Ahhhh, time to get back in the groove!

So, you'd think that Costa Rica would be THE place for fresh seafood and vegetables...not so much.  Yes, they have some pretty great ceviche, but for the most part, our vacation consisted of Americanized fish tacos, weird "fajitas", and lots and lots of margaritas and Imperial beers.  We were ready to get back in the groove.  This is what we made for our first dinner home.

Foil Wrapped Salmon

1 fillet of salmon
Salt
Pepper
Dill
Parsley

Place fillet on large sheet of heavy duty foil and sprinkle with seasonings and wrap well with foil.  Grill for about 9 minutes per side and let rest 5 minutes.


Roasted Summer Squash

Summer squash, cut into 1 inch pieces
Olive oil
S&P
garlic and onion powders

Toss ingredients in large roasting pan and roast at 425 for about 45 minutes, tossing every 15 minutes.

Nancy's Dish (Veggies and Mince)

My friend Nancy was the inspiration for this dish.

Makes 4 servings (can be halved, but I wanted double for leftovers).  This would be really good with spaghetti squash too.

Meatballs: 
2lbs ground beef, preferably organic, no hormones, etc.
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried oregano


Mix thoroughly and shape into 1" balls.  Place on a broiler pan sprayed with olive oil (cover bottom pan with tin foil) and bake at 350 for 30 min.

The fat that dripped off

Pre-cooked

For Veggies:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, sliced

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1TBS chopped basil

1 TBS tomato paste

green pepper, cut into matchsticks
2 roma tomatoes, diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 cups baby spinach
Ground red pepper 
Saute onions and garlic.  Add next 4 ingredients until well mixed.  Add rest of veggies and saute until done to your liking.

Put the Lime in the Coconut Salmon

I needed to do something other than my usual baked salmon.  This is what I came up with.

1 large salmon fillet (2-3lbs)
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
juice of 1 1/2 limes
zest of 1 lime
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Coconut flakes and lime wedges for serving

Combine ginger, lime juice, zest, S&P in a dish large enough for the salmon.  Place salmon in, skin side up and let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.  Place salmon (reserve marinade) on a cookie sheet (I covered mine in foil sprayed with olive oil) and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  Place reserved marinade in small saucepan and bring to a high simmer for 10 minutes.
Sprinkle with coconut flakes and serve with lime wedges.

I served mine with Roasted Summer Squash and steamed green beans.
Cut summer squash into 1 inch pieces.  Place in roasting pan and spray with EVOO.  Sprinkle with S&P and garlic powder and give it a good shake.  Bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

Sweet Potato Casserole

I needed a "dessert", so I came up with this...believe me, if you're not eating sugar, this tastes pretty darn good!

6 sweet potatoes (I like to make up a bunch at a time--I find that they keep for a good 5 days in the fridge)
1 TBS coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
S&P to taste
3/4 cup (more or less) Flaked unsweetened dried coconut (I find mine at the Fresh Market)
1/2 cup (more or less) Chopped walnuts

Bake the sweet potatoes at 400 for about an hour until nice and soft (I usually do it on a foil lined cookie sheet so that there's less mess).  Once you can handle them, peel them and mash them up, along with the coconut oil, cinnamon, and S&P.  Spread mixture into a casserole dish and sprinkle with the coconut and walnuts.  If you really want to get crazy, you can put that in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes or until the coconut starts to get a little golden.

Beef Carnitas

*Adapted from my Mom, who got it from "Perfect One Dish Dinners" (not sure of the author).

3 lbs boneless chuck roast
3 TBS olive oil, divided
1 TBS plus 1 tsp ground cumin, divided
Sea Salt and ground black pepper
1 4.5oz can chopped green chilis (could probably use the real thing...maybe 1 or 2)
1/8 cup chili powder
1 tsp dried oregano
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth
3 large onions, cut into 12 wedges
3 large green bell peppers, cut into 12 wedges
fresh cilantro
fresh lime wedges

Adjust oven racks to lowest and middle positions and preheat to 450.  Place dutch oven (I used my cast iron one that has a lid) over low heat.

Meanwhile, place roast into large bowl and coat with 1 TBS olive oil and season with 1 TBS ground cumin, plus plenty of salt and pepper.  Mix chilis, chili powder, remaining cumin and oregano in a small bowl.
A few minutes before searing, increase heat to a medium high heat until nice and hot.  Add roasts and sear, turning once until it has a nice brown crust, about 8 minutes total.  Transfer roast to a place and add garlic to the pot and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds.  Add chili mixture and cook, stirring, about another 30 seconds.  Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer.  Return roast and any juices on plate to pan.  Cover dutch oven with lid (or with a couple of sheets of heavy duty tin foil until well sealed.
Place on middle rack of oven and cook for a total of 1 hour 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, about 30 minutes before roasts are done, toss peppers and onions with remaining 2 TBS olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Place in a roasting pan and place on bottom rack of oven and cook about 20 minutes or until crisp tender.
Remove everything from oven and shred meat.
Serve with peppers, onions, fresh cilantro and lime wedges.  We also served mango/avocado salsa with it.

