Tag Archives: grain free

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

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Cilantro lime cauliflower rice

Summer is always a very busy time for me with out of town family visits and trips, so it’s really nice when I get to spend an entire weekend at home doing nothing. This past weekend I spent my time binge-watching House of Cards and old movies on Netflix. It was awesome. I also made this amazing cilantro lime cauliflower rice. 😀

Makes 4-5 Servings

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
2 tbsp unsalted grass-fed butter
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup cilantro
1 lime
1 cup no salt or low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Instructions:
1. Remove stems and leaves of cauliflower and cut florets into large pieces. Grate the florets by hand with a box grater.
2. Add butter to a pan and turn on heat to medium. Stir in garlic and cook for one minute.
3. Add in cauliflower and chicken broth. Cover and lower heat to medium-high and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Stir in cilantro, salt, pepper and lime juice and turn off heat.

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Paleo Chicken Fideo

Paleo Chicken Fideo

It has been an eventful last few days for me with Easter and Fiesta festivities. I think I indulged way too much this past week. Every time I visit my family, it’s so hard to resist the delicious, non-paleo food they make. I don’t know about your family, but my family sure does like to eat, especially on holidays! What do you do to resist temptation at family gatherings? Any tips? Even though I stray away from strict paleo eating at times, the important thing is that I always get back on track. It’s getting harder and harder for me to cheat. Sometimes I think I can have a little dairy or a little gluten every once in a while and usually end up paying for it with an upset stomach and low energy.

This chicken fideo is the perfect meal to make if you feel you have indulged a bit too much. It’s so simple to make, but very satisfying. It always hits the spot when I’m craving chicken fideo. I grew up eating the fideo that’s packaged in a yellow box, which is a short, thick noodle. When I was in college, I had a roommate who used super thin, long noodles that I loved. Since I no longer eat regular fideo, I use kelp noodles for my fideo and they remind me a lot of the kind my roommate used to make. Have you ever tried kelp noodles? They are amazing! They are long and thin and are great for stir fry, pasta dishes and salads because they are basically flavorless so you can add any spices to them. These raw noodles are made from a type of seaweed and are high in iodine, which is great for your thyroid. Give them a try!

Chicken fideo

Paleo Chicken Fideo
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless chicken thighs
1 12 oz bag of kelp noodles, rinsed under cold water and cut into smaller strands
1/2 white onion, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tsp salt, divided

Directions:
1. Add water to a stockpot and add in onion, garlic, 1 tsp salt and chicken.
2. Bring water to a boil on high heat and then reduce heat to medium. Cook for one hour.
3. Scoop out the chicken, onions, garlic and 1 cup of the water used for boiling the chicken and add to a pan on low-medium heat.
4. Stir in tomato paste and carefully break apart chicken into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon.
5. Add in noodles, oregano and 1 tsp salt and cook for 5 minutes to allow the noodles to get warm and soak up the flavors.
6. Serve in bowls.

The leftover liquid used for boiling can be refrigerated or frozen in a freezer bag and used as chicken stock for future dishes.

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Paleo Chiles Rellenos

Paleo Chiles Rellenos

Did your mom ever tell you “you’re going to like it when you grow up” when you refused to try a certain food when you were little? I can remember my parents telling me this all the time when I turned down peppers, guacamole, mole, guisados and tons of other things they made when I was growing up. Chiles rellenos were one of those things I used to think were super spicy and would never eat. Little did I know that one day this dish would be in my monthly meal rotation.

I have to say, my mother-in-law makes the best chiles rellenos! She knows the way to our heart by making a batch of these every time we visit. Her chiles inspired me to make my own without regular flour. I have tried chiles rellenos with both coconut flour and tapioca flour and tapioca was definitely the winner. While the coconut flour worked well, it seemed to get too hard and crunchy when cooked in oil. I enjoyed these chiles with a side of my Mexican cauliflower rice and sliced avocado.

Oh by the way, Happy Fiesta if you live in San Antonio! Fiesta is an 18-day city-wide party filled with live music events, food, festivals, parades and cascarones! While I think 18 days of non-stop partying is a little crazy, I totally enjoy the lively feeling the city has during this time.

Paleo Chiles Rellenos
Makes 6 chiles

Ingredients for chiles:
6 poblano peppers
1 cup finely ground tapioca flour (starch)
2 pastured eggs, beaten with a hand mixer for 4 minutes until fluffy
3 tbsp coconut oil

Ingredients for meat filling:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 lb grass fed ground beef
1/2 small onion, diced
3 pitted dates, chopped
1 tbsp pecans, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Mexican oregano
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

Directions for meat:
1. Season ground beef with garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, using a wooden spoon to stir and break up the meat as it cooks.
2. Add in coconut oil and onions and cook for an additional 5 minutes until meat is fully cooked.
3. Stir in dates and pecans and cook for additional 2 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.

