Tamarind Chicken Hash

 

Have you ever made too much of a particular dish and after a couple of meals there is just no way you want to reheat another plate of it?  That happened to me the other night when I made Tamarind Glazed Chicken legs.  I knew I shouldn't use the entire package but I did anyway.  I took them to work for a couple of days and then I didn't want to look at another chicken leg.  I almost thought about tossing the leftovers but being in the poor house tends to make a person less wasteful. 

 

So this morning I thought I would use up the rest of the butternut squash that I had cubed up.  My plan was to cook it with some chorizo and crack a few eggs in the skillet as well.  When I opened the fridge, all I could see was that big container of chicken legs that I couldn't bear to see go to waste.  I ended up making a hash that was really flavorful.  So, I am really pleased to have a wonderful recipe (Tamarind Glazed Chicken) that I can work into a completely different dish the next day.  More bang for my buck in way!! 

 

 

Tamarind Chicken, Chorizo and Butternut Squash Hash

 

2 leftover Tamarind Glazed Chicken legs, meat chopped into small chunks

1 cup cubed butternut squash

1/4 cup diced red onion

1 garlic clove, diced

2-3 inch link of chorizo

1/2 a jalapeno, chopped

2 T chopped cilantro

1. Heat some bacon grease (or fat of choice) in a skillet.  Add the squash and cover with a lid.  Toss the squash a couple times cooking for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions are soft.  (The squash should be cooked through by this time.)
3. Make a little space in the center of the skillet and add the chorizo, cooking until it is browned through. 
4. Add the chicken and jalapeno.  Toss to coat all the ingredients in the chorizo grease.  Cook until the chicken is heated through.
5. After you've plated the hash, sprinkle with the cilantro and serve with sliced avocado.

 

 

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Curried Carrots

The best part about eating paleo are all the endless spice combinations.  I've found that my palate has expanded and that I appreciate other flavors.  I used to be a salt and pepper kind of girl, I think that was the only kind of spice we ever used outside of some cumin for Mexican dishes.  I remember the first time that my family went to an ethnic restaurant.  It was my 18th birthday (I think) and my Dad declared that we were not going to Sirloin Stockade for the usual birthday dinner.  We had moved to a new area and he thought we should get cultured.  He chose this Greek restaurant and we all order something different and Pop even splurged and got some appetizers (flaming cheese!).  It was a total disaster.  We were completely out of our element.  We've not eaten at that Greek restaurant since (it's very popular in town so it wasn't the restaurant's fault) and while it's funny now it wasn't so much at the time.

But now I love how you can change an ingredient with a few spices.  Take my beloved cauliflower.  My Cilantro Lime Cauliflower is worlds apart from my Cauliflower Pilaf and they are both completely different from my Mexican Cauliflower (recipe coming soon).  I've been branching out with my spices and taking on some new flavor profiles like Indian cuisines.  The possibilities are endless and the meals are never boring.

Curried Carrots

2T Lard

1/4 to 1/2 C. shallots, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

1 pound carrots, sliced in rounds (1/4" thick)

1 t. ground cumin

1 t. ground fennel

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1/4 t turmeric

salt and pepper to taste

1 C. coconut milk

1/2 C. chicken broth (optional)

1. Heat lard in a large skillet.  Add the shallots and jalapeno and cook until they begin to soften.
2. Add the carrots and all the spices.  Cook for about 3-4 minutes.
3. Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to a low simmer and cover.  Cook until the carrot are tender.
4. Add the broth if you think the sauce needs to be thinned a little. 

Pesto Kabobs

Last weekend we had our first ever garage sale.  Since I live with my sister and her husband there wasn't much need to keep all my little kitchen gadgets.  They've just been sitting in box for the past however many years it's been since I moved in.  Given the meager penance I am given at my job I don't really see myself moving out anytime soon.  So, while I was parting ways with all those things I've discovered that I have been collecting other things.  Namely, recipes.  I'm always on the search for a new recipe and since I can't really afford to buy cookbooks like I used to I just surf the web.  "Hunting and gathering" I call it.  Sometimes I think that I spend too much time and have more recipes than I can ever really get around to making but I keep doing it.  I finally organized them two weeks ago in to a nice 3 ring binder only to discover that I need another binder.  During lag times at work I'm searching recipes and I sometimes wonder if other people are looking over my shoulder and thinking that I'm looking at the cake and cookie recipes on Tastespotting.  I'm not, I mean I look at them but I don't click through.  Honest.  Whenever I see magazines laying around in an office I flip through to the recipe section that most have and if there is something I like I steal it out of the magazine.  Yep, I'm that girl.  Sometimes I sneak the entire magazine into my purse.  Why do I feel guilty about that?  I mean are they really going to say something to me?  Usually there is an abundance of magazines laying around anyway so I'm sure they wouldn't mind.  I guess I could just ask but I don't because I like to walk on the wild side.  My sister calls me the "diet coke of evil" but let's face it I'm more like TaB.

