Spaghetti Squash Pesto with Sausage and Bacon

September 9, 2015 by Ms Rachel Leave a Comment

Yet another long break between posts, but I think you’ll agree this recipe is worth the wait. I’m rather particular about what I’ll post. Most things I cook are good, unless I’ve tried someone else’s recipe (if you follow me on Facebook you know to what I am referring. Gag me.) But just good isn’t enough. Many things are good, I’m looking for exceptional. I’ve been testing and tinkering, looking for the right combination of flavor, health, and ease. Tonight I’m ready to share a winner. As I type this I am so satisfied and my ears are ringing with praise from Brother’s multiple declarations of “best thing you’ve made in months,” “this almost makes up for missing the gym,” and “put this into permanent rotation!” So without further fanfare, Gluten Free, grain free, and paleo Spaghetti Squash Pesto with Bacon and Sausage.

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeds scrapped out

16 oz. your choice sausage

4 slices bacon

2 cups spinach

For Pesto:

2-3 cups fresh basil

2 full bulbs of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled

¼ cup pinon (pine) nuts

¼ cup parmesan

1 pinch salt

1/8-1/4 cup olive oil

1-2 cups spinach

so simple yet so flavorful.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Drizzle a little olive oil over cut sides of squash and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper. Place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, flip cut sides up to cool. When cool enough to handle, use a fork to scrap squash fibers into a dish. Set aside.

flakes right out. Isn’t nature amazing?

While squash is cooking, drizzle a pie plate with 1 Tbsp. olive oil and add garlic. Roast on top rack of oven till garlic starts to turn golden, about 10 min. Add Pinon nuts to garlic and continue roasting, checking every couple minutes as the pinon nuts can scorch easily. Once garlic and nuts are toasted and golden, remove from oven.

yummy, crumbly, brown sausage.

Brown sausage in a skillet till brown and crumbly. Add 2 cups of fresh spinach and sauté till wilted. Turn off heat.

Cook bacon till crispy and allow to cool.

In a food processor, blend till smooth: roasted garlic and pinon nuts, basil, parmesan, olive oil, spinach, and salt. If taste is flat or a little too “green” add 2-3 Tbsp. minced garlic. More olive oil can be added to make pesto blend smoothly.

silky smooth.

To combine, layer: spaghetti squash, pesto, sausage/spinach sauté, crumbled bacon, 2 large pinches of shave parmesan. Enjoy!

oh baby, were you floating around in my mind this whole time?!

Spaghetti Squash Pesto with Bacon and Sausage

2015-09-08 21:42:05

Serves 2

Paleo, Gluten free, Grain free, completely indulgent and hearty faux pasta dish with spinach, sausage, and bacon.

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Total Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeds scrapped out
16 oz. your choice sausage
4 slices bacon
2 cups spinach

For Pesto

2-3 cups fresh basil
2 full bulbs of garlic, separated into cloves and peeled
¼ cup pinon (pine) nuts
¼ cup parmesan
1 pinch salt
1/8-1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 cups spinach

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Drizzle a little olive oil over cut sides of squash and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and a pinch of fresh ground black pepper. Place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, flip cut sides up to cool. When cool enough to handle, use a fork to scrap squash fibers into a dish. Set aside.
While squash is cooking, drizzle a pie plate with 1 Tbsp. olive oil and add garlic. Roast on top rack of oven till garlic starts to turn golden, about 10 min. Add Pinon nuts to garlic and continue roasting, checking every couple minutes as the pinon nuts can scorch easily. Once garlic and nuts are toasted and golden, remove from oven.
Brown sausage in a skillet till brown and crumbly. Add 2 cups of fresh spinach and sauté till wilted. Turn off heat.
Cook bacon till crispy and allow to cool.
In a food processor, blend till smooth: roasted garlic and pinon nuts, basil, parmesan, olive oil, spinach, and salt. If taste is flat or a little too “green” add 2-3 Tbsp. minced garlic. More olive oil can be added to make pesto blend smoothly.
To combine, layer: spaghetti squash, pesto, sausage/spinach sauté, crumbled bacon, 2 large pinches of shave parmesan. Enjoy!

