It is such a great feeling when are able to make entire meals (or most of the meal) from your own garden! I had some monster zucchini as my lead producers this year. We were headed out of town and I couldn’t risk them going bad so I spiralized and threw in the freezer to enjoy when we returned.
I love this spiralizer. I borrowed a similar one from a neighbor previously – Lindly. It might be the same one actually.. I ordered from Amazon. Zucchini really holds water and therefore tends to lose some density, especially when it’s been frozen. Fresh is definitely the best! I used 2 pretty large zucchini for this recipe.
Even when using fresh, start by wrapping your spiralized zucchini in between some paper towels. Try to get as much of the water out as you can.
These are the garden goodies I picked this day to use in this dish (minus the peppers – I didn’t include them). That’s fresh basil, oregano, parsley, cherry tomatoes (several varieties) and some fresh thyme.
Heat up some olive oil and add some minced garlic and a diced shallot. Cook for a few minutes and then add in a pound of ground pork. I also threw in some fennel seeds and crushed red pepper. Simmer until your pork is cooked through.
Slice your tomatoes in half or if you are using larger tomatoes you will want to quarter or smaller. Chop up your herbs (Basil, oregano, parsley, thyme) and add the tomatoes and herbs to your pork.
Next, I added approximately two cups of tomato sauce. I had some in the freezer from last years garden. I simply cook the tomatoes down on the stove, pour in a freezer bag and freeze until ready to use. You could use a canned one as well (but it won’t turn out as good – sorry!).
I let this simmer for a couple of hours. The longer the better, but if you are short on time – 20 minutes should suffice.
Lastly, I squeeze out my zoodles. Heat some olive oil and minced garlic for flavor and add the zucchini. It only takes about 7 minutes to cook through – maybe less. That’s it – place your zucchini in a bowl and top with as much sauce as you would like. Enjoy!
Garden Zucchini Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini large
- 2 dozen cherry tomatoes
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 shallot medium
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp fennel seed or more to taste
- 1 tbsp crushed red pepper
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 tbsp thyme fresh
- 3 tbsp basil chopped
- 3 tbsp parsley chopped
- 2 tbsp sage chopped
Instructions
- Spiralize your zucchini. Wrap in between paper towels to get the moisture out.
- Heat olive oil in a pan and add diced shallot and minced garlic. Cook until fragrant.
- Add ground pork to pan, fennel and crushed red pepper. Cook pork through.
- Add your sliced tomatoes and chopped herbs. Stir together well and add in tomato sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes or more.
- Heat some olive oil in another pan with some minced garlic. Add the Zucchini noodles and heat through approx 7 minutes. Use a medium-high temp to try and crisp up the zucchini a little more.
- Top the zucchini noodles with your sauce and serve hot.
Frozen Protein Bars
These are a go to breakfast, snack or pre/post workout treat for me. They are so easy to throw together and you can change them up however you like. I have shared these with most of my guests (I’m bad about breakfast…) and I’ve had dozens of requests for the recipe. I’ve been making these for years and they are slightly different each time. I finally just finished another batch so I think I can now share a “recipe” with everyone.
Start with some overripe bananas. I’m talking black, but not quite moldy.. those are how I like them for recipes like this. I used about 7 large ones in this batch. Next, I add peanut butter. You can use whatever your preference is. I prefer an all natural organic peanut butter and the one we happened to have opened at this time was the Sprouts brand (creamy, unsalted and unsweetened). Picture is deceiving.. I’d say there are about 3 tablespoons of peanut butter in this particular batch. Then, I add in some honey (you could substitute pure maple syrup or agave if you choose). I like to add the local, all natural honey where I can as I suffer from allergies and am told it’s supposed to help! I added probably 3 tablespoons give or take of the honey as well. Mix together well – a spoon should work fine. It should look something like this..
Easy enough so far, right? Next, I throw in some shredded coconut (about 1/4 cup), some sprouted rolled oats (I love the One Degree brand) – probably about a cup or more of the oats. I’m not a big sweets person or chocolate for that matter so I need something tangy and chewy to add. This is where I add my dried cranberries. In this batch I added about 3/4 cup. Often I would throw in some sort of crunchy granola. I didn’t have any on hand so I decided to leave out this time. Last two ingredients I add are chocolate chips (either dark chocolate or semi-sweet) and chocolate protein powder. About 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips and your protein powder really depends on what kind you are using. I prefer the Orgain Organic and use their creamy chocolate fudge for this (there are no added sugars which is important to me). I kept adding until my consistency and taste were ok without overdoing it – my guess is about a cup.