Directions for chiles:
1. Turn on oven to broil.
2. Rinse and dry poblano peppers and put them on a baking sheet lined with foil.
3. Place peppers in oven and broil for 8 minutes, turning the peppers half way through. Peppers should be charred and blistered when you take them out of the oven.
4. Wrap peppers in a moist kitchen towel and let them cool for about 5 minutes.
5. When peppers are cool enough to touch, carefully peel off the skin. Rinse peppers under cold water to help remove any excess skin.
6. Cut a 1-inch slit in each pepper and carefully remove the seeds with a spoon. Leave in a few seeds if you like your chiles spicy. Don’t worry too much if your slit is a little larger than an inch.
7. Add coconut oil to a pan and turn on heat to medium.
8. Stuff each pepper with meat and carefully dip into the egg and then coat with tapioca flour, holding the slit shut so that no egg or flour gets inside the pepper. (Use toothpicks to hold the slit shut if it’s hard to hold.)
9. Place stuffed peppers (in batches) on pan and cook for about 4 minutes on each side until the flour turns to a light brown color.

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Paleo Fried Avocado

Paleo fried avocado

If you haven’t noticed, I really like avocados. I think almost everything I make has to involve an avocado somehow. If you don’t like avocados, sorry! There’s this amazing food truck in Austin that serves the best fried avocado taco. It’s served on a corn tortilla with beans, pico de gallo, lettuce, cheese and some super addictive green sauce. It’s so not paleo, but I can’t resist when I’m in Austin. I really wanted to attempt fried avocado and I must say it was a huge success. If you’re missing a crunchy and creamy element in your salads or need a new side item, fried avocado will do the trick. I drizzled mine with my avocado cilantro crema and ate it with a fork…yes, I ate avocados with more avocados drizzled on top. I might need help. 😉

Paleo Fried Avocado
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 large Haas avocado
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, whisked in a bowl
4 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:
1. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit and carefully remove the skin. Slice each piece in half lengthwise. You should now have four slices of avocado.
2. On a plate, add coconut flour and salt.
3. Add coconut oil to a pan and heat on medium.
4. Dip each slice of avocado into the egg and then coat with coconut flour and salt.
5. Carefully place slices in the oil and cook on all sides for about 2 minutes each until flour looks golden brown.
6. Serve warm.

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Slow Cooked Pork Carnitas Lettuce Wrap Tacos

Lettuce wrap pork carnitas tacos
Whoa, that title is certainly a mouthful! Couldn’t think of an easier way to describe these simple, but delicious tacos. I love throwing food in the slow cooker in the morning and coming home to a delicious meal. I don’t mind cooking dinner every night, but it can be hard with my work schedule and my husband’s busy school schedule. During the week, I only get to spend a couple of hours a day, at most, with my husband and usually weekends are spent running errands and more school work for him, so if I can spend less time in the kitchen, I try. In less than three months, our lives will be much easier when he finally receives that master of architecture degree! Woohoo!

Now, onto these carnitas. I usually make carnitas with pork shoulder, but pork loin roast was on sale so I decided to try it and it came out just as great. My husband loves crispy carnitas so after they’ve been slow cooked, he likes to toss them in a little EVOO in a pan to get them extra crispy. They are delicious right out of the slow cooker though, so choose which one you prefer.

Slow cooked pork carnitas

Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless pork loin roast
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
Leaves of romaine lettuce
Cilantro
Tomato
Avocado Slices

Directions:
1. In a slow cooker, place a tblsp of EVOO and half of the onions and garlic.
2. Season the pork with salt and pepper and place in the slow cooker. Add the remaining onions and garlic on top of the pork, along with another tblsp of EVOO.
3. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Roughly shred the pork with a knife and fork and mix it with all the onions, garlic and juice from the bottom of the cooker.
4. For crispy carnitas, throw some of the shredded pork into a pan with a tblsp of EVOO and toss around on medium to high heat for about 5 minutes until most of the carnitas get crispy. You don’t want to overcook them or they’ll become dry.
5. Place leaves of lettuce on a plate and add a generous amount of carnitas on each leaf and top with cilantro, tomato and avocado slices.

Try these tacos with your favorite salsa or my paleo avocado cilantro crema, it’s divine!

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