gluten-free – Page 42

Whole30 Slow Cooked Balsamic Short Ribs

February 9, 2014December 29, 2014Recipes6 Comments

This is another of those recipes cobbled together from random inspiration on the Internets. I had short ribs, I’m in the middle of a balsamic vinegar obsession, I have fallen in love with my new slow cooker – and bam. This.

Paleo, gluten-free & Whole30-compliant

Whole30 Slow Cooked Balsamic Short Ribs

1 lb. boneless short ribs
1 15-ounce can plain tomato sauce (check your labels!)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
4 dates, minced
8 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. aleppo pepper
2 tsp. black pepper
Beef stock (optional)

Set the beef in your slow cooker. Mix together the rest of the ingredients (minus the beef stock) and pour over the meat. Add a few splashes of beef stock until the liquid barely covers the meat. Latch your lid down if your slow cooker has latches and let cook 4-6 hours on High. When done, the meat should shred like butter.

If you then reduce the cooking liquid on the stove, the resulting gravy will be great.

I served with a simple parsnip mash (parsnips cooked in the rest of the beef stock for 8-10 minutes and whirred in the blender with a few splashes stock to even out).

Serves 2 for dinner

Spicy Whole30 Mini Turkey Meatloaves

February 7, 2014December 29, 2014RecipesLeave a Comment

Mmmmm…. meatloaf muffins. I love meatloaf muffins. This recipe came about from looking to see what was out there in the realm of turkey meatloaf tastes, taking some of that to heart, and managing to cobble something together in the kitchen.

Warning: as this recipe is written, it is kinda spicy. Not ‘omfg I’m going to die’ spicy, but it has a kick. You’ve been warned.

Spicy Whole30 Mini Turkey Meatloaves

1 pound ground turkey – dark meat is best if you can get it
1/2 cup diced celery (about 1 – 1.5 ribs)
1/2 cup diced carrot (about 1 medium)
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper (about 1/4 of a pepper)
1/4 cup diced shallot (1 medium)
1 egg
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. coconut aminos
2 Tbsp. Red Boat fish sauce
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. chipotle powder
4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. white pepper
1-2 Tbsp. coconut oil, melted

Preheat the oven to 350. Prep your muffin tins by brushing with a little melted coconut oil so things don’t stick.

If you haven’t already, prep your veggies. Add to a bowl with the turkey, egg and spices. Combine however you like – I prefer with my hands – and load your muffin tins (winter themed ftw) to about 3/4 of the way full.

I got 9 muffins out of my tins – your mileage may vary, depending upon how large your muffin cups are.

Bake 20 minutes, or until cooked through (knife inserted in the middle comes out clean and the tops start to pull away from the sides of the tin). Let cool 10 minutes before popping out of the pan.

Serves 3, providing you have 9 meatloaves.

Bastardized Whole30 Chicken Curry

February 2, 2014December 29, 2014RecipesLeave a Comment

Why bastardized? I was *supposed* to be making my friend’s recipe for semi-traditional Thai-style green coconut curry, but nooooo – ran off half-cocked, thinking I had Thai Kitchen green curry paste (it’s W30-compliant) and couldn’t be bothered to double-check before starting dinner. Well, as it turns out, I don’t have any – and most likely haven’t had any for at least a year (unless of course I managed to use a whole jar without really remembering it – also very possible).

So what did I do? I improvised. And dinner turned out great. A little different flavor profile than I had intended – more on the tomatoey end of curry than the green end – but the sauce was thick and luscious and I’m kinda sad I don’t have any more left over for lunch. Also kind of happy that my hubbs wasn’t home the night I made it, so I didn’t have to share.

Bastardized Whole30 Chicken Curry

6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 red bell pepper
1/2 onion
2 medium carrots
2 ribs celery
1 medium zucchini
1 Tbsp. coconut oil or ghee
1 15-ounce can coconut milk (check your labels!)
1 4-ounce can tomato paste (check your labels!)
4 cloves garlic
1 inch fresh ginger
1 jalapeno
2 Tbsp. Red Boat fish sauce
1 tsp. cumin
2 Tbsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground turmeric
2 big pinches salt
2 Tbsp. cilantro
2 Tbsp. lime juice

Chop your vegetables and chicken. Mince the garlic and ginger. De-seed and dice the jalapeno.

Heat up a large pan to medium – add the cooking fat, onions and a sprinkle of salt. Sautee 1-2 minutes.

Add all the spices, garlic and fresh ginger and sautee for a minute or two until fragrant.

Add coconut milk and tomato paste and bring to a simmer. Taste. Add another big pinch salt if needed.

Add the chicken and remaining vegetables and stir to combine. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is done and the veggies are where you want them – 10 – 20 minutes.

While that is working, chop the cilantro and get your lime juice ready. When your curry is cooked through, taste for seasoning – add salt if necessary. Stir in the lime juice and cilantro before serving.