So here is a recipe riped straight out of some magazine I found laying on the counter at the hospital.  Printed at the bottom of the page is WorkingMother.com June/July 2011.  I've never heard of this magazine but they had about 5 kabob recipes in the back and I stole them all.  This is recipe is a veggie kabob recipe with a pesto marinade.  It turned out pretty tasty.  I discovered that I'm not a very good kabober.  That is, I don't skewer my veggies in a very orderly fashion.  Some kabobs were heavy on the peppers and onions and others were loaded down with eggplants and tomatoes.  I've got to work on this in the future.  Plus I learned that those little wooden sticks are quite sharp after I kabobed myself a couple of times.



Pesto Veggie Kabobs

*Use any combo of veggie that you like.

1 eggplant, cut into chunks

1-2 zucchini, cut into chunks

2-3 bell peppers, cut into chunks

cherry tomatoes

2 red onions, cut into quarters

1/2 of the pesto sauce (or more if you prefer), recipe follows

bamboo skewers, if wooden soak in water for at least 20 minutes before using

1. While the grill heats put all the veggies in a large bowl and toss with pesto sauce until coated evenly.
2. Skewer the veggies and grill until the veggies are browned and slightly soft.  Serve with the excess pesto sauce if you have reserve.

Pesto Sauce

3/4 C packed fresh basil leaves

1 T. fresh parsley

1 clove of garlic, rough chop

1/4 C. pine nuts

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 C. olive oil

1. Add all ingredients except the oil to a food processor.  Pulse until it forms a paste.
2. Slowly drizzle in the oil while the processor runs on low.

Roasted Beets with Orange Shallot Glaze

This is a fabulous recipe that I found while "hunting and gathering" online.  Beets are a childhood favorite that we always had in our garden.  After harvesting, my Mom would pickle the beets which I suppose is the only way I've really ever had a beet.  This recipe calls for butter and normally I am sans dairy but I just couldn't see anyway to get the glaze without butter so I made an exception to my rule.  I found this recipe on Tastespotting a few months back and put it in my 3 ring binder.  I just now got around to making these and they are as good as I hoped.  I was sort of worried about the orange juice and whether it would work or taste to acidic but it was great! 

*I really like the glaze so I made extra because I wanted to cover each beet adequately.  

Original recipe found here.

Odds & Ends

After my mass cooking for my work week I am usually left with a few scraps of various veggies and sometimes a little meat.  I only cook for one so I don't always throw it all in because then I'd have way more prepared than I could eat.  I'd rather bag the veggies and freeze the meat in order to make a different dish later on.  So today I found myself with some veggies in the fridge and not much direction in the culinary sense.  After some thought and visit to the freezer I thought I would just throw a bunch of stuff in the skillet and hope it turns out.  Here's what I had on hand: a ziploc baggie of cubed butternut squash, a bell pepper, onion and some mushrooms.  The freezer yielded some Italian sausage so I decided to combine it all.  It turned out pretty tasty and I was able to use everything up.  The bad part is that it made quite a bit and so I'll probably be eating this for the next 4 or 5 days.  Maybe I'll freeze a couple of servings and take them with me when I go to my parent's place.  Here's a pic of the dish: 

I just slice the onions and peppers and sauteed them until they were soft and starting to caramelize.  Then I added the mushrooms.  While this was cooking, I cheated and nuked the squash a little bit so that it was partially cooked.  I removed the onions mixture from the skillet and took the casing off the sausage and made mini-meatballs.  I dropped them in the skillet and cooked until they were 3/4 of the way done.  I wiped out most of the grease and then added the onion mixture and squash.  I rummaged around in the fridge and found a small container of fire-roasted tomatoes (about 1/3C.) and added that with a splash of chicken stock.  I covered and let it stew for about 10 minutes and called it good.

