Shrimp Poached in Coconut Curry Sauce

Super easy and fast meal that tastes delicious. Serve over rice with at least one veggie side to make it a complete meal.

RECIPE:
1 lb raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
1 tbsp butter (or coconut oil for paleo)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 can lite coconut milk
1 tbsp green curry paste
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
fish sauce (optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium and add butter. Once butter is melted, add sliced shallot, garlic, and ginger. Saute for 3 minutes until shallot is tender. Whisk in coconut milk, white wine, and green curry paste and crank up heat until it simmers. Add a splash of fish sauce if desired. Gently stir in shrimp and simmer for about 3-4 minutes  until pink and the tails are curled in.  Remove from heat, stir in lime juice and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Paleo Tex-Mex Casserole

Amazing recipe!! I can't rave enough about this one. Veggie goodness all the way through, and incredible flavor. Even better the next day packed in my lunch. The recipe is from Popular Paleo, which is a new blog I've started following. I need to see if her other recipes can top this one!

REVIEW: As expected for any dish with lots of veggies, there was a significant amount of prep that went into this one. If I didn't have my awesome food processor with a grater attachment, there is no way I'd make this recipe because it calls for 5 CUPS of shredded sweet potato. You'd have a serious wrist cramp trying to do that by hand. I used ground turkey instead of beef, just because I'm not a fan of the taste. I also think it'd be an excellent vegan dish, all you'd have to do is take out the meat.

RECIPE:
1.25 lbs ground turkey
2 cups spinach
1 onion, diced
2-3 carrots, diced
2 zucchinis, diced
2 small bell peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 large or 5 cups sweet potato, peeled and shredded
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1/3 cup taco seasoning
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp dried cilantro
coconut oil
olive oil
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Spritz olive oil in a large skillet or sauté pan and add all the vegetables. Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper onto the veggies, and cook until just tender. Remove veggies, heat up a bit more olive oil in the sauté pan, and add the ground turkey. Mix in the taco seasoning and brown the meat.

 

Once the turkey has browned, add the vegetables back in and mix until heated through. Transfer the mixture to a 9x11" baking dish.









 







Melt a small scoop of coconut oil in the sauté pan and add the sweet potatoes. Sauté until they are tender, this takes about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with chili powder and cilantro. Scoop the potato on top of the vegetable mixture and add a thick layer to the baking dish.

Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes, or until bubbly and potatoes are a bit crispy on top. Serve a heaping scoop topped with chopped cilantro.

Spicy Black Bean Chipotle Soup

It is definitely the time of year where I start craving soups, stews, and chili. Even though it's 60 degrees here in LA, apparently we celebrate fall anyway. Uggs with shorts, what?

REVIEW:
This recipe was from Fitness magazine, March 2012. It's easy and the ingredients are cheap. I like those for weeknight meals. Funny story illustrating what can happen when you misread the recipe...I read "1 canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce" as "1 can of chipotle chilis in adobo sauce".  Holy moly that soup came out HOT, haha! I do not recommend this unless you have tastebuds of steel. Seriously, I had to dump in sour cream, lime juice, avocado until it mellowed out a bit. However, I would use at least one chipotle chili because I have made it before with other chiles and the flavor was much better with the smoky chipotle.

RECIPE:
olive oil
1 chicken sausage link, sliced thin
1 large onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (JUST ONE CHILI) chipotle chili in adobo sauce, or more if you like spicy, minced
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
Toppings: sour cream, avocado, lime zest, lime juice, cilantro

Heat a small amount of olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Cook sausage slices until browned, about 2 minutes on each side. Remove sausage and set aside to add in later. Add red bell pepper, onion to the pot, sauté for 4 minutes. Stir in garlic, cumin, and oregano, sauté for 1 minute. Add beans, chicken broth, and chipotle pepper. Bring to boil, then drop temperature to medium-low and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Here is the tricky part: Transfer 1.5 cups of soup into a blender or food processor, or what I did it is pour it into a bowl and use an immersion blender to make it smooth. Mix the pureed soup back in. Serve in deep bowls topped with a dollop of sour cream, avocado, lime zest, and cilantro. Squeeze a wedge of lime over the soup.

