Tag Archives: paleo dinner

Grilled Chicken with Walnut Pesto Sauce and Warm Arugula Salad…

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Pesto is an amazing sauce; it makes anything taste good from scrambled eggs to salad – so I have been working on a decent paleo version.  I think I came up with a pesto recipe, that in my humble opinion is better then most pestos which are laden with parmesean – and it’s super easy to put together.  Tonight I grilled some chicken and poured the green goodness on top and served this dish with a Warm Arugula Salad, and our favorite Smashed Cauliflower.  I have a bunch of left over pesto that I can’t wait to use as a topping for whatever else I eat tomorrow!! 

Grilled Chicken with Walnut Pesto Sauce

Chicken

3-4 Chicken Breasts

Trader Joe’s Everyday Seasoning to taste (or just some cracked black pepper)

Pesto Sauce

4 oz fresh basil (3 ½ cups)

1 cup walnut halves and pieces

6 garlic cloves

1 cup olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

Juice from ½ a lemon

Heat your grill over medium high heat for approximately 10 min.  Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breasts with either the Trader Joe’s seasoning or with just some black pepper. Turn grill down to low and place the chicken on the grill.  Close the lid and grill for 7-10 minutes.  Flip the chicken, close the lid, and grill for another 7-10 minutes.  Remove the chicken and cover with tinfoil and set aside.  Now it’s time for the pesto.  In a food processor add the walnuts, garlic, sea salt, and olive oil.  Process until smooth.  Add the basil and lemon juice and process again until smooth.  Slice the chicken and spoon the pesto sauce on top to serve.

Warm Arugula Salad

6 strips nitrate free bacon diced

2 shallots finely chopped

7 oz arugula

1/4 cup olive oil

Handful of chopped walnuts

Ground black pepper to taste

Place the arugula in a large salad bowl and set aside.  In a medium sized skillet brown the diced bacon.  Add the shallots and saute with the bacon until the shallots are translucent.  Add the olive oil to the pan and heat just until warm.  Pour the olive oil, bacon, shallot mixture over the arugula and mix well.  The heat from the bacon mixture will slightly wilt the arugula – this is what you want!  Add some fresh ground black pepper and serve immediately topped with a sprinkle of walnuts. 

 

Spice Rub Crock Pot Chicken

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I love, love, love my crock pot and came up with a new and insanely easy spice rub chicken recipe that I hope you all enjoy! 

Spice Rub Crock Pot Chicken

1 5-6 lb free range organic chicken - giblets removed, rinsed, and patted dry with paper towels

1 white onion sliced

1 tsp sea salt (optional)

2 tsp paprika

1 tsp cayenne

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp garlic powder

Cover the bottom of the crock pot with the sliced onions.  Mix all spices in a small bowl and then rub the spice mixture all over the whole chicken.  Place the spiced chicken on top of the onions in the crock pot, cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours (depending on your crock pot).  No need for any liquid, the chicken will cook in it’s own juices.  Make sure you spoon the onions and a little bit of the juices over the chicken when you serve it.  I served my chicken with our favorite brussel sprouts, steamed for 5 minutes and then sauteed with a little olive oil, dried dill, garlic powder, and pepper.

Enjoy!

Dry Rub Burgers and Sweet Potato Rounds

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First – props to Jaden (my six year old) for taking all the photos for this blog post.  You rock J!!  

This dry rub recipe works well on burgers but is also bangin’ on rib eye steaks and probably on chicken too (haven’t tried that yet, but could imagine it would be tasty…)

Also, a big shout out to AJ at www.nutritionize.net for sharing the awesome sweet potato recipe, it’s simply delicious! 

Dry Rub Burgers

1 ½ tbsp chili powder

2 ½ tsp paprika

1 tsp cumin

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

¼ tsp ground white pepper

2 1/2 lbs grass fed ground beef (makes about 7-9 medium sized burgers)

sea salt to taste

Mix all dry rub ingredients together.  Form hamburger meat into patties and cover both sides generously with the dry rub.  Let the burgers sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes before cooking.  Either grill or pan fry about 4 minutes each side for medium, less for rare, more for well… (sprinkle on sea salt once the burgers are in the pan or on the grill).

Sweet Potato Rounds

2-3 yams

3-4 egg whites

21 seasoning blend from Trader Joe’s or Oregon, Thyme, and Garlic Powder

ground black pepper

sea salt

olive oil

Slice sweet potatoes into round discs.  Separate eggs and add as much 21 seasoning spice blend and black pepper as you like.  Dip each sweet potato round into the egg mixture and lay flat on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.  Drizzle the rounds with olive oil and sprinkle on more seasoning – this is key – and then sprinkle on a little sea salt.  Bake at 350 for 30 -40 minutes.  The egg whites make these a little crispy, and I actually finished them under the broiler for about a minute which made them even crispier, but still soft and yummy in the middle. 

