RECIPE: Guacamole

Fajita chicken, Mexican rice, hot and spicy roasted sweet potatoes ... Sounds like guacamole would fit right in! Good thing I had a few avocados and tomatoes to spare!

INGREDIENTS:
2 avocados
1 tomato
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon minced onion
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Peel and mash avocado in a bowl.

2. Wash and dice tomato, removing excess water.
3. Add lemon juice, mayonnaise, tomato, onion, chili powder, pepper and salt.

4. It's best made at least 30 minutes in advance so the flavors blend.

RECIPE: Paleo Mexican Cauliflower "Rice"

What's a Mexican dinner without rice? Well, I never was a big rice fan, but Conrad likes it, so I decided to look for alternate ideas of how to fill the "rice void" in a Mexican meal. I have seen several posts about people using cauliflower as a rice substitute in a lot of dishes. Even though neither of us care much for cauliflower I thought it was worth a try. After all, I bought one today to the tune of $1.29 ... Gotta love living in California! I decided to try different seasonings and spices to "mask" the taste. It didn't need much!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 head cauliflower
1 tomato
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
sea salt
ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
1. Wash and cut cauliflower into flowerettes and microwave for 4 minutes.
2. Peel a tomato and remove seeds and water. Pulse in a food processor.
3. Pulse cauliflower in food processor until it's the consistency of rice.
4. Heat a pan over medium heat for one minute, then add olive oil.

5. Add cauliflower and saute for several minutes making sure it's soft.
6. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin and tomato.

7. Stir and simmer for another minute to make sure tomatoes are warm.
8. Serve with chicken, guacamole, and whatever your favorite Mexican dishes are.

Trust me - It does not taste like cauliflower - It tastes like Mexican rice!

RECIPE: Paleo B.E.A.T. Breakfast Sandwich

I realize this isn't a new recipe to most people, but I have never had avocado on a breakfast sandwich before. What makes this one different is that it's made on Paleo bread and Paleo mayonnaise!

INGREDIENTS:
4 slices Paleo Bread
2 eggs
1 slices thick cut bacon
1/2 avocado
1 roma tomato
Paleo Mayonnaise
Cheese. (Optional) I used Trader Joe's English Cheddar with caramelized onions.

Directions:
1. Cut bacon strips in half, then cook bacon.
2. While bacon is cooking, rinse and slice tomato and avocado.
3. Remove bacon from pan, draining most of the bacon fat into a jar to reserve for other recipes.
4. Fry eggs over a medium-low heat to prevent burning. After you flip the egg, sprinkle cheese onto the egg and place bacon on top.
5. Apply mayonnaise on bread, and arrange tomato slices and avocado.
6. Once eggs are thoroughly cooked, remove from pan and place on bread.
7. Close sandwich. Plate. Eat! (We enjoyed ours with a few strawberries, blackberries, and a slice or two of apple.

RECIPE: Frittata

Call me naive, but I had never had a frittata until a visit to Terri Geiser's home last November. It was filled with eggs and vegetables, was wonderfully delicious, and oozed healthiness! I didn't have many of the ingredients her recipe calls for (Terri's recipe) so I decided to wing it ... Again. I do that a lot! =)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoons Grapeseed Oil
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion 
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped roasted red pepper (See? A use for the one left over from last night's lasagna!) 
• 2 cups finely chopped spinach
• 1 chopped roma tomato (drained)
• 6 beaten eggs 
• 1 teaspoon dried or fresh herbs (I used Wildtree "Tuscany Bread Dipper Herb Blend" seasoning) 
• Sea Salt
• Fresh ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat broiler. 

2. Warm grapeseed oil in an ovenproof pan and sauté onions until they begin to soften. (I used my large Stainless Steel Wok from World Market) 

3. Add peppers and sauté about a minute then add spinach.

4. Continue to sauté until spinach wilts then add tomatoes.

5. Add herbs, salt and pepper to taste. 

6. Pour in eggs, stir quickly then let cook until it just barely begins to set.

7. Put the frittata under a broiler until the top is golden and the eggs are cooked through, roughly 3–5 minutes.

 Remember the rosemary olive oil bread from the other day? Here it is toasted with a little butter ... YUM!

RECIPE: Butternut Squash Lasagna

I am always looking for new foods and recipes to try. I am enjoying making delicious dishes from foods I have never tried. Today I wen to Trader Joe's with no particular grocery list. I came home with several vegetables and some Italian sausage. I figured I'd just wing it, but then I came across a recipe for lasagna using butternut squash and Italian sausage! I decided to give it a try, but with my usual modifications and alterations to suit my taste.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb sweet Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 yellow onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes (or fresh)
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• A couple of leaves of fresh basil (leave it out if you don’t have it, just freshens up the sauce a bit)
• 1 teaspoon Wildtree Spaghetti Seasoning
• 1 small butternut squash

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat your oven to 400ºF. 

