Maple-Walnut Chicken Thighs and Cheddar-Apple Rice

This was a little more time consuming than I originally thought, but well worth the effort. Since we don't eat rice, I just substituted cauliflower florets (frozen) to make cauli-rice and it turned out great!! Below are my modifications. The original recipe can be found here.

1 cup Walnut Halves
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 package froze cauliflower florets
2-½ cups Chicken Stock, Divided Use
1 whole Apple (peeled, Seeded, And Chopped)
¾ cups Packed Flat-leaf Parsley Leaves
¼ cups Packed Fresh Dill
Salt And Coarsely Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
8 pieces Bone In Chicken Thighs
¼ cups Apple Cider Vinegar
½ cups Dark Maple Syrup


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees (F).
Spread the walnuts on a baking sheet and roast until well toasted and fragrant, 10-12 minutes.
In a large saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, melt the butter over medium heat. Add in the cauliflower and saute for a couple of minutes. Add 2 cups chicken stock and bring to boil, and lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the apple and simmer for 8 minutes longer.

While the cauliflower cooks, using a food processor, pulse 1/4 cup chicken stock, the parsley, dill, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until finely chopped. Stir into the cauliflower during the last minute of cooking. Turn off the heat and let the rice stand, covered, for 1-2 minutes before fluffing with a fork. Transfer to a serving dish.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Pat the chicken dry and season alot with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and cook turning once, until browned 10-20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Drain off all but 1 Tablespoon of the fat and add the vinegar to the skillet. Cook, scraping all the the drippings then add the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken stock, the maple syrup, and black pepper to taste. Cook until thickened about 1 minute longer. Add the chicken and walnuts and spoon the sauce over them. Loosely cover the pan with foil and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve with the cauli-rice. Delicious!!

Lori's Maple Glazed Salmon

My sister, Lori, introduced us to this delicious recipe when she was visiting when Max was born. It's a weekly staple in our house because it's so easy and delish!


1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.

Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

Chocolate Coconut Pie

This is a super easy recipe and so good! It feels like a decadent treat, but really it's not! One of the few treats with no added sugar, not even honey! You may need to increase the amount of butter for the 'crust'. Using unsweetened coconut made the crust super crumbly. You can check out the original recipe here on Tasty Kitchen. Below are my modifications!

• 4 Tablespoons grass fed/pastured Butter, Softened
• 14 ounces, weight unsweetened Coconut Flakes
• FOR THE FILLING:
• 10 ounces, weight 70% dark Chocolate Chips
• 1 cup Canned Coconut Milk, Refrigerated So Cream Separates From Liquid

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. In a food processor, combine the softened butter with 1/3 of the coconut and process until it comes together. Slowly add the remaining coconut. If it gets too thick to process, remove to a bowl and mix the rest by hand.

3. Place a 9-inch pie pan onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Press coconut mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan, leaving the top edges loose and fluffy.

4. Make a foil ring to prevent the edges from burning: Tear off a piece of foil about 3 times the length of the pan. Fold it lengthwise twice. Wrap it around the pie so it covers the crust.

5. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the center starts to brown. Remove foil ring and bake another 3-5 minutes or until edges are browned.

6. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the filling:

1. Pour chocolate chips into a heatproof bowl.

2. Scoop the coconut cream from the canned coconut milk into a measuring cup. If you have less than 1 cup of cream, finish filling the measuring cup with the coconut liquid. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

3. Pour over chocolate chips and stir until completely smooth. This may take a few minutes.

4. Pour into cooled crust and place uncovered in the refrigerator until set, at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.

I made this for lunch on Day 4 of the Paleo Challenge 2012. Oh. My. Hell. It is good. I made several changes to the recipe to make it Paleo, but you can check out the original version over at Tasty Kitchen here. I haven't blogged or updated recipes for a while. It feels good. I missed it. Life gets so busy before you realize it you forget about the things you love doing. So, I'm back. I'm taking the paleo challenge as more of a life challenge. So, I'm trying to streamline Max's bedtime, keep the house clean, cook meals every night and start working out again. whew. That is a lot to do.

Roasted Sweet Potato, Caramelized Onion, and Gorgonzola Quiche

3 whole Onions

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil, Divided

1 whole Sweet Potato

Gorgonzola Cheese

6 whole Eggs

2 cups coconutMilk

½ teaspoons Pepper

¼ teaspoons Nutmeg

To caramelize onions, slice onions into an even 1/4″ slice and heat a medium pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium low heat. Start cooking onions, stirring occasionally. After onions have cooked for 15-20 minutes, add 1/2 teaspoon salt. Continue to let cook, letting more time go by before you stir the onions (I go for about 15-20 minute increments.) Continue to cook and stir onions until golden, soft, and cooked down – usually 60-75 minutes. Then remove from heat and set aside.

