Indian Sweet Potato Soup

Sometimes I feel paleo food blogs rely too much on sweet potatoes – but really, they are such an ancient and ubiquitous crop, and they are a s0-called superfood, and they’re pretty delicious,  so I’m guessing we’ll continue to see lots of ideas for preparing sweet potatoes.

This one I stole (ahem, adapted) from Vindalho, a Portland Indian restaurant after a friend’s birthday celebration.

Easy Indian sweet potato soup:

Three medium sweet potatoes, boiled, peeled and quartered (hint, peel them after they are cooked)

Two cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 sweet onion, chopped and softly sauteed in butter or coconut oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

A dash of garam masala

One cup coconut milk

Put all of the above (cooked) ingredients into the blender in batches, and blend until smooth.  Heat and serve with a bit of fresh cilantro.

Easy, pretty, yummy!

A Free Book and A Fabulous Sweet Potato! What more could you want?

Hooray!  My publisher, Rainstorm Press, has been kind enough to allow me to offer my novel, A Discriminating Death, for free Kindle download for the next 2 days!  If you have ever wondered what I get up to when I am not cooking, now is your chance to find out!  Grab your copy now!

Now that you have the book, check out this wonderful sweet potato recipe.  Remember those accordion potatoes back in the 80’s?  I saw a Cooks Country episode on PBS this weekend and they made a beautiful fanned potato out of a russet potato.  I wondered if I could do it with a sweet potato, and it turns out I could!  It is painfully simple, but there are a couple of secrets to getting them just right. (Apparently there is a secret to changing the alignment of the photos on wordpress too, but I just can’t figure that one out!)

Ingredients:

– Sweet potatoes

-Melted butter

-Salt

-Other seasonings optional.  I used salt and butter because it was what I had on hand, but I bet some fresh rosemary, some roasted walnuts, or some bacon on top would be wonderful.

Instructions:

– Wash the potatoes really well – you are going to be eating the skins

-Place potatoes on cutting board with the flattest side down.  Use a couple of chopsticks or skewers on either side of the potato for a cutting guide.

-Slice the potato down to the chopsticks – almost all the way through.  Make even slices along the length of the potato – mine were about 1/4 of an inch apart.

-Very important!  Rinse the potato in cold water – try to get some water between the slices to remove excess starch and allow the potato to fan open beautifully.

-Place the potatoes on a microwavable plate and cook for about five to six minutes to soften.

-Place potatoes on a baking pan (cover it with aluminum foil first to decrease clean up time) and put in a 400 degree oven.  Bake 30 to 45 minutes or until the potato is soft on the inside, crunchy on the top, and caramelized on the bottom.

-Enjoy!  : )

Chicken Tortilla-less Soup

 

This was pretty darn good if I do have to say so myself.  It tastes great the day you make it and it freezes really well for later. Try it and see what you think!    

 

Here is where I found the recipe.  This site has some really nice meals.

http://paleocomfortfoods.com/recipes/its-almost-summer-that-means-soup-right/

  

Ingredients:

–         3 pounds of chicken breasts

–         3 TBSP oil of your choice

–         2 – 3 TSP fajita or taco seasonings

–         1 large onion, diced

–         6 cloves of garlic, minced

–         1-2 poblano peppers, diced

–         8 cups chicken stock

–         1 28-oz can of fire roasted tomatoes

–         Juice of 2 limes

–         1 cup cilantro, chopped (I left that out – a little cilantro goes a long way for me)

–         Avocado and fresh cilantro for dressing if you choose!

 

Instructions:

–         Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Place chicken breasts in a large baking pan and our one TBSP of oil over them, coating well.  Sprinkle your fajita seasoning over the chicken and place in the oven.  Bake for about 20 to 45 minutes until cooked through.  Shred the chicken with two forks, or just chop it up into small pieces.

–         Meanwhile, in a large dutch oven over medium heat, melt the remaining 2 TBSP oil.  Add the onions and cook until translucent – about 4-6 minutes.

–         Add the garlic and peppers and sauté for about 1-2 minutes, until fragrent.

–         Pour in the chicken stock and fire roasted tomatoes and bring to a boil.

–         Add chicken, cilantro, and lime juice.  Taste it to see what you need to add more of (I added quite a bit more fajita seasoning, but we like it spicy at my house.)

–         Serve with fresh avocado and cilantro! 

–         Enjoy!

Carrot Pineapple Salad from Purely Primal

Purely Primal is one of the food blogs I read regularly.  It is extra good because it is co-hosted by Coach Karen from Crossfit Fort Vancouver, and  also because it has an excellent layout, is very searchable, and has a handy shopping list and printable recipes.

So, when I saw this post, I immediately decided to make this recipe.  I had forgotten that Ellen had posted a carrot salad recipe already on this site!  But I still decided to post this recipe review, because this carrot salad was really, really yummy.  I made it for company and had to give the recipe out on the spot.

