Category Archives: Comfort food

Egg Scrambles with Veggies

January 9, 2012 11:29 amLeave a Comment

What to eat for breakfast? For many people looking to eliminate things from their diet, this creates a definite quandary and is likely possible for failure before even leaving the starting gate. Breakfast for the typical person consists of one or more of the following: cereal, oatmeal, toast, pancakes, waffles, french toast, muffins, breakfast bars, breakfast shakes, cheese omelettes, etc. Nothing that is even remotely allowed on a diet that removes basically all of that.

For years, we’ve enjoyed an egg-based breakfast that typically included dairy, potatoes, and some form of cured ham. Then when the diabetes news came in, I eliminated potatoes – getting closer, but still not quite there.

Now breakfast consists of eggs, a huge pile of veggies, homemade sausage, and a bit of fruit. Oh, and fat in the way of either scrambling it into the eggs or as coconut oil hollandaise over the top (oh, so yum!).

I was concerned about our morning omelettes and scrambles – how could we live without cheese? We both love cheese. Adore it. The stinkier the better. Extra sharp cheddars. Feta. Swiss. You name it – I’ve put it in our eggs for years. But since dairy is now out, I had to switch my thinking. No cheese but more veggies. Different veggies. Things I might never have put into eggs before.

The possibilities are quite endless. Here is just a sampling of the different vegetables you could put into breakfast.
zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, peppers, spinach, tomatoes, onions (if you eat these – we do not), broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snow peas, celery, etc, etc, etc

Here is an example. Today’s breakfast had mushrooms, orange peppers (so sweet and flavorful), cherry tomatoes (litte explosions of yumminess), spinach. Topped with the coconut hollandaise. Served with a few grapes, fresh sliced pineapple, and a nice homemade sausage patty (sugar and additive free – recipe coming soon).

This could not be easier. Whip several eggs in a good size bowl and salt/pepper as desired. Chop veggies and toss them into the eggs. You don’t even need to stir them up. Just set it aside. In a large frying pan, heat a few tablespoons of the oil of your choice (suggested oils would be coconut, avocado, macadamia, olive, other nut oils) and once hot, dump in the contents of the bowl. Stir constantly to avoid scorching and to fluff up the eggs. Once cooked through – serve. That’s it! Easy, delicious, healthy. The best kind of meal to start your day.

yummy breakfast

Posted in breakfast, comfort food, vegetables

Curried Fruit

January 7, 2012 7:04 pm1 Comment

I used to love curried fruit as a child. My mom would make giant crock pots of the stuff and we would enjoy it for days. It was a staple at potlucks and family get togethers. Spicy, fruity, and so very sweet. Toothachingly sweet. Overnight cavities sweet. Crazed hyperactivity sweet. Sugar on top of canned fruit, which is made with sugar – curried fruit is a definite paleo and diabetic no no.

Unless you remove the sugar. The American diet is pumped full of sugar. It’s in everything. Don’t believe me? Go to the grocery store and look at any random 12 labels. I guarantee you, there will be sugar listed in at least 10 of them.. if not all 12. Thank goodness they haven’t figured out how to put sugar molecules into whole foods. Yet!

curried fruit
After our delicious venison chili dinner tonight, I was in the mood for some fruit. Something a bit sweet. With a kick. It’s almost time to hit the grocery store again and refill the paleo frig, but I had some fruit left so it was time to recreate that childhood favorite – paleo style.

For my curry, I chose some frozen peach slices, a few stalks of fresh cut pineapple, and couple of raisins. A few days ago I would have added a few grapes and some mangoes along with a sliced apple but alas, the frig is nearly empty! At least I was well stocked with coconut products: coconut milk (from the can), coconut oil, coconut butter (aka: coconut manna).

curried fruit
The end result was different than the curried fruit of my childhood – but in the best possible way. I don’t miss feeling heavy and slowed down by massive sugar consumption. As does my blood sugar levels!

Curried Fruit

2 cups fresh or frozen fruit (peaches, pears, apples, pineapple, mangoes, grapes, etc – sliced or cut into chunks)
2-3 tbl raisins, optional
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
2 Tbl coconut oil
2 Tbl coconut butter
1 tbl curry powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp ground star anise
mint leaves, garnish

Heat oil, coconut butter, coconut milk over medium heat in large frying pan. Stir in spices. Boil for a minute or so to combine and then add all fruit.

Cook until fruit is softened or heated through. Serve in small bowls garnished with mint leaves or dried mint. Serves 4.

Posted in comfort food, fruit, spicesTagged , ,

Spice Trail Chicken

January 6, 2012 6:55 pmLeave a Comment

As I stood over the hot stove, I heard hubby behind me exclaim “what. is. that??” in a very surprised and hopeful tone.

“It’s dinner.”

“Oh, it smells soooo good!”

