Most of us grew up on American, Italian and Mexican Food but now you may have been told to avoid potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers – the main items in our diet. It is actually the solanines that are doing the harm to some people.

To quote from the book Body Restoration by Drs Lebowitz and Kapadia

“Historically, most solanine containing foods were not considered edible before the 1800’s (except in some parts of South America).  In fact, as late as the 1850’s, most Americans considered potato as a food for animals rather than humans.  The Farmer’s Manual from this time period recommended that potatoes, “be grown near the hog pens as a convenience towards feeding the hogs.” Even foods like kim-chee did not have peppers in them 100 years ago but just utilized a salt brine.”

Looking into its history: in 1544, the Italian herbalist Pietro Matthioli, classified the tomato plant along with other poisonous plants; even though he admitted having heard that the fruit was fried in oil, and then eaten in some regions.

According to  http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/tomatoes.asp  “the tomato is laced with mysterious qualities having the powers to excite, and being labeled as an aphrodisiac. For these reasons it was used in potions and magic filters by alchemists in the 1500's and 1600's. It is not very clear how or where in Europe this exotic fruit (coming from such an ornamental plant) began to appear on the tables of some courageous farmers.”

You will need to stay off nightshades such as potato (except for sweet potato/yam), tomato, eggplant, pepper( except for black/white/red peppercorns), paprika, tobacco, ashwagandha, and gogi berries for at least 6-8 weeks to get the full benefits of what a solanine free diet can offer. Beware, most mayonnaise and mustard have paprika, which shows up in may food products. READ LABELS

Thanks to Drs Bruce Moselle and Jim Hogg we tweaked their recipes for a ‘No-tomato’ sauce that is free of nightshades but full of flavor. By varying the thickness, amount of lemon juice and seasonings you can use it in many recipes where you would normally use tomato sauce.

To spice up foods I love adding lots of freshly grated ginger.

Brand Names that carry solanine free items:

MAYONAISE – free of paprika
Spectrum Canola Mayo
Organic Ville Mayo – also gluten and egg free

MUSTARD
Annie’s Org Horseradish Mustard
Annie’s Org Honey Mustard
Annie’s Dijon Mustard
Delouis Organic Whole Grain Mustard Moutarde A L'ancienne Biologique

SEASONED SALT BLENDS
SPIKE – Vege Salt
Vegit
SPICELY Org All-Purpose Seasoning Salt Free
SIMPLY ORGANIC – Grilling Seasons Chicken Seasoning

There are also Curry leaves which can be used in curry dishes but are hard to find:
Curry leaves (curry leaf) are used in Indian cooking. The leaves look a bit like bay leaves along a long central stem and are used in a similar fashion. The pungent leaves are typically toasted in oil prior to the rest of the ingredients being added to the cooking pan. The leaves are best fresh but can be found and used dried as well.

No_tomato Sauce – If you do not want to make your own try this: http://www.nomato.com/

Below are other recipes from Drs Moselle and Hogg:

No-Tomato Tomato Sauce

2 1/2 cups/675g steamed carrots
1/2 cup/100g steamed beets
2/3 cup/app 90 ml water
3 tablespoons/45 ml lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons/app 5-6g salt
1 tablespoon/app 12g basil (optional)
1/2 teaspoon/app 3-4g onion powder
pinch of oregano
3/4 cup/175g chopped cooked onions
1 clove minced garlic

Steam the carrots and beets until tender.  Brown onions and garlic together.  Measure all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Freeze or refrigerate until ready to use.

Submitted by Dr Hogg

Solanine Free Tomato-less Sauce

1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped, optional
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 (8-ounce) can beets,* drained (reserve the liquid)
1 (14-15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1/2-3/4 cups gluten-free chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon coarse salt
24 grinds fresh black pepper
1/3-1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 ½ teaspoons cornstarch or arrowroot, moistened with 2 tablespoons reserved beet juice submitted by: Bruce Moselle

1. Sautee onion and garlic in oil until onion is translucent and slightly brown. 
2. Add lemon juice and vinegar. Simmer for 5 minutes.
3. Puree beets until very smooth.
4. Add beets, pumpkin puree, salt, pepper and basil to pan. Stir until combined.
5. Whisk in the broth. Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Do not over-cook; beets discolor with prolonged cooking. If sauce is too thick, add a little more broth to thin.
6. Whisk in the moistened cornstarch. Cook for 1 more minute. Taste and adjust seasoning.
7. You put 4# carrots and 2 large beets in 1 1/2 c water and cook till soft. (I did this in my pressure cooker for about 20 minutes)
8. Then add 1/4 c or more of lemon juice, 1/4 c olive oil, seasonings such as oregano, basil, garlic, onion, salt to taste. Add at least 2 more cups of water and blend till smooth.