Crockpot Brazilian Curry Chicken

There is nothing like the ease and convenience of crockpot cooking every once in a while.  I especially love it when I'm getting ready to spend the day exploring a new area.  All the ingredients for this dish went into the crockpot and left to cook on low for about 8 hours to turn out a delicious dinner.  I served this with a side of brown rice. 

Crockpot Brazilian Curry Chicken
Makes 6-8 servings

1 1/2 - 2 pounds chicken breasts (or whatever suits your fancy)
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground ginger
4-6 tablespoons curry powder
2 bell peppers, chopped into 1-inch cubes (I used orange and red)
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
dash of red pepper flakes

In the bowl of the crockpot, add coconut milk, tomato paste, garlic, ginger, curry powder,  salt and pepper, red pepper flakes, and whisk together.

Add in peppers and onions.  Next add in chicken and pour broth over the chicken.  Mix all ingredients together to completely cover the chicken in the curry mixture.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.


Slightly adapted from Paleo OMG

Our rating:

1/2

Seared Tuna with Chinese Salad

This has been a family favorite for quite a few years now and often requested for birthday celebrations.  The key to this recipe is using impeccably fresh tuna (just one bite of fishy tasting tuna can spoil this salad).  This recipe seems long and quite complicated but it really is simple to make.

Sear Tuna with Chinese Salad
Makes 2 servings

Vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon soy sauce (or coconut aminos)
1 lime, juiced
splash rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
4 teaspoons hot Chinese mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup Grapeseed oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Salad:
1/2 head Chinese cabbage, such as napa or savoy, shredded
 1 bunch watercress, hand-torn
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 hothouse cucumber, sliced thin
2 green onions, sliced on the diagonal, white and green parts
2 radishes, sliced thinly in circles
1/4 cup radish sprouts, optional
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 cup canned mandarin orange segments drained
1 sushi-quality tuna steak, such as Ahi (8-12 ounces)
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon Grapeseed oil

To make the vinaigrette:
Whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, vinegar, ginger, mustard, and honey.  Gradually drizzle in both oils, as you constantly whisk, until the dressing thickens and comes together.  Add a few twists of freshly ground black pepper to give the vinaigrette bite.

Combine the cabbage, watercress, cilantro, cucumber, green onions, radishes and carrot in a bowl.  Use your hands to toss the salad.  Then add the radish sprouts, almonds and mardarin oranges and lightly toss again.  Don't dress the salad yet because it will get soggy.  Cover it and put it in the refrigerator while you deal with the tuna; the contrast of the chilled salad and warm tuna is fantastic.

Rub both sides of the tuna steak with 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil, salt and pepper.  Spread the sesame seeds out on a plate and lightly press each side of the tuna steaks into the seeds.  Heat the grapeseed oil and remaining tablespoon of sesame oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Lay the steaks in the hot pan.  Sear the tuna for about 3 minutes until the sesame seeds form a crust.  Flip the tuna steaks over and cook the other side 3 to 4 minutes longer for rare.  Slice the tuna on a slight angle into 1-inch thick slices.

Toss the salad with half the vinaigrette; season with salt and pepper.  Divide the salad between two plates, lay the tuna slices on top, and then drizzle with the remaining dressing.  Elegant presentation.


Slightly adapted from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen Cookbook

Our rating:

 

Cilantro Citrus Vinaigrette

Since we love to have salads at lunch, I'm always on the lookout for a way to change up our usual vinaigrette.  There is an endless variety of ways to change up a vinaigrette and I found this one to be quite good.  I started with lime, lemon and freshly squeezed orange juice, added rice vinegar, sea salt, and honey in the blender.  I drizzled in grapeseed oil and finally added some chopped cilantro. 

A delicious way to change up a salad.

Cilantro-Citrus Vinaigrette
Makes about 1 1/2 cups 

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
4-5 cloves garlic
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1 cup grapeseed oil
1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro, stems removed

In the jar of your blender, combine citrus juices, vinegar, garlic, salt and honey.  Blend until ingredients are complete combined.  With the blender running, add the oil in a steady stream.  Add cilantro and blend until the cilantro has broken down but still maintains some of its texture.  Serve with greens, on any type of salad or use as a marinade.


Slightly adapted from Our Best Bites

My rating:

Thai Red Curry Sausage

If you follow my blog at all, you know how much I love Thai food.  If you don't follow my blog, you will now realize how much I love Thai food and Italian Sausage.  I knew I had to try this recipe when I realized that it combined two of my favorite food profiles: Thai and Italian.  This recipe included Italian sausage combined with a red sauce made from sauteed vegetables, Red Curry Paste, tomato paste and canned coconut milk to produce a mouth-watering dish.  I served this mixture with brown rice.

Thai Red Curry Sausage
Makes 4 servings

1 tablespoon pastured butter, ghee, or bacon fat
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 package of Italian sausage or sugar free beef franks
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1 cup unsweetened original coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Add the onions, and cook until they are translucent.  Add the garlic and sausage.  Turn down to medium heat and saute for 6-7 minutes or until the sausage is cooked through, stirring occasionally.
 
Stir in the tomato paste, red curry paste, and the coconut milk.  Simmer until thickened.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Slightly adapted from My Living Nutrition

Our rating:

1/2

Jalapeno Turkey Burgers

The burgers we have been eating are positively delicious and if there is a topping such as sauteed mushrooms or guacamole, we don't even miss the bun.  This turkey burger turned out very flavorful and moist with the addition of onions, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno pepper and spices.  Gerry grilled them perfectly and we topped them with homemade guacamole.

