Zoe's Crockpot Chicken

This past weekend, I invited my best friend and her family up to our house for dinner.  Instead of trying to make a meatloaf large enough to feed eight people, I decided to use my two crockpots to save time and effort in my prep.  In the one, a mushroom pot roast.  In the other, I made a lightly curried pot of chicken thighs.  I wasn’t sure if my friends’ kids would like it – they’re eight and ten years old, and I didn’t know if it would be a hit.  Ten year-old Zoe took one bite and her face lit up.  ”Mama,” she excitedly told my friend, “you have to ask Dana for this recipe so you can make it at home!”  I have to tell you, I’ve never been so proud of a recipe in all my life!  This, then, will be called Zoe’s Crockpot Chicken.

You can use one or two pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  If you use one pound, you’ll have more sauce, and will probably want to serve this over rice or noodles.  If you use two pounds, like I did this time, it’s a thicker stew and doesn’t need anything under it – but jasmine rice would certainly be delicious.  Use any store-bought curry powder you like.  I have two, and the one I used this time was just a $4 jar from Trader Joe’s – nothing fancy.  I also used half a head of cauliflower, diced.  It doesn’t add much to the flavor, but it adds nutrition and body to the sauce.  I like to garnish with a big dollop of plain yogurt, and if you have cilantro, sprinkle some of that on top.  If you need a quick chicken dish that promises to please grown-ups and kids alike, check this one out.

Zoe’s Crockpot Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, sliced fine
• 1 or 2 pounds chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 15 ounce can of diced tomatoes (I like fire-roasted)
• plain yogurt and cilantro to garnish, optional
• rice or noodles, optional

Directions:

1. Place the sliced onions on the bottom of the crock pot.  Layer the chicken thighs on top.  Season well with curry powder and salt.  Open the can of tomatoes and dump on top.
2. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours.  When ready to serve, shred the chicken with a fork and mix all the ingredients.  Serve on top of optional rice, garnish with optional yogurt and cilantro, and enjoy!

Chocolate Cranberry Quinoa Biscotti

If you’ve ever paid $2 for a biscotti at your local coffee shop and thought, “It can’t be that hard to make these,” you are right!  This recipe for Chocolate Cranberry Quinoa Biscotti takes a few extra steps, but if you are looking for a gluten-free, nut-free treat for your afternoon coffee break, read on!

I was looking for nut-free biscotti recipes online, and I found one using quinoa flour, which I’d never heard of or used.  Time to experiment!  It turns out that quinoa flour is incredibly easy to make, and exceeds wheat flour in fiber, protein, and nutrients.  If you don’t want to make your own at home, I understand – you can find it in health food stores and online, and Bob’s Red Mill makes it (I really like and trust their products.)  I used red quinoa, so the biscotti has a darker color, but feel free to use the regular white kind.  To make quinoa flour at home, pour one cup of quinoa on a baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes at 300*F.   When cool, grind in a spice grinder, grain mill, or superpowerful blender.  I have a hand-crank grain mill that made short work of the job!  One cup of dry quinoa will yield one and a quarter to one and a third cups of flour.  If you don’t want to go through the trouble, you can use regular or whole wheat flour instead.

Everything else in this recipe is pretty customizable.  Don’t like chocolate chips?  Leave them out or use white chocolate or even butterscotch chips.  Add in any kind of nut, like almonds, pecans or pistachios.  Replace the dried cranberries with cherries, apricots, or just lemon zest.  Drizzle with white or dark chocolate.  These make great gifts, too, because they are pretty hearty and don’t get stale too quickly.  After rigorous and exhaustive testing, I can report that these stand up well to dunking in coffee.  The things I do for you people! 

If you have a friend who loves coffee, give these as a gift (and keep a few for yourself!)

Chocolate Cranberry Quinoa Biscotti

Ingredients:

• 1+ 1/3 cups quinoa flour (you can use whole wheat flour instead)
• 2 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil (or use butter)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar (or use brown sugar)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries (or cherries or diced apricots)
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• White chocolate for drizzling (Confession:  I was out of white chocolate, but I found a cookies and cream white chocolate bar that fit the bill.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300*F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine quinoa flour, coconut flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, and coconut sugar together.  Mix well, then stir in chocolate chips and cranberries.  Stir in the flour mixture a little at a time until thoroughly combined.
4. Turn the dough out onto the parchment, and using damp hands, mold into a log that measures about 4 or 5 inches wide, one inch high, and about 15 inches long.  Bake until firm, about 25 minutes.
5. Remove pan from oven, then pick up the parchment with the biscotti log on it, and let it cool on a rack.  You want this cooled to room temperature, so it won’t crumble too much.  With a serrated knife, slice the log into 1/2 inch biscotti.
6. Place the biscotti back on the baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until dry and crunchy.  Let cool completely, then drizzle with white chocolate.  Store in an airtight container to keep them crisp.