By Rachel Cook

The Crucial Ingredient http://www.thecrucialingredient.com/

Forget-it Roast with Horseradish Cream Sauce, Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Sunny Sauteed Spinach

July 30, 2015 by Ms Rachel Leave a Comment

Wow, kind of a long gap between posts. I’d say sorry but as early stages as the blog is, who am I kidding? Long story short there haven’t been enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to happen. Which also lends itself to “lazy cooking,” meaning easy, simple, and leaning towards boring. But boring doesn’t apply to today’s recipe. As long as you can think a few hours ahead of time, this meal will take the headache out of impressive hospitality. You could use a crockpot, but ironically, even though I have mad kitchen skills, anything I cook in a crockpot simultaneously burns and is undercooked. Crockpots hate me and the feeling is mutual. If you like them, by all means make this a crockpot recipe. I will also say this meal received rave reviews from my brother and cousin; they thought I had spent hours in the kitchen but it all actually came together in around an hour. Just before anyone points it out, this is not a paleo meal. Could be adapted to paleo though.

Forget-it Roast with Horseradish Cream Sauce, Horseradish Mashed Potatoes and Sunny Sauteed Spinach

For the Roast
2-5 lbs. Chuck Roast or your choice roast, frozen

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into chunks

5-8 peeled cloves of garlic

2 tsp Sea Salt

½-1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 tsp garlic powder

1-2 tsp dried thyme

2 tsp paprika

¼-1/2 tsp chipotle powder

1 tbsp ghee or butter

Set oven to 400 degrees. Line a dutch oven with tin foil, leaving enough to complete fold your roast in it with room to spare. Place your frozen roast on the foil and season both sides, using half the spices for each side.

mm, spices…

Place the onion and garlic around the base of the roast and the Ghee on the top of the roast.

Looking very promising!

Bring the edges of the foil together and crimp to make a bag/envelope/steam room for the roast. Place dutch oven lid on pan, and cook for at least 4 hours or until the roast falls off the bone or could be shredded by hand easily. I cooked mine somewhere around 4-5 hours. Allow roast to rest out of the oven for 5-10 minutes, cut into chunks and serve.

I was so excited to eat this, I didn’t think to take a picture till several bites in.

Horseradish Cream Sauce

1 cup sour cream

3-4 Tbsp fresh grated horseradish root

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

½ tsp sea salt

juice of 1 lemon

Whisk all ingredients together. Add more lemon juice or horseradish to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

3-4 medium potatoes, peeled

3-4 Tbsp fresh grated horseradish root

1-2 tsp sea salt, to taste

1-2 Tbsp butter

Boil potatoes for 20-30 minutes until soft, then mash to creaminess. Add all other ingredients, adjusting to taste. Cream can be added to make the potatoes more creamy if you so desire. Serve immediately.

Sunny Sauteed Spinach

2 bags spinach

1-2 tsp coconut oil

2 tbsp sundried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs

In a large pot melt the coconut oil over medium high heat. Add the spinach and tomatoes, stir until slightly wilted. Serve Immediately.

Forget-it Roast with Horseradish Cream Sauce

2015-07-29 21:44:31

Serves 3

fall off the bone roast with a spicy creamy sauce.

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Prep Time

10 min

Prep Time

10 min

For the Roast

2-5 lbs. Chuck Roast or your choice roast, frozen
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into chunks
5-8 peeled cloves of garlic
2 tsp Sea Salt
½-1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
1-2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp paprika
¼-1/2 tsp chipotle powder
1 tbsp ghee or butter

For the Horseradish Sauce

1 cup sour cream
3-4 Tbsp fresh grated horseradish root
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
½ tsp sea salt
juice of 1 lemon

For the Roast

Set oven to 400 degrees. Line a dutch oven with tin foil, leaving enough to complete fold your roast in it with room to spare. Place your frozen roast on the foil and season both sides, using half the spices for each side. Place the onion and garlic around the base of the roast and the Ghee on the top of the roast. Bring the edges of the foil together and crimp to make a bag/envelope/steam room for the roast. Place dutch oven lid on pan, and cook for at least 4 hours or until the roast falls off the bone or could be shredded by hand easily. I cooked mine somewhere around 4-5 hours. Allow roast to rest out of the oven for 5-10 minutes, cut into chunks and serve.