This recipe makes a lot of salad, but the leftovers were great.  Here is the recipe from Purely Primal.  Enjoy!

• 1 lb carrots, shredded
• 1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple, strained (separated)
• 1/2 cup homemade mayo
• 1-1/2 cups raisins
• 1-1/2 cups chopped nuts
  
• 1-1/2 cups shredded, unsweetened coconut

Peel and shred the carrots (a food processor with shredding disk is very helpful for this) and place in a large mixing bowl.  Chop the nuts and toss them in as well. Add in the raisins, mayo, pineapple, and coconut.  Stir everything very well to fully combine and coat, then add in pineapple juice a little at a time to adjust the sweetness and the creaminess of the dressing.  You can store this sealed in the fridge up to about a week.

Notes:  I used hazelnuts and almonds for the nuts, shredded the carrots in the food processor, and used the mayo recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl.  I served it with the garlic lime chicken which Susan posted a few weeks ago.

 

Noodle-less Chicken Pad Thai

 

 

Okay, this picture is horrid, but dinner last night was fabulous!  Seriously good.  In fact, I wish I had this again tonight.  I made a few tweaks to the original recipe – swapped almond butter for peanut butter, coconut aminos for soy sauce, and I did double the sauce recipe because it was so, so good!

 

 

I found the recipe (and a much better photo) at:

Noodleless Chicken “Pad” Thai

 

 

Ingredients

–         1 large spaghetti squash, split lengthwise with seeds removed

–         1 large yellow onion, chopped

–         3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

–         2 zucchinis, chopped (I didn’t have any zucchini in the fridge, so I left this out)

–         1 red bell pepper, chopped

–         1 cup snow peas or sugar snap peas

–         1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed

–         1 ½ Tbsp almond butter

–         1 Tbsp coconut aminos

–         1 ½ tsp chili paste

–         1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

–         Cilantro if you like it

–         Green onion, chopped for topping

–         Salt and pepper to taste

–         Sriracha for topping if you like it!

 

Directions:

–         Preheat oven to 400 – put your squash, cut side down, in a large roasting dish.  I put water in the bottom of the dish, but I don’t guess you have to do that.  Bake the squash till it is tender and you can use a fork to scrape the ‘spaghetti’ strands off the skin.

–         In a large wok, add oil of your choice, and sauté your chicken until it is fully cooked.  Season with salt and pepper.

–         Add veggies and cook until tender (I held back on the snow peas and added them toward the end)

–         Meanwhile, whisk together almond butter, coconut aminos, chili paste, and lime juice. 

–         Add the strands of cooked squash to the wok, and then pour the sauce over everything.  Toss it all together for a minute or two and then plate it up.  Decorate with chopped green onions, Sriracha, and cilantro if you desire.

 

 

 

Paleo Pizza Muffins, you say? Why, I don’t mind if I do!

Oh, man.   These are good!  I have to say that I have really missed baking since I started doing the paleo lifestyle.  There is something about baking – something about mixing a variety of different ingredients together to create something totally new.  It is just like alchemy for me.  Making dinner just doesn’t cut it.  You have a raw roast, then, you have a cooked roast.   Here, you have a bit of this, a bit of that, and fifteen minutes later, you have pizza muffin perfection!  Enjoy!   

 

I found this recipe from a link that my friend, Annalisa, sent me.  Check out this site – it has some great recipes!

http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/grain-free-goodies/pizza-muffins/

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp Coconut oil (I melted mine in the microwave)
• 1 Tbsp Ghee 
• 2 Tbsp Coconut Milk
• ¼ tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
•  ¼ tsp Baking Powder
• 1/3 cup Almond Flour
• ¼ cup Pepperoni (I cut mine up into tiny bites)
• ¼ cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes ( I cut these up into tiny bites too)
• 2 Tbsp Yellow onion, diced
• 1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/8 tsp Oregano
• 1/8 tsp Basil

 

 

Instructions:

 

–         Preheat oven to 400 Degrees

–         Mix together your eggs, oil, milk, salt, and vanilla in one bowl

–         In a separate bowl, mix together your flour, spices, and baking powder

–         Add your flower mixture to your egg mixture and mix until there are no lumps left.

–         Fold in your veggies and your pepperoni.

–         Pour into a lined muffin pan (this recipe will make 7 muffins) and bake for 15 minutes.

–         Enjoy!  : ) 

Cauliflower/Egg Sandwich Thins

Sooo – are these the best things you have ever put in your mouth?  No, not quite.  They are not the best thing since sliced bread, but they will do fine in a pinch (especially if you put a lot of paleo mayo on them).  Seriously, if you are craving a sandwich, or you want to up your veggie intake (especially in the morning), then these are for you!  Give them a try and see what you think.