Here is what it looks like after you have everything mixed up. This batch is slightly thin, but will be ok – thicker is ok as well – which it would be if you added granola.
Next – line a muffin tin with some paper cupcake liners. This is important.. it won’t work if you just dump into an empty muffin tin. Also, if you don’t have a muffin tin or don’t have enough you can just use any baking dish that is freezer safe and place your liners in that. See examples below.
Place these in the freezer overnight or until hard. Pop the bars out of the liners into a ziplock bag and store in the freezer until ready to enjoy. If they were a thinner consistency when you put in the freezer keep in mind they will melt faster. These are great in the summer time, after a workout or just anytime in Arizona!
I hope you enjoy these as much we do. Let me know if you come up with any additional ingredients that we need to try!
A few suggestions are: any other dried fruits, including raisins if you don’t like dried cranberries or want sweeter. If you are looking for some extra fiber you could add some wheat bran. Any nuts that you like: almonds, pecans, walnuts.
Frozen Protein Bars
Ingredients
- 7-8 bananas overripe
- 3 tbsp peanut butter
- 3-4 tbsp honey
- 1/4 cup coconut shredded
- 1 cup sprouted, rolled oats or more
- 3/4 cup dried cranberries
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips dark chocolate or semi-sweet
- 1 cup chocolate protein powder
Instructions
- Mix your wet ingredients together first: bananas, peanut butter, honey.
- Add remaining ingredients and stir together well.
- Line a muffin tin (or baking dish) with cupcake liners, fill about 2/3-3/4 full and place in freezer overnight or until frozen solid.
- Pop the bars out of the liners into a freezer bag and store in the freezer until ready to enjoy.
Deviled Eggs
A favorite snack of mine – I love eggs cooked just about any way! My friends and family keep asking for this recipe. I didn’t really think there was a recipe for deviled eggs, but I guess everyone has their own little secret. So – I’ll share my process.
First of all – I only buy large, organic eggs. You have to do your research here on who you are buying from as the industry is not regulated very well and the labeling can be very misleading. Local farms are the best, but there are a few grocery store options I am also good with. Farm fresh eggs are just as good as a tomato picked right off your backyard garden plant! Then – I follow this website’s exact process for boiling my eggs. There is no reason to reinvent the wheel here – this one is absolutely perfect! I follow this to the tee and cook mine right around 10 minutes for my deviled eggs.
They peel super easy every time (use the ice water bath!) and then the yolks pop right out with no problems. Cut your eggs in half and pop the yolks into a medium size bowl. I made about 18 eggs this time. My carrier only fits 2 dozen (halves), but I was taking to a big party so made a few extra.
Next, I add in some mustard. I make a homemade mustard from my banana peppers I grown in my garden. It’s fantastic – a little tangy, slight spice. You can use a store bought mustard. (I will share my recipe soon as I’m waiting to pick enough banana peppers currently). I would look for a tangy maybe honey mustard – should be kind of dark like this:
Next, add in some mayo. Again, I much prefer to use homemade and it’s so easy to make: avocado oil, 1 whole egg, squeeze of lemon juice, mustard powder, pinch of salt. It’s creamier than the store bought and tastes way better. If you are in a rush it’s totally fine to use one from the store. I like the Primal Kitchen avocado oil mayo (it’s sold on Amazon or lots of other places including Target). For my 18 eggs I used about 1/2-2/3 cup of both the mustard and mayo – it’s all about preference and texture. Just add a little of each and you can continue to add more until it’s perfect for you. I also pour in a little apple cider vinegar or if I have pickled red onions in the fridge I’ll use a little of that juice – just about a tablespoon.
Next comes my secret ingredient! I love this stuff! We purchased this for the first time at the Old Town Scottsdale farmers market, but don’t worry – you can buy it online! Saucy lips have great sauces that you can use to marinade meats, use as dressings, or put in things like deviled eggs! The Zesty cilantro is what I use for this one. I use quite a bit as I want the flavor to show about the mayo and mustard. Just mix in about a 1/4 cup and then keep adding to your preference. Here is what my final mix looks like..
