Lasagna with Eggplant "Pasta"

When starting out this recipe I wasn't so sure that I would enjoy eating lasagna that did not contain layers of ricotta or cottage cheese along with vats of mozzarella.  I WAS WRONG TO DOUBT.  If you get the meat and tomato sauce packed in with a lot of herbs you will mimic the flavor without needing the cheese.  I did add a little gouda cheese to the top though, to appease the members of my family that eat dairy :).  The key to even cooking here is cutting the eggplant nice and thin.  If you don't react well to eggplant (nightshade) you could sub zucchini slices.  You'll just need a bunch more of them unless you have one of those colossal zucchinis hanging around.

1 eggplant, peeled
1 pound grass fed ground beef
2 links of italian or andoullie sausage (really sausage of your choice)
1/2 onion, chopped small
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1.5 cups organic pasta sauce (I used half a 28oz can of Trader Joes tomato basil sauce)
      *Look for a sauce without added sugars and basic ingredients
1 teaspoon mixed italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon basil
salt and pepper
olive or coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Start by peeling the eggplant (you can eat the skin, but when you bake it like this the skin doesn't get that soft, and I prefer to skip the somewhat leathery texture it can have).  Then cut it into 1/4 inch slices, or thinner if you can.  Lightly salt and pepper the slices and let drain on a paper towel for 10 minutes.  This will bring some of the moisture out of the eggplant before baking, so your lasagna doesn't become all soupy. 

While the eggplant is draining, chop up the onion, garlic and add them to a skillet with 1 tablespoon oil.  Cook, stirring often, until onions are transluscent.  Then add in the ground beef and sausage.  Again cook, stirring often until there is very little pink left in the pan.  Then add in the pasta sauce, italian herbs and basil.  Mix all together and continue cooking another 2-3 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Coat the bottom and sides of a 9x13 inch baking pan with oil and cover the bottom with eggplant slices.  Try to cover as much surface area as possible.  I started out using the larges pieces and then took some of the smaller ones to fit in the corners, though it doesn't have to be perfect.  Cover the eggplant with about a third of the meat mixture and spread evenly.  Repeat two more times so you have three layers of eggplant and end with the meat mixture on top.

Pop that sucker in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.  If you aren't able to get the eggplant slices real thin you'll need to cook it for the full 30 minutes.  If you want to top it with cheese, add thin slices of cheese of your choice to the top and bake for the last 10 minutes.

Let the lasagna cool about 5-10 minutes before serving.  Since the eggplant slices don't cut the same as pasta noodles would, I used a sharp knife to cut through it and then pulled out slices with a spatula, that way it doesn't fall apart much.

Chicken with fancy mushrooms (or not) in a creamy sauce

Have any of you ever used chanterelle mushrooms? I work near a small family-owned market and one day heard one of the butchers rave about how much he loves these things and every year when they're in season he sautees a boat-load of them in butter and eats them just like this.  Okay, never having tasted them before, I hesitated (they cost a whopping $17-$20/pound!) but finally bought some when they went on sale the other day.  I ended up making this recipe in two versions...one with fancy mushroms and coconut milk, the other with cheapos and whipping cream.  I liked both versions, but preferred the whipping cream recipe.  Below is a picture of the recipe made with coconut milk, and the picture at the bottom of this post is with whipping cream.  I may get chastized for admitting this, but while I thought the chanterelle's were tasty indeed, I didn't think they were worth repeatedly paying that much for them.  Enjoy!

5 chicken drumsticks (why? they're cheap, but you could use any other piece of the chicken, you would need to adjust cooking time though)
1 yellow onion, sliced
1/2 pound mushrooms, cut in half (chanterelle or shiitake and button mushrooms)
2 cloves garlic, smashed
salt and pepper
1/2 can coconut milk or 1/2 cup whipping cream
tiny pinch of saffron** if using coconut milk, for whipping cream I used 1 tablespoon taragon
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Season the drumsticks with salt and pepper.  In a large saute pan heat the coconut oil over medium heat.  Add in the onion and garlic and cook 1 minute.  Add in the drumsticks and toss the onions around so the chicken hits the surface of the pan, not the onion.  Cook for 2 minutes on each side and then pour in the coconut milk and add the pinch of saffron, if using (if using whipping cream, don't add it in yet).  For both versions, add in the mushrooms now and cover, cooking another 10-15 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

*If using the whipping cream, follow the recipe as above, but do not add the coconut milk. Add in the mushrooms and tarragon after cooking for 2 minutes on each side of drumstick, cover and cook another 10 minutes.  Then once the chicken is just done, pour in the whipping cream and cook, uncovered, another 2-3 minutes to heat up the cream and bring it all together.

I ate this chicken along with a spoonful of the sauce, on top of a bed of fresh spinach leaves and a little chopped avocado.  I also added a small handful of pistachios on top of the whipping cream version for a change in texture. 

**If you are not familiar with saffron, I would just make the recipe as is and forgo it.  The recipe will taste great without it.  Saffron give off a bit of an earthy flavor that some people don't like, plus it's expensive also.  I'd hate you to spend $8 on a little jar of it and not like it!

