smoothie maker and they have a little smoothie bar set up at the back of the shop. It's a great place for me to pop in on my way home from work and pick up things I need for dinner. She will also order special things for me when I ask. She'll get a half dozen of whatever I ordered and, so far, has found there is a market for the odd things I have requested - like walnut oil.

Anyway, as part of their Grand Opening Ceremonies, they had some samples of dishes made from items available in their shop. One of those things was the most awesome, sugar free, organic chocolate fix I've tasted yet. She gave me permission to share the recipe here:

Chocolate Cherry Truffles
Ingredients:
1 cup of dehydrated organic bing cherries
1 cup of crisy nuts (I used half pecans and half almonds)
2 tablespoons of good quality raw coconut oil (it should be solid at room temp)
4 tablespoons of Terr Amazon Organic Cocao Powder. Put 2 tablespoons aside for rolling later.

Put the cherries in your food processor. Give it a couple of pulses. Add the nuts. Give it a couple of more pulses. Add the coconut oil and 2 tablespoons of the cocoa powder. Hold the pulse button down for a bit and let it start to incorporate together. Scrap down the sides and pulse a little more until it forms into a ball (or blobs up on the sides like mine did). Put the whole mass in a small glass bowl -- you should have about 2 cups - cover and put in the refrigerator overnight.

The next day, put the last two tablespoons of cocoa powder on a plate. Break off little hunks of the cherry nut mixture and roll into small balls -- about marble sized. Roll the balls in the cocoa powder. I layered them in tupperware between sheets of waxed paper. Keep refrigerated. Eat as needed.

Even my husband, the sugar fiend, loved these and after eating just one told me I was going to have to make more.