Let’s face it, I love picking vegetables from the garden! However, when I turn around and see that I am 5 zucchini deep because I haven’t used any in a couple days, it’s nice to have an awesome casserole that can use LOTS of squash, taste amazing, and be a little different from the typical grilled version. This is a recipe that I created a couple years back but didn’t realize it wasn’t on the new blog until I went looking for my own recipe yesterday! I made sure to get it on the new site just in time for all your squash needs. ;)
Balsamic Marinated Chicken with Strawberry Salsa
I have been really slacking on getting recipes posted! I’ve been so crazy busy, that they are piling up in a folder, and I need to purge a little. Several months ago, I posted about a cooking date with my friends that we do periodically. One of the dishes we made was balsamic marinaded chicken with strawberry salsa. It was super yummy and one of my other friends texted me the other day with chicken and strawberry, avocado salsa, which is what spurred me to post! The fruit pairs really well with protein and feel free to change it up for traditional tomato salsa instead. Tomatoes will be in season shortly and my guess is that you will need to find a use for them! Balsamic Marinaded Chicken w/Strawberry Salsa (credit to EMeals!)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb chicken (boneless, skinless)
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp gluten free soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 cups fresh strawberries, chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
Directions:
Whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic and place in a large plastic bag. Add the chicken and allow to marinade for 3 hours to overnight. When ready to cook, discard marinade, sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and grill. While the chicken is grilling, Mix together the strawberries, hot pepper, and lime juice. Serve the cooked chicken with salsa to top!
Sweet and Savory Popovers
I saw these little guys on PaleOMG’s blog the other day, and thought to myself: “There’s not much to those. I bet you could make tons of flavors!” So, I decided that night that I was going to make one batch of six and in case it was an epic fail, I would make 3 savory and 3 sweet. I have thyme in my garden right now and tons of garlic scapes from the CSA so one flavor was garlic thyme. Cinnamon was an easy choice because who doesn’t love cinnamon? These are like pillowy dinner rolls with an indented center that would be amazing filled with custards, curds, compound butters, or whatever your little heart desires. When I made these, the process seemed to be very forgiving because my eggs were sort of a disaster. Farm fresh eggs means sometimes you get double yolks. I had 2 double yolks and decided that I was worried it may alter the texture. So, at least you know that a mishap like that will still allow for a good outcome!
Sweet and Savory Popovers
(basic popover from My Paleo Patisserie)
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp arrowroot
- 2 Tbsp coconut flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 large eggs, room temp
- 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 Tbsp ghee
- Thyme/Garlic: a few sprigs of thyme and a minced garlic clove
- Cinnamon: 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp coconut sugar (If you decide to do all one flavor, then double the flavor addition)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450F. In a small bowl combine the flours and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk the eggs up lightly and add the coconut milk, water, and flour mixture and combine until school. Put a little bit of the ghee into each of the 6 muffin tins. Put the muffin tin and fat into the oven for about 5 minutes and then remove. Put 1/4 cup of the batter in each muffin tin. Cook for 15 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350F and cook until golden brown, which could be another 15 minutes.
Garlic Scapes
I just got word that our first week of the CSA will have garlic scapes! I remember LOVING this recipe when I got them a couple years ago, so I am reposting it for everyone that doesn’t know what to do with them. ;)
Cilantro & Garlic Scape Pesto
- 1 bunch of cilantro, ends removed
- 2 garlic scapes
- handful of chives (or garlic clove or more scapes)
- 2 handfuls of walnuts
- 1/4 cup olive oil (or more depending on how creamy you want it)
- 2 pinches of salt
- pepper to taste
- few good shakes of crushed red pepper flakes (these happened to be homemade from last year’s dried chili’s)
Directions:
Put the cilantro, garlic scapes, chives, walnuts in the food processor and pulse until they are a coarse meal. Put in the salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and run a stream of olive oil in while its processing until you get a chunky/creamy texture. Serve on top of any meat, mushroom caps, eggs, etc.
Pesto is so versatile and easy to freeze. It helps dress up any boring meat easily. I chose to grilled up some grassfed flank steak and serve pesto on top. I put it on top of the salad blend I got from the CSA. Absolutely fabulous. This is what I love about the CSA. I didn’t know what a garlic scape was and I had definitely never cooked with them. Forced me out of my comfort zone and now I know just how much I like them! I hope we get more next week because I have thought up a million more way to use them!!!
Paleo Butternut Squash Soup
The weather is changing around here which means so is the produce from the CSA! Luckily, I am starting to get a little less in my box every week. I have been working like crazy to make/freeze/preserve all the veggies this summer. I have been doing a good job, but even I get a little tired of having to worry about how on earth I am going to consume it all! One thing I love to make in the fall and freeze is butternut squash soup. I have tried many varieties, but I think this recipe I the best one I’ve ever tried and it is the most simple!