Pork tenderloin with apples and onions

I am realizing with this post that it seems I'm on a pork kick lately.  I do eat a wide variety of meats but for some reason the recipes that are post-worthy tend to be of swine.  Hope all 5 of the people who read this site like pork! ;)  I took a recipe for pork tenderloin where you would normally bake it for about an hour, and cut it up into smaller pieces to cook over the stovetop so it wouldn't take as long.  It was a busy day and I was lazy, and I think it ended up tasting just as good.

2 lbs pork tenderloin, cut into 4-5 pieces of equal size (as close as possible)
1 whole onion, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons whole grain dijon mustard
2 teaspoons fennel seeds (crush them if you have texture issues, but keep them in because the flavor is awesome)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper
2 apples, cored and cut into 8 wedges each
2 tablespoons coconut oil

In a large saute pan over medium heat, add the coconut oil and melt.  Season the pork with salt and pepper, then add in the pork pieces into the hot pan and sear on all sides (about 1-2 minutes per side).  Once all sides are seared, cover and cook for 5 minutes.  While it's cooking, mix the mustard, fennel seeds and vinegar in a small bowl.  After 5 minutes, add in the garlic and onion slices, filling in the gaps around the pork pieces.  Pour in the mustard mixture, covering the pork with it.  Cover and cook another 5-7 minutes, until the pork is almost cooked through.  Then add in the apple slices and cover again, cooking 3-5 minutes or until the pork is cooked through.

I served it with some basic steamed broccoli.

Breakfast "Muffins"

It needs to be mentioned that I did not come up with this scrumptious snack.  Jason, a friend of mine from Mad Dawg Fitness told me about these muffins one day, and I knew I had to make them for myself.  I mean, they contain bacon.  SOLD.

12 pieces of applewood smoked bacon, nitrate/ite free if possible
6 oz mixed greens, chopped
12 omega 3 eggs
salt and pepper
thyme/basil/whatever spice you like in your eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the bacon in a saute pan over medium-high heat until cooked, but not crispy.  You want to keep the bacon somewhat soft so you can easily "mold" it to the muffin tin shape.  Drain the bacon on paper towels but reserve the leftover bacon grease in the pan. 

Chop the mixed greens into bite-sized leafs, like the size of small spinach leaves.  Then add into the saute pan with the bacon grease.  Season with salt and pepper and any other herbs you'd like.  Add a splash of water and cover, cooking over medium heat for about 8 minutes or until softened.  Remove from heat.

Oil a 12-cup muffin tin with olive oil.  (Oil the inside of the muffin cups and also the rims.  When you crack the egg on top, any egg touching the muffin tin will bake quickly and is hard to clean off afterwards.  If you oil the rims it just helps in clean-up).  Cut each slice of bacon in half, and place both halves in a muffin cup, covering as much surface area as possible.  Repeat with the rest of the bacon.  Then spoon in mound of cooked greens on top of each bacon slice.  You need to leave enough room to crack an egg on top without the egg spilling out too much.  Repeat with all of the cups.  Then crack and egg over each.  If some of the white spills out, take a fork and gently move the greens around underneath.  Sometimes if you move them around the white will seep down into the veggies and fit better.  Sprinkle each egg with a little salt and pepper.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until the egg is set.  Then let cool 5 minutes before taking them out of the pan.  I used a butter knife to cut around the edges and they came out pretty cleanly.

Pork with cider spices and mixed green/celery root salad

Yes, this is an adventurous dinner.  I saw the mulling spices in the store the other day and NEEDED to figure out how to use them other than in apple cider.  If you have a coffee grinder I think grinding them up a bit would be a good idea, otherwise you can do what I did and just scrape most of them off the pork after it's cooked.  The pork will soak up the spice flavor while cooking and you won't get the surprise of crunching down on a whole clove or piece of orange rind.  And on the salad front, I am a fan of the celery root. It's ugly, but it has a great subtle celery flavor without being too strong.

Oh, and please forgive the photo quality this time.  I misplaced my camera so these are taken with my phone.

Spinach/Celery Root Salad

1 bulb celery root, peeled
1/2 white onion, sliced thin
1 tablespoon coconut oil
4 cups fresh mixed greens, washed
1 avocado
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

To peel the celery root I just attacked the top portion of it with a regular vegetable peeler, and then cut off the skin from the bottom portion. They tend to have a lot of knobby ends and veins of what look like the outside skin; folding inside. Just cut these off and out to leave you with the white celery root.  Discard the green tops or use to flavor a soup or stock.

Once peeled, cut the celery root into matchstick pieces, or julienned. I cut the root into 8 pieces, then cut these into flat disk and then into matchsticks. Once it is all cut, add to a small saute pan along with the coconut oil. Heat over medium and cook 2 minutes. Add in the onion and cook until both are soft, another 5-7 minutes. The onion will get soft and the celery root will soften, but will still have a bit of a bite to it. This is ok.

