Tag Archives: dinner

Munchery

People ask me, “How do you do it all”? First of all, everyone has a different definition of “all”, and second, I’m not trying to do anything extraordinary, just be a good mom when I’m with my kids. I work fulltime outside of the house and while it’s busy and tough sometimes, I wouldn’t change anything. I do love to cook, but very often and recently I’ve come to rely on my personal “chef” who makes delicious, healthy meals.. enter.. Munchery! 🙂

I need to clarify something here. Munchery did not sponsor this post and they actually don’t know I’m writing about them. But I will say this. When you’re at work and it’s 3pm and you have no idea how you’re going to get dinner ingredients gathered, put together and on the table at a reasonable time, Munchery pre-cooked meal delivery service is pretty amazing. It “saves me” several times a week! And yes, I call it my personal chef. 😉 They have gluten free options, and I’ve found a bunch of personal favorite dishes (e.g. Seared Salmon and Pine Nut relish, Shrimp Remoulade Salad, Roasted Poblano & Mushroom Tacos, and more). They also have great kid options.

Here’s a little coupon for you, and hopefully they deliver in your zip code. If not, hopefully coming soon!

Shown below is one of the kid options: chicken and mashed potatoes! Comes with some fruit and a toy. 🙂

munchery kids meal blog (3) munchery kids meal blog (1) munchery kids meal blog (2) dit-elle-Esther

Winter Greens Casserole Made Easy

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I LOVE winter greens and if you’re wondering what winter greens are think chard (rainbow or swiss) or kale or those types of leafy greens. So I read this recipe that took sausage, onions, winter greens and sautéed it all.. and then you put it in a casserole dish and poured cream all over it and topped it with cheese. While that was super delicious, but WAY too rich and a few steps too many, I simplified the recipe with the option (of course! :)) of adding cream and cheese or not!

winter greens and sausage blog (2)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter, plus extra for dish
2 shallots, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound bulk Italian sausage (or pre-cooked sausages like roasted red pepper turkey, feta and spinach, etc.. there’s a great selection out there and if you get something pre-cooked you are also saving some cooking time)
3 pounds braising greens (kale, mustard, chard, collard, etc.), tough stems removed and leaves, cut into small pieces
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
Red chili flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper, to taste

Additional optional steps for Baked Casserole version

1/2 cup chicken stock (optional, see below)
1 cup heavy cream (optional, see below)
1 cup grated Gruyere cheese (I used Parmesan)

Preparation

In a skillet, melt butter and add shallots and garlic and cook for a few minutes until fragrant but not starting to brown
Stir in sausage and cook, breaking into small pieces, until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Drain off fat, if desired.
Add braising greens, in batches, stirring until cooked down. When all greens have been added, cook and stir for 5 minutes; season with nutmeg, salt and pepper and red chili flakes.
This is where I stop and serve with freshly grated Parmesan! Voila! Finished!
But if you want to get fancy, add chicken stock and cook 5 additional minutes. Transfer greens to the prepared dish. Drizzle with cream and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until cream is bubbling and cheese is golden, 20 to 30 minutes.

Thanks PCC Natural Markets for this one!

Pulled Pork and Coleslaw Sliders

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So I’ve made various pulled pork crock pot recipes in the past, and while those are more of the BBQ saucy style, I wanted something to use to make sliders.. with coleslaw and fresh rolls! This is a GREAT recipe just for that! Make your coleslaw the night before, set the pulled pork ingredients in the crockpot in the morning and let it do all the work! Easy dinner! And excellent for leftovers.

pork shoulder slider blog

Ingredients

3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ cup honey
¼ cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
3 to 3 ½ pounds pork shoulder, cut in half

Instructions

In a medium size mixing bowl, mix together the first six ingredients (all of the spices) with a fork.
Pour in the honey, vinegar, and olive oil and stir to form a paste.
Place the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top it with the 2 pieces of pork and then pour the honey paste over all sides of the pork pieces. It’s okay if some of it (or a lot of it) just drips down to the bottom.
Turn the slow cooker on to low and cook for 7 to 8 hours or until the meat is tender enough to be easily shredded with a fork.
Serve warm with coleslaw and rolls.
Ps. Minus the rolls, this is a great paleo dish! 🙂 Serve with some optional avocado on the side (because avocado goes with almost everything!).

Thank you 100 Days of Real Food!

dit-elle-Esther

Chicken Sausage, Spaghetti Squash Egg Muffins | Paleo, Whole30

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I’ve seen so many variations of eggs in a muffin tin. The possibilities are almost endless! I saw a version of this recipe posted on the @Whole30Recipes page on Instagram by @dollyessfit, although I couldn’t find it on her website, Unapologetically Living, but there are a lot of other yummy recipes there.

