Bun-less Burgers

So I pretty much have given up all grains so eating a hamburger is a different experience all together. I usually would go bun less out at restaurants and just have the patty on a bed of salad or wrapped in large lettuce leaves. The difference now is I did not want to miss out on the taste of the mayo, mustard and ketchup goodness that I would get from eating my burgers at home on a G-free bun. So I decided why not just make a dressing for my salad with those flavors.

Makes enough dressing for four dinner size salads:
two tsp of Dijon mustard
two tbsp of Mayo or Vegenaise
five basil leaves
1/2 cup of white balsamic vinegar
pinch of kosher salt
two good pinches of pepper(I use garlic pepper)
two good pinches of Creole seasoning
1/2 tbsp of EVOO
zest and juice of half of a lemon

Add all ingredients in a mini prep food processor or blender and mix until smooth.


















Go ahead and grill or cook your burgers. We got yum, yum burgers on special from Whole Foods. I usually stock up on their pre-made flavored burgers when they go on special and freeze them. They have all kinds usually some made with lamb, salmon, chicken and of course beef and bison. They mix in all kinds of different things like different cheeses and different spices into the patties.

I chopped up a beautiful Heirloom tomato and avocado to top off the burger. I am a huge Sour Kraut fan to and I will top mine with a couple of huge spoon fulls or chop up some of my Moms home made dill pickles. She made them spicy this year really great!

So I add the dressing to my greens, which is usually pea shoots and some kind of lettuce, toss and plate a generous helping to each plate. Then top with the burger and then the tomatoes and avocado. YUM!!!! I do not miss the bun at all.

Yom Kippur Wrap Up

I cannot believe the weather!!! Usually the day of Yom Kippur I am counting down the hours until I can break the fast and dig into the chicken soup and honey cake that I made the day before. Well, this year there was no way I was turning on the oven or using the stove for that matter. My easy no cook break fast dinner went as fallows.

We had Udi's multi grain bagels. I really don't ever eat grains anymore, but I figure heck, why not it is a Holiday and once in a while cannot hurt.                                                     I paired the bagels with the usual suspects:

-sliced Heirloom Tomatoes sprinkled with garlic black pepper
-fresh yummy cream cheese sprinkled with dill
-beautiful Wild Smoked Sockeye Salmon
-sliced red onions
-would have added capers, but Ben hates anything briney or pickled.

I paired the bagels and lox with a simple butter lettuce, radish and yellow summer squash salad that was tossed with my go to dressing:

1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup or so of white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp of Herbs De Provence
2 tbsp of EVOO
1 pinch of Kosher Salt

Shake it up in a glass jar and toss into salad.

We had chocolate dipped Macaroons via Wholefoods.

If we where having people over I would have chilled a nice Rose' wine but I already had opened Driven's Tempranillo and had that instead.

Also if we had company I would have probably served some strawberries(yes because of the weird season are still great and coming in the by the truck loads around here) and Heirloom Melon slices, some different olives and a crudite platter with lemon Hummus. It was just Ben and I this year which was fine too hot for company anyway.

I hope everyone had a easy fast and a meaningful Yom Kippur.

Stuffed Tomatoes with Chicken Salad

          Tomatoes are in season and I like to try to use them in everything I possibly can. I have been craving very southern flavors lately. So I got some beauties in my CSA box and what else to do with them then to make stuffed tomatoes with Southern done right Chicken Salad, YUM!

          I used three chicken legs salt and peppered them with some Cajun seasoning under the skin and squeezed a lemon over the chicken and rubbed them down. Placed them in a oven set at 450 for about 30 minutes. Check the temp and once the juices run clear and the temp hits 165 with a meat thermometer they are ready. Be careful not to hit the bone or the bottom of the pan with the meat thermometer.

I usually based them with their juices or some broth and finish the chicken under the broiler for about five minutes to get the skin crispy so it is easier to pull off.

So pull off every inch of chicken from the bone. I usually just let it cool a little bit and use a fork to pull it off. Then I will chop up the chicken and throw it in a dish.

Add about a half of a green bell pepper chopped, 1/2 cup of corn( I use frozen and thaw in some warm water), half of a smallish purple onion chopped, 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley, one heaping tablespoon of Vegenaise or organic mayonnaise, two teaspoons of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper some creole seasoning, zest of a quarter of a lemon and its' juice. Mix and let it mingle in the refrigerator if you like for a couple of hours or make the day before.

