Grilled Chicken in Chipotle Chorizo Sauce

I actually got the idea for this recipe from who else, Pioneer Woman.  Actually this didn't come from her originally, it was from the winner of a contest that she put on a while back.  This recipe is really good, but involves things like butter and cream which really boost the calorie count.  So I decided to put a Paleo-twist on this, and it turned out great and a lot healthier!  Some people may argue that chorizo isn't strictly Paleo, but it is basically specially spiced sausage, so for me, it counts.  Warning: this meal will be pretty hot and spicy, but if you top it with avocado (or cilantro would work too), you can cut the spice a bit. If you love heat, you can crank it up with extra chipotles.  But I am not big into spice, in case you didn't know. Here is what I did:

Grilled Chicken in Chipotle Chorizo Sauce
(serves 2-3)

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 3-4 T taco seasoning
• 1/4 lb chorizo sausage (bulk, or casings removed)
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 onion, cut into large chunks
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into large chunks
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• 1 c chicken broth/stock
• 1 avocado, sliced (garnish) 

Preparation
Coat the chicken breasts in about 2 T of the taco seasoning, and set them aside to "marinade" for a few minutes, or up to 2 hours if you have the time.  Grill your chicken breasts on medium heat for about 10 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

In the meantime, heat a skillet on the stove to medium-high heat and cook the chorizo until it is all browned.  Remove the cooked chorizo to a plate but leave any drippings.  Lower the heat to medium/medium-low and add the olive oil.  Toss in the red pepper, onion, and garlic and sautee until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the chipotle pepper (and some of the sauce if desired- the more, the hotter), and stir it all around for a few more minutes.  Add the chicken broth and remainder of the taco seasoning and cook the mixture for about 5 more minutes.  Pour the mixture into a blender (or use an immersion stick), and puree until smooth.  Pour the smooth mixture back into the pan and add the chorizo back in.  Stir it around and keep warm until ready to serve. 

To serve, slice the chicken breasts and lay them out on your plate.  Top with the chorizo and chipotle sauce mixture, and add some avocado slices on top.  I served this with some cauliflower rice, which also helped balance out some of the spice.  This was really tasty and definitely had a lot of flavor.  Try it for yourself and go for whatever spice level you like the best.  Enjoy!

Paleo Bruschetta Chicken

This recipe came about based on what I had left in my house the other day.  We had just been hosting some guests for a few days, and the house was basically cleared out of food, except for a few things (and of course I didn't want to go out to the store!).  I had a whole container of grape tomatoes, and a bunch of fresh basil, as well as some chicken, and I knew I could do something great with that.  Well, Pinterest to the rescue!  I happened to come across a pin for this recipe, and it fit the bill.  This was really easy and really delicious.  It was a bit hot in the house to bake in the oven, but I did it anyway, and it turned out great. Here is what I did:

Paleo Bruschetta Chicken
(serves 2-3)

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2-3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 - 1 c fresh basil leaves
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 c water
• 1 package grape (or cherry) tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion, sliced

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a blender (or use an immersion stick), place the garlic, basil, olive oil, vinegar, water and puree until smooth.  Place the chicken breasts into a baking dish and pour the basil mixture over top.  Top with tomatoes and onion and bake for about 40 minutes or until chicken is fully cooked.

This would be great served with one of my favorite pasta substitutes like spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles, or even cauliflower rice.  Try it for yourself, and enjoy!

Paleo Peach Cobbler

A few weeks back I made my Paleo Lemon Bars for the first time, and they were delicious.  I especially liked the almond crust, and I figured I could use that for other desserts too!  I really love peaches, especially in the summertime, so I decided to do a peach cobbler. I made this for my family, and everyone really enjoyed it.  Here is what I did:

Paleo Peach Cobbler
(makes 8 servings or so)

Crust:

• 1 c whole almonds
• 2 T raw honey
• 1 T coconut flour
• 1/3 c apple sauce (or 1 egg)

Topping:

• 4 peaches, sliced (about 2 cups, or use more if desired)
• 1/2 T raw honey
• 1/2 c whole almonds
• 1 T raw honey (additional)
• 1 T coconut oil

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Start with the crust.  Place 1 c almonds in a food processor and chop them up until they are in chunky pieces, not too much that they become like almond meal.  In a bowl, combine the chopped almonds, honey, coconut flour, and apple sauce until mixed well.  Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper and press the crust into the pan until it is all spread out and nice and even. 



