Main dishes

Chicken Lettuce Wraps with Ginger Almond Butter Sauce

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Chix tacos

Lettuce wraps are so versatile and you can use any variation of fish, meat or veggies.  For these I used shredded chicken, julienned cucumber, and carrot.  To add a huge punch of flavor I drizzled with a ginger almond butter dipping sauce.  These are so tasty and they don’t look too shabby either.

Ingredients:

Boston lettuce leaves
Cooked chicken, shredded
1 Carrot, julienned
1/3 English cucumber, julienned
A few cilantro leaves

For the Almond Butter dipping sauce:

1 Tbsp finely grated ginger (I recommend using a microplane)
1 clove of finely grated garlic (again, I recommend a microplane)
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Almond butter
1 Tbsp water
1/2 Tsp toasted sesame oil
Pinch of red chili flakes (optional)

First make the dressing so all of the flavors have time to blend together.  Add all ingredients for the almond butter dipping sauce to a jar with a lid and when lid is firmly tightened shake to incorporate all ingredients.

Next assemble the lettuce wraps: on one lettuce wrap add the carrots and cucumber then shredded chicken.  Drizzle with the dipping sauce and finish by topping with fresh cilantro leaves.

Enjoy!  xo

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Roasted Broccoli in Coconut Oil with Salmon and Quinoa

~ withlovegeneve ~ 2 Comments

Broccoli

Roasting in coconut oil adds a deliciously subtle hint of coconut and this works so well with broccoli.  I’ve added some to this lunch bowl along with salmon, quinoa, and treviso leaves (a type of radicchio).  This is simply dressed with lemon juice and Maldon sea salt flakes and black pepper.

Ingredients:

1-2 cups broccoli florets
1/4 cup cooked quinoa
1/2 cup cooked salmon
A few treviso leaves
2 Tbsp coconut oil
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Maldon sea salt – season to taste
Black pepper – season to taste

Mix coconut oil and broccoli florets on a baking sheet so they are evenly coated and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in a preheated 425F oven for 10 or so minutes (until starting to brown and broccoli is cooked thru).  Add to your bowl along with the quinoa, salmon, treviso and season with lemon juice and salt and pepper.

*Note: if your coconut oil is still solid you can place jar in a bowl of hot water and it will melt right away.

Enjoy!

Curry Chicken Salad

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Chicken salad

It pains me to throw away food so I do whatever I can not to let anything go to waste.  This habit usually serves me well as I come up with recipes that I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of on my own.  Here is one such recipe.  I had leftover roast chicken and leftover curry yogurt sauce from my last post featuring parsnip fries.  This was a perfect base for chicken salad.  I served the chicken salad in beautiful little Bibb Lettuce leaves.  They were refreshing and tasty and nothing went to waste!

Ingredients:

Yogurt curry sauce (see here for recipe)
Cooked chicken (you can use roasted, rotisserie, grilled, whatever you have on hand – cut or shred to small pieces)
1 stalk of celery, chopped
Bibb Lettuce leaves
Salt
Sliced almonds (optional)

Add chicken, yogurt sauce, and celery in a bowl and mix together.  Add salt to taste.  Serve in lettuce leaves and garnish with sliced almonds.

Enjoy!

Gxo

Steamed Broccoli with Lemon Tahini Dressing

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Broccoli and tahini

Steamed broccoli gets super tasty with a simple lemon tahini dressing.  This makes a great side dish or you could add some roasted or grilled chicken or fish for a helping of protein.

Ingredients:

1 head of broccoli cut into even sizes (I love the stalks too – cut into the same size as florets for even cooking)
1-2 Tbsp of tahini
1 Tbsp of water
Juice of half a lemon
Few pinches of Malton sea salt
Few pinches of red pepper flakes (optional)

Steam broccoli in whatever contraption you have until the broccoli is cooked thru but still has some bite to it.

To make the dressing – mix tahini, water, and lemon juice together and season with the salt and red pepper flakes.

Enjoy!

