Chicken Tortilla Soup

I think the best recipes I've ever created come from requests from Rem.  I am always asking him what sounds good to make because I work better within constraints- an ingredients, a cuisine, or even better, a specific dish.  This time he said Chicken Tortilla Soup sounded good, so I commenced my research and ended up with this warming, satisfying, perfect-for-fall soup.  

Chicken Tortilla Soup 

4 large chicken breasts

sprinkled with olive oil, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper

2 T olive oil

2 small red onions, chopped small

1/2 green pepper, diced small

1/2 red pepper, diced small

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp chili powder 

about 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

3 cloves garlic (*I used freeze dried garlic that I buy at Kroger in the produce section- my favorite because I HATE cutting garlic.  I just estimate 3 cloves)

4 c (1 carton) chicken broth (*I used Simple Truth Organic broth, regular salted variety)

4 c water

28 oz. crushed tomatoes (*I used pomi brand in the carton)

1 small can green chiles

2 c frozen corn

15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

2/3 c maseca (corn flour- *also bought at Kroger) 

+ enough milk or water to create a paste of sorts (you are going to drop this into the soup like dumplings)

1/4 c chopped cilantro

1/2 c sour cream (optional, but delicious- you could use cream, milk, or plain yogurt instead, the idea is to add some creaminess)

juice of 1 lime

Bake chicken in an oiled glass dish at 400 degrees for 45 minutes (that's what worked well in my oven), OR prepare chicken however you normally do!  Another option is to use rotisserie chicken or leftover chicken.  If you are baking the chicken, let it cool for a few minutes when done, then chop into bite-sized pieces.

In a large dutch oven or stock pot, saute onions and peppers in olive oil.  After about 5 minutes, add spices EXCEPT garlic and saute until the veggies smell great and getting soft (10 minutes or so).  Add garlic and saute 3 minutes more.  Next add broth, water, tomatoes, chiles, corn, beans, and the chopped chicken.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.  At this point, stir together the maseca and water/milk by putting the maseca in a bowl, making a well, and then stirring while you add the water/milk until a thick paste forms and all of the flour is incorporated with the liquid.  Then drop by very small spoonfuls into the hot soup.  This will create dumplings of sorts!  Stir the dumplings around in the soup.  Simmer the soup for 20 min-1 hour.  The longer the simmer, the deeper the flavor, but ours was really delicious after only 20 minutes or so.  Once you've decided you're done simmering, take the soup off the heat and stir in the cilantro, sour cream, and lime juice.  Enjoy!  

Ground Turkey and Pasta Skillet with Greens

Ground Turkey and Pasta Skillet with Greens

1 lb. ground turkey
1/2 large onion, diced
1 c mushrooms, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp fennel
1/2 tsp pepper 
1/4-1/2 tsp sea salt
32 oz. strained tomatoes (or tomato sauce)
1/4 c sundried tomatoes, chopped
4 cups greens of choice (I used spinach)
4 servings cooked quinoa or brown rice pasta (I used this brand from Trader Joe's) 

Saute ground turkey and onion in a pan, halfway through adding the mushrooms, garlic and spices. When turkey is cooked through, add the tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, and the greens, cooking until the greens are completely cooked down and can be stirred into the turkey mixture.  Taste your sauce and add more seasoning if it needs it!  Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to the directions on the package.  When pasta is done cooking, add it to the ground turkey mixture.  I served mine over steamed broccoli and cauliflower and it was delicious!  

"Pasta" Carbonara

Carbonara is a pasta dish made with bacon or ham, egg, and cream.  This version is a veggie-filled take on the traditional pasta carbonara, with several substitutions that make it very nutritious and incredibly delicious.  To be honest, it is actually very reminiscent of fried rice!  I'm pretty sure it's the peas and egg that give it that taste.  Either way, this is a unique dish that would be great served for breakfast, as a non meat-heavy main dish, or as a chicken side dish.  

"Pasta" Carbonara

1/2-3/4 lb. of bacon, cut into small pieces
2 candy onions (very small onions), minced (about 1/2 c onion)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen peas
freshly ground pepper
6 egg yolks (I used yolks because I made biscuits with the whites the day before, but you could use 3-4 whole eggs instead!)
3 large zucchini or squash, spiralized

Cut bacon into small pieces and saute in a large dutch oven or high sided pot.  Once the bacon is crispy, remove the pieces but leave the fat in the pot.  Add the onion, cooking until soft, then add garlic and cook until fragrant. (This dish is very much based on feel- I don't have exact cooking times or temperatures, you just have to go by the look of the ingredients!)  Then add peas and saute until the peas are hot.  Sprinkle a generous amount of pepper on top of the peas.  Pour the egg yolks on top of the peas and stir everything until the egg yolks no longer look wet.  Then add the zucchini/squash noodles, and add the bacon back in as well.  Cook, stirring occassionally, until the "noodles" are soft.  For us, this made about 4 servings!

