Whole30 Day 15: Sausage and Veggies

Super easy! This is especially nice when the heat has zapped you of all your energy but you have a lot of veggies in the fridge that need to be cooked.  You can use what ever veggies you want!

Ingredients:

• brussel sprouts, halved
• broccoli, chopped
• onion, rough chopped
• carrots, cut in 1" chunks
• chicken apple sausage - I used Applegate - cut into 1" chunks
• oregano
• thyme
• salt 
• pepper

Directions:

1. Toss all the veggies together in EVOO or ghee or oil of your choice
2. Season with salt and pepper + any other seasonings you like
3. Pour into a baking dish and bake at 400˚F for 10 min.
4. Add sausage, stir together
5. Return to oven and bake for 10 more min.

Whole30 Day 14: Roasted Chicken Thighs and Veggies

It's hot and I don't feel like spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  Even though I used my oven, this was quick and easy.

Ingredients:

• organic, free range chicken thighs
• green beans, trimmed
• baby heirloom tomatoes
• red onion, cut into chunks
• evoo
• salt, dried thyme, fresh rosemary

Directions:

1. heat oven to 375˚F .
2. combine all veggies and thighs in a bowl.  Add evoo and spices and mix evenly to coat all ingredients in oil.
3. Add ingredients to a baking dish putting thighs in first, veggies on top.
4. Roast for 30-40 minutes, until veggies are crisp and chicken is cooked through.

I added some sautéed mushrooms to my plate.  I'm the only one that likes them.

Directions:

1. Heat a big tablespoon of butter in a skillet and add mushrooms.  
2. Sauté at a medium heat until mushrooms are golden brown and caramelized.
3. Season with salt and pepper.

Baked Chicken

Photo: Joseph De Leo

So yum!  This is Haylie Duff's Baked Chicken! It's from People Magazine, November 3, 2013.  If you can tolerate dairy and like goat cheese, try her recipe.  I made mine without the goat cheese.  Also, I didn't make the shallot cream sauce because I didn't have shallots but if I did, I would use 1/2 cup water and 1 cup bone broth.  Next time...

Ingredients:

• 6-10 organic, free-range chicken legs or thighs (or 4 boneless breasts), skinned - we use Rosie Organic Chicken we find at Sprouts.
• sea salt
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 4oz package prosciutto, cut slices in 1/2 lengthwise

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F.
2. Season chicken pieces with salt and thyme.
3. Wrap prosciutto slices evenly around chicken.
4. Bake in a lightly greased baking dish for about 20-30 min (depending on the size of your pieces) or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165˚ and juices run clear.

While you're checking out Haylie's recipe, check out her blog, The Real Girl's Kitchen - so great!! 

Maple Thyme Roasted Carrots

Photo: Martha Stewart

Easy and pairs perfectly with almost everything.  We had them with my modified version of Nom Nom Paleo's Green Sliders.  Yum!

Ingredients:

• a pound of organic carrots, cut into 2" chunks
• 3 T pure maple syrup
• 2 T ghee or butter, melted
• 1 t fresh, chopped thyme
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
2. In a shallow baking dish mix all ingredients together.
3. Roast for about 20 minutes.

Sweet Potato Crust Pizza

Photo: Carly Johnson

 This is all that was left of the delicious pizza when mama got home! 

Photo: Carly Johnson

It even holds like a pizza!

I don't remember where I first heard about using a sweet potato for pizza crust but while I was avoiding FODMAPs and couldn't have cauliflower this seemed like a great alternative to the cauliflower crust pizza I've made in the past.  And it was!  In fact, I like this crust much better.

First, bake a large sweet potato at 350˚F for about an hour, or until soft.  Allow to cool then remove the skin.  You should have about 2 cups of flesh.

Ingredients:

• equal parts almond flour and sweet potato flesh
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 T combined fresh sage, thyme, rosemary, chopped
• 1 egg
• toppings
• tomato sauce or try my No-Mato Sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
2. Combine flour, sweet potato, baking powder, salt, spices, and egg until mixed well.
3. Spread onto a well greased pizza pan or prepared pizza stone
4. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. Add sauce and toppings.
6. Bake an additional 10 minutes.
7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing to firm the crust for holding.

