Almost two winters ago, I exchanged comments on food photos of several dishes shared by a man named Dirk from Germany on Google+. He commented on photos of the foreign foods I shared and mentioned that many of the ingredients I posted were unavailable to him. Thinking back to my penpal days as a child, in which…
Category: Paleo Recipes (All)
Pumpkin Pasilla Soup: Vegetarian or Turkified
Pasilla peppers are a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy…but just a bit. These dark green peppers add great earthy flavor to dishes and are a delicious addition to this creamy, roasted tomato soup. Do you still have roast turkey or chicken in the fridge? Here’s a great way to use it up and…
Curried Roast Chicken Salad
Every once in a while, I roast a whole chicken. When the bird has been cared for (free range, organic), it results in a succulent, elegant meal that tastes delicious, is good for you, and lets you enjoy the entire chicken instead of just its parts. But what do you do with a whole bird?…
Fueling your Run and Recovery Without the Grains + How to Make Plantain Chips
Though I’ve been out of a routine the last couple of months, I usually run pretty regularly. In fact, I am planning to run in a half marathon this Saturday in a place called Monte Cristo. The last time I was there, I ran into a moose and her baby. While the thought of seeing…
A Mexican Wedding Feast and 5 Tips for Feeding Groups
Last weekend, I hosted a wedding. The bride, of Mexican heritage, wanted food reminiscent of her childhood. The groom, a meat and potatoes kind of man, has milder tastes in food. As I was in charge of the kitchen, I opted for a happy medium that was gluten and dairy-free, without being obviously so, and…
Easy & Elegant Orange-poached White Fish
Some days I don’t feel like cooking. At. All. You probably know the days – the ones when you’re tired, it’s hot, and you lack motivation to do anything in the kitchen that will take much effort, but you also want to eat something that is relatively healthy and light. Today was one of those…
Spiced-rubbed Sichuan Roast Pork
I have a recipe for you. It’s not my own. But it is pretty delicious and inspired by the Sichuan peppers I ran across on my recent trip to China. Sichuan peppers, if you haven’t had them, are an interesting experience. I won’t say interesting flavor, simply because flavor is too simple a word for what…
Broadening the Idea of Breakfast: Not just your typical morning meals
I’ve been out of it – focus, sleep, the internet, even the country. Hopefully, it didn’t really seem like I was gone. But, I was….to the farthest reaches of China near the Mongolian, Russian, and Kazakh borders. It was an amazing trip, that I will be sharing over the next couple of weeks. The only…
Crockpot Cochinita (Puerco) Pibil: Yucatecan-style Pork with a Telenovela Twist
The last place I expected to find a good recipe for Cochinita Pibil, was in the comments of an English-language website that recaps Spanish-language telenovelas. If you’re asking yourself how I wound up reading the comments on that site, I have both an easy and a more complicated answer for you. The easy answer is…
Super Simple Stir-fry Formula
My first recipe experiments were in a shared dorm hall kitchen during my freshman year of college. Unfortunately, those meals were mostly forgettable. What I do remember is that my neighbor, homesick for her native Korea, thought I made the perfect taste-tester. She would cook dishes that were unfamiliar and exotic to my rural Utah…
Poached Salmon in Foil Packets – Two Days, Two Ways
I was browsing. Just trying to mind my own business. But, then I heard a deep voice – a la Michael Clarke Duncan – ask, “What’s for dinner?” Standing next to me was the butcher – as imposing as his voice, arms crossed as if proudly surveying the meat, poultry, and seafood refrigeration units that…
Carlos’ Charro No-Bean Chili for Cinco de Mayo
My grandpa Carlos was quite the hipster in his day. He owned a nightclub called El Matador, drove a corvette, and loved his bling. Of course, this came later in life – after years of working hard for others.Less flashy, more family, he was also the cook in the house. Two of the recipes my…
Reinventing Chiles en Nogada Soup-Style
Deconstruct: To break something down into its component parts. For a recipe, this means looking at the recipe and determining the essential ingredients – the ones that make the dish unique, satisfying, and flavorful. Deconstruction is one of my favorite ways to reinvent a dish when I want to experience its flavors AND tailor the…
Batches of Green Chile Garlic Burgers + Evening Rituals
My husband and I have a Monday-evening ritual that involves cooking up the same thing each week and tuning in to the latest episode of House. It’s not exciting. In fact, it is completely comfortable and relaxed – a way of easing back into the week. But, it is something we both look forward to….