Indian Chicken and Vegetable Stew

Rem and I discovered the original recipe for this stew when we started experimenting with Indian recipes at home a few years ago.  Indian is one of our favorite cuisines and we love to try new Indian recipes!  If you're not the adventurous type or think you don't like Indian cuisine, this stew might be a good stepping stone for you because the flavors are sweet and warming but not too overpowering.  

The original recipe is a vegetarian stew, but we like meat in all of our meals, so we added chicken to the mix.  We also subbed chicken stock for some of the water, replaced the red potatoes with sweet potatoes, and added peas.  I can imagine many other meat/vegetable substitutions would be great as well! Just keep that onion, garlic, and spice mixture! 

This is a great recipe to make for a big group OR if you want to have a lot of leftovers because it makes a LOT.  We never have enough leftover to freeze, but it would freeze well!  

Indian Chicken and Vegetable Stew

(Makes 10-12 generous servings)
Adapted from Eating Well

2 lbs. chicken thighs, baked with cumin, coriander, garlic powder, salt, pepper

2-3 T extra virgin olive oil
3 large onions, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
10 good grinds black pepper

2 c unsalted chicken stock (I used Kitchen Basics brand)
2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
3 cups baby carrots, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 cups frozen peas
2 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 15 oz. cans fire roasted diced tomatoes

3/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped

whole milk, plain Greek yogurt for topping


The day before (or earlier in the day): bake chicken thighs then cut into bite-sized pieces.  Save for later use in the soup.  (You could also just use any kind of leftover chicken).  

To prep: Cut the onions (place in dutch oven), cut the sweet potatoes (leave on cutting board), and mix together the spices in a small bowl.  

Saute onions in large dutch oven or stockpot over medium high heat.  Cook until the onions begin to brown just a little.  Add garlic and saute 1-2 minutes.  Add all of the spices and saute 1 min longer.  

Next add the sweet potatoes, 2 c chicken stock and 2 c water.  Cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes.

Then add the carrots, frozen peas, garbanzo beans, and tomatoes.  The pot will be very full at this point.  Cover the pot again and turn the heat down to medium-low.  Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, or until the carrots and sweet potatoes are cooked through.  

When ready to serve, stir in the cilantro.  This is great served with plain Greek yogurt on top too!  

Paleo Moussaka

When I studied abroad in Greece, I discovered an amazing dish called Moussaka. Traditionally, this casserole is made with spiced ground lamb, eggplant, potatoes, and a creamy milk and flour based bechamel sauce on top.  It is hearty and homey like a good lasagna but with a more "exotic" flavor set.  A few weeks ago, Rem discovered a recipe for a paleo moussaka on the blog Real Food Forager.  We adapted it slightly to make a LOT more and to use ingredients we had on hand.  We've actually made it twice in the past few weeks and it turned out fantastic both times.  The bechamel sauce is unreal. As you can see in the pictures, broiling the moussaka for the last few minutes gives the bechamel that crusty, delicious brown on top which is reminiscent of broiled cheese.  There is still some in the fridge that I may need to go eat right now...  By the way, this tastes great cold as well as piping hot.  Is it weird that I tend to eat all of my leftovers cold?  Does anyone else do that?

Before baking.

After baking.  Mmmm....

Paleo Moussaka

Slightly adapted from Grassfed Girl via Real Food Forager

2 T coconut oil
2 small onions of 1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
sea salt and pepper
2 lb. antibiotic and hormone-free ground turkey
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 6 oz. can organic tomato paste
1 15 oz. can organic no salt added tomato sauce
2 medium eggplants, skin peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces

2 cans full fat coconut milk
1/2 c arrowroot powder (I buy Bob'd Red Mill brand, which I have found at Kroger, Earth Fare, and Meijer)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Melt coconut oil in large saute pan.  Add onions and garlic, saute 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey, salt, pepper and cinnamon. Cook, breaking up turkey, until ground turkey is cooked through. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, and 1/2 can of water.  Stir and cook this for about 5 minutes more.
  
Meanwhile, grease 2 13x9 inch pans with coconut oil.  Peel and chop the eggplant into bite-sized pieces.  Place 1/2 of the eggplant pieces into each pan.  Then pour the meat mixture on top of the eggplant in each pan, splitting the amount evenly between the 2 pans.  