I try my best to get the eggs as smooth as possible so the mix is easier to “pipe” into your egg whites. I do not have any fancy piping tips as – I do NOT bake 🙂 So, I dump this into a zip lock bag and cut the corner off and squeeze. If you have larger chunks of egg you will just have to cut a bigger hole into your baggie.
In case you’ve never done this before.. here is what I’m talking about. Just cut that little corner and start piping! That’s it! If you want to make them look pretty for serving you could sprinkle on some paprika or some diced chives on top. Or some micro-cilantro if you are using the saucy lips already. There are so many different ways you can dress up your eggs! I didn’t this time as they were being transported in my little carry case and I was just keeping it easy. Enjoy!
Easy Deviled Eggs
Ingredients
- 18 Eggs large, organic
- 2/3 cup Mustard tangy, honey mustard
- 2/3 cup Mayo avocado oil
- 1 tbsp Vinegar apple cider
- 3/4 cup Saucy Lips Zesty Cilantro Sauce less sauce to taste..
Instructions
- Cook your eggs according to website instructions – 10 minutes. Put in ice water bath for 5+ minutes. Peel.
- Cut your eggs in half and dump your yolks in a medium size bowl.
- Add your mustard, mayo, vinegar and sauce to taste and texture prefered. Try to get your mixture as creamy as possible, removing any large chunks of egg.
- Dump your mixture into a zip lock bag and pipe into your egg whites.
- Top with anything you desire – or a combination – paprika, chives, cilantro.
Pork Posole
It was a cooler day for us Monday. It was actually quite nice. An overcast day with the high temp around 81 degrees. A few rain showers rolled through our area throughout the day and a large thunderstorm rolled through at night. It was so peaceful. Those are rare days here and a nice break from the sunny and 100 degrees we had over the weekend.
I had some leftover smoked/pulled pork in the freezer I had been saving to make another batch of posole. The cooler temperatures seemed like the perfect day! Although this soup is so bright and and full of citrus that it’s good in the hot summer days as well.
This is pretty simple to put together. It can be done quickly, but I do like to let it simmer a while before serving so the flavors really have time meld. Start by chopping a large, yellow/sweet onion and 2 large green chilies/peppers. I used anaheim peppers. Heat some oil over medium heat in a dutch oven and add your onions. Cook the onions for about 2-3 minutes until mostly soft. Add in 1.5 tablespoon of minced garlic and cook for another minute.
Add about 1 tablespoon+ of each, ground cumin, and oregano. I used dried oregano from the garden.
Stir in your diced peppers, cook for a few minutes and then add your pork.
Once your pork is heating and mixed in well, add your pinto beans (one can, drained), hominy (29oz can) and chicken broth (I used a 32oz box of organic, low sodium). Squeeze in the juice of about 2 limes. Simmer together with the lid on for at least 20 minutes. In my opinion, the longer the better. We probably simmered for a little over and hour.
Just before serving, prepare a couple of tortillas – trust me, this is one of the best parts. I found some great gluten free, ancient grain tortillas. They are from La Tortilla Factory, and I found them at Sprouts. Lay them on a baking sheet and brush with a little bit of ghee butter. Place them under the broiler for about 3 minutes. Then, use a pizza cutter to cut into triangles for serving.
Add diced avocado, fresh cilantro and another squeeze of lime juice into individual serving bowls and serve with the tortillas. Enjoy!
Pork Posole
Ingredients
- 1 quart pulled pork smoked, or grocery store
- 1 large sweet, yellow onion
- 2 large green peppers anaheim (or similar)
- 2 tbsp olive oil or other oil
- 1.5 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp crushed, dried oregano
- 1 can pinto beans drained (14 oz)
- 2 can hominy 30 oz
- 32 oz chicken broth or stock low sodium, organic
- 4 limes
- 2-4 tortillas gluten free 🙂
- 2 avocado
- 1 tbsp ghee butter
- fresh cilantro to taste
Instructions
- Chop your onion and peppers. Heat your oil over medium heat in a dutch oven and add onions. Cook 2-3 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add your cumin and oregano and stir in diced peppers. Cook for a few minutes.
- Add pork and cook for a few minutes until heated through. Add pinto beans and hominy.