Grab some huge slicer or nice heirloom quality tomatoes and cut the top out and pull out. Then with a spoon scoop out seeds and water. You make have to cut out some of the ribs with a knife to make plenty of room for the salad. Then fill with chicken salad and sprinkle with some cheese or parsley.

I like to serve it on a bed of lettuce and avocado that is tossed in lemon juice, olive oil and some salt and pepper. Yum! Enjoy:) This would make a great entre' for a luncheon or ayou could use smaller tomatoes and would make a fun party appetizer.

Makes about enough to stuff six large tomatoes.

Cashmere usually begs at the table for scraps this time sitting patiently, this is a rarity;)

Clean Day 8 & 9

Re-cap post from Clean Day 8 & 9

Thursday we started out day with Matcha green tea with some Meyer lemon zest and the juice and our Island Paradise shakes.

Lunch was mmm, mmm, gooooooddddd!!!! I made a really hardy salad. I think you will love this recipe. Especially any guys out there. Totally guy friendly hot salad.

Turkey Bacon, Butternut Squash and Spinach Salad:

1 butternut squash peeled, seeded and chopped into bite sized chunks
1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 package of nitrite free, organic turkey bacon (peppered worked great!)
1 large shallot clove or enough to for 1/4 cup chopped
1 splash of grape seed oil
2 tbsp of water
1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
a few of cranks of a pepper mill
four huge hand fulls of organic baby spinach or hearty leaf salad mix
1 cup of cooked red quinoa( I make a batch about twice a week to add to salads or to use as a fast side)

Turn oven to 400 degrees.

Prep your squash and lay a piece of parchment paper. Toss your squash in cayenne pepper, some salt and lay spread out on paper. Set timer for 40 minutes

Grab another cookie sheet and lay more parchment paper down. Lay turkey bacon out on paper and add to the oven on a lower rack. Butter nut squash should bake for about 20 to 30 minutes. Bacon will take 20 to 40 minutes depending on how crispy you want it. Flip bacon about 10 to 15 minutes into bacon and flip the squash around as well.

Put your salad leaves together and add the quinoa and set aside.

Now add some grape seed oil to a pan and turn stove to about medium heat. Add the chopped shallots.

Once the shallots are soft and cooked down add two tablespoons of water and they should steam a bit then add the balsamic, Dijon and pepper and combine.

It should look like this. If you want it more runny add more balsamic and water and then when ready and comined turn off heat.

Bacon and squash should be ready. Top salad with the squash and then the dressing. Toss together.

Plate salad and top with bacon add a few cranks of some black pepper and serve.

Our shake was the same. We have been keeping it very easy and only be creative with lunch the rest is the same ol, same ol. Including our lite dinner. Hummus roll-ups packed with veggies. Easy quick and simple. 

Clean Day 4 & 5

We started off the morning with another Thanksgiving themed shake. I know from my nutrition training it is better to keep things consistent. When I get sick of the shake I will switch to my Island Paradise shake recipe. So lunch was another "make enough for two days" which again is from the same school of thought. So this recipe is all my own. I make these with meat and also without some times and totally vegan. These are my meat loaf balls. Same principle of making a meat ball but adding things that go in meat loaf instead and some things that you may never thought to add. I pack mine with lots of vegetables so the are nutritionally dense. Ben eats them right up so that is what counts. I make them tomato free or with because of the clean limitations these are tomato free and the cheese I am using is a Almond milk cheese that I was trying out before the diet. It actually taste like real sharp cheddar and melts really well. It is by Lisanatti Foods and called The Original Almond Cheddar Style. Now this does have casein in it and some expelled pressed canola oil(already e-mailed the company about using grape seed oil instead and finding a different protein besides casein or whey as well). I would actually use Daiya usually because of the diet also that it is casein free as well, but this bag was already open so I wanted to use it up. You can leave the cheese alternative out and add four tablespoons of nutritional yeast instead to get that cheesy flavor and loads of B vitamins as well if you are fallowing Clean to the letter.

What you need to make them:
1 1/2 or a little less pounds of extra lean(99% fat free) organic ground turkey (basically a package)
1 cup of shredded carrot
1 cup of finely chopped kale
1/2 cup of finely chopped red onion
4 chopped garlic cloves or 1 tsp of garlic powder
1 cup of finally chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup of Daiya cheese or whatever you like  (four rounded tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast)
1/4 cup of brown rice flour
2 tbsp of Dijon mustard
about 7 cranks of a pepper mill
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1/2 tsp of Creole Seasoning
*I used 1/2 tsp of each organic blend of pepper and garlic seasoning and Organic No-Salt seasoning from Costco as well.
3 flax seed faux eggs (three rounded tablespoons of flax seed meal with six tablespoons of water)
2 tbsp of grape seed oil
1 tsp of tapioca starch if you have it

Turn oven on to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and make your faux flax seed eggs in a small bowl and set aside.

