No-Mato Marinara Sauce

My family and I have decided to do a not so fun elimination diet to see if it helps clear up any of our issues.  We've known we needed to try it for awhile, but we've kind of been putting it off.  We got back last week from vacation, and with 2 months before the holidays really get going, we decided now was the time to buckle down and commit!

We will be following the Auto Immune Protocol Diet, which means no grains, dairy, seeds, nuts, sugar, alcohol, and nightshades.  Out of all of those, it's the nightshades I miss the most.  Enter, No-Mato Marinara Sauce.  For not having any tomatoes, it is pretty tomatoey.  I made mine on the thick side, so I can thin it out as need for different recipes.  I am also going to try to use it in place of tomato paste in beef stew (per my husband's request), but more on that later.

I started by sautéing a red onion in a small amount of olive oil.  Once they were soft I added a clove of minced garlic, 3 cups chopped carrots, and 1 chopped beets.  After stirring, I added 1 cup water and brought the mixture to a boil.

I reduced the heat to low, and allowed the veggies to simmer for 1 hour.  Once cooked, I transferred the ingredients to a blender with the juice of 1 lemon, a palm full of Italian herbs, and a tsp of himalayan sea salt.  I blended until smooth, adding more water as needed to keep the mixture going.  This batch made 12 servings. Adding more water, or liquid when cooking would increase the serving size.

To serve, I combined the sauce with ground beef (pre cooked, from my freezer stash), additional seasonings (because the meat was unseasoned), and 1/4 cup pork stock (made from cooking down a ham bone, and straining off most of the fat).  I heated the ingredients until well combined, and then served the meat sauce over roasted spaghetti squash.  If you are following the 21 Day Fix (which I am not currently on, but I try to keep the balance on the containers in the back of my mind), the plain sauce counts as 1 green.  With the ground meat, it would be 1 green and 1 red.