I changed it a little, but basically stuck to what she did, and these were amazing! And better yet. I had breakfast every day for a week, and Maya asked for them for lunch too!

She also helped with almost every step. She’s totally getting into cooking with me and wanting to help with everything! Yes, it takes a little longer, and some ingredients are lost along the way, but it’s so worth it for her to know that she helped make what we are eating! Especially when it’s healthy! I mean, what kid doesn’t want to make cookies? I love that she was excited to make these with me, and more importantly that she wanted to eat them! Although, that last part isn’t a real shock. She eats just about anything. 🙂 Blog Paleo Whole30 Egg Chicken Sausage Spaghetti Squash Egg Muffins-1 What you need… (12 Muffins)

6 Large Eggs
2 cups spaghetti squash, cooked with water squeezed out.
4 precooked chicken sausages, chopped into bite size pieces
1 cup spinach, kale (or any leafy green) chopped
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (or fat of choice)
Salt and Pepper to taste

What to do…

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Squeeze out all the moisture from the spaghetti squash with a paper towel and evenly distribute into greased muffin tins (overly grease!! I had to do a lot of scrubbing to get all the egg off after, because I only lightly greased). I had Maya push a paper towel into them to get even more moisture out. She thought it was fun, and it helped pack them in there!
Bake for 10 minutes til the spaghetti squash gets slightly browned at the edges.
While that is baking…In a large frying pan, heat up your oil (or fat of choice), and cook diced onions until soft. I let Maya stir these up. 🙂
While these are cooking you can dice up your chicken sausage. Once the onions are soft, add in the chicken sausage for a few minutes to warm them up and release the juices.
After the spaghetti squash has cooked, reduce your heat to 350.
Evenly distribute the onion/chicken sausage on top of the spaghetti squash in the muffin tins.
Whisk 6 eggs in with diced greens.
Pour that evenly over muffin tins til the mixture reaches the top. They don’t rise that much.
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are all the way cooked through.
Store in an air tight container, and eat through out the week!

Keeping it Real…

The number one hardest part of cooking and baking with a toddler? Or at least MY TODDLER, is stopping them from licking the spoon and eating along the way. But…whatever. Oh, and we made these at 5:00 at night, so there was NO natural light, which bums me out, but such is life.

Blog Paleo Whole30 Egg Chicken Sausage Spaghetti Squash Egg Muffins-10 The second hilarious thing that happened (which I’m only admitting at the very end of this post, knowing most people won’t get this far hahaha.) I accidentally turned the oven off when I thought I was turning it down to 350. So…I put the muffins in, checked them at 20 minutes and thought. WHY don’t they look more cooked?? Did I not get enough moisture out of the squash?? SO…10 more minutes. STILL not looking done. 5 more minutes. Then I started getting confused on how long they’d been in there and wondered how I would tell people how long they should cook! SO, I checked them again, and realized…my hand wasn’t hot when I stuck it in to shake the pan. Um….hmmm, yeah, turning the oven on. Important step!!!! I was actually making these for dinner and had to scrap it and make something else while they cooked for their appropriate 20 minutes. GRRRR.

ENJOY!! 🙂 dit-elle-Lauren

Turkey and Potato Soup with Canadian Bacon and Sage

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Still have turkey leftovers? This is a fabulous soup to use some of those leftovers. Canadian bacon or pancetta gives the soup a great well rounded flavor and the mashed potatoes and turkey gives it a sense of comfort and warmth. The sage just makes it additionally interesting. A great fall or winter soup!

turkey potato sage soup blog (2)

Ingredients

1 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 large carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 or more oz Canadian bacon, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups chopped cooked turkey (I cubed it, but think it would be good shaved as well)
2 1/2 cups mashed cooked peeled baking potatoes
1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage and additional fresh sage leaves for garnish
fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

Heat butter in large pot, add onions and cook for a few minutes
Add celery, carrots, bacon and cook for another 5 minutes until onions are translucent
Add broth, turkey, potatoes and sage, stirring with whisk until blended
Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes
Garnish with fresh sage

This soup freezes very well!

dit-elle-Esther

Winter Squash and Apple Soup

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Washington State is the apple capital of the world and are lucky to get an abundance of different varieties, especially in fall! This is a lovely soup using apples and celeriac (celery root) as the main ingredients. It is wonderful served simply with fresh apples and drizzled with olive oil, or make a full meal out of it by serving with some Winter Squash and Apple Galette or Bacon Wrapped Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates! 🙂

wintersquash and apple soup blog (2)

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
2 pounds celeriac, peeled and diced
1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
3 apples – peeled, cored and diced and more for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
5 to 6 cups vegetable stock
Truffle or olive oil, to garnish
Preparation
Heat oil in a heavy stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add leeks and cook until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in garlic and bay leaf, cooking for 1 additional minute. Add celeriac, potatoes and apples; cook until soft, about 10 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper and deglaze the pot with wine, cooking until almost evaporated. Pour in enough vegetable stock to cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, partially covered, until celeriac and potatoes are very tender, about 30 minutes.

