Dandelion Greens with Sautéed Mushrooms

Have you ever gone to the farmers market, and laid eyes on a vegetable and thought "that looks interesting let me try it?" We'll that's what happened to me this Sunday. I walked up to my favorite herb stand to get my usual arsenal of fresh herbs, and I stumbled upon some fresh dandelion greens. Sometimes I get so inspired by fresh veggies at the farmers market. I love trying new things. My love of trying new things can result in an amazing dish, as in this one, or a not so amazing dish. I had heard of dandelion greens before, but I had no clue how to cook them. So once the excitement of using this new leaf wore off, I was left to figure out what to do with these dandelion greens. I tasted the raw leaves...Big mistake! They are as my daughter would say "super duper, bitter." They almost remind me of bitter gourd/melon.  But even these greens are not as bitter as bitter melon. I Googled them and found that dandelion leaves are actually weeds. You know those weeds that are growing in your vegetable garden? Yes those weeds, they're edible...who knew? I decided I wanted to mellow out the bitterness, the best way to do that is to cook them. I got out some Crimini mushrooms, because mushrooms always make greens better, and some garlic and started my journey. I had no idea where I was going with this, but I can tell you that I ended up in taste bud heaven at the end of it all. Every element of this salad adds an additional flavor profile. This dish is filling, and gratifying on so many levels. I could eat it every day! If you can't find dandelion greens, try substituting a hearty bitter green like beet greens, turnip greens or chard.

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 15 Minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 bunch of organic Dandelion leaves, cut with bottom stems removed
10 ounces of Crimini Mushrooms sliced
2 Large cloves of garlic chopped finely
Handful of walnuts, toasted
1/2 cup of fresh cherry tomatoes sliced in half, I used fresh tomatoes from my garden
1/3 cup of goat cheese, or more if you are so inclined
1 teaspoon of butter
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 of a small lemon
2tablespoons of olive oil
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Warm the olive oil and garlic in a sauté pan:

Once you can smell the garlic (20 seconds), add in the mushrooms:

Salt the mushrooms and allow to cook until just before the water from the mushrooms evaporates(5-7 minutes). Add in the tab of butter, and allow the mushrooms to brown and take on a bit of color. This step is important don't skip it! Browning releases Unami flavor.

 After the mushrooms have taken on some color add in the dandelion greens.

Sauté until wilted, then add in the balsamic vinegar and lemon juice:

Mix well, add in the tomatoes, toss for about a minute, turn off the fire:

 Add in walnuts, and cheese, toss, season with salt and pepper and serve. This would also be good cold, but served warm this salad is super comforting and satisfying!

What have been some interesting farmers market finds for you?

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Crab cakes with Mango Coulis! Gluten free and Paleo

Nothing grates my nerves more than a crab cake that has everything in it but crab. I can't tell you how many times I've ordered a crab cake at a restaurant and been disappointed when I'm served a bread cake instead. I want crab in my crab cakes, and not just a little lump meat here and there! This recipe for crab cakes is for those of us who love crab, and not the breading you find in most crab cake recipes. This is a gluten free crab cake recipe. I use vegan mayo instead of regular to reduce the fat, but feel free to use your brand of mayo.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of fresh crabmeat
Zest of half a lemon
2 Tablespoons of Veganaise or the best-quality mayonnaise you can find
5 tablespoons of coconut flour
1 egg beaten
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice
1.5 teaspoons of Worcester sauce
1/4 teaspoon of chili pepper flakes
1/4 cup of green onion sliced thinly
1/4 cup of green or red bell pepper, finely chopped
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
2-3 Tablespoons of oil, or butter for frying cakes

Ingredients for Mango coulis
1 large ripe mango,  cut and cubed
1/3 cup of water or more if you like it thinner

Directions for mango coulis:
Add mango to a blender. Blend while adding water until smooth and desired thickness has been reached. Set aside.

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl add all the ingredients, except the oil, and mix lightly until ingredients come together. Form patties.

Heat oil in a skillet, add crab cakes, cook until brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes on each side,

Remove and serve with mango coulis and enjoy!

What does your favorite crab cake recipe have in it? Share, I'd love to try it!