To make the bechamel sauce, mix 1 can of coconut milk with the 1/2 c arrowroot powder.  Pour of other can of coconut milk into a large sauce pan and heat until it starts to bubble (but not a full blown boil).  At this point, add the coconut milk/arrowroot powder mixture and whisk continuously until the sauce is very thick. Then remove the sauce from the heat, crack the 2 eggs into it, and whisk until the eggs are incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Pour the bechamel sauce over the meat mixture in each pan, splitting the amount evenly between the 2 pans.  

Bake both pans, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.  After 40 minutes, remove the pans from the oven, move the oven rack up one slot, and set the oven to BROIL.  Put the pans back in the oven and broil for 3-5 minutes or until the bechamel starts to brown (but not until it gets burnt).  Makes 8-12 servings.

Serve hot!  This also makes great leftovers.

Mexican Chicken, Rice and Beans

(Fair warning: this recipe is not paleo (it contains rice and beans), but it is gluten-free).  

This dish is inspired by my mom, who is an awesome cook and a master at throwing together crockpot recipes that always taste amazing.  Most of her crockpot recipes are not written down, and they're rarely the same each time she makes them, but she has made a dish like this one several times, and both Rem and I loved it every time!  

This one-pot meal is super delicious, EASY, and very filling.  It's great for when you're craving Mexican but don't want to take the time to prepare every component separately.  If you don't tolerate or like beans, you could easily add more veggies (peppers,  in their place or just leave them out.  I would imagine you could also replace the rice with riced cauliflower.  You could also change it up to make this an Indian dish rather than Mexican by swapping the spices below for turmeric, cumin, coriander, garlic, ginger, and curry powder, and swapping the beans for chickpeas.  Let me know if you try out any variations on this recipe!    

Mexican Chicken, Rice and Beans

2 1/2 lb uncooked chicken breasts or thighs, fresh (or frozen then thawed)

32 oz. can diced tomatoes, with juice

1/2 c salsa (I used Mrs. Renfro's habenero salsa- a super hot salsa!)

1 onion, diced

Sprinkle liberally over the top: 

cumin

garlic powder

pepper

oregano

Cook the above ingredients on HIGH in the crockpot for 4 hours (anywhere between 3 and 6 hours would work).

Then add:

2 cans drained and rinsed black beans

1 c uncooked basmati rice (I used Trader Joe's brand; you could use ANY type of rice for this)

Continue to cook on HIGH for 2 hours.  

Enjoy!

Creamy Tomato and Shrimp Soup

Last weekend my sister came to visit me for a cooking and baking extravaganza!  We both love to bake, cook, and eat delicious food, so we had an amazing time going through our "to make" recipe files and choosing some new dishes to cook.  We cooked turnips with bacon, onion, and turnip greens.  We roasted spaghetti squash.  We baked banana cardamom bread, pear cobbler muffins, and brownie bites.  And we made the most delicious dinner: homemade sushi and this creamy tomato and shrimp soup!  It's sweet, spicy, and full of tender vegetables and shrimp.  The soup was perfect on the cool fall day when we made it, and as most soups are, it was great the next day as leftovers.  

Creamy Tomato and Shrimp Soup

Adapted from Food and Wine

1 T coconut oil
2 onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
32 oz. can diced tomatoes
5 oz. can tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
15 oz. can coconut milk (full fat)
2 lb. raw shrimp, thawed (we used medium, frozen, wild caught shrimp from Meijer)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (we didn't measure- just put in a bunch)
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 c chopped fresh cilantro

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the coconut oil over medium heat.  Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables start to soften and are fragrant, about 10-15 minutes.  Add the red pepper flakes, tomatoes, tomato paste, and chicken stock.  Let simmer for about 10 minutes.  Pour in the coconut milk, continuing to simmer for about 5 minutes.  Then add shrimp and cook for about 3-5 minutes more, or until shrimp are cooked through.  Just before serving, stir in the pepper, lemon juice, and cilantro.  Serve hot!  We ate it by itself but this would be delicious over rice or cauliflower rice.  

Beef and Sauerkraut

Although sauerkraut is mostly known for it's role in the classic New Year's Day "Pork and Sauerkraut," it's too delicious not to include in other dishes at other times of the year. This easy meal is perfect for a weeknight when you don't have a lot of time to cook, or on the weekend when you want to cook up a BIG batch of food for the week.  In the latter case, just double the recipe and you'll be good to go!

Beef and Sauerkraut

2 lb. grass fed ground beef
1 onion, diced
salt
freshly ground pepper
1 lb. sauerkraut (from a jar, with cabbage and salt as the only ingredients)

Brown beef and onion in skillet until beef is cooked through.  Add sauerkraut and cook on medium high for about 10 minutes more, or until sauerkraut is hot.  Enjoy!  Yes, it's that easy!

