Asparagus Basil Salad

This super healthy Asparagus Basil Salad is a not just nutritious, it's a treat for the palate. Trust me, it's delectable, especially right now using wonderfully ripe vegetables at peak season. I found this recipe in Sunset Magazine. Actually, I didn't find it, our family friend Mrs. Rose found it and made it for Mr. Rose's 75th birthday, a fabulous little gathering that the boys and I attended when we were in Davis, California visiting my folks a couple of weeks ago.

For those of you that commented on my last post, The Gluten Free Diet, about family and friends that don't understand, accommodate or respect your dietary restrictions (or eating plan, as I prefer to say) Mrs. Rose made tons of gluten free food for us! And so, a yummy dinner was enjoyed by all.

However, IMHO, it really is up to us to maintain our boundaries and not eat food that makes us feel awful, just to spare someone else's feelings. I would rather hurt their feelings than hurt my body; has anybody else been in a situation like that?

In any event, here's a yummy salad that pretty much anyone can enjoy. If you don't do nightshades, it's still delicious without the tomatoes!

Asparagus Basil Saladprinter friendly
1 lb asparagus, trimmed and halved
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 ripe avocado, cut into cubes
1 cup sliced basil leaves
¼ cup olive oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon pepper

1.Steam asparagus for 5-7 minutes until fork tender
2.Place asparagus, tomatoes, avocado and basil in a large bowl
3.Stir in olive oil, lemon juice and mustard
4.Sprinkle with salt and pepper
5.Serve
I actually made a huge batch of this last weekend and ate it for breakfast and then had the rest for dinner with Turkey Burgers from my book, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook.

I am LOVING Mark Sisson's book The Primal Blueprint, the guy is a genius. And I am waiting for his next book to come out, which is the called, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook. If you haven't had a chance to look at Mark's site, marksdailyapple.com, head on over there and check it out. It is primal galore.

Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potato Fries with Chipotle Lime Dip

This was inspired by a dish we had during a recent trip to Charlotte, NC. When we look for new places to eat we typically use Urban Spoon and read reviews–that’s how we found this place. I have to say, we were pretty disappointed. It was one of those places where the menu read better than the food actually was. One example: mussels steamed in beer with herbs and what-not. Thought it sounded interesting, it wasn’t, pretty gross, actually. We did have one thing, though not very good, we thought we could improve upon–bacon wrapped tater tots. So here you have it, our version:




Bacon Wrapped Sweet Potato Fries with Chipotle Lime Dip
Ingredients
◦2 sweet potatoes, cut into thick matchsticks*
◦1 package bacon, don’t use thick cut
◦1/2 c mayo, using avocado oil
◦1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce
◦1 lime, juiced
Method
Get your oven to 425°F. Soak the sweet potato matchsticks in a bowl of cold water for up to 6 hours. This removes a lot of the starch from the potato. When you remove the potatoes, you can visibly see white starch granules at the bottom of the bowl. Drain the water from the potatoes and pat dry.

Slice each piece of bacon in half, lengthwise. Wrap 1 strip of bacon around 1 matchstick sweet potato. Lay on a baking sheet. Repeat until all the bacon is gone. If you have left over sweet potatoes, toss ‘em on the pan too, they’ll cook beautifully in all the rendered bacon fat.

For the Dip
In a food processor, pulse up the chipotle(s) and lime juice into the mayo.

Bake the fries for about 25 minutes on one side. You’re looking for browned bacon. Use some tongs to flip the fries over and bake for another 10-12 minutes, until browned.

Squeeze some lime juice on the fries. Serve hot and with the dip.



*You want a thick cut (not thin!) and keep the skin on. Here’s a rough how-to:





Eat This Too:
Bacon and Eggs To GoPaleo Chicken and Andouille GumboChipotle, Orange, Maple Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes11 Comments For This Post

Stuffed Bell Pepper

Back when Balanced Bites was an organic meal delivery business, stuffed peppers were among the favorite dishes ordered by my clients. At that point in time, I was mixing a few different ingredients into them but I keep it pretty simple when I'm cooking at home for myself.

The inspiration and motivation to make stuffed peppers came about when I was strolling the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market this past Saturday and spotted a big yellow bell pepper that looked just perfect for this destiny. I knew I had a pound of grass-fed ground beef defrosted at home so it was excellent timing for me to whip up some stuffed peppers. The whole thing is quite simple, really... it's just a matter of pre-cooking the pepper halves a bit if you like and then making a tasty mixture that you'll like to put on the inside, and voila - stuffed peppers. I can't say I make them exactly the same every single time since I usually just go with whatever I have on-hand, but here's what I did this time.



Italian Style Stuffed Bell Peppers


Ingredients

2 bell peppers
(I used yellow but any color is fine)
1 Tbsp bacon grease or coconut oil
1/2 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed or chopped
4 small tomatoes, diced
(or use 1/2c canned diced tomatoes)
1 lb grass-fed ground beef
(or lean conventional ground beef / ground turkey)
6 Fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
2c Baby spinach, finely chopped
sea salt - to taste
black pepper - to taste
hot sauce - optional, as garnish
extra basil leaves garnish


Preparation

Preheat your oven to 375.


