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.