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Crockpot Whole Chicken

I made this chicken yesterday and was absolutely thrilled with the results!  Basically, I had a whole, thawed chicken in the refrigerator and wasn't sure what to do with it.  Rem makes some awesome beer can chicken and rotisserie chicken on the grill, but since I do not possess his grilling skills, I had to decide on some kind of indoor cooking method.  I had never tried a whole chicken in the crockpot so I gave it a stab and it was SO easy and SO good!  The only caveat is that the chicken skin does not get as crispy as when it is grilled or roasted in the oven.  But, slow cooked in the crockpot, the chicken gets so tender that it falls off the bone.  It literally does melt in your mouth!  I don't think I've had more tender chicken in my life!  I highly recommend this recipe for it's simplicity and superb taste.  

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Crockpot Whole Chicken

Originally from Paleo Slow Cooking by Chrissy Gower

1 fresh Bell and Evans Whole Chicken (3-5 pound chicken)
1 T coarse kosher salt
1 T freshly ground black pepper
1 T seasoning of choice (I used an Italian seasoning mix with garlic, basil, marjoram, thyme, and pepper)

1. Rinse chicken and remove giblets from the inside cavity if there are any.  
2. Dry chicken thoroughly and place in crockpot breast side up.  
3. Rub chicken (the whole outside as well as the inside cavity) with salt, pepper, and other seasonings.
4. Turn the crockpot to HIGH and set the timer for 5 hours (anywhere from 4-6 hours should work as well).
5.  No need to stir or do anything while the chicken cooks!  After 5 hours, your chicken will be ready to go. You'll know it's done because the chicken will be falling off the bone.
6.  Remove chicken from crockpot and place on cutting board or large plate  Separate into pieces for serving.  You probably won't even need a knife because the chicken is so tender that you can separate it into pieces with your hands!  

This chicken is delicious on it's own, served with some veggies on the side, but here are some other ideas for what to do with it:
1. Shred chicken with your hands and use as the base for your favorite chicken salad.
2.  After removing the chicken from the crockpot, strain the liquid that remains in the crockpot, getting rid of any solid pieces.  Pour the strained liquid back into the crockpot.  Shred the chicken and add it back to the crockpot.  Make your own chicken soup by adding some more water or chicken stock, vegetables, and cooked rice/quinoa/brown rice noodles.  Heat on low until the veggies are cooked through.

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

For some reason I've been craving lettuce wraps lately, and the 5 lbs. of napa cabbage we got in our CSA have been a perfect excuse to eat lots of them!  Here is a great filling for lettuce wraps that Rem and I have made several times in the past few weeks.  We never seem to have as many leftovers as we think we will! 
The ingredients are simple, and each plays an important role in making the flavors of the dish pop!  Onion, garlic and mushroom are a great base for any flavorful stir fry, and minced fresh ginger adds a certain zing that is incredibly delicious.  The crushed red pepper adds the perfect amount of heat, and the water chestnuts add a necessary crunch.  

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

2 lb. ground turkey (I use Nature's Basket brand from Giant Eagle)
l large onion, diced
2 c sliced mushrooms
4 cloves minced garlic
3 T minced ginger
salt, pepper, crushed red pepper
1-2 T fish sauce
2 cans sliced water chestnuts, drained

Place ground turkey in a large skillet and heat to medium-high. (If it starts to stick, add a little bit of olive or coconut oil to the pan)  Stir and break up the turkey every few minutes.  As the turkey browns, chop up the onion, then add the onion and mushrooms, continuing to stir every few minutes.  While that cooks, mince the garlic and ginger, then add to the pan.  Next add salt (about 1/8 tsp), pepper (10-12 "cranks"), crushed red pepper (a light sprinkling over the whole pan), fish sauce, and water chestnuts.  Continue to saute this mixture until the turkey is cooked through and all ingredients are hot. Serve with romaine lettuce leaves or napa cabbage leaves.  Makes 4-6 large servings.  

Roasted Asparagus and Red Pepper Chicken Salad

I was sad when I realized it's been a whole month since I last posted a recipe!  The past month has been very eventful and busy: 2 weddings (1 in Niagara Falls!), a fender bender which required lots of work, a trip to urgent care after biting it doing box jumps, getting to spend time with our families, a college reunion, a Girls on the Run 5k, and all the events that come with the last month of school!  I can't believe I'm almost done with my first year of having my own classroom!  It has flown by and has been truly great.  I am so thankful for this job, my wonderful students, and my amazing colleagues.  

Anyway, since summer is around the corner my goal is to post much more frequently!  Meanwhile, enjoy this yummy chicken salad that features roasted asparagus and fresh herbs.  It has tons of texture and flavor, and is fantastic served on a bed of greens.  