If you're feeling ambitious, try California Cavegirl Kindra's version with butternut squash, sweet potato, and spaghetti squash.

Bacon Butternut Squash Soufflé

Thanks to PaleOMG for the inspiration for this one.  This would be a nice addition to your side dishes but also a great post-Thanksgiving creation using leftover mashed yams or sweet potatoes.

Photo: PaleOMG

Ingredients:

• 2 cups butternut squash, pumpkin, sweet potato, or yam, pureed
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 heaping tablespoon arrowroot starch
• 4 slices of bacon, diced
• 2 tablespoons bacon fat
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh sage, chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste
• butter
  

Directions:

1.    Preheat oven to 400˚F.

2.    Cook bacon until crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate with a paper towel.

3.    Add puree, 1T bacon fat, and egg yolks to the food processor. Puree until smooth, pour into a large bowl.

4.    Heat 1T bacon fat in a skillet over medium heat and add garlic and shallots.

5.    Cook until shallots are tender and translucent.

6.    Add shallots, bacon, arrowroot starch, herbs, salt and pepper to the bowl of puree and mix well.

7.    In a separate large bowl beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. With a spatula, fold egg whites into your squash bowl until no white streaks remain.

8.    Grease a glass baking dish with butter and pour in mixture. 

9.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Green Bean Casserole With Crispy Shallots

We usually pass up green bean casserole due to it's unhealthy ingredients.  This year it sounds good so I'm hunting for the perfect recipe.  Here's my version of The Urban Poser's recipe.

 

The Urban Poser

Ingredients:

1½ cups of Creamy Cashew Gravy*

1 lb haricots verts

2 large shallots

¼ cup coconut oil or ghee

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400˚F
• Blanch the green beans in boiling, salted water for about 2 min. Drain. If you are not going to bake green beans immediately, you will need to shock them in a bowl of ice water to stop them from cooking.
•  In a large bowl, combine the green beans and gravy. Transfer to a casserole dish and bake at 400˚F for about 20 min or until the gravy begins to bubble.
•  Meanwhile prepare crispy shallots.  Peel and slice the shallots into thin rings.
•  Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium/low heat until oil bubbles slightly. Reduce the heat to low, add the shallots and cook for 5 - 6 min or until they reach a golden brown color. Stir occasionally to ensure even browning.
•  Using a slotted spoon, remove shallots from the oil, drain well and let cool on paper towels until ready to use.
•  Remove green beans from oven, top with crispy shallots, and serve.

*Creamy Cashew Gravy

Ingredients:

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup homemade bone broth + ¼ cup

1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee

½ onion, chopped

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

½ tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried thyme

sea salt to taste

Directions:

• Soak the cashews for 4 hours then rinse and drain. Transfer to food processor 
• Sauté the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat, cook until caramelized.  
• Add onion & garlic to food processor with the cashews. Set the pan aside.
• Add 1 cup of broth to the food processor and blend until smooth.
• Pour the cashew mixture into the onions & garlic pan. Add the thyme and whisk the cashew mixture over a medium heat for a few minutes or until it thickens and darkens up a little bit.  Whisk constantly so that it doesn't burn.
• Whisk in the ¼ cup broth, lemon juice, and salt.  Stirring constantly, allow it thicken for a few minutes. 
  

Shepherd's Pie

We love Shepherd's Pie.  Just a few little tweaks and we can still enjoy this family favorite.

 

The bottom is organic, grass-fed ground beef and veggies du jour.

Cook the ground beef until there is no more pink then saute the veggies with the cooked ground beef.

Transfer beef and veggies to a baking dish.  To the skillet, and the yummy bits from the beef, add raw cream, oregano, and thyme.  Thicken the sauce with a little almond flour and add sea salt to taste. 

 Combine the beef mixture and the sauce and top with mashed cauliflower.  Add 3-4 teaspoons of grass-fed butter (we use Kerrygold) on top and bake at 350º for about 20 minutes until heated through and top is golden.

Kid rating: 2 thumbs up!

Enjoy!