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Root + Savor

Connecting with food in a healthy way

Protein

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Paleo Crispy Baked Chicken

Who loves fried chicken? It’s probably one of my favorite meals. My whole family knows it. We didn’t got out to eat often when I was young. When my Grandparents would visit from California, they’d take the whole family out to lunch. All six kids and two parents, which makes sense why we didn’t go out to eat often unless Grammy and Papa came to visit 🙂

My favorite thing to order would be the classic mashed potatoes and creamy corn and fried chicken. Only it would be buffet style so obviously all you can eat (for a six year old, not sure if they got their monies worth!) but I sure did at the ice cream station! Now that I’m older, not a lot has changed. I still love a good crispy, golden, southern fried chicken. Anyone who is from the Twin Cities knows what I’m talking about. Ever heard of the restaurant Revival? It has won my heart.

The thing that has changed, is I’m probably not going to eat all the fried chicken at the buffet, because, well you can handle a little more chicken when you are young! So, what I’ve created here is a fried chicken rendition that actually isn’t fried. It’s baked. Which 1) means less work, and 2) less dishes to wash, and 3) well baked has coined the term “healthier” so maybe it’s just that! Either way, you are going to love it.

What makes this chicken paleo friendly? It’s the crackers that give it the extra crunchy, almost corn flake texture (anyone grow up eating these?! Me!) But I definitely chose my crackers wisely. Meaning, I didn’t lose out on the flavor but found some paleo ones for you! My favorite ones I’ve tried is from the brand Simple Mills. You can buy them for cheap at Costco or your local health food store. If you like a little kick, I’d recommend the Jalapeño Sprouted Seed Crackers.

Then all you need to do is crush up those crackers and whisk a few eggs and dredge the chicken in all of this goodness. What a fancy free happy weeknight meal!

Plus, don’t forget the ghee or butter if you aren’t paleo! Cause you know you need that golden, baked chicken and you get that by adding all the healthy fat. Don’t fear the fat people. If you’d rather use extra virgin olive oil, that would probably be fine too. Might give it a bit of a different flavor but I’m sure it’d be wonderful!

And if you are like me, you need some potatoes with your crispy chicken. You could add sweet potatoes drizzled with olive oil and sea salt with some cinnamon or a few yellow potatoes sprinkled with pepper, salt & parsley! Also, you probably already know I’m a HUGE fan of roasted veggies, so basically just add those to the mix! I love me some cauliflower and broccoli action. Plus butter, or ghee, or extra virgin olive oil, you know, whatever is your thaaaaaaang. And of course some crunch so making my paleo broccoli cabbage coleslaw would also me totally appropriate.

Nothing is stopping you now from making all the crispy, crunchy, buttery, chicken cause hello comfort golden food, I see you right here!

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Paleo Crispy Baked Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4-5 chicken thighs*, boneless
  • 4 tbsp ghee or grass-fed butter if not paleo
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1/4-1/2 cup gluten free crackers, crushed I used Simple Mills Crackers Jalapeño
  • 2 eggs, whisked
  • 1 tsp dried parsley, basil, sage optional
  • 4-5 small sweet potatoes (or yellow if not paleo) optional
  • extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400. 

  2. Crush up crackers (I placed them in a bag and used a rolling pin) and measure out 1/4-1/2 cup (depending on size of chicken thighs).

  3. In a bowl, add all the spices and crushed crackers.

  4. In a separate bowl, whisk 2 eggs.

  5. Pat and dry chicken thighs with a paper towel. Make sure they are flattened out so they cook evenly (they are often folded together in packaging). Then dip each one into the egg wash, then the cracker season mix. 

  6. Place the chicken on a baking sheet with parchment paper or I used a ceramic one here. Then divide 4 tbsp of ghee or butter on top of the chicken. 

  7. If you want to add potatoes, slice them into quarters, place them in a bowl and add some olive oil, sea salt, and pepper to coat. Place them on the same pan as the chicken. 

  8. Bake the chicken for 30-40 minutes (breading will be a golden color and potatoes will be crispy!)

  9. *You could also use chicken tenders or other boneless chicken. I just like the flavor of chicken thighs. 