- Pour in chicken broth and squeeze in juice of about 2 limes. Simmer with lid on for at least 20 minutes – up to a couple of hours.
- Place tortillas on baking sheet and brush with a little ghee butter. Place under broiler for about 3 minutes (until starting to brown and/or puff up).
- Cut tortillas into triangles using pizza cutter. Serve soup in bowl with diced avocado, fresh cilantro and another squeeze of lime – and tortilla strips. Enjoy!
Creamy, Roasted Tomato and Chicken Zoodles
Like usual, we had a few things in the fridge that needed to be eaten before going bad.. rotisserie chicken and cherry tomatoes were a couple of those things. I tend to overbuy tomatoes anytime I find beautiful heirlooms.. I just can’t get enough! Any day now we will start picking our own right out of the backyard! In my opinion there is nothing better than eating your own homegrown tomatoes. In my family we call the cherry’s “Karen’s candy.” That’s because my sister ate them as if they were candy.
I used a mixture of zucchini and yellow squash zoodles this time. You can make your own or at our local grocery store I like to purchase the Cece’s: https://cecesveggieco.com/products/#noodled. First thing I do is wrap my “zoodles” in paper towels to soak up any extra moisture. Then on to the tomatoes. Set the oven to 450 degrees. Roll your cleaned tomatoes onto a jelly roll pan with some olive oil. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, add some minced garlic, crushed red pepper and some vinegar (I used champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar works as well). Toss together well and place in the oven for approx 10 minutes. They are finished when they start popping open.
Next, add a little oil (olive, avocado or ghee work) enough to coat the pan. Over medium heat, add a little minced garlic for flavor and throw in your rotisserie chicken. Stir occasionally until the chicken is heated through. Squeeze your zoodles in your paper towels and add them to your pan. Stir together until the zoodles are cooked through. Should take about 6-7 minutes.
Grab your pan of tomatoes from the oven and stir into the mix. Use a spatula to scrape any bits left on the pan into your mixture. Mix this together well and you are almost done. I wanted to make this a little creamy and decided to add some goat cheese.
Stir in just enough crumbles to make your creamy texture. The flavor of goat cheese is strong enough that you don’t need much. And it soaks up the juices in the pan well. If you are a goat cheese lover like myself, you can add a few extra crumbles on top of your bowl. That’s it – enjoy! How simple right?!
If you don’t like goat cheese you could use cream cheese or even a little plain yogurt. Also on the red pepper flakes – they add heat so if you are sensitive to spicy use sparingly.
Creamy, Roasted Tomato and Chicken Zoodles
Ingredients
- 4 Zucchini and/or squash Large
- 2 Pints Cherry tomatoes
- 4 Tbsp Olive oil Divided
- 2 Tbsp Minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp Red pepper flakes Approx
- 2 Tbsp Red wine or champagne vinegar
- 2 Tsp Salt Himalayan
- 1.5 Cups Rotisserie chicken
- 2 Tbsp Goat cheese Crumbled
Instructions
- Spiralize your zucchini and squash (if not already done). Place between paper towels to soak up moisture.
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place cherry tomatoes and 1/2 of olive oil on jelly roll pan. Add pinch of salt, crushed red pepper and 1/2 of minced garlic. Mix together well. Place in oven for approximately 12 minutes.
- Heat remaining oil and garlic in pan over medium heat. Add the rotisserie chicken and stir until heated through.
- Squeeze the zucchini noodles and add to the pan. Mix together well until cooked to desired doneness. Approximately 7 minutes.
- Once your cherry tomatoes are popping open, remove from oven. Use a spatula to scrape all juice and any remaining bits from pan into zoodles mixture. Cook for a few minutes to let flavors mix.
- Add in your goat cheese crumbles. Stir until mixed together.
- If you love goat cheese like we do, top your bowl with a few extra crumbles.
Sauteed Carrot Ribbons
Have I mentioned just how much I love veggies? Really any veggie, I just can’t get enough. I also love the colors you can find in these organic carrots. As I was smoking my chicken the other day – it felt like summer out and that called for some colorful summer sides. I was wanting to use my spiralizer for these, but found out quickly it is just much easier to use a vegetable peeler. The carrots just weren’t fat enough. Carrots are a great veggie to saute as they are firmer than other veggies and hold their texture well.