Jalapeno Turkey Burgers
Makes 8-10 burgers

3 pounds ground turkey
1 1/4 cups white onion, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes

Guacamole

Using clean hands, mix together ground turkey, onion, cilantro, garlic, jalapeno, ground cumin, paprika, and red pepper flakes in a large bowl.  Divide mixture and form into 5 ounce patties.  Grill over medium-high heat until burger is cooked through.  Flip when bottom side of burger no longer sticks to the grill grates.  Top with guacamole if desired.

I made a full recipe of these and followed these directions for freezing:
Using whatever raw burgers you are not planning on eating immediately, alternate patties with squares of parchment/wax paper.  Place on a sheet pan and place in freezer for a couple of hours until just barely frozen.  Place in a freezer bag, label and freeze.  Thaw before grilling according to directions above.

 Slightly adapted from Once A Month Mom

Our rating:

Gambas Al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp)

This dish is so quick and easy to make that I know I'll turn to it often especially for a quick lunch.  I think I could get it on the table in about 5 minutes.  Lots of minced garlic got a quick turn in duck fat and then fresh lemon juice, smoky paprika, salt and pepper were added.  Finally the shrimp went in for a minute or two on each side and the dish was done.  The shrimp turned out perfectly cooked and pack with smoky, garlic flavor.  I served these with a Roasted Veggie Medley which were herb coated and delicious however I found the two different flavors too much of a contrast.

Gambas Al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimp)
Makes 4 servings

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons duck fat or coconut oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
Juice of one lemon
Salt, pepper & red pepper flakes to taste
Drizzle of olive oil
Chopped cilantro to garnish

Lay the shrimp out on some paper towels to absorb excess moisture.

Over a low-medium heat warm the duck fat or coconut oil and minced garlic for a minute, until it just begins to brown at the edges.

Add the lemon juice, paprika and any additional seasonings; be careful as the oil will spit when you add the lemon juice.

Add the shrimp to the pan and cook for a minute or two (depending on the size of the shrimp) on each side, until fully cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat.  Drizzle with additional olive oil to taste and garnish with the chopped cilantro.

Serve as an appetizer, add to salads or pour over mashed root vegetables - make sure to use the flavored oil!


From Meatified

Our rating:

Colorado

Colorado Springs was our destination from Santa Fe and it was beautiful with historic Colorado Springs surrounded by the mountains.  We were about 1200 feet lower than we were in Santa Fe which felt better for us.  The first full day we spent in Colorado was Memorial Day.  Gerry decided he wanted to explore Manitou Springs which is slightly northwest of Colorado Springs and was just a beautiful little town to explore.  We spent a couple of hours walking around the town square and had lunch at Coquette's Bistro and Bakery serving a selection of salads, crepes, and sandwiches (all gluten-free).  We both had the Tula Crepe stuffed with Red Bird chicken, roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, spinach, feta cheese and tzatziki with a house salad on the side dressed with a basil vinaigrette.  It was positively delicious!

Manitou Springs happened to be a side stop on the route to Pike's Peak.  Pike's Peak was a 19 mile drive from the entry gate at Pike's National Park to the summit.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours to complete the 38 mile round trip and was just awesome.  There was about 4 feet of snow still left near the top of the mountain and the temperature dropped from 79 degrees in Manitou Springs to 43 degrees at the top of the mountain.  It was a spetacular afternoon.

On Tuesday, I visited the Garden of the Gods, which was a 5 mile car drive (approximately)  through park grounds containing unique, huge rock formations with a stupendous view of Pike's Peak along the way.  I started my visit with a 15 minute film explaining how the rocks were formed over thousands of years and then started my drive.  There were various places to stop along the way for photo shots which were perfectly situated.  I ended my tour by eating lunch on an outdoor patio overlooking the Garden.

Balanced Rock, Garden of the Gods Park

After lunch I tackled the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.  The Cliff Dwellings were preserved by a protective red sandstone overhang and were built more than 700 years ago by Anasazi cliff dwellers.  The structure is so well preserved it is possible to venture inside and catch a glimpse of an American Indian culture that roamed the Four Corners area of the Southwest from 1200 BC. to A.D. 1300. 

We then continued our northern trek into Golden, Colorado which is just west of Denver where I got to spend some time with a dear friend and neighbor from where we lived in Plano.  It was wonderful being in a new location with my own personal guide.  Karen and I explored the Arapaho National Forest are which was beautiful.

 

We also tried to drive up to Mt. Evans which has an elevation of 14,260 feet.  

  

However, just as we approached the entry gate, we found out they had just closed the mountain, due to snow flurries with high winds which makes the snow plow they were running hard to see.  Our timing was either good or bad, depending on your viewpoint, since the car in front of us got to go through.  I guess it was just not meant to happen for us on that particular day.

We continued on to Idaho Springs and stopped for lunch at Beau Joe's, a pizza chain specializing in Colorado style pizza which was very good.

 

Karen, Gerry and I also spent a day exploring Boulder, Colorado which is a very unique area, reminding us a lot of Austin, Texas in the artsy feel of the city.  The views of the mountains certainly confirmed that we were not in Austin as well as the cooler temperatures.  It may have reached the low 70's during our visit which was the perfect temp to spend the day exploring.  Boulder has done a wonderful job of creating a unique area on Pearl Street which is only open to pedestrian traffic for many blocks running through the center of the city.  We had a lovely lunch at West Flanders Brewing Company before continuing our exploration.  Boulder is a very unique city and well worth exploring.

We ended our time in Colorado with a dinner at the RV park with our friends in Golden which made me realize how lucky we are to be able to travel on new adventures and connect with old friends. 

We left Colorado on Sunday and continued north to Casper, Wyoming.