Best Slow Cooker Pork. Ever.

This is a recipe that was going around Pinterest lately.  No, it's not a "clean" recipe, but it was so, so good and I thought I'd post it here.  I served mine with chili roasted sweet potatoes and steamed kale.  I don't know who to credit it to, but it's not my own creation (most of the other recipes here are).  I recommend doubling the recipe so that there are plenty of leftovers.
So, here's the recipe for Balsamic Brown Sugar Pulled Pork.

Ingredients

• 1 (2-pound) boneless pork loin
• 1 teaspoon ground dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 clove crushed garlic
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce

Instructions

1. Mix together sage, salt, pepper, and garlic.
2. Rub the mixture over the pork. Add it to the slow cooker and pour 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
3. One hour before the pork is cooked, put the brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic, water, and soy sauce in a sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a bubble over medium heat. It will get thick.
4. Pour half of the glaze over the pork. Reserve the rest to serve alongside.
5. Cook the pork for another hour.
6. Shred the pork with a fork. It will fall apart, it is so tender.
7. Serve with the remaining glaze.

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

I've been wanting to roast shrimp for a while--it's not a technique that I've used before.  Here is my attempt--it was well worth shelling all of those shrimp for!

1lb Broccoli florets
EVOO
S+P
garlic and onion powder

2lbs fresh shrimp, peeled, but with tails left on
2 TBS EVOO
S+P
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced

Preheat oven to 425.  Toss broccoli with EVOO, S+P, garlic and onion powders.  Place in large roasting pan in a single layer.  Roast for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss shrimp with EVOO, S+P, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, oregano, and garlic.  Let marinate while broccoli cooks (can be done ahead of time for more flavor).

Add shrimp to broccoli and roast for an additional 10 minutes or until shrimp is cooked through.  I served mine with roasted acorn squash.

Chicken with Field Peas and Portabella Mushrooms

To me, this is the ultimate in comfort food--I love a big bowl of food.  The Farmer's Market had shelled field peas this week and I didn't really know how to use them, but this is what I came up with and it was delish.

2 chicken breast, seasoned and baked, then diced (they had these new organic, humanely raised, frozen chicken breast at Kroger the other day--pop 'em in a 325 oven for 45 minutes and they're perfectly done).

2 cups fresh shelled field peas (maybe it's just a Southern thing, but regular peas would work well too)
1 portabella mushroom, cut in half and then cut into strips
1 small onion, sliced
4 strips bacon (I used pre-cooked, and then diced them)
EVOO
S&P

Heat EVOO over medium heat in a skillet.  Add onion, bacon and mushrooms and saute, stirring often.  Add field peas when onion wilts, and season with S&P.  Stir well and cover, stirring often for about 10 minutes.  Divide between 2-4 bowls, depending on hungry you all are and top with chicken.  If you're eating pasta, you could add a bit as well, with a little parmesan cheese.

Shrimp Primavera

This is one of those gotta-use-up-ingredients meals, in that you could customize it to whatever you have on hand.

1 spaghetti squash, baked and spaghetti-ized.
1 onion, sliced
1 bell pepper, cut into matchstick pieces
1 lb asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces (I had frozen asparagus that had to be used, so I defrosted it first)
1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp ( again, I had frozen that I ran under water for a few minutes)
S&P
garlic and onion powders
hot pepper flakes
a couple of leaves of fresh basil, chopped

Seed and shred cooked squash and set aside.  Saute onion, bell pepper, asparagus and shrimp in olive oil.  Season with S&P, garlic and onion powders and hot pepper flakes to your liking.  Add squash and basil and toss to coat.

Fajita Burgers with Chili Cumin Fries

This was really good!  I served the burgers topped with guacamole over the fajita vegetables, with a side of "fries".

Burgers:
1 lb ground beef (preferably natural and organic)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder

Mix all ingredients gently and form into 4 patties, making a "dent" in the middle (keeps them from shrinking up).  Grill on a preheated grill (about 350-400 degrees) for about 4 minutes per side (just let them cook--don't squeeze 'em!). Let rest for about 5 minutes.

Fajita Veggies:
1 portobello mushroom, sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
olive oil
S&P
garlic and onion powders
juice of 1/2 lime

Saute veggies in olive oil over medium heat and season with S&P, garlic and onion powders and the lime juice.  Cook until tender but not mushy.

Guacamole:
1 ripe avocado, roughly mashed
juice of 1/2 lime
S&P
onion powder to taste
chopped cilantro or red onion if you have it on hand (I didn't)

Mix together.

