3 Recipes for the GAPS Diet

There are many options for family-friendly, nourishing recipes using organic, locally sourced whole foods that fit into the GAPS diet. Here are a few of our favorite recipes to get your healing under way.

Basic Meat Stock: Turkey or Chicken Thighs or Quarters

Ingredients:

• 2 to 3 pounds pastured turkey or chicken thighs or quarters, skin on*
• 3 to 4 carrots, coarsely chopped
• 1 small onion, quartered
• 3 to 4 celery ribs, chopped
• Handful of black peppercorns
• 1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary or thyme
• 2 to 4 tablespoons tomato paste (optional)
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves, to finish

Directions:

1. Place all of the ingredients except the garlic in a 5-to-6 quart Dutch oven.
2. Cover with water, 2 inches above the ingredients.
3. Place in a 350 degree oven for 3 hours or in a slow cooker on low for 6 to 8 hours.
4. Serve the meat and vegetables with a cup of stock alongside.
5. Use a garlic press to add a small clove of garlic to each cup of stock, along with some sea salt, whey, or probiotic juice.

*Note: You can also use a whole pastured chicken, cut up, in place of thighs or quarters.

Butternut Squash Soup, or “Chicken on Fire”

This yummy, nourishing soup is the perfect meal for a chilly winter day.

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts chicken stock to cover (you can supplement with filtered water if you don’t have enough stock)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, ghee, or animal fat
• 2 to 3 leeks, sliced in half, washed, and sliced again into half moons (you can substitute 2 onions, chopped)
• 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
• 1 bouquet garni*
• Sea salt and pepper
• 2 cups shredded chicken (optional)

Optional garnishes:

• Yogurt or cultured cream
• Chopped fresh herbs
• Soaked and sprouted pumpkin seeds

Directions:

1. Put the stock and fat in a pot.
2. Add the vegetables and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the bouquet garni, and cover and cook for 3 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and the squash is easily pierced with a fork.
4. Take out the bouquet garni and remove the soup from heat.
5. Carefully puree the soup with an immersion blender until smooth.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste along with chicken, if you like.

*Note: A “bouquet garni” is a bundle of herbs tied together with cooking string, or wrapped in a bundle of cheesecloth and tied with a string. They are used to flavor soups, stocks, or stews. We most often use parsley, rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, and garlic, but you should feel free to use whichever herbs you desire.

Beet Kvass

The GAPS diet is all about replenishing the bacteria in your gut—and this fermented beverage will do just that!

Ingredients:

• 3 medium or 2 large organic beets, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• ¼ cup whey or fermented pickle juice
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed or minced (optional)
• Filtered water

Directions:

1. Place the beets in a clean 2-quart wide-mouthed glass mason jar.
2. Add the salt, whey, and garlic, and fill to the shoulder with filtered water.
3. Cap and leave on the counter for 2 days; then it’s ready to drink!
4. After you drink almost the entire first batch, you can add more filtered water, cap, and leave on the counter for an additional 2 days.
5. After this you must throw out the beets and start fresh. Save ¼ cup liquid from your previous batch to use as an inoculant instead of the whey.
6. The easiest way to get the most out of your ingredients is to pour what you wish to drink, replace it with filtered water, and return the jar to the fridge.
7. Do this each time you drink some kvass. When the beets are “spent,” throw them out and start a new batch.

Note: Recipes have been excerpted from Hilary Boynton and Mary G. Brackett’s The Heal Your Gut Cookbook and printed with permission from Chelsea Green Publishing.