food: paleo tuna cakes
16 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: gluten free, paleo, waikiki, whats for dinner, wheat free
so, as you may have judged by the lack of regular posts, life has been extra real lately.
i’ve not only been busy, but i’ve been very unmotivated.
instead of getting up with the sun and being productive before work (aka – blogging and running/gym), i’ve been hitting snooze and running for my bus to no be late. not cool.
so today is my first day of up and at’em.
and naturally that means its a blogging morning, not a running morning. because let’s be realistic here.
that being said, vancouver has skipped spring and launched full tilt into summer. which, is a-okay with me.
i went from rain jackets and boots to a very unneeded hoodie in a matter of a week.
and i also have fine tuned my summer goals.
there’s a trail running clinic that sounds super fun and it starts in july. but you have to be able to run 30 minutes to join… and i used to be able to, but i’m very out of practice. so i have about 6 weeks to get back.
note – vegas will probably not help in this matter.
anyways, i’m also back on the healthy eats. there’s been some set backs… a lot of decadent non-paleo food has snuck in.
i actually even ate wheat at my anniversary dinner. it was my first piece of bread in 7 months.
i realized that i had totally forgotten the texture. also, i still love bread.
but i was determined for it to be a one night stand with the bread and haven’t touched it again since.
i think its going to make italy even more amazing if i can hold out until then because frankly eating that piece last week was like tasting it for the first time.
now, back to the task at hand…
i downloaded an awesome food app for my ipad from nomnompaleo and i’ve been totally inspired by it.
my husband asked last week what to make for dinner and i handed him the ipad and said “anything you find on this app sounds awesome” and he decided on paleo tuna cakes.
this was a fun recipe… you cook and form them in muffin tins and then bake them and before serving, you brown them in a little clarified butter.
the sweet potato in there somehow makes them taste like they have cheese in them.
they’re delicious.
the only problem was that they stuck to the muffin tins. but i’m not sure if maybe they weren’t greased enough or what… but even in imperfect patties, they were awesome.
and then we did an un-paleo thing and put a little dollop of creme fraiche with chives on top. because that shit is yum.
i was looking and it seems like the recipe is gone from nomnompaleo.com which i’m guessing is because its meant to drive sales of the app… which is fair enough. so i won’t post it.
but its worth the couple bucks i paid for it.
food: jerk chicken
05 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: chicken, comfort food, gluten free, healthy cooking, paleo, recipes, whats for dinner, wheat free
believe me when i say i’ve eaten some jerk chicken in my time.
i’m a spicy food fiend and i’ve been to jamaica twice.
trust.
this here that i’m about to share is THE BEST jerk chicken i’ve ever had.
it comes from a jamie oliver recipe that my husband saw him cook on tv and he decided to make it for us on monday.
and WOW.
here’s the thing. i could wax poetic over the deliciousness of this meal, but you’ll either try it for yourself, or you won’t.
and i really suggest you do.
here’s the whole recipe.
we didn’t make the rice & beans or corn, instead we did kale and roasted potatoes & sweet potatoes.
‘Jamie Oliver’s Meals In Minutes’
killer jerk chicken, rice & beans, refreshing chopped salad, chargrilled corn
main courses | serves 4
CHICKEN
• 4 x 180g chicken breasts, skin on
• 1 tablespoon runny honey
• a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• a few sprigs of fresh coriander
CORN
• 4 large corn on the cob, husks removed
RICE & BEANS
• 2 spring onions
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 250g long-grain rice
• 600ml organic chicken stock
• 1 x 400g carton of black beans
JERK SAUCE
• 4 spring onions
• a small bunch of fresh thyme
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• ground cloves
• ground nutmeg
• ground allspice
• 6 tablespoons golden rum
• 6 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon runny honey
• 1 Scotch bonnet chilli
• 4 cloves of garlic
SEASONINGS
• olive oil
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt & black pepper
SALAD
• 1 red pepper
• 1 red chicory
• 1 cos or romaine lettuce
• 2 limes
• 1/4 of a red onion
• a small bunch of fresh coriander
• 1 punnet of cress
YOGHURT
• 1 x 250g pot of natural yoghurt
• a few sprigs of fresh coriander
• 1 lime
TO SERVE
• cold beer
TO START Get all your ingredients and equipment ready. Fill and boil the kettle. Put a large griddle pan and a large saucepan on a high heat. Turn the oven on to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.