Enjoy!!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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Here is one of my favorite go to meals that’s always a hit with the family. 

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Chicken mixture

4-5 chicken breasts

3 tbsp of Tamari Wheat Free soy sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth

garlic powder to taste

2 zucchini diced

6-8 mushrooms diced

sesame oil

Condiments

1 head iceberg lettuce cored and leaves removed for wraps

Shredded green or purple cabbage

1 red bell pepper finely chopped

3 green onions chopped

1 can water chestnuts diced

sliced or slivered almonds

2 – 3 carrots finely chopped

I like to cook the chicken in the crock pot on low for 6 hours or until falling apart.  Place the chicken in the crock pot and cover with garlic powder and cover with the soy sauce and chicken broth.  When the chicken is done, shred with a fork or throw it in the food processor and pulse it a few times.  In a large soup pan saute zucchini and mushrooms in a generous amount of sesame oil until the veggies are tender.  Add the shredded chicken and mix well.  Serve the chicken mixture in lettuce leaves and add your condiments.  Top with more sesame oil, hot chili oil if you like, and San-J  makes a good gluten free Thai Peanut sauce if your feeling crazy.  I have made my own  “Thai Peanut Sauce”  with almond butter that’s a tasty substitute as well but these wraps are also great just on their own.

Also pictured is lunch the following day: I sauteed the left over chicken, chopped veggies, and almonds with some left over steamed brussel sprouts that I found in the fridge.  It was a fast and delicious way to make the best of my leftovers!

Enjoy!

Easy and Amazing Roast Chicken

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This is a recipe for a whole roast chicken that I found on Epicurious that I revised to make even easier.  It seems to0 easy to even be good but this was sincerely the best roast chicken I have ever had.

Roast Chicken

1 free range/farm raised 4-5 lb chicken

Sea salt

Preheat oven to 450. Wash chicken and thoroughly dry the chicken inside the cavity and out with paper towels.  Place the chicken in a roasting pan and generously sprinkle the entire chicken with sea salt (inside the cavity as well).  The recipe on epicurious said to “rain” the salt down on the chicken, maybe that’s the secret…. I did not tress it, add any butter, thyme, or even pepper, just the salt, and after about an hour in the oven, the chicken was crispy golden brown on the outside and incredibly tender, juicy, flavorful and delicious on the inside!  The best parts of the chicken is what we could pick right off the bones – my two year old ate most of his dinner before we even got the chicken to the table…

I served the chicken with mashed cauliflower that I seasoned with garlic powder and black pepper as well as a fresh arugula and spring mix salad with diced apples, olive oil, and lemon juice. 

Enjoy!!

Garlic Beef Stew and Savory Cauliflower Mash

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It’s been raining like crazy and cold here in Chico, so what’s better to warm up the body and soul than some stew.  This recipe is almost too easy – total comfort food AND it’s super diverse.  Here is the basic recipe but I say add whatever you want and I bet it will be even better!  Oh, and I’m mildly obsessed with mashed cauliflower and experimenting with different ways to spice it up.  Below you’ll also find an easy version of my favorite mash.

Garlic Beef Stew

1.5 – 2 lbs of grass fed stew meat

1 yellow onion diced

4-6 carrots diced

4-6 stalks of celery diced

6-12 mashed cloves of garlic (I used the jarred crushed garlic from TJ’s)

palm full of ground marjoram

sea salt and black pepper to taste

1 small can tomato paste

splash of chicken broth

Throw it all in your crock pot, mix well, cook all day on low.  It’s a lot of garlic but it mellows from the long cooking time and your house will smell amazing! 

Savory Cauliflower Mash

1 giant head of organic cauliflower steamed until soft

big hunk of Kerrygold Irish butter

palm full of turmeric powder

sea salt and white pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a food processor.  I like to leave mine a little lumpy for texture. 

Pork Loin with Peppers, Mushrooms, N’ Onions

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This meal only took about 20 minutes to prepare and it tasted gourmet - even as my two year old cave boy sat on the table and tore into his piece like it was still trying to get away….

Pork Loin with Peppers, Mushrooms, N’ Onions

2 organic red bell peppers sliced

1 package of sliced porcini mushrooms

1 red onion sliced

1 thinly sliced pork loin

1/2 cup of Kerrygold Pure Irish butter

4 cloves of garlic minced

1/4 – 1/3 cup chicken broth

1-2 tbsp caraway seeds

sea salt and crushed black pepper to taste

2 tbsp of olive oil

In a large saute pan melt the butter and saute the peppers, mushrooms, garlic, and onions until the veggies are tender. Add the chicken broth and bring to a simmer, reduce down until it turns into a thick sauce.  Meanwhile, heat the 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat in another saute pan.  Place the thinly sliced pork loin in the oil and season with a little sea salt, black pepper, and caraway seeds. Cook for 2-3 minutes on each side and make sure to season both sides of the pork loin.  Serve on a platter topped with the peppers, mushrooms, and onions.