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Chai vanilla latte ice cream

It's National ice cream day! Celebrate with a scoop or two of this delicious chai vanilla latte tea ice cream. This ice cream recipe is inspired by my love of chai tea lattes and ice cream. If you want to know how to make ice cream without an ice cream maker check out this Link. I love making homemade ice cream, because it is so much better than store bought, and you can control how much sugar is added and what type of sugar is added, so it is also healthier. If this flavor of ice cream doesn't interest you check out my ice cream recipe for Homemade Lavender infused vanilla bean ice cream. It's a big hit in my house, and I'm always making it. I use the base of that ice cream recipe to make other ice cream recipes. I just add what ever flavorings I want to use at the end.

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 6 hours

Ingredients:
8 egg yolks
2 cups heavy organic cream
1 1/2 cups of whole fat organic-milk
1 teaspoon of organic vanilla extract
3 earl grey tea bags
10 organic cardomom pods
1 organic clove
3/4 cup of organic maple sugar, (can use agave, maple syrup or any sweetener you choose)
2 organic cinnamon sticks, or 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Directions:
Add the milk, tea bags, clove, cinnamon, to a sauce pan, bring to a boil, then turn off heat and let steep for 10 minutes:

 Add 1 cup of heavy cream to the warm milk mixture, turn the fire back on low and heat to just before it simmers, then turn off heat, and let it steep for 5 minutes. Then strain mixture.
In a mixing bowl beat egg yolks and sugar, until light an creamy:

Take one cup of the warm milk and cream mixture and while whisking, slowly add it to the egg and sugar mixture. Be careful to go slowly, you don't want scrambled eggs! Once the eggs have been tempered, slowly add the tempered egg mixture to the remaining warm milk and cream mixture in the sauce pan. Turn on fire, add the last cup of heavy cream, and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Turn off heat and immediately pour the hot mixture into a large bowl. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature, then either place in an air tight container and refrigerate overnight so that the flavors can meld, or freeze according to your ice cream makers instructions.

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Gluten free Fried Chicken

I don't fry chicken very often maybe once or twice a year. Fried chicken really isn't something I want to make a main stay in my family's daily diet, if you know what I mean. If I have a craving for fried chicken I usually make my "Tofu fried chicken".  However, anyone who's ever had fried chicken, (is there anyone who hasn't?), knows how delicious and addicting real fried chicken can be. When we travel outside the United Staes, it's always interesting to see the sheer number of fast food fried chicken restaurants there are. Besides McDonalds, KFC and Churches chicken seem to have a solid hold on the worlds fast food dollars, and they seem to be everywhere! Is there a healthy way to fry chicken, um...probably not! But there are ways to make fried chicken healthier. Baking fried chicken, is one option, but then again that's not really "fried chicken." Removing the skin is another option, but I have to admit it's one of my favorite parts of fried chicken, a crispy skin is everything! This particular recipe has no skin, it's gluten free, and Paleo because I use coconut flour, and it's super duper yummy. Frying it in coconut oil adds another delicious flavor profile, trust me when I say that you want to try this recipe. It is beyond delicious!  My daughter isn't a big meat eater, but one bite of one of these golden nuggets and she was a chicken convert. She kept asking for, more, and more, and "more of that chi-ken."

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:
1lb of boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch chunks
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup of Coconut flour
1/2 cup of coconut oil

Directions:
Heat coconut oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add coconut flour to a small bowl. Season chicken with sea salt and black pepper:

Dredge the chicken in the coconut flour:

Add Chicken to the hot coconut oil. Cook for about 10-15 minutes, flipping the chicken half way through, to brown on both sides:

Once chicken is cooked through, Remove from the oil and place on paper towels to absorb any extra oil, then enjoy!

Have you ever fried chicken in something other than vegetable or canola oil? How did it turn out?
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Cauliflower Hummus, It's Paleo and Oh so delicious!

Our staff Certified Nutritionist Justice De La Torre is back with an AMAZING recipe for Cauliflower Hummus in this weeks blog.  Justice is a strong proponent of the Paleo way of eating.  The Paleo diet, if you don't know, is simply a diet that consists of eating as humans did in the Paleolithic era.  This means eliminating legumes of all sorts, including peanuts, which funnily enough are considered legumes, cereal grains, refined sugar, potatoes, processed foods, salt and dairy.  A lot of people mistake the paleo diet with the Low Carb diet, but the low carb diet never excluded legumes and dairy.  So there you go.  This recipe for Cauliflower hummus is so yummy.  My daughter had a taste of this Cauliflower hummus, and kept coming back for more, and more, and more!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
1 small head of Cauliflower
1/2 cup of Tahini paste
2 cloves of Garlic
1 Tablespoon of Lemon juice
2 teaspoons of cumin
Sea Salt to taste
2 tablespoons of Olive oil
Dash of red pepper flakes

Directions:
Steam your Cauliflower until you can pierce it with a fork easily.

