Welcome to my recipe collection.

These recipes offer a delicious mix of new and old world flavors. From the kitchens of my mother and grandmother in Transylvania to the new fusion mixes from my home kitchen in Canada. I have been inspired by the fickle tastes of my children ( vegetarian, pescatarian or whichever way the wind may blow) and my desire to become healthier without compromising taste. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Leave me comments and your favorite recipes!

Thursday, April 19, 2018

SAUSAGE, KALE, AND SWEET POTATO SOUP


  •  2 tbsp olive oil
  •  1 lb ground turkey or pork sausage
  •  1 medium white onion chopped
  •  3 cloves garlic minced
  •  2 large sweet potatoes skinned and chopped
  •  10 oz sliced mushrooms
  •  5 cups chicken broth
  •  1 cup dry white wine*
  •  2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  •  1 tbsp dried basil
  •  1 tsp sea salt plus extra to taste
  •  1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
  •  3 cups roughly chopped kale
  •  2 tbsp freshly chopped thyme optiona
    1. For the Instant Pot:
    2. Select the saute function on your instant pot. Let it heat up (about 2 minutes). Add olive oil to coat the pot, and toss in ground sausage. Cook until almost cooked through, about 5 minutes. Add onion and garlic. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.
    3. Add sweet potatoes, mushrooms, chicken broth, wine, vinegar, dried basil, salt, and pepper. Secure the lid.
    4. Select manual and cook at high pressure for 8 minutes. Select cancel and use a quick release.
    5. Open lid and add kale. Let cook with lid open for another 3-4 minutes, or until kale is softened but not wilted. Add additional salt if needed. Garnish with fresh thyme and serve.
    6. For the Slow Cooker:
    7. Heat up a large skillet to medium high heat. Coat your pan with olive oil and add sausage. Cook for 5 minutes, then add in onion and garlic and cook another 3-4 minutes.
    8. Place sausage mixture in your slow cooker. Add sweet potatoes, mushrooms, chicken broth, white wine, vinegar, basil, salt, and pepper.
    9. Set your slow cooker to low and cook for 4 hours.
    10. At the end of 4 hours, add kale and stir. Let cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until kale has softened.
    11. Serve hot with fresh thyme.

    RECIPE NOTES


    *For a Whole30 approved soup, use 3/4 cup additional chicken stock with 1/4 cup white wine vinegar in place of the white wine.

QUINOA TABBOULEH


  • 1 cup Quinoa, rinsed
  • 2 cups water
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 red or orange bell pepper, finely diced
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cups tomatoes, diced
  • 1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and medium diced
  • 1 bunch mint, chopped
  • 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste
    1. Combine Quinoa and water in a medium saucepan.
    2. Bring to a boil.
    3. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook, covered for 15 minutes. 
    4. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. 
    5. Stir in olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper. 
    6. Cool to room temperature. 
    7. Add remaining ingredients except for the mint and parsley; mix well. 
    8. Cover and refrigerate at least one hour or up to 4 hours to allow flavors to develop. 

    9. Before serving, stir in the mint and parsley.

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI


  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 1 cup diced onion (about 1 medium onion)
  • 2 cans great northern beans (or other white beans), drained and rinsed
  • 1 (7-ounce) can diced green chilies
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 to 3 cups low sodium chicken broth

  • 1 cup frozen corn (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Add olive oil to the bottom of the slow cooker pot. Then add the chicken and the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours in the slow cooker.
  3. Remove the chicken breasts from the slow cooker once cooked through and shred. Then return the shredded chicken to the pot and stir to combine.
  4. Serve with shredded cheese, cilantro, sour cream, or other garnishes, if desired.

NOTES

If you don’t want a little bit of crunch from the onion, you can soften it first. Simply add the olive oil to a skillet and heat it up. Then saute the onion for a few minutes until it is softened. Scrape the skillet contents into the slow cooker pot, then add the other ingredients and carry on with the recipe as written. Add more or less chicken broth to bring the chili to your desired consistency.

PORK ROAST WITH MUSHROOM GRAVY


Ingredients

Instructions
  1. In the bottom of your pressure cooker, place cauliflower, onion, garlic, celery and water. Top with pork roast and season with sea salt & pepper. 
  2. Cook under pressure for 90 minutes if your roast is frozen, 60 minutes if completely thawed. Quick depressurize following manufactures directions.
  3. Carefully remove pork roast from the pressure cooker and place in an oven proof dish. Bake at 400 degrees while preparing the gravy, this helps to render the fat and crisp up the edges of the pork to be more like as if it was slow roasted.
  4. Transfer cooked vegetables and broth to your blender and blend until smooth, set aside.
  5. In your (dirty) pressure cooker (on the saute function) cook mushrooms in coconut oil until soft, roughly 3-5 minutes. Add blended vegetables and continue to cook on the saute function until it is thickened as desired. 
  6. Serve mushroom gravy over shredded pork. 