CHICKEN Put the chicken breasts on a plastic board and halve each one, leaving them joined at the top of the breast. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper, then rub all over both sides of the chicken. Put into the hot griddle pan, skin side down, and leave to cook. Clear away the board and wash the knife and your hands.
CORN Put the corn into the saucepan with a good pinch of salt and cover with boiling water. Put the lid on.
JERK SAUCE Trim and roughly chop the onions and put into the liquidizer with the leaves from most of the bunch of thyme, 3 bay leaves (stalks removed), a large pinch each of ground cloves, nutmeg and allspice, 6 tablespoons each of rum and vinegar, 1 tablespoon of honey and 2 teaspoons of salt. Remove the stalks and seeds from the Scotch bonnet chilli and add the chilli to the liquidizer, then quickly crush in 4 unpeeled cloves of garlic and blitz with the lid on until you have a really smooth paste. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to loosen, if needed.
CHICKEN The undersides should be golden now, so turn the chicken over. Pour the jerk sauce into a snug-fitting baking dish and use tongs to lay the chicken on top, skin side up. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of runny honey and scatter over a few sprigs of rosemary and the remaining thyme sprigs. Put on the top shelf of the oven and cook for 15minutes, or until cooked through. Carefully pour away the oil from the griddle pan and wipe clean with kitchen paper, then put back on a high heat.
RICE & BEANS Put a large wide saucepan with a lid on a medium heat. Trim and finely slice the spring onions and put in the saucepan with the cinnamon stick, a good lug of olive oil and a big pinch of salt & pepper. Stir and let soften for a minute or so, then add the rice and chicken stock. Drain and rinse the beans, then add to the pan. Stir gently. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a medium heat. Pop the lid on and leave for 12 minutes.
YOGHURT Tip the yoghurt into a small serving bowl. Finely chop a few sprigs of coriander and add to the bowl with a pinch of salt and a good lug of extra virgin olive oil. Finely grate over the zest of 1/2 the lime and squeeze in the juice. Stir in, then take to the table with the other lime half for squeezing over.
CORN Use tongs to move the corn to the hot griddle pan and drizzle over a little olive oil. Cook and turn frequently until charred. Once ready, put on a platter and take to the table.
SALAD Get a very large board that you’re happy to serve on. Deseed and roughly chop the red pepper. Put the red chicory and cos lettuce on top and keep chopping until everything is fairly fine. Make a well in the centre. Pour in a few lugs of extra virgin olive oil and squeeze in the juice of 2 limes. Finely grate over the red onion quarter, season to taste, then toss everything together. Tear over the coriander, snip over the cress and take to the table.
RICE & BEANS Take the lid off the rice after 12 minutes and give it a stir. All the liquid should have been absorbed. Taste and correct the seasoning if need be, then take to the table.
TO SERVE Take the chicken out of the oven, sprinkle over some coriander leaves and take straight to the table. When serving, spoon over the jerk sauce from the bottom of the baking dish. Crack open a few cold bottles of beer and enjoy.
food: potato pancake with smoked salmon
29 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: gluten free, paleo, recipes, salmon, whats for dinner, wheat free
okay, so i’ve posted about this dish before, but on sunday we took it to new magical levels.
the potato pancake recipe that i used previous involved blending an onion and potato for the binder… but in this version, we simply grated a potato, squeezed out all the liquid and bound it with 2 eggs.
