Japanese Sweet Potatoes

There are many varieties of sweet potatoes on the market ranging from dark purple to light yellow. My favorite are the Japanese ones. They are light beige in color, with a yellowish flesh. I find the sugar intensity to be much lower than the darker varieties, which is great when you don't want to obliterate your dish.

This past weekend, I roasted a bag of sweet potatoes. Punctured the skin on each several times with a pointy knife. Placed on a sheet pan and baked about 1 hour @ 400 degrees. To check when ready, just poke a fat one with your knife and jostle it in to see if it's loose, but not dry.

Let cool, and refrigerate in container. I keep the skin on, and peel when I need them. Or if I have them as my veggie, I slice them up skin-on and store in same container with my protein.

Sweet Potato & Shrimp Chowder

Over medium heat, saute the following until browned..

1 TB. olive oil
2 slices bacon, diced

Spoon off bacon (save for garnish)

Add
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced

Saute until onion has softened.

Add
1 roasted sweet potato, peeled and diced (whichever variety is your favorite)
4 sprigs thyme (leave whole to fish out later)
1 bay leaf
1 bottle clam juice
1.5 c chicken stock or water
1 can coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring to boil. Then simmer for 15 minutes.

Add.
1lb peeled, deveined shrimp or prawns

Cook until curled and opaque.

Add.
saved bacon bits
2 green onions, sliced thinly diagonally

Eat up....

Fast Tuesday.

Sunset Super

I'm fascinated by how much less expensive it is to buy groceries at an asian market. If you get bored with the vegetables you're getting and would like to try something new, then definitely visit one. I like going to Sunset Super because it's on the way to Sloat Gardens where I pick up my sod on the weekends.

Most Asian greens can be simply cooked. It's either stir fried, sauted, or boiled. Do avoid the bitter melon unless you are truly looking for a taste adventure. If you have any questions on preparation, try finding a shopper who looks like they speak English.

The meats and seafood are also much less expensive than WF or SW. Live Maine lobster at 10.99/lb. When they are at WF, they are $16.99/lb. Eggs are always either 1.49/dozen or .99/dozen.

Very simple pork chop and veggies.

Nothing special, just a simple quick dinner for the evening. Was done cooking and eating in 20 min.

Preheat my iron skillet at just above medium heat. While that's heating up:

Rubbed olive oil on (I seem to prefer the technique of rubbing the meat with the oil rather than heating the oil in the pan):
- 2 thin-cut bone-in pork loin chops

Sprinkled both sides with:
- kosher salt
- garlic powder
- black pepper

Prepped my veggies.
- collard greens, stems removed, rolled and sliced into 1" thick strips
- 1 onion - halved, then sliced into half-moons
- 1 garlic - minced
- handful of crimini mushrooms - sliced

Placed chops into pan. Searing each side at about 3min. each. Plated the chops.

You may have to add some olive oil. Dropped into pan:
- onion
- garlic

Let onion cook down and break them out into the strips and scraping the pan crustings along the way. Add:

- mushrooms

Cook that down. Then add:

- collard greens
- red chili flakes
- salt & pepper

Toss with tongs until wilted but still bright green. Splashed in some white wine and let reduce a little.

Plate greens next to the chops, and any sauce at the bottom over your chops.

Thai lime and lemongrass chicken over salad greens

This recipe cooks fast. You just need to do all the prep before hand. The heat of the chicken will wilt your greens a little so look for salad greens that can take some heat (avoid mesclun)

I think the majority of lemongrass is too fibrous to swallow but adds lots of flavor. Though recipes call for them finely chopped, I like bigger pieces so you can pick them out.

