Romanesco

This was an interesting vegetable we received in our veggie box.  It looks like some sort of alien vegetable and tasted "out of this world" - sorry that was dumb! :) But we did enjoy it.

Romanesco

Romanesco, trimmed and cleaned as you would broccoli or cauliflower

olive oil 

salt and pepper

minced garlic (as much as  you like, I used 4 cloves)

Toss all ingredients in a bowl.  Place on baking sheet.  Bake at 400º for 20 minutes or until tender.  Serve!

Chicken Meatballs

I came across this recipe (The Spunky Coconut Cookbook) and thought they sounded good and I am always looking for a way to hide vegetables.  First, I was surprised at how easy they were to make!  I love when recipes don't take much preparation time.  Second, they were a hit!  I have a super picky eater in my house (my 3-year-old, Brisea) and she doesn't try anything I fix for dinner until we make her try it.  She is usually ok trying something if she know it is chicken.  I put these in front of her and she dug right in - she even asked for more!  And neither one of my girls complained having it the next day for lunch.  So, I made some homemade tomato sauce to go along with them (and it was not good).  But I do have another recipe for tomato sauce (The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook) that tastes great and I would use this one next time (recipe below).

Chicken Meatballs

3/4 c. almond flour

2 stalks celery

2 carrots

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

handful parsley

2 beaten eggs

1/2 t. garlic powder

1 t. sea salt

Add to food processor: almond flour.  Process to make sure there are no big lumps.  Pour into large mixing bowl.  Add to food processor: celery, carrots.  Process, then add: chicken, parsley.  Process until you have ground meat.  Add meat and veggies to bowl with almond flour.  Add eggs, spices to bowl stir to combine.  Drop tablespoon size meatballs onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 350º for 25 minutes.  Serve!

Tomato Sauce

14 oz. tomato paste

2 cups water

1 T. herbes de Provence

1 T. sea salt

1 T. balsamic vinegar

1 T. minced garlic

In saucepan, bring all ingredients to boil.  Decrease heat to low, and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until sauce is slightly thicker.  Serve.

Proof!  :)

Mile High Salad

Mile High Salad
(Colorado Classique cookbook)
Dressing:
1/4 c. olive oil
2 T. finely chopped green onions
2 T. white wine vinegar
1/4 c. honey
2-3 t. Tabasco sauce
Salad:
10 ounces mixed salad greens
4 oz. chopped pecans
4 oz. dried cranberries
1/2 c. toasted walnuts


Mix all dressing ingredients together; shake well.
Combine all salad ingredients in bowl.  Toss salad with desired amount of dressing.




This salad is so good and a great way to get some greens in my day!  The dressing adds a nice "zip" to the salad.  I tend to get bored with salads, but this recipe is interesting and definitely worth repeating.  

Banana Rolls

A friend led me to this recipe and the original recipe (paleomama.com) was based on Elvis' favorite sandwich.  These remind me of one of my old favorite sandwiches - peanut butter and banana.  Haven't had one of those in a while and this totally satisfied any craving I could have for that sandwich.  Having 2 little ones who were hungry for lunch - I changed the cooking method from the original recipe.  Cut down cooking time by 20 minutes! :)  Though the combination might seem a little different, they taste amazing! 

Banana Rolls

1 green banana

2 slices bacon

Cut bananas in half, lengthwise.  Wrap each half of banana with strip of bacon.  Place on baking sheet.  Broil on high for a few minutes - turning once during cooking, until bacon is cooked.  Serve with nut butter of your choice.  

I used sunbutter and it was delicious!

Roast Salad

I had leftover pot roast that I knew I wouldn't eat, so a friend told me what she did with her leftover roast.  It was such a good way to ensure the whole roast was eaten and did not go to waste!  Yummy!  Instead of tuna salad or chicken salad - you get roast salad.  :)

Roast Salad

leftover pot roast, sliced

Vegenaise

3 green onions, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

small tomato, diced

banana peppers, chopped

red leaf lettuce

Put roast, onions, tomato, peppers into food processor.  Process until all ingredients are finely chopped (almost mushy).  Take roast mixture out of food processor and add as much vegenaise as you like.  Wrap in red leaf lettuce.  Enjoy!  

Guacamole Deviled Eggs

Guacamole Deviled Eggs

12 hard boiled eggs

4 avocados

4 t. hot sauce

1/2 lime - juiced

salt/pepper to taste

-Peel and cut eggs in half.  Remove yolk and place in bowl.

-Mash yolks with avocado, hot sauce, lime juice.  Add salt/pepper to taste.

-Refill egg white halves with yolk mixture.

-Sprinkle each egg with a little paprika.  Enjoy!

I made a whole carton of eggs because I wanted to have plenty to share .  These were fantastic!  I love avocado, so I thought it was the perfect match with egg yolk and hot sauce.  These were so easy to make and perfect for parties, potlucks, etc. A great new twist to the traditional deviled eggs (marksdailyapple.com)!

Chipotle Lime Salmon

I will be honest, I am not a fish person and really haven't tried hard to find recipes.  Dean, though, loves fish and asks for it often (he is actually eating sardines from a can as I am writing this).  I decided to make some salmon for him one night when he was going to be late coming home from work.  Since I had already eaten dinner, I did not try this dish (funny how that worked out, right).  He loved it!  So, I told him I would make it again really soon and I would actually try it next time.  :)

Chipotle Lime Salmon

(elanaspantry.com)

1 lb salmon, cut into 4 fillets
1-2 T. olive oil
2 limes, sliced in half
1 t. celtic sea salt
1 t. chipotle powder

-Preheat oven to 500º

-Rinse salmon, pat dry and place on metal baking sheet

-Rub each fillet with olive oil

-Squeeze juice from one-half lime onto each fillet

-Sprinkle fillets with salt and chipotle, then place half lime on top of each fillet

-Turn down oven temperature to 275º

-Place salmon in oven and cook for 10-12 minutes, depending on how well done you like your fish