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Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice

Low carb Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice is a great weeknight dinner and easy meal prep option for the week!

Cauliflower is definitely the “in” food right now. Cauliflower pizza crust, cauliflower smoothies, roasted cauliflower, cauliflower “cream” sauce, and of course cauliflower rice to name a few. I love plain old frozen cauliflower for an easy vegetable side dish with my wild caught salmon for a great weeknight dinner. But sometimes it’s fun to get creative and think about all the fun ways you can use cauliflower!

If you’ve never tried cauliflower rice before, it’s a great alternative to white or brown rice. You can substitute it for topping with curries, stews, sauces, really anything you’d serve with rice. Even though I don’t specifically eat low carb, I’m always in for sneaking veggies into dishes! Plus you are basically making a veggie stir fry but with that comforting, savory, take-out-style fried rice.

If you have a food processor then I’ll tell you how to make the rice. If you don’t, most grocery stores like Trader Joe’s will sell a frozen bag of riced cauliflower. So, all you need is a head of cauliflower and then you cut the stem off and cube the rest of the pieces like pictured. It’s really just a rough chop so it can fit in your food processor.

 You’ll see here that the cauliflower rice will get very fine and so depending on the size of the “rice” that you want you can process it for 30 seconds to a minute. You don’t want to over process it because then the rice will get mushy (same thing with cooking, it really just needs a light steaming if you are using fresh cauliflower).

If you are a fried rice fan then don’t forget to add fresh garlic and fresh ginger! I’m telling you it really makes the difference here in flavor. Plus you are getting awesome benefits from the garlic and ginger (read more about why here!) And here is an introduction to coconut aminos if you haven’t already heard about it. Coconut aminos is made from coconut tree sap and salt. It’s great for those who are avoiding gluten (in traditional soy sauce) or soy in general. The flavor is very similar to soy sauce or tamari, with the same umami flavor.

You might be wondering, what is umami? Well, I’m sure you know how there are the flavor notes sour, salty, sweet and bitter. But did you know there is a fifth basic taste? In the early 1900’s, a Japanese professor discovered a component in chicken stock or broth called glutamate and found this flavor to be called “umami.” So there you have it! And if you are curious about the science behind umami, you can read more about it here.

What I love about this recipe is that is doesn’t take a lot of time to make. If you want to save a step, buy a bag of frozen mixed vegetables like I did here. But, if you need to use up the veggies you have in your fridge, definitely dice them up and sautĂ© them with onions at the beginning! I like finding a blend of carrots, peas, corn and green beans. If they are frozen make sure that you don’t over cook them or else they will get mushy! Yea, I have no idea how I know that….

If you’d rather skip the step of adding bacon, that’s fine. Just make sure you add another tablespoon or so of olive oil. But I mean, who really wants to skip the bacon? And if you have some shredded chicken on hand, then go for some extra protein and add that in too! I didn’t have any chicken on hand, but of course I added in some eggs which will give the rice the fluffy texture you want! You can mix the eggs straight into your pan until fully cooked.

It’s best served right away, but if you’d like to save for meal prepping for the week, add in the riced cauliflower at the end when you are re-heating things up. This will keep the texture of the cauliflower rice more firm. Alternatively, you could cook the cauliflower rice more “al dente” and then re-heat for your lunch or dinner!

Happy cauliflower fried rice making!

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Paleo Cauliflower Fried Rice

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 servings
Calories 299 kcal
Author Karis Alex

Ingredients

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
  • 1/2 onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 lb mixed vegetable, frozen carrots, peas, green beans
  • 3 slices bacon
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp coconut aminos
  • sea salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Roughly chop up a head of cauliflower so that it fits in the food processor. Blend it until the cauliflower is approximately the size of rice. 

  2. Peel the fresh ginger with a spoon (so easy!) and finely chop. Peel the garlic cloves and mince. Chop up a half an onion.