Gxo

Roasted Spiced Carrot, Parsnip, and Cauliflower Soup

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spiced carrot and cauliflower soup

Some of my favorite meals have come transforming leftovers into a completely new dish.  The spiced roasted carrots and cauliflower from the last post are great in a salad, added to an omelette, or in this case blended into a creamy soup.  I love my low sodium vegetable bouillon cubes and with a cup of boiling water and my immersion blender I had everything I needed to make this delicious bowl.  You can control the consistency by adding as much or as little broth as you like.  The spices from the vegetables were the perfect amount of seasoning but you can adjust salt and pepper if needed.

Enjoy!

Gxo

Kale Quinoa Avocado Turkey Bowl

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Turkey bowl

A few hours prepping on the weekend saves so much time!  I am taking advantage of a break in travel to eat healthy home cooked food this week.  Here’s the bowl I created today – it’s the second in my lunch series: roasted kale, quinoa, avocado, organic pea sprouts, and roasted sliced turkey lightly dressed with lemon juice, garlic infused olive oil and salt and pepper and fresh oregano.  The pea sprouts add a nice refreshing crunchy texture to salads.

See previous post if you want additional info on ingredient prep.

Enjoy!

Gxo

Mushroom Kale and Quinoa Bowl

~ withlovegeneve ~ 1 Comment

Mushroom and veg bowlI am seriously craving clean food after a lot of eating out and work travel these last few weeks!  I spent a lovely afternoon doing lots of veggie prep this weekend so I can put together quick and easy lunches all week.  Here’s the first in my lunch series for this week: quinoa, sautéed mushrooms, organic pea sprouts, roasted garlicky kale and a simple dressing of truffle olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.  Seasoned with just a few pinches of flakey Maldon sea salt and a crushed red pepper flakes.  Perfection!

Roasted Kale: Spread chopped tuscan kale and chopped garlic on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and a few pinches of salt (optional: pinch of red pepper flakes) – roast at 425F for about 10 minutes or so.

Sautéed mushrooms: In a pan over medium heat add a tablespoon or two of your oil of choice, add mushrooms and sauté, add chopped garlic when mushrooms are close to cooked thru.  Season with salt and fresh herbs to finish – I used fresh oregano.

Quinoa – I just followed package instructions: bringing 2 cups of water with 1 cup of quinoa to a boil and then simmer until all water is absorbed and quinoa is cooked thru. Dressing was a few drizzles of truffle infused olive oil, the juice of half a lemon squeezed over the bowl and a few pinches of Maldon sea salt and red pepper flakes.

There are endless combos of these bowls – please share your creations!

Enjoy!

Gxo

Raw Kale Salad with Maple Tahini Dressing

~ withlovegeneve ~ 1 Comment

Kale saladLast month I was in Chicago for a girls weekend that was filled with amazing people, food, and fun times (ladies, you know who you are).  One of the meals we had that I wanted to try to replicate was this raw kale salad.  It’s delicious and a great make-ahead dish if you plan to entertain as the kale benefits from marinating in the dressing.

Ingredients:

Dressing:
2 Tbsp Tahini
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/8 Tsp Celtic sea salt
1 clove garlic (grate with microplane)

Salad:

4 leaves of organic curly kale
A handful of brussel sprouts
A small handful of slivered almonds
Optional – a few pinches of Maldon Sea Salt flakes if you like the crunch of a little extra saltiness

Make the dressing and set aside.  Wash the kale and strip the center rib away from the rest of the leaf, bunch the leaves together and slice the kale into thin strips.  Next wash the brussel sprouts and cut off the ends and discard the outer bruised leaves – cut brussel sprouts into thin slices.  Add the kale and brussel sprouts to a mixing bowl and add the dressing – mix well and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour or 2 – even over night.  Add the almond slivers (and Maldon sea salt flakes if you choose) just before serving.

Enjoy!  Gxo

Roasted Vegetable Soup

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There might Roasted veg soupbe an arctic blast happening outside but you wouldn’t know it in here.  This warming soup is just the thing to keep you cozy on a freezing and snowy winter day.  It’s also a quick and easy way to transform leftover roasted vegetables.  Any mix of vegetables will do and you can just as easily make this soup for one or a crowd.  I accessorized my soup with some kale chips lightly dusted with celtic sea salt and cayenne pepper.