Time to play catch-up!

I'm back with some delicious recipes to share! In the time I've been away, I've actually moved cross-country to the City of Angels! As a foodie, I cannot get enough of all the unique and delicious restaurants to try, and as a result have been blowing my monthly restaurant budget quite regularly. "I'll do better next month!" I vow, as I feast my eyes and stomach on Argentinian-style skirt steak topped with a creamy mushroom sauce, or beer-battered halibut stuffed into a corn tortilla covered in crunchy cabbage slaw and smothered in a spicy creamy chipotle sauce, or perfectly crispy thick-cut French fries sprinkled with parmesan and drizzled with truffle oil. Am I making you hungry yet? Exactly my problem.

Time to reign in the restaurant spending, or at least try to. As a cook, living in an incredibly diverse city such as LA opens up endless opportunities to dive into any cuisine, find weird ingredients to experiment with, and seriously like 5 wonderful farmers markets within 5 miles! Since I tried the Paleo diet earlier this year, I've been pretty good about avoiding grains, most dairy, processed foods, etc. Having tons of fresh fruit & veggies accessible and CHEAP helps me stick to the diet, and I really feel better when I do!

I have a few winners to share in the next couple of posts. Enjoy.

30 Days Almost Over

I'm coming up on 30 days of following the Paleo diet (pretty strictly, I might add) and I've definitely witnessed an improvement in my body's shape. I would post a before/after picture if I wasn't so creeped out by personal info floating around on the Internet! The last weigh-in I did at the gym showed 118, whereas I usually float between 125-130, but I'm not a stickler about weight, I usually just pay attention to how my clothes are fitting and all my pants are falling off! My stomach is amazingly flat and I'm toned all over thanks to lots of heavy weight training.

I have to say these 30 days have not been without sacrifice, but the results are EXACTLY what I wanted - obtaining a bikini-ready body without starving myself. I would highly recommend it!

Obviously, I've been trying MANY Paleo recipes over the past few weeks, so I'll post the ones I like the best, the ones that will have a place in my meal rotation even after I finish the diet.

So what's next after Las Vegas? Well, I haven't quited defined what my transition plan is. I've read that some people have stomach issues after dropping Paleo suddenly, and I'm not ready to lose my slimmed-down body just yet! One goal is to continue to avoid gluten and dairy. I haven't missed bread that much (except for pizza - one of the best foods on the planet) and I really think taking gluten out allowed me to slim down my middle so quickly. There are so many gluten-free options out there now; I've had delicious pancakes, muffins, and crackers that are just as tasty as wheat ones. Since both my mother and grandmother are lactose-intolerant, it is probably a good idea that I avoid dairy as well. I'm sure I'll allow myself an occasional piece of mouth-watering cheese, but I want it to be a treat instead of the staple that it used to be.  Things I'll add back in slowly and see how it goes: rice, regular potatoes, soy.

I'll keep the recipes coming, whatever they turn out to be!

Nut and Chocolate Paleo Snack Bars

These little bites of heaven take me to my happy place. Seriously, when I bite into one I feel like I'm committing a Paleo diet crime, but I'm not! Against All Grain is a blog someone sent to me, and I was very impressed with the first recipe I tried. I have to remember that these are healthy but very rich due to the enormous nut content, so I restrain myself to 1 small bar at a time. They are really hard to resist!

To make the recipe strict Paleo, I replaced the peanut butter with almond butter, and omitted the honey. Didn't even miss it. I just happened to have Ghirardelli 60% chocolate chips chilling in my pantry, which I pressed into the bars sparingly, maybe 1 per bar.  I thought the idea of flattening the bars onto parchment paper then freezing the whole pan was GENIUS. Do you know how many batches of homemade protein bars I've painstakingly scraped off the bottom of the glass dish even after I greased the heck out of it?  This technique will improve all my future bar-making attempts!