I also prepared a chicken dish that I found on PaleoMiddleEastern's blog.  Here's the link to the recipe.  It's super tasty!  I used all the same ingredients but my cooking method was different because I didn't want the oven on for an hour.  It was pretty toasty here today and we haven't turned on the air yet so I didn't want to heat the house up more than it already was.  It was just 40 degrees here a couple of days ago and rainy yesterday but it warmed up to 85 today.  So the dogs and I were fussy little babies about the house being warm.  I ended up preparing this in the crock pot and didn't have a bit of problem.  I just put all the veggies in the bottom and piled the chicken (I used legs) on top.  I put it on high and let it go for about 3 1/2 hours.  After a couple of hours I took the chicken out and browned it in a skillet so it would look so pale.  I put them back in the pot and mixed it all up.  I was really please with how it turned out.  Super yummy!

Today, I took a little leap towards my next goal...exercise.  I don't do any right now and I know that I need to be moving.  This is probably going to be tough for me.  I took the dogs to an area near our house that is only used a couple times a year for tractor pulls and an antique tractor show.  It has lots of open space so the mutts can be off leash and I don't have to worry about running into other people or run a chance of them getting to the road.  Today I decided to do some short "bursts" of running.  Although I don't think you could call what I was doing running or bursts of speed.  At one point I kicked it in high gear and was loping along when the little guy thought it would be fun to sideswipe me.  I, of course, dropped like a sack of potatoes.  At least I was on the meadow so the impact wasn't too bad which is good because I dropped right on my bum knee.  It has a huge scab from a tumble I took about a week and half ago that skinned both knees, sprained my thumb and tore a big whole in the knee of my jeans.  Perhaps I'll get better at staying upright while running or at the very least maybe I'll learn how to fall more gracefully!



Grill Time!

It's not often that my Sister and I have the same day off.  When we do we usually plan to hang out and generally plan dinner for the night.  Since the weather has been warming up, I knew I wanted to get my little Lodge Sportsman grill out and throw some stuff on.  So tonight we decided on ribs and we picked up a wide assortment of veggies at the grocery store.  I didn't take a pic of my plate but my sister broke out her iPhone and snapped a shot.

We put 2 slabs of babybacks on the grill and used two different homemade dry rubs.  They were both awesome!  The first was a Memphis style rub and the other is a seasoning rub that Emeril makes called Bayou Blast.  It was a toss up but I think I preferred the Bayou Blast.  We served it with roasted brussel sprouts, Mediterranean green beans and a warm salad comprised of zucchini & yellow squash, red onions, asparagus and a medley of olives in a oil/wine brine.  It was a wonderful meal.

Memphis Rub

• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons cayenne

Bayou Blast

• 2 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Mediterranean Green Beans

• 1 lb. green beans, top and cut in half
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can fire roasted tomatoes
• juice from 1/2 a lemon

1.  Saute the onion in olive oil until soft.
2.  Add the garlic and cook until it's aromatic.
3.  After rinsing the green beans add them to the skillet while the water still clings to them.  Cook until they are all bright green.
4.  Add the tomatoes and a little water if necessary.  Cover and simmer until they are cooked through.
5.  Add the lemon juice and toss.

*I've never really timed it but I think it takes about 30-35 minutes for the green beans to cook.  Make sure they don't dry out. 

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

My favorite way to have them!  Just cut the ends off and remove outer leaves.  Cut them half and toss in a bowl with olive oil and pepper.  Put them in a baking dish and pop in a 400 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, tossing midway through the cook time.

Squash Asparagus and Onion Salad

For the warm salad we just cut the squashes into spears, the onion into thick slices and the asparagus into thirds.  We cooked them all in a grill pan then tossed with the olives and their brine.

Bacon Free

This week, due to my still awful shopping skills, is a bacon free week.  Well, not entirely bacon free.  I did use the bacon grease I had been collecting to cook a few things in.  Although at first, I whined like a baby and wondered what I was going to make.  After awhile, when I realized no one was going to go buy some bacon I shut up and I started thinking about what I was going to prepare for my work weekend.  I usually prepare my dinners and breakfast at the beginning of  my work week so that I can just grab and go.  It works really well for me and being prepared is what keeps me Paleo.  I think I'm getting a little better about menu planning and I'm not ending up with two or three kinds of leafy greens to eat all week.  Now, if I just can remember to grab my lunch when I walk out of the house!  I've forgotten it twice in the past couple of weeks.  Thankfully my sister brought my lunch in yesterday thus saving me from the chicken strip, mashed potato, tater tots and corn extravaganza that was available in the cafeteria.  There was also the wilted salad bar and nitrate laden lunch meats.  Yikes, I was in for a long day but she came to the rescue!  Thanks Boo Boo!

