Eating Paleo (A Colorful Food Heaven)

So, I've been disgustingly overcommitted at work lately and, while I truly enjoy every minute of the work I do, sometimes I read so many words and type so many sentences as an editor that my insides crawl at the thought of writing any more when I'm finally home on my couch. Photos, on the other hand, I can always seem to manage.

As you've gathered from the title of today's blog, I've gone Paleo. Don't worry. Not forever. I won't spend the rest of this blog judging you for eating cheese or putting your eggs on toast. I'm only doing it for Lent as a way to get myself back in the groove of full-on healthy living after an intense year. The following are a few selections from:

Adventures in a Cave (wo)Man's Kitchen 

Chipotle Braised Bone-in Chicken Breast
with a fresh salsa salad and homemade sweet potato crisps

Modified from here. To sum up: I used all olive oil to keep the chicken Paleo and chipotle paste instead of powder. And always about 3x as much lime as any recipe calls for. :)

Pan-fried Pork Sausage in a Fresh Tarragon Jus

with a sweet potato and carrot puree and just-right steamed green beans

 It is riDONKculously hard to find breadcrumb-free sausages in our Waitrose (they were everywhere in Oxford's Covered Market, so I guess I got really spoiled!). But, I did eventually find this lovely brand: Debbie & Andrew's.

This was probably my favorite meal since starting the challenge (I've already recreated it once). So comforting after a long, stressful day!

Sesame Encrusted Lamb Meatballs
with a toasted cashew salad (lime vinaigrette) and dry roasted courgette (olive oil and lime drizzle over everything)

Majorly modified from here. To keep it Paleo, I used food-processed cashews instead of breadcrumbs. Also, I didn't include the currants or Penn would've killed me. Finally, I would suggest using fewer sesame seeds in your crust. They were a bit overpowering in my version.

  (Obviously these are pictures of Penn's plate above, since I can't have yogurt as a Cave Woman. So, he got a spiced yogurt dip and I made a lemon mayo drizzle for mine. Both were delish!)

Cilantro Pesto Chicken Tenders and Endive Salad with Crispy Chorizo, Toasted Walnuts and Baby Plum Tomatoes

drizzled with a balsamic and lemon reduction and strong olive oil

 Penn got to have sharp cheddar crumbles on his salad, too. He's also to thank for the ingredients in the salad: it was all his idea. 

 LOOK at that glisten-y chorizo! For the pesto, just blend a massive pile of cilantro (stems and all) with loads of fresh lemon juice, olive oil, S&P and whatever fatty nut you have lying around (I'm not talking about your crazy Uncle Joe. I mean pine nuts, cashews, walnuts . . . you get the idea).

And when all else fails, Paleo breakfasts RULE.

Over-Easy Eggs with a Sweet Potato, Paprika Sausage and Baby Asparagus 'Hash'

don't forget the crispy bacon and pan-seared tomato halves

 Just chop up the hash ingredients and fry up in a lightly oiled, hot pan.

My name at work now is 'Gourmet Cave Man'.

Salad Inspiration

I am over-the-top picky about blueberries. You would be too if your first ever experience with them was a wild bush growing in the woods of your backyard, the fruit of which was always the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and never bigger than half a centimeter across. New Englanders are blueberry-spoiled.

BUT, I'm able to live in the world of normal blueberries now, having perfected the art of the 'squeeze-and-select' method. My husband is very kind to allow me to eat all the super-firm ones, while he takes my rejects. Waitrose has had some really nice smallish organic ones in stock lately, so we've had a lot of salads with blueberries on them lately. I want to share my favorite combination with you.

Blueberry and Shaved Parmigiano Salad

Italian Overload

I just got back to England from Italy. Needless to say, I'm a bit culinarily depressed. To abate this, I've been filling the kitchen with a LOT of Italian scents since I got home. Tonight it was this:

Zucchini Rice Gratin.

The recipe was taken directly from here, and I made virtually no change to it (little extra cheese here, some generous drizzles of olive oil there). Unfortunately, I was running around the kitchen too dramatically to take pictures of the process. I can almost guarantee, however, that you will have all the ingredients in your fridge on most average days of the week.

So, Penn and I had a vegetarian dinner that felt like nothing of the sort! The wedges of gratin were accompanied by a massive plate of Caprese scattered with olives of various kinds. And this American girl couldn't live without a bit of garlic bread to add some carbs to this delightfully Mediterranean meal.

A long, drool-worthy blog about Bologna food coming up soon!

Really? Brussel Sprouts? This is what you give me?

Don't hate. Me or the sprouts.

I live in England now and the pickin's are often slim in terms of vegetables. The adorable organic market in Oxford has more sausage, potatoes, and meat pies than anything during this season, so I picked the only green thing I could find (if you don't count the kale). That just happened to be brussel sprouts, which I just happen to love. Do I sound defensive? Well, I dare you to try this recipe and not love it. If you've ever eaten cole slaw, you'll never go back to fully grown cabbage.

Process: Simple.
Ingredients: Simple.
Helping me feel a bit of summer in March: Successful.

Upping the Salad Ante

This is a total cop-out post for me, but an absolutely vital post nonetheless.