I have a mini prep food processor and I finally chopped my onions, carrots and kale in it. If you do not have one just chop the veggies as small as you can and add to a large bowl. Add your faux flax seed eggs and don't for get the oil!

Add your meat and the rest of your ingredients and mix well. Then take about a little more then a 1/2 cup of the mixture an shaped into tight balls.

Place on parchment paper and put the tray in the oven for about 20 minutes. If you are using ground Turkey with more fat then the balls could take about 30 minutes, maybe 40 depending on your oven.

They will be darker in color and hard when pushed when done. Also you could cut one in half a bit if you are not sure. They should be cooked all the way through and no pink!

I made some quinoa with veggie broth, some spices in our rice cooker. Also a  nice dark leaf side salad with a a simple lemon, olive oil, Dijon mustard, pepper and Organic no-salt spice blend dressing. Ben at it before my eyes!


We had our after noon shake which was a repeat from yesterday. The we went to the gym and came home had humus roll ups and some coconut water mixed with sparking and a wedge of lime. The roll ups where Brown rice tortillas, dark leaf lettuce mix, slices of avocado. Dijon mustard, Fallow Your Heart Grape seed Vegenaise and some Cajun spice. These are great for a quick lunch as well and they make a great lite dinner option for the Clean diet.

We are doing well and feeling great.

Clean Day 2 & 3

Day two was not bad as last year, tired but not zombie like at all. I did not make anything different from day 1 and I planned it that way. I was prepared for it to be just horrible and cooked enough on Day 1 for Day 2 to keep it easy except for our little evening meal. I picked up my CSA box from NTC and we got a huge share this week that included Jerusalem artichokes(sun chokes). I was so excited to see them. I can never find them when they are in season so this was great. I figured I can make a hot salad with them with all the kale and collard greens that I got.

Basically, I peeled them then cut them into chunks. Added some grape seed oil to my pan and pan fried them until golden. The add a some white balsamic vinegar, pepper and two bay leaves then turned down the heat to low and covered the pan for about ten minutes. Then I chopped up a few huge hand fulls of kale and collards, chopped two cloves of garlic, and used some killer brown clam shell mushrooms and threw it all in with the Jerusalem chokes and combined and add a few splashes of chicken broth and turned up the heat a bit and put the cover back on for about 15 to 20 minutes checking and tossing every five and BAM ready to go. I tossed in about 1/2 cup of slivered almonds at the end and served hot. YUM!

We had the same afternoon shake. We went on a hour long walk around the neighborhood at night to burn more calories becuase we power walked in 34 degree weather rather then a indoor gym tread mill walk. Good fitness tip to remember want to burn more calories in a shorter period of time do it in cold weather or in cold water.

Day three we had the same morning Thanksgiving themed shake and a mint green tea late made with almond milk and some stevia. I found this great recipe on GOOP under the Clean program section. I altered it a bit because I hate fennel! Not dislike, but HATE it, and actually it takes a lot for me to hate any vegetable and this one I for sure do! So I used the GOOP recipe and subtracted the fennel and used Swiss chard because I broke down my collards the night before. 

Pretty easy marinade. I altered the amounts because I used less fish: 1 tbsp of Tamari, 2 tbsp of sesame oil, 2 tbsp of rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp of Mirin, a tsp of whole grain mustard and 2 chopped garlic cloves.

I mixed the marinade in the glass dish directly and whisked as directed. Then placed the whole piece of Salmon in the dish skin side up flipped it a couple of times to coat top and bottom and left it skin side up in the dish and then cut into about two inch wide pieces. I did skin side up because it will absorb the marinade faster. Pop in the frig for about 20 minutes.

 

I prepped the carrots the Norri sheets and the chard piece while it was marinating. Also filled my dutch oven with water and placed the steamer basket in it and turned the heat up to high to get the it ready to steam the rolls.  

 

After 20 minutes I took the salmon out and then started to construct the rolls. Just make sure to over lap the leaves a bit so they stay together.

Then I stuck them with two tooth pics each just in case so they will stay nice and tightly wrapped during the steaming.

Ready to go.............

I placed them in the steamer basket and turned the heat down to medium high heat and then put the top on and set the timer for 8 minutes and walked away. Poof, opened the dutch oven and they were done when the timer went off.