2 tsp light olive oil
1 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 stalk lemongrass. chopped into 1" pieces, then each cylinder halved and pressed with the side of your blade to release flavor
1 minced garlic clove
1 tsp chili flakes
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey

Mix the following in a bowl and adjust ratio till you get a nice salty/sour with slight sweetness:
1/4 c lime juice (I do 1 whole lime)
1/4 c fish sauce (I do equal amounts of fish sauce)
1 tsp honey

3/4 c cilantro leaves rough chopped
3/4 c basil leaves rough chopped
1/2 red onion thinly sliced (or 4 green onions thinly sliced on a bias)

choice of robust (thicker) salad greens than can take some heat - baby spinach, romaine, butter lettuce. Prep the greens into their serving bowls / plates

Putting it together

Heat frying pan or wok to high.

Add the following
- oil
- ginger
- lemon grass
- garlic clove
- chili flakes

Cook for 1 minute

Add
- ground poultry

Stir and cook until cooked through (6 min.)

Add lime mixture. Stir.

Add onions. Stir

Turn off heat.

Toss in
- cilantro
- basil

Stir.

Spoon on top of plated greens including any sauce. Serve

500 Degree Sunday Roasted Chicken

This is probably the only recipe where lavender actually works well with food. In this case, it's used in herbes de provence, which is a French spice blend available at your market. I usually am not into food flavored with dried flowers as they often taste like eating perfume. But this one is really good and simple. When done on a broiler pan, you will get thin crispy chicken skin as the majority of the fat has basted the meat and dripped off into the collection pan. Also, I like to do a roast on the weekends to have leftovers on the weekdays.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees if you have a decent exhaust fan as this temperature will cause a lot of smoke. Otherwise preheat to 450.

1 whole chicken. I know it's not organic, but I usually stock up on the Foster Farms when they go on sale at $.79/lb cuz it's cheap.

With kitchen shears, cut off the backbone by cutting along both sides of the spine (I reserve the backbone in the freezer zip loc for when I make chicken stock). Make sure you get any packages or stuffed innerds from the inside out.

With the same shears, snip along the middle of the two breast. If you want to be fancy, use a knife and scrape the meat off the cartiledge breast bone and remove it.

Now you should have 2 halves of a chicken.

Rub the both sides of the chicken with olive oil.

Sprinkle with kosher salt and herbes de provence on both sides. Not sure how much salt to use? For whole roasts, I use about 1 tsp per pound of meat. For smaller cuts, a little less.

With your chicken seasoned, place on the broiler pan rack, skin side up. This will allow any fat rendered from the skin to drain off. Alternatively, you can put in a parchment lined baking dish. Or just a plain baking dish, though your chicken will cook in a little more of its fat.

Place in the oven for 40 minutes (45-50 min at 450). Please rotate it 1/2 way through the cooking process.

Serve with your DGLV.

Tandoori-spiced chicken boobies.

This recipe is quick to prepare if you have the spices on hand and turns your boring chicken breast into this orangey spicy deliciousness.

Combine the following until a paste forms:

2 Tbsp onion powder
2 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp ground ginger
2 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp ground cayenne
1 Tbsp ground turmeric
1 Tbsp ground white pepper (though black won't hurt either)
1 Tbsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp vegetable oil

Rub on chicken breasts. I was able to coat 6 smallish breasts with this recipe.

Broil for about 5 minutes each side on a sheet pan until golden. Alternatively, grill them.

Serve with your veggies for the meal.

Condiment Confessions
My partner says I have an unhealthy obsession with condiments. But what's great about them is they can easily add flavor to anything you're cooking. What do I have in my fridge?

Variety of hot stuff:
- Green Tabasco
- Original Tabasco
- Chiptole Tabasco
- Habanero Tabasco
- Sriracha hot sauce
- Cholula hot sauce
- Tapatio hot sauce
- chili paste
- chipotle in adobo
- chili oil
- bamboo shoots in chili oil
- red curry paste
- green curry paste
- tom-yum soup paste (hot and sour)
- kimchee (asian sauerkraut)

Other things
- tube of tomato paste
- tube of anchovy paste
- tube of harissa
- yellow mustard
- dijon mustard
- grainy dijon mustard
- olive oil mayo
- jar of pitted olives

Now to a recipe based on condiments...

