Banana Walnut Muffins {AIP and Paleo}

These muffins were inspired by the delightful blog Fed and Fulfilled's recipe for Paleo Pumpkin Spice Muffins.  The Pumpkin Spice muffins were in heavy rotation in our house for several months and I started to play with variations. What I love is that the base ratio of wet and dry ingredients is on point and can be easily customized. It's difficult to find Paleo and AIP recipes that can boast such a trait!

Paleo Pumpkin Spice Muffins {AIP}

I just have to share this awesome awesome awesome recipe for pumpkin spice muffins. What makes them exceptional is that they're Paleo and can even be AIP compliant if you don't use any egg. The ingredients are easier on your body because they don't have a ton of carbs and sugars. They're made with tigernut flour which is a root vegetable and is full of potassium and iron!

Raw "Candy Corn" Cheesecake

This post is a day late and a dollar short but I couldn't resist sharing! Bookmark it for next Halloween! It is a super cute Raw "Candy Corn" Cheesecake from the Unconventional Baker who specializes in food without the use of artificial colors, sweeteners, and flavors. I love reading this blog for the beautiful photos and wildly creative desserts.

Salmon with Chraimeh Sauce

This post is going to be short and sweet! It's been a hectic schedule with the holidays. This poor blog is backed up like 95 South on a Sunday afternoon in Northern VA. 

Before bed, I wanted to share this quick snap shot of tonight's dinner: Salmon coated in delicious Chraimeh. Chraimeh is a combination of garlic, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, cumin, caraway seeds, and sweet paprika blended together into a thick paste. Simply heat the paste in a sauce pan with lemon juice and tomato paste with a touch of black pepper and sugar. 

This sauce can be served with many main dishes and even as a dip for appetizers. We were expecting utter punishment in terms of the level of spice- the color of the sauce is a vibrant red and was beautifully intimidating. We were delightfully surprised at the restrained spice. It is full of flavor and a mature refinement; the hubby and I were cleaning the plate with bread. Fortunately, I doubled the amount of recipe in anticipation of such a situation! 

Best of all, this is a quick and easy recipe- perfect for a Monday. Spice up your night!

For the full recipe, I strongly encourage you to check out Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi's book, "Jerusalem: A Cookbook." 

Everything Healthy Soup

When the hubby-to-be catches a cold, it's time to bust out the big guns. It pains me to watch him shuffle about the house and have no energy. Where did this nasty cold come from? I blame the disease incubator that is our office building. It's unsettling how colds roll through a department like a passing wave. You can slowly watch an entire team get taken down, one by one, in the winter. 

My mother's response to any cold was soup and lots of rest. I'm usually a stickler for Canja because that's what I was raised on and it's comforting. This soup started off as Canja... and then transformed into something else entirely.

We lovingly call this, "Everything Healthy Soup." If it's good for you, it was thrown into the pot! Nothing in the kitchen was safe. There are carrots, celery, garlic cloves, grated ginger, onion, spicy pepper flakes, and zucchini. It was a rampage of yummy vegetables. This past year, I discovered avocado in soup and fell in love with the smooth texture. Is there NOTHING it can't be served with?

You determine what goes in the pot. Just make sure it's healthy! Stay well and cold free!

Everything Healthy Soup

1 small whole chicken, rinsed in cold water and cleaned
olive oil
15 whole garlic cloves
large zucchini, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1/2 onion, sliced
1 avocado, chopped into bite size pieces
2 cups spinach
1 celery, chopped
1/2 inch fresh ginger, grated
dried red pepper flakes
black pepper
sea salt

Coat the bottom of a large pot with olive oil. Set to medium heat. Add at least a teaspoon of crushed red pepper and the garlic cloves. Let it cook until slightly fragrant, about a minute or two. Add 4 cups of water and bring to boil. Season with salt but go easy- you don't want to oversalt. 

Clean the bird. Rinse in cold water and drain. Add to pot; there should be enough water so that the bird is just barely submerged so add all the water you need. Let cook at a boil for about 5 minutes. Lower heat to low-medium and put the lid on. Leave there for at least one hour- until the meat easily pulls off. 

Carefully remove the bird. DO NOT DRAIN THE POT. You are looking at home made chicken stock. Leave it be! Let the bird cool until it's easy to handle and go to town. I usually don't include the skin because i'm not a fan of its texture.

While the bird is cooling, add the carrots and celery to the pot and keep at low heat. They take the longest to soften but you don't want mush!

