This quick, springtime dish both nourishes, fills, and delights.
Prepare marinade by whisking together nama shoyu, wine, sugar, arrowroot powder, ginger, garlic, and curry powder. Add steak slices to it and allow to marinate for as long as 6 hours or as short as the time it takes to chop the vegetables.
Heat oil in large pan on medium-high heat. Using tongs, add the steak and cook about 3 minutes. Add vegetables, remaining steak marinade, and coconut milk. Cook, stirring constantly, about 5 minutes or until the vegetables are soft but still slightly crispy. Sprinkle cilantro and pine nuts over the dish. Serve by itself or over a bed of rice.
Homemade pasta may seem like a lot of work, especially ravioli, but for me the benefit of knowing what is in the pasta and how it was prepared is enough for me to take the trouble. It is also a great way to get small children interested and involved in cooking.
To Make the Pasta:
Place flour in bowl, make a well and add the whey, eggs and oil into the well. Start by slowly mixing in the flour pulling in only as much as needed. You will want a stiff but pliable dough. It shouldn’t stick to the counter or our hands but should be easy to kneed and not break apart while kneading. Add more flour if necessary or water if needed. (I keep a spray bottle of water on hand and spritz the ball if needed. This places the water evenly on the dough and makes it easier to work in.) After the dough is the right consistency kneed a few time to “smooth” Let sit for 6-8 hours.
To make the Filling:
Brown meat, add spinach until wilted. Turn off heat and crumble feta into meat and mix.
Divide into 3rds and roll out pasta to 1/8 inch thick and 4 inches wide. Place 1 tsp filling in the center of one half (look at the picture for a visual) about 1/2 in from short end. place filing along side 1/2 inch apart. Place a egg wash on half the short ends and length of pasta then between the filling, fold over the non filling side and press the pasta around the filing getting out as much air as possible. If there are large air pockets it can blow a hole in the pasta while cooking making the filing come out.
You can either cook right away or freeze for later.
To freeze:
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place ravioli on sheet in a single layer and freeze. Once frozen place in a air tight container.
When ready to cook:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, remember there is no salt in the pasta so all the flavor will come from the water. How big the pot is and how much water will depend on how many you will be boiling. Place ravioli in boiling water and cook for 5 minutes if fresh about 7 if frozen. To check pull one out and tear off a little corner for al dente the center should be a little lighter than the outside, for fully cooked it should be the same color all the way through. If you need to make them in batches use a slotted spoon to remove the cooked ravioli to a strainer and place a pat of butter on them and toss to coat. Repeat as many times as needed.
Top with your choice of sauce or just a little butter and garlic.
So simple and yet very impressive. This chicken has an all over flavorful Asian-flair sticky glaze on it that you’ll love to lick off of your fingers. Transform a few simple ingredients into a new family favorite. This is one of the first dinner recipes that I am teaching my 7 year old daughter to prepare. Seriously, try it.
Heat all of the ingredients in a saucepan large enough to hold the chicken pieces and the sauce on high heat.
Bring to a boil and then reduce heat so a simmer. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.
Increase heat again to medium-high, turning the pieces frequently in the sauce, and cook until the liquid has reduced down into a sticky glaze. This takes approximately another 20 minutes.
Remove dried chilies if used. Serve chicken with the glaze spooned over. We usually have it with soaked or sprouted brown rice.
NOTE: If using broth in the recipe, be sure that it’s unsalted. If it is salted, omit the Tamari completely, or try using a reduced sodium version, otherwise the glaze will be too salty.
*Use starred ingredients if on GAPS diet, and only after doing intro
Chicken in a nutty tomato sauce - can use either peanut butter or almond butter.
Heat coconut oil in a medium pot, saute onion. Add ginger and jalapenos and saute about 2 minutes. Add the chili powder, and saute about 1 minute more.
Add chicken stock, almond butter, tomatoes, and apple cider vinegar, stir, and bring to a slight boil. As soon as it starts to boil, lower heat to a very gentle simmer, add chicken, and let simmer 10-15 minutes.
While mixture simmers, slice green onions. Serve hot over (cauliflower) rice, with a generous handful of green onion slices on each serving.
Low carb, Paleo-style Swedish meatballs with gravy and mashed cauliflower (the cauliflower recipe is on my blog). This recipe makes a large batch that can either be frozen or feed a large group.
In a large bowl combine meats, almond flour, almond milk, egg, spices, and onion. Mix with hands until ingredients are combined throughout. Take a glass of cold water dip your hand in the water (so meatballs won’t stick), and roll into small golf ball sized balls.
Heat butter and oil in a large skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs leave a small space between the meatballs so they don’t stick together, and gently brown on all sides, about 10 minutes. Place them on a heated baking pan in a low oven to keep warm.
