Monday, November 10, 2014

Pot Roast (Paleo)


1 whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 whole Onions
8 whole Carrots
Salt To Taste
Pepper To Taste
1 cup Beef Stock for deglazing (or red wine)
2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock
3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or 2 tsp dried rosemary
3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, 2 tsp dried rosemary
4 large white flesh sweet potatoes (to make mashed potatoes out of. Don’t put these in your pot roast)

Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.  Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or you can do a butter/olive oil split).

Cut two onions in half and cut 8 carrots into 2-inch slices (you can peel them, but you don’t have to). When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.
Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.

If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.

With the burner still on high, use about 1 cup beef broth (or red wine) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.

When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 1 tsp coarse salt, ½ tsp black pepper, 2 tsp dried thyme and 2 tsp dried rosemary. 

Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.  Serve the meat, vegetables, and gravy over mashed sweet potatoes.  Delicious!


Serve over mashed sweet potatoes.  (The white flesh sweet potatoes, not orange yams.)  Chop sweet potatoes up into 1-inch chunks.  Place in a large pot of salted water.  Bring to a boil and simmer 25 minutes, until potatoes are very tender.  Drain and return potatoes to hot pot.  Add 2 tablespoons butter, salt and pepper to taste, and mash until creamy.  

Serves 10

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Sweet Potato and Squash Hash


2 large sweet potatoes, diced
1 whole kabocha or butternut squash, diced
1 red onion chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
3 cups spinach
3 cups kale
8 eggs
salt and pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large skillet over medium heat.   Add onion; season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper.  Cook until soft and slightly brown, about 5 minutes.  Add garlic, thyme, and oregano.  Cook 1 more minute.  Add sweet potatoes and squash; season with 1 tsp coarse salt and pepper.  Add ½ cup water and cover  pan with lid.  Let cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft.  Add spinach and kale and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes.  Add more salt and pepper if necessary.  Remove pan from heat until ready to serve.  Can be made up to this point in advance.  Place hash in Tupperware in refrigerator until ready to serve. 

Cook eggs over-easy in another pan.  Season each with salt and pepper. 

Placed 1 or 2 cooked eggs on top of each serving of hash. 

Delicious!

Garden Turkey Burgers

1 package ground turkey
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups diced zucchini
1 tsp dried oregano
1 ½ tsp coarse salt, divided
½ tsp black pepper
½ cup fresh basil, chopped

In a large skillet over medium heat, saute onions, garlic, zucchini, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper, and oregano until zucchini is golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.  Stir frequently.  Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil.  Add to ground turkey along with 1 tsp salt and pepper.  Combine and form into 16 patties.  Refrigerate several hours.  Brown in a large skillet with 2 tablespoons olive oil, over medium-high heat until golden brown and cooked through. 

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Serve on whole-wheat rolls or hamburger buns with the usual hamburger stuff!  Or, serve PALEO, and eat with Salsa, guacamole, mustard, tomatoes, pickles, and any other toppings!

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Paleo Quiche


Crust:
3 cups almond meal or almond flour
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried sage
½ tsp coarse salt
½ tsp baking bowder
2 eggs
¼ cup butter/coconut oil/olive oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all crust ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well.  Mixture will be sticky.  Spray nonstick spray in a 9” pie or tart pan and place crust mixture inside.  Using your hands, spread and press crust mixture all over bottom and up the sides of the pan.  (If you get your hands wet it’s much easier to spread out.)  Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes.  Even if you think it’s not done, take it out at 10 minutes.  It’s better to undercook the crust than to overcook it. 


Filling:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 small zucchini, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
8 oz package sliced mushrooms
½ green pepper, chopped
2 big handfuls of spinach or kale, chopped up
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp coarse salt
¼ tsp black pepper

In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté onions, zucchini, mushrooms, and green pepper.  Add salt, pepper, basil, and oregano.  Sauté for 10-15 minutes, until vegetable are soft.  Add in spinach or kale and cook until wilted, about 2 more minutes.   Remove from heat and allow to cool down.  Once cool, pour the vegetables into the cooked crust. 

Meanwhile, crack 7 eggs into a large bowl.  Add ¼ tsp salt and ¼ tsp black pepper.  Whisk until well mixed.  Pour the whisked eggs over the top of the vegetables.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until eggs are cooked through and middle is firm. 

Serve with guacamole, or salsa. 

 IF YOU WANT TO SIMPLIFY THIS RECIPE, JUST SKIP THE CRUST AND MAKE THE QUICHE “CRUSTLESS.”  JUST POUR THE FILLING DIRECTLY INTO THE PIE PAN AND BAKE IT THE SAME WAY. 

Sweet Potato Fries

4 large sweet potatoes (or however many you want to make!)
1 tsp kosher salt.  
½ tsp black pepper
extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano

Preheat the oven to 425.  Slice sweet potatoes into long thin strips.  Put all the sweet potatoes onto a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, and dried oregano.  Toss to combine.  Divide the potatoes between two or three cookie sheets so they are in a single layer, and not touching.  Cook for 15 minutes; check on the potatoes.  They will probably need at least 5-10 more minutes, depending on how thick they are.  They should get brown all over and easily move on the pan when you shake it.  When they are brown and “moveable” on the pan, remove them from the oven but leave them on the pan to cool.  Sprinkle with more salt right out of the oven.

You can cut the potatoes up in the morning and leave them uncovered on the cookie sheet in the refrigerator.  Don’t put the olive oil, salt, pepper, or oregano on until you are ready to bake them.  Then season and bake them right before you need them.

Whole-Wheat German Pancakes


6 eggs
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup low fat milk
½ tsp salt
3 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Put butter in 9 x 11 baking pan. Place pan in oven to allow butter to melt while the oven is heating up.  Remove pan once butter is melted.  Combine other ingredients in medium size bowl.  Pour batter ingredients into pan with melted butter.  Bake 15-20 minutes, until golden brown and puffy.  

Serve with syrup,  nutella, jam, or powdered sugar.  


Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Salmon Patties

 3 cans salmon
1/3 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
4 scallions, chopped
1 tablespoon capers
2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of ½ lemon
2 eggs
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients.  Form into patties and place on baking sheet in refrigerator for at least an hour so patties hold together.  Cook in large skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through.  Drizzle with balsamic reduction or balsamic vinegar.

Serve with green salad, roasted squash, or any roasted vegetable.  

Serves 6