Salmon with Kale, Cabbage Tahini Stir-Fry over white Basmati Rice

Ingredients:

! large Salmon Filet, ~1.25 - 1.5 pounds

1 bushel of kale

1 8oz package of shiitake mushrooms

1 small head red cabbage

1 cup Matchstick Carrots

1 yellow pepper

1 lime

1/2 cup cilantro

3-4 cloved Garlic (1 tbsp)

Fresh or Minced Ginger (1 tsp)

Pantry accompaniments: Tahini, coconut aminos, salt, pepper, coconut oil

How to:

Prepwork:

Cook Basmati Rice according to package instructions. I prefer making it in my instapot.

Rinse and pat dry Salmon. Season with salt & pepper and set aside. Note: you can add more seasoning if you want, I just didn’t for this recipe.

Preheat indoor / outdoor grill to medium high heat.

Rinse & pat dry Kale. De-stem (discard the stem). Chop leaves into pieces.

Thinly slice red cabbage.

Chop yellow onion into 1/4 inch strips then half lengthwise.

Medium dice yellow onion.

De-stem Cilantro

Action Steps:

1). In a small bowl combine 2 tbsp tahini and 2 tbsp coconut aminos.

2). Heat wok over medium high heat and melt 1.5 tbsp coconut oil. Add 1 tbsp minced garlic and 1 tsp minced ginger. Cook for 30 seconds, when it gets fragrant.

3). Add carrots and red cabbage to the wok.

4). Lay Salmon flesh down, skin side up on grill or cook surface.

5). Add yellow peppers and mushrooms to the wok and stir. Cook for 2 minutes.

6). Flip Salmon Filet so now it’s skin side down

7). Add Kale to wok. Season with salt and pepper then continue to stir and cook.

8). When kale begins to wilt remove from heat and add Tahini/Aminos sauce. Stir to fully covered. You may want to add more coconut aminos or tahini depending on taste. The veggies are DONE!

9). Remove Salmon from grill, Its DONE!

10) To plate start with 3/4 - 1 cup cooked rice, top with tahini veggie, add slice of cooked salmon and sprinkle whole plate with torn cilantro.

Pumpkin Soup Chili

Ingredients:

• 1 white or yellow onion (or sub shallot or red onion)

• garlic

• ginger

• 1 medium jalapeño, minced (seeds and stem removed)

• 1 small sweet potato

• 1 can diced fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies

• 1 14-oz can coconut milk

• 1 cup pumpkin pureé (fresh or canned)

• 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained

• 1 can kidney beans

• 3 cups chopped greens (kale, spinach, collard greens, chard)

Optional adds: Ground Beef or Shredded Chicken

Pantry needs: coconut oil, Cumin, Chili powder, Coriander, Vegetable or Chicken Broth

adapted from https://minimalistbaker.com/1-pot-pumpkin-black-bean-soup/ 

Prepwork:

Actionwork:

 Sundried Tomato Shrimp with Summer Squash & Green Peppers

Ingredients:

1.5 Lbs Wild Shrimp

2 medium Summer Squash, option to be Zucchini Squash

1 Green Pepper

1/2 Cup Sun-dried Tomatoes, preferably dried (can use in oil)

1/4 Cup Katamala Olives

3 Garlic Cloves

Pantry Needs: Coconut Oil, EVOO, salt, pepper, Cumin, Garlic, Fennel

How To:

1- Gather all your ingredients.

2- Soak sundried tomatoes in warm water for 5-10 minutes until soft.

3- Cut squash lengthwise twice into quarters, then slice into 1/2 inch pieces. Chop green pepper into 1/2 inches pieces, medium dice red onion, quarter olives, minces garlic.

4- Roughly chop sundried tomatoes.

5- Place sundried tomatoes in a medium bowl with cleaned/dried shrimp. Add 1/2 cup EVOO and 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar. Add 1 tea each of garlic powder, cumin and fennel. Mix to coat and let sit while you prepare the veggies.

6- Heat a large saute’ pan to medium-high-heat, melt 1.5 Tbsp coconut oil. Once oil is hot add the squash, peppers, onions and olives. Cook for 5 minutes until veggies soften.

7- Add the minced garlic, 1/2 tsp each garlic powder, cumin and fennel mix, salt & pepper. Cook for another minute.

8- Remove veggies from pan into Medium Bowl and set aside. Using the same pan, add shrimp. Spread out to have even pan coverage.