Once the bird is easy to handle, shred the chicken to pieces and throw back in the big pot of chicken stock. Set the heat to medium and add the rest of the vegetables. Season to taste with crushed red pepper, pepper, and salt. Add healthy splash of olive oil when done.

Red Chard

Vegetables. They're good for you, especially if you're eating the right kind. Not all food is created equal these days. Growing up, I never rinsed bagged lettuce or checked to see if it was organic. Food was food!

Nowadays, we're constantly bombarded by media on the topic of nutrition. It's a bit paralyzing which way to turn. Some articles make you want to live off filtered water from a glass container (not plastic!) and interrogate the innocent produce worker on the pesticides used on your broccoli. Oh what a scene that would make at the local Giant.

At the end of the day, all you can do is try your best. My motto is to buy organic (yes yes yes... there are 'levels' of what passes for organic) whenever possible and to thoroughly rinse fruits and veggies. Don't obsess- you can't know the name of the cow that produced the gallon of milk you're taking home. In an ideal world, we would go to the farmer's market every weekend.

As it would so happen, that's where I met this beautiful red chard! I served it up as Sunday brunch with a variety of left over veggies. The key spice: turmeric, a natural cancer-fighting spice. It gives everything an orange hue! (Ugh, even spices should be organic. What the heck are they putting in the soil?) Serve with creamy avocado on the side. You can mix in some egg whites if you're determined to feel more "brunchy." Heck, even tofu would go well. Customize to your needs!

Red Chard for Brunch

olive oil
pinch of salt (optional)
healthy dash of red pepper
seasoning (you pick- just black pepper is fine): black pepper, garam masala, cayenne, etc.
2 teaspoons turmeric
5 cloves of garlic, chopped
8-10 stalks red chard, destemmed and chopped
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
8 talks of asparagus, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup broccoli florets
egg whites (optional)
avocado (optional)

In a large skilled, heat olive oil (enough to generously coat the bottom of the pan) on medium heat. Add red pepper flakes and garlic. Saute until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add the cherry tomatoes, season (pepper, cayenne, garam masala, etc.), and saute for another minute or two with the lid on- gives it a lil steam bath.

Add the asparagus and broccoli; give it a good mix and continue to cook for about 4 minutes. Season with tumeric and black pepper. You don't want soggy veggies. That's just gross. 

Finally, add the red chard. Cook until leaves wilt.

Mom's Simple Salmon

Summer is slowly winding down and I haven't been to the beach ONCE. Where does the time go? Another year without that childhood tan from running around and picking up sea shells. Squeeze out those summer rays everybody! There's still a little time left and I hope to spend it fishing! 

Mmm... fishing. I grew up in a house with paella, boiled cod, bbq'd sardines, and broiled salmon. To this day, my mom lovingly reminds me to eat my fish because they're filled with healthy omiga-3's. 

As I've said in prior posts, Mike likes chicken. Lots and lots of chicken. Oh he's open to new foods and will at least try whatever is put in front of him. Fish just really isn't his "thing."

Until he met salmon. I couldn't help it. There was this beautiful fillet at Whole Foods and my face was plastered to the display case. It had to come home before I fogged up the glass! There's only one way I know how to prepare salmon, which is my mom's way: coated in extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled lightly with salt, a healthy bit of crushed black pepper, and few red pepper flakes. Thanks mom! Beijus!

Much to my delight- he loved it! Good quality salmon is almost like butter, it melts in your mouth. Broiling lightly cooks the fish through without drying it out and preserves the spices.

For a quick an easy dinner, season vegetables the same way and place on aluminum foil/parchement paper on the same sheet as the salmon. Cook together or until veggies are tender to your liking. Little side salad never hurt nobody. For carbs, we heated up store-bought frozen sweet potato fries. So easy. So good.

Sorry for the picture quality but hey... this is the lighting in my house at night and we were hungry. Foods meant to be eaten, that's life!

Mom's Simple Salmon

filet of salmon
extra virgin olive oil
a little salt
pepper
crushed red pepper

Select broil on oven. If you have the option high or low, select high.

Place salmon in bowl and add enough olive oil to coat entire surface of fish. Lightly toss to make sure every bit is covered- don't be shy- get your hands in there.

Line a grill pan (optional- sometimes the oil is good enough to ensure it wont stick) with aluminum foil. Place filet on top. Lightly sprinkle both sides with salt- I would say no more than 1/4 teaspoon per filet. Add black pepper to your liking- use lots for a more cajun flavor! Then, of course, a touch of crushed red pepper for heat.

Shove it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, depending on how thick the filet. The general guideline is 8-10 minutes per inch of thickness. Be careful not to overcook.