Sriracha-Mustard Glazed Salmon

This glaze also works great on chicken, pork chops.

Combine in a bowl:
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp honey
1 tsp or 1Tbsp sriracha hot sauce (depending on how much spice you can handle)

Pour mixture over 2 salmon fillets or steaks. Marinate for at least 10 minutes. 30 minutes tops.

Shake off marinate from the fillet, The more you shake off the less spicy it'll be.

Broil for about 3 minutes or to desired done-ness. You definitely want to keep an eye on this because the honey-based marinate can go from great to burnt real fast.

Flatiron on Cast Iron & Greens

Flatiron is an inexpensive cut of chuck.

1 flatiron steak
1 garlic clove, crushed or minced
1 bunch of collard greens (stems removed and leaves sliced into 1 in. ribbons and rinsed with H20 to help with the steaming)
olive oil
salt
pepper
1/2 lime

Preheat your cast iron skillet for at least 15 minutes on medium-high.
Rub your steak with olive oil until nicely coated.
Season with salt and pepper.
Sear the steak on each side 2-3 minutes per side depending on thickness
Rest steak on plate.

In same hot pan, add your garlic and stir.
Then add the full bunch collard greens
Stir until cooked, bright green and not to-death. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze 1/2 a lime on top.

Slice your beef (i like 1/4 inch for this) and serve with your DGLV.

This recipe usually makes 2+ servings which is great for leftovers.

A different scramble.

Saute 1 big handful of baby spinach in olive oil until wilted. (Add additional seasonal veggies you have easily available, like late season tomatoes right now)

Squirt 1 tsp. of harissa (moroccan red pepper paste that comes in a tube usually. This stuff is great mixed with canned tuna also. Recipe to come in the future)

Add blended mix of:
- 1 omega-3 egg
- egg whites to your desired protein for your meal.

Stir every 30 seconds until desired doneness.

Season with salt + pepper.

I've seen what people are eating and I've posted what I've eaten. I will be posting my recipes in this thread. These may not be 100% Paleo all the time, but they will be good for you and hopefully delicious.

Chicken Parmesan (inspired by Giada)

In the morning
Combine the following in a bowl or large sealable container.
- 1/4c - 1/3c olive oil to
- 1 Tbsp italian parsley - chopped
- 1 Tbsp rosemary -chopped
- 1 Tbsp thyme - chopped
- 1/2 to 1 tsp kosher salt (depends on how much salt you want)
- ground pepper

Add 4 chicken breasts and toss them around so they are all coated and toss in fridge.

When you get home from work.
Preheat oven to 375
Heat up an oven-safe skillet / pan / (or my favorite my cast iron skillet) over medium-high heat.
Sear the herb and oil coated chicken breast at about 3-4 minutes per side until crispy golden on both sides.
Pour in your favorite tomato sauce (my favorite recipe below) in between the chicken breasts.
Sprinkle the chicken with panko and grated parmesan cheese
Place in oven for 20 minutes until bubbly.
If the top isn't toasty yet, fire on the broiler and toast the top for a couple of more minutes until golden.
Remove from oven and let hang for about 5 minutes and eat up.

Basic Tomato Sauce (my variation from Mario Batali)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion, 1/4-inch dice
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tablespoon dried
1/2 medium carrot, finely grated
2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes, crushed by hand into large chunks and juices reserved

Directions
In a 3-quart saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
Add the onion and garlic, and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
Add the thyme and carrot, and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is well-browned also.
Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often.
Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until as thick as hot cereal.
Season with salt and serve.
This sauce holds 1 week in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

*I do a double batch of this and fill to the top of mason jars while still hot. Top off with the lid wipe off excess drippings and place in refrigerator. As it cools it creates a nice vacuum and will keep in your fridge longer.