Tag Archives: Paleo

Banana Marshmallow Split!

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Banana Marshmallow Split

I wasn’t going to post this on the blog, just because this is so easy to make, it barely needs directions. I made this dessert after making a fresh batch of marshmallows, I’ll post the recipe for those soon. This is a super yummy single serve dessert that isn’t involved at all. But it’s so yummy that you’ll probably want to make it all the time. Sometimes I add peanut butter to this, or almond butter and sliced almonds. You can even add sliced strawberries if you want to make it fancy.

Ingredients:
1 Banana split down the middle
1-2 squares of a good quality chocolate (chopped into small pieces) ( I used 60% organic fair trade bittersweet chocolate)
4-6 miniature marshmallows
2-3 walnuts crushed

Equipment needed:
Foil

Serves: 1

Directions:

 Place the chocolate and marshmallows inside the slit banana:

Cover with foil. Bake in a 400F degree oven for 5 minutes:

Remove the banana peel. Place in a serving bowl, top with crushed walnuts and enjoy!

Share your favorite single serving dessert recipes? I’d love to try some new ones;-)

Lemon Herb Cauliflower "rice"

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Lemon Cauliflower Herb “Rice” It Paleo, Gluten free, and Low-carb

As adventurous as my daughter is when it comes to food, she still struggles with textures. A meal for her can be made, or broken, if something is not the right texture for her. I’m constantly trying to introduce her to new foods, but at the same time give them to her in a way that she will except. Many foods that I give her end up on the floor if I get it wrong. I read somewhere that people on a low carb diet substitute cauliflower for grains and potatoes. I myself have had cauliflower mash and loved it. I decided to try to do a cauliflower rice to go along with a roast chicken I was making for dinner. It turned out to be a hit with her, and my husband loved it too. I added lemon and cilantro, but just like any rice, you can add what ever flavorings suit your fancy. This is both Cauliflower rice is Paleo, Gluten free, and low carb.

Here’s what you need:
1 large cauliflower head, stems removed
1/4 cup of finely chopped onion
Zest of a lemon
 Juice of half a large lemon
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
Sea salt to taste
Tablespoon of chopped cilantro

Equipment needed:
Food processor

Directions:

Add the cauliflower florets to you’re food processor and pulse until the cauliflower looks like this:

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan, add the onion and cook until translucent.

Add in the cauliflower and lemon juice and zest, mix well.

Cover the pan and let cook for 3 minutes. Uncover the pan and cook an additional 2-3 minutes, stirring to prevent sticking, but allowing a little browning. Turn fire off, and add the chopped cilantro and serve. I didn’t add the cilantro to her portion, again, textures.

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Dandelion Greens with Sautéed Mushrooms

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Have you ever gone to the farmers market, and laid eyes on a vegetable and thought “that looks interesting let me try it?” We’ll that’s what happened to me this Sunday. I walked up to my favorite herb stand to get my usual arsenal of fresh herbs, and I stumbled upon some fresh dandelion greens. Sometimes I get so inspired by fresh veggies at the farmers market. I love trying new things. My love of trying new things can result in an amazing dish, as in this one, or a not so amazing dish. I had heard of dandelion greens before, but I had no clue how to cook them. So once the excitement of using this new leaf wore off, I was left to figure out what to do with these dandelion greens. I tasted the raw leaves…Big mistake! They are as my daughter would say “super duper, bitter.” They almost remind me of bitter gourd/melon.  But even these greens are not as bitter as bitter melon. I Googled them and found that dandelion leaves are actually weeds. You know those weeds that are growing in your vegetable garden? Yes those weeds, they’re edible…who knew? I decided I wanted to mellow out the bitterness, the best way to do that is to cook them. I got out some Crimini mushrooms, because mushrooms always make greens better, and some garlic and started my journey. I had no idea where I was going with this, but I can tell you that I ended up in taste bud heaven at the end of it all. Every element of this salad adds an additional flavor profile. This dish is filling, and gratifying on so many levels. I could eat it every day! If you can’t find dandelion greens, try substituting a hearty bitter green like beet greens, turnip greens or chard.