For the topping, combine the peach slices with about 1/2 T honey.  Spoon the peaches onto the crust and spread them out evenly.  Finally, chop up another 1/2 c almonds in the food processor, the same way as for the crust.  Combine them with the additional 1 T honey and coconut oil.  Sprinkle that mixture on top of the peaches (it won't cover the entire top). Bake for about 30 minutes, until the peaches are bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

I allowed this to cool for a bit, but you could also serve it warm. If you are sticking to Paleo, this would be great with some whipped coconut milk.  Or else, you can serve it with some vanilla ice cream, which is a delicious combo!

I kept the leftovers covered in the fridge (if you have leftovers).  Feel free to really load up on the peaches- I think it could have been even better peachier.  Try it out and enjoy!

Pancetta-Wrapped Chicken Skewers

Have I mentioned that I love lemon?  Or that I love pancetta?  Well I do.  I love both of them.  A lot.  So I found this recipe on Pinterest and I had to try it. I mean, it's basically all my favorite flavor agents in a meal.  I also love cooking on the grill, especially since it is reaching 90 degrees here this week (which is pretty darn hot for this area).  So this was the perfect meal for tonight!  It is really simple but would definitely impress your friends and family, or just yourself!  Here is what I did:

Pancetta-Wrapped Chicken Skewers
(serves 2-3)

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1/2 lemon
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 t sea/kosher salt
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/2 t dried rosemary
• 3-4 oz. sliced pancetta

Preparation
In a large bowl, combine the zest and the juice of 1/2 lemon, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and rosemary.  Add the chicken chunks and allow them to marinade for 10-20 minutes.  Cut your pancetta slices in half so you have roughly the same amount of slices as you do chicken chunks.  Grab your skewers so you have them ready. Wrap a chicken chunk in a pancetta slice and slide it onto a skewer.  Repeat with all of the chicken. Mine filled up 2 skewers.

Grill over medium-high heat for about 8 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.  Slide them off the skewers and serve!

Like I said, this was super delicious, and of course Paleo-friendly.  A great summertime meal for sure.  I served the chicken with a nice spinach salad, and it was yummy.  I hope you try it out and enjoy!

Freezing Your Herbs

This idea is courtesy of Pinterest, of course. I have seen a bunch of pins about freezing your herbs for future use, so why not try it out?  I love to use fresh herbs, but they often end up going bad because I don't use them up fast enough. So this seemed like a good solution!  I read that you can do this with a bunch of different herbs, but the sturdy ones are best (thyme, rosemary, etc), but I haven't tried them all out yet.  I happened to have a bunch of fresh thyme on hand, so I tried it out with that.  This was easy, just a bit time consuming at first, but I am sure it will be worth it to save these herbs!  Here is what I did:

Preparation
Grab your herbs of choice, and chop them/stem them/whatever you need to do.  I took the thyme off the stem and chopped them up.  Place about 1 t into each ice cube square.  Fill the rest of the way with olive oil, like this:

Freeze the tray for a few hours, until the oil is completely solid.  Once it is totally frozen, you can remove the cubes. I admit, my tray was probably not the best for this project, and I had to use a knife to kind of wedge the cubes out.  They might pop out better if you have a better tray, or maybe since they are oil-based, they won't.  Try and see!  Store your herb cubes in a Ziploc in the freezer until needed!

I am excited about this new technique- now I can just pop these into whatever dish I am making that needs thyme.  Once I try this with other herbs, I'll share my results.  Try it for yourself!

Grilled Lemon & Thyme Mushrooms

I am always looking for interesting and tasty side dishes, especially ones I can cook on the grill! I found this idea on Pinterest and I was inspired to do my own version, but on the grill.  This way, there is almost no clean-up, and I keep the heat outside.  Of course, you can always bake this in the oven, if you want to make this in the wintertime rather than the summer.  Here is what I did:

Grilled Lemon & Thyme Mushrooms
(serves 2-3)

• 1 lb (or so) cremini (or white) mushrooms, sliced
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T fresh thyme, chopped
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• salt & pepper
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Preparation
Heat the grill to medium-high (about 400 degrees).  In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, thyme, and lemon zest.  Cut a large rectangle of foil and lay the chopped mushrooms in the center.  Drizzle half the olive oil mixture over top of the mushrooms.  Sprinkle salt and pepper all over.  Fold up the foil to make a little pouch. Here are the mushrooms pre-grill:

Cook for about 10 minutes on the grill. Remove from the grill, open the pouch, and drizzle the rest of the olive oil mixture over top.  Squirt the lemon juice over top as well.  If you eat dairy, this would be amazing with parmesan sprinkled over top too!

