We love smoked salmon and typically keep it pretty simple. Which we did the same prep with this one as well, but I decided I wanted to try out something new. All of the gorgeous fresh jalapenos growing in the garden and it’s also blueberry season right now – inspiration created.
I’ll give a quick simple version of what we do with the salmon first.. I wash and pat dry with paper towels. Then I add my seasonings such as: drizzle of honey, lemon powder, salt, pepper, paprika maybe some oregano. Pretty easy and simple and I let it sit in the fridge for a few hours soaking in the seasonings before we smoke. The blueberry glaze is just as simple!
I diced about one large jalapeno and about 1/4 of a sweet onion (also looking absolutely fantastic at the store right now). Sauteed in a pan with a little olive oil until they were starting to soften. I added about 1.5 cups of blueberries, 1/4 cup of honey and a couple tablespoons of balsamic. Turn the heat to low, cover and simmer until the blueberries are almost all popped open. You will need to keep an eye on this and stir occasionally or they will boil over!
I let it cool slightly and then used my immersion blender to smooth it out. If you don’t have an immersion blender you should get one! But seriously, you can throw the mixture into a blender instead. I let this cool all day and added to our salmon halfway through smoking. It turned out great – we all added more as a sauce as well!
Blueberry Jalapeno Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 jalapeno large
- 1/4 sweet onion
- 1.5 cups blueberries
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Dice jalapeno and onion. Saute with a little olive oil until soft.
- Add remaining ingredients. Turn heat to lowest setting. Cover and simmer.
- Be sure to check frequently and stir as needed so the mixture doesn't boil over. Once most of the blueberries are popped open, remove from heat.
- After cooled enough to handle, use immersion blender to smooth or a regular blender works as well! ~Enjoy!
“George’s” Chicken Soup
We are having just a couple of cooler days in the desert before we shoot up toward the 90s next week. The cooler days combined with being stuck in the house made soup sound like just the thing for dinner. One of our favorite soups both David and I enjoy is from George’s at the Cove in La Jolla, CA. If you have never been – it’s worth it! The views are incredible and if the seals and sea lions are plentiful, they are just high and far enough away that the smell won’t ruin your appetite!
This recipe is a pretty close play on their soup, which you can find their recipe online as well! We just made a few small changes. To start, we are using leftover pulled chicken. I am loving having all of the smoked meat leftover as there are so many different meals you can create! You can find my beer can chicken recipe on this site as well – make 2 or 3 at a time, pull the meat apart and freeze what you don’t eat for later!
Next, heat some oil in a pan and add your diced veggies, carrots, celery, onion and broccoli (stems and florets). I used approx 2 cups of each. I made a big batch as we like this leftover too! Cook for about 5 minutes until veggies are starting to soften. Add about 2 tablespoons each of basil, thyme and oregano (Mediterranean or Greek/not Mexican). Stir and cook together for a few more minutes. Heat your pan up slightly and add some white wine to de-glaze the pan, about 1 cup or a little more.
Next, add in chicken broth or stock – I used about 6 cups in this batch. Stir together well and simmer reducing the liquid by about 1/3. Add in your chicken. Cook for another 5 minutes and then add in 2 cans of black beans, drained, 3 tablespoons of worcestershire and hot sauce (your favorite brand). Simmer until you are ready to eat.
Before you serve, add in about 2 cups of coconut cream and mix together well. That is just about it! I like to add a dollop or two of Greek yogurt on top to add a little extra creaminess and cool the temperature down slightly. Enjoy!
“George’s” Chicken Soup
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 2 cups diced onion
- 2 cups diced broccoli stems included
- 2 cups diced celery
- 2 tbsp basil
- 2 tbsp thyme
- 2 tbsp oregano Greek or Mediterranean
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 6 cups chicken broth or stock
- 3-4 cups shredded chicken, or cubed preferrably smoked
- 2 cans black beans drained
- 3 tbsp worcestershire
- 3 tbsp hot sauce
- 2 cups coconut cream
- greek yogurt, non-fat/plain optional
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in pan and add diced veggies. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add about 2 tablespoons each of basil, thyme and oregano. Stir and cook together a few more minutes. Turn heat up slightly and add white wine to de-glaze the pan.
- Add in chicken broth, stir together well and simmer until liquid has reduced by about 1/3.
- Add in chicken. Cook for another 5 minutes and then add in beans, worcestershire and hot sauce.
- Simmer on low until ready to serve.
- Add in coconut cream and stir together, cooking for a minute or so.
- Enjoy! Add a dollop or two of yogurt on top if you like!
Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta
I always love pasta. I love that you can do so many different things with it. I love that dried pasta keeps in the pantry for a LONG time so you can have it for all of those last minute throw together meals. I love that we typically have it as a one dish meal. And apparently most of the rest of the world must agree with me right now as our shelves are currently pretty bare when it comes to pasta! That’s all I am going to say about the crazy pandemic going on right now as I am sure most of us are sick of hearing about it.