RECIPE:
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup almond butter
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 cups raw nuts - use whatever you have on hand: almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews
5 dates, pitted
1/4 cup sunflower seeds or pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (optional)
dash salt

Melt the almond butter and coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat until they can be easily whisked together. Using a food processor, chop 2 cups nuts  and dates very fine with a dash of salt. Add coconut flakes and sunflower seeds and pulse a few times to mix in.  Add the melted nut butter mixture to the processed nut mixture and mix until well combined. Line a 8x8 or 9x9 pan with parchment paper and pour mixture into pan. Use another piece of parchment paper or plastic wrap to mash bars down flat. Press in chocolate chips. Stick in freezer for 30 minutes. Once frozen, lift out of pan and peel off parchment paper, then cut into small bars with a sharp knife. Store in freezer (my favorite!) or fridge and try not to eat the whole batch in one day!

Pineapple Chile Pulled Pork

I don't think I've been this excited for meat in my crockpot EVER. I sat at work trying to focus while my mind kept wandering to this delicious hunk of meat simmering in my crockpot with its sweet and spicy marinade. I pulled my car in the garage and the smells hit me in the face!  Look at what I came home to:

We invited a friend over for dinner (I really do like surprise dinner guests!) and had this spread set up:

The recipe I based this on is here:  

http://paleopot.com/2013/02/slow-cooker-tacos-al-pastor-pineapple-chile-pork/

This pork had excellent flavor. I had about 7 leftover dried New Mexico chiles from an enchilada recipe, which gave it a good kick. I think chipotle chiles would be amazing in this. The pork marinated in a Ziploc two nights before getting poured into a crockpot. I served the lettuce tacos topped with chopped pineapple, cilantro, avocado, and a squeeze of lime. Fantastic leftovers, too!

Thai Shrimp Curry with Cauliflower Rice

I can't claim credit for creating these recipes, but they both were delicious! I have started making thai shrimp curry after I watched Steamy Kitchen's blog video that made it so simple to follow. This dish was already Paleo-friendly so that made it easy, but I usually serve the curry over jasmine rice or rice noodles. Since neither of those are allowed on strict Paleo, I tried out this cauliflower rice as a substitute.

Here's the link to the curry. I used panang curry paste and baby bella mushrooms.

And for the first time, I made cauliflower rice. It's been a long time since I've done anything with cauliflower, actually, but I will definitely be making this again!

RECIPE:
1 tsp coconut oil
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper to taste

Steam the cauliflower over the stove or microwave until tender. Process cauliflower florets in a food processor until its consistency is like rice. Heat wok or skillet to medium-high heat and add cocoonut oil. Once coconut oil is melted, saute cauliflower and garlic together for 7-10 minutes, until cauliflower is slightly browned. Add salt & pepper to taste.  Remove from wok and wipe down wok if necessary prior to cooking curry.

Paleo Banana Pancakes

Two weeks of gluten- and dairy-free done! I officially started on March 18. I am proud. It's been tough but the results have been good so far. The main thing I noticed right away was that extra layer around my middle has melted away. Bye bye, love handles! I haven't noticed a big increase in energy during the day, but I'm hoping that will change by the end of the 30 day trial.

Here is another breakfast alternative to eggs, from Everyday Paleo. These really are delicious! So much so, that I crave them all the time and stock up on extra bananas so that I have an excuse to use them up! I had low expectations for pancakes made with almond flour, but I was pleasantly surprised. The texture isn't quite the same, but the flavor is excellent, and two of these are hearty enough to last all morning, unlike regular pancakes. I didn't even miss a topping like syrup.  I like to add blueberries, but I think apple, pineapple or strawberries would be tasty, too.

