Nightshade Free Marinara

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It’s been a rough week, mostly because my lovely bf has torn his meniscus. He was out on his “Course 2”, preparing to be a SAR (Search and Rescue) leader with a group of SAR trainees when he stepped wrong. The next thing you know, they are carrying him out on a litter. The trainer becomes the subject; real life scenario! It has been very frustrating for him as he has one more course to do AND a glacier climb scheduled with the Mountaineers this spring to complete the alpine badge. Needless to say, he’s not a happy camper.

Fortunately, that doesn’t prevent him from being a victim of another sort. One of the things I love most about my bf, is the fact that he is willing to try my food experiments. I rarely use recipes and tend to just throw things together in the kitchen and hope they turn out edible! Most of the time I am a success and I haven’t killed anyone yet.

Okay, so this recipe is probably more work than most folks would put into a marinara recipe for backpacking. So, if you are not nightshade free, just go buy your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce (one that doesn’t have any oil) and stick that baby in the dehydrator. However, if you ARE nightshade free or want to sneak extra veggies into your meals, give this one a try. I have enjoyed eating it on the trail as much as I do at home and I hope you will too!

#carrots #beet #cranberries #onion #broth #garlic #seasalt #lemonjuice #basil #oregano #bayleaf

Being nightshade free means two basic foods had to go: tomatoes and peppers. Peppers are easy to replace; ginger, wasabi and horseradish all provide spice. Tomatoes, on the other hand, are a flavor all to their own and harder to find substitutes for. I have been able to successfully make chili with sweet potatoes but spaghetti sauce and marinara have been much more difficult.

Why you ask? Because most nightshade free recipes exchange tomatoes for BEETS! Don’t even get me started on how much I don’t like beets. Yes, their red. Yes, they are good for you. Yes, they have are full of vitamins and antioxidants like folate, iron, potassium, manganese and magnesium. But I can never get over the fact ~~THEY TASTE LIKE DIRT~~ are so earthy!

I probably shouldn’t write like this in a recipe, comparing food to soil, but this is how I talk in real life so that is what you get…

Oh, my bleeding heart…

But yet, I persisted. I have tried several versions of marinara with beets and they all were just a bit too sweet ~~(sweet dirt, yum)~~. They lack the savory tang of tomatoes. So, I set my mind to think of something that might be able to replicate that. And if it was red, even better!

Cranberries. Yes, cranberries. I know what you are thinking. Turkey and stuffing, right? Well, cranberries (without all the sugar) are tart and tangy! And, along with lemon juice, gave my sauce what I was looking for. The carrots do still make things a bit sweet, but the balance is there. Trust me!

And, cranberries are also crammed full of great nutrition like tomatoes: manganese, vitamin C and E, copper, fiber, phytonutrients and antioxidants. And like beets, they are anti-inflammatory, too. Added bonus? They are believed by many to reduce the bacteria buildup that causes UTIs, a problem some folks see on the trail.

Your first step is to bring out the flavor of the onions by sauteing them until they are soft and translucent.

If you are going to be making with for the trail and need the food to last longer than a few weeks without refrigeration, sauté your onions in water and add extra oil on trail. For home, sauté in oil. The caramelized flavor of the onions is what gives the sauce a richer flavor.

Now, add the onions to your diced beets and carrots, broth of your choice (I use either vegetable or chicken), oregano, garlic, bay leaves and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is reduced (thick). Add the basil and lemon juice and cook another 5 minutes. Take out the bay leaves.

Look at that deep red color. And it didn’t taste like dirt! And it is delicious!

I like my sauce thick and chunky, I don’t like it when it separates and runs all over the plate. It also helps it dehydrate faster. If you like a thinner sauce, you can gradually add another 1/2 to 1 cup of broth to the recipe until it is the consistency you prefer.

I made up two versions, one with meatballs for me and one without for the no-red-meat/mostly vegan bf. I used sweet potato noodles for this meal because I was preparing some for the dehydrator but often I serve this sauce over a big bowl of steamed or sauteed vegetables like mushrooms and zucchini. When I am feeling fancy, zoodles are another option (noodles made from zucchini).

For the trail, spread the sauce out on jelly roll trays in your dehydrator as thin as you can. Set the temperature for fruit/veggies and let dry 8-10 hours.

I will check part way through and flip it to dry more evenly.

Break it up in to chunks when dry and pulse in the food processor to make a powder. This allows it to rehydrate faster then if you just leave it in small pieces.

Look at all those antioxidants!

These are some of the things I like to combine the sauce with: mushrooms, ground beef or sausage, dried basil, shredded cabbage and sweet potato noodles. For weekend trips, I will just use the shredded cabbage as noodles, but for longer trips needing more calories, I use the noodles.

A typical meal might look like: 1 cup noodles or shredded cabbage, 1/4 cup sauce, 1 Tb dried mushroom, 1 tsp dried basil, and a dash of salt. If you want to skip the meat, up the mushrooms or add the protein of your choice. Store with a packet or two of olive oil. You can find out more ideas for non-grain noodles on my Trail Meal Bases: 5 Grain Free Swaps.

I add enough water to cover all the ingredients and let soak until soft. You can see me demonstrate this and how to clean up afterwards with leave no trace principles in my post How Do I Eat Dinner On The Trail.

If you are new to dehydrating or want more information, especially if you need your meals to last more than a month without refrigeration, please visit my Dehydrating 101 page to find out how to do it safely! For more backpacking meal ideas, check out my page How To Go Backpacking Paleo. All those recipes are nightshade free, as well!

Prep Time
15 minutes

Cook Time
10 minutes

Total Time
35 minutes

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish

Cuisine: Autoimmune Protocol, Gluten Free, Nightshade Free, Nut free, Paleo, Soy free, Vegan, Whole Food

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

2 cups diced carrots 16 oz
1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1 diced beet medium
1 diced onion medium
3 tablespoons olive oil or water
2 cups broth
1 tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 lemon juiced
2 teaspoons oregano
1/4 cup fresh basil
2 bay leaves

For The Trail

1 cup dried noodles or dried shredded cabbage
1/4 cup dried sauce
1 tablespoon dried mushrooms
1/4 cup dried cabbage
1 tsp dried basil
dash salt
1/4 cup protein dried meat or tofu (optional)

Instructions

Dice the beets, onions and carrots.
Sauté the onions in 3 tablespoons water or olive oil until soft and translucent. If using oil, until golden brown and carmelized.
Add the beets, carrots, cranberries and onions to the broth and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium low, add the garlic, bay leaf, salt, oregano and let simmer until everything is reduced, 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent the sauce from burning.
Add the basil and lemon juice and cook for another five minutes. Remove the bay leaf. The sauce is now ready to eat at home or prepare for dehydrating.
At home, serve with a big bowl of steamed or sautéed veggies like mushrooms and zucchini or meatballs. Garnish with basil.
For the trail, spread out thinly on jelly roll trays in your dehydrator and set for Fruit/Vegetables. Let dry until sauce is completely dry and brittle, about 8-10 hours depending on how thin you get it.
When dry, use your food processor to make it into a powder.
For each meal, use 1 cup noodles (or cabbage), ¼ cup dried sauce, 1 tablespoon mushrooms, ¼ cup cabbage, 1 teaspoon basil and a sprinkle of salt. ¼ cup dried protein is optional (meat or tofu).
Keep in a freezer bag with a few packets of olive oil. Packets of parmesan would be good, too!
At camp, add enough hot water to cover and let soak to rehydrate the ingredients.