I served these with some sausages and a spinach salad.  Yum!  Try it out for yourself with whatever main dish you want.  Enjoy!

Almond Flour Pizza Crust (Paleo!)

Tonight I wanted to make one of our favorite pizzas, Steak Pizza.  I made this as a Paleo meal before, but instead of a typical crust I used portabella mushrooms.  Now, that was delicious, but sometimes you just want a nice crispy crust with your pizza!  So I decided to come up with a Paleo-friendly pizza crust.  This recipe is actually based off of my Paleo breadsticks recipe that I made before, as I used the same basic ingredients. The difference comes in the shaping and baking of the dough, of course.  It was pretty easy, and came out nice and crispy!  Of course, if you want a nice chewy/fluffy crust like you might get at Domino's, this won't be that.  But for a gluten-free crust, it is pretty darn good!  Here is what I did:

Almond Flour Pizza Crust
(makes one pizza)

• 1 1/2 c almond flour
• 1 t sea salt
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 T coconut flour
• olive oil (extra)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  In a bowl, combine almond flour, sea salt, and 1 T olive oil.  In a small bowl, whisk the 2 eggs together.  Add the whisked eggs to the almond flour mixture, and combine well.  The dough should get wet and sticky.  Add 1 T coconut flour, stir, and let it sit for a minute.  Then add another 1 T coconut flour, stir, and let sit for a minute.  The dough should be stiff and able to roll into a ball.

Prepare your baking surface.  I used a cast iron round pizza pan covered with parchment paper (foil on one side, parchment on the other).  You can use any kind of baking sheet, but I highly recommend you cover it with parchment!  Scoop your dough onto the middle of the pan, and use your fingers to spread it out.  It will be sticky, so I recommend you dip your fingers in olive oil periodically to keep the dough from sticking to them.  Spread it out as far as you can, and make it fairly thin.  It should fill the round pizza pan if you are using one.

Bake for 5 minutes with no toppings to allow it to crisp up. Then, add your sauce/toppings and bake for another 5 minutes. Since I did not use cheese (not Paleo!), I am not sure how that would affect the baking time, but it was perfect for just sauce and veggies. (Note: I am a failure at picture taking and forgot to snap one of the pizza crust before I added toppings... oops)

This crust is super yummy and was great with the Steak Pizza!  Here is our finished product- doesn't it just make your mouth water?!  Even without cheese, this pizza rocked.  Try this crust recipe with other pizza toppings too and see how you like it!!

Paleo Turkey, Bacon, & Avocado Wraps

Now that it is summertime and I am home all day everyday, I can experiment with lunches a little bit more.  I used to make sandwiches a lot, so now I like to make bread-free sandwiches. This is really easy and is really nutritious- just like a sandwich but with only the protein and veggies!  The only downside is that it may be a little messy and hard to eat, but I'm at home, so who cares!  Don't worry, I'm sure you could bring this type of wrap to work too.  Here is what I did:

Paleo Turkey, Bacon, & Avocado Wraps
(serves 1 or 2)

• 6 (or so) slices deli turkey
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1 hard boiled egg, sliced/chopped
• handful spinach
• 2 slices cooked bacon

Preparation
Lay out the turkey slices so they are overlapping a little.  I used 3 turkey slices per "wrap" and made 2.  Layer all the toppings on the turkey, roll up (as best you can), and eat!

This is really easy and you can add/subtract any veggies you want.  If the wrap is too hard to eat nicely, just turn the same ingredients into a salad with the spinach as the base.  Enjoy your lunch!

Spicy Grilled Pork Chops with Cucumber Melon Salsa

This is a recipe I have made before, and I realized that it actually is Paleo-friendly too! I love the combination of spicy pork and a sweet salsa, and this meal definitely fits the bill. I got the recipe inspiration from this site, but instead of doing a whole pork loin, I like to use pork chops.  This rub makes the pork chops super delicious, and by cooking them on the grill, you get that great flavor too.  This is another really great summertime meal!  Here is what I did:

Spicy Grilled Pork Chops with Cucumber Melon Salsa
(serves 2-3)

• 2-3 pork chops (I prefer boneless, but bone-in is fine)
• 1 1/2 T paprika
• 1/2 T garlic powder
• 1 t oregano
• 2 t thyme
• 1/4 t cayenne pepper
• 1/4 t kosher/sea salt
• 1/4 t cumin
• 1/4 t black pepper
• dash of ground nutmeg
• Cucumber Melon Salsa 

Preparation
Combine all of the spices in a bowl.  Coat the pork chops front and back with the rub.  Make sure they are totally covered!  Allow the chops to marinade in the rub for 15-20 minutes, or even longer if you plan ahead (I did not...). Cook the chops on the grill over medium-high heat for about 7-10 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. 

