BBQ SAUCE

Let’s face it. Store bought BBQ sauce can contain preservatives, nasties like MSG, natural flavorings and dyes. So what’s one to do? Make it yourself. It tastes so much better and you know what’s in it. You can also control the level of heat, sweet, or (if you really have to, smoke)…

Try this recipe and make sure you put some in jars for the next BBQ or to take with you when friends invite you over.

(makes six cups – three pint-sized jars)

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 medium onions, minced

2 28oz cans whole tomatoes in juice (organic of course)

2 8oz cans tomato sauce (organic)

1 1/2 cups Bragg’s apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup Grade B Maple Syrup (You can use honey if you don’t have Maple Syrup) *Note: leave this out til the end and sweeten to your taste!

4 tbsp molasses

1/2 cup orange juice

2 tbsp paprika

2 tbsp chili powder

4 tsp hickory liquid smoke (*optional, again, leave out til the end and add to taste)

4 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (find one with no MSG or high fructose corn syrup)

1/4 cup dijon mustard

1/2 tsp all spice

1 bay leaf

Optional: HOT PEPPERS! I love them, some people don’t.

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Mince the onions in a food processor and set aside. In a large kettle, heat up the coconut oil on medium for a few minutes. Add the onion and saute until the onion becomes translucent, about five minutes.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients, and just as it starts to boil, set the heat to low.

3) Simmer for two hours.

4) After two hours, remove the bay leaf and blend in a food processor in batches until it’s smooth.

5) Return the now-smooth sauce to the kettle and simmer for another 30 minutes. Or, if you have an immersion blender, you can just blend it in the pot. If the sauce isn’t thick enough, you can add more honey or molasses and cook it for another 30 minutes or so.

Let's face it. Wing sauce is good on everything. I even use it on my salads at times. But those ingredients and carbs. Ugh. 

Here's a hot sauce recipe that's very easy, and you can use on wraps, wings or whatever :) I left mine super thick so I can use it as a dip also. You can thin yours however you like.

I made my hot sauce to use (recipe below), but I know most people don't have that kind of motivation. So, if you don't want to make the hot sauce, use a clean cayenne pepper sauce if you're not making your own. Clean meaning, peppers, water, vinegar and spices. Even Tabasco brand has only a few ingredients. I prefer Iguana sauces from Belize. 

With that said.

If you're making your hot sauce:

Typical Hot Sauce Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds peppers of your choosing (hot peppers vary, so use what you like), tops/stems removed, halved

6 cloves garlic, peeled

4 cups filtered water

4 teaspoons sea salt

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

To Quick Cook

1) Combine the peppers, garlic, 2 cups of water, 2 teaspoons of sea salt, apple cider vinegar in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until the peppers and garlic have softened.

2) Pour mixture into a blender (making sure to leave the cover vent open, but covered with a kitchen towel) and blend until very smooth. If using hot peppers, beware, this can be like pepper spray!!

3) Transfer mixture to a squeeze bottle and store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks, and use some in this recipe.

The Wing Sauce

1 pound cashews, soaked for at least 6 hours.
Your homemade, or clean hot sauce
Olive oil or Avacado oil

Also:  you can add more at this point, or if you're happy with what's in your hot sauce that's cool too.
OPTIONAL ITEMS:

Garlic cloves to taste

Sea salt to taste
And I added lime juice.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Whirl the soaked cashews in a processor, add the olive oil to thin the cashews just a bit.

2) Carefully add in your hot sauce. Taste the mix every few Tablespoons to get the desired heat.

3) Add the optional garlic clove(s), sea salt and lime.

4) Taste and adjust.

5) To thin, add filtered water, or I leave mine thicker like a paste for sandwich spread and thin as I need it.

Store in fridge.

I'm sorry the measurements aren't exact, but everyone likes a different heat level.

This is an excellent sauce that goes well with so many things. Pasta, salads, cheese and tomatoes or use on the grill!

INGREDIENTS

1 bunch parsley (you can substitute basil for more of an Italian flavor)

3 T chopped oregano

4 garlic cloves (adjust for your taste in garlic)

1/2 t sea salt

1 t dried red pepper flakes

1/4 t fresh ground black pepper

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil

2 T Organic apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Place everything into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add to pastas, over salads, use as a dip.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup cashews

½ cup water

3 garlic cloves

½ cup fresh dill

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast

½ teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Blend all ingredients together in a high-powered blender until creamy smooth. Add more

water if too thick.

A vegan alternative to the classic Aioli. Cashews are naturally creamy when blended so make a fabulous base for the aioli, though macadamia nuts are also divine. If you have a sensitivity or allergy to nuts, you can substitute with sunflower seeds or even avocado – if you don’t mind it being green of course.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 2-5 hours

½ cup + 2 tablespoons water

Juice of one lemon

2 teaspoons organic apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon mustard

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

2 big pinches fine sea salt (or more – taste first)

DIRECTIONS

Drain and rinse the cashews then add all ingredients to the blender, whiz till smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

This creamy raw vegan tzatziki is completely nut-free and oil-free, and is packed with fresh herbs and tons of flavor, this is a must try!