In a separate pan, add oil, toss in your cloves of garlic and heat until you can smell the garlic, 10-30 seconds.

Add the heated garlic and the tahini to a blender and blend for 1 minute.

Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.

Let the mixture cool to room temperature, and enjoy with grilled meat, or veggie sticks, or both!

What is your favorite kind of hummus?

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Coconut Kettle Popcorn

It's movie night here in our house, and a snack is definitely in order. Unfortunately our cabinets are missing some key snack items, so I had to make do with what is on hand:  A bag of double organic popcorn, a new bag of organic coconut sugar, and some coconut oil. Luckily for me these ingredients make for the perfect snack and in 5 minutes! Low in fat, check! High in fiber, double check!  This coconut kettle corn is addicting so if you have multiple grubby hands in your household, as I do in mine, then make a double batch! Now that I've had coconut kettle corn I may never go back to the other stuff!

Prep Time: 1 minute
Cook Time : 5 minutes
Total Time : 6 minutes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of organic corn kernels
3 tablespoons of  organic coconut oil
1.5 teaspoons of coconut sugar
1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

Directions:
Add all of the ingredients except for the sugar to a pan with a tight lid. Place on high heat until the corn starts popping. Once the popping is active, turn off the heat and allow the corn to pop on residual heat, shaking occasionally. Once the popping stops sprinkle with the coconut sugar, shake to coat and then transfer to a bowl and enjoy!

What's your favorite movie snack?

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Chicken with Lemon Caper Cream Sauce

I am always trying to come up with fresh ways to make chicken. Luckily for me there are 1001 ways to make chicken.  I Love a cream sauce, and if you follow my blog you know that I love Lemon too.  This recipe comes from a love of both.  If you love something why not marry the two?  Although this is a cream sauce, it's not heavy on the palet at all.  The Lemon really lightens this dish.  Add in some capers and some kalmata olives, and the dish becomes even lighter.

Prep Time: 5 minute
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
1 Cup of heavy cream
The juice of 1 Lemon
Zest of half a Lemon (optional)
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup of green capers liquid drained
1/4  cup of Kalmata Olives, pits removed
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken cubed seasoned with sea salt


Directions:
Add the oil to a pan, once hot brown the chicken on both sides for 2-3 minutes. Remove and set aside for later.

 Add in the sliced garlic, and let cook until you smell the garlic about 10 seconds:

Add in the cream stir, then add the olives, capers, tomatoes, lemon juice, and the chicken:

Cook stirring constantly you don't want the cream to boil over.  Once the chicken is cooked through( about 7-9 minutes) turn off the fire and serve.  I serve over a bed of sauteed spinach, but I have also served this over pasta, if I do, I add the spinach for a green.  Enjoy! What is your favorite cream sauce?

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Caesar Salad--The best recipe you'll ever find

I LOVE Caesar salad. Besides Greek salad, Caesar salad is my go to salad of choice. I love everything about Caesar salad, the romaine, the croutons, the tangy dressing, Caesar salad is just yummy! Although Caesar salad has a creamy dressing, it never feels heavy. I don't buy salad dressings, I always make my own. Although store bought is great in a time pinch, most store bought salad dressings have so many additives, that I tend to just skip buying them all together. I don't want to even imagine what most store bought Caesar salad dressings have in them!  I have made Caesar salad dressing at home with with a shortcut like Vegenaise, which is a vegan alternative to mayo. I've never been a fan of mayo, so if I need anything that calls for mayo, I just use the vegan alternative. This particular recipe uses 2 raw egg yolks, so your essentially making your own mayonnaise.  Since we are using raw egg yolks, make sure you use pasteurized egg yolks. I wouldn't want anyone to get sick. If you're not a bread person skip the croutons, but these are so good you should definitely try them. Use your favorite artisan bread. I picked up a fresh loaf of sourdough at a local bakery, but a ciabatta or any other fresh bread will work.

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Here's what you need:
1 garlic clove pasted
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

6 anchovy fillets, patted dry with paper towels, minced fine, and mashed to paste with fork ( or you can also use anchovy paste - 1 Tablespoon)

2 large egg yolks 

5 tablespoons grapeseed oil or canola oil

5 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, freshly grated works best

Ground black pepper to taste

2 - 3 romaine hearts, roughly chopped ( rinsed and dried)

For croutons:

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic paste from 1 medium clove

5 cups of a fresh artisan bread of your choice

4 tablespoons of water

1/4 teaspoon table salt

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions for Croutons:
Combine 1 tablespoon of oil and  garlic paste in small bowl; set aside.

