This is a wonderful salad at the peak of the garden, when fresh tomatoes and cucumber are plentiful.

Ingredients:
Five tomatoes, deseeded
One sweet red onion (see notes)
Two cucumbers, deseeded
Extra virgin olive oil
Red wine vinegar
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea or Kosher salt

Directions:
Deseed tomatoes and dice to about one half inch cubes.
Deseed cucumbers and dice to about one half inch cubes.
Dice onion to one half to one quarter inch.
Combine tomatoes, cucumber and onion in bowl.
Dress with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
Stir, taste and adjust dressing as necessary.

Notes:
I would recommend red onion only if it is sweet. If it is peppery, substitute sweet onion.
Stir before serving.

Video:
See this salad being made.

To see my videos, including high quality versions, visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

Longing for a new way to enjoy broccoli, I thought a bowl of soup sounded good. This recipe is versatile enough to serve warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

Ingredients:
1 Tb olive oil
1 lb fresh broccoli (about 4-1/2 cups), cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced (see this video for easy peeling)
2 cups homemade chicken stock
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 cup rich yoghurt
1 tsp salt (if chicken stock is unsalted)

Directions:
1. Heat oil in stock pot over medium heat.
2. Add broccoli, onion and garlic to pot, cooking until softened but not browned.
3. Add chicken stock, tarragon, yoghurt and salt and bring to a simmer.
4. Puree soup in blender or with an immersion blender.

Notes:

Cooking yoghurt will kill the bacteria so don’t consider the yoghurt in this recipe as a probiotic.

Enjoy warm or cold.

Yields 5-1/2 cups.

Quick, fresh, tasty and lovely to look at.

Ingredients:
Provolone cheese, sliced
tomato, sliced
basil, fresh shredded
extra virgin olive oil
salt

Directions:
1. Arrange tomato and provolone on plate.
2. Drizzle with oil.
3. Lightly salt.
4. Top with basil.

Notes:
Options: omit oil, add fresh ground black pepper, add imported Italian prosciutto.
Check the label, but the imported Italian prosciutto tends to be legal.

I tend my basil plants all summer looking forward to this treat. Once made, the trick is to keep my six year old from eating it all before me.

Ingredients
2 cups basil leaves, tightly packed.
1 cup toasted pecans
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1-1/2 cup freshly, finely grated asiago cheese (85 grams).
1/2 tsp salt

Preparation
1. Dry roast pecans in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes.
2. Cool completely.

Directions
1. Place all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.

Notes
This recipe will double well and freezes well. Pine or other nuts can be substituted for toasted pecans. Parmesan can be substituted for asiago cheese. This is excellent on most any meat from steak to shrimp. Try it on the grill. Your non-SCD friends will love it on pasta too. Try it on eggs too.

Freezing
I make a large batch of this and freeze it in one quart zip bags. Put about a cup into a bag, lay it flat and squeeze out all the air you can. This will keep well in the freezer for months.

Video:
Buying fresh basil is expensive so I grow my own. The one trick I’ve been taught is to prune the basil regularly to encourage more leaves to grow. It works great! Removing the flowering parts forces the plant to put its energy into growing more leaves, giving you a big basil bush. And who wouldn’t want a big basil bush? See the video for a demo of pruning your basil.

For more of my videos, including higher quality versions, visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

This quickie side zings both your eyes and your mouth.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup sun dried tomato, julienned (cut into thin strips)
5-6 ounces fresh baby spinach
salt

Directions:
1. Saute tomato in olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes.
2. Add spinach and saute just until wilted, turning over once or twice.
3. Season with a bit of salt and serve.

I was getting tired of broccoli when I discovered this combination. It gives it a whole new twist and my youngest loves it.

Ingredients:
3-4 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 head of broccoli cut stir-fry size
savory pepper blend
salt

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in large pan on medium high heat.
2. Add broccoli and reduce heat to medium.
3. Liberally season with salt and savory pepper blend.
4. Sauté for 5-7 minutes or until broccoli is crisp tender, stirring occasionally.