Perfect on your new-found gyro meat recipe or as a spread or dip for veggies. Dig in!

INGREDIENTS

1 cup hemp seeds

2- 3 cloves garlic minced

juice of two lemons

2 tablespoons heaping tahini

2-3 persian cucumbers or 1 large

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

4 tablespoons water

DIRECTIONS

1) Chop the cucumbers into small pieces. In a blend or food processor, combine the hemp seeds, tahini, minced garlic, lemon juice, and water. Blend or process until smooth and creamy. If it's too thick, add water 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.

2) Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the herbs and chopped cucumber. Serve immediately or keep refrigerated in an airtight container for 2-3 days

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NACHO "CHEESE" DIP

You can buy them for $2 on up for one package from certain stores, or for $2 you can buy enough seeds to sprout for the entire year!

You will never know this creamy, spicy nacho cheese dip is healthy AND vegan. Go ahead and indulge. Great for game day, or to take to a party and share with your friends.

The first key to foolproof mayonnaise is to use a stick blender (or immersion blender) and the accompanying mixing cup. If you are accustomed to making mayo in a regular upright blender, then you will appreciate that the stick blender method does not wear out your arm by requiring you to drizzle oil into the mayo in a slow, steady stream. The other key to fool-proof mayo is to use a recipe like this one that is based on a mixture of flax meal and water, rather than eggs.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup olive oil

1 TBSP finely ground flax meal

3 TBSP water

1 TBSP raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard powder

1 tsp raw honey

DIRECTIONS:

Pour oil into the immersion blender cup. Add all other ingredients. Place blender into the cup. With the blade resting flat on the bottom of the cup, blend the mixture for a few seconds until it no longer incorporates. Tilt the blender or lift it a bit to allow more oil to flow into the blade as you continue mixing. Blend until no more oil incorporates. Total blending time is about 15 seconds. Don't worry if a bit of oil on the top doesn't incorporate. Simply remove the blender, and use a spoon to stir it in. Cover and store in the fridge.

The nice thing about this is it’s also great used in other recipes, like pastas.

Check out my Hickory Smoked Catsup Tutorial on YouTube,don't forget to like and subscribe!

https://youtu.be/LtPSkR0MBRE

You'll need a few hours to make this recipe. But so worth the time.

INGREDIENTS

Roma tomatoes

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

Fresh Cracked Pepper

Olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash as many Roma’s as you need (to make enough for 2-3 weeks I use about 24 tomatoes). 

Cut in half lengthwise and place in bowl

Sprinkle olive oil on tomatoes, sea salt and pepper and toss (you just want to coat them so they don’t burn)

Presoak your hickory (or other wood, mesquite, cherry whatever you like)

On the grill (either set the grill to about 200 degrees or get the charcoal around 200)

Once at a steady heat, add the soaked wood on the charcoal, or as instructed per your grill, and place tomatoes skin side down on grill.

Close the lid and let smoke for approx 3 hours. They should be shriveled, but not thoroughly dried.

Remove from the grill and place in food processor. Process until smooth.

Place in container – refrigerate up to 3 weeks.

You will need a crock...no cracks and ceramic glazing in tact. This is important because ant bacteria intrusion could ruin the batch.

INGREDIENTS

*Enough very thoroughly washed pickling cucumbers, no dirt, dings, flower buds or knicks or soft pickling cukes. Again, this can ruin the batch. NOTE: You can usually find a local grower who will sell you a peck or half bushel. 

* Fresh  dill

* Pickling salt

* Pickling spices

* 5-10 garlic cloves (depending on how much you like)

* BRINE: 1 cup white vinegar, 1 gallon water, 1 -1 1/4 cup salt You may need to make more depending on the size of your crock.

INSTRUCTIONS

1) Place a layer of dill and 2-3 garlic cloves in the bottom of the clean crock.

2) Put a layer of cucumbers on top (I stack them vertical to get more in the crock, they can fit snug).

3) Layer dill, garlic, pickles until the crock is full

4) Make the brine by boiling the water, salt, vinegar and pickling spices until the salt is thoroughly dissolved. If it's not, you will get sediment.

5) Cool brine to room temp, then pour over stacked pickles, dill and garlic.

6) Pour mixture (water, vinegar, salt) over cucumbers until everything is submerged.

7) Throw in a few more pieces of dill on top

If you have a cover place cover on to. If not you can use a weighted plate. You need to keep them submerged.

Place in a cool place, and start checking them after 3 days. When a film appears, just skim it off. 

Pickles should be ready in 3-4 weeks. If you need to add brine follow the brine instructions above. 

We all know the controversy on soy. Whether it's good for you or bad, 95% of all soy is GMO...so why not make your own? This soy sauce has that same salty taste, with a hint of mushroom. Trust me, you won't miss the old-school stuff

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces devil’s tongue peppers (see notes for alternative peppers)

4 ounces carrot, peeled

4 ounces white onion, peeled

2 ounces garlic (or more as desired – I like a lot of garlic)

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground mustard

1 tablespoon local honey (optional)

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon Himalayan Pink sea salt (I used my smoked sea salt, yes, I smoke that too)

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

½ cup organic apple cider vinegar with the Mother

½ cup water or more as desired

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Chop the peppers, carrot, onion and garlic. Add them to a pot with the remaining ingredients.