This may not look like very many carrots, but it makes a lot more than you would think. This was plenty for the 2 of us with leftovers for both as well. So.. cut off the top and skinny little bottom parts of each carrot. Then, take our your vegetable peeler and peel the carrot down the long side – lay the carrot flat on a cutting board and hold onto the large end. At least that is what I found the easiest. Also – for consistent ribbons, I just kept shaving down the same side. I think my favorite are the purple carrots – they are yellow in the middle. One of them was a lighter purple and my husband joked that it looked like bacon!
You end up with a bowl looking something like this. Of course you can use all orange carrots or whatever you prefer. Next, I melted some ghee butter in a pan over med-high heat. I added some mushrooms and a couple of rosemary sprigs. The mushrooms really soak up the ghee butter so I added a little extra. Probably between 2-3 tablespoons total.
Rosemary grows like a wild weed in Arizona – and it’s one of my favorite smells. Does anyone else do that? ..walk out to your garden and run your fingers through the herbs to smell the wonderful scents? Sometimes that is how I get my dinner inspiration. Some people don’t like how rosemary can be tough to chew in certain dishes. It will soften enough here that it should be fine, but leave the sprigs and you can easily pull them out if you prefer and still have plenty of the wonderful flavor.
Next – add your carrot ribbons to the same pan. Stir together and kind of rotate your carrots with the mushrooms so that everything in the pan soaks up the rosemary flavored butter. I also added about a tablespoon of garlic powder. I like how the powder sticks in this a little better, but you could always use fresh or pre-minced garlic as well.
Once your carrots are cooked through – sprinkle in some shredded Parmesan cheese just before serving and Enjoy! Pull the rosemary sprigs out if you would like before serving.
Sauteed Carrot Ribbons (with Mushrooms and Rosemary)
Ingredients
- 1 bunch carrots organic, mixed colors
- 3 tbsp ghee butter or regular butter or oil if you prefer
- 1 pckg white button mushrooms
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- Wash your carrots and cut the top and bottom off. Using a vegetable peeler, hold the carrot down flat on a cutting board and run the peeler along the carrot to create ribbons. Do this until the carrot is too thin to peel.
- Over medium-high heat, melt some ghee butter. Add your mushrooms and rosemary.
- Once your mushrooms are cooked about 1/2 way through or more, add your carrot ribbons and garlic powder.
- Stir together well until carrots are cooked through.
- Pull our your rosemary sprigs (if you choose to). Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.
Carrot Top Pesto & Cold Stuffed Tomatoes
Along with my smoked beer can chicken, I made sauteed carrot ribbons and cold stuffed tomatoes. I stuffed those tomatoes with quinoa and carrot pesto. I’d honestly never eaten carrot tops before and wasn’t sure how this was going to turn out, but I just went for it. I hate letting those gorgeous greens go to waste.
Look at all off of those greens just from a few organic carrots. This made more than enough pesto to last us for a while. I also recently received a new food processor from my husband, for my birthday, and I always get excited to break it out so another reason for the pesto. Remove the greens from the stems (and carrots) just like you would cilantro. Set aside. Gather your remaining ingredients – you can adjust to your personal preference, but here is what I included: pine nuts (about 1/2 cup), Parmesan cheese (shredded or cubed), minced garlic, crushed red pepper, 1/2 a large preserved lemon, a handful of mixed greens (baby spinach and fresh greens mix), a handful of fresh basil and olive oil.
With the large bowl and large chopping blade in your processor, running on high – put in your pine nuts and Parmesan cheese until chopped. Add your garlic, crushed red pepper and pulse a few times on high. Add in your carrot tops, greens, basil and preserved lemon and pulse about 10-15 times on high. Scrape the sides of the processor and turn it back onto high. Pour your olive oil slowly through your small food feeder until mixed well. I added about 2/3 cup. Mine was pretty salty as most of these ingredients are and the tartness of the carrot greens didn’t help balance that. I decided to add some sour cream. I added about 1/2 cup. If you want it sweeter you could always add some honey or brown sugar.
Next, cut the tops off of your tomatoes and scrape out the inside using a grapefruit fork. Turn them upside down for 10-15 minutes to let the juices run out. You can sit on a wire rack or just a plate works fine.
