Warmed Arugula Salad

Anybody else a fan of spinach salad with a warm dressing? Mmmm, one of my favorites. But since I am cutting my spinach intake waaaay down, as I have talked about elsewhere on this blog, and I like to have recipes my low oxalate friends can eat, I wanted to work on an alternative recipe which would also be sugar free. And so this recipe was born! I have been making it for lunch when I have time. A bit of work, but really worth it! If you are newly sugar free, this might not taste as sweet as the "real thing", but if you are used to appreciating the natural sweetness of things, this will knock your socks off. Or at least it did for me. :) The following is what I do for one main dish serving.

Warmed Arugula Salad

Whatcha Need

3 slices bacon
1/2 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
2 TB balsamic vinegar
1 ts tarragon
1/2 ts dijon mustard
3 generous handfuls of arugula, or however much you feel like eating - it will diminish a good amount even from just wilting
1 hard boiled egg, sliced
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 avocado for garnish (optional)

Whatcha Do

In a deep skillet, fry up the bacon. Give it a good shake when you pull it out to leave as much grease as possible, then lay it on paper towels to cool. Add the onion and saute it until very well cooked. Carmelize it if you have the time - this is part of where your sweet flavor will come from. Crumble your bacon while the onions cook. At this point I usually turn the heat off for about 5 minutes, because if you add the vinegar now, it really sizzles and partly evaporates. Grind your tarragon a bit if you have a mortar and pestle, or rub it between your fingers later as you add it to the pan. This will help it release more flavor. After your oil and onions have cooled a bit, stir in the vinegar, tarragon and mustard. Turn the heat back on low, and throw in your arugula. Stir it around until it is coated with the dressing and beginning to wilt. I like mine fairly wilty because it helps mellow out the characteristic arugula flavor so it is more like spinach, but you don't want to actually cook it! Put it on a plate, and then top with fresh pepper, hardboiled eggs and crumbled bacon. Sometimes I add sliced avocado too! Yum!

Salsa Chicken

This recipe is so embarrassingly easy, it can hardly be called a recipe! But all the more reason to include it here I guess! You need a bunch of chicken and a jar of salsa. That's it. I use a bag of Trader Joe's boneless, skinless thighs and one of their chipotle salsas. Put the chicken in a crockpot, pour the salsa over it, and 7 hours later, you have dinner. Again, that's it. You can shred the chicken a bit at the end if you want. We serve this over lettuce and topped with guacamole. Sometimes I add sauteed peppers or zucchini if I have the time to make them.

Low Carb Moussaka with Sundried Tomato Bechamel

This isn't exactly paleo because I used a sugar substitute, and it has dairy in it, so that is personal choice when it comes to paleo, but it was so amazing that I wanted to write it up somewhere!  The salting process with the eggplant is optional, but I really like doing it because it pulls out any bitterness, and it also can reduce reactions in sensitive individuals, at least in my personal experience.  Eggplant tends to upset my stomach, but if I do the salting process, I don't have that issue.

Low Carb Moussaka with Sundried Tomato Bechamel

1 medium eggplant, about 1.5 lbs
salt

2 ts olive oil
1 cup chopped red onion
1 lb ground beef
15 oz tomato sauce
3/4 cup dry red wine
1 TB Swerve brown sugar substitute
1 ts dried oregano
1 ts ground nutmeg
1 ts ground cinnamon

1 3/4 cup heavy cream
7 oz cream cheese
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 ts salt
1/4 ts pepper
1/4 ts ground nutmeg
3/4 cup sun dried tomato, finely chopped
1/2 cup green onions,  chopped

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise, then slice into 1/4 inch thick pieces.  Spread the pieces out and liberally salt them.  Let sit for 30 minutes, then rinse the salt off and let the pieces sit in a strainer to dry off.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat and add the onion.  Cook until transparent and add the ground beef.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cook until the meat is no longer pink.  Drain the fat if needed, depending on the leanness of your beef.   Add the tomato sauce, red wine, Swerve, oregano, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Simmer, stirring occasionally until the mixture becomes think and almost dry, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350.

To prepare the bechamel, add heavy cream, cream cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg to a nonstick saucepan.  Bring ingredients to a boil while stirring.  Lower the heat and simmer for a few minutes, until it reaches desired consistency.  Stir in sun dried tomatoes and onions.  Try to time this to finish around the same time as the meat mixture or keep warm on lowest setting.

Prepare a 13x9 with cooking spray.  Layer half the eggplant in the bottom of the dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Spread the meat mixture over the eggplant evenly.  Arrange another layer of eggplant over the meat and press down so they are as flat as possible.  Pour the bechamel over the top and spread it evenly.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan.

Bake until the golden and bubbling around the edges.  Start checking at about 45 minutes.  The recipe I based this on said 1 hour, but mine looked a bit overdone at that point.  It still tasted great though!