we also added green onions and fresh chopped rosemary. the rosemary was a stroke of genius, if i do say so myself. of course, there was also salt & pepper.
i fried them in butter and then let them continue to cook in the oven while i assembled everything else.
one of the things that i feel really *makes* this dish is the micro greens.
i used to believe this was just some sort of fru-fru garnish that restaurants used to fancy stuff up… but when used properly, the make a lovely addition to the dish. they’re crunchy and fresh, but not too in-your-face about it.
and you get a variety of flavours like you would with regular mixed greens, but in a much milder way. i love them. (thanks trader joes)
think of them as upgraded sprouts. (if that helps)
then the smoked salmon…
ah, the glorious smoked salmon.
i’m a BC girl. i love this stuff.
this is cold smoked, thick sliced wild BC salmon.
mmm-hmmm.
the next necessary item?
the farm fresh egg, poached soft. extra soft.
we buy eggs from a local farm and the yolks are so golden and gorgeous, they’ve renewed my love of eating eggs.
free range and naturally fed chickens… happy chickens make happy eggs.
my husband is an egg snob. he insists on these.
i only eat one egg, my husband does his with two.
then we mixed up a little organic sour cream with some fresh cut chives and dolloped it on.
top with micro greens…
and voila!
dinner!
food: bacon chipotle meatloaf
27 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: beef, comfort food, gluten free, organic, paleo, recipes, whats for dinner, wheat free
on the weekend, my husband and i came across a fantastic deal for ground beef.
our local farm market where we buy our premium meats from was having a “case lot” sale of sorts with 10lbs of ground beef at a great price.
so we did the sensible thing and bought one.
we figured, hey, we’re coming up to burger season…
plus, high quality beef at a grocery store price can not be refused.
also the girl behind the counter had me sold at “you’ll have to wait a minute, they’re just grinding it now…”
okay.
but here’s the thing… when you’re brainstorming ground beef ideas, its easy to get in a rut.
there’s meatballs and spaghetti sauce and shepherds pie and of course burgers… but what else?
meatloaf of course.
delicious delicious meatloafs.
sooooo… we may have done a bit of other case-lot shopping this weekend…
like, i also have 5lbs of sweet onions… and 5 avocados… and 5lbs of potatoes…
so i’ve been in prep mode.
yesterday i thinly sliced 3 onions and caramelized them down and stowed them in the fridge for future use.
nothing in particular in mind, but i know my husband loves them, so i figured they’d be useful to have ready… and boy was i right.
if you’ve never put caramelized onions into a meatloaf, you should.
Bacon Chipotle Meatloaf with Caramelized Onions
- 1.5lbs of ground beef
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp chipotle seasoning (i use paul prudhomme’s)
- 1 tsp dried chipotle peppers
- 1/2 cup of caramelized onions
- salt & pepper
- 3 slices of bacon – par cooked (i microwaved for 1.5 minutes)
- some delicious bbq sauce for topping (i used House of Q Apple Butter BBQ sauce)
- preheat oven to 400
- mix beef, onions & seasoning. press into loaf pan – i line mine with parchment for easy removal
- top with bacon and slather with bbq sauce
- cook for about 20 minutes, drain fat off and cook for another 15 minutes or so or until internal temp reaches 145F
food: sweet potato salad
22 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: whats for dinner, wheat free
so when i initially started writing this post, it was warm and sunny and the outdoors was starting to lure me into a false sense of summer…
the playoffs were on and the canucks had just won a game (finally.)…
and now, the weather is utter garbage with pouring rain and chilled air and the canucks are eliminated.
so… potato salad doesn’t quite hold the same allure as it did a few days ago.
but, anyways, i won’t forsake a delicious potato salad its due…
problem: potato salad craving. only 3 potatoes in the house.
solution: 1 sweet potato and 1 yam to the rescue.
this is basically my classic potato salad… just with some potato additions.