  3. In a large frying pan on medium heat add bacon slices and cook until done. Remove from pan and set aside.

  4. In the same pan add chopped onion, garlic cloves and fresh ginger (add olive oil if needed otherwise bacon grease should be enough). Sauté for a minute or so. Then add frozen mixed vegetables and cook for 2 minutes. Mix in the cauliflower rice and cook for 2 minutes.

  5. Crack 3 eggs straight into the pan (or if you'd rather mix in a bowl that's fine). Cook until the fried cauliflower rice is fluffy. Turn heat to low and add coconut aminos and season with sea salt & pepper.


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How To Make Bone Broth (2 Ways!)

How to make bone broth in a crock pot and pressure cooker!

Yes, believe all the hype. Bone broth truly is an elixir of life. People are drinking it left and right, making it homemade, buying it in the store, finding powder potions. It’s almost replaced coffee!

Ok, that was a bad joke not to be joked about. Coffee still stands first place in my book.

But really, get on the bone broth train/wagon/horse…ALL THE THINGS. Because it’s at the station and the steam engine is a rollin.’

Yea, I don’t know if I’ve ever been good at those whatever you call them. Anyhow, let’s talk about the elephant in the room. BONE BROTH.

You probably want to know all the secrets and benefits of the broth so I’m going to tell you just that.

Bone broth is incredible for gut health. Did you know that 70% of our immune system lies in our gut? So by drinking this you are building up your immune system. This is why we all hear that chicken noodle soup is the best when you are feeling sick because back in the day, they knew the benefits of the slowly, simmering chicken stock! So kick the canned soup to the curb cause it ain’t got nothing on this stuff.

Your gut will thank you as bone broth helps break down proteins making it easier to digest food and build up good bacteria called probiotics.

Another popular word you may have heard is collagen. That is a protein that makes up the lining the GI tract which is important so that food particles are digested and won’t cause acid reflux, IBS and leaky gut syndrome. Another important word is gelatin (hello gelatinous bone broth!) which is the breakdown of collagen. The gelatin in bone broth contains amino acids arginine and glutamine which is beneficial to your skin rebuilding connective tissue, improves muscle building and keeps your immune system strong!

As the bone broth slowly simmers (or cooks in the pressure cooker!) minerals are extracted from the bones such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorous and other essential nutrients (source). Bone broth has over 19 essential and non-essential amino acids which are the building blocks of proteins (source). What we get is amazing gelatin to protect our joints, repair cartilage, promote heart health and bone density. Also, many people report back saying how amazing their skin and hair looks due to the collagen forming elastin, which is what keeps our skin looking young!

I’ve made the bone broth two ways. The first way you can make it in the crock pot. I like to leave mine low and slow for at least 30 hours. Another way is using a pressure cooker. You can obtain the same results in two hours. It’s just a personal preference on which electric pot you have!

After you let the bone broth cool, make sure you keep the fat from the top because you can use that in cooking. Just put it in a small mason jar and refrigerate it using it up within a few days. There will be some moisture in the fat so if you want a longer shelf life you’ll have to render it (similarly to making ghee). Otherwise, I’ve skimmed the fat off, melted it down and poured it into silicon ice cube trays (see below pink tray!) and then stored it in the freezer. When I want to cook with the fat I just pop one container out and use it in the pan.

I like to store my bone broth in these silicon molds because it makes for easy storage in the freezer. Then, once they are solid frozen, I pop them out and store in baggies in the freezer. I’ll take a few out at a time and heat them up in a pan on the stove top for some yummy sipping bone broth! Or you can put a few in your veggies to steam and also have amazing stock for soups and sauces!

If you are planning to use up the bone broth within a week, just store in a medium size mason jar in your fridge. Don’t worry about getting all the herbs out of the stock you’ve made, it continues to add flavor! You can buy your bones at a local grocery store, but make sure they are organic grass-fed beef or chicken bones that you are using. Or what I do is buy a whole organic chicken and cook it, then debone the chicken and save the bones in the freezer and use them when I’m ready.

And if you are making beef or lamb broth, it’s a great extra step to roast the bones to enhance the flavor. If you are making chicken, turkey or fish stock then it’s ok to just put it straight in the pot. And remember, don’t be afraid to use those necks and wings from the chicken!

