Vegetables

When I first started on SCD I didn’t actually eat that many vegetables. I found that if I had anything too fibrous it would cause stomach upset. I always tried to increase the amount I was eating but didn’t have any luck at all in the first year. If I could give anyone advice on SCD or GAPS it is to not worry too much about vegetables when just starting out. Eat as many as you can and choose organic only, but don’t force yourself to eat them if your digestive system can’t handle them. Focus on organ meats, broths and healthy fats to get your vitamins and minerals. That being said, vegetables are delicious and can add a lot of variety to your diet.

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Roasted Zucchini
This is my favorite vegetable dish. I usually roast this at the same time as potatoes for other family members.

2 large zucchini
rosemary
paprika
1 garlic clove, minced
sea salt and pepper
butter, at room temperature

Chop zucchini into 1″ chunks. Spread into a greased glass baking pan. Sprinkle with rosemary, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper. Dot with butter. Using hands, mix spices and butter into zucchini. Bake at 350F for 30-40 minutes or until soft in the center.

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Delicious Asparagus
This is so simple and yet so tasty. You have to get an unrefined coconut oil that has all the flavor in it. After trying asparagus with coconut oil, I’ll never cook it in any other oil again.

asparagus
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp sea salt

Sauté asparagus in coconut oil over medium heat. Cover while cooking to keep the moisture in and keep them from burning. Towards the end, add minced garlic and sea salt. Cook until asparagus is soft when pierced with a fork.

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Baked Squash
Any variety of squash can be baked. Butternut and buttercup squashes are sweeter. Pepper and acorn squashes are a bit less sweet and more fibrous texture. Spaghetti squash has less flavor and is more watery.

Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place cut-side down in a glass baking dish. Pour 1/2 “ of water into the dish. Bake at 400F for 50-60 minutes, until squash is soft. Spoon the squash into a dish and add butter and sea salt.

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Crockpot Butternut Squash
Place a whole butternut squash in a crockpot with about an inch of water in the bottom. Cook on low 4-6 hours, until you can easily pierce it with a fork.

Remove it from the crockpot carefully and let it cool enough to handle it. Cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Spoon the squash into a dish and add butter and sea salt.

It really is that simple!

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Sautéed Cherry Tomatoes
dozen or more cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/t tsp each Italian spices (oregano, basil, sage, marjoram)
1/4 tsp sea salt

Sauté tomatoes in butter, vinegar and spices until they have softened. When done, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Serve.

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Sautéed Greens
Any green leafy vegetable can be steamed or sautéed with garlic and butter. My favorites are fresh spinach and arugula. I also do beet greens, chard, and kale. If you aren’t doing butter, use coconut oil, ghee or any other fat for cooking and add olive oil only after cooking. Some greens like chard may seem bitter. Try adding a bit of lemon juice and even honey to flavor. Garlic can be added at any point but if added later will have a nice strong flavor.

Greens
1-2 tbsp Butter, ghee, coconut oil, lard or tallow
1 tbsp olive oil
garlic, chopped
½ tsp sea salt

Wash greens and roughly cut into large pieces (easiest way is to hold them as a bunch on a cutting board and slice through in a few spots). Chop up garlic and leave aside. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add wet chopped greens and sauté a couple minutes. Add garlic and finish cooking. Place in a dish, drizzle olive oil and sprinkle sea salt over top.

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Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes
This is a common recipe for people following diets that don’t include potatoes. I was always skeptical of it until I finally tried it. It is delicious and so simple to make!

1 head cauliflower, roughly chopped
¼ cup butter or ghee (use lots)
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp pepper

Steam the chopped cauliflower until soft, usually about 15-20 minutes. Place cauliflower into a pot, mixing bowl, or food processor, drained of water as well as you can. Add butter, salt and pepper. Blend using an immersion blender or food processor.

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Cauliflower Couscous
Cauliflower rice is another common recipe for grain-free diets that is meant to replace a staple. I found that if I thought of this more as a ‘couscous’ like dish then I was satisfied. It is definitely not like rice but is delicious anyway, and can be used just like leftover rice to do a ‘fried rice’ type of dish.

1 head cauliflower, grated
¼ cup butter, or more
1 tsp sea salt

Grate raw cauliflower or use a food processor. Basically the difference between this and the mashed potatoes is that you grate it first, and then cook it.

Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add cauliflower and stir/fold cauliflower while its cooking, for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve.

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Pickled Beets
This is a good early stage SCD recipe that is useful to have on hand as a snack or to accompany a quick meal. I eat these cold and they keep quite well for at least 1 week in the fridge.

Beets
1 quart/liter Mason jar
Water
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tsp sea salt

Roughly chop beets and peel if preferred. Place in a pot and almost cover with water. Boil for 30 minutes or until soft. Let cool and transfer beets to a mason jar. Add all water you boiled them in. Add vinegar and sea salt. Add more water until beets are just covered in Mason jar. Cool in fridge.

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This post is a part of Real Food Wednesdays hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop. I have been participating in the Real Food Wednesdays, sharing recipes and seeing other bloggers’ recipes, hoping to get more inspiration for creating new dishes.