So, here are a few food pics of what I'm eating this weekend.  First up is chicken and collards.  The bacon would have been awesome in this.  I pack this in a small container and have it for my midway snack/lunch.  I work twelve hours so I usually eat breakfast at home and then have a small lunch and supper at work.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/2 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 bunch of collards
8-10 cherry tomatoes (I bought some sweet yellow tomatoes because they were cheaper)
white wine for deglazing
chicken stock or water for steaming

1. Sautee the onion and garlic in bacon grease until it caramelizes.
2. Add the chicken and cook.
3. Deglaze the pan with the wine.
4. Toss the collards in and add a little chicken stock or water, if needed.
5. Cover and let steam until the greens have wilted a little.
6. Add the tomatoes and cook a few minutes so they are heated through and starting to break down.

Next up is my dinner plate for a couple of nights.  I bought some chopped steak type of meat and just browned it in some olive oil.  I'm serving it alongside some sauteed zucchini that I paired with some leftover yellow tomatoes and some spicy chipotle butternut squash.  Here's the recipe for the butternut squash.

Ingredients:
Butternut squash, cubed (1 small)
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 chipotle peppers with adobo sauce
1/2 can of fire roasted tomatoes
Cumin, to taste
Cilantro

1. Saute the onion until it's soft and then add the garlic.  Cook for a few minutes until it's aromatic.
2. Toss the squash in the skillet with some fat and let it cook.  I just go to the point that it's starting to brown up on all sides.
3. Add the cumino and toss it all around for a minute of two.
4. Blend the chipotles and adobo sauce with the fire roasted tomatoes.  Add this to the skillet with the squash.  Cover and cook until squash is soft.  (You may have to add a little chicken stock or water if it starts to dry out.  Basically you want the sauce clinging to the squash.)
5. Sprinkle with some cilantro and serve.

Dinner Pics

Just wanted to put a few dinner pics up.  I need to do better about this but I usually cook in the evening and when I get done I just want to eat a be done with the day.  Recently I've been thinking a lot about the quality of foods that I've been buying.  I wish I were able to afford grass fed meats, game meats and organic veggies but the truth is I can't.  I am on a very, very limited budget and the organic/grass fed products are about double the price of traditional grocery fare.  I've got to make my funds go as far a possible.  I live very sparingly so there really is no way to make cuts in order to pay for better food.  I do work in a few items such as nitrate free bacon.  I am hoping to hunt for some game meat this year starting with turkey this spring.  I'm also pretty excited about my parents buying chicks this spring which means farm fresh eggs and maybe some fryers for butchering.  This will all help reduce the grocery bill while adding quality meat/eggs to the table.  I know that I spend a lot less on food because I no longer eat take out and I don't eat near the quantity that I previously did.

Anyway, here are some food pics of some recent dishes.  First up is a meal pic of grilled salmon, brussel sprouts and swiss chard.  I wasn't real keen on the chard but that may have been due to the preparation.  I had found a recipe that called for some lemon juice but I think it made it to sour/bitter for my liking.  I might try chard in the future but right now I'm in love with collard greens.

Here are some pork chops that I dusted with coconut flour.  They were pretty tasty.

This is mashed cauliflower that I added a little bit of coconut milk to in order to gain a little creaminess.  They were delicious with the chops and some collard greens.

Tonight I cooked some Italian sausage up then added onions and peppers to the skillet until they were soft and starting to caramelize.  Then I added a little organic sugar free mushroom pasta sauce that I found in the health market section of Hy-Vee.  I served this atop some spaghetti squash and thought it was absolutely scrumptious!!

Before I go, I wanted to share a couple of links that I stumbled across during the past week that will make hunting and gathering recipes more enjoyable.  As you know, I'm always checking TasteSpotting for veggie and meat recipes that I can tweak or use for inspiration.  Sometimes looking at all those cupcakes, cookies and pasta pics makes me miss the old days.  Well, not anymore!  I've discovered a couple of sites that are TasteSpotting-esque but for Paleo chefs!!!  They are called The Foodee and Chowstalker.  Now I can gaze at food pics all day long and feel good about it!!!  Yippeee!