 I found this recipe posted on a Whole 30 FB page.  Here is the website:

http://fastpaleo.com/cauli-egg-sandwich-thins/

 

 Ingredients

 

–         2 cups grated (go ahead and use the food processor for this one – process until the cauliflower looks like couscous) cauliflower

–         2 eggs

–         2 Tbsp ground flaxseed

–         Salt and pepper to taste (And any other spices you want – really, the more the better.  I am thinking of doing some with Italian spices for a faux – Focaccia)

 

Instructions:

 

–         Preheat oven to 450 degrees

–         Whisk everything together

–         Place in ¼ cup mounds on parchment lined baking sheet (this really helped keep everything from sticking)

–         Pat the mounds down with your fingers to sandwich thin size – maybe ¼ of an inch thick.

–         Bake for 10 minutes, flip and bake for another five

–         Slather with some paleo mayo – top with something yummy – ham, chicken breast, burgers, breakfast sandwiches, whatever floats your boat! 

–         Enjoy!

Paleo Macaroon Fail (sort of)

Disclaimer:  this isn’t really a “fail” – and I really like Civilized Caveman‘s website.  His ideas are so creative (rosemary fried lemon!), and his photos are really beautiful.  That’s all success!  But the recipes on the site include a lot of paleo treats, which tempt me but rarely work out the way I wish they would (with the exception of Blackberry Nut Clusters, which are the bomb.)

So, I didn’t have super-high expectations for these Raw Chocolate Pumpkin Pecan Macaroons.

I wanted to make a treat for a potluck, mostly so *I* wouldn’t eat a ton of the other treats I knew would be there.  This strategy worked – I successfully avoided the pie and brownies and ice cream – but the rest of the guests wouldn’t touch these.  And I understand that.  Whether or not I’m low-carbing it, the “healthy” sweet treats don’t usually cut it for me.  Let me eat cake!  Or just no treats at all.

The verdict?  These were easy to make and much better for you than traditional treats.  But not so appealing to me, personally.

Paleo Banana Carrot Muffins that don’t taste like you are eating a brick.

I am sick of eggs for breakfast – just sick of them.  I don’t care if I never see an egg again, well, at least for a week or so.  I saw this recipe, and at first I was a tad suspicious. I have never really baked with almond flour before, but I have to say that I am impressed.  These muffins are not beautiful, but they are very yummy.  Breakfast is saved!

 

I found this recipe at a cool website called Paleo Plan – it was posted on a Facebook Whole 30 Group page.

Carrot Banana Muffins

 

Ingredients

–         2 cups almond flour

–         2 tsp baking soda

–         1 tsp salt

–         1 Tbs cinnamon

–         1 cup dates, pitted

–         3 ripe bananas

–         3 eggs

–          1tsp apple cider vinegar

–         ¼ cup coconut oil, melted

–         1 ½ cups carrots, shredded

–         ¾ cup walnuts (or nuts of choice) finely chopped

Instructions:

–         Preheat oven to 350 degrees

–         Line muffin pan with paper liners

–         In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon

–         In a food processor, combine dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar, and oil

–         Add mixture from food processor to dry mixture in large bowl and combine thoroughly.

–         Fold in carrots and nuts

–         Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins (At this point, I was worried that the muffins might overflow and burn in the bottom of my oven – they didn’t, so feel free to go ahead and fill the muffin cups up to close to the top.  You don’t have to stop at 2/3s full like you would for regular muffins.)

–         Bake for 25 minutes

–         Try to let them cool before you eat one!

Chorizo Stuffed Peppers with Spanish “Frice”

I’m back!  The Holidays are over, the kids are back in school, I am back in the kitchen, and back on Whole 30!  Here is what we had for dinner last night – very easy, very good, and the leftovers will freeze for another day!

I got this recipe from a neat website – a ‘whole’ family does Whole 30-http://wholefamilystrong.com/2012/01/22/whole-mexican-family-stuffed-poblano-peppers/

 

Ingredients for the Chorizo Stuffed Peppers

 

–         5 poblano peppers ( I could not find these, so I used some random kind of pepper I found at the store. I think just regular bell peppers would be great too.)

–         ½ pound chorizo sausage

–         1 large onion, thinly sliced

–         1 large tomato, diced

–

 

Instructions for Stuffed Peppers:

 

–         Preheat oven to 425 degrees

–         Brown the chorizo, onion and tomato in a skillet until meat is cooked through.

–         Wash and open peppers – remove ribs and seeds

–         Fill the peppers with the chorizo mixture

–         Place peppers on a lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes until peppers are soft and tender.

Ingredients for the Spanish ‘Frice’

–         1 head of cauliflower

–         1 Tbsp olive oil

–         Half can of small tomato sauce

–         ½ Tbsp onion powder

–         ½ Tbsp garlic powder

–         1 Tbsp minced garlic

–         ½ tsp Cayenne pepper

Instructions for ’Frice’:

–         Chop cauliflower into florets and then pulse in a food processor until it looks like rice or couscous consistency

–         Sauté cauliflower in skillet with hot olive oil

–         Add tomato sauce and spices (Really, I think any Spanish or Mexican spices you have on hand would work for this recipe.)

–         Serve and enjoy!