Lazy Girl's Tortellini Salad

I recently started a new job, and I've found that they like to do potluck food days for various occasions. Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries... if there's a reason, there's a food day. So when a surprise potluck was planned for my boss's boss's boss (catch that?), I knew I had to make something with a little more pizzazz than my standard desserts.

So I went to some web friends, who pointed me in the direction of a tortellini salad. It seemed simple enough for even me to make, given that I rarely cook. I thought I'd share my easy, lazy's girls version of Tortellini Salad.

Ingredients:

- One bag of Cheese Tortellini

- Balsamic Vinaigrette

- Baby Spinach

- One jar of Roasted Red Peppers

- Other veggies as you see fit

For my tortellini, I went with a full bag of Barilla's Cheese and Spinach Tortellini. I simply followed the directions on the bag to cook the pasta. Once they were done, I strained out the water and let them sit to cool down.

While the pasta was cooking, I sliced the red peppers into thinner slices, so it could easily be tossed with the rest of the salad. I placed them into the container I'd be taking with me to work and refrigerated it while I waited for the pasta to cool.

After about 30 minutes, I checked to make sure the pasta had cooled down, then put the pasta into the container with the red peppers. I chopped up some baby spinach and added that on top, then poured some balsamic vinaigrette over it all. With a large spoon, I mixed it all up to get it nice and covered with dressing.

You'll want to let it cool for a few hours. Be sure to mix it up again when serving to ensure you get the peppers and spinach, since they may settle. Then enjoy!

Voila! I got compliments from my co-workers on it and I look forward to the next occasion to make this easy dish again.

Primal "peanut" sauce

Primal "Peanut" Sauce


Ingredients:
1/2 cup almond butter (MaraNatha or other good brand)
2 tsp ginger (powdered) (If you like a lot of ginger, you can use more, or use freshly grated)
1/2 cup water (to thin)
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons Tamari sauce
3 teaspoons sesame oil 
2 to 3 cloves garlic, peeled
A few shakes of Cayenne pepper



(Makes 1 cup)


Method:
1. Combine all the ingredients in the magic bullet (or blender) until smooth and creamy.


This will keep in the fridge for a few days if you don't use it all in one shot, but you may need to add some more water to thin it out a bit.


Mine was excellent in my chicken/broccoli stir fry.  It would also be good as a veggie dip... or any other place you'd use a peanut sauce!


Here's what I did:


1. In a medium sized frying pan, add enough coconut milk to cover the bottom & let it heat a bit.  Add chunks of chicken once it's heated.  Then add some garlic powder & turmeric.  Cook the chicken through.
2. Add fresh or frozen broccoli once the chicken is cooked, and as it begins to soften, add a few tablespoons of the "peanut" sauce.
3. I served mine on a bed of rice noodles, covered with more peanut sauce, but this isn't particularly primal.  You could use zucchini noodles, or just eat the stir-fry on its own!

Paleo Turkey Burgers & Homemade Ketchup!

Last night, I needed to use up some ground turkey that I had taken out, and I wanted something quick and easy.  Well, I sort of failed at the "quick" part - but I did come up with something relatively easy, tasty and delicious!  

I based my turkey burgers on this post, but used only ingredients that I had in the house.   

Mine were a little something like this:

1 lb ground turkey

3 tbsp cauliflower puree (Yup - I keep various vegetable purees in the freezer, for whenever the need should arise!)

2 tbsp homemade salsa

1 tbsp onion flakes

1 tbsp garlic flakes

splash of tamari sauce

splash of Frank's Red Hot sauce

1/2 tsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder

I mixed all this goodness together in one big bowl, and formed into 6 patties.  Placed the patties on w axed paper, and cut the individual squares of waxed paper out, as suggested in the original recipe (brilliant idea! Makes it so much easier to transfer the patties into the pan!)

At first, I was afraid that these would not hold together well and that I would have to turn my burgers into sloppy joes... but I had a little patience, and they actually turned out great.  I might consider adding some almond flour to them next time.  They did have to cook a lot longer than I expected...probably at least 20-30 minutes.

The ketchup was SUPER easy.  I got it straight from this post.  I followed it exactly, except that I made half the recipe.  Tastes just like regular ketchup!

Have you tried anything new lately?