I just smiled. Of course it did. Dancing through the condo was a veritable marketplace of eastern spices, simmering and bubbling with a variety of vegetables and my new love, chicken thighs. Ahhh. The scent was intoxicating. Hunger inducing. Yummy.

spice trail chicken
I’ve been working on a post about spices for a few days and as I read different sites concerning the history of the spice trail and the value of spices throughout human history, I grew inspired. My mind began to wander through the recent bounty of spices that are scattered across my kitchen countertops and an idea began to form. Spice Trail Chicken. Chicken stewed with vegetables. Heavily spiced with a bit of everything.

spice trail chicken
I’ve been battling a terrible headache all day but hunger drove me from my bed into the kitchen where like a modern day crazed scientist, I grabbed a spoon and a small bowl and began to paw through the choices. A bit of this. Oh, definitely some of that. A scoop here and a scoop there.

Curry powder? of course.

Ground star anise? My new favorite!

Garlic powder, ground coriander, chinese 5 spice, ground ginger, cumin, salt… it was all going in. As I blended the final product, I was reminded of my favorite Indian restaurant. Indian cuisine always smells so good. Comforting. Makes me think of home. I had a good feeling about this meal I was preparing. How could it be anything but delicious?

I chose a few different vegetables from our paleo frig and cut them up. There is something soothing about slowly chopping, slicing, cutting vegetables and meat to prepare for a meal. Even with a killer headache, there is joy to be found with putting together the various components of what will eventually become a filling and satisfying meal.

This meal used up the remainder of the chicken thighs (oh, great sorrow, my new love. Dearest chicken thighs, I will seek you out again with my next foray into the grocery store.) and after cutting them into good-sized chunks, I dumped the entire bowl of spices on them and gently rubbed and caressed it into each piece of chicken. The smell was overwhelming – in the greatest possible way. My mouth began to water and my stomach rumbled. Soon. Very soon.

After quickly browning the chicken, the vegetables joined the fragrant pan and I set the temp to medium-low and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes. It was at this point that my husband took notice. The tomatoes had cooked down and joined the juices from the vegetables and chicken and formed a stew of sorts. The squash was fork tender. The mushrooms silky and soft. Yes, it was time to eat.

But after dishing the final result into bowls, there was something missing. A fresh herb element. Cilantro. I grabbed a few leaves and placed on top of each bowl. Perfection.

spice trail chicken
One final look. The simple combination of chicken and vegetables was elevated to new heights tonight. A comfort food to beat all comfort foods. It was delicious. And we ate it all.

Spice Trail Chicken

5-6 chicken thighs (boneless)
2-3 zucchini, sliced into rounds
6-10 mushrooms, cut in half
2 cups butternut squash, cut into chunks
6-10 compari or small tomatoes, cut in half
2-3 Tbl olive oil
fresh cilantro for garnish
1 tbl curry powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp chinese 5 spice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp powdered star anise

Slice and chunk vegetables and set aside. Cut chicken into large chunks.

Heat oil in large frying pan or skillet. While oil is heating, mix spices together and rub thoroughly into chicken pieces.

Dump chicken into oil (along with leftover spice) and brown on both side. Add vegetables and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer until chicken is cooked through.

Sprinkle with fresh cilantro and serve. This will be similar to a stew so you can strain out the veggies and meat or eat this in a bowl – the sauce is too good to be tossed out.

Posted in comfort food, dinner, spices, vegetablesTagged , , ,

Chicken Thigh Stir Fry

January 4, 2012 7:18 pmLeave a Comment

Let’s get something straight. I. Hate. Dark. Meat. Chicken, turkey – doesn’t matter. I’m a white meat gal. Always have been. Always will be. The thought of a chicken or turkey leg fills me with an overwhelming urge to gag. Possibly even vomit. It’s slimy. Stringy. Very tendon-y. Really, truly, definitely.. GROSS.

Hubby doesn’t like chicken breast. He claims it’s dry and flavorless. Poor delusional man. Chicken breast is divine. Takes on the flavor of anything you stick it in. Infinitely versatile. Super delicious. But in deference to him (this IS his first time doing such a radical and restricted diet after all) on a recent venture to the market, I purchased a package (gag) of chicken thighs. Their turn came up tonight and I decided to put them into a stir fry with my new coconut aminos.

Which brings me to something startling and quite unexpected. A very surprising and out-of-the-blue love for the delicious, juicy, flavorful chicken thigh. Yeah, I didn’t expect that at all. I’ll never hear the end of it, but I’m going to admit something here. The chicken thigh in stir fry (I just love how that flows so poetically – I’ve said it multiple times since dinner)… well… it IS better than chicken breast. There, I’ve said it. Hubby will never let me live this down. Sigh.

chicken fry stir fry
This meal is incredibly easy to make and since it involves just a cutting board, a knife, and 1 pan – cleanup is a cinch. It is also very flexible. Switch up the veggies, the oil, the spices, even the meat for an entirely different and yet still fulfilling meal that hits every comfort food button.

