Multiple Sclerosis Friendly Recipes

Cauliflower Cream Pasta Bake

5/31/2020

Here is another great way to prepare a creamy sauce out of cauliflower that will leave everyone guessing how you made such a cheesy and creamy sauce without cheese or cream! I prepared this with mushrooms, but you could use pretty much any vegetable you prefer. Zucchini, peppers, or carrots would be great substitutes. There are also three topping options you can choose from depending on how you are feeling. You can either make a cheeze sauce, which is what is pictured, or add sauteed onions or make some bread crumbs for a crispy topping. Or you could even go crazy and try all three together!

Cauliflower Cream Pasta Bake Recipe
vegan, gluten-free, plant-based, refined sugar-free

Bake ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
3 cloves of garlic
12-16 oz. pasta (I used brown rice pasta to keep it gluten-free)
16 oz mushrooms, sliced (can substitute any vegetable you have on hand)
2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup plant-based milk (or 3 Tbsp raw nuts with 3/4 cup water)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried sage (or 1 Tbsp fresh sage)
1 tsp dried thyme (or 1 Tbsp fresh thyme)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
2-3 leaves fresh sage for garnish

3 Topping options:
Cheeze sauce:

1 cup water
1/2 cup raw nuts
3 Tbsp tapioca or arrowroot flour
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

*blend all cheeze ingredients until smooth and heat over medium heat with stirring until the cheeze sauce thickens (5-10 min).

Onions:

Slice 1 onion and saute over medium heat (5-10 min).

Bread crumbs:

Add 2-3 slices of bread of choice to a food processor or blender and blend to form crumbs.
Can add 1-2 Tbsp of nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavor if desired.

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375°F and bake cauliflower florets for 20-25 min or until cooked through (you can also boil the cauliflower for 10-15 min if preferred).
While cauliflower is baking also roast the cloves of garlic for 15 min in the oven.
In a large pot cook pasta for 5 min less than instructions on the box, they should still be hard so they do not over cook later in the process. Then drain and rinse and leave in colander.
In the same pot that you cooked the pasta, add the sliced mushrooms and saute with the sage and thyme for 15 min. Then add the cooked pasta back to this pot with the sauteed mushrooms.
Once the cauliflower and garlic are cooked, add these to a blender with the rest of the "Bake ingredients", except the sage for garnish. Blend until smooth and mix together with the pasta and mushrooms.
Pour into a 9x13 baking dish.
Prepare the topping of choice (cheeze sauce, onions, or bread crumbs) and add to the top.
Bake 15 min at 400°F, garnish with sliced sage leaves, let cool for about 10 min and serve.

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Gluten-free Bread

5/10/2020

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A little over a year ago, I had a visit with a functional medicine specialist at the Cleveland Clinic. Seeing a functional medicine specialist is a very different experience compared to seeing a "normal" doctor. Their goal is to get to the root cause of health issues, and it literally starts by looking back at your birth and if you were breast- or formula-fed, then moves on to the conditions you lived in through childhood, along with discussing any health issues you experienced, and ends at the present.

A key tool used in functional medicine is an 8 week elimination diet. After the 8 weeks you slowly begin reintroducing foods that you removed from you diet to see if any specific food triggers your symptoms. When I completed the elimination diet last year, I was actually able to identify foods that made my symptoms worse.

So a few months ago when my fatigue started to majorly impact my daily life, I decided to try the elimination diet once more to see if the fatigue might be triggered by certain foods. This time around I noticed that gluten pretty much knocks me out. About and hour after I reintroduced gluten to my diet, I felt like I was hit by a truck and was out for the count! So, I have been avoiding gluten containing products for a few months now and have felt better (of course the fatigue isn't magically gone, but it is more manageable).

But as those of you who also avoid gluten know, it is really hard to find a really good gluten-free bread recipe. Maybe the store bought gluten-free breads are okay substitutes, but they typically have additional ingredients in them that I don't eat. So the journey began to find a really good gluten-free bread recipe that is also vegan.

Luckily, I came across a website that had pretty much everything I was looking for: Rhian's Recipes. The below recipe is my favorite so far but you should check out what else she has if you are looking for other gluten-free baking ideas. This recipe is super quick and easy and requires no yeast or kneading. It stores very well and it is even better when you put it in the toaster. Use it like you would any bread and happy baking!

Gluten-free Bread Recipe
Gluten-free, vegan, plant-based, refined sugar-free

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup chickpea flour
1 1/4 cups brown rice flour
2 Tbsp tapioca flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a bread baking dish (8 in x 4 in) with extra virgin olive oil.
Add all of the dry ingredients to a large bowl and whisk together.
Then add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.
Immediately pour into the greased baking dish and bake 40 min. At this point if you insert a knife or toothpick and it comes out wet, continue to bake another 5-10 min.
Slice and enjoy. Will keep well in a covered dish in the fridge and toasts wonderfully in the toaster.

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Cauliflower Cream Pasta Bake

Gluten-free Bread

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