Butternut Squash Soup
Ingredients
- 1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, chopped into cubes
- 2 apples, chopped into cubes (choose gala, Fuji, jonathan, etc.)
- 2 onions (you could use your leek from the CSA as 1 of the onions)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 Tbsp butter (I like butter but you could use any cooking fat)
- 4 cups chicken stock (homemade is best!)
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat butter in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt and pepper and sauté until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for another minute or so. Add the apple and butternut squash cubes and pour the chicken stock over the veggies. Allow to simmer until the butternut squash and apples are fork tender. Use an immersion blender to blend it all together until creamy (you could also move batches to the blender). Season with salt and pepper to taste. If you consume dairy, some plain Greek yogurt dolloped on top makes this a hearty, satiating, complete meal.
Radishes w/Peas and Dill and Turnip and Potato Hash
I am obsessed with the Cooking Channel in case you hadn’t realized that yet. I love watching the traditional cooking shows because so many recipes from traditional cultures follow the same dietary guidelines that I employ in my life! They know how to spice things up, enjoy fresh ingredients, and pair foods well for digestion. Of course most people aren’t thinking about that when they are watching these shows, but I notice these things! One show I’m hooked on right now is “French Food At Home.” One day, after picking up the CSA veggies, she was cooking radishes with peas and dill. I had just picked up radishes and dill! Perfect for trying out a new recipe and using up all my goodies. This recipe is a variation on her original.
Radishes and Peas w/Dill
- 2 tablespoons grassfed butter
- 2 bunches radishes, quartered or sliced
- 2 cups frozen peas
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- Generous handful chopped fresh dill
Instructions:
Melt the butter in a saute pan and gently cook the radishes until half cooked. Add the peas with the chicken stock. Continue cooking until the peas and radishes are tender. Season, and scatter over the green onions and dill.
After making the daikon fritters last week, my senses have been craving some good ole hash. It’s perfect for breakfast, and I will most definitely be eating mine accompanied with bacon and eggs!
Turnip and Potato Hash
- 3 turnips, peeled and shredded
- 3 purple potatoes, shredded
- 1 garlic clove, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 tsp paprika
- salt and pepper
- oil for frying (I used the bacon grease from making my bacon to go with it!)
Instructions:
Heat skillet over medium high heat with the oil in the pan. Add all the ingredients into the skillet and fry up until it meets your standards for hash crispy-ness.
As for all that zucchini, get ready. There will be more to come. Check out my zucchini bread in the recipe section! Mine from last year ALMOST made it through to this season. Make sure you make and freeze it while you can!
Avocado and Brussels Sprout Salad
This was a salad brought to the last book club meeting and the minute I ate some, I knew I had to have the recipe! If you like cold salads, this is right up your alley!
INGREDIENTS:
Vinaigrette:
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salad:
- 3 cups shaved Brussels sprouts
- 2 cups shredded cabbage
- 6 green onions, thinly sliced
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- 3 ripe, fresh Avocados, seeded, peeled and diced in ½ pieces
- 1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Combine all ingredients for vinaigrette in a small glass jar. Cover tightly and shake well.
2. Place one half of the vinaigrette in a large bowl. Place diced avocado in bowl with vinaigrette and gently stir to coat. This will keep your avocados beautiful and fresh looking.
3. Add remaining ingredients except sesame seeds to bowl with avocados. Toss gently. Drizzle with a bit more dressing and toss again.
NOTES:
Trim the hard root end from all of the Brussels sprouts and remove any bruised outer leaves. Slice and then chop.
Sprinkle sesame seeds on right before serving. Instead of sesame seeds you could substitute toasted pumpkin seeds or walnuts.
ENJOY!
Pesto and Caramelized Onion Pizza
I have posted a pizza recipe before with a different crust. All crust that is grain-free has a different texture. So, in my opinion, you are just searching for the most desirable characteristic for your taste. If you like it thin, crispy, with a slight chew, then this may be your crust. I don’t make pizza often, but if you do, then here’s my recommendation, find 4 different recipes and every Friday night for a month, make a new one and find out which one your family likes best! I will say this one is nice because you can pick it up and eat it just like pizza, and not all grain-free options can say that.
I did not want to leave the house, and that forced me to look through what I had. I settled on basil pesto as the sauce because I had that in the freezer from summer. I also had three onions and couldn’t resist caramelizing them as my topping addition. That’s it. No cheese, no meat, and I didn’t miss them either. You could easily use whatever topping you’d like though, so play with them!