Chicken Thigh Stir Fry

3-4 chicken thighs (organic, free-range chicken is definitely the best)
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
6 mushrooms
15 or so sugar snap peas
1 green pepper (substitute yellow or red if desired)
few cherry or grape tomatoes
oil for frying (avocado – yum!)
salt
curry powder
chinese 5 spice
ground star anise (oh, so delicious)
3 Tbl coconut aminos

On clean cutting board, slice the zucchini and squash into rounds approx 1/8″ thick. Cut mushrooms in half. Cut pepper into decent size chunks. Place all these into a bowl with sugar snap peas and set aside. Cut tomatoes in half (or leave whole if they’re really small) and set them aside in a small, separate bowl.

Now cut the chicken (don’t cut this before the veggies unless you want to spend time scrubbing off your cutting board/mat and knife. It’s a waste of time). Slice it into strips or chunks of desired size. Totally up to you. I cut mine into a size similar to the other veggies. Place cut chicken into a bowl and set aside.

Heat up your frying pan or wok with 2-3 tablespoons of oil. For dinner tonight I chose the avocado oil. No pressing reason why – when I opened the cupboard it started dancing and singing a little ditty so I figured it would be great. You don’t want this smoking hot – over medium heat should do. Once oil is hot, add chicken and stir to prevent it from burning or getting super crispy. Unless you’d like it crispy. Again, totally up to you.

While this is cooking, sprinkle a teaspoon or so of salt over the chicken. You can add more if you need it so start out with less than you think you might need.

Once chicken is cooked through (this should only take a few minutes – 5 at the most) dump in the veggies (except the tomatoes). Stir into chicken and cook until just barely tender. A bit of crunch is delicious, no, essential to a good stir fry. Dump in tomatoes and cook just until heated through, just a minute or so.

While the veggies are cooking, mix your spices and coconut aminos. I did approx 1 tsp curry, 1 tsp chinese 5 spice, and 1/4 tsp ground star anise. Tweak this as desired.

Add this to the pan and cook an additional 30 seconds. That’s it. All done!

Serves 2-4, depending on appetite. This served just the 2 of us. We were quite hungry.

Posted in comfort food, dinner, vegetablesTagged , , , ,

BBQ’d Shrimp and Greens

June 18, 2010 7:54 pmLeave a Comment

BBQ'd shrimp and greens, naturally gluten-free

I love to BBQ. Up until last year when we moved into our condo with a small balcony, I was a gas grill gal. However, space is at a premium here and I made the decision to switch to a Webber charcoal grill. Amazing how circumstances can often force a decision that ends up being the absolute best course to follow. Cooking with charcoal is amazing. I wish I would have made this change years ago.

On Wednesday of this week I went to the local farmer’s market and purchased organic basil and spinach. Tonight while trying to decide what to pair with the london broil I was going to bbq, I had a thought. Shrimp and greens. Specifically, bbq’d shrimp and greens.

BBQ'd shrimp and greens, naturally gluten-free

Several years back I purchased a handy dandy bbq roaster pan for my gas grill. I’ve used this to make kabobs without the actual kabob skewers. And it’s an excellent way to roast veggies over the flame/briquets. Tonight I used it to “saute” greens and shrimp over the charcoal.

I had on hand the deliciously fresh spinach, a few small bunches of basil, and a good amount of fresh parsley. After removing the stems and washing everything, I quickly ran them through my food processor – just enough to break them into smaller pieces. A few pulses was all it took.

These were then tossed with a few tablespoons of olive oil, the juice from 1/2 lemon, and a sprinkling of pink himalayan salt If you’ve never tried this salt you are truly missing out. It’s flat-out amazing. Next on my shopping list is a himalayan salt block. We purchased one of these for my father for Christmas and he loves it – uses it constantly.

BBQ'd shrimp and greens, naturally gluten-free

After a quick thaw under cold water, I peeled the raw shrimp and tossed them with the greens before dumping the entire mess into my bbq roaster pan and set it on the grill with the lid on. This took 5-7 minutes to cook (my coals were cooled off a bit by this point) with a quick stir every few minutes so the shrimp could cook evenly.

Once the shrimp was just done, I served it. Delicious. The faint smoky aroma of the bbq came through and combined with the greens created quite the taste symphony. The shrimp was quite mellow and not as “shrimpy” as it’s capable of being. All in all, a pretty tasty experiment and one I’ll definitely repeat in the future. The perfect accompaniment to the london broil and baked potato. Yum.

If you’re going to make this, there really is no master recipe to follow. Use greens/herbs as desired and toss with oil/lemon/salt enough to provide some flavor without drowning everything in an oil slick. This would be great even without the shrimp and would likely be fabulous with scallops (I’m allergic to these so I’m just taking a wild guess) as well.

Enjoy!

Posted in BBQ, comfort food