9- Flip Shrimp to evenly cook. Add salt & pepper and once shrimp are pink they are done.

10- Plate and you’re done!

Some Health Benefits and Fun Facts:

This is an easy meal that is quick (under 30 minutes) and uses only 1 pan so also easy clean up!!

I love using Shrimp as a weekly fish option as they are small, young and my kids love them. They are high in protein, low calorie and low fat. Of the fat contained it is rich in omega 3-FA’s EPA and DHA.

Those Sun-Dried Tomatoes with a glycemic index of 12 are great meal additive because they are packed with lycopenee and carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin which helps protect our eye-sight. Also a good source of dietary fiber, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.

Summer Squash ( the yellow zucchini) have so many health benefits including Vitamin A, B1, B2, B3 & B6, C, K, Folate, magnesium, fiber, riboflavin, phosphorus, potassium, and manganese. It is also rich in carotenoids especially lutein and zeaxanthin also beta-cryptoxanthin,  beta-carotene. Most of these carotenoids are found in the skins so please don’t peel them. Another reason why you want to only consume organic! If you want the benefits without any added toxins, you need to choose organic. For more about this wonderful gourd http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=62

So I’ve listed some powerful Vitamins and Minerals but what do they do??

Cooper helps protect our immune system.

Manganese (an *essential dietary nutrient) assists in protein and amino acid digestion and utilization, as well as the metabolism of cholesterol and carbohydrates. Manganese is necessary for bone health, detoxification to reduce inflammation and protect against free radicals. This Vasodilator also helps the regulation of blood flow. Lastly Manganese is a cofactor for many other enzymes and is needed to have those enzymes work properly, and of note is its role in the production of Thyroxine and Proline. Thyroxine is a critical hormones produced in our thyroids that maintain appetite, metabolism and organ efficiency. And Proline is essential for collagen formation and wound healing.

What about those fats! Omega 3 Fatty Acids, These are powerhouses for your brain and body. Thee are 3 varieties of omega-3’s; ALA, EPA and DHA. The health benefits are numerous including; fighting inflammation, reducing autoimmune disease, reducing metabolic syndrome, reducing mental and behavioral disorders including depression, ADHA, mood swings, Alzheimers and more. It also helps bone and joint health, alleviates menstrual pain, as well as improving sleep. Basically it does ALOT and if your not consuming fish on the regular you could benefit from omega-3 supplementation. We personally take a krill oil supplement 1 a day.

• essential meaning our bodies can produce it.

 Cauliflower Pizza Crust and Pizza

Ingredients:

1 Head Cauliflower, white or purple

1 Egg

1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, plus more for tuppings

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, plus more for topping

Pantry Additions: Basil, Oregano, Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder

How:

Prepwork:

Wash head of Cauliflower.

Chop into smaller flowerettes

Gather and measure remaining ingredients and tools.

Activework:

1). In batches, rice your cauliflower flowerettes. I used a food processor. You could grate it with a grater or chop into tiny tiny pieces using your knife but that will take some time.

2) .Cook “rice” in 2 batches using a large saute pan. I used 1 tsp coconut oil to aid the cooking process. Alternatively, you could cook the rice in the oven. Spread rice onto a baking sheet and roast at 400’ for 10-15 minutes.

3). Allow Rice to cool thoroughly. If you don’t let it cool you’ll burn yourself while extracting the liquid.

4). Place half your cooked, cooled rice onto either a low pile kitchen towel or cheese cloth. Gather the corners and begin to twist the towel creating a ball of rice. Squeeze and twist again. This squeezing will remove the liquid. You want to squeeze until no more liquid comes out. If you think you are done, ask another family member to try and get more out.

5). Repeat with second half of rice. Squeezing and twisting until your hands hurt, Trust me its worth it. If you don’t remove enough liquid the crust will be soggy and you won’t be able to hold it in your hand to eat it.

6). Beat egg and then add dry ingredients and mozzarella cheese.

7). In a large bowl combine rice with egg and cheese mixture to form your dough. Determine if more cheese might be necessary depending on head size. I needed more, sometimes this ratio is perfect.

8). Scoop half your dough onto a parchment lined baking pan. Using a large spoon, spatula or your hands, press dough into 1/4 inch thick circular shape. Paying extra attention to the edges. Using the side of the paper to help shape the crust edge.