Roasted Asparagus and Red Pepper Chicken Salad

Originally from Multiply Delicious

Chicken Salad:
2 lb. cooked chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small pieces (I usually use boneless skinless thighs, place them on a foil lined pan, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c unsalted, roasted almond slivers
1/2 large red onion, diced
1 bunch asparagus (woody ends trimmed, coated in about 2 T coconut oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, roasted in the oven at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes)
1/4 c fresh basil, minced
1/4 c fresh parsley, minced
1/2 jar roasted red peppers (or red and yellow peppers), diced
salt and pepper

Dressing:
1/3 c fresh parsley
1/3 c fresh basil
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T dijon mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Combine all chicken salad ingredients in large bowl.  For dressing, combine all ingredients except olive oil in food processor and blend OR in a bowl with tall sides, use an immersion blender to blend.  After the herbs, vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper are mixed together, drizzle in olive oil as you blend until the dressing has a pourable consistency.  Pour dressing over the chicken salad and stir to combine.  Enjoy!  I like to eat this over a bed of spinach or mixed greens.  Makes about 6 servings.  

Pad Thai

This is a super flavorful, easy meal that Rem and I made the other night and both LOVED!  We adapted it from many paleo pad thai recipes we found on various blogs out there.  I suppose I could call my version "two tablespoon" pad thai since I added that much of almost every ingredient.  This would be an easy recipe to memorize!

Instead of the traditional noodles used as the basis of pad thai, I decided to try using zucchini in their place.  I've never tried making "noodles" with zucchini before because I thought I needed a vegetable spiralizer, but as I searched for pad thai recipes I noticed that many cooks just use a vegetable peeler to create noodles from the zucchini.  I tried it and it worked perfectly!  Ironically, we also made brown rice pasta to go along with the pad thai (which you can see in the picture).  Also pictured are some steamed green beans.  I hope you enjoy this meal as much as we did!

Pad Thai

2 T coconut oil

2 large onions, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 T ginger, minced

2 T apple cider vinegar

2 T raw almond butter

2 T sriracha

2 T fish sauce (I used Dynasty brand, which is only made from anchovies and water)

2 T lime juice

3 medium sized zucchinis, sliced into thin strips with a vegetable peeler (I tried to make the strips about 1/4 inch wide by turning the zucchini each time I sliced)

1-2 lb. chicken, cubed and cooked in sesame oil (exclude if you want to make just the noodles)

Heat coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet or wok.  After the coconut oil melts, add onion, garlic, and ginger.  Saute for about 5-8 minutes or until fragrant and the onion has begun to soften, stirring around occasionally.  Stir in apple cider vinegar, almond butter, sriracha, fish sauce, and lime juice.  Add zucchini, cover wok, and cook about 10 min. or until zucchini is soft.  Take the lid off and stir occasionally during this time.  Then add chicken and cook for about 5 minutes more or until chicken is hot.  Enjoy!

Favorite Chicken Salad

I eat a huge salad most days for lunch, and this one is one of my favorites!  I think I ate it every day for lunch this week.  It's definitely a staple in my diet.  The recipe below makes 1 very large salad (in the picture I actually just photographed about half of the salad).

Favorite Chicken Salad

spinach, a few large handfuls, torn into small pieces
baby carrots, chopped into small pieces
fresh sugar snap peas, chopped into small piece
1/4 c red onion, chopped fine
1/2 avocado, sliced into pieces
salsa, about 1/4 c
pepper, a few grinds
cumin (this makes it extra tasty!), a few shakes
4 oz. chicken breasts or thighs, cooked any way you like and chopped into bite size pieces

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Eat!  This makes 1 serving for me.

*Sometimes I swap out or add cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, or broccoli slaw.
I also swap out ground beef (heated) or tuna for the chicken.

Thai Green Curry Chicken

Here's an easy, delicious crock pot recipe for thai green curry chicken.  It takes minutes to throw together and is extremely satisfying.  You could really use any vegetables you want in this dish (cabbage, carrots, or pea pods would probably be good), but I highly recommend broccoli and mushrooms.  The broccoli soaks up the green curry sauce and the mushrooms give the dish richness.  

I found the green curry paste and fish sauce at Krieger's Health Food Market up in Stow, Ohio, but I've also seen them at Giant Eagle stores.  There are other brands of curry paste but many have artificial or harmful ingredients- the Thai Kitchen brand is purely spices.  For the fish sauce, make sure you buy a brand that is made of only anchovies, salt, and water.  Asian Gourmet and Red Boat are two good brands with only these ingredients.  