2. In a saute pan crumble the sausage and brown it, along with the onions & garlic. 

3. Prepare the squash by cutting the top and ends of the squash off and peel it. Split it into quarters. First in half around the center, then from stem to bottom. This will make it much easier to cut into slices. Pull out the seeds. Cut into slices to layer in the lasagna.

4. Make the sauce by pureeing the tomatoes, red peppers, olive oil, basil and spaghetti seasoning. I'll post directions for roasting a pepper using a gas stove at the end of this recipe.

Before:

 After:

5. Using a 9X9 oven safe baking dish, put down enough sauce to lightly cover the bottom of the dish. (This keeps the squash from sticking to the pan.) Next add the squash, trying not to overlap the pieces, then spoon on the sausage mixture, followed by the sauce. Repeat until all your ingredients are used up. Reserve enough sauce to cover the top of the lasagna.

6. Bake for 45 minutes. The wonderful aroma that will fill your kitchen will have your mouth watering with anticipation. As you can see, that's a lot of liquid surrounding the lasagna. If you'll let it rest for 20 minutes or so a lot of it will be absorbed.

 I cheated. I added some freshly grated English cheddar cheese with caramelized onions!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
HOW TO ROAST A RED PEPPER USING A GAS STOVE

1. Wash the pepper and dry it thoroughly.

2. Set the flame to medium high and place the pepper on the burner.

3. After the skin blackens, turn it. Repeat until thoroughly blackened.

4. Place pepper in a paper bag for 15 minutes. 

5. Remove from bag, remove skin.

6. Cut top off, remove seeds, and slice!

Left over peppers may be stored in a jar in the refrigerator. Be sure to fill the jar with olive oil to retain the best flavor possible. If you have a lot of roasted peppers, you can freeze them. Place strips between sheets of waxed paper and keep in a sealed container until ready to use. They should stay fresh tasting for several months. 

RECIPE: A Very Healthy Salad

I have to admit, since we are between Christmas and New years, I feel like I haven't had enough vegetables, so tonight I decided to make a big healthy salad. I will be experimenting quite a bit, so keep watching to see what crazy concoctions I come up with!
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups fresh spring salad mix
1 red ripe tomato
1 avocado
1/4 jicama
1/4 cucumber
2 ounces bleu cheese crumbles
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place lettuce in a large salad bowl. Cut tomato, avocado, cucumber and jicama into small pieces and add to greens. Throw in bleu cheese crumbles.

DRESSING:
3/4 cup pure virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil (It would be very easy to use Wildtree Basil Pesto instead!)
Sea salt & pepper to taste

Pour in 1/8 cup dressing and toss. Add more as desired. Toss, plate and enjoy!

If you're wanting to try this as a main course it would be excellent with some grilled chicken or steak thrown on top!
For more information about Wildtree products, click here: Wildtree

RECIPE: Roasted Chicken & Barley Soup

I have been a big fan of Gavan Murphy for a while now. I will be posting several of his recipes ... Some as he posted them, some with my modifications. 
We have been invited to attend a Christmas Eve "Soup Potluck" and I was at a loss as to what to take. I checked Gavan's recipes and found this one. Since my neighbor sells Wildtree Products I wanted to incorporate at least two of their products into the recipe. I used their Chicken Bouillon Soup Base and their Garlic Galore Seasoning Blend. Here's a link to her Wildtree page for more information about their wonderful products: Wildtree
So, here's the recipe!
INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons olive oil (I substituted Wildtree Grapeseed Oil)
½ cup white onion – fine dice
½ cup celery – thinly sliced
1 large garlic clove – minced (I used 1 tsp. Wildtree Garlic Galore Seasoning Blend)
6 ounce baby portabella mushrooms – chopped
1 medium roasted chicken – meat shredded
1/3 cup barley
2 bay leaves
1 14 ½ ounce can chopped tomatoes
6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (I used 6 cups of water and 4 tablespoons Wildtree Chicken Bouillon Soup Base)
3 tablespoons. fresh parsley – chopped


½ lemon – zested (I didn't have a lemon, so I omitted this)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Begin by preheating soup pot on medium heat for 1 minute.
2. Add olive oil and sauté the onions and celery for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not brown.
3. Add garlic, mushrooms and bay leaves and continue sautéing for additional 3 minutes.
4. Add broth and tomatoes. Stir and bring to a boil.
5. Once boiling reduce to a simmer and partially cover with lid.
6. Cook for 15 minutes.
7. Add barley and cook for 20 minutes.
8. Add shredded chicken and continue to simmer for another 15 minutes.
9. Finish by adding fresh chopped parsley and lemon zest.
10. Taste and season.
And now for some photos ... 

 Soup's ready ... Just added the fresh parsley and a little fresh ground pepper!
Could this possibly look any more festive?

 We each had a HUGE mug of soup and this is what was left over. 

 These are the Wildtree products I used ... Well, and their Grapeseed Oil.