Pretty Awesome Stuffed Peppers with Guacamole

My sister in law makes an awesome stuffed pepper recipe (passed down from my mother in law) and I miss them!  This is what I came up with, minus the cheese, rice and black beans of course.  And they were delicious!

Stuffed Peppers

4 bell peppers

1 lb ground beef (the best quality you can find, but it doesn't matter about the fat content)
S&P
Garlic and onion powders
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, diced
1 cup mushrooms (I used a 4 oz can of organic mushrooms because that's what I had on hand, but fresh would be ideal)
1 mashed sweet potato (to bind everything together a bit better)
1 cup chunky salsa (sugar free)
2 cups "riced" cauliflower (chop cauliflower florets in the food processor until rice-like)

Cut tops off of bell peppers and de-seed (I chop up the tops and put them in a baggie and freeze it for another recipe).  Place them in about 1 inch of water in a pot and cover.  Bring to a boil and steam for about 5 minutes.  Remove to a casserole dish.

Meanwhile, brown ground beef in a medium saucepan.  Season with S&P, garlic and onion powders and add onion and celery.  Saute until soft.  Add rest of ingredients until well combined.

Place filling in prepared peppers (at this point, you can refrigerate them until you're ready to eat 'em).  Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes.  Top with guacamole.

Guacamole
2 ripe avocados, mashed
1/2 lemon
S&P
garlic and onion powder

Combine until seasoned to your taste.

Curried Tilapia

There used to be a recipe on the back of the bag of Tilapia that I use that I was able to make "clean".  Of course, I threw the last bag away without writing it down....I think this is close, if not better.  You can make it in the morning and let it marinate, so that way all you have to do at dinner is throw it in a pan.

4 Tilapia fillets

1/2 shallot
2 cloves garlic
1 cup canned coconut milk (full fat)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground corriander
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper


In a blender (I love my handheld one!), blend the shallot and next 8 ingredients until smooth.  Pour over tilapia fillets and marinate (if you have the time...if not, cook right then and there).  Heat large skillet over medium heat and cook tilapia (and marinade), covered, for about 10 minutes.  Flip fillets and cook another 10 minutes, covered.

I served it with stir-fried broccoli and roasted sweet potatoes.

Cleaned Up Crockpot Thai Chicken

So, this is one of my favorite Crockpot recipes ever, and I wanted to try to "clean" it up a little.  Since I'm not eating any peanuts at the moment, Sunbutter (made from sunflower seeds) was a great substitute for peanut butter.  Just try to find one that doesn't have any added sugar (same for the salsa).

2 1/2 lbs chicken (I used boneless, skinless thighs, but breasts work well too, just cut them in half)
1 tsp fresh grated ginger (I keep a nugget of it in the freezer and just peel and grate as needed)
Juice of 2 limes (about 4 TBS)
16 oz jar chunky salsa (no added sugar, corn or beans)
1/2 cup Sunbutter (I think you could probably also use almond butter)


Spray crockpot with Pam and place chicken in it.  Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and pour over chicken and stir well.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.  Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and chopped almonds if desired.  I served it with cauliflower "rice" and stir-fried garlic green beans.

"Rice".... cauliflower rice, that is.

This "recipe" is floating around everywhere on the web, so there's no one to give real credit to--I certainly didn't come up with is...heard of it a while back, but didn't come up with it.

1 head of cauliflower

Grate, chop, or use a food processor to "rice" cauliflower.  Put in bowl, cover and microwave for 3 minutes.

This is definitely not a direct substitute for the real thing, but was actually better than I thought it would be.  Maybe next time I'll experiment with bigger "grains" of cauliflower.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

This is as close to pasta as you can get without the grains!

Spaghetti Squash
Poke a couple holes in it with a knife, put it in a pan and bake it at 375 for one hour.  When it's done, cut off the stem part, and then cut it in half, lengthwise.  Scoop out the seeds and then separate the "spaghetti" with a fork.  You could always just stop here and add a little coconut oil and S&P, and I'm sure that would be delicious too.

