Vegetarian

We love spicy food at our house. I fell in love with Harissa when I ate at Cava Grill- which is a Mediterranean restaurant in Maryland. I did a little more research on the spicy paste and found actually a North African condiment and there are tons of different ways of making it. I’m pretty sure there is no wrong way of making it. In my version, I added some parsley, mint, and lemon to make it a bit more complex.

Harissa

4 sundried tomatoes packed in oil
3 mini red bell peppers or ½ red bell pepper- seeds removed and roasted
4 ounces dried chilies- see notes below
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried mint
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 ½ teaspoons coriander
1 clove of garlic peeled
½ teaspoon lemon zest
Lemon juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil plus more for drizzling

Kitchen equipment needed:
Food processor

1. Start by roasting the red pepper. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Drizzle the pepper with a little olive oil and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until softened and browned on the outside skin. Once cooled- peel and seed the pepper and place in the food processor.
2. Place the dried chilies on a bowl. Add boiling water to cover and let peppers rehydrate for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes- drain and remove the stem and seeds from the chilies and place in a food processor.
3. Meanwhile, measure out the caraway, cumin and coriander. Dry roast the spices in a sauce pan over medium heat until slightly toasted and fragrant. Once slightly cooled- grind the spices with a mortar and pestle.
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor- tomatoes, spices, garlic, parsley, mint, lemon, olive oil- and blend until you get a thick, smooth paste. You may have to stop the food processor a couple of times to scrape down the sides.
5. Store in an airtight jar or container and top the sauce with a thin layer of olive oil.

Note on chilies: I’ve hear that any type of dried chili works fine for this paste. I used 2 ounces of ancho and 2 ounces of guajillo chilies to make mine. I suggest checking out this page that I found when I was making some of my own chorizo and wasn’t sure what chilies to use. It lists the chilies by heat level. I would, however, suggest staying away from super-hot peppers like habaneros or tiny hot Thai chilies. We usually buy our dried chilies in the international section of our local grocery store or at Mexican markets.

I’ve used this sauce in a variety of ways. As an extra sauce on salads, mixed with mayonnaise to make a sandwich spread, as a dipping sauce for parties, or brushed on grilled meats. I made an awesome Mediterranean chicken salad with harissa, marinated red onions, tahini dressing, grilled chicken, olives, and salad greens. Here’s what it looks like. I linked to all the other recipes related to this meal too so you can check them out.

Now that the weather is getting warmer I’ve been wanting to eat more salads. I never realized before doing whole 30 how much better I feel eating seasonally. I try to eat mostly organic and in season but out of season produce is something I think we all partake in. Anyways, with salad comes dressing. I feel like having a couple of varieties of dressing on hand help me to consume a larger amount of veggies.  I made this tahini dressing to go with a Mediterranean chicken salad but it can really go on anything if you ask me.

Herb Tahini dressing
3 Tablespoons tahini
3 Tablespoons water
Juice of ½ lemon
1 clove of garlic- crushed
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Paste of 1 date
4 fresh mint leaves
A small handful of parsley- chopped
Olive oil for drizzling

1. Soak the date in a little hot water to soften. Once softened, drain the excess water and place in a cup for blending with a stick blender or into a blender or food processor.
2. Add the tahini, water, lemon juice, date, garlic, salt, mint and parsley into a cup for blending with a stick blender or into a blender or food processor. Blend until you get a smooth dressing.
3. Drizzle a little olive oil in and blend once more to incorporate.

When I am on Whole 30 preparing just a couple of homemade items goes a long way. There are plenty of great homemade sauces out there and I have made quite a few but mayonnaise and ghee are the two most important for me. Both are simple to make. Plus, making your own helps to ensure that you know it is 100% Whole 30 compliant. There are plenty of resources out there to tell you how to make them and you can find several other recipes by doing a Google search.