Remove bay leaf and let soup cool slightly. Carefully puree soup until smooth (either with an immersion blender or in batches in a blender or food processor). Return soup to the stove to reheat, adding additional stock if too thick. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if needed. To serve, drizzle with truffle or olive oil and fresh slices of apple.

Thanks PCC Natural Markets!

dit-elle-Esther

Winter Squash and Apple Galette

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This week I’m featuring two recipes using winter squash and apples! Today a Galette (French for a flat round pastry or bread) and on Thursday, check back for Winter Squash and Apple Soup. These dishes are excellent served together as a meal or as separate dishes! I made these for lunch recently when we were having one of the first damp, cold and rainy days here in Seattle. It was a wonderful meal to cheer up the day. 🙂

This is a great recipe for leftover roasted squash since you do need to cook it before putting into the shell here, but it is otherwise quick and easy to assemble!

winter squash and apple pie (2) winter squash and apple pie (1)

Ingredients

1 pound winter squash – peeled, seeded and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 tablespoon oil
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup thinly sliced sweet onion
1/2 apple – halved, cored and cut into thin wedges
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese (or parmesan works great as well)
1 prepared pie crust (I use a gluten free version)
1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon water (for egg wash)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400° F.
Toss squash with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven until tender, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onions until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add apples and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat; toss with squash and blue cheese.
Place pie crust flat on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Mound squash mixture in the middle of crust, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold border over filling, pleating the edge (the center will be open). Brush edges with egg wash.
Bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cut into wedges before serving.

Super Mom Tip: 1) Use leftover baked squash and save a step! 2) Don’t have time to work on the pleating and egg washing the crust? I didn’t either. I just tossed the filling and baked it in the crust and voila! I’m sure it tastes just as good!

Thanks to and inspired by the recipe on PCC Natural Markets!

dit-elle-Esther

Roasted Ratatouille with Black Olives

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This is a great variation to a traditional ratatouille dish. By roasting the vegetables, you get rich flavors and melding of ingredients. The black olives and fresh basil were a nice touch. I served it with polenta and the whole dish was super yummy!

Ingredients

4 tomatoes, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 each red, yellow and green bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
1/2 onion, thickly sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, plus additional for garnishing
1/2 cup pitted black olives

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425° F.
Place two rimmed baking sheets in the oven for 4 minutes to heat.
Meanwhile, toss the tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and onions with olive oil and garlic in a large bowl. Very carefully spread the vegetables on the hot baking sheets. Roast, shaking the pan once or twice to turn vegetables, until tender and golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Toss roasted vegetables with balsamic vinegar, basil and olives. Serve warm with sprigs of fresh basil.

I served this with polenta and grated parmesan cheese!

Thanks PCC Natural Markets!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Toasted Cheese

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Root veggies are in season with an abundance to select from already. You can use sweet potatoes, yams or garnet yams for this recipe. You are dairy free? No problem. Bake them the same way as described below and omit cheese. They are super delicious either way! 🙂

Ingredients

4 small sweet potatoes, halved lengthwise
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
3 oz Fontina cheese, grated (3/4 cup) – I could not find this in my local grocery store and used Comte cheese instead.. you can’t really go wrong with any cheese though, so use your favorite cheese or just Parmesan works great!
1 1/2 oz. Parmesan, grated (1/3 cup)

Directions

Heat oven to 425*
Rub potatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper
Bake, cut side down, on a baking sheet or glass pan until golden brown and tender, ~20 minutes (fork inserts very easily)
Turn over to broil
Combine cheeses and sprinkle on potatoes cut-side up
Broil until cheese is melted and golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes
Serve warm

Baked Parmesan Zucchini

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Crisp, tender zucchini sticks are brushed with oil, topped with parmesan and herbs, and roasted to perfection. Totally yummy! I had to make a second batch just for the photos as the first batch disappeared pretty fast. 🙂

Ingredients

4 zucchini, quartered lengthwise
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a cooling rack with nonstick spray and place on a baking sheet; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine Parmesan, thyme, oregano, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper, to taste.
Place zucchini onto prepared baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with Parmesan mixture. Place into oven and bake until tender, about 15 minutes. Then broil for 2-3 minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.
Serve immediately, garnished with parsley, if desired.

Thanks http://damndelicious.net/2014/06/21/baked-parmesan-zucchini/

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