for veg, we have green onions, pepperoncinis and celery. stalks & leaves. because celery leaves are yummy and often wasted.
add some mayo, a little mustard and some acid… i used some pepperoncini brine this time, but a vinegar or lemon works too.
we also added 2 chopped hard boiled eggs…. salt & pepper, a little hot sauce… and voila!
food & travel: gluten free vegas
15 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in restaurants & dinning out, travel Tags: gluten free, las vegas, restaurants & dinning out, wheat free
since the main attraction of most of my vacations is the eating… it’s just occurred to me that my new-ish wheat/gluten free diet with paleo tendencies (yes, that’s my most accurate description for it) will need a little research and tender loving care.
thank the seven for trip advisor. seriously, if you have never made use of the forums on trip advisor, you’re missing out on a massive resource of information of every type. and i’m not just saying that because i’m a destination expert for las vegas.
anyways, i did a few searches on gluten free vegas restaurants and was rewarded with a wealth of knowledge.
the BEST news of the day is that my absolute favourite vegas restaurant; Border Grill has a special gluten free menu. seriously? LOVE.
they even make it very easy on you with this handy guide… http://www.bordergrill.net/glutenfree.php
also with a special separate menu is PF Changs… not high on my places to eat list – but you never know, sometimes that kinda food is just what the hangover ordered – http://www.pfchangs.com/menu/
but also Mon Ami Gabi does one which can be found here – Mon Ami Gabi Gluten Free Menu and sounds AMAZING!
there’s also internet rumblings of everywhere from California Pizza Kitchen to Chipotle incorporating GF options into their regular menus.
and apparently the buffet staff are quite informed as to which dishes are safe and which to avoid, with the wynn even marking the signs to denote allergies.
i found this website… glutenfreelasvegas.com which could be something great, but right now looks like its just getting going… and las vegas advisor has put together a pretty solid list too – here.
it seems as though most of the articles i’m reading really have Border Grill, Mon Ami Gabi & PF Changs as the standout options for severe allergies as their kitchens have dedicated gluten free prep & cooking areas. very nice to know.
while this isn’t a huge factor for me, i know this information could make a world of difference for someone with a severe allergy.
also i have respect for and trust in a kitchen that is so confident with their practices in terms of cleanliness, they can guarantee that sort of things.
food: venison chops
02 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in food & cooking, paleo Tags: game meat, gluten free, paleo, whats for dinner, wheat free
a few weeks ago when my husband and i went on our grass fed meat mission and also stumbled across some game meats, we procured 4 venison chops.
they were vacuum packed and frozen, so we tossed them in the freezer and kind of forgot about them… until last weekend’s great freezer purge.
after a defrost, my husband marinaded them in olive oil, orange zest, fresh rosemary and crushed juniper berries for a few hours.
then they hit the grill…
since the weather was good, that meant it was the first bbq of the season.
and we all know that everything tastes better on the bbq.
i must also note that my husband did a masterful job cooking these. they were perfectly done to medium rare.
okay, my “food styling” needs work. i know. or maybe i should use a better camera than my iphone 3GS… anyways…
we paired the venison with some roasted potatoes and roasted broccoli & cauliflower for a delightful meal.
the venison was tasty, but honestly, i wasn’t in love.
one piece was really good, but the other was a little chewy and had a lot of connective tissue and was quite hard to eat. maybe it was a defective cut. because the other one didn’t have those problems.
these were well priced and a nice alternative to beef… and also naturally fed, as they are wild, so bonus there.
this wasn’t my first time eating it, but i’d never cooked it at home before…
i’b buy venison again for sure, but i think i’d be a bit pickier about the cut next time. maybe a tenderloin or something… or a roast would have been a better choice. to be continued…
food: lamb shank
27 Mar 2012 1 Comment
in food & cooking Tags: comfort food, paleo, whats for dinner, wheat free
yesterday i had a lamb craving.