Place bread cubes in large bowl. Sprinkle with water and salt. Toss, squeezing gently so bread absorbs water. 

    
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• Place remaining 4 tablespoons oil and soaked bread cubes in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes.Remove skillet from heat, push croutons to sides of skillet to clear center, add garlic/oil mixture to clearing and cook with residual heat of pan, 10 seconds:



Sprinkle with Parmesan; toss until garlic and Parmesan are evenly distributed. Transfer croutons to bowl; set aside:

1. FOR THE SALAD: Whisk garlic paste and 2 tablespoons lemon juice together in large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes, VERY IMPORTANT: DO NOT to skip this step, otherwise your salad dressing will be taste too garlicky.
   

   

   
   
2. Whisk Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, and egg yolks into garlic/lemon juice mixture. 
   

   

   
   
   

   

   
   
   While whisking constantly, drizzle canola oil and extra virgin olive oil into bowl in slow, steady stream until fully emulsified.
   

   

   
   Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pepper to taste; whisk until incorporated:
   

   

   
   
   
3. Add romaine to dressing and toss to coat. Add croutons and mix gently until evenly distributed. Taste and season with up to additional 1 tablespoon lemon juice:
   

   

   
   

   You can add chicken to this if you like, and it will be just as delicious!

   
   

   What's your favorite salad?

   
   

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Red, White, & Blueberry Crumble Tart

I love July fourth! It means getting together with family and friends to celebrate America's independence with great food, drinks and at the end of the day beautiful fireworks.  This year is especially exciting for me because, it's the first year that my daughter is old enough to watch and enjoy the fireworks. There is something so special about being able to view things like this through a child's eyes. I thought I would revamp my Strawberry crumble tart with this healthier gluten free version, and add a little blue to make it more festive. Feel free to use any berry that you like for this, raspberries and blackberries would be an awesome alternative.  

Here's what you need:

1/2 cup of almond meal 

1/2 cup of oats

4 tablespoons, or half a stick of cold butter, cut and cubed, 

a dash of cinnamon

1/2 cup of maple sugar, ( can also use coconut sugar, or brown sugar)

1pint of fresh strawberries (sliced)

1 pint of fresh blueberries 

Whipped cream: 

2 cups of heavy whipping cream

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

5 tablespoons of maple syrup or agave

 Place the almond meal, oats, butter, sugar, and cinnamon into a food processor an pulse until it looks like this:

Place one tablespoon of the mixture into muffin tins:

Bake on 400 until golden brown about 10-15 minutes

Remove from oven and allow to cool. 

In a stand mixer add 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and 5 tablespoons of maple syrup, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract:

Whip until peaks form.  Layer the strawberries, blueberries and whip cream on top of the crumble and enjoy!

Happy Independence Day my fellow Americans!  What is your favorite food to eat on July 4th?

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Lamb chops with a spicy mustard sauce

Lamb is always a quick go to meal in our house. We love to grill lamb chops, or broil lion chops in the oven. Since I cook lamb chops so often, I have conjured up several types of sauces to go on the lamb chops to mix things up a bit. I'll share many of them with you at some point, however, this spicy mustard sauce is one of my favorites. All in all this lamb chop dish takes 15 minutes, and that includes the time it takes to make the sauce! I use my tabletop convection oven to broil these loin chops. You can use your oven. If you use foil to line your sheet pan like I did, then clean up is just a trash toss away! Doesn't get more lazy than that!:-)

Here's what you need:
4-5 lamb loin chops
Sea salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Quick spray of olive oil so the loin chops don't stick

Spicy mustard sauce
2 tablespoons of a Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp of fresh horseradish (optional if you like it really spicy use this, or use this if your Dijon is not spicy enough)
1 clove of garlic finely minced
3 teaspoons of white wine vinegar
3 tablespoon of olive oil
Sea salt to taste

Directions:
In a small bowl add all of the ingredients for the mustard sauce and mix until combined, then set aside.  Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Season both sides of loin chops generously with sea salt and pepper. Line a baking sheet with foil, spray lightly with olive oil spray. Place lamb chops on the sheet:

 Bake for 10-15 minutes :

Serve with a nice dollop of the spicy mustard sauce and enjoy! What is your favorite spicy sauce?

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