Paleo Avocado "Caesar" Salad with Almond Crusted Chicken

Spring weather has come early in Texas so we've been enjoying some lighter fare around the dinner table. This dish is a delicious and nutritious fix for those looking for a fun new way to jazz up an entrée salad. It's light enough for a lady and hearty enough to qualify as dude food. One thing I loved was that it was both eggless and anchovy-less too. Some of you may be asking then how is it a Caesar dressing? Using a vegan and gluten-free dressing recipe base I found and adapted from Detoxinista, you can replicate the tastes well enough not to miss those ingredients.

This meal gives you a healthy dose of protein, fiber and omegas by using kale, brussels sprouts, avocado, and almonds (instead of breadcrumbs) for a little texture. Can it get much better than that? I don't think so. If you are not following a Paleo diet and would like to bulk it up even more, add some quinoa or pearled couscous.

This recipe yields two plentiful servings and will take you all of 30 minutes or less in 5 simple steps.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts ( I prefer to get cutlets, the filet cut of a chicken breast, so that fat is already removed and it cooks more evenly)
• 1/2 cup almonds
• 2 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 egg
• 1 bunch of kale, stems removed, chopped
• 20 brussel sprouts, shaved (I do this using my shredding disc attachment tool for big food processor to help save time)
• Grated Pecorino Romano cheese

For the dressing

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard (I prefer the Organicville brand, it's Paleo approved)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small avocado, smashed
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

To begin, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees and prepare a baking dish lined in aluminum foil.

1.) In a small food processor, pulse the almonds until finely chopped. Next add in the parley, garlic powder and paprika. Pulse until well blended and set aside in a shallow dish.

2.) In a separate bowl, whisk the egg. If you are vegan or do not want to use dairy at all, brush coconut oil over either side to accomplish this next step. Dredge the chicken in the almond mixture, coating both sides. Place the chicken in the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, or until cooked through.

3.) While the chicken is baking, make the dressing. Excluding the olive oil, place all ingredients in the small food processor. Blend until smooth and then slowly add the olive oil to emulsify. Set aside.

4.) Let's talk about kale for a hot minute. It's fibrous and can sometimes be a little too tough which often turns people away from an otherwise fantastic green. When making kale salads, you can soften the leaves by massaging them with dressing. Take about half a tablespoon of that reserved dressing and pour it over the chopped kale. Using your hands, begin to massage the greens - start big tossing all the leaves and then using the universal "money" hand motions, rub the individual leaves. How's that for descriptive? Do this for about 2 minutes, that's all it takes! Once the kale is massaged, add the shaved brussels sprouts and toss with a tablespoon more dressing to evenly coat.

5.) Once done, remove the chicken from the oven and let it cool slightly. Plate your greens, sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese, drizzle with a spoonful of additional dressing if like my husband and the more sauce the better is desired, then top with the chicken.

Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice

I discovered a new tool this past Sunday on my food processor, one that I have never bothered to use, but one that has changed my life. I used... the shredder disc. I am still a kitchen novice sometimes, too.

The lady that helped me check out at the grocery store earlier that day asked me what was on my menu for the week and she's the one that gave me the idea to use it. I had an a-ha moment like, oooh so that is what it's used for?! I may have giggled in glee as I stuffed the cauliflower florets down the tube in the top and watched as the disc spun, shredding the cauliflower. The result looking like fresh snow powder. It made me really happy. Then I decided to stove top cook a Paleo teriyaki salmon on the griddler and it was a mess, so then I wasn't so happy. I will be utilizing the oven for that next time.

This was ridiculously easy to make and we have been enjoying the leftovers for lunch. If you haven't had riced cauliflower before, you may be like my former self, thinking does it really taste good? The answer to that is yes. I honestly couldn't tell a difference because the cauliflower absorbs the flavors and has a similar-enough texture to rice when shredded. If you want to add meat to a veggie packed dish, salmon was a great choice, or you can also do ground chicken or turkey mixed in, season in a little 5 spice powder. Mmmm, yes. This remake just went on my meal planning list for next week too.  