Here’s what you need:
1 bunch of organic Dandelion leaves, cut with bottom stems removed
10 ounces of Crimini Mushrooms sliced
2 Large cloves of garlic chopped finely
Handful of walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup of fresh cherry tomatoes sliced in half, I used fresh tomatoes from my garden
1/3 cup of goat cheese, or more if you are so inclined
1 teaspoon of butter
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 of a small lemon
2tablespoons of olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Warm the olive oil and garlic in a sauté pan:

Once you can smell the garlic (20 seconds), add in the mushrooms:

Salt the mushrooms and allow to cook until just before the water from the mushrooms evaporates(5-7 minutes). Add in the tab of butter, and allow the mushrooms to brown and take on a bit of color. This step is important don’t skip it! Browning releases Unami flavor.

After the mushrooms have taken on some color add in the dandelion greens.

Sauté until wilted, then add in the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice:

Mix well, add in the tomatoes, toss for about a minute, turn off the fire:

Add in walnuts, and cheese, toss, season with salt and pepper and serve. This would also be good cold, but served warm this salad is super comforting and satisfying!

What have been some interesting farmers market finds for you?

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Crab cakes with Mango Coulis! Gluten free and Paleo

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Nothing grates my nerves more than a crab cake that has everything in it but crab. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ordered a crab cake at a restaurant and been disappointed when I’m served a bread cake instead. I want crab in my crab cakes, and not just a little lump meat here and there! This recipe for crab cakes is for those of us who love crab, and not the breading you find in most crab cake recipes. This is a gluten free crab cake recipe. I use vegan mayo instead of regular to reduce the fat, but feel free to use your brand of mayo.

Here’s what you need:
1.5 lbs of fresh crabmeat
Zest of half a lemon
2 Tablespoons of Veganaise or the best-quality mayonnaise you can find
5 tablespoons of coconut flour
1 egg beaten
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
1.5 teaspoons of Worcester sauce
1/4 teaspoon of chili pepper flakes
1/4 cup of green onion sliced thinly
1/4 cup of green or red bell pepper, finely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2-3 Tablespoons of oil, or butter for frying cakes

Mango coulis
1 large ripe mango,  cut and cubed
1/3 cup of water or more if you like it thinner

Directions for mango coulis:
Add mango to a blender. Blend while adding water until smooth and desired thickness has been reached. Set aside.

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients, except the oil, and mix lightly until ingredients come together. Form patties.

Heat oil in a skillet, add crab cakes, cook until brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes on each side,

Remove and serve with mango coulis and enjoy!

What does your favorite crab cake recipe have in it? Share, I’d love to try it!

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Gluten free Fried Chicken

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I don’t fry chicken very often maybe once or twice a year. Fried chicken really isn’t something I want to make a main stay in my family’s daily diet, if you know what I mean. If I have a craving for fried chicken I usually make my “Tofu fried chicken”.  However, anyone who’s ever had fried chicken, (is there anyone who hasn’t?), knows how delicious and addicting real fried chicken can be. When we travel outside the United Staes, it’s always interesting to see the sheer number of fast food fried chicken restaurants there are. Besides McDonalds, KFC and Churches chicken seem to have a solid hold on the worlds fast food dollars, and they seem to be everywhere! Is there a healthy way to fry chicken, um…probably not! But there are ways to make fried chicken healthier. Baking fried chicken, is one option, but then again that’s not really “fried chicken.” Removing the skin is another option, but I have to admit it’s one of my favorite parts of fried chicken, a crispy skin is everything! This particular recipe has no skin, it’s gluten free, and Paleo because I use coconut flour, and it’s super duper yummy. Frying it in coconut oil adds another delicious flavor profile, trust me when I say that you want to try this recipe. It is beyond delicious!  My daughter isn’t a big meat eater, but one bite of one of these golden nuggets and she was a chicken convert. She kept asking for, more, and more, and “more of that chi-ken.”

Here’s what you need:
1lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch chunks
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup of Coconut flour
1/2 cup of coconut oil

Directions:
Heat coconut oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add coconut flour to a small bowl. Season chicken with sea salt and black pepper:

Dredge the chicken in the coconut flour:

Add Chicken to the hot coconut oil. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, flipping the chicken half way through, to brown on both sides:


Once chicken is cooked through, Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to absorb any extra oil, then enjoy!