For the gravy, add 1 cup of broth to a medium skillet with, let it simmer for 5 minutes while scraping the bottom of the skillet with a spatula. Strain the gravy into a clean saucepan and add the remaining 1 cup of stock. In a small bowl, mix the flour with 1/8 cup of cold water until smooth. Whisk flour mixture into warm gravy, and let simmer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps, until thickened slightly, about 3-5 minutes. Add the coconut and almond milk and season with salt and pepper.
To serve, arrange the meatballs on a serving platter, pour hot gravy over them, and garnish with parsley.
Move over PB&J !!! Do you have a child who doesn’t “like” peanut butter and yet you wish you could include this economical staple in his diet? Here is the answer!
In a small bowl, combine roughly equal parts of Coconut butter, Peanut Butter and Honey. Using a fork, stir together well.
Spread on some Really Good Bread.
Enjoy!
You may, of course, alter the ratio of the 3 ingredients, adding more or less of any of them. Even though the Coconut Butter, on its own, is only mildly sweet, when you add a little honey, oh my goodness! It’s incredible!
Who doesn’t love a good stack of free range and grass-fed beef ribs?
Preheat oven to 300°F.
Place ribs bone side down in a dish large enough for the meat to be in one layer (don’t stack on top of each other). Add about 1/4 inch water to the pan.
Season to your liking (may I suggest garlic, salt, pepper?) and then cover with lid or tee-pee a strip of aluminum foil over the pan.
Bake 4 hours.
Remove pan from oven, un-foil the make-shift lid or remove the actual lid, then place back into oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.
Enjoy!
If you’ve been missing your favorite Beef Broccoli Stir Fry since giving up eating out, learn to make it yourself. It’s really rather easy. When using grass-fed beef, the rule of thumb is to cook it low and slow, which is opposite of stir fry-high and fast. I’ll tell you my method below for keeping th ebeef tender and not over-cooked.
In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of arrowroot, 2 tablespoons of water and garlic powder. Mix until smooth. Add beef and toss.
Heat a large cast iron skillet or over medium heat. Add coconut oil or ghee. Stir-fry the beef for about 2-3 minutes or until desired doneness. Remove from pan and keep warm.
Add broccoli and onion to the pan and stir-fry for 4-5 minutes.
Return beef to the pan.
Combine tamari (or Liquid Aminos), sucanat or honey, ginger, garlic, whole thai chilies or pepper flakes and remaining arrowroot and water. Mix until smooth. Add to the pan.
Cook and stir for about 2 minutes. The sauce will thicken and coat the beef and broccoli.
Eat as is or serve over soaked or sprouted brown rice.
Click the image to see where to get a cast iron wok.
This is a family favorite of ours. A not spicy Indian dish that calls for a full stick of butter. Any recipe that asks for a stick of butter has to be great!
In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and saute onions until soft. Add all the spices and saute for about 2 mins. Stir in yogurt and tomato paste, mix well. Add chicken, broth and bay leaves. Let simmer for about 30 mins. if using raw chicken pieces, cook chicken through. Stir in cream and cook another 5 mins. Add salt to taste. Serve over rice or cauliflower.
A really tasty stew of fennel and tomato with Greek-style turkey meatballs.
Skin the eggplant and slice it. Slice the fennel bulb and remove the core. Place both of these on a baking sheet with liberal use of evoo and S&P and bake at 400* for 12 minutes. Remove the eggplant and put the fennel back in for another ten minutes. Slice or mash up the eggplant and mix it with the turkey. Add to the turkey mixture the mint, egg, and lemon zest (ZEST - NOT the juice).
Saute the onion and garlic in a soup pot. Throw a couple scoops of it in with the turkey. When the fennel comes out of the oven, add it to the soup pot, along with the lemon juice, cans of tomatoes and chicken stock.
Use the fennel baking sheet and form meatballs. Bake them for 15 minutes, all the while simmering the stew. When the meatballs come out of the oven, add them to the stew and simmer for a few more minutes. Then plate it up and serve with a garnish of fennel greens.
I first heard of this dish many years ago, watching a PBS cooking television show. My father decide right then and there that we just had to try it. This then became a go to dinner in the Biasi household. And why wouldn’t it? Bacon, potatoes, cabbage fried in all that bacony goodness. Yep it is now my families’ favorite dish.
In a cast-iron skillet, render chopped bacon over medium heat.
In a separate pot, boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender.
Drain and then mash by adding milk and butter.
While potatoes are boiling and bacon is rendering, slice cabbage.
Once bacon is golden brown and most of the rendering has been done, add cabbage and saute until tender. (The cabbage will squeak while cooking in the grease).
Then add potatoes to cabbage/bacon mixture. Toss until combined (the frying potatoes make a bubbling sound).
Serve immediately.
These chicken meatballs were delicious - also a great way to sneak veggies into your kids’ diets!
Preheat oven to 350°F
In a food processor or blender, pulse together the zucchini, carrots, parsley and garlic
Add almond flour, egg, and chicken
Then add salt, pepper and chili powder and process until thoroughly combined
Drop tablespoon sized balls of the chicken mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet
Bake meatballs for 20 to 25 minutes
Serve!