Cook your quinoa per package instructions. Let it cool. If you are in a rush you can put on a plate in the fridge for a bit. Mix together your pesto and quinoa and stuff your tomatoes. There you have it! I forgot a complete picture, but grabbed one with our dinner. (at the top)
Carrot Top Pesto
Ingredients
- 1 bunch carrot tops
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese shredded or cubed
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp crushed red pepper
- 1/2 large lemon preserved
- 1 handful mixed greens
- 1 handful fresh basil
- 2/3 cup olive oil
- 1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt, plain (or sour cream)
Cold Stuffed Tomatoes
- 3 or 4 tomatoes large
- 1/2 cup quinoa
Instructions
- Cut off carrot tops and set aside.
- Chop your pine nuts and parmesan cheese on high. Add your crushed red pepper, preserved lemon, garlic and pulse on high until mixed well.
- Add your greens (carrot tops, mixed greens and basil). Pulse on high about 10/15 times until chopped. Scrape the sides.
- With processor on high, slowly add your olive oil until mixed well.
- Taste and add any honey or sugar your might want. Pour into a bowl and mix with 1/2 cup of yogurt.
Cold Stuffed Tomatoes
- Cut the top off of your tomatoes and scrape the insides out using a knife or grapefruit spoon.
- Turn your tomatoes upside down for 10-15 minutes to let the juices run out.
- Cook your quinoa per package instructions and let cool.
- Mix your cooled quinoa with your pesto – to taste. about 1/2 and 1/2, maybe a little more quinoa.
- Stuff your tomatoes and enjoy!
Italian Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
We grabbed some great, huge sweet potatoes from the Old Town Scottsdale Farmers market. There are so many different ways you can cook them. We love them, especially on the savory side and they are healthy! I used some things that I typically have in my kitchen for this recipe.
Two large sweet potatoes is way more than enough for the 2 of us. We will have leftovers! I like to rub some sort of oil on the outside to add some flavor while baking. Throw them in a 400 degree oven for about an hour – these actually took a little less. Even as big as they are!
I usually wait until the potatoes are done so they can cool enough to handle when you need them. Then, brown about a pound of sweet Italian sausage.
Once the sausage is almost done, I added in some julienne-cut, sun dried tomatoes and stir together over low-medium heat. Then add in some crushed red pepper – to taste. We like spicy food so probably threw in 2 tablespoons.
I then added some torn salumi that we had on hand. We have this amazing meat market in Carefree that makes some of the best salamis. Well, everything they have is amazing! Then, dump in some organic spaghetti sauce. I love the sprouts brand. I used about 1.5 cups.
Scoop out your sweet potato filling and mix in with everything else. Cook on medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, until well mixed. I’ve saved the potato skins before to “refill,” but this time I decided it was just easier to use ramekins. Scoop your filling into your potato skins or your ramekins and place on cookie sheet in oven for about 10 minutes.
There you have it! A pretty quick, simple, healthy dinner recipe.
Italian Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 large Sweet Potatoes
- 2 tbsp Coconut Oil
- 1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage
- 2 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes
- 1/4 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes Julinne-Cut
- 6 pieces Salumi (or pepperoni, etc) approx
- 1.5 cup Spaghetti Sauce
Instructions
- Coat your sweet potatoes with the coconut oil. Bake on a lined baking sheet at 400 degrees for approx 1 hour. Until they are fork tender. Let them cool enough to handle.
- Brown 1 lb of sweet Italian sausage in a pan over medium heat. Add the Sun dried tomatoes and stir together.
- Add in Red Pepper Flakes and your torn Salumi and mix together well.
- Pour in your spaghetti sauce. Whatever brand you prefer. I used a sweet basil this time.
- Cut your sweet potatoes in half and scoop out the filling. If you want to use your potatoes as your shell be sure to leave a thin wall.
- Mix your sweet potato filling with the other ingredients and cook for approx 10 minutes.
- Put your cooked, combined filling into your potato “shells” or into Ramekins. Put back into your 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.