Serve these topped with your delicious cucumber melon salsa.  That's it!  So easy and so yummy!

I served this alongside another really great side I have made before, my Avocado-Bacon-Cilantro Salad which was fabulous. This meal was really delicious and I would highly recommend you try it out!

Cucumber & Tomato Herb Salad

I have actually made this delicious salad before, but this time I made it Paleo!  This is another one of those wonderful Pioneer Woman inspired recipes, but I did make some changes from her original.  This is a great summertime side, and it will go great with a lot of meals.  It is also super quick and easy to put together.  This recipe is enough for just the 2 of us, but I have also made it for more people- just double or triple the recipe!  Here is what I did:

Cucumber & Tomato Herb Salad
(serves 2-3)

• 3-4 ripe tomatoes
• 1/4-1/2 cucumber
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 T raw honey
• salt & pepper
• 6 (or so) basil leaves

Preparation
Chop up the tomatoes into chunks- I got about 8 chunks per tomato.  Chop up the cucumber into chunks- I sliced it and then quartered each slice.  Put them all into a bowl.  In a small bowl (or I just use a measuring cup), pour in the olive oil, vinegar, honey, and salt & pepper.  Mix it with a small whisk until it is all combined.  Pour the mixture over the cucumber and tomatoes.  Stir it all up.  Finally, chiffonade the basil leaves, and gently toss them with the salad.  Cover the bowl and refrigerate it for a few hours until you are ready to serve.  You could serve right away, but the longer it marinades, the better!

I served this salad with burgers (bun-less, of course) and it was a great side!  You should definitely try it out, and of course you can change up the veggies and herbs however you want (or with whatever is on hand).  Enjoy!

Paleo Lemon Bars

I have been meaning to make these lemon bars for a while now, but I just haven't gotten around to it.  Until today!  We are all about lemony things right now, I guess because the weather is FINALLY summer-like and it just feels like a good time to indulge in lemons!  I found this recipe when searching online, and it seemed like the best one out there.  I halved the original recipe though, partly because they are just for 2 of us, but mostly because I was totally unprepared today and only had 3 eggs in my fridge.  I know, I typically have at least a dozen at all times, but I wasn't planning to go back to the grocery store until tomorrow, and I ran out!  Fail.  Oh well, I made a couple adjustments and made the recipe work for me.  They were pretty easy to make, as long as you have all the ingredients and you don't need to send your husband out for more lemons halfway through because you spill all your lemon juice.  Yeah, that happened.  Anyway... here is what I did:

Paleo Lemon Bars
(makes about 12 small ones)

Crust:

• 1 c raw almonds
• 2 T raw honey
• 1 T coconut flour
• 1/3 c apple sauce (or 1 egg)

Lemon Topping:

• 3 eggs
• 1/2 c fresh lemon juice
• zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 c raw honey
• 1/4 c coconut oil
• dash of sea salt
• unsweetened coconut flakes for topping (optional) 

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put almonds in a food processor and pulse until you have small chucks/bits.  In a bowl, mix the almond bits with the honey, coconut flour, and apple sauce.  Line a 9x9 baking dish with parchment paper (I used the kind that has foil on one side to easily press into the dish) and spread your mixture evenly on the bottom of the dish, pressing it down so it is compact.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly brown.  Put it aside and let it cool.

While the crust is baking, start on the topping.  In a saucepan, whisk together eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey, and sea salt over medium heat.  As it starts to heat up, stir in the coconut oil and stir until it is melted.  Continue to whisk the mixture over medium heat until it thickens. Once it starts to look/feel like pudding (nice and thick), remove from heat and let it cool.

Once the crust and topping are both about room temperature, pour the topping over the crust and sprinkle the coconut on top. Place the pan in the freezer to let it set and harden.  This will take about an hour.  Once it has set, take it out, cut into bars, and enjoy!  I took the parchment out of the pan and cut them on a board on the parchment. Store them in the fridge for best keeping.

These are really delicious, and they are definitely very lemony.  The combination of the crunchy crust and the tangy lemon pudding is perfect.  They are a great summertime dessert, and I would recommend them as a clean-eating delicious treat!