Serve alone or over cauliflower rice. If you eat the curry alone, this recipe makes 2-4 servings depending upon how much you like to eat. I had a double portion for dinner that night and two smaller portions for lunch in the following days. On lunch days, I ended up supplementing with almonds. If you serve over cauliflower rice, I imagine this recipe will easily stretch to feed 4. I happened to be too lazy to make rice that night.

Whole30 Slow Cooker Balsamic Beef

January 31, 2014December 29, 2014Recipes4 Comments

This recipe is tasty. Not quite what I had envisioned (I had visions of sticky almost tart beef dancing in my head), but good. A great ‘cook once and use as the backbone for many meals’ recipe.

I’ve served over brussels sprouts, eaten straight of the container, and paired with mashed cauliflower this week – I’m also dying to try it as a “pizza” topper, as a “taco” filling, and with more and varied greens. Yum.

Whole30 Slow Cooker Balsamic Beef

Adapted from Balsamic Roast Beef by Add A Pinch – thanks go out to one of my husband’s Facebook friends who posted the recipe that got the obsession rolling

2-4 pound boneless beef roast (chuck or one of the rounds – I used top round)
1 cup beef broth (check your labels!)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (check your labels!)
2 Tbsp. Red Boat fish sauce
2 Tbsp. coconut aminos
1/2 a date, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced
Big pinch red pepper flakes

Plop your meat into a slow cooker. Combine all other ingredients and pour over top. Cook on High 4-8 hours. When your beef can shred with a fork, it’s done. Remove to a platter and go to town.

Place the cooking liquid into a pan and reduce by half for a nicely flavored gravy. Drizzle with extra balsamic before serving for an extra kick of taste. (and if you have some sticky aged balsamic? Heaven.)

4-8 hours? Can you be more specific? Here’s what happened: The original recipe calls for 4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low. This is the second time using my new crock pot and we weren’t sure if we needed to latch the lid down while cooking or if that would cause some sort of meatsplosion, so we left it unlatched. Came back 4 hours later and the meat was about half done. So we latched the lid and put it on for another 4. If you know how to operate your crock pot properly, I’d go with the original cooking directions and work from there.

Makes a bunch. I’ve gotten at least 2 dinners for two out of it + 3-4 lunches and I still have 1-2 days’ worth of lunch portions leftover.

Almost-As-Good-As-Having-Salsa Sweet Potato Bowl

January 26, 2014December 29, 2014RecipesLeave a Comment

I realize this is not the best photo, nor is the most exciting dish out there – but it did do make a little dent in the craving I was having one night.

I love salsa, guacamole, lime juice and tacos – I could live off of them happily. Sadly, tacos (at least tacos with corn tortillas + the tortilla chips they come with) are a no-go on Whole30.

One night it was just me for dinner and I was having a wicked craving for salsa. Like full-blown nothing else would do in my life craving – but I had no W30 tomato products in the house but tomato paste, and that’s not happening. I briefly considered picking around the corn and beans in the jar of salsa I had – but a: that’s cheating, b: that salsa wasn’t what I wanted, and c: the bean and corn to tomato ratio was too high.

And since I’m lazy and it was arctic cold out, I decided to rough it out with what I had in the house. I’m happy to report, that while this dish isn’t beautiful – it did fit the bill.

Almost-As-Good-As-Having-Salsa Sweet Potato Bowl

1 medium sweet potato, baked (pierce with fork, bake @400 for 45 minutes – bake a few at once so you don’t have to go through that drama again when you want a quick dinner)

1/2 an avocado

1 tsp. aleppo pepper

2 tsp. lime juice

pinch cumin

pinch garlic powder

pinch onion powder

1 burger patty

Reheat your sweet potato under the broiler if it’s a leftover; bake if not. While that is working, cook your burger to your liking – I do 3 minutes per side in a medium-hot pan.

When the potato is done and cool enough to handle, slip the skin of however you can. Add to a bowl and mash. Add the avocado and spices and mash some more.

Top with the burger patty and go to town.

Serves 1 for dinner

Double Beef Winter Chili

January 19, 2014December 29, 2014RecipesLeave a Comment

There’s nothing better than coming home to a big bowl of beefy chili come winter. This slow cooker version uses root vegetables for bulk and some added umami-rich boosters for extra flavor. Whole30 compliant and delicious.

Double Beef Winter Chili

1 pound grass fed stew beef
1 pound grass fed ground beef
4 parsnips (about 1 pound)
2 carrots (about 2 cups)
4 stalks celery
1 small onion
4 cloves garlic
2 (15 ounce) cans diced fire roasted tomatoes – with or without chiles (I used Muir Glen)
2 Tbsp. Red Boat fish sauce
2 Tbsp. coconut aminos
4 Tbsp. chili powder
1 Tbsp. cumin
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. chipotle powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
3 big pinches Kosher salt
2 tsp. black pepper

Brown your beef(s) and add to a 6 quart crockpot when done. Chop the parsnips, carrots, onion and celery into roughly half-inch pieces and add to the pot when done. Chop the garlic and add. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine, adding a can of water if your mixture looks dry.

