Satay Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce

Paste
1/4 Cup fresh ginger, shredded
1/4 Cup shallots
4 garlic cloves
1 serrano chili pepper, sliced, stem removed
1/3 Cup olive oil

12 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into strips
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1.25 Cups coconut milk
1/2 Cup natural peanut butter

2 TB lime juice

1 TB fish sauce

1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

In a food processor (or old school with a mortar and pestle) blend together the ginger, shallots, garlic, and chili pepper, adding the oil slowly to create a paste. Set aside half the paste in a saucepan. Put the other half in a big plastic bag with the chicken strips, salt, and cayenne pepper. Seal it tight, mush it around to coat thoroughly, then refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat the saucepan with the other half of the paste to med-high on the stove. Cook for 3-4 mins, stirring often. Add the remaining ingredients, whisk until smooth, and simmer until it reaches a creamy consistency (2-3 mins).

Thread the chicken strips on to skewers. Grill over direct high heat until fully cooked, turning once (about 5-7 mins). Serve with the warm sauce.

Cilantro Pesto Chicken Strips

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast

Marinade:

3 TB walnuts

2 garlic cloves

1.5 Cup fresh cilantro leaves

1/2 Cup Fresh parsley

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

1/4 extra virgin olive oil

1 lime, cut into wedges

Pulse the walnuts and garlic cloves together in the food processor. Add the cilantro, parsley, salt, and pepper and process until finely chopped. You'll probably need to scrape down the sides periodically.

Slice the chicken breasts into strip and dredge thoroughly in the marinade. This might be easiest in a big plastic bag. Leave it in the bag or a sealed container in the fridge for 2 hours.

Thread the chicken onto skewers and grill over direct high heat. You'll need to turn them once and they'll be done in about 6-8 mins. Serve warm with the lime wedges.

New Cookbooks!

I'm always on the lookout for recipe inspirations anywhere I can find them and I love collecting cookbooks. Here are two recent additions to my collection.

Grain-free Gourmet

And...

Everyday Grain-free Gourmet

These books are designed for people with food allergies and intolerances. They are meant to accompany something called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which I've never heard of and I know nothing about. All the recipes are gluten free and low in refined sugar and lactose though. There's no grains (duh... that's right in the title!) of any kind. But the recipes are still heavy on dairy products like butter, cheese, cottage cheese curds, and yogurt so they aren't strict paleo. There are a lot of yummy inspirations with almost all the recipes using almond flour to replace wheat flour. I've got several tagged already to experiment with in the Cavegirl test kitchen.

Just thought I'd share where I'm currently stealing ideas from...

Laura's Spaghetti (Squash) and Meat Sauce

Thanks again to Laura and her culinary inspirations. Looks delicious!



Ingredients:
1lb ground beef
1 large spaghetti squash
1 yellow onion (chopped)
3 cups chopped spinach
2 TB olive oil
1 jar of organic pasta sauce
3 large cloves of garlic (crushed)
2 tsp pepper

Scrub the squash well. Though you'll only be eating the flesh, you don't want any grime making its way into your dish. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Split the squash and remove the seeds and 'guts' with a spoon. Place it in a baking dish and leave it in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. Check for tenderness.

While the squash is cooking, start frying up the ground beef on the stove top in a large skillet or frying pan. Cook until all pink is gone and then add onions, garlic, olive oil, and pepper. Continue cooking for about 10 minutes. Then add spinach and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Add pasta sauce and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or so. The longer it cooks, the better it will taste.

When the squash is done baking remove from the oven and scrape the flesh of the squash with a fork; you should get orange spaghetti-like strands. Then scrape strands with a spoon into a bowl. Serve the meat sauce over spaghetti squash and enjoy!

Simply Natural Organic Pasta Sauces are available at most grocery stores and in pack of 3 at Costco (you know I love my bulk bargains at Costco!). With ingredients like this, why would you make your own?? :-)
Ingredients: Organic Tomato Puree, Organic Tomatoes, Organic Basil, Salt, Organic Soybean Oil, Organic Chopped Onions, Organic Garlic Powder, Organic Oregano and organic Chopped Garlic

Almond Crusted Salmon

1/2 Cup almond meal
1/4 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp cumin
4 salmon fillets
2 tsp lemon juice
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 500F. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a shallow dish.

Brush or spritz the salmon with the lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Coat each fillet generously in the almond meal mixture. Place skin side down on an oiled (or buttered) broiled pan. Sprinkle any remaining almond meal on the top of the fish and pat gently to make it stick.

Bake at 500F for 15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with lemon wedges and the Hazelnut Mushroom Asparagus from the previous post!

Asparagus with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts

2 TB Red Wine Vinegar

1 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1 pound fresh asparagus

1 TB butter

1 LB (about 6 cups) mushrooms

1/2 Cup Green Onions, sliced

2 TB Hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Combine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Cook the asparagus in boiling water for just a few minutes until they are edible, but crisp. Drain and plunge directly into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain again

Heat the butter in a pan on medium high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until they are softened and the liquid evaporates. Add green onions, saute 1 minute. Add the asparagus, and cook another 3 mins. Remove from the heat then add the vinegar mixture. Sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts.

This would also be excellent with green beans, but those are a legume and not a vegetable so it would be less "paleo".

Pork Chops with Butternut Squash and Apple Compote

1.5 Cups Unsweetened Apple Juice

1 TB Honey Mustard

1 TB Pure Maple Syrup

1 TB Cider Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

4 Bone-In Pork Chops

2 TB butter

1 large leek or medium onion

1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and grated

2 unpeeled red apple, thinly sliced

Whisk together the apple juice, honey mustard, maple syrup, cider vinegar, and salt and pepper. Set aside.

Sprinkle the pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat 1 TB of the butter (or coconut oil) in a skillet on medium heat. Fry the chops for 4-5 min on each side or until the juices run clear and the insides are only slightly pink. Set aside and keep warm.

In the same skillet, melt the other 1 TB of butter. Saute leek/onion and squash for 2 minutes (until softened). Add sliced apples and the apple juice mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes or until apples are softened (not mushy!). Return pork and accumulated juices to the pan and bring sauce back to a boil then remove from heat immediately. Serve pork heaped with a couple of generous spoonfuls of sauce and a sprinkle of fresh parsley.