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.