MOW 5.14.12

Meal of the Week - 5.14.12

Pad Thai Chicken

Cauliflower Rice Gone Wild

Bon Bon Chicken Gone Paleo - Paleo on a Budget

Ingredients:
• 2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast { I made it for two people, so I’d do a breast / person and adjust everything else accordingly! }
• Cucumber
• 2 Gigantic tablespoons Smooth Almond Butter { I used a kitchen spoon… and they were HUGE!}
• Between 1/2 – 1 Cup of Chicken Stock
• 1/2 an Onion {yellow}
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Paprika
• Salt + Pepper
• 1/2 a head’s worth of Cauliflower Rice
• Ghee {and/or coconut oil}




How to:
• Slice up your onion into thin-ish strips and toss it in a pan with some ghee and caramelize them {remember low & slow guys!}
• While your onions are happy in ghee, cut your chicken into strips… whatever size you like.. I did kinda thin ones because that’s how it was made at the Chinese Food Place.
• Toss your chicken in a skillet that has some ghee in it, let your chicken start to brown.
• While your ghee is browning start to peel & Chop your cucumber… Cut them into really thin match sticks { I cut it half  first, then did the match-stick thing}. I didn’t use the inside seeds of the cucumber, it’s a bit to soft for this dish, so it was sliced out. If you like that portion of the cucumber by all means add it in! Set aside your cucumbers.
• Probably about now {or maybe earlier}, you’ll want to flip your chicken over… and let it go to town on the other side {remember to stir your onions a bit!}
• Start rocking and rolling on your Cauliflower rice { Cut into florets, toss in food processor, give it a whirl so it looks like rice, dump in bowl, cover with plastic wrap, microwave for 3.5-5 Minutes {depending on how much you use}. Take out of microwave, add ghee, salt & pepper to taste!}
• When your chicken is done, add two heaping {at least} tablespoons of almond butter. Start to mix it as best you can. Slowly start to add some chicken stock in. I had filled up a mug about 1/2 way and would pour in some, stir, pour in some stir, until you get the sauce to be loose-ish. This part is total preference, if you like a “saucey” sauce then add a ton of stock, if you like pretty thick, don’t add so much in….. When the sauce is where you want it, add in a dash of paprika, pinch of salt, pepper and crushed red pepper flakes to taste… I used ohh I want to say 3-4 teaspoons of it.
• Your onions should be done, so add those into the sauce + chicken. If this starts to mess with how loose / firm the sauce is adjust it with more stalk or almond butter.
• Then turn off the heat. Let it sit a minute while you divide up the cauliflower rice.
• At the last possible minute … as in right before you put it on your cauliflower rice, add in your cucumbers and give it a quick toss. {You want the cold – warm, crunchy – soft  texture balance}.
•Put it on your Cauliflower rice, and you’re done!

Cauliflower Rice Gone Wild

Ingredients:
• 1 cauliflower head worth of cauliflower rice
• ~1 lb of Asparagus
• 1/2 a cucumber
• Ghee or Clarified Butter
• Olive Oil
• Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 Onion, small dice
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• Dried Basil
How To:
• Get your Cauliflower Rice ready for the microwave {Here’s the 101 on cauliflower rice Just use it up until the it’s microwaved part and then come back here for the rest of the recipe}. For a huge batch like this I microwave it tightly covered for 5 minutes.
• While that’s cooking, in a pan get some ghee heating and add in your Onions + Garlic, let that cook for a few minutes then add in your diced Asparagus {I used fresh asparagus here, but frozen would totally work as well}. **If using fresh asparagus don’t forget to snap le ends off { just apply pressure to both sides of the asapargus and it will naturally break somewhere along the bottom half.. }
• While that’s all cooking together nice and pretty peel and chop your cucumber {I made it roughly the same size as my asparagus}.
• When your rice is done, add in a heaping tablespoon {at least} of Ghee and a fair amount of Olive Oil, mix well with salt + pepper and dried basil.
• Add in your Asparagus mixture and red pepper flakes, mix well again.
• Now here’s the kicker, do not … I repeat DO NOT add in your cucumber until the last possible second, I literally added mine in right before I dished it up, you don’t want to cook the cucumber {I like it to still be crunchy and kind of cold}.
Boom it’s done… And it’s really not overly expensive.. it’s something I’d only make once a month or less…. As a nice added treat. It would work well with pretty much anything {I think I did it with burgers}.

Curry Chicken

Ingredients

Sauce and Chicken:

• 1 lb of boneless/skinless organic chicken breast
• 1 can unsweetened Coconut Milk
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped or crushed ginger
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin 
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• Fresh cilantro and red onions for garnish
• Cucumber

Curry Rice:

• 1 med head cauliflower – 20 oz
• 1/2 teaspoon ground curry
• 1 green onion – finely chopped
• dash of cayenne pepper, sea salt, ground black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

1. The original recipe calls for marinating the chicken overnight, but I do it a bit differently. Start by heating up some medium-diced chicken on the stove.
2. As it cooks, prep the sauce.  Just put the coconut milk in a large sauce pan, and start adding the spices, lemon juice, and ginger. There’s a lot of random spices, and it’ll look and smell funky, but don’t worry, it’s amazing. Keep that heating up while you move on to the cauliflower.
3. The fastest and easiest way to do the cauliflower is to chop them to small florets, then microwave them for a few minutes until they get soft. This is critical. Then, toss them in a food processor and just dice the hell out of ‘em.
4. Somewhere in the middle of step 3, take the somewhat cooked chicken, place it in a glass 8×8″ baking pan (pyrex style), and pour the sauce over it. Then toss it in the oven at 450 for about 20 minutes. This lets the sauce really cook into the meat and thicken up just a touch.
5. Now that the cauliflower is good and chopped, toss it into a hot pan with a bit of olive oil and just stir fry it like you would have rice.
6. When it’s all done, take a scoop of ‘rice,’ pour on some chicken and curry sauce, and garnish with red onion, cilantro, and cucumber. As Steve says, the cucumber will help you while eating this nice and spicy dish, so don’t leave it out.
7. Again, put half in the tupperware right away to keep yourself going back for seconds