RECIPE:
2 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
2 cups almond flour
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground nutmeg
1 cup fruit, chopped if necessary

Using a whisk or electric mixer, mix bananas, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. In another bowl, mix almond flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg with a spoon. Mix contents of both bowls together until blended well. Gently add fruit. Heat skillet or griddle to medium and melt some coconut oil on the surface. Make sure griddle is hot before adding a scoop of batter. Cook 5 minutes or when spatula slides easily underneath pancake. You won't see the usual pancake bubbles that tell you it's ready to flip, so watch closely to get the cooking time right. Flip and cook on the other side until batter is set and cooked through.

Paleo Banana Muffins

Another recipe from Everyday Paleo, tweaked a bit. I have to admit, these muffins don't quite have the texture or satisfaction as one made with milk, sugar, and AP flour, but their a pretty good substitute.

After a week of only egg dishes for breakfast, I was starting to crave something else, something in the baked goods category. Fresh pineapple and a handful of coconut flakes gave the muffins some texture and sweetness.

I am loving how these protein-packed breakfasts really fill me up and last for hours. This morning I had a small piece of frittata, a sausage link, and one of these muffins and I wasn't hungry until 12:30pm. Usually, I'd be starving by 10 and need a snack.

UPDATE: I tried these with a cup of diced apple instead of pineapple and liked it much more! I also added about 6 walnuts chopped for a banana bread-like texture.

RECIPE:
1 ripe banana, mashed
4 eggs
1/3 cup water
1 cup pineapple, chopped
2 1/4 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
dash ground nutmeg
handful unsweetened coconut flakes
1/8 cup coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix banana pineapple, eggs, and water in a large mixing bowl. Add the melted coconut oil and whisk together. In another large bowl, mix almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and coconut flakes and mix well. Grease muffin tin with coconut oil or use cupcake liners. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full, it should make 16 muffins. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Paleo Roasted Red Pepper Dip

This recipe is from the book, Everyday Paleo, that my friend lent me. I brought this dip to a BBQ and it disappeared quickly! It has the consistency and similar taste to hummus, and is very filling. I roasted the red peppers instead of using the jarred ones. Soaking the nuts overnight is very important to make it easier to blend.

RECIPE:
2 cups walnuts, soaked overnight
2 fresh red bell peppers or 12 oz jarred red peppers
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
juice of half a lemon
1/2 tsp salt

If roasting the red peppers, turn oven onto high broil setting. Drizzle olive oil over the peppers, set in a glass dish, and place under the broiler. Broil for 10 minutes, then turn peppers over and broil for another 10 minutes. Continue until peppers are blackened and blistered on the outside. Take out of oven and allow to cool. Scrape blackened skin off of the peppers, remove seeds, and cut into strips.

Place walnuts, cumin and salt in  a food processor or blender. Process until walnuts are finely ground. Add pepper strips, garlic, parsley, lemon juice and process until well blended. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the dip as the food processor is on. Add more salt to taste if needed. Chill for at least half an hour before serving. Serve with lots of fresh veggies!

30 Days of Paleo Starts Now

I'm taking the plunge into Paleo! My diet now is very healthy and mostly low-carb, but I was looking for something that would give me fast results.  I have a friend who started Crossfit and the Paleo diet

My Challenge: Adhere to a Paleo diet as strictly as I can for 30 days.

Goal:  Slim down and lose winter's extra padding in time for a ladies trip to Las Vegas, which will include skin-revealing LBDs and pool parties! Bonus benefits - I'm hoping to sleep better at night and have more energy during the day.

Guide:  A friend loaned me this book; it's the guide I'm using to get started plus the numerous cooking blogs and websites out there.

Getting Started: Some Paleo "get started" guides recommend cleaning out your fridge and pantry of anything non-Paleo. I think this is a great idea for people who tend to give into temptation when they have goodies in the house. I opted not to throw good food away (at least donate it to a friend or local foodbank!), because I may not stick with this diet longer than 30 days! So far I have been able to resist, although my mind does often wander to those Thin Mints in the freezer. Why do I always agree to buy those then regret it later?! Glutton for punishment, I tell ya.