Cumin Chili Fries:
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into "sticks"
olive oil
S&P
Cumin powder (about 1/2 to 1 tsp)
Chili powder (about 1/2 to 1 tsp)

Toss ingredients in large bowl and place on a cookie sheet in a single layer.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  Toss and bake for another 15 minutes for a total of about 30 minutes or until done to your liking.

Salmon and Broccoli Slaw Salad

I had some leftover roasted salmon from dinner last night and wanted a change from my usual leafy salad.

1 TBS olive oil
1 TBS lime juice
1 TBS apple cider vinegar
S&P to taste
2 cups broccoli slaw
roasted salmon, hot or cold, depending on when you cook it up (to roast, place in shallow pan, season with lemon juice and salt and pepper and roast at 350 for 30 minutes)
1/2 avocado, diced

Whisk olive oil, lime juice, vinegar and salt and pepper in a bowl.  Add slaw and mix well.  Top with salmon and avocado.  Serves 1 main dish or 2 side dishes.

I would imagine that this would be really good with leftover shredded chicken as well.

Basil Chicken Saute

The kids wanted spaghetti and meatballs and I had a spaghetti squash on hand, so I said sure (they had traditional marinara and meatballs).

1TBS olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic cloved, minced
1 lb ground chicken
S&P to taste
1 TBS tomato paste
2 TBS chopped basil
1 cup sliced mushrooms

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender.  Add chicken and cook through.  Season with S&P and add tomato paste and chopped basil.  Stir well.  Add mushrooms and cook until tender.  I served it over spaghetti squash.

So uninspired these days...

Well, while I haven't been eating lots of crap lately, I've definitely been a little loose in terms of what I have been putting into my body.  One of my issues is that I'm currently just cooking for myself and my girls (hubby is out of town), so I haven't had as much of a desire to cook a real meal that the girls will just turn their noses up at.  Most of the time I end up making a really simple protein (baked chicken, fish, shrimp) and veggies for myself and give the girls the same protein along with a kid friendly veggie (although these days, not many are in my house--grrr!) and a grain or pasta of some sort.  Sorry I haven't had many recipes to share.  This is an example of what I've been eating a lot of--while delicious, not exactly awe-inspiring.

Big Ass Salad

What's in the Fridge One Dish Chicken

Last night I couldn't decide what to make with the chicken breasts that I had bought.  I had a bunch of veggies, but wasn't in the mood for a stir-fry (and I knew my kids wouldn't eat that anyway), so this is what we had.  You could do this with a variety of vegetables and seasonings...whatever's in your fridge!

3 or 4 chicken breasts, cut into 1-2 inch chunks
2 handfuls baby carrots
1 bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 zucchinis, cut into 1 inch chunks
olive oil
S&P
garlic and onion powders

Preheat oven to 350 and toss all ingredients into a large roasting pan.  Toss to coat.  Roast for 15 minutes, stir and roast for 15 min more.  Take pan out and carefully pour out juices.  Turn up the oven to 400 and roast for 5-10 minutes more, so that it gets more "roasty".

A Very Rosy Dinner

We went to the farmer's market this morning and got some lovely beets and then the store had some pretty decent sockeye salmon.  Here's what I came up with.

Roasted Beets with Sauteed Beet Greens

1 bunch beets, with greens
1 small onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Wash beets and greens well.  Cut greens off and reserve.  Cut beets into quarters (or smaller if large--you want about 1 inch pieces) and toss with olive oil and S&P.  Roast at 350 for 45-60 minutes or until tender.  Meanwhile, when beets are almost done, heat some olive oil in a pan.  Add onions and garlic and saute until just done.  Add beet greens (tough stems discarded and cut into 1 inch pieces) and saute until just tender.  Add roasted beets and toss.  Season with more salt and pepper if needed.

I served mine with Roasted Lemon Dill Sockeye Salmon.   So good.

1 large Sockeye Salmon fillet (it might have a few bones in it, so be careful, especially if feeding to young children)
Olive oil
S&P
Dill weed (I used dried)
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Place salmon fillet in a large baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with S&P, dill weed, and squeeze lemon over it. About 15 minutes into the beets roasting (at 350), add salmon, so that it cooks for a total of 30 minutes.

And yes, I served mine with some fresh corn (not Paleo), but it was worth it!

Aunt Stacey's Sweet Potato Chips

My sister-in-law made these for us on her last visit and I'm addicted!  This serves 2 as a side dish.