To prepare sweet potatoes, peel and cut into 1/4″ slices. Toss with one tablespoon of olive oil and place on a covered baking tray. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are soft and begin to brown. The onions, and sweet potatoes can be done all at the same time.

Preheat oven to 375˚F when you are ready to assemble and bake the quiche.

Once the three elements are ready, layer the sweet potatoes into the bottom of the pie dish. Sprinkle caramelized onions and gorgonzola cheese on top. Finally, whisk eggs, milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg together. Pour the egg mixture over the filling ingredients.

If you don’t want to bake it now, it is at this point that you can cover the quiche, place in the refrigerator, and let sit for up to day before baking.

To bake, carefully transfer quiche to the oven on a baking tray. Bake for 45-55 minutes until the filling domes up and barely jiggles. Remove from the oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Coconut Shrimp

• 1 whole Egg White
• 1 cup Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
• 1 Tablespoon Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tablespoons arrowroot
• ½ pounds Large Shrimp (about 12), Shelled And Deveined

Preheat oven to 400ºF and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. In another bowl, combine coconut and powdered sugar and stir until sugar is evenly distributed. Place corn starch in a separate bowl.

Dip each shrimp into arrowroot, then egg whites, then the coconut mixture. Place shrimp onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining shrimp. Bake for about 16 minutes, flipping halfway through. Both sides should be brown at the end of cooking.

Seriously delish and tasty sweet!!

Blueberry Ice Cream with Coconut Cobbler Crumble

This recipe comes from the July 2011 Clean Eating Magazine. I made several modifications to the recipe which are below. Seriously, super easy, it sounds harder than it is and it's amazingly delish! A perfect summer treat!!

Blueberry Ice Cream with Coconut Cobbler Crumble:

Ice Cream:
2 c fresh blueberries
1 & 1/2 c nonfat plan Greek yogurt (I used full fat kind)
1/4 c raw honey
1/4 c 100% orange juice
seeds 1 vanilla bean, pod discarded (I was out of vanilla bean so I used 1 t vanilla)

Crumble:
1/3 c almond flour
1/3 c rolled oats
1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
3 T sucanat (I didn't have this or know what it is .. so I used a little bit of honey)
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
2 T coconut butter or buttery olive oil spread, chilled (there is a difference between coconut butter and oil, I used coconut butter)
3 T low fat buttermilk (I used 3T coconut milk)
1/2 t vanilla or almond extract (I used vanilla)
1 1/2 c fresh blueberries, optional

Instructions:
Prepare ice cream: in a food processor, , add all ice cream ingredients. Puree until just combined, about 2 minutes, stopping processor every 30 seconds to scrape down sides of bowl with a rubber spatula.

with spatula, spoon ice cream mixture into a shallow 9x9 non-reactive freezer-safe container. place container in freezer for 30 min or until mixure begins to freeze slightly around edges. remove from freezer, scrape edges with spatula and mix thoroughly with a whisk, blending in ice crystals until creamy again, about 2-3 minutes. return to freezer for an additional 30 minutes. repeat this process 2 more times. after the third mixing, return to freezer until hardened and ready to eat, 2-3 hours.

prepare crumble: preheat oven to 375. in a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, coconut, sucanat, baking bowder, baking soda and salt. add butter and use your fingertips to rub butter into flour until it resembles course crumbs. stir into buttermilk and almond extract until just combined and mixture forms a loose dough, being careful not to over-mix.

scatter dough into a 8x8 baking dish pressing lightly into bottom of dish. bake for 20-25 min, until golden brown. let ool completely, then crumble into small pieces.

to serve, allow ice cream to soften at room temperature for 5 min. scoop 1/2 c ice cream into each bown and top with 3 T crubmle and if desired, 1/4 c blueberries. for a clean sugary topping, drizzle with 1 & 1/2 T blueberry syrup

Modification:
If you are using a commercial ice cream maker, skip step 2. freeze mixture after completing step 1.

and here's the link for the blueberry drizzle!!

