Mojito talapia salad

This salad and mojito were light and refreshing and well deserved after the mess I made making it. When I made it I spilled the marinade all over myself and the soda water exploded when I made the mojtio. It was a mess.





Mojito Marinade
INGREDIENTS
2 cloves of garlic chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup rum
1 tablespoon freshly grated lime zest
2 limes juiced
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher

PREPARATION
Place garlic, mint, rum, lime zest, lime juice, honey, oil and salt in a food processor. Pulse. Pour the marinade 1-gallon sealable plastic bag for marinating. Add protein and marinate in the fridge for an hour.

Grill or bake your protein. Then add it to the salad

**I used talapia I baked it in foil for 40 mins at 350 degrees.

Salad:
2 cups lambs lettuce
1/4 cup mint
1/2 cucumber chopped
Strawberries, chopped

Lime and olive oil to dress the salad


-- Katy

Fudge Babies

I am obsessed with fudge babies. The name actually grosses me out. Makes me think of sea biscuits and dropping the kids off at the pool. The taste is amazing! They remind me of chick-fil-a brownies. If I could find a paleo recipe for some icedream I would be in heaven.
Although they are gluten free and have no added sugar I would still consider them a paleo cheat.

Ingredients:

1 c walnuts
1 and 1/3 cups pitted dates (I like Medjools)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons cocoa powder, depending on how chocolaty you want your balls to be
Directions:

1. Chop/blend all the ingredients, using a food processor, Magic Bullet, etc.

2. Roll into cutey-pie little balls. (Use plastic wrap if you need to.)

3. Pop them in the fridge if they are too doughy

You can mix up the nuts for your balls...
You can find a variety of baby recipes here:
http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/baby-making/


-- Katy

Tuna Tartare

I made this last night and it is so good! It is somewhat of a ceviche, but the tuna remains pretty rare.
I adapted it from http://humblegourmand.com/recipes/tuna-tartare/

Ingredients:

12 oz. sushi-grade ahi tuna steak, diced into 1/2" pieces
1 ripe Haas avocado, diced
1 large jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 medium red onion, diced
1 medium cucumber, diced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or put through a press
Juice from 2 limes
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients except fresh lime juice in a bowl. After mixing, squeeze the juice over the mixture and let it soak in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

-- Katy

Butternut Squash Soup

This certainly wasn't my favorite paleo dish (but I'm kind of biased since I'm not much into soups in the first place), but it hit the spot one cold night while curled up in bed watching a movie with Coleman. I'd never had butternut squash before, but he'd insisted on buying two the last time we went to YDFM and this seemed an easy enough recipe to gamble some wasted time on if I didn't like it. (Recipe adapted from one found on Paleo Mama's Cave Chick Cuisine.)

Ingredients:

Soup:
1 large butternut squash
32-oz. box of chicken stock
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. corriander
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup coconut milk

Seeds:
seeds from the squash
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. paprika

Directions:

Split the squash lengthwise and pull out the seeds and pulp (much as you would with a spaghetti squash). Set the seeds aside for later use.

Spread a tsp of evoo on a foil-lined baking sheet and place the squash flat-side down on the sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Once the squash is soft and caramelized, remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Flip over the halves and scoop out the center (the original recipe suggested an ice cream scoop, but a regular spoon worked just fine).

Put into a stock pot and add chicken stock and spices. Puree the squash into the broth - you can either use a stick blender if you have one or do as I did and puree it in batches in a regular blender. You're looking for a creamy consistency here, so make sure to break up any large chunks. Cook over medium heat until soup is warmed throughout.

While your soup is heating, wash the goop off the seeds and pat dry. In a bowl, combine seeds with garlic powder, salt, pepper and paprika. Spread out in one layer on a lightly greased (more evoo) baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Once soup is throughly heated, stir in 1/2 cup of coconut milk. Garnish with the toasted spiced seeds. As could be expected, I added some crumbled bacon as well. Great mix of flavors.

Pasta with chicken and sundried tomato pesto

Pesto:
4 large basil leaves
1 cup walnuts
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1 T lemon juice

Blend in food processor

Pasta:
4 cherry tomatoes diced
1/4 cup sliced baby bella mushrooms
6 oz. Diced chicken
1 T butter
1 large zucchini julienned
Pesto

Sauté cherry tomatoes and Bellas in olive oil. Add cooked chicken and pesto. Add butter and zucchini. Stir until warm. Eat!




-- Katy

Banana Muffins

Gluten Free Banana Mini-Muffins
3 cups almond flour
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup olive oil
3 eggs, whisked
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 bananas mashed
In a large bowl, mix together almond flour, salt and baking soda
In a smaller bowl, combine agave, olive oil, eggs and vanilla, then stir in bananas
Mix wet ingredients into dry
Place batter in mini muffin tins
Bake at 350° for 15 minutes
Remove from oven and allow to cool


-- Katy

Do you know what this pork needs? Some bacon

Bacon Wrapped Pork
Cook Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin, cleaned and trimmed
5 slices of applewood bacon
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
1 teaspoon of Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1 teaspoon dried crumbled leaf basil
1/2 teaspoon dried crumbled leaf oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
olive oil
3 apples sliced
nutmeg

Preparation:
Combine garlic powder, seasoned salt, basil, oregano, and black pepper; rub seasoning all over the pork tenderloin.
Wrap pork with bacon and secure with toothpicks.
Take your olive oil and coat well.
Add sliced apples to the sides and top of the pork and sprinkle with nutmeg.
Place in a 9x13 pan and bake uncovered in a 375 to 400 oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until pork reaches about 155°.
Remove and wrap in foil. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. This pork tenderloin recipe serves 2 to 4.
-- Katy