We have our favorites, but you can use any kind and shape of pasta you have on hand for this. Go ahead and bring a pot of water to boil, well salted and cook your pasta per the directions.
While your pasta is cooking, heat some ghee butter in a pan and add a couple tablespoons of minced garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the garlic is fragrant and add in your mushrooms. My favorite to use are cremini, but we had baby bella on hand so that is what went in. For this dish I used 2 pint containers. Add in some salt and pepper to taste and cook down for about 3 minutes over medium heat. Turn your heat up a little and add about 1-2 cups of dry white wine. I added about 2 as I’m making a large batch. Let this cook down until the liquid is 1/2 or less.
Next, I added in some fresh kale from the garden. Any green would work. I just ripped it into approx bite size pieces and stirred into the rest of the mixture. Your pasta should be about done now. Go ahead and drain and set aside, but add about 1/2-1 cup of the pasta water to your pan.
Next you add in your chicken. We like to make several smoked chickens, pull the meat and freeze leftovers for dishes like this and that is just what we did. However, you can use chicken breast, thighs, rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or whatever you have on hand. Cubed, diced or pulled is fine too! Stir that in until it is heated up well (note you do need to pre-cook the chicken.)
I added in about 2-3 tablespoons of parsley and about 1 cup of shredded cheese. Any hard cheese works, parmesan, romano, asiago or a combination of any.
Lastly, I stirred in about 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream. If you wanted a healthier option you could use coconut cream or even milk. That’s it – super simple. Add your pasta to the pan, mix together well and serve! I like to add a dash of freshly grated cheese on top and a sprig of parsley for plating if you want to get fancy! 😉
Creamy Mushroom and Chicken Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp ghee butter
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 pints mushrooms baby bella, cremini or whatever you prefer
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups dry white wine
- 2-3 tsp parsley dried or fresh
- 2 cups kale or fresh greens approx
- 2.5 cups shredded chicken pre-cooked
- 1 cup shredded cheese, parmesan
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
Instructions
- Cook your pasta per the directions. Make sure to salt the water.
- While pasta is cooking, heat ghee butter in pan and add garlic. Cook until fragrant and then add in mushrooms.
- Add salt and pepper to taste, cook for about 3 minutes, turn your heat up and add white wine. Cook until liquid is reduced by at least half, stirring occasionally.
- Add in shredded kale and about 1.5 cups of pasta water.
- Add your chicken and cook about 4-5 minutes until meat is heated through.
- Add in your parmesan cheese, stir. Add the heavy whipping cream and stir thouroughly.
- Add your pasta to the mixture, stir together well and you are ready to serve!
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!
Smoked Salmon and Steamed Green Beans
Alright – it’s not my best plating, but aside from the picture this dinner turned out fantastic. I’m loving using the Traeger and also so incredibly happy that I was able to get my husband to admit he actually loves green beans! I know a lot of people that love smoked salmon. I don’t know why you wouldn’t. It’s healthy and so easy, great leftover and doesn’t take too long (compared to other things you would smoke)
Usually we will smoke an entire large filet, but this time we decided on just a couple of smaller pieces. We always try to buy the sustainable, wild-caught. We are not on a coast so our fresh options are slightly limited. I like to purchase the salmon the same day I plan to cook it – maybe one day before, but I don’t like to freeze and then re-thaw before smoking. I put these on a pan so that I could season and throw back in the fridge for a couple of hours before putting on the smoker.
I kept this pretty simple based on what I typically always have on hand in my kitchen/spice cabinet. Start by dusting the entire filet with a little Himalayan salt. I then added some lemon powder – if you don’t have this you could use lemon zest and/or just squeeze some lemon juice on top. Next, I drizzled each with some honey. I only use the local honey – much better for you and a better guarantee of where it actually came from. Then, sprinkle on some paprika and garlic powder. Sit in the fridge until ready to smoke.
I cooked these on smoke temp (150-200 degrees) for about an hour. The sun was going down and the smoker was staying on the lower side of temps so I decided to turn it up to medium heat and finished that way. Overall they took about another 45 minutes. You can tell when they are done with the fork test – they should flake and not show any raw pieces. That’s literally it – done with the salmon. Depending on what kind of smoker you have and temperatures we have found the average time is 1.5-2 hours total smoking time.
I served our salmon with some lemon, buttered brown rice and steamed green beans with roasted garlic. I think I’ve mentioned just how much I love veggies? Several years ago my husband declared he hated green beans. I was slightly devastated and trying to figure out why. I went with it as he will eat almost everything else. However, I couldn’t keep my eyes off the fresh beans at the store and bought some thinking I’d just make them for myself.
So easy.. break off the ends, wash and place in a pan just about covered with water. Bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the water. I added a little butter and roasted garlic (they had pre-roasted garlic in the deli section at the grocery store – score/time saver!). I let the butter and garlic and beans cook together for another 5 minutes and done!