Remove from the heat and place on a plate in your fridge to cool. Then cut the avocado into chunks and then toss into the mixed greens along with the almonds and cooled celery root mixture.


Pork:
2 lbs pork loin
2 tablespoons mulling spices (if grinding them I'd reduce this to 1.5)
sea salt and cracked pepper
1 large onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons coconut oil, divided

Cut the pork into managle pieces.  I cut mine into roughly 2x4 or 2x6 inches so they'd all fit in the pan.  Season both sides of the pork with salt and pepper, and then coat both sides with the mulling spices.

Then heat a large saute pan over medium and add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.  Evenly space the pork around the pan so they aren't touching.  If they're too squished, then cook the meat in 2 stages, adding half the onion at a time.  Cook the pork on the first side for 2 minutes before flipping (you want it to get brown).  Flip over and continue to cook another 2 minutes for the other side to brown.  Then add in the sliced onions and another 1 tablespoon coconut oil.  Cover the pan and reduce the heat to medium-low.  Continue cooking until the pork is cooked through, about another 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness of your meat.  Remove from heat and serve with salad.

I just used an oil and vinegar to dress this salad.  Simple and delicious.

Beef & Sausage Hash w/ apple and yams

(A.K.A. what I'm eating for breakfast this week).  A Paleo breakfast is probably not like the sugar-laden-food-stuff-flakes your neighbors are slurping out of a cold bowl every morning.  Rather than be put off by it being different, embrace it!  No, you can't pour this out of a cardboard box that's been sitting in your pantry for the last 4 months, but I'm thinking that's why it's awesome.

1 lb. grass fed ground beef (I use 85/15 but use whatever you prefer)
3 organic chicken/apple sausages (pick ones without sugar added and are preservative-free)*
1/2 -1 whole apple, diced small (use whatever you got, braeburn, granny smith, fuji...)
sea salt & pepper
**(Extras: diced onion, garlic)

2 small yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch rounds

Put the yams in a medium saucepan and cover with water.  Put on the stove-top on high heat until the water boils, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender - about 10 minutes.

While the yams are boiling, place the ground beef in a large saute pan and heat over medium heat.  Break the beef up a bit with a spoon or spatula.  While that's cooking, dice up the chicken/apple sausages and add them to the ground beef mixture.  Continue breaking up the meat and stirring while it all cooks together.  When there is almost no pink left to the ground beef, add in the diced apple, salt and pepper.  Cook an additional 2 minutes to soften the apple and then take off the heat.

By this time the yams should be tender.  Drain and let cool a few minutes.  You can either serve them whole along side the ground beef mixture, or cut them into small pieces and stir them into the ground beef, whichever you choose.  Lately I've been mashing them up into the ground beef when I eat it every morning.  It's just easier to eat that way.

* If using pre-cooked sausages just dice and go.  If your sausages are fresh (sweet!) then you can either cook them whole and then dice, or just open them up and add the sausage meat to the ground beef at the beginning (you will essentially just be adding "bulk" sausage then).

**This would certainly be tasty if you added some diced onion or garlic to the mixture.  I tend to go basic for breakfast because it's usually post-workout and I stomach the more basic foods better then.  Also, it's faster this way.

Sidenote: This will suffice for 5 days' breakfast.  I eat the same thing M-F for breakfast.  It doesn't bother me.  One the weekends I go crazy with some eggs or leftover steak!

Baked Apples

Apple pie is the quintessential fall dessert.  Growing up we would have apple pie with Thanksgiving dinner and we would all eat it for breakfast the following day...(that's normal, right?).  Fruit baked with sweet spices until soft and the juices ooze joy.  I always was the culprit who ate the filling out of the apple pie, so making baked apples seemed like a happy compromise...

2 apples of your choice (I used some from a local organic farm sans wax)
3 medjool dates
2 tablespoons raw, unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons creamed coconut (see bottom)*
3 tablespoons chopped pecans, plus a few extra for topping
1 scant tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Few shakes of nutmeg and ginger
Pinch of salt
coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the core of the apples with an apple corer.  I used mine to remove a little extra from the core of the apple to make room for more filling.  I pretty much doubled the amount of space.  If you feel the need, peel a strip from the apples at this point (I read this was so the apples don't burst in the oven, but I did one with/one without and they both broke a little at the bottom, so....you choose).

Chop the dates into small pieces and place in a small mixing bowl.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mash together with a fork until mixed well.  Then fill the apples with the mixture, packing it in well.  Coat the bottom of a small baking pan or pie plate with a little coconut oil, and place the filled apples inside.  Top the filled portion with a few more chopped pecans.

Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, cover the apples with aluminum foil and continue baking another 40 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving.  This recipe can be easily doubled.

**Creamed coconut is basically just the flesh of the coconut.  I found it in a health food store and it comes in small packages like this:

If you can't find it near you, just use equal amounts of unsweetened coconut flakes, though you may need to add a bit more dates or honey to give the mixture just a little more moisture.