Thai Green Curry Chicken

2.5-3 lb. frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts 
1 can coconut milk (full fat)
3 heaping T green curry paste (about 3/4 of the jar if you're using the Thai Kitchen brand)
2 T fish sauce
lots of freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped

4-5 cups of fresh broccoli
4-5 cups of fresh mushrooms, sliced

Sitr together coconut milk, green curry paste, fish sauce, pepper, and onion in crock pot.  Add frozen chicken breasts.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.  Thirty minutes before you want to eat (sometime in the 6-8 hour range), add the broccoli and mushrooms to the crock pot and stir together with chicken.  Turn crock pot to high and cook for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked to your liking.

Turkey Sloppy Joes

I’ve made this sloppy joe recipe several times for potlucks or special occasions at school.  After being asked for the recipe by many co-workers, I decided I finally needed to post it!  This is my favorite version of sloppy joes.  If you like a sweet sloppy joe that doesn’t have any refined sugar, this is a wonderful recipe to try!  The veggies, tomato paste and honey add natural sweetness, and the turkey itself has a sweeter taste than beef.   It’s also great if you’re trying to serve more veggies to your kids because the pepper, onion, and carrots soften and meld nicely with the sauce.  If you try it out, let me know what you think!

Turkey Sloppy Joes

adapted from Paleo Mama

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 red pepper, diced

1 small red onion, diced

2 large handfuls baby carrots or 2 large carrots, diced

2 lb. lean ground turkey (I use Harvestland Farms brand, which is antibiotic and hormone free)

2- 15 oz. cans tomato sauce (I use canned Muir Glen organic tomato sauce- it has no added sugar; don’t get spaghetti sauce, just plain tomato sauce in a can)

6 oz. can tomato paste (I used canned Muir Glen organic tomato paste)

2 T honey

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T lemon juice

1 T ground mustard

1 tsp dried thyme

1 T chili powder

1 T garlic powder

Lots of freshly ground pepper

A few shakes allspice

A few shakes ground cloves

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in large stockpot.  After a few minutes, add diced pepper, onion, and carrots.  Cook 5-10 minutes, or until soft and fragrant.  Add ground turkey, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the turkey is browned all the way through.   As the turkey browns, mix together the rest of the ingredients (tomato sauce through cloves) to create the sauce.  Once the turkey is cooked through, add the sauce to the pot and simmer 10-15 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.  Enjoy!

For serving a crowd, I doubled this recipe, cooking half of the turkey and vegetable mixture in a separate skillet then adding it to pot before adding the sauce.  I cooked everything the night before, refrigerated it overnight, then heated the sloppy joe in a crockpot for 4 hours on high the next day.

Plantain Breakfast Hash

Birthday Breakfast!  Plantain Breakfast Hash served with steamed green beans and salsa. 

Lunch the next day.  Complete with beautiful flowers!

Last week, Rem made me THE BEST breakfast on my birthday: ripe plantain sauteed with ground beef and mushrooms!  We had some browned ground beef in the fridge and ripe plantains on the counter that Rem had been using to make this AWESOME hash for himself for breakfast.  I hadn't tried it yet, but every time he made it I wondered to myself why I didn't just make some too.  The night before my birthday, I mentioned that it sounded really good to make for breakfast the next day, and when I came downstairs that morning, Rem had already made it for me!  He is the best husband.  

This dish was so good that I made it again the next day for lunch.  The flowers in the background are ones that Rem sent to school for me on my birthday!  Again, he's the best!

Rem also made this today with ground pork instead of beef, and it was possibly even better.  The plantain gets nice and sweet, which contrasts nicely with the earthiness of the beef (or pork) and mushrooms.  Just make sure your plantains are nice and ripe.  Below is a picture of what they should look like when they're ripe.  You can cook with them when they're not as ripe (they'll be greener in color) but they don't taste sweet at all (more like a potato).  Do yourself a favor and wait until the plantains are ripe, because the sweetness they lend to this dish is part of what makes it so tasty.  

Plantain Breakfast Hash (Serves 1)

extra-virgin coconut oil (about 1 T)
1 ripe plantain, peeled and cubed
1/2 c fresh, sliced mushrooms
4 oz. browned ground beef
salt and pepper

Directions:
Heat coconut oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.  Add plantains and mushrooms.  Don't stir them too often, letting them get some color and letting the plantains get a little caramelized.  You want the plantains to become golden on all sides.  Once the plantains and mushrooms are cooked to your desired doneness, add the ground beef, salt, and pepper.  Since it's already cooked, you're just adding the ground beef to the skillet to get it warm.  Once the ground beef is hot, your meal is ready!