Prep Work: In order to be successful at the Paleo diet, I had to purchase some unusual ingredients right up front. These included clarified butter, almond flour, almond butter, and coconut oil, lots of nuts. All of these I purchased online at Vitacost.com for half the price at my local grocery store. Raw nuts I purchased at Nuts.com. Meal planning takes a bit more time and effort. Luckily, my hubby has decided to try Paleo as well so we don't have to worry about two versions of the same meal. The nights before he does a morning run he may end up having a cup of rice to give him fuel to last overnight. We're still experimenting to see what will work.

Now on to the recipes! Wish me luck!

Wonton Soup

Allow me to share a recent discovery I made after reviewing my last few posts on here....I think I have a girl crush on Steamy Kitchen! :) Her recipes never fail to deliver delicious food to my table. It's a bonus that she has plenty of pictures, step-by-step instructions, and usually a video to accompany each recipe. She has a new book coming out, and I am excitedly awaiting its release, especially since it's called Healthy Asian Favorites, which is pretty much right up my alley. Soooooo if someone is looking for an early Valentine's Day/Christmas/birthday gift for me.... :)

Anyway, enough about my crush, and on to another one of her delicious recipes...wonton soup!  This tastes NOTHING like the bland broth with chewy starchy noodles filled with a blob of "mystery meat" that my brothers and I grew up eating at the local Chinese restaurant. These wontons were fresh, light, and flavorful. I had so much fun making them too! I like that I made a whole batch and froze the leftover wontons to use later. I used ground chicken instead of pork, and fresh cooked spinach instead of frozen.

I'll leave the instructions to Steamy Kitchen with a link to her recipe here, and just post some of my photos. If anyone wants to have one of those "dumpling parties" that she talks about, let me know! It would be fun to try a bunch of different fillings.

Wonton wrapping in progress...it really was easy!

 

 

All wrapped up, ready for simmering broth!

 

 

 

Into the broth they go.

 

 

 

Gently simmering until cooked through.

 

 

 

Top with cilantro and serve!

Recap!

Yes, it has been a while since my last post, but I promise I've been cooking, taking pictures, documenting, and of course, eating! I have a serious blog backup, so I decided to write a "recap" blog to cover the best recipes that I've tried so far this winter. I will provide a picture and link with each to go straight to the recipe source.

Here goes....

Quinoa Patties from Epicurious
These are a protein-packed snack that's perfect on-the-go, since I thought they tasted good hot or cold. I topped a fresh veggie salad with two of these babies and lunch was done.

Pumpkin Gnocchi from Steamy Kitchen
My first time making gnocchi. Not too hard, a good change-up when pasta gets boring. I wish it had some kind of sauce, though.

Chickpeas, Spinach, and Eggs from Bon Appetit
What a great protein-chocked vegetarian meal! The only drawback is that for a weeknight meal there were too many tedious steps.  I like to keep weeknights simple. I would make this for a Sunday post-workout brunch.

Whiskey Mushroom Steak Sauce from Steamy Kitchen
Everyone has their go-to steak preparation, and after making this sauce twice, this is now mine. So easy, so delicious, and light enough not to detract from the scrumptious juicy steak itself. I found a local store that sells grass-fed filet for $5-8 a pop -- WOW.  I went back there recently to get more and almost cried when the sign said they were closed until late May!

Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce from Steamy Kitchen
Can't get more low-carb than this and still get so much flavor. Since it was too cold to grill outside, my indoor grill worked wonderfully. The sauce is a hoisin-peanut butter-water blend that awesome cook and blogger, Cookie Loves, taught me. Basically, whisk together hoisin sauce and peanut butter until the flavor has that perfect sweet and tangy balance, then add water to thin it out to a more dip-like consistency.

 

See, I wasn't slacking after all! :)