2 sweet potatoes, cut into thin half moons (cut sweet potato lengthwise in half and then cut into half moons).
1 TBS olive oil
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 425.  Place cut sweet potatoes on cookie sheet and toss with olive oil--make sure that they're well spread out.  Season with S&P.  Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so.  Sprinkle with more salt and pepper if desired.  Best served hot!

Quick Shrimp Curry

I had these ingredients on hand, so this is what I came up with for dinner tonight.  Quite yummy!

1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (mine were pre-cooked)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, sliced
S&P
5.5 oz can coconut milk
1 TBS Green curry paste

Saute pepper and onion in a small bit of olive oil until just beginning to brown.  Add shrimp, season with S&P and cook until pink.  Add coconut milk and curry paste and stir well.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

I served mine with Roasted Curried Cauliflower.

http://cleaneatingdeliciousness.blogspot.com/2011/05/roasted-curried-cauliflower.html

Roasted Curried Cauliflower

My mom made this the other night and told me about it, so I decided to give it a go--delicious!  I think the original recipe comes from http://summertomato.com/roasted-curried-cauliflower-to-die-for/, but I'm not sure her recipe is her own or not.

Roasted Curried Cauliflower Recipe

1 large cauliflower 

Curry powder

Olive oil

Kosher or sea salt

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Break cauliflower into medium-small florets and place into large bowl or baking pan. Be sure the pieces are as evenly sized as possible, or they will cook unevenly. The smaller you make the pieces, the quicker they will cook and the more caramelized they will become, which I consider a good thing.

Drizzle cauliflower pieces generously with olive oil and season well with salt and curry powder. Distribute evenly in a single layer at the bottom of a baking pan. If necessary, use a second baking pan to be sure the pieces aren’t too crowded.

Cover the pans with foil and place into the oven. Roast, covered for 10-15 minutes. The cauliflower should be slightly soft and start looking translucent. If not replace foil and cook another 5 minutes.

When the cauliflower has finished steaming, remove the foil and toss with tongs. Continue to roast, stirring every 8-10 minutes until the tips of the cauliflower begin to brown and become crisp as pictured. Approximately 30-35 minutes.  


***Mine only took about 20 minutes***

Hide the Veggies Meatballs

I am hoping to get my girls to eat the clean stuff that I make--other than broccoli, green beans and carrots, veggies are hard to get into them (well, at least my older one).  Let the great disguise begin!

1 lb organic ground beef
1/2 zucchini, shredded in food processor
1/2 shallot, shredded in food processor
1 baked (super soft) sweet potato, mashed
1 egg, beaten
Salt and pepper

Combine ingredients and shape into balls.  Place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until cooked through.  I served mine over spaghetti squash and marinara.

Fish Tacos

This is almost a non-recipe recipe in that it's pretty simple and that you just sort of use what you have on hand.  I happened to have Swai fillets, but you could use whatever kind of fish that you like.

4 fish fillets (defrosted, if using from frozen)
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper
cumin powder
chili powder
garlic powder
onion powder
1/4 cup or so of coconut flour (you can make your own by grinding coconut flakes in a food processor)
Romaine leaves, washed and dried
Guacamole, tomato and onion salsa, fresh cilantro, etc.

Pat fillets dry with paper towels and season both sides with S&P, cumin, chili, garlic and onion powders.  Dip in coconut flour.  Place fillets on baking sheet sprayed with olive oil and bake at 350 for about 20-30 minutes, depending on fish.

Place each fillet on a Romaine leave and top with desired condiments.  I served mine with roasted butternut squash, but will experiment with Spanish cauli-rice next time.

Chili, Paleo-fied

I make a really great "regular" (award-winning!) chili, but it calls for lots of beans and corn.  I looked around online for some paleo chili recipes, but none really spoke to me, so I did this instead.

1 steak, cubed
2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion
1 large green bell pepper
2 cans diced tomatoes and chilis (check your labels!)
1 7 oz can salsa verde
olive oil
sea salt
pepper
garlic and onion powders
1 TBS cumin
2 TBS chili powder

Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat.  When hot, add steak, season with s&p and garlic and onion powders and brown (in batches).  Remove steak and set aside.  Add onion, ground beef and bell pepper.  Season with s&p, garlic and onion powder and cumin and chili powder.  When browned add tomatoes and salsa verde.  Add browned steak.  Simmer!

I served mine over baked cubed butternut squash with avocado and cilantro.  Next time I'm going to add some chopped mushrooms to give it a little more texture.