This is a quick and easy weeknight fix, taking less than 30 minutes in 5 easy steps from chop start to plated finish. It is all the things y'all. It is Paleo, Gluten Free, Primal, Whole 30, Vegan (if you do not add in the meat). Most of all, it is good.

Oh and snaps to my friend Casey for the straight from Japan chopsticks and pretty stick holder!

Ingredients:
Yields 4 servings

• 1 large head of cauliflower, chopped into individual florets
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil
• 1 cup carrots, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• Half of one onion, diced
• 2 tbsp. of Tamari, divided into 1 tbsp. and 1 tbsp.
• 1 tbsp. Coconut Aminos (this is found in the Asian Food Aisle with other sauces)
• Red Pepper Flakes (optional)
• Green onion (optional)

1.) I used my Cuisinart Food Processor to rice the cauliflower. Take the shredder disc and attach it to the step adapter. Then secure the stem adapter onto the blade shaft.

 

Secure the top and turn that sucker on. Feed the florets down the shoot and voila!

2.) In a large sauté pan or a wok, heat the oil on medium high heat, then add onions. Cook until translucent.

3.) *OPTIONAL STEP* if you decide to cook this recipe with meat, this is when you would want to add it. I would cook your ground meat for about 8 minutes, continuously stirring and breaking up the chunks.

4.) Add the veggies and 1 tbsp. of tamari then cover. Cook untouched for about 8 minutes.

5.) Add the riced cauliflower to the pan, along with the remainder of the Tamari and the Coconut Aminos. Season with red pepper flakes if you would like a little heat.

Once it is all well tossed and combined, dish out into bowl and garnish with green onion.

Paleo Make a Meal: Maple-Pecan Crusted Salmon + Garlic-Chive Cauliflower Puree + Sweet and Spicy Roasted Brussel Sprouts

That may be the longest post title I'll ever have.

I don't know about you, but I always appreciate seeing a full meal put together so I'm not hunting and picking sides and mains. When it's a busy week and I have a lot on my plate (pun intended), I like to see the full picture of a meal for ease and convenience. Therefore, I wanted to present this to you in full.

We have a Soy-Mustard Glazed Salmon that is our go to almost every time we make fish because it is just that good. However, I needed something paleo-friendly and so I started hunting around for other salmon recipes. I found a few different variations of Maple-Pecan Crusted Salmon, which I thought would pair well with my cauliflower puree. Looking through those, I took what ingredients I liked and created my own blend. I had originally planned to make a kale salad as a final touch but saw an easy to make Brussels Sprouts pack at Whole Foods that were already seasoned in cayenne pepper and had a maple syrup drizzle. It all paired deliciously together!

Here is a full Make a Meal, with easy to follow steps that will make your prep and cook time no longer than 35 minutes. 

Ingredients:
For Salmon - yields 2 servings

• 2 salmon fillets
• 1 cup pecans
• 2 tbsp. pure maple syrup
• 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp. adobo sauce (if you don't have this, or can't find it, use red pepper flakes to give it some heat)
• 1 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder

For Cauliflower - yields 4 servings

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• Salt
• Pepper
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp. chives, chopped

For Brussels Sprouts - yields 4 servings

• 20 Brussels Sprouts, halved
• Cayenne Pepper
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1/4 cup Maple Syrup

1. To begin, heat your oven to 425 degrees.

2. Next, place the cauliflower florets in a pot of water, then boil until softened.

3. Toss the BSprouts in the maple syrup and cayenne (or sub red pepper flakes if cayenne is too hot). Spread out on a roasting pan, atop aluminum foil. Roast in the oven for 25 minutes.

4. In a small food processor, combine your pecans, syrup, vinegar, adobo sauce, paprika, garlic and onion powder, pulsing until it has a similar consistency to chunky peanut butter.