Halve the bell peppers and place them in a roasting dish face-down for about 10-15 minutes. Note: You can skip this step if you want to keep the peppers more firm/raw when you eat them.



FYI: The Paleo Diet
Cookbook is now
available for pre-order.
While the peppers are pre-cooking, you'll cook the stuffing on the stove-top. Use a large sautee pan or a large pot. I'd recommend not using cast iron for this recipe since we're cooking tomatoes and the acid of the tomatoes will react with the cast iron.


Place your bacon grease or coconut oil in the pan and then cook the onions over medium-high heat until they're slightly browned on the edges and appear cooked through (translucent). You may season them with salt and pepper to taste.

Next add the tomatoes and garlic and allow the ingredients to simmer together for a couple of minutes. Then add the ground beef or turkey, breaking it up and allowing it to cook through completely. If you have grass-fed beef, you may leave it a bit pink.

Once the meat is cooked, taste the mixture to check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Then add the chopped basil and spinach and mix them in just allowing them to wilt.


Mark Sisson's cookbook
seems to be quite popular
if you're looking for recipes.
Remove the peppers from the oven when they're just a bit softened, then flip them over and spoon in your stuffing mixture. If you would like to eat them at this point, you can go right ahead. Otherwise, place them back into the oven for around 15-20 minutes to allow the flavors to meld even more. I like to make a bunch of these ahead and either freeze them or just refrigerate them to heat up in my toaster oven later.


I also like to sprinkle a few dashes of hot sauce over the top and garnish them with basil leaves, just for visual appeal.

Depending on the size of your peppers, this will make approximately 4 pepper halves and will be around 4oz of protein in each one. One or two of these is a complete meal depending on how much you eat.

Sweet Potato, Bacon, and Egg Salad

So tasty for breakfast or lunch! Try and eat directly after preparing as the bacon and sweet potatoes will be fresh.
I make this times 4 and it eat when I need a quick something. Yum!

Ingredients
2/3 cup diced sweet potato 
2 eggs 
2 rashes of bacon, diced using meat only 
1tbs oil 
4tbs dill, finely chopped 
2tbs mayonnaise 
2tbs lemon juice 
Instructions
Boil eggs in water until cooked. Peel and dice. 
Boil sweet potato for 4-5 minutes 
Heat over skillet medium-high. Add olive oil and bacon and cook until slightly crunchy.
In a small bowl, mix dill, mayonnaise and lemon juice. 
Place eggs, sweet potato, bacon and mayonnaise sauce into a medium size serving bowl and combine well.

If you aren’t a dill fan it tastes great with thyme. 
Recipe is from www.paleoplan.com
They have a lot of great recipies.

Stuffed Squash

Check out this recipe on the Crossfit LA website. It looks and sounds delicious. I’m going to try it this week!  -Stacy


What you'll need:
4 sweet dumpling squash
1 package ground beef- about a pound
1 onion chopped
1/4 c chopped dried cranberries
1/3 c chopped dried apricots
1/4 c chopped pecans
1 t thyme
1 t oregano
salt, pepper and olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Chop tops of squashes and scoop out seeds, place in baking dish and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil- place tops next to squash while baking
Bake in oven for 20 minutes 
While squash is baking saute onions for a few minutes and add ground beef, apricots, cranberries, pecans and seasoning. Do not fully cook mixture.
Remove squash from oven, stuff with ground beef mixture and put back in the oven ( you could pre-cook squash a day ahead, just need to cook a little longer to fully heat it when stuffed.)
Bake in oven for another 15-20 minutes(this depend on the size of your sweet dumpling squash) tops should be slightly browned and toasty, you will have a little extra meat depending on the size of your squash! save for another or stuff something else!

Done!

Pumpkin Muffins

These are good.  Stacy, I think you should “Mess” with this a little though.  Just a “touch” dry and not a whole lot of pumpkin flavor

1/2 c almond flour (I added another 1-2T to make it a bit thicker)

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 c canned pumpkin (I used TJ’s Organic Pumpkin)

1 banana

1 c dates

4 t cinnamon

1/4 t cloves

1/4 t allspice

3 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 T almond butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line muffin tray with 18 muffin cups.

2. Mix almond flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. In a food processor, combine the remaining ingredients and puree.

4. Transfer into a bowl and stir in almond flour mixture.

5. Spoon into muffin cups until 1/2 full.

6. Bake 18 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool on rack for 20 minutes

Tuna (or chicken) Apple Salad

Scott Hagnas

2010-09-28

Time: 4 minutes

• 1 can chunk light tuna  ( I used chiken, can’t stand cat food!)

• 1 medium carrot

• 1 small apple

• 5 macadamia nuts, chopped

Cut the apple into small wedges, then dice these wedges and add them to a bowl. Chop the carrot into the bowl, using the knife to “whittle” the carrot. (You won’t need a cutting surface this way) Add the tuna. Top with the macadamia nuts.