Pork Lettuce Cups & Spanish “Rice”
It’s not my husband’s favorite thing to smoke, but it’s my favorite thing for him to make – pulled pork! When we lived in Kansas City he and a good buddy started a little competition BBQ team and everyone loved being on that cheer squad. He still loves to use his smoker(s) and we are both always looking for excuses to use them. Last weekend I asked him to smoke a pork butt – mostly because I just love using the leftovers for some of my favorite recipes. So – for this recipe, I used leftover pulled pork. Maybe in the future we will add a “secret” smoker recipe for those of you that want to try it, but I would suggest either making your pork in the slow cooker or you can typically purchase one already done at the grocery store (at least in KC anyway). Seasonings don’t really matter as we are going to change it up in this recipe. If you have one with BBQ seasoning or whatever options there are – it will be okay once we re-heat and re-season.
Let’s start with our pulled pork. I keep quart sized bags in the freezer for things just like this. You want to make sure it’s mostly thawed. Using a medium size pan, throw in a little olive oil and garlic and cook for a few minutes on medium heat, until fragrant. Then, add about 3/4 of a small can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce. You may want to roughly chop the peppers up before you throw them in the pan. I then toss in my pork. I like to pull it apart with my fingers to make sure it’s shredded and not stuck together too much. Stir this into your sauce and heat through. The Adobo peppers can be pretty spicy so depending on your level of heat tolerance you may want to adjust your amounts. I like to squeeze in 1/2 a lime, about 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, paprika and some ground cumin. Adding in a little bit of dark shaved chocolate gives you taste similar to a good mole. I typically have the Williams Sonoma hot chocolate shavings on hand (I like to use them in a lot of recipes such as chili!) – I added about 1/4 cup. Lastly, add about 2 tablespoons of local honey (maybe more if you need to balance out the heat).
While your pork is heating, grab another pan and heat up some olive oil and minced garlic. Once fragrant, add in a can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos (or green chilis). Add the remainder of your can of peppers and stir together for about 2-3 minutes. Now add your riced cauliflower. I like to buy the Cece’s brand from the grocery store that is already riced for you to save time. You can find it in the refrigerated section, not frozen. Or you can grab a head of cauliflower and rice in a food processor (or chop up by hand). Stir your cauliflower into your sauce, mixing well. Add in the remainder of your small can of tomato paste, some ground cumin, paprika and squeeze in the other 1/2 of that lime. We are almost done!
We love to have some sort of guacamole, avocado or a similar sauce to put on top – you’ll probably want it to balance the heat of the peppers. This time I just mashed up some avocados, added a little lime juice, a dash of garlic and some chopped up cilantro – mixed it all together in a separate bowl.
Next, you assemble. I always use butter lettuce – it’s sweet, it wraps pretty easily and the flavor just goes perfect with this dish! If you can find it, buy the “living” lettuce. It lasts for weeks! Depending on how big your lettuce “cups” are – we usually dish about 3 per person. I scoop the pulled pork into a cup, top with some guacamole and some fresh, torn cilantro. I am a cilantro lover, for me, the more the better!
Pulled Pork Lettuce Cups & Spanish “Rice”
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 4 tbsp Minced Garlic split
- 7 oz Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
- 1 Quart Pulled Pork previously prepared
- 1 can Diced tomatoes with Jalapenos
- 1 can Tomato paste small
- 1 head Cauliflower riced
- 2 tbsp Paprika
- 2 tbsp Ground Cumin
- 1.5 Limes
- 1/4 cup Dark Chocolate shaved
- 1 head Butter lettuce
- 2 Avocados
- 1 bunch Cilantro
Instructions
For the Pulled Pork Lettuce Cups
- In a medium saucepan, add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1.5 tbsp minced garlic, heat over medium until fragrant.
- Add 3/4 of your can of Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce, chop the peppers if you would like. Stir together until heated.
- Add in your pulled pork – shredding by hand to make sure it’s not stuck together in large chunks.
- Add in juice of 1/2 a lime, approx 3/4 can of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of paprika and ground cumin. Mix well.
- Add in about 1/4 cup of shaved dark chocolate and 2 tablespoons of local honey. You may want to adjust these amounts based on your heat tolerance.
- Whip up some quick guacamole: mash together 2 medium avocados, add the juice from 1/2 a lime, a dash of garlic and a little chopped up cilantro. *If you want it thinner you could add a tbsp of water or some Whole30 mayo.
- Assemble your lettuce cups: scoop about 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of pork (whatever fits in your lettuce), top with a scoop of guacamole and some torn, fresh cilantro.
For the Spanish “Rice”
- In a medium saucepan, add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1.5 tbsp minced garlic, heat over medium until fragrant.