Notes:
Do not cover pan while cooking or broccoli will get mushy.
Add 1/2 a sliced onion if you like.
There should be enough pepper medley to make the dish look dirty – don’t be shy – use lots. I haven’t used too much yet.

This is truly a treat. Even the people who don’t like fish, tend to like it! The smoking compliments the rich flavor of the salmon.

Ingredients:
fresh salmon fillet
extra virgin olive oil
salt
fresh ground black pepper
wood chips (hickory, mesquite, pecan, apple, etc.)

Preparations:

1. Soak wood chips is water for at least an hour. I like to use hickory or mesquite, but feel free to experiment. You’ll find wood chips next to the charcoal in many supermarkets.
2. Start your grill. You will use both direct and indirect cooking so keep your coals to one side.

Instructions:
1. Rinse salmon in cold water and pat dry with paper towel.2. Run your hands over the salmon and remove any bones you find.
3. Place salmon, skin side down, on heavy duty foil and then on a cookie sheet. The foil will eliminate any problems of sticking to the grill, while the cookie sheet gets the salmon to and from the grill easily.
4. Coat the salmon flesh with olive oil and liberally season with salt and pepper.
5. When coals are ready, place salmon on it’s foil directly over the coals. Close grill and cook for about 15 minutes.
6. Shift the salmon off the coals to a different part of the grill.
7. Drain wood chips and place a couple of handfuls on the coals.
8. Close grill and let it smoke for about 20 minutes, checking occasionally. If the smoke dies down, add more chips.
9. When salmon flakes easily with a fork, it is done. If you like a dryer fish, smoke longer. If you like an oilier fish, smoke shorter.

Ingredients:
mixed baby greens
asiago cheese, large shavings
strawberries, sliced

Family Favorite Dressing:
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 T water
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp black pepper, fresh ground
1 clove garlic, smashed (see this video for easy peeling)
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder

Directions:
1. Combine all dressing ingredients in a shakable container.
2. Shake well, dress greens and toss to coat.
3. Top salad with strawberries and cheese.
4. Sit back and rake in the compliments.

This dressing naturally separates and will need shaking right before using.

Note that the large shred of asiago cheese is preferable to the small. The large pieces assert their character in a way that a small simply cannot and are vital to the experience.

If possible make this dressing a day ahead to give the garlic time to suffuse as the flavor will improve with time.

No need to refrigerate dressing. It will keep a week or more at room temperature.

Notes:
Smashing the garlic is important. Mincing the garlic will not give the same effect. Smashing will allow more of the essence of the garlic to infuse the dressing.

To add a little extra sparkle to this salad try topping with some chopped candied pecans.

Videos:
How to smash garlic:

How to shave cheese and why you’d bother to do it:

For more of my videos, including higher quality versions, visit my YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/eatingSCD

The spices and long cooking combine to create a tender beef with a complex flavor not too unlike a mild barbecue sauce. This is definitely a comfort food.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup olive oil
3 lb. chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat
1 lb. carrots, sliced
1 onion, sliced
3/4 cup water
1 clove garlic, pressed (see this video for easy peeling)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. dried tarragon
1 Tbs. dried oregano
1 Tbs. dried parsley
1/4 tsp. dried rosemary leaves
1 quart home-canned tomatoes OR two pounds fresh, cored and skinned
salt

Directions:
1. Liberally season trimmed roast with salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Heat olive oil in dutch oven over medium high heat until it shimmers.
3. Sear roast for about 8 minutes each side, or until it’s well browned.
4. Remove roast from pan and let stand.
5. Add carrots and onions to pan and sauté until browned, stirring once or twice.
6. Add water to pan to deglaze. Scrape bottom of pan to get all brownings up.
7. Add garlic, bay leaf, tarragon, oregano, parsley and rosemary and cook for 2 minutes.
8. Add tomato to pan and bring to a strong simmer.
9. Return roast to pan and reduce to a medium simmer.
10. Simmer covered for 3-4 hours or until meat shreds easily.
11. Spoon tomato sauce over meat each hour to keep it moist.
12. Taste sauce after 3 hours and adjust salt to suit your taste.
13. Remove bay leaf.

Freezes well.