Nutritional info: 1 serving at 20g carb, 25g prot, 15g fat

Grain-Free Crab Cakes

This recipe kind of happened on a whim. I usually use pureed pine nuts as my binder when I made seafood cakes. They make a sort of paste and give a nutty flavor and work excellent to help hold the crabcake together instead of traditional breadcrumbs. But I was out of pine nuts and I have at least 10 other kinds of nuts on hand so I picked out a bag of walnut meal. It didn’t alter the flavor of the crab cake at all but instead ended up making them so delicious and so crispy! Mike said they were the best I’ve made.

I serve this with an easy honey dijon dip. This recipe does include mayonnaise and if you’re wary of the store-bought versions, make your own! It really IS easy (I have a tutorial coming on this soon – just need my camera – SADFACE) or you can follow Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s version, but these are not requirements and jarred mayonnaise works just as well.


Grain-Free Restaurant Crabcakes
Grain-free, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free
What you need:

•10 oz (or 2 cans) cooked premium crab, the better quality crab, the better crabcake
•1/4 c. sliced scallions
•2 tbsp mayo
•2 tsp dijon mustard
•1/2 tsp minced garlic
•1 egg white
•1-2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning (use your preference, I love Old Bay so I use 2 tsp)
•2 tbsp walnut meal (you can grind your own in a coffee grinder or food processer)
•2 tbsp Organic Refined Coconut Oil
What you do:

1.Mix all ingredients (except coconut oil) together.
2.In a large frying pan, melt the coconut oil over medium high heat.
3.Test oil to see if it’s ready by dropping a small piece of crab mixture: if it bubbles and browns immediately, it is ready!
4.Form crab mixture into small patties and lay them gently in the pan.
5.Fry 2-4 minutes on each side until brown and crispy.
6.Drain on a paper towel until all are finished. This makes about 8-10 cakes the size pictured. If you want more, double the recipe!
7.Serve with dijon dip!
Recipe for dijon dip:
Mix the following together:

•4 tbsp mayo
•1 tbsp dijon mustard
•1/2 tsp old bay
•1 tsp Gluten-free Worchestshire sauce (I know, just trust me)
•2 tsp honey

Roasted Butternut Squash

Serves 4 to 6

Roasted squash embodies the essence of winter meals, caramelized onions add a piquant touch, and fresh sage and dried cranberries dress it up for the holidays. A versatile side dish that complements anything from a weekday family dinner to a lavish holiday celebration. Ingredients with an asterisk (*) are available as Whole Foods Market Brands.

Ingredients:

1 medium butternut squash
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil*, divided
Sea salt and ground pepper
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons chopped sage
4 tablespoons dried cranberries or cherries
Method:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Peel squash and cut in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds from the center and discard. Cut squash into large chunks. Coat with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste and arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until well caramelized.

Peel onions and cut into large chunks. Coat with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and spread on a second lined baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until well caramelized. When squash and onions are done, toss with sage and cranberries. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 9oz/247g-wt.): 210 calories (100 from fat), 11g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 240mg sodium, 29g total carbohydrate (6g dietary fiber, 9g sugar), 2g protein

Roasted Vegetables

Another awesome recipe from the Paleo Princess!











Ingredients:

1 butternut squash (last night I only used half)
1 onion
about 4 handfuls of brussel sprouts (my hands are small so for many of you this might be more like 3 handfuls or something)
1/8 cup olive oil
1.5 tablespoon salt
3/4 tablespoon pepper
5 pinches of dried rosemary
1/2 tablespoon cumin (my fave)

*don’t forget that you can play with the amounts of the various vegetables. If you don’t like brussel sprouts, skip ‘em and add more onions!

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Cut up all the vegetables. You’ll want to cube the butternut squash and then cut those cubes in half so they’re not too thick. The onions can get cut into 1 inch cubes. For the brussel sprouts, cut off the hard bottoms and then cut them in half length-wise.

3. Toss the vegetables in the olive oil. This can be done in a separate bowl or directly on the pan. I recommend the latter so there is less cleanup. Add the salt, pepper, cumin and rosemary and continue tossing.

4. Once the vegetables are covered with the spices and oil, place the pan in the heated oven and cook for about 35 minutes. After about 15 minutes, you might want to flip some of the vegetables over.

Savory Sweet Potato Stuffing

This sweet potato stuffing from RobbWolf.com was more popular than the bread stuffing at our Thanksgiving table this year. Nummy!



Ingredients

4-5 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt & freshly ground pepper
4 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 cup dry white wine
8 oz. country style (not in a casing) pork sausage
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons golden raisins
3 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Directions

Preheat oven to 400° F. On a baking sheet, toss the sweet potatoes with 1 tbsp oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Stick the baking sheet in the oven and roast potatoes until just tender, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 3 tbsp oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery, onions, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the sausage and cook through until thoroughly browned. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates, 2 to 4 minutes.
Transfer the mixture to a large bowl along with the roast sweet potatoes and let everything cool for 10 minutes or so. Turn oven down to 375.
Add the beaten eggs, sweet potatoes, broth, pecans, raisins and sage to the veggie mixture and combine well. Use olive oil to grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until browned, 20 to 30 minutes more.