Primal Yumminess (Yogurt Chicken Recipe inside)

It took me a while to get back in the swing of things after returning from a lovely vacation with my fiance... but finally, last night, the cooking bug bit me!  I started with a flavourful Yogurt Chicken for dinner, then made some Cinnamon Bun Muffins for breakfast, and this morning, whipped up a quick honey mustard dressing for my lunch-time salad.

 Yogurt Chicken


(Note: I cook only for myself these days, so adjust your measurements as necessary for more people.  This was enough for a substantial amount for dinner, plus a little bit to go into my salad for lunch)

Ingredients:
4 tbsp Greek Yogurt
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp chilli powder
Sea Salt to taste
1 chicken breast

Method:

• Clean/trim chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces and place in a small bowl/dish.
• Add all the ingredients (except for chicken) to a small bowl and mix well.  The sauce will take on a lovely yellow colour, thanks to the turmeric! Yum!
• Set aside half of the sauce.  Add the rest to the bowl with the chicken.  Coat well, and let the chicken marinate for at least 10 minutes (but closer to an hour if you're not starving!)
• Cook in a non stick pan (you may use your favourite cooking oil) until chicken is no longer pink.
• Serve with a side of veggies, and spoon your reserved sauce on top!

Other yummy goodness, in brief:

I tried these yummy Grainfree Cinnamon Bun Muffins via Joyful Abode / Elana's Pantry. I followed the Joyful Abode recipe to the tee and it was PERFECT.  I love the changes that she made to Elana's recipe, because all the ingredients (except cream cheese) were things I normally keep in the house.
I know cream cheese isn't really primal... but I've been having a major sugar craving lately, so this was way better than what I could have indulged in!



The muffins (though with the frosting, maybe they're more like cupcakes) were tender and perfectly delicious.  I had tried out a few different primal cinnamon bun subs, and none of them even came close.  This recipe was quick, easy, and delicious.  It will be a staple in my primal treat file, for sure!

And, the leftover frosting makes perfect dipping sauce for strawberries! Yumm!


This morning, I tried my hand at a quick honey mustard dressing, which was surprisingly quick and easy.  I blended up all the ingredients in my magic bullet in about 5 minutes, and now have a tasty dressing to look forward to for lunch!
There's plenty of leftovers for future salads, so I'll have to see how long it keeps in the fridge, and maybe adjust the recipe size to make a little less for future batches.

What have you been cooking lately?

Sweet Fauxtato Skins!

So, I found this recipe floating around Pinterest, so I used it as a base, and decided to run with it!  Here's my somewhat primalized, but totally delicious version of the "Cheese and Bacon Potato Rounds"

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• sea salt to taste
• 3 slices bacon
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup shredded cheese
• green onions (optional)
• Greek Yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Slice your sweet potato into 1/2 inch slices (this is ONE large sweet potato on the tray - it was huge.  Adjust measurements accordingly if your sweet potato wasn't quite this big.  I also sliced up a few wedge/fry shapes).  Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with olive oil or add add additional melted butter to the bottom of the pan to prevent sticking (not sure if this is necessary, but I did it, and they didn't stick, so I'll recommend it!).  Brush both sides of the sweet potatoes with butter, and pop in the pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes begin to soften/brown.

3. While the potatoes are cooking, take three slices of bacon and slice into small pieces.  Fry up your bacon, and then set it aside.  You can shred your cheese now too.

4. Flip your potatoes over and cook for an additional 15-20 minutes.  They should be browned and slightly crispy.  If you have variances in thickness, some potatoes may be softer or crisper than others, but they're all good - just make sure if they're really thinly sliced, that you don't bake them TOO long.

5. When the potatoes are done, top with your shreded cheese, and then bacon.  (I actually did a little bit of cheese, then bacon, then the rest of the cheese, so that the bacon melted right in).  If you have onions (I didn't!), add them now too.  Pop them back into the oven for about 2 minutes, just for the cheese to melt. 

6. Serve! 
I liked mine with plain Greek yogurt for dipping.

The entire recipe took about 45 min from start to finish... but that may just be because I suck at slicing sweet potatoes!
Let me know if you try it!

P.S. The ones that were sliced like fries and brushed with butter came out PERFECT as sweet potato fries too!  Not mushy and full of flavour.

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Oh, how I love the weekend!
So yesterday, I was browsing through my Google Reader, when This Post over at I Heart Nap Time, reminded me of Recipe Girl's Cinnamon Roll Pancakes.  I love me some cinnamon.  And cream cheese icing.  And pancakes.
And I love Saturday mornings when I don't have to rush to get to work on time!

