Author Archives: ebchr

Strawberry, Spinach and Goat Cheese Salad

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Celebrate the longer evenings and sunnier days with a hint of summer kind of dinner – spinach salad with strawberries, warm chicken and goat cheese! 🙂

Blog chickenstrawberryspinachsalad

Ingredients

  • Large bunch of spinach (~5 cups, washed & dried)
  • 1 1/2 cups strawberries, sliced
  • 3 oz goat cheese
  • 1-2 cups cooked and shredded or diced chicken (GREAT use of a leftover roast chicken)
  • Dress with vinegar & olive oil, poppy seeds, salt & pepper
  • Slivered almonds (optional)

Directions

  • Toss the spinach and strawberries with the dressing
  • Lightly mix in goat cheese and almonds and chicken
  • Serve immediately – excellent with cold or still warm chicken!

dit-elle-Esther

Cream of Artichoke Soup

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Artichoke soup – yum! Full of veggies, delicate herbs, and rich with a splash of cream. This would be a great paleo soup if you substitute coconut milk for the dairy. 🙂

Blog artichokebisque

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 cup diced onion
  • 1 cup diced celery
  • 1 cup diced carrots
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence (found it at PCC in bulk – it’s basically a blend of savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme oregano and sometimes lavender)
  • 1 teaspoon celery seed
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or less to adjust the heat)
  • Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 3 (14-ounce) cans artichoke hearts, drained
  • 2 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
  • 2 cups 2% milk
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 1 bay leaf

Directions

  • Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.
  • Cook onions, celery, carrots, garlic, thyme, Herbes de Provence, celery seed, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper until soft, 8 to 10 minutes.
  • Add artichoke hearts, vegetable stock, milk, cream and bay leaf.
  • Bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes.
  • Remove bay leaf and carefully blend soup with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender or food processor. Adjust seasoning and serve.

Thanks PCC!

dit-elle-Esther

Buffalo Chicken Dip

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This is an old standby for football Sundays, game night and parties, but with baseball Opening Night in Seattle this evening, figured it would be in order to blog about! Thanks Rj for this recipe! 🙂

Blog buffalochixdip

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken
  • 1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)
  • 1/4-1/2 cup hot sauce (e.g. Frank’s hot sauce)
  • 1/2c blue cheese dressing (ranch dressing if you don’t like blue cheese)
  • 1/2 c blue cheese crumbles (optional)

Directions
Mix everything together and bake for 25 mins @350. Stir once done, serve hot with tortilla chips.

dit-elle-Esther

Quick Quiche

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Make this basic quiche and get creative with the filling! You can do it with a premade crust or simply crust-less!

blog quiche2 blog quiche1

Ingredients

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 c. milk
  • ground pepper
  • Optional: 1 frozen pie shell (there are good gluten free options out there!)

Filling (Mix & match from the following options – my favorite combos include: just spinach & cheese! Or artichoke, spinach, ham, sundried tomatoes and goat cheese! 🙂

  • Spinach
  • Artichoke
  • Broccoli
  • Onion
  • Mushrooms
  • Ham (Canadian bacon), bacon, smoked salmon
  • Cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan, goat)

Assembly

  • Put the desired filling ingredients in your pie shell or directly in a greased pie pan (I use a 9″ deep dish round pan)
  • Put milk & eggs in a blender and mix it up, then pour over filling
  • Sprinkle with cheese

Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in middle shows firm (non-runny) center

dit-elle-Esther

 

Once Upon a Scarf..

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Back before I had a toddler to chase, a baby to bounce, a dog to walk, meals to prepare.. oh a blog, haha! What did I do with all my time!? 🙂 Well, I did a bit of knitting now and then. I loved making this one-button rectangle wrap scarf – wear it as a wrap around shoulders or double wrap around your neck. I can dig up a pattern if anyone is interested, but it truly is as “simple” as knitting a large rectangle (bulky yarn = fast!), making one button hole and fastening a decorative button. I used a merino wool/cashmere blend for super cozy winter warmth, but you could use any yarn you fancy! 🙂

Blog Black Outfit with Grey Scarf-1 Blog Black Outfit with Grey Scarf-2 Blog Black Outfit with Pink Scarf-1 Blog Black Outfit with Pink Scarf-2 Blog Black Outfit with Pink Scarf-3 Blog Black Outfit with Pink Scarf-4

 

dit-elle-Esther

Ruby Root Slaw

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Raw carrots and beets are grated and tossed in an olive oil & vinegar dressing. A crispy delicate salad, delicious and full of freshness! 🙂