For the sauce

Whisk all ingredients together. Add more lemon juice or horseradish to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

By Rachel Cook

The Crucial Ingredient http://www.thecrucialingredient.com/

Horseradish Mashed Potatoes

2015-07-29 21:55:42

Serves 4

creamy mashed potatoes with a little horseradish kick.

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Prep Time

10 min

Prep Time

10 min

Ingredients

3-4 medium potatoes, peeled
3-4 Tbsp fresh grated horseradish root
1-2 tsp sea salt, to taste
1-2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup buttermilk

Instructions

Boil potatoes for 20-30 minutes until soft, then mash to creaminess. Add all other ingredients, adjusting to taste. Serve immediately.

By Rachel Cook

The Crucial Ingredient http://www.thecrucialingredient.com/

Sunny Sauteed Spinach

2015-07-29 21:58:54

Serves 3

a better way to eat your greens.

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Cook Time

8 min

Cook Time

8 min

Ingredients

2 bags spinach
1-2 tsp coconut oil
2 tbsp sundried tomatoes in olive oil and herbs

Instructions

In a large pot melt the coconut oil over medium high heat. Add the spinach and tomatoes, stir until slightly wilted. Serve Immediately.

By Rachel Cook

The Crucial Ingredient http://www.thecrucialingredient.com/

Weeknight Taco Salad

June 13, 2015 by Ms Rachel Leave a Comment

I admit it: I am fickle and cannot help it. On occasion I know I need to eat and want to eat healthy, but can think of nothing that I would like to eat, so I must find a way to force myself (I know, I’m weird.) I was having such a mood this week, dead out of inspiration. So I went back to summers in my childhood, when the long light of the evenings and heat encouraged activity, and the garden provided lush veggies. Mom would often make Taco Salad as quick, light, healthy, and kid approved dinner. The best thing about Taco Salad is the scent of the spice simmering as the beef is browning. That scent always makes me hungry and this week’s dinner was no exception and thus a great success.

Ingredients

1 packet of taco seasoning (it is very easy to make your own, but for reasons of time I did not on this occasion. Sometime soon I will post a recipe for seasoning.)

1 lbs. ground beef

3 hearts of romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and torn to bite size

2 avocadoes, cubed

2-3 tomatoes, diced

½ cucumber, peeled and diced

1 can black beans

1 tsp. chili powder

3-4 stalks of celery, washed and chopped

Ranch Dressing ( I use Ree Drummond’s recipe for Ranch Dressing, except I use plain unsweetened goat yogurt and almond milk shaken with the herbs and spices to taste and consistency.)

Shredded cheese to taste

Favorite tortilla chips to taste

Favorite Salsas (I used my homemade Tomatillo Verde Salsa. Yet another recipe I’ll be posting soon.)

Directions:

Heat beans in small sauce pan with the chili powder. When warm through, strain away liquid.

While the beans are warming, brown the beef in a skillet, adding the taco seasoning when very little pink is visible. Continue to simmer until all pink has been cooked away and the seasoning has been well distributed throughout. Remove from heat.

just imagine the scent of spice wafting through the air.

While the beans are heating and the beef is browning, prep all veggies.

for easy cubing, cut a cross hatch pattern to, but not through the skin.

Insert a spoon between the flesh and the skin to easily remove the cubes.

In large salad bowls layer lettuce, crushed tortilla chips, taco meat, beans, cheese, and veggies.

its all coming together.

Dress with the fresh ranch and the salsa. Serve and enjoy!

hearty, healthy, and delish, oh my!

Taco Salad

2015-06-13 02:21:44

Serves 3

A light, healthy, and quick dinner. Perfect for a weeknight

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Total Time

30 min

Total Time

30 min

Ingredients

1 packet of taco seasoning (it is very easy to make your own, but for reasons of time I did not on this occasion. Sometime soon I will post a recipe for seasoning.)
1 lbs. ground beef
3 hearts of romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and torn to bite size
2 avocadoes, cubed
2-3 tomatoes, diced
½ cucumber, peeled and diced
1 can black beans
1 tsp. chili powder
3-4 stalks of celery, washed and chopped
Ranch Dressing ( I use Ree Drummond’s recipe for Ranch dressing, except I use plain unsweetened goat yogurt and almond milk shaken with the herbs and spices to taste and consistency.)
Shredded cheese to taste
Favorite tortilla chips to taste
Favorite Salsas (I used my homemade Tomatillo Verde Salsa. Yet another recipe I’ll be posting soon.)