5. Spread the pecan mixture over top the salmon and bake for 12 minutes. (I wait until the BSprouts have 12 minutes left to roast)

6. Once the cauliflower can be easily pierced with a fork, drain and place the cooked florets into a large food processor. Add the veggie stock and garlic cloves, season with salt and pepper to your preference. Grind the contents until smooth and creamy. Add the chives and pulse until well mixed throughout the puree. Taste test and add more salt, pepper or garlic if needed.

7. All of this should culminate around the same time. Remove the salmon and roasted BSprouts from the oven then plate your delicious and nutritious Paleo meal!

Paleo Pulled Pork Chili

I was meal planning this morning. After completing the grocery list and sending to Max via email, he came back inside the house after a quick walk with George to say - it's really cold, how about chili tonight? With the brisket chili recipe on my speed dial since November, I decided to change things up this time and revise our meals for the week.

After talking with both my doctor and acupuncturist about a hormonal imbalance (yep, acupuncture started this week. Interesting experience but I think I like it), then the suggestion from a fellow loss mama regarding her experience going Paleo and the link that has with hormones and fertility, I've started following some new Paleo bloggers to learn their ways. My friends Casey and Shelby have been my Yodas in answering all of my so wait, is this Paleo? questions. For this recipe, I took my brisket chili and removed everything from it that made it non-Paleo. Then, I compared the remaining parts of my recipe with PaleOMG's Pulled Pork Chili just to make sure I was safe with all my ingredients.

How does this recipe compare to my Brisket Chili? For starters, I swapped butternut squash for sweet potatoes. Gasp! I know. Not that anything would be wrong with butternut squash, I just opted for a change up. If you google "are sweet potatoes paleo?" you will see that some say yes, others are a hard no - they are in the grey area. I chose to use them because of the nutritional components I'm looking for. I removed the black beans, the beer and added more stock (used veggie instead of beef stock - it's what we already had) and water. PaleOMG had a fun technique with garlic, so I adopted that and used her recipe's suggested tomato sauce + hot sauce to thicken the base. I used all my same spices, and removed the brown sugar. Overall, I would say this is a decent hybrid between her pulled pork chili and my brisket chili with a special bonus, it's totes paleo y'all. I also made this in a dutch oven, rather than how she made it in the crock pot. Cooking times would vary, the crock pot taking 8 hours on low. This takes 4 hours in the oven which is perfect for a day you are home around the house. 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. pork shoulder roast, fat trimmed
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup salsa 
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1.5 - 2 cups chopped sweet potato (small cubes)
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles 
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1.5 cup veggie stock
• 3 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• Green onion (optional garnish)
• Avocado (optional garnish)

To start, heat your oven to 275 degrees.

1) In a dutch oven, heat a smidge of coconut or avocado oil on medium high heat.
2) Using a knife, cut a slit in the top of the meet, making a circle, in three places. Then stick a clove of garlic in each hole.
3) Season the roast with salt, pepper. Set the roast in the dutch oven and cover with hot sauce. Continue to brown each side of the pork roast (carefully keeping the garlic inside the meat), above 2 minutes per side.
4) Remove the roast and move to a plate. Add the onions in, scrape up browned bits from the pork and move the onions around in the leftover salsa. Allow them to cook until translucent - about 10 minutes.
5) Place the roast back into the dutch oven, add the cubed sweet potatoes, red bell pepper and fire roasted tomatoes with green chiles and turn down heat to simmer.
6) In a separate bowl, mix the liquids and spices. Whisk until combined.
7) Pour the liquids in the dutch oven, covering the pork and veggies.
8) Set in the oven and cook for 5 hours, or until pork will shred with ease (it should be fall-apart-ready, if the meat is still tough, cook another 30 minutes then test again).
9) Ladle into bowls, garnish with your preferred fixings.