9). Bake dough in 400’ preheated oven for 20 minutes.

10). Carefully flip the dough and continue baking for another 5 minutes. I flipped it by putting another parchment lined baking pan on top, while holding them together I flipped the pans over and removed the old parchment paper from the top.

11). Your pizza crust is DONE!

Clean Recipes

Grilled Salmon with Sautéed Purple Cabbage and Kale and Roasted Carrot Coins

Sunday night I made up this quick, simple Salmon dinner that my family and I really enjoyed. Wanted to bring the violet cabbage to life after Marielle’s Baptism so I sautéed it up with some onion and kale. Yellow and white carrot coins to complete the meal. I gotta say, it was really great to start the week on this high.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs Salmon, or 6 Salmon portions

• 1 small head purple cabbage

• 1 yellow onion

• 1 bunch kale

• 2 Yellow Carrots, 2 White Carrots

• Coconut Oil

• Seasoning:: Salt, Pepper, Onion Powder, Dried Mustard, Coriander

Taco’s on Tuesday’s

Who doesn’t love taco Tuesday? Who was the ad wizard that came up with that one. Well let me see….

Via Wikipedia: “Taco John’s was granted a trademark for "Taco Tuesday" in 1989, and has defended against other restaurants using that phrase (except in New Jersey, where another restaurant trademarked it in 1982).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taco_Tuesday

Via Quora: “According to Taco USA, the term was trademarked by Potato Olés, but even here, it's recognized as being in widespread use already.

The same book also recognizes the claim of El Torito restauranteur Cano as one of his innovations, which would place the origin somewhere between 1959 and 1977.“ https://www.quora.com/Where-and-when-did-Taco-Tuesday-originate

Well, however long we’ve been enjoying Taco’s on Tuesdays I will continue that trend, even if I’m also in the midst of a cleanse. Ole’

Lamb Chops with Roasted Potatoe Medley and Sauteed Swiss Chard

Serves a Family of 5-6

Ingredients:

2 Packages Lamb Chops, 8 Chops

1 Bunch Swiss Chard, or Rainbow Chard, or Kale or other Stemmed Green Veggie

Potatoes, a variety. 2-3 Lg Sweet Potatoes, 4-6 Red Potatoes, 2-3 Yellow or Yukon Potatoes

1 Onion, Red, White or yellow

3-5 Cloves of Garlic

1 Lemon

Pantry Accompaniments: Coconut Oil, Salt & Pepper

How to Do it:

PrepWork: Always a necessary step. Make sure you wash all your veggies before you begin.

Preheat Oven 375’

Preheat outdoor or indoor grill. You could also use a cast iron skillet.

Remove Chops from package, sprinkle with salt & pepper and let them come to room temperature.

De-stem Chard. Chop stem into 1/4-1/2 inch inch pieces. Rip or Chop leaves into pieces.

Medium dice onion (about 1/4 inch pieces)

Mince garlic cloves

Chop potatoes into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces. (Tip: I cut in half, then cut into each half, in half again lengthwise, then cut into thirds).

Melt 2 tbsp coconut oil

Action work: I’m going to lead you through the flow of making this dinner start to finish. You don’t have do do it this way if you don’t want. This is just how I ensure its all ready when I want it to be.

1) Lay potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with melted coconut oi. Sprinkle with Salt, pepper and 1/2 the chopped garlic. Stir to ensure all the potatoes have oil on them, flatten and pop in the oven for 20 minutes.

2) Start warming large saute pan and melting 1.5 tbsp coconut oil.

3) Take potatoes out of the oven, flip and stir, pop them back in for 15 minutes or until desired doneness.

4) Add onion and remaining garlic to saute pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes until onion begins to soften and garlic is nice and smelly.

5) Add chopped stem pieces, cook for 3 minutes.

6) Put lamb Chops onto grill or cooking surface. Cook for 3 minutes.

7) Add chard leaves to saute pan. Season with salt & Pepper. (I also added leftover baby spinach i wanted to use up).

8. Cook until wilted. Be careful your leaves do not stick to the pan. If they do add another tbsp coconut oil.

9) Flip Lamb Chops

10). Check on potatoes, they should be DONE!

11). Swiss chard should be wilted by now, its DONE!

12). Remove chops from grill / cook surface and let rest for 3 minutes, they are now DONE!

That’s it. Plate and Enjoy!