1.Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. You can simmer longer if you’d like to develop the flavors more.2.Cool slightly then pour the mixture into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.3.Add a bit more water if you’d like to thin the sauce out a bit to your preference.4.You can serve it as is or strain it through a fine mesh sieve for a much smoother hot sauce.5.Store in airtight containers in the refrigerator.

Notes

Heat Factor: HOT. Devil’s tongue peppers pack a nice punch of heat.

If you can’t find devil’s tongue peppers, use habanero peppers or scotch bonnet peppers instead. Realistically, this hot sauce recipe will work with ANY type of pepper.

Great on vegetables, or meats

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, finely chopped 

1/2 cup finely chopped scallion 

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves 

1 teaspoon sea salt 

2 teaspoons coconut sugar or maple syrup 

1 teaspoon ground allspice 

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1 hot pepper, finely ground (or 2 Scotch bonnet peppers) 

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 

3 tablespoons Coconut Aminos or soy sauce (if you dare to walk there) 

1 tablespoon olive  

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients together and marinade anything from fish to veggies. Grill.

This dip is Wendy approved and the best part? No dairy plus good fats and protein from the cashews 

Cashews. Did you know they come from fruit and are actually the seed? Yep. And the tree is in the same family as poison ivy and poison sumac. YIPES! Eating and handling raw cashews can cause the same reaction as their counterparts.

This odd, but versatile snack comes to us from the cashew tree. The tree is a tropical evergreen that produces the cashew seed and the cashew apple.

YES! The cashew apple!

The cashew apple is a fruit that they use the pulp to distill into a sweet drink or liquor. The cashew tree is originally native to northeastern Brazil

WHEW~!!!

And now a recipe for these crazy seeds.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups cashews, soaked overnight (make sure you do this or you'll end up with cashew butter instead of a creamy dip).

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh chives

3 tablespoons parsley

1 clove garlic (or more)

1 tablespoon onion powder (I also add chopped chives or scallions as a garnish)

1 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Strain cashews and add them to blender with the rest of the ingredients.

We all know the controversy on soy. Whether it's good for you or bad, 95% of all soy is GMO...so why not make your own? This soy sauce has that same salty taste, with a hint of mushroom. Trust me, you won't miss the old-school stuff

INGREDIENTS

½ lime (juice)
1-2 tbsp raw almond butter
1 tbsp raw coconut aminos
1 tbsp coconut sugar
2-4 tbsp water (more water will give you thinner consistency)
1 tsp garlic, minced
¼ tsp ginger root, grated
Pinch chili flakes 

INSTRUCTIONS

Whisk ingredients together and use as a dip on veggies, noodles or whatever your heart desires. ;) Great as a dip alternative. 

We all know the controversy on soy. Whether it's good for you or bad, 95% of all soy is GMO...so why not make your own? This soy sauce has that same salty taste, with a hint of mushroom. Trust me, you won't miss the old-school stuff

INGREDIENTS

1 large portabella mushroom cap

1 cup warm water

1T pink Himalayan sea salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend til smooth. Lasts up til 3 weeks in the refrigerator. 

Best Mustard...EVER!

INGREDIENTS

1 12-oz. bottle Stout

1 1⁄4 cup brown mustard seeds (5 oz.)

1 1⁄4 cup yellow mustard seeds (5 oz.)

1 cup red wine vinegar

1 tbsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1⁄4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1⁄4 tsp. ground cloves

1⁄4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1⁄4 tsp. ground allspice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine ingredients in a nonreactive mixing bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1-2 days so that the mustard seeds soften and the flavors meld. (I used a Ball canning jar)

2. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a food processor and process, stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, until the seeds are coarsely ground and the mixture thickens, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a jar and cover.

3. Refrigerate overnight and use immediately or refrigerate for up to 6 months. (The flavor of the mustard will mellow as the condiment ages.)

MAKES 3 1⁄2 CUP

One of the best ways I know to make your foods "pop" is to have it seasoned to the max. What better way than to have seasoned salt ready to go?

I make all my salts, even to the point of smoking with hickory, mesquite or applewood. I then combine them with a variety of spices to make flavors. 

Here is one of I keep on hand. It's very tasty and makes cooking a breeze!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons coarse Pink Himalayan or Celtic Sea Salt

5 cloves garlic (or more to taste)

2 cups herbs (sage and rosemary) fresh is best

DIRECTIONS

Roughly chop the garlic into the salt.

Chop the rosemary into the garlic salt mixture.

Chop the sage into the garlic salt rosemary mixture.

Spread on parchment and let air dry for 1-2 days, or place in dehydrator at 105 degrees until dry.

Alternatively, you can do this in a food processor. Go in the same order but be very careful not to over process. You will end up with mush.