Low Histamine Bacon with Southern Greens

 

Low Histamine Bacon with Southern Greens Recipe

LOW CARB / LOW HISTAMINE / LOW LECTIN / LOW OXALATE / RECIPES

I’ll confess…I really have missed bacon. Just a little crumble of bacon on a dish can transform it. But bacon is usually smoked and cured, which makes it high histamine. Even uncured bacon has higher histamine seasonings.

I’ve gotten very creative in my cooking to work with my food sensitivities. So I thought – why not figure out how to make a low histamine bacon? I’m also working on eating more greens. A lot more greens. This is because greens are high in magnesium, which is really critical for almost 400 different processes in the body. Beyond that, greens feed the beneficial bacteria in the GI tract.

Low Histamine Greens

Best of all, greens help the body produce Nitric Oxide. Nitric Oxide is one of the most important molecules in the body. And it helps stabilize mast cells! So more greens it is! Make sure you are including some of these low histamine, low oxalate nitric oxide boosting greens in your diet every day:

• Lettuces
• Basil (fresh)
• Cilantro (fresh)
• Kale, flat leaf
• Collard greens
• Arugula

Arugula is actually the best vegetable for boosting those nitric oxide levels. So, I always use arugula when I make greens. I also add arugula to a lot of other dishes – soups, salads, and stir-fries. When you cook arugula, it develops a nice mellow flavor. And when used raw, it has a peppery kick. For this Southern Greens Recipe, I also like to toss in collards and flat leaf kale.

Now what about the bacon? How do we make low histamine bacon? The trick is to get pasture-raised, uncured pork belly. And of course, make sure it was frozen after slaughter. I get my pork belly from a local farmer who always freezes the meat after slaughter. This keeps the histamine levels low. If you can’t source from a local farmer, you can get uncured pork belly from US Wellness Meats.* You can also use their Sliced Fresh Side Pork Bacon.
(You can read more about ways to make sure your meat is low histamine in this post: Are you Raising your Histamine Levels with these Meat Handling Mistakes?)

To make the pork belly taste like bacon, I season it with a dry rub. Then I bake or fry it just like bacon. It doesn’t have the smoked flavor. But it is still divine. Because it is pasture raised, this will have a healthier fat profile than conventionally raised pork. We don’t want to overconsume saturated fats and cholesterol. But a moderate amount is vital for brain health and hormone production.

If you were a bacon lover before you went low-histamine, you are going to love this recipe. And make sure to add some greens in your diet here for the mast cell stabilizing nitric oxide!

Low Histamine Bacon Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork belly

Dry rub:

• Pinch or more to taste of Pure Monk Fruit Powder (without additives or erythritol)
• 2 tsp finely ground unrefined Sea Salt (like Redmond Real Salt,* Celtic Sea Salt,* or Himalayan Sea Salt*)
• 1 tsp organic granulated garlic*
• ½ tsp freshly cracked pepper
• Sprinkle of organic cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Mix together dry rub ingredients. Add more Monk Fruit Powder if you like a maple-flavored bacon. Or less for a more savory flavor.
2. Place pork belly in a single layer on a baking sheet or tray. Rub dry ingredients into both sides of pork belly.
3. To cook, either bake or fry:
   a. To bake: heat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 30 minutes for chewy bacon or longer for crispy baconb. To fry: layer in a frying pan and cook on medium high heat on both sides until desired doneness.
4. Save the fat for the greens.

Low Histamine Country Greens Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 bunches organic collard greens
• 1 box organic baby arugula
• 2 bunches organic flat leaf kale
• Low Histamine Bacon from recipe above
• Fat saved from cooking the pork belly

Braising liquid:

• 2 cups water
• 2 tsp finely ground unrefined Sea Salt (like Redmond Real Salt,* Celtic Sea Salt,* or Himalayan Sea Salt*)
• 1 tsp organic granulated garlic*
• 2 tsp freshly cracked pepper
• Sprinkle of organic cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Wash all the greens.
2. Pull the collards and kale leaves off the stems.
3. Roughly chop all the greens into about 2”x2” pieces. The greens will shrink while cooking.
4. Mix ingredients for the braising liquid.
5. Add the greens to a large pot.
6. Pour the braising liquid over the greens.
7. Cover and cook on medium until the greens are done. Stir occasionally and add more water if they start to stick. They will shrink by half and become tender.
8. Meanwhile, roughly chop the Low Histamine Bacon into bite size pieces.
9. Drizzle fat from pork belly on the greens and mix.
10. Sprinkle chopped Low Histamine Bacon on top.
11. Serve with pork chops or baked chicken.