GRAIN FREE LENTIL PASTA SALAD

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Summertime is barbecue time and for us that included marinated meats, sausages, baguette, and a variety of salads such as potato, pasta and mixed greens. That’s how it used to be before I changed my diet to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet to get my extensive gastrointestinal problems under control. I was advised to try the diet for four weeks to see if it could help me. At a point in my life where I did not believe that anything could really solve my multiple problems that came with fatigue and pain, I gave this diet a try. To my surprise, the pain eased a little within those four weeks and overall my intestines felt better. I was nowhere near healed, but it did feel better and I had less pain. So I took this last straw and clung to it, making sure to stick to the rules of the diet religiously. I simply had to deal with what was left when I cut out grains, starches, lactose, and all sugars that were di- or polysaccharides from your daily meals. At first, I kept it as simple as possible since I also cooked regular meals for the rest of the family.
Sadly, no more potatoes or pasta left my beloved summertime barbecues with plain grilled fish or meat and fresh salad made of lettuce, vegetables, and a simple homemade vinaigrette. It worked for my health and I was happy about the fact that I was healing. Over the years, more and more of my family members joined the diet for various health reasons. They also felt the instant improvements that come when you stop feeding a harmful gut population and to this day, all six of us still follow the same diet.

To make it easier on my husband and children, I ventured more into the culinary art of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I started recreating many of our old favorites and adopted numerous new recipes as well. The recipe below is one of my old favorites that I changed into a new grain free, gluten free, and sugar free version. I have always loved the combination of pasta, apple, peas, and bologna with a mayonnaise dressing. Instead of regular pasta, I now use green lentil pasta. For strict SCD adherence, you can find pre-soaked lentil pasta at wellbees.com. For us, since we are symptom-free, I use store-bought lentil pasta containing only one ingredient: red or green lentils. My personal favorite is green lentil pasta, as I think it tastes “just like the real thing”. I order the bologna from US Wellness Meats/grasslandbeef.com to make sure it is food additive and sugar free. The dressing is made with homemade 24 hour yoghurt that’s naturally lactose free. This recipe is perfect for a weekend barbecue when you have time to grill and enjoy your meal together.
Guten Appetit!

INGREDIENTS
for the dressing:
1/4 cup plain yoghurt ( if you are sensitive to lactose I recommend homemade 24 hour yoghurt )
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp honey
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1 tsp sea salt
freshly grated black pepper

for the salad:
8 oz green lentil pasta
5 oz green peas
1/2 lbs bologna (For a SCD legal bologna I bought beef bologna from US Wellness meats / grasslandbeef.com)
1 small onion
1 Granny Smith apple

INSTRUCTIONS
for the dressing:
Add the yoghurt, mayonnaise, honey, lemon juice, and parsley to a bowl and mix to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

for the salad:
In a large cooking pot, cook pasta according to package instructions. Strain and rinse under cold water. Set aside and let cool.

Add the peas to a metal strainer placed inside a medium cooking pot with about 1” of water at the bottom. Bring the water to a boil and steam the peas for about 2 minutes. You can also use the microwave for this task.

Peel the Granny Smith apple, remove the core, then cut into small pieces.

Peel and mince the onion.

Remove the bologna from the packaging and cut into bite-size cubes.

Add the peas, apple, onion, and bologna to the lentil pasta and toss to combine. Add the dressing and combine once more.

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