You can add vegetables into the mix like an onion, garlic, celery, or carrots to boost the flavor and extra nutrients. Then a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar and filtered water into the mix and you are good to go!

Just look how beautiful this full jar is. And how beautiful it could be sitting in your fridge! I know it sounds intimidating to make bone broth all by yourself, but now you know, it’s easy and really so much cheaper to make than to buy.

Here’s to your new days of sipping this golden elixir of life!

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Pressure Cooker or Slow Cooker Bone Broth

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4-5 lbs meat bones, feet, neck
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 onion cut in half, skin on
  • enough water to cover the bones
  • other vegetables like carrots, celery, garlic
  • fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme, parsley

Instructions

Pressure Cooker

  1. If using chicken bones, put directly into the pot with apple cider vinegar. If using beef bones, roast at 400 for 30-60 minutes until golden brown. Add desired vegetables and fill with filtered water right above the bones.*

  2. Follow the directions on your pressure cooker by placing the lid on and locking it securely. Cook on high for two hours. Strain broth in a colander and allow to cool. Remove fat from top layer. Store in mason jars or silicon molds.

Slow Cooker

  1. Follow first step*

  2. Cook chicken broth for 24 hours. Cook beef broth for 48 hours. 

  3. Strain broth in a colander and allow to cool. Remove fat from top layer. Store in mason jars or silicon molds.

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One Pan Greek Lemon Chicken & Vegetables

Make this yummy and easy one-pan meal for a flavorful weeknight dinner!

Ok, so you know how you have those staple meals every week? The ones where you keep on repeat because they don’t fail you. The meal when you need to throw something together in the same pan because you just can’t have so many dishes this night. Well this is one of my go-to-no-fail-recipes. The one that can really incorporate a variety of vegetables, potatoes and meat. I’ve used chicken drumsticks because I think chicken tastes the best when it’s on the bone, but you could use chicken thighs too or a variety grill pack!

I love having these back pocket recipes because you can also mix it up! If you’d like to add some golden potatoes, just put them in the oven the same time as the chicken. Or if you’d rather use broccoli or cauliflower instead of zucchini, go for it! This recipe is very forgiving but packed with so much flavor. The best part is the pan juice from the chicken broth, olive oil, lemon juice and white wine. Sometimes I’ll take the pan out from the oven in increments and pour the juice on top of the veggies and chicken to get more of a glaze! I’ve also taken the juice and made lemon rice to go with the meal!

Seriously guys, pan juice, you don’t want to waste it.

The rosemary and oregano pair so well with the chicken and vegetables with just the right amount of spice! And don’t forget the fresh crushed garlic and lots of lemon juice that slowly cook with everything. Have I got your mouth watering yet? And keep that chicken skin on! Cracked pepper and sea salt help that chicken get a little golden crispy. Plus, don’t get me started on the leftovers. Sometimes I wonder if I should make all my meals the day before so they can sit in the fridge and gather up all the flavor. This is a great option to take to lunch the next day!

If you are feeling real “Greek” then you should probably serve this meal with a side of lots of tomatoes, olive oil and feta or go the whole way and make a big Greek salad. And don’t forget all the kalamata olives!

Kosta, my husband, will always try to get me to make 3 things every week: feta guacamole, Greek salad with feta, and this lemon chicken piled up with lots of feta. But even if I don’t have those things every week I know that feta will get him through because he puts that stuff on EVERYTHING.

So, I’ll leave you with this. Even though feta is not “technically” in this recipe, Kosta would say that it’s basically not Greek then because it has to have feta.

Feta = game changer.

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Greek Lemon Chicken

Servings 3 servings

Ingredients

  • 6 chicken drumsticks
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp crushed garlic
  • 1 tbsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tbsp cracked pepper
  • 1 tbsp rosemary
  • 3 medium zucchini
  • 1 tbsp oregano

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Place the chicken drumsticks, broth, olive oil, white wine, lemon juice, and crushed garlic in a cast iron pan or a baking pan. Top with sea salt, cracked pepper, rosemary and oregano. Bake for 30 minutes. 

