Category Archives: Recipes

‘Mazing Monday Meal

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My first day back at work from a week off for Thanksgiving, and I did not feel like cooking. Fortunately, Seth had an idea (this can go several ways. He calls it the Hews-Surprisio! Sometimes, I get nervous.). 🙂 I will say that we make a pretty damn good kitchen team, as his specialty is meat/seafood and mine is fruits/vegetables.

He bought some sustainable canned tuna, packed in olive oil recently (because he happen to look at the ingredients in the tuna we’ve bought for years-hydrolized soy protein. WTF, there is no need to add soy to canned tuna. Another fine example of unnecessary ingredients added to food we eat. Think corn starch in your tea.) that we had yet to use. He thought he’d make tuna cakes. They were friggin fabulous.

Tuna Cakes

  • Tuna
  • Diced bell pepper
  • Diced onion
  • Halved cherry tomato
  • Drizzle olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp almond flour
  • Dash kosher salt/pepp

Mix above ingredients until well incorporated, and form into patties. Pan fry them on the stove in the oil of your choice. They were really nice for a change and sooooooooo good. We’ll definitely be adding them to our rotation.

For our sides, I added some roasted spaghetti squash with a little organic marinara and a wee bit of freshly grated asiago cheese. Dessert-fresh raspberries.

Nom!

Chocolate Bacon Bark

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I was cooking and baking up a storm last week while I was on vacation, because nothing relaxes me more.

I threw this together, and wasn’t sure how it’d turn out as I used ingredients in a new way (allergen free chocolate chips, that actually taste like chocolate!) for the first time. It ended up going over better than the other bark I’d started making at the time, and takes very little time or effort. My favorite kind of recipe!

Chocolate Bacon Bark

  • 1 bag Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips (see http://wp.me/p2zSoO-2R)
  • 1/2 package uncured cooked bacon, cut into pieces
  • Fresh ground sea salt

Melt the bag of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips in the microwave, in a pyrex dish until smooth. Pour melted chocolate into a greased 8×8 glass backing dish, lined with wax paper. Generously grind sea salt over entire square, sprinkle with bacon pieces. Place in the refrigerator until hard, then break into pieces.

Voila!

Wilted Kale Salad

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Whew! It’s been a few days since I’ve blogged, but boy have I been busy experimenting with things to blog about! I arrived early evening last Saturday in Iowa, for some much needed family time and visit home. How much do I love food? We went straight from the airport to Whole Foods 🙂

Kale has been the subject of many dishes lately, so I thought you’d like this recipe. It’s a twist on an old classic from, you guessed it, the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, circa 1968 from Meredith Corporation: Wilted Leaf Lettuce. My mom mentioned that her mom (my awesome grammy!) used to make wilted lettuce, so with extra kale, she decided to look up the recipe, the result, wilted kale salad that is pretty much to die for (although healthier and paleo friendly).

Wilted Kale Salad

  • Kale, cut into pieces
  • Bacon, cooked and crumbled
  • Diced red onion
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 4 teaspoons 100% pure maple sugar

The bacon was cooked and crumbled first. Then in the same bacon fat from the bacon, we added the diced red onion, and cooked until tender. Next we added the vinegar, water, sugar, kosher salt and bacon; and stirred until boiling. Last, we added the kale to the boiling mixture and cooked until it became soft.

Holy shmoly! My mom and I INHALED.

We excluded radishes and one hard-boiled egg (didn’t think they sounded too fabulous, also, didn’t have, ha). We used apple cider vinegar instead of white, red onion instead of green and 100% pure maple sugar. These sounded better than the plain, and healthier.

Enjoy!

Pan Roasted Cauliflower

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I stumbled across this recipe a few weeks ago and thought it sounded fabulous (I heart cauliflower): http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/pan-roasted-cauliflower-w_n_1058594.html. I saved it for when it got a little cooler outside here in San Diego. I made it this past Friday evening, although I made a few changes to make it more Paleo friendly 🙂

Recipe Substitutions:

  • I used a handful of walnuts instead of pine nuts
  • I used organic raw coconut oil (Paleo friendly)
  • I used raw, organic honey instead of refined sugar
  • I used dried parsley instead of fresh
  • I used three garlic cloves, instead of 1
  • I used extra pinches of crushed red pepper (awesome extra spice to the dish!)

Preparation Changes:

  • I used a 12 inch pan for the pan fry step, and once it was ready to bake, I simply dumped it into a glass pyrex baking dish
  • I did not measure anything (I can tell you I used more than what it called for with the nuts, cauliflower, raisins, garlic, and crushed red pepper)
  • I did not soften the raisins
  • I did not drain, peel or seed the tomatoes, I simply cut cherry tomatoes, in half!

It was a fulfilling roasted vegetable dish (not to mention, gorgeous), that I will make again! My version took probably 1/2 the time compared with the original recipe, and is Paleo friendly!

Cinnamon Roasted Carrots

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I used to hate cooked carrots. I thought they were disgusting (I’m thinking the pot roast, mushy kind here).

About 2 years ago, when Seth was out at sea for extended periods of time, I went on a little vegetable roasting binge, roasting anything and everything I had, at any given moment. One of the random roasts was baby carrots, with a little oil, kosher salt/pepp, because carrots were the only vegetable I had left that week. They were to-die-for! They quickly became my go-to vegetable dish on a weeknight, because it takes very little time or effort.

Then on a whim, I decided to make them the same way, but sprinkle with cinnamon…EEEEKKK! So good. I’ve made them for several friends and my mom, and each time, everyone raves about them. 5 simple ingredients, plus they help your peepers!

Cinnamon Roasted Carrots

  • Carrots (baby, cut large, whatever)
  • Oil of your choice
  • Kosher salt
  • Pepp
  • Cinnamon

Carrots are not as spongy as other vegetables, so it takes very little oil. Sprinkle with the spices, toss and then roast at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, or until they get to your preferred done-ness.

Voila!