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

… or as it’s known at my house—Magic Sauce!  This recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Aioli is easy to whip up at a moment’s notice, and is infinitely customizable.  Like it spicy?  Add some hot sauce of your choice, or a spoonful of adobo sauce from a jar of chipotle peppers.   Depending on my mood and what else I have laying around, this aioli also gets a few shakes of smoked paprika, or a half a teaspoon of ground cumin.  Mix it up in your blender, taste it, and then see where you want to take it.

We eat this on roasted asparagus.  My husband dips steamed broccoli in it.  I love it on oven-roasted sweet potato fries.  And it’s the best sandwich spread in the world!  Try it in place of regular mayonnaise on your next turkey sandwich or veggie wrap and you’ll ditch that jar of Miracle Whip for good!

Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers from a jar, drained and patted dry (or roast your own!)
• juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt or more to taste
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise (make your own!  Or use store-bought, but not low-fat mayo)
• optional:  paprika, cumin, hot sauce

Directions:

1. In a blender or small food processor, blend together the garlic, red pepper, lemon juice and salt until almost smooth.  Add the mayonnaise and optional ingredients and blend again.  Keep refrigerated.

Chicken with Fennel and Olives

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving!  If you have leftovers, by all means, eat those first.  Once you finish off your turkey, ham, or whatever else you had, try this recipe for Chicken with Fennel and Olives.

Fennel is in season now and has a delicious anise flavor.  When you are shopping for the olives, buy the biggest green olives in a jar you can find – sometimes they’re called Queen olives – and make sure they’re pitted.  You can find them plain, but I used a jar of large green olives stuffed with cloves of garlic.  Amazing!  You can also find them stuffed with almonds (but for this recipe, I would avoid the ones stuffed with blue cheese or hot peppers!)  This recipe also calls for a cup of white wine.  Use a chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, or pinot grigio – these are dry white wines that will pair perfectly with the chicken.  If you prefer, you can substitute chicken broth.

This is a healthy, light recipe that will warm your house and keep you from feeling like a slug after all the Thanksgiving feasting is over.  (But feel free to have that last piece of pie for dessert!)

Chicken with Fennel and Olives

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, or a package of skin-on chicken thighs, or skin-on chicken breasts
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or bacon fat for cooking
• 1 large fennel bulb
• 1 large onion
• 1 jar large green pitted olives
• 1 cup dry white wine (or substitute chicken broth)
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.  If you are using a whole chicken, remove the legs and breasts – you should have 4 pieces.  Reserve the rest of the chicken for soup or another use.  Season the skin with salt.
2. In a very large oven-proof pan, heat the olive oil or bacon fat.  When very hot, add the chicken pieces skin-side down and cook over medium heat for about ten minutes.  When chicken skin is crisp, remove the chicken pieces from the pan and place skin-side up on a platter and set aside.  Set the pan aside – do not drain!
3. While the chicken is cooking, slice the onion into thin strings.  Cut off the stalks of the fennel, but keep a few green fronds for garnish.  Cut the fennel into very thin rings or slices, about the same size as the onion.  Drain the jar of olives and slice the olives in half.
4. Heat the pan again and add the wine, stirring to scrap up any stuck-on bits of chicken.  Add the onion, fennel and olives and stir to combine.  Remove from heat.  Place the chicken pieces skin-side up (so it stays crispy) on top of the bed of vegetables and place in the oven.
5. Cook for 30 minutes.  Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.  To serve, make a bed of vegetables, place a chicken piece on top, and add a sprig of fennel frond.  Season with salt and pepper.

Layered Greek Dip

This month I am focusing on side dishes and things you can bring to your Thanksgiving table.  When my family gets together, we all commit to bringing a piece of the dinner puzzle:  whichever family member is hosting usually makes the main dish, and the other family members decide on who is going to make dessert, salad, vegetable, and appetizer.  My sister brought an appetizer called Layered Greek Dip – and I was hooked!

This dish is easy to put together and is healthy to boot!  Assemble it right before your guests come, or make ahead and covered in the fridge until you are ready to serve.  Offer a variety of dippers:  I like pita chips, tortilla chips, Triscuits (my favorite cracker of all time!) and veggies like carrot sticks and red pepper slices.  This will take the edge off people’s hunger long enough for you to finish up your last-minute dinner duties.  Offer some white wine with this appetizer and your guests may forget all about the main course!

I should have taken a photo of my sister’s dish when she  made it, but it slipped my mind, and before I remembered, we had all smeared it all over the plate and eaten half of it!  I made it again this morning, so the photo is of a “personal-sized” serving.  And you know what?  It makes a yummy, unusual breakfast too!  I used sundried tomatoes because I didn’t have any cherry tomatoes (and I don’t care for them anyway.)  Try it and let me know if you love it like I do!