Instructions

Heat beans in small sauce pan with the chili powder. When warm through, strain away liquid.
While the beans are warming, brown the beef in a skillet, adding the taco seasoning when very little pink is visible. Continue to simmer until all pink has been cooked away and the seasoning has been well distributed throughout. Remove from heat.
In large salad bowls layer lettuce, crushed tortilla chips, taco meat, beans, cheese, and veggies. Dress with the fresh ranch and the salsa. Serve and enjoy!

The Crucial Ingredient http://www.thecrucialingredient.com/

Coconut Curry Beef Stir-Fry

June 3, 2015 by Ms Rachel 2 Comments

Inaugural Recipe post!

I am delighted to be able to share this recipe with you. All told it came together in roughly 40 minutes. Not bad for a week night dinner. I was feeling singularly uninspired and thought I’d take it easy with a healthy but probably boring stir-fry. Somehow boring didn’t happen. Shocking, right? The red curry paste started making eyes at the coconut milk, encouraged by lime juice and garlic, and curry powder suggested a party in my skillet. One thing led to another and this Coconut Curry Beef Stir-fry was born.

Coconut Curry Beef Stir-fry

Serves 2 generously

Ingredients

2 Tbs. coconut oil

2 lbs. sirloin trimmed to bite size pieces, dried on paper towels.

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

3 cloves minced garlic

3 Tbs. red curry paste

5 Tbs. liquid aminos

1 tsp. sesame oil

4 tsp. curry powder

Juice of 2 ½ limes

1 can coconut milk (I used light, but full fat would be even richer)

2 Tbs. sriracha

1 head broccoli chopped

2 carrots sliced

3 mini red/yellow/orange bell peppers, finely chopped

3 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 jalapeno, deseeded and minced

Optional

Sesame Seeds

1 cup of black imperial rice

In a large deep skillet or wok, melt the coconut oil over medium low heat. While oil is heating, bring rice and water to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes.

Once oil is hot add sirloin, and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Allow meat to simmer for 3 minutes, then add garlic, red curry paste, liquid aminos, sesame oil, and curry powder.

Stir and continue to cook until almost no pink is visible on the meat, another 3-5 minutes. Add the lime juice, the coconut milk, sriracha, and stir well.

Add all veggies and cook for 6 minutes on high or until broccoli is fork tender.

Ladle over the rice, and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Coconut Curry Beef Stir-fry

2015-06-13 00:38:34

Serves 2

a quick and easy curry for the weeknight, and readily adaptable to what ever might be on hand.

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

30 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

30 min

Ingredients

2 Tbs. coconut oil
2 lbs. sirloin trimmed to bite size pieces, dried on paper towels.
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
3 cloves minced garlic
3 Tbs. red curry paste
5 Tbs. liquid aminos
1 tsp. sesame oil
4 tsp. curry powder
Juice of 2 ½ limes
1 can coconut milk (I used light, but full fat would be even richer)
2 Tbs. sriracha
1 head broccoli chopped
2 carrots sliced
3 mini red/yellow/orange bell peppers, finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, deseeded and minced

Optional

Sesame Seeds
1 cup of black imperial rice

Instructions

In a large deep skillet or wok, melt the coconut oil over medium low heat. While oil is heating, bring rice and water to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes. Once oil is hot add sirloin, and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Allow meat to simmer for 3 minutes, then add garlic, red curry paste, liquid aminos, sesame oil, and curry powder. Stir and continue to cook until almost no pink is visible on the meat, another 3-5 minutes. Add the lime juice, the coconut milk, sriracha, and stir well. Add all veggies and cook for 6 minutes on high or until broccoli is fork tender.
Ladle over the rice, and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. Serve immediately and enjoy!

The Crucial Ingredient http://www.thecrucialingredient.com/