So guess what I did this morning?
Mmmhmm, you guessed it!

So, I don't think my pancakes turned out *quite* as nicely as Recipe Girl's... but I also halved the recipe and eliminated the egg (someone needs to go grocery shopping later today!).  If you make this and also need to eliminate the egg, just add a bit more of the other liquids in the batter, they'll turn out fine!

I cut the recipe in half, to make two pancakes - one that I ate, and one that I'll freeze.  Even cutting it in half, the recipe made too much of the cinnamon mixture, and WAY too much icing.  So keep that in mind if you'll be doing the same.

Anyone have any recommendations about how to reheat the frozen pancake?

Leftovers: from boring to delicious!

Living on my own means that I often have leftovers of whatever meal I decide to cook, even if I do scale back my recipes.  So when I'm left with leftovers, I sometimes like to think of ways to make them a little more interesting.  A little while ago, I was confronted with the non-appetizing meal at your left.  It was great the first night... but it just looked a little unappealing the next day.



I rescued it by getting a little creative with the ingredients I found in my fridge.  I created a little dish inspired by my mom's "Pasta Al Forno," which is sort of like lasagne.  I added some chopped up hard-boiled eggs, pieces of ham, cubes of mozzarella & a bit of grated parmesan... baked at 350 for about 10-15 minutes.  And some garlic naan to go with it.  An entirely new, and exciting, meal!



I had some leftover taco meat, but no more shells.  That inspired this awesome plate of nachos for lunch (which I shared with a friend).  I make my nachos this way:
- First, lay down some (low sodium) nachos in a ring shape along the bottom of the plate.  Then add some taco meat & cheese on top.  Then add another ring of nachos & repeat.  Pop in the microwave for a minute or less, just until the cheese gets a little bit melted, but the nachos stay crisp.
Then add sour cream, guac and/or salsa to the middle for dipping... Voila! A beautiful plate of nachos, that were good to the very last bite.

How do you rescue YOUR leftovers?  Leave some tips in the comments!

Garlic Butter Pasta with Snow Peas

Here's a little something I whipped up for dinner tonight.  It turned out to be absolutely delicious, so here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• approx 75-100g. of penne
• 1/4 cup fresh snow peas
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/4 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tbsp lemon pepper seasoning
• parmesan cheese (to taste)

Method:

1. Wash your snow peas & cut the ends off.  Set aside.

2. Boil water for your pasta.  Add the pasta when the water is boiled.  Salt to taste & boil for approx 10 minutes.  

3. While the pasta is cooking, you can make your sauce, in a separate small pot.  Melt the butter down.  After the butter is melted, add your minced garlic, and sauté.  Add the rest of the spices, and cook for about 7 minutes or so.  (If you've timed it right, the pasta and sauce will be done at the same time.

4. Drain your pasta, and add to the pot with the sauce.  Add your parmesan cheese, and serve!

Makes 1 serving, with a little bit left for lunch (depending on if you can stop at just one bowl!) :)

Debbie Meyer Cupcake Genius is Genius!

Over the weekend, I was able to test out my Debbie Meyer Cupcake Genius, which was one of my housewarming gifts when I first moved into my new place.  Almost a year, and I hadn't tried this nifty little tool, and now that I have, I want to use it again and again!

The cupcake genius is a two-piece set.  The bottom part is a regular muffin tin.  The top part is a silicone insert that snaps on top of the tin, to create hollows in the cupcakes to add your filling.  Sure, you could just make a cutout in the cupcake, or pipe in some filling... but this takes away an extra step - and it's fun!

The first step is to prepare your batter and fill the cupcake tins.  It was our first time testing out the tin, and the recipe - so when the recipe said it made 12 cupcakes, we filled the tins to make exactly 12.

What we didn't really take into account was that the cupcakes grow.  A lot.  And the silicone takes up space that would normally be taken up by some batter.  So next time I make cupcakes, I think I would probably make 14 or 16 cupcakes from a 12-yield recipe.

Other than that, the Cupcake Genius was absolutely genius!  The cupcakes cooked evenly, and the insert was easy to remove and left a nice hollow for the marshmallow filling.

Spoon in some marshmallow filling, slap on some chocolate ganache, and voila! Look at this beauty.
And it tastes even better than it looks!