Grilled Teriyaki Salmon (soy free, dairy free, gluten free)

A friend of ours, Tom McConnaughay, grills a very delicious salmon, including a teriyaki salmon. He found this recipe on the Paleo Newbie blog that includes a soy/dairy/gluten-free recipe for teriyaki sauce/marinade and grilling salmon, http://www.paleonewbie.com/paleo-teriyaki-salmon-recipe. I'm giving it a try tonight.

INGREDIENTS

Salmon - 4 filets, about 6 oz each, preferably wild caught

Salt & pepper

Teriyaki marinade/sauce

1/2 cup coconut aminos

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup orange juice, preferably fresh squeezed

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger or 1/2 tsp ground ginger

COOKING INSTRUCTION

Teriyaki marinade/sauce - whisk together all the ingredients in a small sauce pan.  Heat, whisking constantly, to boiling and cook about 2 more minutes. Set aside to cool.

Salmon - salt and pepper the salmon. Place in dish that will hold it and marinade. Pour about 1/2 the marinade over and let marinate in refrigerator at least one hour. Throw away used marinade.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place salmon, skin side down, on grill. Cook about 10 minutes, or until salmon flakes with a fork. Brush salmon with remaining sauce/marinade several times while it is cooking.

Easy Crockpot Beef Stew (Dairy Free, Gluten Free)

 This is another recipe I've recently tried from the Nourishing Home blog, http://thenourishinghome.com/2013/01/easy-crockpot-beef-stew-gf-df/, modified slightly.

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 - 2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2" chunks

1-1/3 cups beef stock or beef boullion.

3 Tbsp No Tomato Marinara Sauce

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp dried rosemary

Salt and pepper

1 medium onion, cut into 1 inch chunks

4 red potatoes, quartered

5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces

1/2 pound green beans, washed, trimmed, and cut into 2-3 inch pieces

1-2 Tbsp arrowroot powder

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Place beef chuck pieces in bottom of crockpot. Mix together beef stock or boullion, tomato paste or No Tomato Marinara, balsamic vinegar, garlic, rosemary, and bay leaf. Pour over beef, add salt and pepper to taste, and mix together. Without stirring, place onions, then potatoes, then carrots on top of beef. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. About 45 minutes before done, stir in green beans and arrowroot powder.

Veggie Stir Fry with Zoodles

I bought a new kitchen gadget this week - a julienne peeler. I used it today to make zucchini noodles, or Zoodles.

Tonight's dinner is modified slightly from a recipe on the Nourishing Home blog, http://thenourishinghome.com/2014/04/stir-fry-veggie-zoodles/.  The grocery store didn't have pea pods, so I doubled the broccoli, and I left out the red peppers, since they are nightshades.

INGREDIENTS

3 medium to large zucchini

2 Tbsp sesame oil (or olive oil)

5 green onions (scallions), diced (include whites and some green parts)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks

6 oz. snap peas

2-3 small heads book choy (chop and divide stem from leaves)

2 cups broccoli florets

1 red pepper, sliced in strips

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger, or 1/8 tsp ground ginger

Salt and pepper to taste

Coconut aminos

 COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Using a spiralizer or a julienne peeler, make zucchini noodles, also called Zoodles. Set aside.

Cut and slice remaining vegetables as noted above, making sure to keep the ingredients separate from each other.

Heat a wok or large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add oil, diced green onions, and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic becomes fragrant, about one minute.

Add carrots, snap peas, and book choy stems. Sauté about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Then cover so can steam for about 2 more minutes.

Add book choy leaves, broccoli, red pepper, and mushrooms. Sauté, uncovered and stirring constantly, until broccoli begins to soften slightly (about 2-4 minutes).

Add zucchini noodles and 1-2 Tbsp coconut aminos. Stir, then cover and allow noodles to steam cook to desired consistency (about 2-4 minutes).

Remove cover. Season with ginger, salt, and pepper. Toss well, and serve immediately.

Nutritional information: 8 servings, per serving = 83 calories, 4g fat (1g saturated, 2g monounsaturated, 2g polyunsaturated), 0mg cholesterol, 90mg sodium, 10g carbs, 3g dietary fiber, 4g sugars, 3g proteins

Spare Ribs and Sauerkraut in a Crockpot

Getting ready to go visit my friend Pam in Kentucky.  I like to bring our food. I've had a busy week, and volunteered at the Another Chance for Animals adoption event at Petsmart today. So I tried a spare ribs and sauerkraut crockpot recipe. It stunk up the house pretty good, but I'm very pleased with how tender and yummy it is. And, finally, a ribs recipe with nothing I shouldn't eat in it!

I followed a recipe that I found on cooks.com http://www.cooks.com/recipe/yj42n9r2/country-style-pork-ribs-and-kraut.html

INGREDIENTS

2-3 pounds pork spare ribs (county style or regular)

2 cans, or about 28 oz, sauerkraut

Salt and pepper

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Salt and pepper the ribs on all sides. Brown the ribs on all sides on a preheated grill or on broil in the oven, about 4-5 minutes per side. Place 1/2 the sauerkraut in the crockpot. Place the ribs on top. Cover the ribs with the remaining sauerkraut. Cook on Low for 8-10 hours.

Whole Roasted Cauliflower

I tried a new way of preparing cauliflower tonight. I found a recipe on the Nom Nom Paleo blog for roasting a whole head of cauliflower in a cast iron skillet in the oven:  http://nomnompaleo.com/post/138166087728/whole-roasted-cauliflower. I liked it a lot - a different texture and flavor than any of the other ways I've had cauliflower.

I also grilled out for the first time this year - salmon fillets and roasted asparagus. I served those with the oven-roasted cauliflower and a salad of Romaine lettuce, cucumbers, avocado slices, and large salad shrimp.

INGREDIENTS

1 whole cauliflower head

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil 

Salt

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove leaves and bottom of center core from cauliflower, but keeping the head from falling apart. Rinse and dry. Generously drizzle up to about 1/2 cup olive oil over both bottom and top of cauliflower head. Rub the oil in with your hands. Generously sprinkle salt over both the bottom and the top of the cauliflower. Place cauliflower in 10" cast iron skillet, head side up. Cover with aluminum foil and seal as well as you can. Put on center rack in oven and let bake 30 minutes. Remove the foil and return to oven for an additional hour.