Tomato-Free Ketchup!

Believe it or not, I tried a recipe for tomato-free ketchup today!  When we test for food sensitivities, we sometimes find that clients react to solanine.  Solanine is a naturally occurring food chemical that is present in many of the foods we eat, especially tomatoes, potatoes, and eggplants.  Clients who are sensitive to solanine often say that they miss being able to use ketchup on their foods, and I had a tomato-free recipe I'd been wanting to try.  I was curious about it, because traditionally tomatoes are the main ingredient! 

Here's the recipe:

1 (16 ounce) can jellied cranberry sauce
1 (16 ounce) can pear halves, drained
1 (16 ounce) can sliced carrots, drained
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup white corn syrup
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Process all the ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.


It only took a couple of minutes to prepare. (The part that took the longest was finding the Karo syrup in my Kroger, which was recently renovated and completely rearranged!)









The recipe makes one pint (4 cups), so if you try it, I hope you LOVE it!

I served it for dinner with hamburgers and french fries.  I know, a dietitian has no business serving hamburgers and french fries for dinner, but it was grass-fed organic beef on whole wheat buns with sweet potato fries, so I think it's ok every now and then! 

The taste?  Well, it wouldn't be mistaken for regular ketchup.  But, I have to say that it had a satisfying combination of the sweet/sour/salty/spicy flavors that I expect from ketchup.  Overall, it had a great flavor!  I highly recommend this one, if you are sensitive to solanine.

Next, I'd like to try a recipe for gluten-free bread, made with spelt.  I've never cooked with spelt.  Have you?