  3. Slice zucchini in half then cut lengthwise. Add to the pan of chicken and pour the pan juice on top of zucchini to coat. Bake for an additional 30 minutes. Enjoy!

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Pomegranate Chicken (one pot!)

This roast chicken is perfect for a weeknight dinner adding a tangy flavor from the fresh pomegranate!

I can’t believe this is my first dish with pomegranates. I mean, I’ve had pomegranates before but it’s always been by itself. You know, you just slice it in half, place it in a water bath (so much easier to peel!) and then pop the seeds right out. But I feel like pomegranates are so festive for the holidays and I’ve been seeing them in a lot of recipes, especially salads. So I felt it was time to get on board with this bright, juicy, red fruit!

One of my favorite things at Thanksgiving is the cranberry sauce with the turkey. Like I love gravy and all but I don’t feel like my plate is complete without the cranberry sauce. So I was thinking to myself, what else can add that tart, tangy flavor like cranberry sauce, but without having to make it over the stove top? And that’s how I decided to eat pomegranate seeds with chicken. It’s seriously such a perfect mix! This dish only calls for half the pomegranate, but you for sure could add the rest. I didn’t add the pomegranate seeds until the end because I didn’t want to cook the seeds. However, I bet it would give it a wonderful, bright taste if you add half of it during the baking time and the other half once it’s done cooking.

I’ve been adding pomegranate seeds into my sparkling water and then of course topped with gin cause why not?! It makes the best cocktail addition! I’m thinking of making a Holiday cocktail recipe with pomegranate seeds, kombucha and gin so look for it on the blog soon! One thing to be careful of is that these seeds will stain anything they come in contact with…so don’t wear white when you peel them (they aren’t as bad as beets though!)

Come on, look at that crispy skin! When you can buy your chicken organic, I always leave the skin on. Healthy collagen that’s great for your skin, hair and nails! Plus, it’s so tasty when it’s fried up in olive oil and sizzling to golden perfection. It also locks in the flavor of the chicken, keeping it juicy, so don’t forget that important step in cooking.

If you are having an intimate Thanksgiving and don’t want to cook up a whole turkey bird, why not make this dish for your festive dinner? It not only looks beautiful but tastes so yummy! If you didn’t want to add the rice, you could probably trade it in for potatoes, unless you were going to serve it with mashed potatoes. The few extra springs of rosemary are placed on top of the chicken as a garnish and are not necessary for taste. I like to keep the rosemary stems whole in the chicken and then just discard the stem once it’s done cooking. Then top off the dish with some pomegranate seeds and voila dinner is served!

 

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Pomegranate Chicken (one pot!)

Ingredients

  • 1 Chicken grill pack (3 drumsticks, 3 bone-in chicken thighs)
  • 1 cup Rice
  • 1 cup White wine
  • 1 cup Chicken broth
  • 1 Onion, sliced lengthwise
  • 4-5 Garlic cloves
  • 1/4-1/2 cup Pomegranate seeds
  • 2-3 tbsp Olive oil
  • Several sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • Sea salt & freshly cracked pepper

Instructions

  1. Turn oven on to 325 degrees F.

    Slice onion lengthwise. Peel and dice garlic cloves.

  2. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.

    In a large dutch oven heat 2 tbsp olive oil on high heat and add chicken to the pan. Brown each side about 4-5 minutes until skin gets crispy.

    Remove chicken from pan and place on a plate. Set aside.

  3. Add 2 tbsp olive oil to dutch oven pan and add garlic and onions. Cook until onions are clear. Turn down heat to medium-low and add wine and chicken broth to pan to deglaze.

    Pour the rice in the pan and add chicken too. Season with about 1 tsp of sea salt and pepper, a few sprigs of rosemary and drizzle olive oil on top of chicken.

  4. Place pot in oven with lid on for 2 hours. Serve with pomegranate seeds on top of the chicken!

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Thai Curry Chicken & Sweet Potato with Zoodles

A spicy, comforting dish with a twist on noodles made with zucchini in the spiralizer!