CHICKEN BUTTERNUT QUINOA STEW

INGREDIENTS


  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
  • 1 can (14-ounce) petite diced tomatoes
  • 3 cups chopped butternut squash (about 1 medium squash, peeled and seeded)
  • 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 to 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
  • INSTRUCTIONS

    1. In large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add the onion, oregano, and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until onion is softened.
    2. Add the broth, increase heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
    3. Add the chicken and boil until it is cooked through, about 7-10 minutes. (If you are using large pieces of chicken, I recommend cutting each piece in half to help it cook faster.) Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate and set aside.
    4. Add tomatoes, squash, and quinoa to the pot. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the squash is tender and the quinoa is cooked. If desired, mash up some of the squash pieces. 
    5. Shred the chicken and return it to the pot. Stir in the salt and pepper. Add more to taste, if needed.
    6. Stir in the chopped fresh spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until it is wilted. Serve warm.

    7. INSTANT POT

    8. Set Instant Pot to saute and add the oil. Once oil is hot, add the onion, oregano, garlic, and chicken (uncooked and diced); saute, stirring often, until onions soften, about 5 minutes. Then add the broth, tomatoes, squash, and uncooked quinoa. Cook for 5 minutes at high pressure, until squash is tender, chicken is cooked through, and quinoa is cooked. Use Natural Pressure Release for 2-3 minutes, and then use a Quick Pressure Release. Add salt and pepper, to taste. Add spinach and stir for a minute or two, until wilted. Serve warm.

PALEO REAL DEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

AUTHOR: 

SERVES: 1 dozen

INGREDIENTS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a food processor, cream the palm shortening, coconut sugar, honey, egg, and vanilla for about 15 seconds until smooth and fluffy.
  3. Add the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda and sea salt and mix again until combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl if needed in order to incorporate all of the flour. Pulse once or twice more.
  4. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
  5. Place golf-ball sized balls of dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or a SilPat. Using another sheet of parchment on top of the dough, flatten them slightly with the palm or your hand or a spatula. The cookies don’t spread much so create the size and thickness you want prior to baking them.
  6. Bake for 9-12 minutes, until slightly golden around the edges.

PALEO MEATBALLS IN MARINARA SAUCE

Ingredients

For the Meatballs:

  • 1 and 3/4 lbs ground beef 85% lean*
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
  • 3/4 tsp fine grain sea salt divided
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning blend**
  • generous pinch crushed red pepper adjust for spice preference
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley - optional

For the Sauce:

  • 1 - 28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil***
  • 1 - 14 oz can diced tomatoes with basil and garlic***
  • 1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
  • 1/2 medium onion chopped
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh garlic
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano leaves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • sea salt to taste
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Instructions

To Make the Meatballs:

  1. In a small bowl, mix together the almond flour, 1/2 tsp of the sea salt, onion and garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and crushed red pepper.
  2. In a large bowl, add the ground beef and sprinkle evenly with the remaining sea salt. Add the egg and almond flour mix (plus parsley if adding) and gently mix with your hands until the mixture binds and is evenly distributed. It's important not to work the meat too much or it becomes tough.
  3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat your broiler. Form the meat mixture into 20 meatballs and arrange on the baking sheet.
  4. Broil 2-4 minutes just to lightly brown and release a small amount of fat (this avoids an overly greasy sauce) and remove promptly.
  5. Add the meatballs to the slow cooker, leaving behind any rendered fat. Top the meatballs with all sauce ingredients and give a gentle stir (careful not to break the meatballs!)
  6. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, until meatballs are cooked through****
  7. Serve when ready to eat with anything you want and garnish with your favorite fresh herbs. Sweet potato noodles are a favorite (white sweet potato noodles are pictured) zucchini noodles, or simply your favorite roasted veggies, potatoes, or even eggs. I love to use the leftovers and sauce for variety in breakfast and lunch the next day!
  8. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to one month.

Recipe Notes

*You can use your favorite mix of ground meat as well
**I used this one
***I used this can of crushed tomatoes and this can of diced tomatoes - I recommend always adding extra basil and garlic if you use plain tomatoes.
****Each slow cooker is a bit different. I cooked mine for 4 hours, you can check at 3.5 hours if you can and adjust cook time from there, if necessary. Cook time should not be longer than 4.5/5 hours or meatballs will be overcooked and dry.