recipes – Page 42 – Gastography

Indiany Beef Bowl with Zucchini, Eggplant and Leeks

August 30, 2014December 29, 2014Recipes1 Comment

I’ve gotten stuck on vaguely Indian-spiced bowls of beef + tons of CSA veggies lately. I partially blame this place and it’s Chipotle-like bowls of meat + lettuce + toppings awesomeness.

This dish started out as a semi-sincere rip of their beef keema salad bowl, which is enchanting. And then I got to tinkering/looking into the fridge to see what CSA veggies needed eating immediately before I went to pick up the new batch.

And a new franken-bowl was born.

Gluten-free, paleo, Whole30 compliant

Indiany Beef Bowl with Zucchini, Eggplant and Leeks

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 large onion (about 1 cup diced)
1 green bell pepper
1 bunch leeks (about 2 cups sliced)
Roasted eggplant (about 1 cup “guts”)
1 medium zucchini
2 cloves garlic
6 cloves
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 Tbsp. garam masala
Fat Of Choice
Salt & pepper
Juice of half a lime

First, prep your aromatics. Clean your leeks, halve length-wise and slice into thin moons. dice your onion. Chop the garlic.

Heat 2 Tbsp. Fat Of Choice (I used ghee) in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the aromatics and cook, stirring frequently, until the leeks have softened and the onions are translucent.

While that is cooking, grab your spices and beef.

When the aromatics are ready, add your spices + liberal pinches of salt and black pepper and stir to combine. Let cook until fragrant (about a minute).

Add the beef and cook until just browned, breaking up and stirring frequently as you go.

While the beef is working, chop the pepper, zucchini, and eggplant.

When the beef is just browned, add the veggies and stir to combine. Let cook, stirring frequently, 10 minutes or until the veggies are soft. Taste for salt & pepper and adjust as necessary. Turn the heat off and hit with the lime juice.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.

To make roasted eggplant: Place a large foil-lined sheet about 6 inches under your broiler. Poke your eggplant (I used skinny purple Japanese and streaky purple & white varieties) with a fork a few times and broil until blackened (5 or so minutes, depending upon the size of your eggplant). Flip and blacken until the whole thing is black and yields to a poke – you want no resistance left but not a fiery mess. Let cool and peel the burnt skin. Save for a bunch of applications.

Sausage, Chard & Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Peppers

August 23, 2014December 29, 2014Recipes1 Comment

Mmmmm…. stuffed peppers. When the CSA gives you pepper abundance, I can’t think of a better use of one or three than as a little bowl for some meaty goodness. Yum.

Gluten-free, paleo, Whole30 (if you use compliant sausage)

Sausage, Chard & Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Peppers

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 bunch swiss chard
1 (14 ounce) can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 onion (about 1 c. chopped)
Sun-dried tomatoes (about 1/4 c. chopped)
3 bell peppers
Coconut oil
Salt & pepper
2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano

Preheat your oven to 450 F. Chop your onions and garlic.

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. coconut oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is translucent.

Add the sausage, slipping them out of their skins, and cook, stirring and breaking up the links, until browned.

While the sausage is browning, slice the chard into ribbons and chop the sun-dried tomatoes. Halve your bell peppers lengthwise and pull out the seeds.

When the sausage is ready, add the chard, hit the mixture with a liberal pinch of salt and pepper, and add the basil and oregano. Cook, stirring frequently, until the chard is wilted.

Add the canned diced tomatoes and stir to combine. Let cook 3-4 minutes.

Add the sun-dried tomatoes and stir to combine. Taste for salt and add if needed. Sautee an additional 5 minutes.

Stuff the mixture into your pepper halves and bake 20 minutes or until the peppers are soft.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.

Unstuffed Indian-Spiced Eggplant

August 16, 2014December 29, 2014CSA Shares, RecipesLeave a Comment

This past week, I was ~~plagued~~ blessed with a ginormous eggplant. How ginormous? Bigger than my freaking head. I happen to like eggplant, but my DH? Not so much. The last time I made him eggplant that wasn’t blended to obliteration or diced and fried, the poor guy put a bite into his mouth and it tumbled out toddler-style. The texture of any type of summer squash is tricky for him – eggplants quadruply so. But, we love CSAs. So I have to get tricky. This dish circumvents the eggplant sponginess by first baking it (like you would if you were making baba ganoush) and mixing it into the finished dish until it is almost indistinguishable from the rest of the ingredients. Win!

This is not a quick meal. If you are looking for a quick dinner, make the eggplant a day ahead. Bonus: if you have a bunch of eggplant, cook up a whole tray – eggplant “guts” can be used in a bunch of different dishes – like, say, this pasta sauce or Strange Flavor Eggplant dip).