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

As I thought about what to make this weekend and browsed around the internet for recipe inspiration, I saw several Shepherd's Pies that looked really tasty.  Shepherd's Pie is traditionally made with a layer of ground lamb covered with a gravy, a layer of potatoes, and sometimes cheese.  I took the inspiration and thought about how I could make it with ingredients we love.  I decided to create a version with ground beef (the substitution which actually makes this a Cottage Pie rather than the Shepherd's Pie), a tomato sauce with rosemary and thyme, and a sweet potato layer on the top.  

I shot from the hip with this one and used Rem's cooking method: use ingredients you know you love and season liberally.  Well, it worked!  This turned out incredibly delicious!!!  You've got to try it.  

Sweet Potato Cottage Pie

Meat mixture:
3 lb. grass fed ground beef
1 onion, diced
4 celery ribs, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
handful baby carrots, diced
16 oz. fresh sliced mushrooms
1 T dried thyme
1 T dried rosemary
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper

Sweet Potato mixture:
3 enormous (that's what I used) or 6 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
coarse salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 T grass fed butter
1 egg

Directions:
1. Peel and cube sweet potatoes.  Place in a large pot of water.  Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are soft.  
2. Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven, brown the ground beef.  As it browns, chop the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery.
3. After the meat has browned, remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon.  Also remove most of the fat in the pot, leaving about 1 T behind to cook the veggies in.  It's also time to preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Add onion and celery to the pot, cooking about 5 minutes or until it gets some color.  Then add garlic, rosemary, thyme, and some salt and pepper.  Stir untiil fragrant, about 1 minute.  
5. Add tomato sauce to deglaze the pan a bit.  Then add tomato paste, mushrooms, and carrots.  Add the ground beef back in as well.  Cook over medium heat 5-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, as you finish cooking and mashing the potatoes. Just make sure the ground beef mixture doesn't stick to the pot.  If it does, add a little water.  
6. Once the potatoes are soft, drain them, then put them back in the pot and add garlic, rosemary, salt, pepper, butter, and egg.  Beat with an electric mixer until mostly smooth.
7. Spread the meat mixture so it is flat on top. Then spread the sweet potato mixture on top of the meat mixture and smooth it out.  
8.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, uncovered.
9. Enjoy!

Chicken and Eggplant Curry

I realize I just posted two other curry recipes, but I think you'll forgive me if you try this recipe!   The picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice... this chicken and eggplant curry is so delicious you’ll want to drink the sauce, seriously.  I based this on a recipe from Crockpot365 (great resource!) and adapted it a bit to suit our taste.  I highly recommend it.  This is a great meal to make in a huge quantity if you have a roaster oven.  We made this on Saturday and it should last us all week.  It's delicious served with oven roasted cauliflower or broccoli, or over spinach.  I've also added sweet potatoes to it before (add peeled and chopped sweet potatoes 2 hours after you put the other ingredients in the crockpot) and loved that combination as well!  

Chicken and Eggplant Curry (in a 20 quart roaster oven; makes 15-20 servings)

3- 2.5 lb bags frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs

3- 15 oz. cans full fat coconut milk

2- 15 oz. cans fire roasted tomatoes

2- 5 oz. cans tomato paste

2 onions, chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 large eggplants, peeled and chopped into large pieces

6 T curry power

3 tsp ground coriander

3 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground ginger

A few shakes Frank’s Red Hot or Tobasco

Combine everything in a 20 quart roaster oven.  Cook at 250 degrees for 3 hours, then 200 degrees for 4-6 hours more.  Stir occasionally.  Enjoy the delicious smell that will fill your kitchen (or entire house) as the curry cooks… yum!

Chicken and Eggplant Curry (in a 5 or 7 quart crockpot; makes 5-6 servings)

1- 2.5 lb. bag frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs

1- 15 oz. can full fat coconut milk

1- 15 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes, with the juice

1- 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 eggplant, peeled and chopped into large pieces

2 T curry powder

1 tsp ground coriander

¼ tsp ground ginger

A few shakes Frank’s Red Hot or Tobasco

Combine everything in a crockpot.  Cook on low for 9 hours.  Stir occasionally as it cooks.  Enjoy!

Curry Chicken Salad

While shopping at Earth Fare the other day, I noticed a curry chicken salad in the deli case and couldn’t help but try it.  It was so good that I instantly knew I had to try to recreate it at home!  This is my version of what I had there.  The Earth Fare version had agave and raisins in it as well, but I chose not to add those and liked it just as much!  I ate it for lunch today mixed with broccoli slaw, which was a crunchy and delicious combination! 