- Add in a can of diced tomatoes with jalapenos and the remainder of your can of Adobo peppers. Stir together for about 2-3 minutes.
- Add your riced cauliflower and mix together well.
- Add in the remainder of your small can of tomato paste, 1 tablespoon of paprika and ground cumin and the other 1/2 of that lime juice.
- Heat through and top with a little guacamole and/or torn cilantro if you like.
Sheet Pan Chicken – Bowls
The idea for these bowls came from our good friends in “Napa Valley.” They introduced us to the wonderful Korean flavors we add to these. My favorite part about this dish is the simplicity. I typically purchase my chicken in bulk, separate and marinade before freezing. There are a lot of marinades that would work well with this (I’ll add some marinade options in the near future) and you can really play with whatever ingredients you like best. Also – isn’t this pan just so pretty?
Ok, so first of all we start with the chicken. For this particular dish I chose boneless, skinless thighs. You can use chicken breasts if you would like, but I would probably cut them in 1/3rds to save on cooking time as your veggies will cook faster than your chicken. Like I mentioned above, I like to marinade and then freeze them.
For this dish I used a sweet chili marinade. The marinade is very simple: homemade sweet chili sauce and coconut aminos. I would use about 2/3 chili sauce to 1/3 coconut aminos.
Last year we had much warmer temperatures early on. I had peppers ripening by late April/early May – and I could barely keep up. I was trying to decide what to do with these beauties before I picked my next batch. I decide to try a version of homemade sweet chili sauce. Hopefully a little healthier for us. So – the majority of these peppers went in. There is a mixture of serrano, banana, shishito, jalapeno and a couple poblanos included. I minced these and left the majority of the seeds. Most of these peppers have a fairly mild flavor so I wanted to leave in a tiny bit of heat.
I used about equal parts sugar to water – so depending on how many “chilies” you have, 1 cup sugar to 1 cup water. And a tablespoon of minced garlic. Boil all of these ingredients (peppers, sugar, water, garlic) and then simmer for approx 5 minutes. In a separate bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Whisk the cornstarch mixture in with the remaining ingredients continuing to simmer – it should start to thicken within a few minutes. Once it’s thickened, remove from heat. You can store in canning jars in the fridge as above or use in our chicken marinade once cooled. (you don’t want to cook the chicken with your marinade)
Once you have your chicken marinated (I’d suggest at least a couple of hours or overnight). Chop your veggies. In this dish we used carrots, celery, onions, peppers and broccoli. The denser veggies work well as they don’t overcook as easily with the chicken, but you could add any of your favorites (mushrooms and zucchini are other options) If you add softer veggies I like to put them on the opposite side of the pan from the chicken so the marinade doesn’t take over.
Place your chicken on your jelly roll pan (with an edge), then layer your veggies alongside. Throw the pan in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Depending on how large/which cuts of chicken you use – just make sure your chicken hits the 165 temperature and the veggies will definitely be done by the time the chicken is.
Next you put your bowl together. This is really where personal preference comes into play. I’m going to list the ingredients we usually put out and then we each make our own bowls.
Your base layer – either brown rice, cauliflower rice, soba noodles or even a veggie noodle or sometimes we combine two.
Topping options we include are: cilantro (a favorite and must of ours), kimchi, some additional sweet chili sauce, coconut aminos, homemade sriracha (I’ll post a future recipe that excludes all of the sugar), fried garlic, diced peanuts and I’m probably forgetting some. Let me know if you have other ideas!
Sheet Pan Chicken – Bowls
Ingredients
- chicken (thighs or breasts)
- celery
- carrots
- onion (sweet or red)
- bell peppers
- broccoli
- sweet chili sauce
- coconut aminos
Instructions
- 1. Marinade your chicken2. Chop your veggies.3. Spread your chicken onto a sheet pan including the remaining marinade. Spread your veggies in layers next to your chicken – denser veggies closest to your veggies. Mix some of the remaining marinade through your veggies and/or sprinkle some olive oil or coconut aminos (sparingly) over your veggies.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for approx 30 minutes or until chicken is 165 degrees. You may want to flip your chicken over 1/2 way through cooking.
5. If needed, cut your chicken into smaller pieces – easier for eating in your bowl.
6. Choose your bowl “bottom” and toppings and enjoy!