Happy birthday, ma – I celebrated this year with sushi. Unfortunately, lunch was an hour late and I was too busy to leave my desk.
But the thought was there.
November 16, 2014
❤
November 15, 2014
Getting my caffeine fix.
Burnt Radicchio Salad with Pear and Maple
This recipe was born out of the need to burn fall with fire. Call it bleeding frustrations, getting rid of demons, or just simply not getting enough fire with my wintery weather while on vacation, but I came back with an urge to burn things – specifically, food things.
Why so destructive? Slightly burnt around the edges radicchio is fantastic. So are toasted nuts. And butter. And pears – I thought long and hard about caramelizing these, too, but since no one has seen fit to festoon me with a blowtorch it didn’t happen. It might in the future, though. Maybe Santa will bring the gift of fire.
Gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian friendly, vegan friendly
Burnt Radicchio Salad with Pear and Maple
1/2 head of radicchio
Drizzle olive oil
1/4 c. crushed pecans
1 Tbsp. ghee
1/2 pear
Drizzle maple syrup
Kosher salt & black pepper
Leftover flank steak (optional but delicious)
Set your broiler on high and tinfoil a cookie sheet. De-stem your radicchio and cut into two chunks. Place onto the prepared sheet, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil 5-6 minutes, or until blistered and burning at the edges. Not incinerated, just lightly burnt around the top and edges.
While your radicchio is burning, toast your pecans in the ghee over medium-high heat until they smell nutty. Remove from the heat.
Slice your flank steak and pear into thin slivers.
When the radicchio is done, chop into bite-sized pieces and add to a serving vessel. Top with the sliced pear, flank steak if you’re using and pecans. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of maple syrup and hit with another pinch of salt and few twists of pepper. Viola.
Serves 1 for lunch
November 14, 2014
It’s Dar’s favorite time of the year. He was ridiculously excited to see his jacket again.
November 13, 2014
Daycare mural
November 12, 2014
Waiting …
November 11, 2014
Tagged
Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking – Week of November 10 – 14
A number of people I know are completely flabbergasted when contemplating sticking to a budget while eating a primarily “paleo” diet. I’m hoping to shed a little light on that issue for those of you on the fence about eating healthfully in this manner – it *can* be done – and done well – without spending all the money. All it takes is a little planning.
A little background: I live in Brooklyn, NY, and the grocery prices here are definitely not the same as what you will find in other areas of the country. If you live in say, Raleigh NC for example – you may very well be able to cut this grocery bill by a third, depending upon where you shop. For where I live, where I shop and what I buy, $100 a week is a doable budget without having to sacrifice the quality I want too much. My DH thinks $130 is probably more realistic with our morning smoothie supplies, but I want to shoot for $100. I aim to make 4-5 dinners for two and 5 lunches per week, plus two smoothies per day six days of the week with my budgetary allowance and update you all weekly on what’s going on. Let’s see if I can make it.
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This is my first week without a CSA shipment to look forward to – I was also out on vacation not thinking about what I was going to be cooking for dinner this week during the latter half of the week. I am very happy that delivery groceries exist in my area. Being able to order what I needed for the week while laying in bed on Sunday morning was a freaking lifesaver. All groceries were purchased from Amazon Fresh again.
Menu for Last Week (Week of November 3 – 7)
The Plan vs. Reality
I had a vague plan going into this week, and only 3 days worth of dinners to do. I think I did pretty well.
Monday
- The Plan – Meat with CSA veggies
- Reality – Pork chops with roasted fennel & carrots and a side of mashed potatoes. Yum.
Tuesday
- The Plan – Meat with CSA veggies
- Reality – Italian sausage with chard, fire roasted tomatoes, onion, leek & cauliflower rice. This would have been good, but the sausage was gross.
Wednesday
- The Plan – Something with CSA veggies
- Reality – Baked balsamic chicken thighs with delicata squash. This was so-so; the squash wasn’t crispy enough, and for future reference the hubbs absolutely hates squash brushed with coconut oil and balsamic.
Thursday
- The Plan – Vacation eats – more on my mini vacation to Lake Placid, NY coming soon!
- Reality – Pub grub – steak & potatoes with asparagus + crispy Thai style pork belly. Y-U-M
Friday
- The Plan – Vacation eats
- Reality – Amazing dinner at Liquids and Solids of fried duck hearts with bleu cheese mashed potatoes & green beans + a charcuterie plate with truffled pork pate and local cheeses. I will dream about this dinner for months to come.
Lunches
- The Plan – Leftovers & fresh csa veggies
- Reality – Pulled pork with carrot & apple, pork chop leftovers and pulled pork with cabbage & apples
Extras
- The Plan – Nothing planned.
- Reality – And nothing happened.