It’s very easy to make your own mayonnaise- especially if you have a stick blender like I do. Seriously, it only takes a couple of minutes. It is a great base for dressings, sauces, and salads (egg salad, tuna salad, and chicken salad).

I use my stick blender to make sauces, soups, gravy and mashed side dishes like cauliflower or sweet potatoes. I highly suggest getting one. It’s smaller and more versatile than using my blender to do these whipping tasks. There are tons stick blenders available on Amazon. When we got married we got a great set that included the stick blender, 4 different blades, an immersion cup, a whisk, and chopper with a lid. It’s this Miallegro. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be for sale on Amazon right now. To be honest you could go slightly less expensive by forgoing the extra attachments. I rarely use the whisk and chopper attachments.  I do use the actual stick blender and immersion cup quite often though.

Easy Stick Blender Mayonnaise

Ingredient list:
1 egg yolk from large egg
1 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard- make sure it is compliant!
1 cup extra light olive oil
¼ teaspoon of kosher salt

Kitchen supplies needed:
Stick blender with immersion blender cup
Measuring spoons
1 cup, spouted measuring cup- I like Pyrex

1. Place egg yolk, water, lemon juice, mustard, and salt at the bottom of the cup.
2. Pour the oil on top of other ingredients in the cup.
3. Let all the ingredients settle for 45 seconds.
4. Place head of the stick blender all the way at the bottom of the cup. Switch the blender on and slowly lift the head of blender and tilt as necessary until all the oil has been emulsified.
5. Store finished mayonnaise in a jar in the refrigerator for about a week.

There are a lot of recipes that call for a room temperature egg. I’ve honestly never done this. I have found that the most important step to getting good mayo using this recipe is to let the ingredients settle before blending them. If you don’t have a stick blender there are recipes online that give you instructions how to whisk by hand. Of course there are many different ways of making mayo- some use the egg white too, some use different oil. I suggest experimenting a little to find one you like most. If you haven’t done so, check the Whole 30 website for mayo and dressing recipes.

One creamy dressing I enjoy making from this mayo which is a zesty ranch. Again, there are tons of ways to make ranch dressing and you can find several other recipes by searching online. I started by getting inspiration for ranch dressing on the Whole 30 website. But I experimented a bit by adding a few other things and put my own flair on it. There is no wrong way to make ranch dressing. Here is how I make mine.

Zesty Ranch Dressing

Ingredient list:
½ cup mayonnaise- recipe above
¼ cup coconut milk
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon of each fresh dill, fresh chives, fresh parsley and minced shallot – all finely minced

Mix all ingredients together. I use a few pulses with my stick blender to combine. Store in a clean, dry container and store in the refrigerator.

Ghee adds flavor and fat to foods and is a good source of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA).  Clarifying butter removes the lactose and casein from the butter. It also a great, high temperature cooking oil. You can buy already prepared ghee, but I like making my own.

Ghee
Ingredient list:
1 pound unsalted, grass-fed butter (I like Kerrygold)
Kitchen supplies needed:
Medium sauce pan
Fine mesh strainer
Paper towel or cheese cloth

1. Cut up butter into smaller pieces and place in a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat.
2. Bring butter to a boil and the reduce heat to medium- the butter will foam and bubble.
3. Simmer for approximately 8 minutes. The butter will look golden and there won’t be much more foaming and bubbling. Also, there will be browned milk solids at the bottom of the pan.
4. Pour the butter through a fine mesh strainer lined with a paper towel or cheese cloth and into a heatproof container.
5. Store the ghee in a clean, airtight container. It does not need to be refrigerated. The ghee will keep in the airtight container for up to a month.

Here are a few pictures of the process:

Try to control yourself and not turn the heat up higher than medium-high. Making ghee doesn’t take that long and burned ghee sucks. Also, I have accidentally put my jar of ghee in the refrigerator after I’ve made it. This is fine, but I suggest that once you’ve put in in there continue to store in in the fridge.