Pumpkin Pie Pork

Whoa, this is one of the best things I have ever made and quite a splurge as we usually try to keep our carbs down.  I really wanted to give this idea a try though!  The chipotle was kindof of a whim, but hey, the way I think, anything worth adding pumpkin and maple to is worth adding chipotle to!


Pumpkin Pie Pork

Whatcha Need

3 pound pork roast
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup maple syrup (you can use up to 2/3 cup if you don't mind the carbs and would like it really sweet)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 ts salt
1 ts pumpkin pie spice (see above)
1 ts Worcesteshire sauce
1/2 ts chipotle pepper (optional)

Whatcha Do

This is as easy peasy as they come.  Put the roast in the crockpot, mix up the rest of the ingredients and pour them over the top.  Cook it on low or high depending on how much time you have.  I usually start checking a roast about 5 hours in on low, then I cut it up to make sure the flavors are penetrating the whole roast.  When it gets more toward falling apart done, I cube it or shred it, depending on how I want to use it, and pop it back into the juices again for at least 15 minutes on the keep warm setting.  Watch out, this one is addicting!

Cocoa Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

I have always loved chipotle sweet potatoes, whether I am making a cheater version with powdered chipotle or enjoying a more time consuming creation like my friend Lyla makes. So when I saw a mashed sweet potato with cocoa recipe, my thoughts immediately went to the awesome chocolates I have had with a bit of a spicy kick.  I kinda tossed it together when I didn't have alot of time, and it was a bit of a mushy mess, but still absolutely delicious.  I am going to note what I did but also how I think it could be made much better.

Cocoa Chipotle Sweet Potatoes

Whatcha Need

2 large sweet potatoes
coconut oil for coating baking dish
6 ounces full fat coconut milk
3 small chipotle en adobo (I didn't measure them, but they were prb about 1TB each, maybe a bit smaller)
2TB cocoa powder
1 ts salt
1/2 ts pepper

Whatcha Do

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For my first try at this, I popped the sweet potatoes in the microwave for 15 minutes because I needed to run out to the store.  I didn't expect them to be totally soft from that, but they were.  I just went ahead and pulled the skins off and cut them up.  I would recommend peeling and cutting them up in chunks and steaming for about 15 minutes instead.  Coat a baking dish with coconut oil and put the sweet potatoes in.  Put the coconut milk, chipotle, cocoa powder, salt and pepper in a food processor and mix until smooth.  Pour over the sweet potatoes and bake for about 30 minutes or longer based on how soft the potatoes are.  Yum!

Delicious Crockpot Pork Roast

I wanted to get this written up ASAP because it came out soooo good.  I put some honey in it, so it isn't technically Whole 30, but I am going to tag it as such because I think it would still be great without it, or you could throw some raisins into the sauce or some other fruit to sweeten it up if you want.   Plus, it is super easy peasy!

Delicious Crockpot Pork Roast 

Whatcha Need

3-5 pound pork roast

1 cup chicken bone broth

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves

3 TB olive oil

3 TB apple cider vinegar

2 TB honey (leave out for whole 30)

1 ts oregeno

2 ts chili powder

2 ts dried rosemary 

2 ts ground cumin

2 ts salt

Whatcha Do

Put your roast in the crockpot and pour the bone broth around it.  Put everything else in a food processor and pulse it until the onion is in small pieces.  Pour it on top of your roast and cook it on low until it is falling apart.  Really, that's it.  I was using a roast that was about 3 1/2 pounds, and it took about 6 hours.   I ate it by itself with cole slaw one night and then used it to make a taco salad type thing the second.  Amazing both ways! 

Moroccan Beef Stew

I had to get this written up ASAP as this was the most I have ever liked beef!  And I don't think I have ever been so excited to eat leftovers lol.  I had about 4 lbs of stew beef on had, so this is what I used for that amount.

Moroccan Beef Stew

Whatcha Need

2 TB coconut oil
3.5 - 4 lbs of stew beef
2 med onions, chopped
about 2 inches of fresh ginger, grated
1 TB minced garlic
1/2 TB ground allspice
1 TB ground cinnamon
2 cups red wine
6 oz tomato paste
2 TB honey
1/2 ts crushed red pepper
1 ts salt
1 cup chicken bone broth
15 dried apricots

cauliflower rice for serving (optional)

Whatcha Do

Heat the coconut oil in a pot or large dutch oven and cook the beef until browned on all sides.  (I needed to do this in two batches.)  Transfer the beef into a bowl, reserving the juices.  Add the onion, ginger and garlic to the pot and cook until tender.  Return the beef to the pot and add the allspice, cinnamon, wine, broth, tomato paste, honey, red pepper and salt.  Stir enough to combine the ingredients, then bring to a low boil.  Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for one  hour.  Cut the apricots into halves or quarters, depending on the size, and add them to the pot.  Simmer or another 20 minutes uncovered.  You can eat it by itself as a stew or serve it over cauli rice.  I made a Moroccan carrot salad to have with mine.  Delish!