Gluten-free, Paleo, and Whole30-compliant

Unstuffed Indian-Spiced Eggplant

1 Italian eggplant (the blackish purple kind)
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 an onion (about 1/2 a cup chopped)
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp. granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground coriander
2 tsp. ground cumin
Salt & black pepper
1/2 cup cashews
1 bunch kale
1/2 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
Citrus

Cut the eggplant in half length-wise and salt. Let hang out in a colander 1 hour to release a bit of juice and kill the bitterness. Preheat your oven to 350 and prep a baking sheet with tinfoil.

Bake, face up, until soft and slumpy (about 20 mins – 1 hour, depending upon how large your eggplant is).

While your eggplant is working, tackle the stuffing. In a large pan, heat the coconut oil. Add the onions and sautee, stirring, 1-2 minutes or until they just start to go translucent. Add the beef and cook, breaking up into smaller and smaller bits, until mostly broken up. Add the spices, along with a few cracks black pepper and generous pinches salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned.

While the beef is going, crunch your cashews up and slice your kale into ribbons.

Now would be a great time for your eggplant to be done. When it is slumpy and soft, scoop the “guts” out.

Add the eggplant guts, cashews and kale to the pan with the beef and stir to combine until the kale starts to wilt and everything fits into the pan without spilling all over the stove.

Add the coconut milk, stir to combine and taste. Add more salt/spice if needed. Cook 5-7 minutes, or until most of the liquid has evaporated. Finish with a sprinkle of citrus (I used the juice of 1/2 a lime). Serve.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.

Chicken & Kale Zucchini Skillet with Harissa

August 9, 2014December 29, 2014CSA Shares, RecipesLeave a Comment

Yay for recipes that use up a chunk of my weekly CSA haul + contain protein. This recipe came about from a Google search for zucchini + kale. I stumbled upon this great looking zoodle/chickpea/harissa/egg combo and altered it to fit my non-chickpea-eating, protein-desiring dinner needs.

Gluten-free, paleo, whole 30 (check your labels!), easily made ovo vegetarian (just omit the chicken)

Chicken & Kale Zucchini Skillet with Harissa

1 lb. chicken thighs
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
4 cloves garlic
1/4 c. red onion
1 (14 ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
3 Tbsp. harissa (I used spicy Mina brand, which is W30-compliant)
1 Tbsp. cumin
pinch saffron (optional)
1 bunch kale
Zucchini (I used 1 huge pattypan squash – about 4 c. shredded)
1 egg per person
Salt & pepper

Chop your chicken into bite-sized pieces. Season liberally with salt & pepper and sautee on medium-high heat in the coconut oil until browned and cooked through.

While the chicken is working, prep the veggies. Shred the zucchini (I used the shredding blade on my food processor, but zoodles would be great here), dice the garlic and onion, and chop the kale into thin ribbons.

When the chicken is done, remove with a spoon and set aside. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and let sautee until just softened. Add the tomatoes, harissa, cumin, saffron, and a pinch of salt and pepper and let cook a few minutes.

Add the kale, stir, and let cook until the kale gets nice and wilted.

Add the zucchini and toss well to combine. Add the chicken back and let cook 3-5 minutes, or until the zucchini has softened a bit. Taste. Season with salt & pepper if needed.

Create little pockets for your eggs – 1 per person. Crack the eggs into the wells, cover the pan, and cook until the whites are just set (4-5 minutes).

Serve.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch (with 3 eggs).

Paleo Summer Squash & Almond Fritters

August 2, 2014December 29, 2014CSA Shares, RecipesLeave a Comment

Score! This recipe a: used up 2 big zucchini from my overabundant CSA squash stash, and b: was tolerated (possibly even enjoyed) by my poor, long-suffering zucchini-averse DH. I call that a success in my book. And, since it’s a relatively quick and delicate-tasting side that can be dressed a bunch of different ways, I’m calling this the LBD of zucchini dinners.

I think I’ll be making it a bunch throughout the rest of this squash season.

Gluten-free, paleo, whole30, ovo vegetarian

Paleo Summer Squash & Almond Fritters

2 large zucchini or other summer squash (I used overgrown pattypan squash)
Onion (I used 5 large red spring onions – bulbs and lower stalks only)
1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup parsley (this week’s CSA held curly parsley)
1 tsp. + sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 Tbsp. coconut oil

Shred your squash and add to a colander to drain. Sprinkle with sea salt and let sit 20 minutes to draw some of the water out.