it’s been a while since i’ve had lamb and i was due. in specific i wanted lamb shanks. because it’s cheap and delicious.
so, off to thrifty’s to collect 2 shanks for the low low price of $13.50 and considering that feeds two people, i feel pretty good about that price. sure there’s cheaper meats to eat… but as far as lamb goes, shanks are the best way to stretch your dollar.
i made a paste in the mortal & pestle with garlic cloves, fresh rosemary, salt & pepper, a little olive oil and dijon mustard. and rubbed that into the shanks and let it sit while i chopped everything else.
then i seared off the shanks until brown, removed from the pan and sauteed 1 chopped onion, 2 chopped carrots and a couple whole garlic cloves. when the veggies were soft, i hit it with some red wine and beef stock. also added a few sticks of fresh rosemary & thyme.
the shanks went back in and it simmered with the lid on for 2 hours.
after about 2 hours, i took the shanks out and set them on a plate to rest (and tented with foil) and pulled out the sticks from the herbs and whizzed the remains with the immersion blender to make a thick sauce of deliciousness.
i served it with mashed new potatoes for the husband and nappa cabbage in apple cider vinegar as a side dish.
yes, lamb, potatoes and cabbage. it seems so irish, lol.
we ended up with some of the sauce left over and it was just too delicious to throw down the drain, so this morning when i put some short ribs in the slow cooker, i added the leftover sauce to the mix to make the flavour richer. i felt pretty smart with that one. yey for recycling!
food: sweet potato tuna melt
26 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in food & cooking, wheat free Tags: gluten free, healthy cooking, wheat free
a couple months ago my best friend mentioned to me that she’d seen a recipe for a tuna melt made in a sweet potato jacket and she mentally filed it away because she thought i’d like it.
i, in turn, mentally filed it away with the intent to one day try it as a lite lunch or snack because as soon as she described it to me, it sounded pretty yummy in my head.
but truth be told, i’ve never been a huge canned tuna eater. i have environmentalist guilt about the whole dolphin thing… and well, it was just never something we ate as kids, so as an adult it’s not something i ever think of to eat.
then, a few weeks ago, i was shopping at whole foods and came across this tuna from raincoast trading.
yes it was $7 for a can of tuna… but it seemed very environmentally responsible so my guilty conscience paid up.
(how does whole foods always do that to me?)
so, i mixed it up with a little mayo and some chopped pepperoncini peppers, gave it a dash of salt & pepper and loaded it into a cooked sweet potato (5 minutes in the microwave).
i added some fresh mozzarella on top and broiled it in the toaster oven for a few minutes and voila, a delicious and healthy lunch that pretty paleo… except that pesky cheese. but i’m doing my best here.
food: roast chicken with meyer lemons
14 Mar 2012 2 Comments
in food & cooking, paleo, wheat free Tags: chicken, comfort food, gluten free, paleo, recipes, whats for dinner, wheat free
the best part of roasting a chicken is how it always looks super impressive, even though it’s like the easiest thing ever to make.
i’m not joking. you literally give it a little rub down with oil/butter/whatever and salt & pepper it… pop it in the oven, forget about it and when the timer goes; perfection comes out.
just to shake things up a little… and because i have a bazillion meyer lemons, i decided to roast some lemons in with the chicken and potatoes.
it worked magically.
i greased up the chicken, salt & peppered it and stuffed it with a lemon cut in half with the juice squeezed into the cavity.
then i popped it in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes to crisp the outside instantly.
i took it out, turned down the heat to 350 and added the veggies to the pan. this time it was just potatoes, onions and 2 meyer lemons cut in half.
back into the oven to roast for another hour. (it was a big chicken)
after the temperature told me it was done (love that meat thermometer) we let it rest.
here’s a quick shot of the finished product…
don’t worry, something green did make it onto the plate. we had kale chips as a side dish.
the lemons were really tasty and we squeezed them over the meat as an almost-sauce. yum yum.