Blueberry Drizzle Recipe:

3/4 c fresh blueberries

2 T raw honey

1 T fresh lemon juice (I used organic bottled LJ)

2 t arrowroot powder

In a small saucepan, bring blueberries, honey, lemon juice and 1 T water to a boil on high heat.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small dish, combine arrowroot powder with 1 T water to form a slurry (a thickening agent). Whisk or stir arrowroot mixture into blueberry mixture until incorporated. Simmer for 1 min or until just thickened, carefully mashing blueberries with a fork to extract juice. Remove from heat and let cool completely before pouring over your favorite ice cream..

Paleo Banana Bread

I love banana bread. One of my favorite candle scents is banana bread and one of my favorite snacks is warm banana bread with some grass fed butter. Heaven. I was recently inspiried by some awesome paleo banana bread made by the lovely Siu at Queen City CrossFit. I finally got around to making my own! I love this recipe. Super easy to make and I separated it into 2 different loaves. I think next time I'll make one regular loaf and one with chocolate chips!

Enjoy!
Thanks for the recipe, robbwolf.com/2011/04/21/recipe-paleo-banana-bread/

2 cups almond flour
1/4 cup flaxseed meal
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
4 really ripe bananas (mashed well)
2 tbsp local honey
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, add the mashed bananas, eggs, honey, and vanilla and mix well. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until combined. Normally with breads or muffin recipes, you don’t want to overmix, but since there’s no gluten here, mix to your heart’s content. The muffins won’t get gummy or icky. Fill greased muffin tins, baking cups, mini-loaf pans or big loaf pans about 3/4 full. Bake muffins for 23-25 minutes and loaves for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Paleo, Crustless Quiche Lorraine

I was inspired by the awesome quiche my sister made for my baby shower, but didn't want to make it on a regular basis because it uses a crust and half and half (which makes it amazing by the way)! I found this recipe and am in love. I ate it for breakfast this morning and know it is already a breakfast staple in my house! I have to get up and out of the house so quick in the morning, it's nice to have a quick breakfast which I feel good eating!

Paleo Crustless Quiche Lorraine!
Thanks, http://recipeoftheweek.blogspot.com/2007/02/crustless-quiche-lorraine.html

4 eggs
1 cup half & half (*I used 1 cup coconut milk)
diced green onions
crumbled bacon or sliced ham (* used diced ham)
Swiss cheese slices
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of nutmeg

Beat eggs with half & half and add salt and nutmeg. In a buttered shallow baking dish, crumble bacon and add diced green onions. Place cheese slices over all. Pour egg mixture over the cheese layer. Bake at 350 till slightly brown and the quiche should not jiggle in the center. Should take about 45 minutes.

So easy!!!

Paleo Orange Cranberry Scones

Wow! I didn't realize how long it had been since I last posted! Sorry about that! It's not that I haven't been cooking, I guess it's just that I've been busy!! Well, rest assured this recipe is well worth the wait! I've made them twice now and each time they have to be rationed to the official taste tester. Last night as they rest on the baking sheet I noticed 3 were missing. I mentioned it to the taste tester who admitted he didn't think I knew how many were on the baking sheet and he tried to "mess" them up so it looked like there weren't 3 missing! So, watch out!

Thanks for the recipe: http://www.civilizedcavemancooking.com/2011/06/cranberry-orange-scones.html

2 Cups Almond Flour
1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut
2 Tbsp Raw Organic Honey
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Sea Salt
1 Egg
Zest of 1 Orange or to your taste liking

Process:
-Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F
-In a large mixing bowl, combine your almond flour, sea salt, baking soda, cranberries, and shredded coconut
-In a smaller mixing bowl, mix the egg and the agave nectar until well blended
-Add your wet ingredients to the dry and mix well
-Knead the dough with your hands if necessary to ensure an even distrobution of ingredients
-Add in the orange zest and continue to knead to mix well
-Form dough into two circles approximately 1/2 inch thick to look like mini pizzas, they should be about 6 inches across (Or you can make fun designs, get creative and share)
-Cut each circle like a pizza into 6 or 8 slices depending on the size you want the scones
-Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet
-Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through

Apple Cake

I recently found the blog Primal Matriarch. It's a really delicious fall treat and makes a large amount which is perfect since the husband eats so much. I was actually shocked it made it through the night!

• 2 apples, peeled and diced
• 2 tbsp orange juice
• 1 cinnamon stick (definitely needed)
• 2 c. almond butter (unsweetened)
• 1/4 c. maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

In a saucepan, combine apples, vanilla, orange juice and a cinnamon stick. If you don't have one, use a dash of cinnamon. Simmer on low until apples are soft and only a small amount of juice (around 1 tbsp) remains.