You know I’m allllllllll about the curry. Give me Japanese curry or Indian curry and Thai curry. I just can’t get enough. It’s my comfort food that I’ll always go back to because I grew up on it. When I was little, my mom would make her weekly Japanese curry, rarely ever venturing off in other curry cuisines which meant I didn’t grow up to learn the vast varieties of curries. But now I’ve come to appreciate all the different spices making up curry dishes. I think my first taste of Indian curry was when my brother came back from living in India with my cousins. He was on a new kick of trying different flavors other than his regular mac ‘n’ cheese. I’d say this was a big step up from that! But don’t worry I’m not hating on the mac ‘n’ cheese.

One of the things I love about curry is how warming it makes you feel. On a cold winter day, you can feel it cleansing out your body and heating you right up! You also really can’t go wrong with how you make curry. There are so many vegetables you can add that go well with the sauce. Some people add golden potatoes for the base of the curry and like you’ll see in this recipe I mixed in sweet potatoes! Experimenting with fun aromatics like lemongrass and Thai basil will boost the flavor of the curry. You might not have those herbs on hand but I’d recommend picking some up the next time you are at the g overt store and then you’ll be inspired to make this curry dish. This recipe is one that’s pretty simple and easy to make and I usually always have these ingredients on hand. For the sauce, if I’m having Thai curry, I like to add coconut cream but if I don’t have it on hand coconut milk will also do.

One thing I’m working on is getting Kosta to love curry, maybe not as much as I do, but to a point that he can enjoy it with me! His taste buds aren’t used to the curry like I am so I’m slowly adding meals in. When we got married, I would go over to my parents house for lunch because I knew my mom had a pot of rice on and leftover curry in the fridge. I didn’t make a lot of curry since I would be the only one eating it! Even though I’m cooking it more, I still like to eat my mom’s leftover curry and it always seems better the next day!

You’ll find that you may enjoy this dish better throughout the week since the flavors will kick in a little more! When I lived in Thailand for a few months, we ate rice and a very hot and spicy chili paste. This was the kind of spice I was not used to. But after a while I learned to eat it and almost craved that tongue numbing spice! Kosta says it’s like when you eat a bag of flaming hot Cheetos…but I tell him that it’s nothing in comparison.

 

 

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Thai Curry Chicken & Sweet Potato with Zoodles

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 people

Ingredients

  • 2 chicken breast
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 large sweet potato
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 can coconut cream
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tbsp panang curry paste
  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • sea salt & cracked pepper
  • 1/4 cup green onions for topping

Instructions

  1. Slice onions length wise and chop garlic cloves. Dice sweet potato (you can leave the skin on or take it off) in cubes.

  2. Heat about 2 tbsp coconut oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add curry paste while constantly stirring and mix in garlic cloves sautéing about 1-2 minutes being careful not to burn!

  3. Move the curry and garlic mixture to the side of the pan, add more coconut oil and sauté onion for 1-2 minutes on medium heat.

  4. Add the chicken to the same pan and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute then add half the can of coconut cream, chicken broth and continue cooking the meat throughout (about 5 minutes).

  5. Once the chicken is cooked add the sweet potatoes and the rest of the coconut cream and cover the pan with a lid. Cook on medium heat until potatoes are soft (about 5 minutes).

  6. While the curry is continuing to cook, spiralize the zucchini. Chop up green onions (I use my kitchen scissors!).

  7. Dish up each plate with zoodles and add the curry on top with green onions!

  8. Notes: If you decide to use coconut milk instead of coconut cream, the curry will be thinner, but you can adjust the amount of chicken broth you add. Maybe add bouillon paste to get the desired flavor instead of liquid broth and then adding 1/2 cup of water.

 

 

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Salmon Sandwich

If you’ve been around here for a little while, you know how much I love toast, specifically sandwiches. I grew up eating sandwiches for lunch everyday. Even on the weekends my family made tuna melts on Sunday afternoons. It was our tradition that we’d come home from church, everyone in the kitchen, mixing wild caught tuna cans with mayonnaise and placing slices of bread on a big cookie sheet ready for the oven. It was the classic open-face-tuna-melt with melty Swiss cheese topped at the end of baking then broiling until golden. Toppings like a thick, juicy, red tomato maybe some mustard or some green sprouts to finish off the sandwich.