Have you ever fried chicken in something other than vegetable or canola oil? How did it turn out?
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Cauliflower Hummus, It’s Paleo and Oh so delicious!

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Our staff Certified Nutritionist Justice De La Torre is back with an AMAZING recipe for Cauliflower Hummus in this weeks blog.  Justice is a strong proponent of the Paleo way of eating.  The Paleo diet, if you don’t know, is simply a diet that consists of eating as humans did in the Paleolithic era.  This means eliminating legumes of all sorts, including peanuts, which funnily enough are considered legumes, cereal grains, refined sugar, potatoes, processed foods, salt and dairy.  A lot of people mistake the paleo diet with the Low Carb diet, but the low carb diet never excluded legumes and dairy.  So there you go.  This recipe for Cauliflower hummus is so yummy.  My daughter had a taste of this Cauliflower hummus, and kept coming back for more, and more, and more!

Here’s what you need:
1 small head of Cauliflower
1/2 cup of Tahini paste
2 cloves of Garlic
1 Tablespoon of Lemon juice
2 teaspoons of cumin
Sea Salt to taste
2 tablespoons of Olive oil
Dash of red pepper flakes

Directions:
Steam your Cauliflower until you can pierce it with a fork easily.

In a separate pan, add oil, toss in your cloves of garlic and heat until you can smell the garlic, 10-30 seconds.

Add the heated garlic and the tahini to a blender and blend for 1 minute.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.

Let the mixture cool to room temperature, and enjoy with grilled meat, or veggie sticks, or both!

What is your favorite kind of hummus?

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Pure Maple Cream

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Maple Cream / Maple Butter

It’s nearing Father’s Day and one of my gifts for my husband is to finally fulfill his desire to have maple cream, also known as maple butter, on his toast. He loves maple cream, and always speaks of the time he spent in Vermont very fondly. Whenever he speaks of Vermont, there always comes a point in the conversation in which he talks about maple cream, and every single time that he speaks of maple cream, his eyes gleam. It’s almost like witnessing him sitting in a cafe tasting the maple cream for the very first time. Before today, I  have never had maple cream. So up to this point I didn’t really get this infatuation he had with maple cream. On an ingredient scale, maple cream is easy to make, it only requires one ingredient, maple syrup. However, making maple cream requires some effort, it is definitely not a lazy girl activity. This however is a special occasion, and my husband deserves all the effort, and some, that I put into making this maple cream for him. He is an amazing father, extremely hands on, and he ADORES our daughter. I wish that every child could be loved by their dad as much as my husband loves our daughter. She is definitely lucky to have him as her dad. Making this maple cream is the least I could do for him. To be fair, I actually thought that it would be much harder to make this maple cream than it actually was. Just stir at a steady pace and you should be fine. This requires about 30-40 minutes of constant stirring, so just prepare yourself.

Here’s what you need:
3 cups of Grade A Maple Syrup

Equipment
A wet/dry thermometer or candy thermometer

Directions:
Prepare an ice bath by placing a medium size sauce pan into a large bowl of ice:

In another sauce pan add 3 Cups of maple syrup:

 

Over medium heat allow the syrup to boil undisturbed until the temperature reaches 235 degrees Fahrenheit, I went over a degree because I was trying to take a picture for the blog;-)

Boil for 1 more minute just to make sure that the liquid has indeed reached that temperature, then turn off the heat, and pour the hot syrup into the clean sauce pan in the ice bath. Allow it to cool until the temperature reaches 100 degrees.

Remove the pot  from the ice bath and begin stirring:

As you stir the color will begin to change and the liquid will begin to thicken it turned this color after about 15 minutes of stirring:

Once the maple syrup looses its glossy sheen and it starts to look like tahini, or has the texture of peanut butter stop stirring. It took about 40 minutes. Pour into a clean storage container:

Spread this mixture on biscuits, toast, pancakes, waffles, or whatever your heart desires, and enjoy!

What are your fondest memories of your dad?
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