Pizza Crust (adapted from Ancestral Table)
Ingredients:
- 2 cups tapioca flour
- 1/4 cup canned coconut milk
- 2 Tbsp grassfed butter
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- pinch of white pepper
- 1 egg, beaten
Directions:
Preheat oven to 500F. On the stovetop, over medium-low heat add the coconut milk, butter, and salt. Stir to combine and let it heat until it just starts to boil. Add the mixture into a bowl with the tapioca starch. Mix in the oregano and white pepper. Let rest for a few minutes to lower the temp of the mixture. Then add the egg. Use your hands to knead the dough together. If it is glue-like, sticky and runny, add more tapioca flour until it forms a workable dough. Place half the dough on a cast iron skillet, pizza stone, or baking sheet and spread it thin with your finger tips. Bake in the oven for 8 minutes. Get the pizza out, add the toppings and bake for another 10 minutes.
Fennel and Tomato Pork Chops
This dish represents a lot of cooking technique that everyone should learn. Once you learn some basics, you can sub any protein, and veggies, and any spices to suit your palate. I happen to also love this dish because it incorporates fennel, which most people have never tried. I’m a big proponent of trying new things, so if you have never tried it, here’s your fool-proof chance! If you have a big family, just multiply the recipe for your needs.
Searing the meat gives nice carmelization which lends tons of flavor. Deglazing the pain picks up all those flavors and let the deglazing liquid reduce and intensify in flavor. Add herbs is the key to making a dish packed full of flavor and looking pretty! You eat with you eyes first. Add chopped parsley to the top of anything and it instantly looks more appetizing!
Fennel and Tomato Pork Chops
Ingredients:
- 2 pork chops
- 1 bulb fennel plus the fronds (which are the top green tassle-like things), sliced
- 1 can tomatoes
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
- zest from one lemon
- salt and pepper
Directions:
Over high heat, melt oil until hot. Season both sides of the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. When the oil is hot, sear both sides of the chops until a nice brown crust forms (about 2 minutes each side). Once seared, remove the chops from the pan and put in the fennel, shallots, and half the parsley. Saute for 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan by pouring in your wine and scraping the brown bits from the bottom. Add the tomatoes and stir. Nestle back in the pork chops into sauce and reduce heat to medium. Let cook for another 12-15 minutes. Take out the pork chops and add in the remaining parsley, lemon zest, and another generous seasoning of salt and pepper. Serve!
Venison Backstrap with a Blueberry Sauce
If your freezer looks like mine, you’ve got deer meat and frozen blueberries piled up! Game meat like deer, elk, bear, etc. all has a flavor that works really well with fruit, especially berries. You could make this recipe without the blueberries very easily and it would still taste amazing! I just thought we could turn it up a notch for those with a hunting hubby around Valentine’s Day!
I wanted to take a moment to mention why game meat might be a really good addition to your diet. Reason number one, it was wild and foraged for food in an “almost” natural habitat. For the most part that means it eats what it is supposed to as opposed to a human forcing it to eat things that make it sick. For deer, that means they eat lots of leaves…probably some of our corn fields too…and run around all day! Happy and healthy. Their meat is friendly (no one wants them hit by cars!), lean because of all the activity, and much higher in omega 3 fatty acids than any farm raised animal. It is often cheaper too because someone hunted it and butchered it without there being a farm or a middleman grocer.
The backstrap is essentially the part that runs down the back that if we cut it into pieces, we would be cutting it into filets. So, this meat is lean, likes a high heat sear, and should be served medium rare.
Venison
Ingredients:
- 1 lb venison backstrap
- salt and pepper
- dried porcini mushrooms, ground up
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 2 tbsp grassfed butter
Preheat oven to 400F.
Dry the meat off and cover it generously with salt, pepper, and dried porcini mushrooms that you ground up. You could leave out the mushrooms but you better replace that flavor with something else!
Over high heat, in a cast iron skillet, place a few tablespoons of saturated fat in the pan (coconut oil, ghee, bacon grease, tallow, etc.) When the skillet sizzles when you flick water at it, sear the meat on all sides for 2 minutes each or until it has a nice crust on it.
Once seared, place in the oven for about 20 minutes.
Take the meat out and put it aside to rest under a tin foil tent. This will ensure the juices go back into the meat.
Throw 2 cloves of garlic minced into the pan over medium high heat along with a couple tsp of dried thyme. Saute for about 30 seconds and then pour a couple splashes of balsamic vinegar in the pan. Then pour about 1/2 cup of chicken stock into the pan and stir around until all the brown bits are off the bottom. Throw in a few handfuls of blueberries and let simmer and reduce for about 8-10 minutes. It will get a thicker, more concentrated flavor. When the time is almost up, pour any juices left under the meat into the pan. Take the pan off the heat, and melt 2 Tbsp of butter to get a nice, rounded, silky sauce. Serve!