Curry Chicken Salad

2.5-3 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, baked (I used 1 bag of trader joe’s frozen chicken breasts, sprinkled with curry powder and baked at 400 degrees for 40 min.) and chopped into small pieces

4 stalks celery, diced

6 green onions, diced

1 large or 2 small granny smith apples, diced

½ c raw cashews, chopped

1 recipe olive oil mayonnaise (see below) + 3 T curry powder, 1 tsp ground ginger, ½ tsp garlic powder (mix the spices into the mayonnaise while it is still in the food processor)

Lots of freshly ground black pepper

¼ tsp coarse salt

Combine chopped chicken, diced celery, diced green onion, diced apple, cashews, mayonnaise, pepper, and salt.  Stir until everything is mixed together. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.  Makes 4 large or 6-8 small servings. 

Olive oil mayonnaise

2 eggs at room temperature

2 T lemon juice

½ tsp mustard powder

¾ c extra virgin olive oil

¼ tsp salt

In food processor, blend eggs, olive oil, lemon juice, and mustard powder until frothy (about 30 seconds).  Continue to blend the mixture as you slowly drip the olive oil in, drop by drop (through the drip hole in the top of the food processor), until you’ve added about ¼ c.  Continue blending and pour the rest of the olive oil into the container on the top of the food processor which will slowly let it drip into the mayonnaise.  Blend until the mayonnaise thickens a bit.  It won’t be the consistency of jarred mayonnaise but it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. 

*Update 6/23/13: I have been using a slightly different recipe and technique lately to make my mayonnaise.  I have found that the fresh lemon juice and light olive oil are key to making the mayonnaise thick and creamy.  Below is the recipe I am currently using:

1 egg at room temperature
1 1/2 T FRESH lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried mustard powder
1/2 c LIGHT olive oil
1/4 tsp salt 

Blend egg, lemon juice, mustard powder with IMMERSION BLENDER until frothy.  Then slowly, drop by drop, add the olive oil as you continue to blend.  Add oil slowly until it is all added, blending the whole time.  Continue to blend after you've added all of the oil until the mayonnaise has thickened, coating the head of the immersion blender.  

Curry Meatballs

I attempted making meatballs a few weeks ago and they turned out absolutely terrible.  I think they were too wet and didn’t have enough binding to hold them together.  Plus I tried to make them in the crockpot without browning them first… big mistake.  Since then I have made this curry meatball recipe (originally from Paleomg) twice, once with ground turkey and once with ground beef.  The turkey ones were just ok.  The turkey didn’t hold together very well and resulted in meatballs that fell apart quite a bit.  The beef version was perfect!  I couldn’t believe how well they held together.  I think one thing that helped was making sure the beef was very cold.

If you don’t have a 14” skillet, you will want to halve this recipe.  Two pounds of meat fits about perfectly into a 14” skillet, so if you’re going to use a small skillet, just make 1 lb of meat.  You could still make the same amount of sauce though, because it is delicious!  More sauce would definitely not be a bad thing.  If you enjoy curry, you will definitely love these meatballs!

Curry Meatballs

Originally from Paleomg (ratios adjusted)

Meatballs:

2 lb. grass fed beef

1 onion, diced

2/3 c almond meal

2 eggs

4 tsp curry powder

4 tsp garam masala (or use the recipe below)

1 tsp ginger

Salt and pepper

Coconut oil (1-2 T) or extra virgin olive oil

Sauce:

1 can full fat coconut milk

1 c beef stock (I used giant eagle market district brand)

1 onion, diced

8 tsp curry powder

4 tsp garam masala (or use the recipe below)

2 tsp ground ginger

1. Mix ground beef with all other meatball ingredients.

2. In a small bowl, stir together coconut milk, beef stock, diced onion, curry powder, garam masala and ginger (sauce ingredients) so it’s ready when you need to add it to the meatballs.

3. Shape meatballs into golf ball sized balls.  They should stick together well.

4.  In a 14" skillet (one that can fit all of the meatballs; if you don’t have a skillet this large, brown the meatballs in 2 batches or halve the recipe), add coconut oil then diced onion.  Brown onion for about 1 minute then add meatballs.  Let meatballs brown for a few minutes on the bottom side, then turn them with tongs to let the other side get browned.  This took about 15 minutes for me.  The meatballs don’t need to be cooked all the way through because they will continue to cook once you add the sauce.

5. Pour sauce into the skillet and move meatballs around so they are coated in the sauce.

6. Cover the skillet and let meatballs and sauce thicken until they meatballs are cooked all the way through.  This should take about 5 minutes.

7. This is delicious served with roasted spaghetti squash! Makes about 8 servings. 

Homemade Garam Masala (makes ¼ c- I just split it between the meatballs and the sauce in this recipe)

Mix together:

1 T ground cumin

1 ½ tsp ground coriander

1 ½ tsp ground cardamom

1 ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

½ tsp nutmeg