Salmon Cakes

Leave a reply

Based on salmon cakes with lemon caper butter

2 eggs
1/2 medium onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or cilantro (or 1 tablespoon dried)
1 teaspoon sea salt
black pepper to taste
juice of 1 lemon, ~1-2 tablespoons
10 dashes of hot sauce or 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne
2 (14.5 oz) cans of wild salmon, drained
3 tablespoons of coconut flour or almond meal
coconut oil or butter for frying

In a medium bowl beat the eggs. Mix in the onion, garlic, herbs, salt, pepper, lemon juice and hot sauce. Once all of your “wet” ingredients are well incorporated, add the canned salmon.

Once the salmon is incorporated into the wet ingredients you can add in the coconut flour or almond meal. Heat up a large frying pan over medium-low heat while the coconut flour absorbs the liquid in the salmon mixture. If the mixture is too moist add a bit more flour.

Once your pan is good and hot, add either coconut oil or butter and allow to melt. Form medium sized “burgers” and place in pan. Do not move them! Allow them to cook on one side for about 5-7 minutes, or until you can get underneath them with a spatula. Flip them over and cook them for another 5 minutes. You are looking for a deep, dark golden brown.

Pork Carnitas

Leave a reply
Yesterday I found a great deal on a nice, bone-in Boston butt pork roast at my local co-op, so I made my version carnitas, based on this one at Grain-Free Foodies. I love this recipe, it takes a bit of fore-thought, but once its in the slow-cooker you can forget about it all day (or overnight).

Ingredients
Juice from 1 lime
1 Tbs salt
3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2-3 tsp ground cumin
1 Tbs crumbled dried oregano
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Ground pepper
1 tsp olive oil, softened butter or lard
1 (4-5 pound) pork roast
2 bay leaves
2 cups chicken broth (or water)
Directions
Mix first 10 ingredients together in a small bowl. Place the roast in a large zip-lock bag, pour in marinade mixture, place in fridge for 6-8 hours (overnight works best).
Remove roast from bag, place in slow-cooker. Pour broth (or water) into bag so you get get as much of the goodness out of it as possible, pour around roast. Add bay leaves, set to low and forget about it for 8-12 hours (true story- I once let this cook for almost 24 hours, it still turned out great).
Remove roast from cooker, pour any liquid over it, place in fridge. When cool it will be much easier to shred and remove large chunks for fat and grizzle. Enjoy in tacos, salads, or on its own!

Palak (Saag)

Leave a reply

Last night I finally made some Palak. I did not have any Paneer, so it was just Palak, which is fine because I just wanted it to top my quinoa breakfast casserole. I used a combination of the following recipes: Saag @ whats4eats.com and Palak Paneer @ Mahanandi. Next time I will take photos and provide more accurate measurements.

1 large bag spinach

2 chilies – seeded (mostly) and rough chopped

1 T oil

Heat oil in pan, add chilies. Sauté a minute, add spinach, splash of water, put lid on pan and steam for 2-3 min, checking that nothing is sticking. Remove from heat and cool.

Mash 2-3 garlic cloves with some salt and a tablespoon or so of grated ginger.

Finely dice half a large onion.

Sauté onion in butter or oil, add garlic/ginger mix, as well as

1 T ground cumin and coriander (put whole seeds in spice grinder – I always have some of this around)

1 t curry powder

½ t garam masala

1 tsp turmeric (careful – it will make your hands orange)

Ground pepper

Pulse the spinach in a blender (magic bullet works just fine). Add back to pan, along with some diced tomatoes (I opened a can and scooped some out, smashed them up a bit in the pan). Pour in a couple tablespoons cream if you have it – I think it would be fine without. Cook for a couple more minutes, and adjust salt and other seasonings.

Simple Stir-Fried Cabbage

Leave a reply

I love cabbage – this is one of my favorite ways to prepare it:

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 small onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 small – medium head of napa or green cabbage, trimmed and sliced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
sesame oil, for drizzling
salt to taste

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sliced onions and saute until translucent. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute. Stir in cabbage and saute until it is just starting to wilt. Add soy sauce and vinegar and cook until cabbage has just wilted. Remove from heat, add sesame oil and taste for seasoning. Add salt if needed and serve while still hot.

Sauteed Sweet Potatoes with Spinach

Leave a reply
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 6 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 2 cloves sliced garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 red bell peppers, sliced
  • 2 bags spinach
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the sweet potatoes and garlic until soft, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Toss the bell peppers into the skillet, add the nutmeg, and sauté for about 2 minutes. Now add in the spinach into the skillet with the peppers, and cook until the spinach is just wilted. Remove from heat, add the sweet potatoes back in, season with salt and pepper.

Farmer’s Market Bounty

Leave a reply

I love our Farmer’s Market here in Bloomington. It may be small, but there are plenty of vendors with great vegetables, and often they also have beautiful flowers for a great deal – $5 a bunch! Check out today’s haul:

Flowers and fresh veggies

Besides the flowers I got: lettuce, broccoli, green onion, kale, Napa cabbage, regular cabbage, green beans, snow peas and radishes. What am I going to do with all of this? Lol, lots of stir-fries, and a nice big summery salad, mmm.

From the freezer

Leave a reply

A couple of recipe ideas from a recent issue of Runner’s World (I looked but could not find them on their website)

Spinach Potato Soup – In a pot, sauté 1 chopped onion 4minutes. Add 4 cups broths, 1 box frozen spinach, 1 chopped potato, 1 teaspoon cumin and salt and pepper. Simmer until potato soft, then puree. Add juice from 1 lemon and ½ plain Greek yogurt.

Blackberry Dressing – blend 2 T thawed blackberries, 2 T olive oil, 1 T balsamic vinegar and 1teas honey and handful of fresh mint.

Top Secret Recipe: Redstone’s Coleslaw

Leave a reply

I absolutely love Redstone’s coleslaw, despite the odd fact the they now serve it in a small cast iron fraying pan (bizarre I know). My inside source was able to get me the ingredients for the coleslaw, but not the exactly amounts. That was fine with me, since I can’t follow a recipe anyway.

Shred about 4-5 cups of green and red cabbage with a couple carrots. In a small bowl whisk together:

  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup ranch dressing
  • 1 T red wine vinegar
  • 1-2 T lemon juice
  • 1-2 T mustard
  • 1 teaspon granulated garlic
  • pinch (or 2) sugar
  • dill (I ground up a bout a 1/2 tablespoon of dill seeds)

Top with chopped green onion; add salt and black pepper to taste.

Curried Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

1 Reply

Its that time of year when I become obsessed with squash. A couple weeks ago I bought a butternut squash intending to make a curry or something with it, but the squash just sat on my counter. Then last week I saw a recipe for Curried Butternut Squash & Apple Soup on wcco.com (I would link to it but the recipe seems to have disappeared) and started to make it, but only got as far as cooking the squash. Last night I made the soup – turned out very yummy.

Curried Butternut Squash & Apple Soup

  • 1 medium butternut squash
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Cut squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and stringy flesh. Place the squash cut side down on the prepared baking sheet. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes or until the squash is softened. Remove the squash from the oven and let it cool slightly before scraping the flesh into a bowl. (I did this step almost a week ago)

In a stockpot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion; cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in curry powder, cinnamon and nutmeg; cook until fragrant. Add water and broth, reserved squash and apples; cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let soup cool for 10 to 15 minutes.

Using a blender, puree the soup in batches until very smooth. (I used my Magic Bullet. I didn’t totally puree it – my soup still had a few small chunks)