To me, a salad is best when:

• Its base is made up of fresh greens—preferably a mixture of green leaf, red leaf, and baby spinach.
• There are no less than three and no more than four toppings, usually a combination of the following:
• A crumble-able cheese
• A variety of nut
• A single fresh vegetable or fruit
• A variety of protein (other than the nut, i.e. a meat)
• The dressing is handmade by:
• Me
• My grandmother
• Anyone else who shares my love of aged balsamic and copious amounts of olive oil
• It is sprinkled with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Most recently, I have come to know the joys of homemade roasted nuts. It's nice and cheap(er) to buy raw nuts at your local grocery store, and it's embarrassingly easy to make them into something delicious.

Here's my latest creation (so easy it's, like I said, embarrassing):

Sweet & Savory Walnuts:

All you will need is:

To assemble, stir in enough honey to coat the desired amount of nuts and sprinkle moderately with Kosher salt. Dump it all onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in a 350º oven for 4-6 minutes (until the nuts on the edge go slightly golden and you can smell the sweetness wafting from the kitchen).

Remove and place the baking sheet on a cooling rack until the nuts reach room temperature. They will be crunchy, salty, and sweet, guaranteed to pump up the salad volume. I put them on a baby spinach salad with Gorgonzola and sliced pear. Of course, the Menzies Family Vinaigrette was the icing on the cake . . . or the dressing on the salad, really. I could eat this every day . . .

Caprese (That's, cah-PREHY-zay)

Let's start at the beginning. My favorite meals are those that involve 4-5 fresh, fresh ingredients (Not including salt, pepper, and oil. Those don't count), minimal preparation, and maximum flavor. Everyone should have an arsenal of these types of recipes from which to pull in order to maintain sanity during the week. Now, I'm not talking about your mom's 30-minute baked chicken, white rice, and frozen peas. We should know by now that easy does not have to mean bland. This is what the Italians have taught me, anyway.

If I learned anything from Italian cuisine it is that buffalo mozzarella makes everything better. Seriously. Add a chunk of fresh mozz ("moohtz" with the "oo" pronounced like "book" for those not born and bred in the New York tri-state area) to any mouthful of equally fresh ingredients—whether animal, vegetable, or mineral (?)—and enjoy the flavor-enhancing powers of this rich, creamy Italian invention. I love it plain, too, perhaps dipped in a bit of olive oil and salt. Yes, please!

I'm getting a little sidetracked here. Sorry, cheese does that to me.

I want to tell you about an Italian staple that anyone can accomplish and everyone will enjoy. It's the ever-popular, consistently-botched Caprese Salad (see pronunciation guide above and, for the love of Pete, please don't say, "Ca-PREECE"). There's no skill in preparing this meal; it's in the selection of materials that people usually get messed up. As always, just try to get the freshest, most in-season ingredients and don't be afraid to splurge a little on olive oil. Below is a quick run-down of two ways I make Caprese. The amounts vary according to preference and/or number of consumers:

• 2-3 Balls of fresh Buffalo Mozzarella (or other kinds of fresh mozz . . . whichever your local Italian deli has)

• 1-2 Heirloom tomatoes (or your favorite type of tomato)

• (optional) Drizzle of aged balsamic vinegar for Method #1

• (optional) Splash of red wine vinegar for Method #2
  

• 5-10 Leaves of fresh basil (chop as close to serving as possible)

• 2-3 Tbs. of extra virgin olive oil (find your favorite brand and stick with it!)

• 2 Pinches of kosher salt

• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Method #1 (pictured above):

1. Slice the Mozzarella into rounds about 1/2 centimeter thick and the Tomatoes as thinly as you can possibly muster (or aim for 1/2 the thickness of the Mozz).
2. Drain on sheets of paper towel if excessively moisture-filled.
3. Arrange Tomatoes on platter.
4. (optional) Drizzle carefully with Balsamic Vinegar. The thicker and more aged the vinegar, the nicer it will look. If you prefer, you can do this at the end over everything, but I've noticed some vinegars make the Mozz look rather...icky).
5. Top each Tomato with a corresponding Mozzarella round.
6. Chop Basil leaves into thin strips and sprinkle evenly atop Tomatoes & Mozzarella.
7. Drizzle entire plate with Oil.
8. Sprinkle with Salt and ground Pepper.
   

Method #2 (pictured below sans Mozzarella. Sometimes it is nice to keep it to the side, depending on how quickly you will be serving it):

1. Cube Mozzarella into 1/2 inch squares and dice Tomatoes similarly.
2. Drain on sheets of paper towel if excessively moisture-filled.
3. Dump Mozzarella and Tomatoes into a large salad bowl.
4. (optional) Top with a generous splash of Red Wine Vinegar.
5. Chop Basil well and stir into salad.
6. Drizzle with Oil.
7. Sprinkle with Salt and Pepper to taste.
8. Stir gently to incorporate.
   

And that's it! People love it and it's something that the Italians REALLY eat virtually every day.

**For people who need more carbs with their salad, serve this fabulously fresh mixture with triangles of your favorite flat bread or oiled-and-pan-fried Naan. I know I'm mixing ethnicities, but Naan is another one of those things that makes everything better . . . I'm still looking for a really good Naan recipe . . . Anybody?