Blog beetsalad

Ingredients

  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • salt/pepper to taste
  • 3 red beets, peeled and grated (use the grater setting on your food processor!)
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and grated
  • 1 apple, peeled and grated
  • 1/4 c toasted chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Directions

  • In large bowl, whisk oil, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper.
  • Toss the dressing with beets, carrots, and apple.
  • Refrigerate for an hour or more to let flavors meld.
  • Fold in walnuts and parsley before serving

dit-elle-Esther

Chocolate Chip Cookies

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Super delicious – gluten free and protein rich – chocolate chip cookies! So easy to make, this is a great cooking project with your toddler! Ava did all the mixing for me and then we dropped these on a baking sheet to cook!blog chocochipcookies

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups blanched almond flour
  • ÂĽ teaspoon sea salt
  • ÂĽ teaspoon baking soda
  • 10 tablespoons butter, melted
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup agave nectar or honey
  • 1 cup chocolate chunks

Directions

  • Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl
  • Stir together wet ingredients in a smaller bowl
  • Mix wet ingredients into dry
  • Form 1-inch balls and press onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet
  • Bake at 350° for 7-10 minutes
  • Cool and serve

Thanks ElanasPantry.com!

dit-elle-Esther

Egglets with spinach & bacon

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Good morning! These egg muffins are gluten-free and dairy free! They make a great protein snack as well.

Blog egglets2

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 package of bacon – or 6 strips each cut in half to make 12 short strips (optional)
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 10 oz spinach, from frozen or freshly steamed
  • 1 large Roma tomato, diced (or a handful of sundried tomatoes, diced)
  • 2 Tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped (I used dried parsley as a substitute)
  • 2 Tbsp chia seeds, soaked for a few minutes in water
  • sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  • Oven to 350*
  • Beat eggs with some water and add remaining ingredients, mixing well to combine
  • Prepare muffin tin with nonstick baking spray or line each muffin tin w/bacon strip
  • Pour egg mixture evenly into cups
  • Bake 30 minutes or until set
  • Serve warm!
Blog egglets1

Add some cheese for extra deliciousness!

dit-elle-Esther

 

Frozen Banana Bonbons

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Happy Valentine’s Day! These are delightful tiny frozen treats – made these early this morning before school & work! They take ~10 minutes to prepare. Love bonbons? We do too! Did you know –

“..the name bonbon (or bon-bons) refers to any of several types of sweets, especially small candies enrobed in chocolate. The first reports of bonbons come from the 17th century, when they were made at the French royal court. Their name arose from infantile reduplication of the word bon, meaning ‘good’. In modern French and several other European languages, the term simply refers to any type of candy or small confection.” (Wikipedia)

Blog chocolatebanana1  Blog chocolatebanana2e

Ingredients

  • 1 banana, cut into ½ -inch slices
  • 1/2 bag chocolate chips
  • unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

Directions

  • Place sliced bananas on a parchment paper lined plate
  • One by one, using a small heart shaped cookie cutter, cut banana slices into hearts
  • Put chocolate in microwave safe dish and heat (~45 seconds) until melted, stir
  • Dip sliced banana hearts into chocolate, then sprinkle with coconut
  • Place on parchment lined plate to set
  • Freeze for 1 hour or more

Thanks Elana’s Pantry – see the original Paleo Frozen Banana Bites.

dit-elle-Esther

Chicken Chilaquiles

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This is a wonderful and easy dinner to prepare! Not paleo, but gluten free and so yummy!

Blog chickenchilaques

Ingredients

  • 2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • 1/2 – 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno peppers (divided)
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • salt/pepper to taste
  • 12 (6″) corn tortillas
  • Cooking spray
  • Sour cream for garnish

Tomatillo Sauce

  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 (11oz) can tomatillos, drained
  • 1 (4.5oz) can chopped green chiles, drained (come in mild or hot varieties)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 375*
  • Combine chicken, green onions, half of the Monterey Jack cheese, Parmesan, chili powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl and toss well to combine
  • Place milk, cilantro, tomatillos, chiles in a food processor and blend until smooth
  • Spray 11×7 or larger baking dish with cooking spray and pour 1/3 cup of the tomatillo sauce in bottom
  • Arrange layers of tortillas and chicken mixture ending with a tortilla layer and pouring the rest of the sauce over
  • Top with cheese
  • Bake at 375* for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden
  • Serve with sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro

dit-elle-Esther