How to Make Your Own Ghee / Clarified Butter
I’ve been on a food book binge lately: biographies, non-fiction overviews of specific foods, recipe books, etc. One that I picked up is called Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages by Anne Mendelson. It’s a strange selection for me – I don’t drink milk. In fact, I have avoided milk for several years…
Colorful Mango Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
For those of us still on the edge of winter, this recipe will add color to dreary days. Want to see how to cut a mango? Check out this post here. Lime juice vinaigrette for chicken salad -add a little garlic or chili flakes for kick Colorful Mango Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps March 8, 2012…
The Original Paleo Chipotle Chicken Cauliflower Bake / Casserole
Many moons ago, when gluten and dairy were not an issue for me, I used to love making a chili cheddar pasta dish I’d found in Cooking Light. It was awesome – filled with noodles, milk, butter, and cheese. But, alas, no more. As I transitioned to a whole foods way of cooking, I realized…
Creamy spice bazaar-inspired soup
Spicy, bright, and good enough to eat every day! According to my husband, that what this soup is like. And he likes it so much he has taken it to work with him each day this week. Carrots were on sale and the snow had finally hit the mountains after several sunny weeks – soup…
Smoky Bacon-wrapped Turkey Meatloaf with Water Chestnuts & Dates
As a kid, I hated meatloaf. I think it was the ketchup. I had a bad experience with it and avoided it well into my 20s. Unfortunately, it meant I never developed a taste for dishes that included it. This week, I decided to test my taste buds and pulled out an old copy of…
Crock Pot Pork Carnitas with Cabbage Lime Garnish
Cubes of pork shoulder marinated over-night in milk and quartered oranges. A 5-gallon pot with pounds of lard and the pork chunks heated to the brink of boiling, and stirred every so often by a 3-foot, home-made wooden paddle. Pork that is extremely tender, has a slight crisp to the outside, and can easily broken…
Reeled in by a Fish – Poached Salmon and Egg
On my way home from the gym the other night, I had to pick something up at the Whole Foods grocery next-door. I replayed my list in my head. I was on a mission. But, when I walked through the front door of the store, I quickly realized my mistake. I had broken cardinal rule…
Fennel for the Everyday Joe (and Jane) + Soup Recipe
Fennel was on sale at the grocery store last week. I picked up a bulb, with all of its unruly fronds intact, and headed up to the front. “What do you use that for,” asked the guy at the checkout counter. “I see people buy it sometimes, but have no idea how I’d use it.”…
Pan-fried Chipotle Chops
I fire up the stove, preheating my pan to a medium-high heat – this is particularly helpful with stainless steel and cast iron. While it was getting ready, I butterfly the chops, cutting them on the side without the rind. By the way, I leave the rind on to keep the chops moist and to…
Curried cashew cauliflower and sweet potato soup and a cold, hard cider
Fall is in the air and I’ve been craving soup…warm, nourishing, and spicy soup! Last year, a friend of mine made a curried cauliflower soup that was delicious. I don’t have her recipe, and so I was inspired to create my own and to do it in the easiest way I could. This means, I…
Garlicky Pizzaliciousness – Creamy Paleo Garlic Sauce
For a long time, I’ve tried to figure out a good garlic sauce for pizza. Today, I finally came up with one which is a definite keeper. I love to throw some grilled chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts, pine nuts (when they are not outrageously expensive), and chopped sun-dried tomatoes on top of a garlic sauce…
13 Heads of Garlic and Some Strung-out (up?) Pork
Tomorrow is another Iron Chef night. The ingredient: garlic. I have no idea what the complete meal will entail, but, as it is our turn to host, we are preparing the entrée. With vegetarians and omnivores and food-sensitive folks in attendance, we opted for a garlic and parsley pork roulade with a balsamic glaze, and…
Bangers and Sweet Potato Masala Mash
My favorite spice shop is a hybrid of convenience store and Indian market located down the hill from the University of Utah. It seems to cater primarily to soda-loving, potato-log eating folks and homesick students. If you don’t fall into either of these categories, you’d hardly know what a gem of a store it is. …