I remember fighting with my siblings over who ate up all the goodies from the holiday stuffing! Why not make a stuffing with all the goodies and skip the bread? This way it fits every gut healing and autoimmune diet out there and you only have the goodies. This is a small recipe, filling a 9 inch square pan. Double or triple it as needed.
First the Goodies
1/4 cup oil (ghee, olive oil, leftover bacon grease)
1 cup onion, chopped 1/4 pound mushrooms, chopped (button, shiitake or wild mushrooms) 3 stalks celery, chopped
Sauté until well cooked and translucent
Then more Goodies
¼ pound of bacon or sausage, cooked and drained
1/3 cup pecans, toasted (or walnuts or chestnuts or omit for nut sensitivity) 1/2 teaspoon sage (and rosemary, oregano, tarragon)
1 apple, chopped (or crispy pear or pomegranate seeds)
Salt and pepper, to taste
Combine the goodies with this list in a pan and salt to taste. Use the dish like this, as a veggie side dish or proceed to step 3 to toss in a stuffing base.
Then the base, traditionally bread but you can use anything you want.
1 egg (optional to make it stick together better)
1 cup alternate base ( cooked buckwheat groats, cooked white rice, grated cauliflower or grated celery root)
1 small loaf stale bread - corn or wheat (and if you want traditional bread that's fine too)
1/2 cup chicken stock
Toss the egg, stock and your base of choice and bake at 350 for 1/2 hour or more, until the sides get a bit crispy.
This is a small and flexible recipe – if you have anything is traditional to you then check on the family’s diet needs and toss it in.
*For more detailed ways to enjoy food and heal your gut check out Symptoms and Solutions.
*For an interesting healthy twist I like buckwheat groats, they’re actually a seed from the rhubarb family. Buckwheat is gluten free but not technically grain free for some diets.
*Most people on a grain free diet can eat jasmine white rice as the only grain allowed because it absorbs higher up in the intestines, not leaving a residue to irritate the gut lining. This is helpful for people who need more starches and calories, but can't digest most grains.
*For a completely no grain version – grate cauliflower and make sure everything else is well cooked before tossing it with the cauliflower.
*Omit the filler and only have veggies and sausage as a really flavorful vegetable side dish.
* Bread is fine if it fits your diet – try cornbread or sourdough French.