Marilyn's RECIPES for the WEEK 12/5 Have a great SCdiet week-end�

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VEGETABLE BASED CRACKERSNote: you MAY be able to do these in an oven, although I have not yet tested this. I use an Excalibur 9 tray dehydrator. (Although I confess that, with as much as I use my dehydrator, I'm eyeing the BIG Excalibur commercial one. If I could just figure out (a) how to afford it, and ( where I would PUT it!)This recipe originated because I wanted a cracker with fewer calories than the wonderful almond flour crackers, and because so many people on the list serve found the nut flours difficult to handle the nut flours in the first weeks or months of the diet, yet were desperate for something with which went crunch when they bit into it. Although amounts for fresh herbs are given here, dry or freeze-dried ones are recommended for any vegetable-based cracker as

they will help soak up some of the remaining moisture.I did find that reducing the parsley and increasing the chives a bit yielded a cracker that tasted an awful lot like sour cream and chive potato chips!Zucchini Pulp15 pounds zucchini (courgettes)1 tea towel1 colanderfood processor, blender or grinderPeel, deseed and slice the zucchini. Steam until tender in a large pot -- this is a great use for that big old pasta pot and its colander which you no longer use. Drain well.Purée zucchini according to your choice of method. I use the optional fine plate on the Maverick #5 grinder. Pour the resulting green-white

slop into a colander lined with a tea towel. Do not try to use cheese cloth - you will loose too much of the zucchini. Drain to about half the original volume. You may have to gather up the edges of the tea towel and squeeze the zucchini to get as much liquid as possible out of it. Reserve the liquid for flavoring soups or gravies.What you will have is a greenish-white pulp about the consistency of drained yogurt. This will, needless to say, be quite a bit moister than almond flour.When the zucchini is drained, divide the pulp up into three cup portions - each five pounds of zucchini will yield about 3 cups of drained pulp. Freeze the remaining portions to cut down on preparation time for future batches of crackers.Wizop Marilyn L. Alm louisianascdlagniappe@...

Curry paste?I can't call this an LSCDL recipe yet because I haven't kitchen tested it. <grin> On my list of things to try. I usually fiddle with the quantities and such like. However, it is adapted from a very nice recipe, and ought to be adequate for purposes of the cooking. The original recipe calls for fish sauce, not anchovies, but I don't yet have a fish sauce recipe, though one is Under Construction. I've had pretty good luck substituting anchovy fillets for anchovy paste or fish paste or other things, so it ought to work here.http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaicurrypasterecipes/r/yellowpaste.htm1/2 stalk lemongrass, sliced 1-2 yellow chilies, depending on desired spice level (if unavailable,

substitue 1-2 red or green chilies)2 shallots (or 1 small cooking onion)1 thumb-size piece of galangal or ginger, peeled and sliced3 cloves garlic1 tsp. ground coriander 1 tsp. mustard seeds or prepared mustard 1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg (or substitute cinnamon)3 Tbsp. mashed anchovy fillets1/2 tsp. turmeric1 Tbsp. honey2 kaffir lime leaves, snipped into small pieces with scissors for

more flavor, or simply left whole1 Tbsp. lime juice (or the juice from 1/2 a lime)1 cup homemade coconut milk (divided, 1/3 and 2/3s)Place lemon grass, chilies, shallots, ginger, garlic, coriander,

mustard seeds, nutmeg, anchovies, turmeric, honey, kaffir

lime leaves lime juice, and 1/3 cup of coconut milk in your

food processor or blender. Process well. Use additional

coconut milk if necessary to keep the blades moving. Store

in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks

(or longer). To use right away, place paste in a wok with

some vegetable oil. Stir fry until fragrant (about 1 minute),

then add the rest of coconut milk plus the leftover lemon

grass stalk.Note: If the flavor or spice of the sauce is too strong, or if

you simply prefer a "saucier" curry, add more coconut milk.

Add meat, seafood, and/or vegetables. Always taste test for

salt and sourness/sweetness before serving, adding a bit

more anchovy (or a pinch of salt) if not salty enough, and

more honey if too sour. If too spicy, add more coconut milk

or a scoop of yogurt. If too salty, add a squeeze of lime juice.Wizop Marilyn L. Alm louisianascdlagniappe@...