Fresh Herbs & Lemon Parsley Swordfish

I love spring and summer, because on my back deck I grow herbs. I love cooking with fresh herbs. Growing in my pretty pots, in all their greenery are dill, oregano, mint, thyme, basil, parsley, chives, sage and rosemary. The flavor that they add to each dish is not only aromatic but gives the dish a fresh flavor. There is nothing better than homegrown herbs straight from your backyard garden. Of course, you can enhance any recipe with dried spices or herbs you get from your grocer. Whenever possible, try to add fresh herbs. It just adds a favorable, light note to any dish. Cooking Paelo doesn't have to be tasteless and boring. Add ompf to your cooking with lots herbs.

The next few posts I am going to highlight herbs as the flavorful ingredient. Enjoy these recipes.

Lemon Parsley Swordfish

4 fresh caught (7 oz) swordfish steaks
1/2 teaspoon course sea salt
1/2 cup finely minced fresh parsley, divided
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice from one fresh lemon
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Brush 13 in. x 9 in. baking dish with olive oil. Place fish in the dish and sprinkle the course sea salt on top. Combine 1/4 cup parsley, oil, lemon juice, garlic and red pepper flakes. Spoon over fish.

Bake uncovered, at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork, basting occasionally with the sauce. Sprinkle with remaining parsley and top with thinly sliced lemons for decoration. Yields: 4 servings

Avocado Pudding

A friend of mine just recently told me of Avocado Pudding. At first, I thought, that was a recipe disaster as the taste of avocados don’t seem lend itself to sweetness, in my opinion. But, when I saw the recipe, I was excited. It is a brilliant way to get good fat, healthy food, AND satisfy the sweet tooth all in one shot.

Here is a recipe I found on the Internet from Healthy Urban Kitchen:

1 avocado (medium sized, Hass) – use a very ripe one. Overripe is better than not ripe.
1 medium-large banana
2 TBS coconut milk
2-3 TBS Carob or Cacao powder (unsweetened)

Optional Ingredients:
a pinch of sea salt
a dash of cinnamon
a dash of cayenne
Sprinkle coconut on top

Preparation:
Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit. Scoop out the fruit into a food processor & banana, coconut milk and Carob or Cacao powder. Add other ingredients and blend together until completely silken in texture. Garnish with shredded coconut & serve chilled.

I am going to try this out. You experiment with it and let me know what your favorite way to make it is.

Banana Freeze

Trying to get away from the sugar? Want a sweet treat that fits into your Paleo plan and isn’t adding items that stretch the Paelo allowances? Here is your treat. Banana Freezes. Guess what, it only has one item. Bananas! It is also a great way to use up bananas that are starting to turn, making it cost effective too. My husband is an ice cream freak and he says this comes as close as you can get to the creaminess of ice cream. Try it out.

Here is what you do:
• Peel & slice into 1” thick slices, very ripe bananas.
• Place slices into a Ziploc bag, and freeze

When you are ready, throw the SLIGHTLY THAWED frozen banana slices into a food processor. Pulse until smooth. You can either serve then (if still slightly frozen) or put back into the freezer for about 20 minutes to firm up. Scoop just like ice cream.

Topping suggestions or additions:
• 1 TBSP Almond Butter into the blend for a peanut butter taste
• Top with various berries or reduce berries into a syrup - I just went strawberry
picking and fresh strawberries in a food processor make a nice sauce for this.
• Top with nuts

Americans are hooked on sugar

When I went Paleo, I started reading labels. With my mom having congestive heart, I was on the lookout for sodium. Apparently, now I am on the lookout for sugar and its other aliases: cane sugar, fructose, glucose, saccharine, aspartame, sorbitol, lactose, turbinado sugar, sorghum syrup, galactose, dextran, dextrose, corn syrup, et al.

I never have been one to have a sweet tooth really or be a choc-o-holic (I know, I am not a typical female). However, sugar is everywhere! It is in food products you wouldn’t necessarily see like salad dressings, tomato sauces, ketchup, etc. We have seen a rise in the amount of sugar in processed foods since the 1980’s when high fructose corn syrup replaced sugar in sodas and other products. Here’s the sad thing as a result: in 1980, roughly one in seven Americans were obese, and almost six million were diabetic, and the obesity rates, at least, hadn’t changed significantly in the 20 years previously. By the early 2000s, when sugar consumption peaked, one in every three Americans was obese, and 14 million were diabetic.
Studies are being done to look at the links between various diseases and sugar. When you start to Google this, it is amazing how much is now linked to sugar. Sugar is linked to all kinds of cancer, dizziness, asthma, headaches, toxemia in pregnancy, cataracts, emphysema, eczema, cardiovascular disease, depression, indigestion, Alzheimer’s, and so on. (For a complete and amazing list of medical reasons to avoid sugar, visit http://www.rheumatic.org/sugar.htm )

Rob found this article the other day about sugar being toxic and asked me to do a post about it. However, it has so much information in it; I do not even know where to begin to paraphrase it. Many of you are following a Paleo Diet to be fit and to lose weight. But, many of you want to follow Paleo for the health benefits and to avoid health issues. This article supports the many reasons to avoid sugar if you want to avoid future health complications, and is a thorough look historically as to why sugar has become so toxic. Don’t take our word on it or even this articles word on it. Do your own research. Choosing a Paleo lifestyle also means becoming informed about the choices you make in what you put in your body (or reasons why you won’t put it in your body).

Here’s the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/magazine/mag-17Sugar-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=magazine
Let us know what you think!

Left Over Mexican Chicken with Cauliflower Rice

Ok…this is gross. Chicken dinner candy???? Now that I got your attention….my point is this: Leftover chicken doesn’t have to go this far and it doesn’t have to be this gross. You CAN have flavorful leftover chicken entrees for just pennies.

For Cauliflower Rice
• 1 head of cauliflower
• 2 TBSP coconut oil

Clean and remove green leaves from cauliflower. Slice out some of the stem. Rough chop the rest of the head. Place in a food processor and pulse to consistency of rice. Place coconut oil in a stir fry pan, and sauté until softened.

For the Chicken Mixture
• 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green pepper, chop into ½ inch pieces
• 1 jalapeno pepper, diced
• 1 onion, chopped
• Leftover cooked chicken
• 1 can of organic tomatoes, drained
• 2 TBSP cumin
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 TBSP coconut oil

Toppings:

• Cilantro
• Fresh sliced lime
• Avocado

Clean and chop all peppers & onion. Place coconut oil, minced garlic, peppers & onions in a sauté pan. Saute until tender. Add leftover chicken, tomatoes, & cumin. Let simmer for flavors to blend. When blended, pour over rice and top with fresh cilantro sprigs, fresh slices of avocado and squeeze lime juice on top.