I made my peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch when I didn’t feel like having turkey bologna and ketchup. And when I grew up I started making fancy breakfast sandwiches like smorgasbord that were perfect for brunch time too. The point here, I’ll always be a mix-everything-together-and-throw-some-bread-on-the-outside kind of girl. The more really is the merrier. Which is why you should make this salmon sandwich. Yes, the title is simple but when you look at the ingredients, the possibilities are endless. So I’ll tell you what I added in mine but the key here is the salmon and I like to make it ahead and use the leftovers for lunch!

The super, great thing is you could even make this the night before and bring it for lunch the next day when you need it on the go! Who doesn’t love creamy avocado and crunchy cucumber and caramelized onion in your sandwich? I bet you could add sprouts and crispy romaine or spinach and blackberry jam. Woa, I bet some of you are weirded out by that…um but have you ever tried it?? Hello to Thanksgiving sandwiches the next day with cranberries and turkey and there you go! So why not get creative with your toppings too? I promise you, this lunch you won’t want it to end.

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Salmon Sandwich

Servings 1 servings

Ingredients

  • 2 slices sprouted, grainy bread
  • 1/4 avocado
  • 1-2 slices tomato
  • several slices cucumber
  • 1 tbsp paleo mayo
  • 1 slice raw onion
  • 1 slice cheese
  • salt & pepper
  • leftover salmon
  • olive oil or butter

Instructions

  1. Make salmon the night before so you can use it as leftovers for the sandwich.

    Slice cheese, cucumber, onion, tomato and avocado and set aside.

  2. Toast the bread in the toaster oven and on one side place the slice of cheese. If you don't have a toaster oven, you can place the toasted bread in the pan on the stove to melt the cheese.

  3. Heat up the salmon on the stove top in a pan with some olive oil or butter. You can break apart into pieces with spatula. Place the slice of onion in same pan to get a little caramelized.

  4. Assemble sandwich by adding mayo to one side of toasted bread with avocado then build with the rest of the toppings and add salt & pepper to taste!

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Breakfast Egg Cups

Who loves breakfast already made for you? You open the fridge and there it is. All you need to do is heat it up! (or eat it cold cause that’s perfectly acceptable!) These eggie-muffin-breakfast-cups are so easy to make. You could prepare them the night before and bake them in the morning. Or make them a week before and store them in the freezer and defrost the night before. Or make them and keep them in the fridge for the week! Endless possibilities guys. I mean I love making eggs in the morning. But the fancy fixings take a long time and then the pan…waiting to be cleaned…or not…

So, here it is; the go-to snack/brunch/breakfast/munchie for everyone.

 

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Breakfast Egg Cups

Servings 10 egg muffins

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1/4 cup milk (almond, dairy, coconut)
  • 1/2 cup cheese (feta, parmesan or cheddar)
  • 3/4 cup cooked veggies (spinach, kale, broccoli, zucchini, onion)
  • 1 tbsp fat (olive oil, avocado oil, butter or ghee)
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp seasoning (nutmeg & sage or rosemary & thyme)

Instructions

  1. Crack 6 eggs into a large bowl and mix well. Add milk, seasonings and cheese until fully incorporated. 

  2. Add fat to sautĂ© pan on medium heat and cook veggies. Grease muffin tins with oil (my favorite is grass fed butter!) and spoon veggies into muffin tins until about 1/3 full. 

  3. Pour egg/cheese mixture into cups and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. 

  4. I always check the egg cups to see if they get "golden brown" on the top and can insert toothpick or knife into the cup and it comes out clean. Remember, even after you take the pan out of the oven, the cups still cook a little! I love adding hot sauce, tomatoes or salsa to the top!

Recipe Notes

I like to keep my recipes open to change. So this one will be more of "suggestions." Feel free to comment your rendition of  the recipe or what spices you like to add!