Nightshade Free Sweet Dry Rub

When I made ribs this week, I first had to make the BBQ sauce and the dry rub.

BBQ rubs usually have paprika in them, but paprika is made from peppers and I can't eat it, even in small amounts. Because of the lack of paprika and the presence of black pepper, this rub is a bit peppery instead of spicy.

Sweet Dry Rub (adapted from a recipe found here, other ideas are there as well)
6 Tbl brown sugar
3 Tbl Sea salt or Kosher salt (you want a coarse salt that won't soak into the meat right away)
3 Tbl ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp mustard powder

Mix ingredients together and store in a cool, dry place.

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, peanut free, nut free, coconut free, soy free, as well as free of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, sorghum, tapioca, and shellfish. Always check labels before using to make sure the ingredients and/or manufacturing conditions haven't been changed.

Fauxmato BBQ Sauce (Tomato Free)

I made ribs this week, which meant I finally sat down and tried to figure out our BBQ sauce recipe. This version tasted close to the one Mr M made awhile ago (but didn't document) that we've been trying to re-create since. This sauce gets a Korean BBQ sauce flavor from the sesame oil and ume plum vinegar, but it's not over-powering. In the past we've used a bottled Korean BBQ sauce that was really good that contained whole sesame seeds, so you could easily add a tablespoon or two of whole sesame seeds as well.

Fauxmato BBQ Sauce

4 c fauxmato sauce
2 tbl worcestershire sauce (recipe found here, mix together the ingredients below)
     1/2 c cider vinegar
     2 tbsp coconut aminos
     2 tsps water
     1/4 tsp mustard powder
     1/4 tsp onion powder
     1/4 tsp ground ginger
     1/4 tsp garlic powder
     1/8 tsp pepper
     1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tbl sesame oil
1 tbl ume plum vinegar
1/3 c brown sugar
1 tbl coconut aminos (soy sauce substitute)
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp molasses
1/4 tsp tamarind paste
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 bay leaf

Simmer for about half an hour. Remove bay leaf and use sauce. Freeze or refrigerate leftovers. Great on ribs and chicken.

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, peanut free, nut free, coconut free, soy free, as well as free of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, sorghum, tapioca, and shellfish. Always check labels before using to make sure the ingredients and/or manufacturing conditions haven't been changed.

Faux-Mato Sauce

One of the many things LMS and I can't eat is tomatoes. Initially this didn't seem like too much of a problem- just don't put them on our salads or our {bunless} hamburgers. Then we realized that it also meant no chips and salsa (well, we can't eat the chips, either, so no big loss), no pizza (who would want to eat pizza without cheese, anyway?), or spaghetti. Ok, that last one was a bit of a problem. We do like spaghetti once in a while. Mr M did some research and found a company that makes and sells a "Nomato Sauce". However, it was very expensive, which meant we wouldn't be trying it anytime soon. Mr M looked at their ingredient list, then did a bit more research and came up with this recipe for Faux-mato sauce.

For 1 batch of sauce:

1 medium beet
6 carrots
3 stalks of celery

Peel and cube beets, add to a pot of water. Peel and slice carrots into small chunks, add to pot. Slice celery into small chunks, add to pot. Water should cover the vegetables. Bring to boil, continue to cook till all veggies are soft.

When all veggies are soft, drain most of the water. Move veg to blender, including the reserved cooking water (you can do multiple batches depending on blender size and capability). Blend well. ( A Blendtec or Vitamix is great for this) Sauce will be thicker or thinner depending on how much liquid you add to the blender. We tend to leave it pretty thick, then thin as needed when we actually use it.

We make 4 or 5 batches at a time and put the sauce in pint jars and freeze. I imagine you could also run them through a water bath to can them, but that's just too much effort :)

Once you have the basic sauce made, you can do different things with it: tomato sauce, tomato paste, spaghetti sauce, and BBQ sauce.

For a tomato sauce substitute: leave the sauce plain

For a tomato paste substitute: return sauce to pot after blending and cook on medium heat till very thick

For a spaghetti sauce: add Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste. You can also add minced garlic, chopped onion, and other chopped veg (mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, etc) if you like that kind of thing (we do).

For a BBQ sauce: I'll get back to you on this one. Mr M tends to throw things in the pot and cook by smell, so it's sometimes hard to pinpoint what he used and how much. We tried to keep track with the last batch, but it didn't taste as good as the previous batch, so we'll keep trying to replicate that so we can share the recipe.

You must be wondering:

But how does it taste????!!

Can it really taste like tomatoes???!!

What about those beets??!!

The answer: yes, it does taste like tomatoes. I only have a memory of what tomato sauce tastes like, but it tasted like it to me. Mr M, who still eats tomatoes when he gets the chance, said it tasted very much like tomato sauce. Some {unsuspecting} friends we had over for dinner didn't notice anything till we mentioned what was in the sauce :)

I will say, though, that the beets do give the sauce a very faint pinkish cast, and if left to sit, will turn your noodles or chicken a bit pinkish. Which is a little weird, but it doesn't affect the flavor.

This recipe is gluten free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, peanut free, nut free, coconut free, soy free, and is also free of tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, sorghum, tapioca, and shellfish. Always check labels before using to make sure the ingredients and/or manufacturing conditions haven't been changed.