In a food processor, blend the almond butter, eggs, baking soda, maple syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Add the apples and pulse it a few times.

Pour into a baking dish and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until passes the toothpick test.

Check out the original post for the cream cheese frosting. I didn't use it, but it looks fabulous!!!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

It's cold outside and I was really wanting some comforting food and spaghetti and meatballs were on the menu! I found a great meatball recipe on the Every Day Paleo blog. Their garden fresh meatballs are delicious!!! I adapted a recipe for spaghetti sauce from CrossFit El Paso and my "spaghetti" was spaghetti squash!

Meatballs:

Garden Fresh Meatballs
1.5 lbs ground turkey
1 lb grass fed ground beef
2 zucchinis
1 yam
2 big handfuls spinach
1 12 ounce jar of roasted red peppers
2 cloves garlic
Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
2 eggs
1/4 to 1/3 cup almond meal

Grate zucchini and sweet potato. In a food processor, finely mince spinach, roasted red peppers, and garlic. Hand mix all ingredients and form into meatballs (I made mine a little bigger then golf ball size). Bake at 375 in a large baking dish tightly covered with foil for 40-45 minutes. Makes 20-25 meatballs

Sauce:
2 cans crushed tomatoes 28 oz each
1 small can tomato paste 6 oz
2-3 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves fresh garlic (chopped finely)
½ onions (chopped finely)
1 tsp. garlic powder
½ tsp. garlic salt
½ tsp. onion powder
¼ tsp. crushed chilli powder (depending on how spicy you like food)
¼ tsp. paprika
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Salt and Pepper to taste

Begin with a large pot (big enough to fit sauce and later on, meatballs as well). With the olive oil, make two turns of the pan or so. Begin to heat the onion, when the onions are almost transparent, add the garlic. Allow to cook for about another minute or so. Add the crushed tomato, and tomato paste. Then add all spices. Stir together well. Leave the sauce at a medium high heat until it begins to boil. Upon light boiling turn the heat down and allow simmering for as long as possible before you are just wayyy to hungry!

Seriously, enjoy this! You won't even realize you aren't eating pasta!!

Getting ready for Christmas

The title is not a lie. I am getting ready for Christmas. I love Christmas and Thanksgiving, the latter being my favorite, but I love the traditions of Christmas. One of which is baking ridiculous amounts of cookies to give to friends.

Just a small alert: Christmas is 57 days, 10 hours and 38 minutes from right now!!

So, I've started making my Christmas cookie list to make. This year holds a special distinction for me.. paleo vs. non-paleo. Last year I did not make such a distinction, I just made what I wanted (which was like 20 varieties of cookies!). But this year it doesn't look like I am going to do it that way! I have paleo peeps and non-paleo peeps and I want to give to paleo what is due to paleo .. ok bad reference, but you get my point! So I started making my list. Here's what I have so far. This list will most definitely be cut down between now and when the baking starts:

Christmas Cookie List:

Non-Paleo
Sugar cookies (JB)
Cake pops (Bakerella)
Chocolate chip
Homemade almond joy (JB)
Lauren’s Peanut Butter Sandwich Cookies (JB)
Monster cookies (PW)
Oatmeal (me)
Cinnamon rolls (PW)


Paleo

Chocolate chip cookies (EP)
Raspberry fig muffins (EP)
Pumpkin bars (Me)
Lemon blueberry custard tarts (CPG)
Almond joy chocolate bark (EP)
Peppermint patties (EP)
Mounds candy bars (EP)
Chocolate raspberry bonbons (EP)
Nut butter cups (EP)
Dina’s delightful cookies (EP)
Orange cake (EP)
Gluten free Twinkies (EP)
Hamanataschen (EP)
Chocolate covered cherries (EP)
Orange chocolate coconut clusters (EP)
Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Cookies (RM)
Coconut Macaroons (EP)
Raw energy bars (RM)

A little legend for reference: EP=Elana's Pantry, RM=Rawmazing, PW=The Pioneer Woman, CPG=Cosmopolitan Primal Girl, JB=Joy the Baker, Me = ME :)!

I thought this list was really interesting because I think it shows a shift in the way I eat. A dramatic shift from last year. Given that the paleo (well, as paleo as a baked good can get) list is twice as long as the "normal" list.

If you have an idea or preference or something you definitely want to see in a cookie basket, comment!