Set on low for 8 hours and go to work. Come home and enjoy!

Arugula & Orange Salad with Pulled Pork and Tomato

January 17, 2014December 29, 2014RecipesLeave a Comment

This salad came about because, here in January, I couldn’t stand not eating tomato any longer. Enter Fresh Direct. They tempted me with a beefsteak tomato – that while fairly costly, was actually fresh and actually tasted like tomato. Not sure if it was hot house (there was no mention in the description and it certainly didn’t taste like it), magic fairy house, or teleported from somewhere warm – but it was delicious. Just the breath of warm I was craving.

I ate this for lunch on my second day of Whole30 Take 2 – and didn’t feel deprived in the least.

Arugula & Orange Salad with Pulled Pork and Tomato

2 cups arugula
1 tomato – I used a big beefsteak
1 orange – I used a Cava Cava orange, which was delicious – blood orange would also be great here, or clementine — any orange with a lot of taste
2 Tbsp. gremolata
2 tsp. grapeseed oil
4 ounces leftover pulled pork

Supreme (cut off the outer rind and slice out each wedge individually – for video instructions, click here) your orange and cut the pieces into bite-sized chunks.

Cut the tomato into bite-sized chunks.

Warm your pork if needed.

Chuck the arugula, pork, tomato and orange into a big bowl and toss to combine.

Sprinkle with gremolata, the juice from the orange middle, and grapeseed oil.

Serves 1 for lunch.

Roast Broccoli with Gremolata and Anchovy Oil

January 11, 2014Recipes2 Comments

This is a nice little dish – and easy to make. It takes boring old broiled broccoli and kicks it up a notch for an indulgent feeling weeknight side.

Roast Broccoli with Gremolata and Anchovy Oil

2 heads broccoli
1/4 cup almonds
2 Tbsp. parsley
Zest of 1 lemon
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 Tbsp. anchovies
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
Drizzle olive oil
Salt & pepper for sprinkling

Set your oven’s broiler on high and line a baking sheet with foil. Break down the broccoli into florets and half inch pieces of peeled stem. Lay in a single layer on the cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Slide into the oven and broil 15 minutes, flipping halfway through, until deeply browned and crispy in spots.

Start the anchovy oil. This component is optional, but I really liked it. Put the 4 Tbsp. olive oil into a small pan over medium-low heat. Dice the anchovy and add to the pan. Sautée gently until the rest of dinner is ready, adding the red pepper after 5 minutes or so.

While the broccoli & oil are working, toast the almonds in a dry pan. When browned, chop fine and add to a small bowl. Chop the parsley and garlic fine and add to the almonds. Add the lemon zest and salt and set aside.

Serve the broccoli topped with Gremolata and anchovy oil. Serves 2 for dinner, with leftover Gremolata.

Beer Cheese – aka ‘Man Dip’

December 30, 2013Recipes2 Comments

So… this recipe isn’t healthy, and it sure isn’t paleo. But it *is* tasty, and it *did* make a great ‘manly’ dip for my hubby’s UFC PPV viewing party. I’m glad I was out to dinner with my best friend who just happened to be in town – I have a feeling I would have had an aching stomach from eating too much dairy had I been there.

Beer Cheese – aka ‘Man Dip’

1/4 pound extra sharp white cheddar cheese
8 ounces cream cheese (the full fat stuff)
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. onion powder
4 ounces beer (I used Sixpoint Diesel brown ale, but your favorite beer will do just fine)

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pot over medium heat. Stir fairly continuously until the cheeses are melted; once the cheeses are melted and look like a gross gloopy mess, whisk to break up the lumps until you get a nice glossy mixture. If your cheese isn’t liquid enough, add a few more splashes of beer and whisk to combine.

Serves a bunch – makes a small bowl full

Dairy-free Irish Cream Liqueur

December 23, 2013December 23, 2013Recipes1 Comment

This recently-unearthed gem is something my family has been making for holiday get-togethers since at least the late 70s. I remember my mother gleefully bringing this handwritten prize home from my great aunt’s house and making batches upon batches for holiday gifts.

I am happy to say that a dairy-free, updated version is tasty enough to gift as well.

Dairy-free Irish Cream Liqueur

3 large eggs
1 1/4 cup brandy
1 14 ounce can coconut milk
1/4 cup honey
1 3/4 cups almond milk
1 Tbsp. Cacao powder
1 1/2 Tbsp. Instant coffee
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract

First, make some paleo-fied sweetened condensed milk. Add the coconut milk to a small pan over medium high heat and heat to boiling. Quickly whisk in the honey and cut the heat to a simmer. Watch your milk carefully – coconut milk boils over as easily as cow milk.

Simmer 30-45 minutes, or until the liquid reduces by half. Cool completely before using.

Combine the paleo-fied sweetened condensed milk with the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

Makes about 5 cups. Store in the refrigerator, tightly covered. Keeps up to 1 month. Shake before serving. Cheers!

Excellent alone, in coffee, in a milkshake, with cereal, and blended with ice.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: