UMMY, YUMMY Butternut Squash Soup

Sometimes the best recipes are the ones made on the fly.  This past Friday night, we had our first dinner party in our new home.  In my typical obsessive compulsive approach I had it all planned out, or at least I thought I did.  I had this perfect image of a coconut squash soup with herbs and side accoutrements to top it off.  Totally not what happened... it was even better!

NOTE:  do not do what I did in this picture and cut the squash into slices.  HUGE waste of time, energy and burnt fingers.

Ingredients:
2 Large Butternut Squash
2 Garlic Cloves, cut in 1/4
2 Shallot, cut in 1/8
1 Tbs. Cinnamon
1 Tsp. Salt
1 1/2 Cartons of Chicken Broth
Some Olive Oil

Tools:
Baking Pan covered with tin foil
Hand Blender, or a regular blender if you don't have a hand blender
VERY LARGE POT

So let's get this baby cooked.  Pre-heat the oven to 450.  Cut the squash into quarters, remove the butt and the head of each squash and make sure you scoop out the seeds.  Lay them skin down on the pan, drizzle with olive oil and roast them in the over for 40 minutes, or until slightly browned, but NOT burnt.

Once done, take them out of the oven.  You may or may not want to let them cool a bit before you do the next step.  I have no patience and so ended up with slightly burnt hands.  Next Step: remove the meat from the skin.  This can be done with a big spoon or fork, or any other tool you can think of that will separate.  (TIP: personal pleasure devices don't work)

In the VERY LARGE POT, preferably cast iron, turn heat on medium, get a good amount of olive oil in there and toss in the shallots.  Sweat them out for 5 minutes or so, then toss in the garlic and let that sweat for another few minutes.  Don't let it burn.  Add the squash and mix it all together.  By this time your squash with be partially mashed.  Add the chicken broth, mix it up.  Add the cinnamon and salt, mix it up again.

Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and let cook for another 40 minutes.  Mix up every 10 minutes.

When done, turn off the heat, stick in your hand blender and blend it smooth.

Now you're done.  eat.

NOTE:  This is going to be a very thick soup, almost like mashed squash.  It is awesome with some beef sliders, BBQ chicken wings, or some grilled cheese sandwiches.  (not all Paleo, but all worth while)

xoxo

S

Grilled Beef Wrap w/ Papaya & Shrimp Salad

Lunch on Hawthorne Street this past weekend inspired me to create my own style of Thai food.  Not something I'm familiar with, I was forced to go to the web to see what I needed and how I can make it Paleo.  There can be some unusual ingredients in Asian food, Thai being no exception, my main concern was availability in tiny Hood River.  After consulting five different recipes, I created my own and headed to the grocer.

TIP:  Don't go shopping for herbs in Hood River on Mondays.  They don't get their shipments until Tuesday.  If you're really smart, unlike me, you will have your own herb garden.

Ingredients:

2 Green Papaya, julienned if you have one, sliced into spaghetti strips if you don't
BIG TIP:  I had no bloody clue what a green papaya was.  Searching searching searching... the grover had no idea either; he wasn't of Thai decent, BTW.  A GREEN PAPAYA is a regular papaya that hasn't ripened yet... DUHHHHH.  I hope this tip will save you the two trips to the grocery store that it cost me.  And I still couldn't get completely green papayas.
12 Large Shrimp, tails off and sliced in half length-wise (I preferred already boils & peeled)
1 medium carrot shredded
4 Tbs. Basil finely chopped
4 Tbs. Cilantro finely chopped
1 tsp. Mint finely chopped, my missing ingredient ;(
1/3 cup crushed almonds (a sub for peanut, which are not Paleo)
2 Jalepeno's, amount depends on your personal taste, see instructions
Juice of 6 Limes
4 Tbs. Honey, melted for 10 seconds
4 Tbs. Fish Sauce, plus additional for marinade
NOTE: With limited access to a good Asian Market, I had to buy fish sauce that had sugar in it.  This is the ONLY non-Paleo ingredient in this dish, but at 4 Tbs. just get over it.
1.5lbs flank steak
4-5 Green Onions, cut in half
8-10 toothpicks

Prep First
In a large bowl put... 1/2 jalepeno sliced with seeds, juice of 2 limes, 2 Tbs fish sauce, 2 Tbs. honey, and 2 Tbs. each of basil and cilantro.  Mix well with a whisk.  Make sure you heat the honey a bit so it mixes together; otherwise you'll be sticky.  ADD the flank steak, cover with plastic and stick it in the fridge.  You can also do this in a large plastic bag instead of a bowl if you please.

Make your salad
Once you've got your papaya & carrot prepared, it's time for dressing.  Take out a large bowl, preferably the one you want to serve with.  In the bowl add the rest of your lime and fish sauce, whisk well.  Add the honey and whisk again.  Toss in your herbs.  Now is decision time; how spicy do you like it?  I only used 1/2 of a jalepeno minced on a cheese grater, but you may want more.  Remember!  the longer it marinates the spicier it will be.

Now that you've achieved a preferred level of hotness, mix in the papaya, carrot and shrimp.  Marry everything together, cover with plastic and stick it in the fridge.

Pull out your BEEF!.. green onion and toothpicks.  Turn on your grill!  Let it heat up on a medium to high heat.  The high heat will give you a nice sear, especially if you like your meat properly done with pink in the middle.

Now, the flank is a long thin cut.  Start on one end, take a piece of green onion and make a beef roll with the onion in the middle.  Once you've overlapped the beef, stick it with a toothpick and cut the end.  Do this until you run out of beef; about 8-10 pieces.  Turn your burner down to medium/low, grill turning each piece 3-5 minutes on two sides.

PRESENT!  On a plate, pile your salad sprinkled with crushed almonds and daintily place you choice pieces of beef next to the salad.

Until next time!

xoxox

S

Nut Bar!

Are you not getting the right kind of fat?  I can't tell you about the chemistry, but I can totally tell you all about how much more quickly I lose fat eating the right kind of fats.  (did that make sense?)  My energy is higher, my skin looks better, my cellulite is less... Granted, the fat that I'm eating is not the only reason for these phenomena, but it is the major change I've made to my diet; like the missing link.


This recipe is AWESOME!  It's the fat portion of your meal and is perfect for all members of your family not allergic to nut.  Perfect pre and post workout.


What you need
8x8 Baking Sheet
Wax Paper
Food Processor 
3.5c of Your Favorite Nuts (not your partners')


NUT NOTE:  The original recipe from Primal Blueprint, calls for 1c almonds, 1c hazelnuts, and 1.5c pecans, but I've found some interesting mixes by changing it around with macadamia nuts.  Use whatever floats your boat EXCEPT peanuts.


2/3c ground flaxseed (optional; my current pale challenge coordinator doesn't like flax?!?!?)
2/3c Coconut Flakes
1/2c Almond Butter
1/4c Coconut Oil
2tbs Honey
1/2tsp Salt


IN THE FOOD PROCESSOR:  Toss in nuts, flax, coconut & salt; blend until smooth and turn off.  Put wet ingredients, almond butter, coconut oil & honey, into a microwave safe measuring cup and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Take it out and and mix the ingredients together so they're blended.  Turn the food processor back on and pour the wet ingredients in.  Let the mixer evenly combine all the ingredients.

IN THE 8x8 PAN:  Place a piece of wax paper that will go up and over the sides of the pan.  Pour in the mixture, take a spoon and evenly spread around the pan; don't forget the corners!!!!  Apply pressure!!  


Once it's flat, fold the wax paper over to cover the nut mix.  If you have another 8x8 sheet or a round pan that will fit inside, stack it on top of the mixture.  If you don't, search your kitchen for something flat that will fit inside the pan and put pressure on the mixture.  Put the pan in the fridge for 3-6 hours and place some heavy items on top of it so the mixture is compressed.


I like to use a round pan, then, once in the fridge I put Dave's half gallon milk carton into it for added pressure.


Take it out and cut it into 12-16 even squares.  Store them in the fridge to keep them firm!  Share with family and friends.  Eat with your favorite protein!!


ENJOY!


S