Smoked Salmon & Green Beans
Ingredients
Smoked Salmon
- 1 filet salmon wild caught
- Himalayan salt
- honey local
- lemon powder
- garlic powder
- paprika
Green Beans
- grean beans
- butter
- roasted garlic
Instructions
Smoked Salmon
- Sprinkle you salmon filet with the salt. Drizzle the honey on top and add remaining ingredients. Just a dusting of each one across the entire filet.
- Prepare your smoker and add the salmon. If using the smaller Traeger like I was – use the smoke setting for the first hour and then turn up to medium for another 45 minutes. Fork test the fillets for doneness – they should easily flake. Enjoy!
Steamed Green Beans with Roasted Garlic
- Snap the ends off of your beans, wash and throw in a saute pan with water just about covering them.
- Bring to a boil. Cover your pan and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Drain the water. Add Butter – tablespoon depending on how many beans you are making. Add your roasted garlic. Cook for another 5 minutes or so.
Whole smoked beer can chicken
I used my husband’s Traeger for the first time yesterday and with him gone – so no supervision. I am pretty darn pleased with myself and he can’t quit raving about our dinner either – that says a lot. He actually told me that my chicken turned out better than any he has ever done. So.. I decided I will share with you all what exactly I did. Also, this will help me remember in the future!
I bought this chicken at our local Frys grocery store. Normally I would go to Sprouts, but I needed a few things they wouldn’t have. This was in their organic section and marked down since the use by date was 2 days away. I was making that day – so even better – I got a great deal on a good size bird! This was about the size of the colossal rotisserie chickens you will find in your grocery store already roasted. It will go far for the 2 of us, but is amazing left over and you also need one big enough to fit a standard can of beer up it’s behind.
After cleaning out the inside of the chicken and thoroughly washing, I made my dry rub. I threw in about equal parts of each (1/4 cup maybe?) kosher salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, dried oregano (from the garden) and lemon powder (also from the garden). Mix everything together well. *If you have never made lemon powder before, it’s amazing and I’ll add the super simple instructions on another page soon*
I don’t want to admit what I did next, but I can’t omit it.. I took softened butter and rubbed that baby down. All over. Then, get really messy, and dump your rub all over the chicken – a little inside, under the wings, every inch of the bird. I then put in the fridge for a couple of hours as I wasn’t ready to throw on the smoker yet.
It took a little over 2 hours on the smoker – so plan accordingly to when you want dinner. Or how long you have to finish. *You can make the same thing on the grill – medium to low heat for approx the same time, probably a little less. Just watch for flare ups. Check on the bird in about an hour for temp.*
When you are ready to get the bird on the smoker, first things first, and this will be as simple as I needed for my first time using the Traeger smoker.. we currently have the small one (I figured out quickly why David wants the big boy). Plug it in. Make sure your pellets are full. Open the door, turn to smoke and turn on. Wait 10 minutes. Turn to medium heat and close the door. Wait 10 minutes. Open your beer, I used a bud light. Prop your chicken onto the beer leaving about 1/2 to an inch showing on the bottom. OR – you can use a handy beer can chicken pan like shown above. You sit the can in the middle and drop the bird on top. If you have the small smoker like we do, really shove that bird down..
Or it might not fit.. the top of my bird was resting against the top of the smoker and yes, I googled if that was ok.. with no results. It was more than fine! Put your bird in the smoker and shut the lid. Another note, it was approx 97 degrees outside so that raises the temp of the grill a bit.
Check on your bird in about an hour, make sure you have pellets still in your smoker and put a thermometer in the deepest part of the breast. You are looking for 165 degrees. You could take out around 160 as it will cook while it rests. After about 2 hours our bird was right around 160. We pulled it out and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
My husband has these super handy gloves he uses for BBQ that allow you to pull the meat apart while it’s still hot. He pulled this chicken apart for me while I was finishing the rest of our dinner. It literally fell apart – see above. And it was amazing!
Whole smoked beer can chicken
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken organic, good size
- 1/4 cup butter softened
- 1/4 cup salt
- 1/4 cup pepper
- 1/4 cup smoked paprika
- 1/4 cup lemon powder
- 1/4 cup dried oregano
- 1 can beer
Instructions
- Clean your chicken and remove any parts on the inside. Pat dry with paper towels.
- Rub the chicken with softened butter all over.
- Mix together: salt, pepper, smoked paprika, lemon powder and dried oregano. Rub all over your chicken and place in the fridge until ready to smoke.
- Set up smoker on medium heat. Open your can of beer and place your chicken on top of the beer. If you have a beer can chicken pan, those work great!
- Put your chicken on the smoker. Check on it in about an hour and then after as necessary. You want to take it out around 160 degrees – take the temp at the deepest part of the breast.
- Once done, remove the chicken and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before pulling it apart.
- Enjoy!!
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.