MOW - 2.20.12

Meal of Week - 2.20.12

Cauliflower Rice


Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

Paleo Monster Mash – Carla

Ingredients

• 2 heads of cauliflower cut up with stalks
• Heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

Instructions:

Boil cauliflower until tender.  Then in batches, process down, using a food processor or hand mash.  Slowly pour in a little cream to get it to the consistency of mashed potatoes.  Repeat until finished, salt and pepper to taste.  You’ll never need to have mashed potatoes again!  Serves 8 can be doubled or halved

Paleo Dirty Rice – Elanas Pantry

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup white onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 cup green pepper, diced
• 1 cup red pepper, diced
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 3 cups cauliflower, riced with your food processor or box grated
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ¼ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon cumin
• 2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock (thanks Mary)

Instructions

• Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet
• Add garlic, onion, celery, peppers and scallions; saute until soft
• Stir in riced cauliflower, adding thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, chili and cumin
• Add in the chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
• Allow to simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, for 30 minutes or so or until liquid is cooked down

Serves 4-6

Everyday Paleo “No Potato” Salad

Ingredients

• 2 heads of cauliflower
• 1 dozen eggs, hard-boiled and diced
• 1/2 a medium sized red onion, finely diced
• 6-8 celery stalks, finely diced
• A lot of dill pickles, diced
• About 1 1/2 cups of my Paleo Mayo with 2 tablespoons of dried dill and 1 teaspoon of crushed garlic added.
• About 1 teaspoon of yellow mustard
• Black pepper to taste

Cut the cauliflower into large florets. I used my pressure cooker to cook the cauliflower by placing the florets in the cooker, filling the cooker with about 4 inches of water, locking the lid, bringing to pressure and cooking for about 2 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat immediately and run the cooker under cold water to quickly bring down the pressure. Remove the lid and pour the cauliflower through a strainer and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. You want the cauliflower to be soft but not mushy! If you do not have a pressure cooker, steam the cauliflower around 7-10 minutes, cooking until tender but not mushy. Rinse the steamed cauliflower under cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain the cauliflower well and pat dry with paper towels. Crumble the cauliflower into a large mixing bowl, add all of the remaining ingredients including the mayo, mustard, and pepper and mix well. Either eat right away or let chill for a couple of hours before serving. This salad was HUGE and could serve at least 15 people so cut the ingredients in half unless you are feeding a crowd or want a lot of leftovers.

Paleo Mayo

Secret for better tasting mayo, use just plain ol’ Olive Oil, not virgin or extra virgin.  If the bottle just says “Olive Oil” it will not have such a strong taste!

2 eggs

2 cups olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon yellow mustard

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a blender, add the eggs, vinegar, and mustard and blend together well – leave the blender running and slowly slowly slowly drop by drop or very slow drizzle add the olive oil.  BE PATIENT!!  Do not dump all the oil in quickly and give up!!  When the mixture begins to emulsify or thicken, only then can you be a bit faster about pouring in the olive oil but still take your time.  Turn the blender off once all the olive oil is in and the mayonnaise is thickened to your desired consistency.  Add the salt and cayenne pepper and mix well or blend again for another few seconds.

Now for the fun part – variations!!!  Always wait until after your mayonnaise is thick before you add seasoning but here is when you can get creative.  Add dried of fresh dill, fresh basil, or cilantro, garlic and onion, hot sauce, or even curry powder to make your own spreads, sauces and dips for just about everything as mentioned earlier in the post. Now, watch my video to see the fun twist that I put on our homemade mayonnaise!

Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 cup celery, finely diced
• 1 head cauliflower, trimmed and coarsely chopped
• ¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt 

Instructions:

1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat
2. Saute onion over medium heat for 10 minutes, until soft
3. Add celery to skillet and saute for 5 minutes
4. Meanwhile, place cauliflower in a food processor with the "S" blade and process until the texture of rice

Add cauliflower to skillet, cover and cook 5-10 minutes, until soft, then add salt

Cauliflower Carrot Herb Mash – Multiple Delicious

Ingredients:

• 1 head of cauliflower, washed, and cut into florets
• 3 to 4 small to medium carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Place cauliflower and carrots in a steamer basket in a large soup pot, season with salt and pepper, and steam until soft (about 10 to 12 minutes, test with fork).
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in non-stick skillet on medium heat.
Saute onion, garlic, and herbs until onion is translucent.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Place steamed cauliflower and carrots into a food processor.  Add the sauteed onion, garlic, herbs, and 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Process until smooth.  Season with more salt and pepper if needed.

Cauliflower Fritters

Servings: makes 24

Ingredients

·                             4 cups raw cauliflower (1 large or 2 small)

·                             2 cloves garlic, crushed

·                             1 cup Almond flour

·                             2 eggs

·                             1/2 cup Pecorino Romano

·                             1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped

·                             1/4 cup hot water

·                             salt and pepper

·                             1/4 cup coconut oil

Instructions

1. Steam cauliflower, then chop into small pieces.
2. In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, flour, garlic, eggs, grated cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.
3. Add water so that batter becomes slightly more dense than pancake batter.
   On medium-low heat, add 1 tbsp of oil in a 10 inch skillet coating bottom of the pan.
4. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form fritters. You can fit 4 fritters at a time.
5. Cook until golden brown, turn and cook another few minutes.

Add a little more oil to the pan, and repeat with the remaining batter