This Week: November 10 – 15
My notes from last week mention pumpkin and brussels, bourbon & pecans and sweet potato waffles. I remembered exactly none of that while sleepily grocery shopping in the 11th hour.
This Week’s Proposed Menu
- Monday: Meat with leftover CSA veg
- Tuesday: Meat with leftover CSA veg
- Wednesday: Meat with leftover CSA veg
- Thursday: Meat with leftover CSA veg
- Friday: Eat out
- Lunch: Leftovers & more apples
- Extras: None
Shopping List & Cost Breakout
Grocery Store Key: AM = Amazon Fresh
Shopping List
Radicchio, 1 Head ($1.29 @ AM)
Turnips, 1 lb ($1.29 @ AM)
Natural Pork Tenderloin Boneless, 19 oz ($6.29 @ AM)
Natural Pork Boneless Loin Chop, 6 oz Each (4 Pc), 1.5 lb ($8.49 @ AM)
Meadow Organics Ground Beef, Grass-Fed, USDA Organic, 16 oz ($9.99 @ AM)
Meadow Organics Chuck Steak, Grass-Fed, USDA Organic, 6 oz ($5.69ea $11.38 @ AM)
Natural Pork Boneless Shoulder Roast, 3 lb ($9.79ea @ AM)
Organic Collard Greens, 1 Bunch ($2.69 @ AM)
Smoothie supplies
Hass Avocados, Not Yet Ripe, Small, 4 ct ($4.99 @ AM)
Granny Smith Apple, Large ($0.69 @ AM)
Organic Ginger, 8 oz ($2.99ea @ AM)
Spinach, 2 Bunches ($1.26ea $2.52 @ AM)
Lime Family Pack, 1.5 lb ($2.77 @ AM)
Organic Lacinato (Dinosaur) Kale, 2 Bunches ($2.49ea $4.98 @ AM)
Extras: No extras this week.
Total AM: $75.11
Total For The Week: $75.11; $0.11 over budget. I’m still working with CSA veggies this week, so I attempted to stick to my $75 budget. I think I did pretty well, especially considering the amount of extra meat I bought.
Pantry/items repurposed from last week: fats, spices, CSA veggies.
What To Do With A Box Of Vegetables: Paisley Farms Box 22
This year’s CSA is from Paisley Farm, a 25-acre operation located in Tivoli, NY. Paisley Farm grows organically and plants with the chef in mind. The 22-week CSA runs from June – November and I purchased the standard vegetable share. This share includes 8-9 vegetables and herbs per week (8-12 pounds) – enough to provide a family of three with 3-4 dinners’ worth of veg. The price equals out to $25 per week, the cost of which will be accounted for in my weekly Adventures In Budget Paleo Cooking posts.
Paisley Farm 2014 CSA Box 22
2 huge leeks
1 huge bunch swiss chard
1 bunch mystery greens
2 heads lettuce
1 huge bunch fennel
1 crown broccoli
1 head cauliflower
1 huge butternut squash
6 huge carrots
3 apples
1 pear
Leftover From Previous Weeks
Frozen peppers
1 big bag potatoes
1 bunch mystery green
1.5 bunches chard
1 cabbage
2 yellow peppers
1 bunch baby fennel
1/2 bunch radishes
2 delicata squash
How I Used My Share
I made a salad out of the mystery greens with half a yellow pepper, shredded beef and an apple.
I stir-fried some chicken with the rest of the pepper, a bunch of chard, the broccoli and some carrot.
I had an apple/carrot/pepper/shredded beef salad for lunch one day – and the same basic salad (minus the pepper and subbing pulled pork) another.
I roasted the rest of the carrots with some fennel and served alongside mashed potatoes and pork chops.
I made a blistered cabbage and apple salad to go with pulled pork.
And I served 1 of the delicata squash with chicken thighs and balsamic vinegar.
Waste: Just the lettuce and wilty greens were tossed before heading out on a mini-vacation last Thursday.
My Favorite Dish From This Box
Either the roasted veggies & mashed potatoes with pork chops or the blistered cabbage lunch. Both were ridiculously seasonal.
Next Week
Going into next week, I have: 1 delicata squash, half of a big bag of potatoes, 1/2 a bunch of radishes, 1 huge butternut squash, 1 kabocha squash, 2 leeks and 1 pear.
This was my last CSA share for the season, and I’m kind of bummed. Despite being menaced by cucumbers, eggplant, briefly by tomatoes, and my own hangups about lettuce; I really enjoyed this year’s CSA boxes. I felt the value for dollar was good, and although this CSA didn’t have quite the variety of my favorite one from Miami, it was still a good mix of produce. The quality was great, the quantity was spot on, and I’m glad I found this CSA. I’ll miss it until next year’s shares roll around.
Gastography 