Marinara
EVOO
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1lb ground chicken (you could use beef, turkey, or go without)
S&P
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1TBS double concentrate tomato paste (or by that reasoning 2TBS regular tomato paste)
small handful of sun-dried tomatoes
2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (sugar free)
red pepper flakes

Saute onion and garlic in EVOO.  Add ground meat and season.  When cooked through stir in tomato paste and then add diced tomatoes.  Check seasoning and add red pepper flakes and more S&P if needed.  Let simmer for a few minutes...20, 30...whatever time you have on hand.

Serve over spaghetti squash.

Coconut Curry Shrimp and Spinach with Roasted Broccoli

*Adapted from www.paleodietlifestyle.com

2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 bag fresh spinach, chopped (original recipe called for 2 cups--I think this is more like 4)

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped (my addition)

1 tsp fresh grated ginger (my addition)

2TBS coconut oil

2TBS tomato paste

2 tsp curry powder

1 C full fat coconut milk

1/2 cup chicken stock (could probably do without)

salt and pepper to taste

Heat coconut oil in a large skillet and add onion, garlic and ginger and saute until soft. Season with S&P and add curry powder and cook for an additional minute. Place half of mixture (original recipe says all of it) in blender and add tomato paste, chicken stock and coconut milk and puree until smooth. Pour mixture back into skillet and bring to a simmer. Add shrimp and cook for a few minutes until they start to turn pink. Add spinach and cook until just tender.

For the roasted broccoli, I just toss broccoli with a TBS or so of olive oil, S&P, garlic powder, and onion powder. Place on a baking sheet and roast at 450 for 10 minutes. Works as a good snack too!

Grilled Ribeyes with Cherry Tomato Relish

We had this last night and the Cherry Tomato Relish was the cherry on top, so to speak. We served it with sauteed spinach and roasted butternut squash. Delish!

Prepare and grill steaks to your liking.

For the relish:

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

1/2 red onion, sliced

EVOO

S&P

Gently toss ingredients and place on a cookie sheet. Roast at 425 for 25 minutes, or until starting to brown, turning every 10 minutes. Good either hot or cold.

Top steak with relish.

Shallot and Caper Vinaigrette

This is really good as a salad dressing or a dip for veggies.

2 cloves garlic

1/2 shallot

2 TBS capers

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

1 1/2 TBS mustard (any kind without sugar)

Blend (preferably with an emersion blender) until smooth.

Thai "Satay" Sauce

I used this to bake a mahi mahi fillet in (sorry I don't have a better photo!), but I think that there are probably a plethora of things that this could be used for--chicken, beef, shrimp, even a dipping sauce for vegetables.

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp fresh grated ginger (I like to keep a nugget in my freezer and use a micrograter to grate as needed)

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 shallot

2 TBS almond butter

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup coconut milk

cumin and curry powder (maybe 1/2 to 1 tsp of each, depending on your taste)

S&P

Combine in an emersion blender (or any blender) until smooth.

Avocado Mango Salsa

We use this on a ton of stuff! Here it is over Salmon (simply baked with salt and pepper at 350 for 30 min).

2 ripe avocados, diced

1 mango, diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro (you can leave this out if you're not a fan)

Chopped red onion (sometimes I leave it out)

Juice of 1 lime

S&P to taste.

Toss gently.

Oven "Fried" Chicken with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Parsnip Mash

So, I had some chicken (I had added some olive oil, S&P, and garlic and onion powders to it last night when I was prepping it) in the fridge that I was just going to bake tonight, but that sounded boring, so I experimented.

Oven "Fried" Chicken

Boneless skinless chicken breasts (although this would work great with tenders!)--like I mentioned, it had sort of been marinating overnight in some EVOO, S&P, and garlic and onion powders.

1 C ground coconut (I just put my regular flakes in the food processor)

1/4 C ground almonds (I was just seeing if my food processor would actually grind them, so I used it--not necessary)

Seasonings of your choice (paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, S&P....whatever your feeling!)

Egg wash, if your chicken hasn't been marinating like mine was.

Preheat oven to 400. Line cookie sheet with tin foil and spray with Pam (I know, not 100% clean, but whatev). Place coconut flakes and ground almonds in dish and season with whatever you're choosing. Place egg wash in another dish (if using). Dip chicken in egg wash, and then in coconut "crumbs" until well coated. Place on baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes or until done.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts trimmed and cut in half

EVOO

S&P

Roast at 425 for 30-40 minutes shaking every 10 minutes or so until nice and browned.

Parsnip Mash (I needed a side dish)--Beware: your house will smell like armpits while they're boiling.

Bag of parsnips

Chicken stock

Coconut milk

S&P

Peel Parsnips and cut into 1 inch rounds. Place in saucepan and cover with 1/2 water and 1/2 chicken stock. Bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain. Mash and add coconut milk to desired consistency and season with S&P.