Served them with brown rice that I cooked with vegetable broth and some Japanese Salad. I will post the recipe for that in a separate post. SOOOOOO good!!!!!

We got tea at Peets later on after we went on cat specific research field trip(a Cat Show, I know you think we are weird but we had to get some advise from a Brit breeder about a new vet for Cashmere, it was actually pretty fun). I had the Jasmin Downy Pearl and Ben had the Lung Ching Dragonwell Green teas.

We had a Shari's Berries themed afternoon shake. I used the chocolate flavored Nourish and the Move with some frozen strawberries, some cacao powder, flax meal, almond meal, freeze dried coconut flakes, stevia, cinnamon, nutmeg, un-sweetened almond milk and some water.

For our light dinner we just a half a gluten free bagel with some nut butter and some apple slices to process our supplements.

As usual a mug of Natural Calm and hot water before bed. No work out today but gym tomorrow. 

BLT Salad

Love my Turkey Bacon!!! Also Tomatoes are pretty much almost over here in Cal so I have to use them as much as I can until I have to say bye, bye to nice locally grown Tomatoes until next season:( I also love a BLT with Gluten Free bread. I would eat a BLT everyday in the summer if I could afford to eat that many calories that comes with GF bread. So I decided to hold the bread and make a salad instead. I usually buy a few packets of Turkey bacon and keep them in the freezer to have them on hand for a fast lunch or breakfast. Turkey bacon takes no more then 15 minutes to thaw in a sink filled with water. So don't worry about the thawing issue.

This recipe makes two large entree size salads.

For the salad you will need:

1 large tomato chopped sliced whatever you like
1 medium red onion sliced
1/4 cup of chicken or veg broth
1 package of nitrate free organic Turkey bacon or Vegan un-bacon
as much either Spring Mix lettuce as you like or Spinach leaves or combo. I think I put about 12 cups if you need some kind of reference. 
couple of cranks of the pepper mill



1. Fallow package instructions for preparing your bacon of choice. Just make sure it is nice and crispy when you are done.
2. Slice the red onion and then pour a little oil in your pan and turn heat up to medium (low medium for gas) add your sliced onions and let them sweat a bit. Once they start to soften add the broth and pepper then saute until caramelized. Once done turn off heat.

3. Place you lettuce in a big bowl
4. Cut up your tomatoes and place in bowl with lettuce and place in the refrigerator until bacon is done.
5. Once bacon is ready take out of oven and let it cool just enough to handle then cut into short strips.
6. Grab your salad from the refrigerator and dress the salad.


For the dressing:

1 tbs of Vegenaise I like the Grape Seed oil one or you could use Miracle Whip or Mayonnaise
2 tsp of Dijon Mustard
1 half of a organic lemon juiced and zested
a few pinches of Organic Garlic Salt
a few turns of the pepper mill
If you have some Creole Seasoning it goes a long way and adds a nice zing to the tomatoes just a few shakes.

Top salad with all the salad dressing ingredients and then toss salad altogether, or mix in a separate container and serve on the side.

Dish salad into individual plates and top with caramelized onions and bacon. Enjoy!




additions if you have them:
Chopped avocado
Trader Joes Broccoli slaw
Chopped Purple or Napa Cabbage
Chopped broccoli florets
Chopped Zucchini

a monday

Cashmere keeping me company in my almost re-decorated office while re-designing my blog today.

We had a busy weekend full of house remolding, but we managed to escape and go to Apple Hill in Placerville, CA to buy some nice apples and organic produce at Willow Pond. Also stopped by a new Winery called  Grace Patriot Winery. The Winery is very young but had two stand outs. They did not have all vintages out for tasting, but the standouts are the:
2009 Pinot Gris
2006 Syrah
They were pushing a wine called 5pm that is a blend. Now, I like blends just fine and have no issues with Wine Makers blending but this was not the wine they should have been pushing this was a really not great wine. The Syrah and even there Cab was a much better wine for sure. They had a fun very Dry candy like Rose' as well that would be a great pool party wine in the summer time. So all in all a very fun weekend.

Now today I was TIRED. Poor Ben had to drive into the Bay for work so I just had to get breakfast and coffee together and push him out the door. The rest of the day I finished the two week process of re-designing and organizing this blog. I finally got it the way I wanted it so I hope you like it! Feed back would be great! Still not sure on the colors.

So today I went to whole foods and picked up some of there Mediterranean Crunch Salad that looked almost Mediterranean. I just did not feel like making anything for lunch even though when I got home I still had to doctor it up to really make it "Mediterranean". Then before I left I wondered down the raw food isle to see if there was anything interesting. The raw food isle reminds me of a very cold dank old almost deserted European village for some reason. It is isolated from any of the happy food areas and everything looks dead and muted. I know sounds horrible but it is the truth. I find new stuff all over the store so I figured I would take a shot and see what I could find.