Shred the onion while you’re waiting and add to a large bowl. Chop the parsley. Add the almond flour, egg, parsley, 1 tsp. salt and black pepper to the bowl.

When your squash is done hanging out, squeeze all the water you can from it and add 2 cups to the bowl. Mix well to combine and shape into patties. For this amount, I got 6 large patties.

Heat the coconut oil your largest skillet over medium-high heat. Once the hot oil has reached the temperature that a drop of water sputters when it hits the pan, gently add the patties – leaving room between each so they don’t steam. Cook 3-4 minutes per side, or until nicely deeply browned.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch as a side

Roasted Beet & Chard Greens aka “CSA Cleanup”

July 26, 2014December 29, 2014CSA Shares, Recipes1 Comment

Did you get a mess of beets in your CSA box this week? Want to know what to do with all those random greens? Roast them! This recipe saves beautifully and leftovers can be re-worked a million different ways. Just think of them like spinach. Would spinach be good here? Like, say, tucked into an omelette or as a nice burger topper? Yes? Use a hand full of these greens instead!

Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Paleo, Whole30

Roasted Beet & Chard Greens aka “CSA Cleanup”

A boatload of greens – I used the tops of 1 large bunch of beets + 1 bunch of rainbow chard (8 cups or so total)
Garlic – I used 10 cloves
Fat – I used a drizzle of olive oil because that’s what I had. Bacon fat would be luurvely here.
Salt & pepper
Optional: citrus juice or preserved lemon

Set your oven to 375. Prep your largest baking sheet with a foil liner.

Wash your greens and slice into inch or so thick ribbons. Arrange on the prepped baking sheet as evenly as possible.

Chop your garlic roughly and sprinkle over the greens.

Drizzle with fat.

Salt and pepper liberally.

Roast 20-30 minutes, or until the greens are slumpy and the garlic is beginning to brown.

Serve. These greens are fantastic with a shot of citrus juice or some preserved lemon.

Makes 2 huge dinner servings if you’re using these greens as the “bulk” of your meal or a bunch of little additions for other meals.

Franken Notato Salad with Sausages

July 19, 2014December 29, 2014RecipesLeave a Comment

It started with the best of intentions. I set out to make a nice little fauxtato salad – something along the lines of this one from Health-Bent. And then I started tinkering. There are a million different ways to make potato salad – and a million different flavor profiles to choose from – but when I think potato salad, I think of mustard and crunchy celery and hard boiled eggs and summer evenings spent picking bites of cold potato salad out of the fridge. And the deli potato salad from Food Lion. And Duke’s mayonnaise.

This is not that potato salad, but it filled a craving.

Behold: this ~~monstrosity~~ pile of yummy goodness. The franken salad. A dish that kind of tastes like a hybrid between german and Southern potato salads, but is definitely neither. This dish would be fantastic at a picnic or cookout, and is pretty freakin great on its own in a bowl for dinner.

Gluten-free, paleo and Whole30 compliant (check your labels/check with your butcher)

Franken Notato Salad with Sausages

2 large Hot Italian sausages
1 large fresh chorizo
Tokyo turnips (about 2 cups diced)
4 medium carrots (about 1 cup diced)
Half a Vidalia onion (about 1 cup diced)
2 hard boiled eggs
3-4 Tbsp. bacon fat
4 Tbsp. grainy mustard (I use Maille – check your label)
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. celery salt (check your label)
2 stalks celery
2 scallions
Optional toppers: olives, chopped garlic scapes, chopped parsley

First, get your eggs on to boil and prep your veggies. You want everything in a fairly small dice so it cooks nice and quick.

Uncase sausage and add to a large pan over medium heat. Cook, breaking the sausage up as you go, until browned. Remove from the pan and add to a large mixing bowl.

Add the bacon fat to the pan. Add the turnips, carrots, and onion. Sautee, stirring occasionally, until everything is softened and beginning to brown around the edges. (about 10-15 minutes)

While this is working, dice the celery and slice the scallions. Don’t forget your eggs, which should be finished sometime during this step.

Add the mustard, cider, celery, scallions, and celery salt to the sausage bowl and stir. When the veggies are done cooking, add those as well. Taste for seasoning and add more vinegar/salt as needed.

Chop your cooked, cooled and peeled egg and gently fold in.

Top with halved olives, chopped parsley and chopped garlic scapes if desired.

Serves 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch

Herbed Lemonade

July 12, 2014December 29, 2014CSA Shares, RecipesLeave a Comment

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to have a plethora of herbs leftover at the end of each CSA week. A bunch of herbs that are threatening to shrivel into blackened husks of their former selves; a whole bouquet of usingallthethings defeat. Welp, no more. I’ve found a cheap, fast and above all else, tasty way to use up a whole hand of herbs in one shot: lemonade.