Ingredients for roasting the vegetables:

1-2 medium sized sweet potatoes (I like to leave the skin on, cut into cubes – approx 1/2 – 1 inch pieces)
3 medium sized parsnips (peeled and cut into cubes – approx 1/2 – 1 inch pieces)
1 medium sized celery root (cut away the outside gnarly layer and cut into cubes – approx 1/2 – 1 inch pieces)
1-2 leeks (cut off the root end and green ends, slice in half lengthwise and rinse out any dirt/grit, cut into approx 1/2 – 1 inch pieces)
2-3 cloves of garlic (smashed with the side of a chef’s knife, remove paper skin)
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Heat oven to 425F.  Pile all of the  vegetables on a baking sheet and drizzle with a few table spoons of olive oil.  Then sprinkle a few pinches of salt and pepper.  Using your hands mix all of the veggies together with the oil, salt, and pepper so everything is evenly coated (feel free to add a touch more oil if the veggies need it).  When everything is mixed make sure the veggies are evenly spread out on the baking sheet and place in the oven.  They will need 30-40 minutes or so.  Check on them at 15-20 minutes and stir them around so they cook evenly.  They will be ready when cooked thru and soft on the inside while caramelized and browning on the outside – you can check by piercing the veggies with a knife or fork.

These roasted vegetables are delicious as they are OR for transforming them into a soup here’s what you need to do:

Ingredients for Roasted Vegetable Soup:
Roasted Veggies (see above)
Broth (Chicken or Vegetable are best and you can use homemade, store bought, or bouillon cubes)

Heat your favorite broth or stock in a pot (or you can even add hot water and a bouillon cube to a bowl for a super quick one-person meal).

When the stock is heated thru take it off the heat and add the roasted vegetables.  With an immersion blender mix all together adding more vegetables or thinning out with more water to get the exact consistency you like.

Enjoy!

Gxo

Coconut Milk Curry

Image ~ ~ withlovegeneve ~ 2 Comments

Cold, grey, and snowy and still a few more months to go before Spring!  One thing keeping me going are the warm bowls of soups and stews that deliver many meals out of one big pot.  These types of dishes have so much flavor and there are endless ways to keep them interesting by switching up ingredients.  My latest experiment is worthy of sharing – it’s SO easy and you can modify it based on whatever you have on hand or whatever your food preferences.  I also happen to love fish but I don’t love when my small apartment smells like fish so this is a great cooking method that solves for that issue (although it does now smell of curry).

Curry

Ingredients:

32 oz box of Coconut Milk (I used unsweetened but sweetened can work too)
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
Shallot – minced
2 cloves garlic – minced
3 inch stub of ginger – minced or grated with a microplane
1 Tbsp curry powder
3/4 Tbsp Turmeric powder
1/2 Tbsp Cumin
1 tsp salt
2 cups chopped vegetables (I used celery root, carrots, and kale – other great options: cauliflower, green beans, sweet potato)
1 lb wild caught cod fillet cut into 2 inch pieces (you can omit this or instead use chicken or tofu)
Cilantro – chopped
Lime
Rice – your choice of rice or grain, prepare according to package

Preparation:

In a Le Creuset pot I heated olive oil over medium heat and then added the shallot, ginger, garlic, and after a few minutes added the spices: curry, turmeric, and cumin.  When you smell the aromatic fragrance of the spices you are ready to add the chopped veggies and coconut milk and salt.  Bring to a boil then lower temperature and allow this to simmer covered for 30 minutes or so until all the veggies have softened and the flavors have developed – taste to adjust saltiness to your liking.  You can now add either fish or chicken if you choose.  Cooking time will vary – check after 8-10 minutes.  Fish should flake easily when cooked through and chicken should no longer be pink inside.  Another option: I prepped the veggie curry and then allowed it to cool, a few hours later when ready for dinner I reheated it adding the cod after bringing the curry to a boil and lowering to a simmer.  My cod was ready in about 8 minutes.  I added the chopped cilantro and a fresh squeeze of lime to finish and served over rice.

* This tastes even more amazing the next day!

Enjoy!

Gxo

P.S.  If you like it spicy you can add crushed pepper flakes or chop up your favorite hot peppers and add it at the point when you add the ginger.