The October 2011 issue of Fast Company is a must read if you like to read about business, tech and love Industrial design as much as Ben and I do!

I found these GF breakfast crackers by Mauk Family Farms. They are organic and GF also grain free basically a cracker made with just seeds and some GF buckwheat. Per serving they have 11.8 grams of protein, 17.5 grams of fat, 158 calories, 13.1 grams of fiber and 45 grams of carbs. This is something that you would eat for energy for sure and in the morning or in the afternoon for lunch. I just topped mine with almond butter and organic no sugar added strawberry jam. They have a few other savory flavors that would be great with a hummus or avocado spread along side a big salad for lunch. Not bad.  Now, for the salad I got at Whole Foods needed a lot of help for sure. So here is basically what is in the salad if you want to make it with my additions:

Shara's Doctored up Kale Mediterranean Salad 
(yeah, all the extras I added and I am most certainly calling it my own for sure)

a bunch of chopped kale (WF)
one to two cups(depending how much you like them) Garbanzo Beans (chickpeas)
one diced and peeled cucumber (WF)
one diced red bell pepper (WF)
half of a red onion chopped (WF)
two cloves of garlic chopped (Shara)
1/4 cup or more if you like of kalamata olives halved (Shara)
half one lemon zested and juiced (Shara)
some black pepper (Shara)
some kosher salt (Shara)
maybe some crumbled feta if you want
one good pour of olive oil (Shara)

Just combine and toss it all together. Holds up in the refrigerator well for a few days because the kale takes a while to wilt.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!








 

Great Asian Coleslaw/Salad

So the heat is on and Soups are off the menu and Salads are taking there place for the Summer. So my grand pursuit for the season is to use my favorite ingredient LIMES in many dishes!!!!! So I was at one of my favorite restaurants that only uses locally grown produce. They have a Mexican Coleslaw on the menu that I have had before. Pretty good, but not my favorite. I read the ingredients and I thought this is a good recipe for summer but with some changes it could be a salad staple for me over the summer. So I went home and went through my cook book selection, nothing. So I go online. I found a lot of coleslaw recipes. They where all good but not what I was looking for. So I decided to come up with my own. I am a big fan of cabbage. Not many people are but being raised with coleslaw on the table every night you grow a custom to it. So I decided do a spin on Asian Coleslaw. Easy, very good for you and so good.





two cups of broccoli Slaw(only from Trader Joes)
two cups of chopped Cabbage
1/2 cup of chopped white sweet onion
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro chopped
1/4 cup lime juice
two Jalapenos chopped and seeded
one tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds
one to two tablespoons of pure sesame seed oil
two tablespoon of rice vinegar
two tablespoon of olive oil

Broccoli Slaw may not be available to you and to make it is pretty easy. Usually people just eat the Broccoli tops and throw away the stalks, but the stalks are totally usable. So cut off the tops and save for dinner time. Use a grater and grate the stalks for a slaw. Or you can use a peeler to peel the stalks to get more of a slaw look. Also add a carrot into the grating. The carrot adds some color and some sweetness. The Sesame seed oil and Toasted Sesame seeds can be found in any Asian market, Whole Foods and some Trader Joes in the Japanese foods section.

Prepping the Jalapeno Peppers can be tough. I take a sharp knife and cut off the tops and then in half lengthwise to the pepper. i take the tip and crap off the seeds. Then cut away the white areas. Put to the side with the knife, try not to touch with your hands. Save some seeds though to top the salad. Slice then chop the pepper. Remember to wash your hands well when done and not to touch your eyes if you can help it.

Combine all ingredients and give a taste. See if the flavors taste tangy, crunchy with a nice sesame flavor. If not then add more Sesame oil and lime or a pinch more of salt until you get there. I take some of the discarded seeds from the Jalapeno peppers and sprinkle on the salad to control the heat better.

This salad can be made in advance for parties and can holdup in the fridge for a week. I like to put this on a side of chicken salad, or grilled chicken or fish. If you make home made Sushi this would be great to serve as a starter salad or a side. A good friend of mine who I sent this to first to try in his own kitchen loves to put this on top of a good Turkey or Beef burger. This is pretty old school "East Coast" to put a slaw on a sandwich or a burger. It adds a whole dimension to a burger or a nice sandwich.

All the best,
Shara