I realize I’m not reinventing the wheel here, but I’m completely happy with my new evening sip. So far, I’ve done sage and chocolate mint and I’ve loved both. Sage was a surprising love – didn’t think that one was going to work, but it worked magnificently. And now I know what to do with a small bush of sage.

Safe for everybody but Whole30-ers – even vegans.

Herbed Lemonade

1 lemon
1 hand full of herbs
1-2 tsp. maple syrup
4 cups warm water (warm from the tap is fine – you want a little warmer than room temp, but not boiling)

Peel your lemon (I use a vegetable peeler) – you want large strips with as little pith as possible. Add to a bowl with the large hand of herbs. Add the water and let the herbs & lemon steep for 30 minutes.

Fish the herbs & lemon peel out and add to your storage vessel. Add the sweetener and all the juice from the lemon and stir.

Serves 4.

Apple Sage Turkey Burgers with Caramelized Onions (paleo)

July 5, 2014December 29, 2014RecipesLeave a Comment

Mmmm…. sage and turkey and apples. In summer. I got a massive bouquet of fresh sage in my CSA box last week and have been using it in pretty much everything – and since sage goes brilliantly with turkey & apples, I thought a quick and easy turkey burger was in order.

Gluten-free, Paleo and Whole30-compliant (if you omit the maple syrup)

Apple Sage Turkey Burgers with Caramelized Onions

1 lb. ground turkey (dark meat is best!)
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
2 Tbsp. minced onions
1 tsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. granulated garlic
1 Tbsp. Red Boat fish sauce
1/4 c. minced Fuji apple
Liberal sprinkles of salt & pepper
2 Tbsp. Fat of Choice (I used bacon fat)
Caramelized onions – optional – see recipe below
Ketchup for grownups – optional – recipe here

First, start your onions if you’re serving with caramelized onions. Second, prep your mise. Mince the apple and onion, and finely chop the sage. When your onions are about 3/4 of the way done, add all burger ingredients to a large bowl, mix well (hands are best), and form into 2-4 patties.

Heat your fat in a large pan over medium heat. Add the burgers and cook 5 minutes per side to ensure doneness. This is not the time for a medium-rare burger.

Serve with caramelized onions and Ketchup for Grownups.

Feeds 2-4.

Caramelized Onions

1/2 to 1 whole onion (any white variety will do)
1-2 tsp. Fat of Choice (I used coconut oil)
Big pinch salt
1/2 tsp. maple syrup

In a medium pan over medium low heat, add the fat and bring to a melt. While your fat is coming up to temperature, peel and very thinly slice your onion – I generally halve mine lengthwise first to make the slicing easier. Add to the pan, making sure to break the onion up as you toss it in.

Let cook gently 5 minutes or until just beginning to turn translucent. Add a liberal sprinkle of salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of maple syrup. Stir. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally to avoid burning, until the onions are deeply caramel colored. This is not quick. Allot a good 20/25 minutes to this process. The maple speeds it up a bit, but this is still not a speedy topping. It’s a labor of love.

Serves 2-4, depending upon how much onion you cut and how much you like on your burger.

Chile Dusted Summer Fruit

June 28, 2014Recipes1 Comment

This week’s recipe is not so much a recipe as a suggestion. After a tiring but great vacation, I just couldn’t bring myself to focus on the menu for last week – or on making something interesting and/or tasty enough to share with you guys. I made a bunch of thrown-together meals that were really simple and light- nothing terribly inspiring or particularly out of the box.

I still have a wicked fruit craving going on (it’s all I’ve wanted to eat the past 3 weeks) and am happy to say I’ve finally started branching out from the standard fruit in a bowl with nothing on it except for salt on melons. It turns out there *is* enough fruit existing in the summer that I *can* do something different and I won’t miss out. A good lesson to learn in one’s 30s.

This week, I experimented with chili powder + salt on a little mixed fruit salad and it was fan-freakin-tastic. And dead easy. Just sprinkle the spices and go. For a cup of fruit, I used 1/2 – 1 tsp. of chili powder and a liberal sprinkle (or two) of kosher salt.

Also fantastic: aged balsamic vinegar & cracked black pepper on fresh strawberries, mint on any fruit, cucumbers mixed in your fruit bowl, the possibility of basil making an appearance, and lime juice on pretty much all fruits.

The tomato harvest had better hurry up, lest I eat nothing but sweet fruit this season.

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