Summer Strawberry Pie

My daughter and I picked 7lbs of fresh strawberries today, so I needed something to make with them.  Okay, so while this might not satisfy your sweet tooth if you've been indulging in lots of sugary treats, it's pretty good if you haven't had any of the "real stuff" for a bit. :-)  I researched online for a recipe that spoke to me, but didn't find one that seemed to do what I wanted it to do, so I came up with my own, albeit inspired by several others.
If you're not too concerned about natural sweeteners, such as honey or agave syrup, the crust and filling could benefit from a TBS or so in each.

Pie Crust

1.5 cups almond flour (almonds ground in the food processor until they resemble a coarse flour)
1/2 cup ground coconut flakes
1/4 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup coconut oil

Mix well and press into a pie tin.

Filling

1 ripe banana, mashed well
3/4 cup (5.5 oz can) coconut milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed strawberries

1/2 pint or so of fresh strawberries






Place filling in prepared pie crust.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until set.  Cool completely in fridge.

Slice fresh strawberries and starting from the outside crust, arrange in a spiral shape overlapping all the way into the middle.  Refrigerate.  Enjoy!

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken with Vegetables

This is one of those meals that the whole family will eat without complaint--my favorite kind!

1 Roaster Chicken (about 4lbs or so)
1 lb parsnips, peeled
1 lb carrots, peeled
1 lb (I think--about 6 stalks) celery
1 large onion
6 garlic cloves
EVOO
S&P
garlic and onion powders
dried parsley
1 whole lemon
Fresh Rosemary Sprigs
Paprika

Cut parsnips, carrots, and celery into even chunks (about 2 inches long).  Cut onion into 1 inch chunks.  Peel garlic cloves.  Place veggies in roasting pan and toss with EVOO, S&P, and garlic and onion powders.  Rinse and dry chicken (make sure to get giblet bag out!) and place in middle of veggies, breast side up.  Rub skin with EVOO and season inside and out with a mixture of S&P and parsley--try to get some under the skin too.  Prick lemon with a fork and place inside bird along with the rosemary.  Bake at 400 in the lower third of the oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes (stirring veggies every so often), until temp reaches 165.  Let rest 10 minutes before carving.

Pan Roasted Cod with Walnut Pesto

I don't think that I've ever cooked with Cod before, but in an effort to come up with more recipes that don't use beef or poultry, I wanted to give it a go.  They had some nice wild caught frozen Cod loins at Sams the other day, so I bought a pack and this is what I came up with.  It was delicious!

Pan Roasted Cod

4 Cod loin fillets (defrosted, if using frozen)
EVOO
S&P
juice of 1/2 lemon

Season fish with EVOO and S&P.  Heat a nonstick skillet over medium high heat until hot and add a TBS or so of EVOO.  Turn heat down to medium and cook for 4 minutes without messing with them.  Carefully turn over and sprinkle with lemon juice. Serve over arugula dressed with EVOO, lemon juice and S&P.  Top with pesto.

Walnut Pesto

1 cup walnut halves
1/2 cup EVOO
1.5 tsp sea salt
6 garlic cloves
juice of 1 lemon
3 oz fresh basil leaves (maybe 2 cups?)

Combine walnut halves, EVOO, salt and garlic in food processor and process until smooth.  Add lemon juice and basil and process again until smooth.

Clean(er) Ribs

Although I've been avoiding pork lately, there are sometimes when a girl just needs some ribs.  We make a pretty awesome non-Paleo version, but it uses a lot of brown sugar and soy sauce.  I found a Paleo BBQ sauce recipe online and decided to combine techniques.  Now, if I can only figure out a substitute for the Jiffy corn pudding that we used to serve with it....


Davis Ribs


1 slab ribs
Salt
Pepper
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Chili Powder


Preheat oven to 350.  Generous season both sides of ribs with seasonings.  Wrap in heavy duty tin foil and place on baking sheet and bake for 1.5 hours  When finished, baste with BBQ sauce (recipe follows) and marinate for at least an hour.  Grill at a low heat (250-300 degrees) for 10 minutes per side.


Son of a Grok BBQ Sauce (from www.sonofgrok.com)

6oz can tomato paste (preferably organic)
1 to 1.5 cups of beef stock
3 Cloves Garlic
1 onion
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons chili powder

 Dice your onions and garlic as fine as possible. You want your BBQ sauce a little chunky but the more fine you dice these, the better the flavor will spread through the entire sauce.
Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Whether you use 1 cup or 1.5 cups of beef stock will depend on how thick you want your sauce. Bring sauce to heat on stove with a low setting.
Cover and simmer. Stir frequently 

Extra can be stored in refrigerator.