Layered Greek Dip

Serves 8 as an appetizer

Ingredients:

• 8 ounce container of hummus (or make your own!)
• 4 ounces crumbled Feta cheese
• 6 ounce container of plain Greek yogurt
• 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 4 ounces cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 ounces Kalamata olives (or other black olives)
• 2 green onions, diced
• handful of parsley, minced

Directions:

1. On a large plate, spread out the hummus.  Cover with a layer of Feta, then cover that with the Greek yogurt.  Arrange the cucumber, tomatoes, and olives over the top in any way you find aesthetically pleasing.  Sprinkle with green onion and parsley.  Serve with chips or veggie sticks.  Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer (Paleo)

Cheers!

  One of the hardest things I’ve ever done for my health was changing how I took my morning coffee.  I was a teaspoon of white sugar plus half and half kind of girl.  I was also a big fan of Coffeemate creamer – you know, Irish Cream, French Vanilla, Hazelnut – the good stuff. Unfortunately, white sugar first thing in the morning creates a huge insulin spike, setting you up for inflammation, sugar cravings, energy crashes – the list goes on.  And I dare you to pick up a bottle of flavored coffee creamer at the store and tell me what half of those ingredients are. Chemical city!  So I decided to surf the web and find something to jazz up my coffee (because a splash of almond milk just isn’t making magic in my cup.)  After some experimentation, I present to you:  Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer!

This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, and processed sugar-free.  I used maple syrup for a little sweetness, but you can use honey or stevia if you prefer.  This recipe calls for an egg.  Try to find organic, best-quality eggs – hopefully you can find a farmer’s market that carries local eggs, because that really lowers any salmonella risk.  If it freaks you out, you can skip the egg, but it really does add body and substance to the creamer.  I keep this in a mason jar in my fridge.  I go through it in about a week and that seems to work well.  It may get solid, and that’s fine – just scoop out a ball of creamer with a tablespoon and it will melt immediately in your coffee.  If you want to make a fall treat for the kids, heat up some milk in a pan on the stove, stir in a quarter cup of the Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer, and garnish with whipped cream and a little extra cinnamon!

Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer

(makes about 16 ounces)

Ingredients:

• 1 can (13.5 ounces) full-fat coconut milk
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or try half vanilla and half almond extract!)
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil (optional, but I like it!)

Directions:

1. Add all ingredients to the blender and mix for 30 seconds.  That’s it!  Pour into a jar with a lid and store in the fridge for up to one week.

Baked Fish with Cilantro Sauce

Monday I went to Costco and found some really beautiful fish.  It was so yummy-looking, I couldn’t pass it up, even though I didn’t know what I was going to do with it.  Google to the rescue!  I went to a site called Epicurious.com that I’ve had luck with before, and found a recipe for halibut, but it said you could use any firm-fleshed white fish.  Bingo!  I changed a few things, and now I’m calling it Baked Fish with Cilantro Sauce!

Use whatever firm-fleshed white fish you have.  I used rockfish, which is like red snapper.  You can also use halibut, cod, and probably even tilapia.   And if you’re not really a fan of fish, I bet you could even get super crazy and make this with thin-sliced chicken breast (though you’ll probably want to cook it a little longer.)  The cilantro sauce is phenomenal!  The original recipe called for shitake mushrooms.  I didn’t have any, so I used regular button mushrooms.  But I really liked the mushroom flavor in the recipe and wished it was stronger.  I would suggest a wild mushroom mix, or maybe portobello mushrooms if you can find them.  Regular button mushrooms will work fine, but if you like mushrooms, maybe use more than the recipe calls for.  And if you can find shitakes, by all means use them!

Full disclosure:  My girls didn’t really like this.  I think this is maybe more of a grown-up dinner.  So make this for you and your adult diners, and maybe throw some fish sticks in the oven for the kids.  That meant I had leftovers.  I ate them yesterday for breakfast … and finished the rest off at lunch!  (Can you tell I really liked it?)

Baked Fish with Cilantro Sauce

(Serves 4)

• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, ends trimmed off (but use the stems too, not just the leaves!)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1-inch piece ginger, peeled
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small squirt Sriracha chili sauce, or other hot pepper sauce of choice
• juice of one large lemon
• 1 1/2 pounds filets of rockfish, halibut, cod, or other firm white fish
• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 bunch mizuna or arugula
• 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450*F. Combine first 7 ingredients (through the lemon juice) in a food processor and blend until mostly smooth.  If you’d like it a little smoother, you can add more olive oil.  Taste and add salt if desired.  Set the sauce aside.
2. Wash and trim the green beans, and cut into bite-sized pieces.  Place in a covered bowl and add a tablespoon of water.  Microwave for 2 minutes.  You just want to help them along so they can bake in the oven and not still be crunchy when the fish is done.
3. In a large bowl, combine the mizuna or arugula, sliced mushrooms, sliced garlic,and green beans.  Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Place in the bottom of a very large casserole dish (like one you would use for lasagna.)  Place the fish filets on top, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
4. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your fish filets.  Divide fish and vegetables among 4 plates, and serve with the cilantro sauce.