A Welcome Paleo Meal!
Welcome to our cooking blog! I am going to start off with a post on one of my first complete Paleo meals that I cooked earlier this week. Both recipes turned out delicious and the flavors in both complemented each other well.
Peeling the zucchini for the pasta was an interesting task. The only kitchen tool I had that was even close to being able to produce a "noodle-like" form was a vegetable peeler. It took a couple tries, but once I got the hang of it it wasn't too bad. Just peel long enough strips to give it a thick fettuccine-like shape. However, I do think that I will soon be purchasing a mandolin to make this task faster and easier.
This was also my first time cooking with coconut oil. I was surprised at how much coconut oil was left at the bottom of the pan after the zucchini had finished cooking. I decided to drain the extra oil as the sauce already had enough oil mixed in to make it the appropriate texture.
Feel free to add whatever extra vegetables to the dish in order to add some extra color! The cherry tomatoes made a huge difference with presentation.
Zucchini Pasta with Coconut Avocado Cream Sauce
Recipe adapted from Family Living Simple
Ingredients
2 small zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 avocado
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Approximately 5-7 fresh basil leaves
2-2.5 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's Original Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
Olives, chopped (your own desired amount to top pasta with)
Cherry tomatoes, chopped (your own desired amount to top pasta with)
Pepper
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
Directions
1) Cut the zucchini into noodles (or a "noodle-like" form). This can be done using a mandolin or a vegetable peeler. Only peel until you reach the seeds in the middle. The seeded pieces could be saved for another dish (or snacked on raw!) Also, do not throw away the noodles with the skin as this is the part of the zucchini/squash that has the most nutrients!
2) Place noodles into a bowl and toss with a small amount of salt to help dry the noodles out. Set aside.
3) Add the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, and coconut milk to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Add in the basil and more olive oil if necessary.
4) Heat a large pan with 2 Tablespoons of coconut oil over medium heat and add in zucchini. Cook the noodles until slightly tender, approximately 5-6 minutes.
5) Drain as much of the leftover coconut oil from the pan as possible.
6) Mix in the sauce, chopped olives, and chopped cherry tomatoes, and desired amount of pepper while the noodles are still hot.
For the next part of the meal, I cooked up some simple lemon pepper chicken. I stopped at the grocery store after work, put together the marinade, placed the chicken in the fridge, and headed out to Crossfit. It worked out to be a perfect 2 hours of marinating (as the original recipe calls for) by the time I had gotten home, showered, and was ready to begin cooking.
Now, I did use olive oil for the marinade..which I am still researching as far as whether it is really Paleo or not. From what I have read, it appears that olive oil is approved on a Paleo diet when it is not cooked. So, if you want to make this recipe truly Paleo, then I would probably recommend replacing the olive oil with another oil, such as avocado oil.
I used thin sliced chicken breasts for this recipe, so that more of the marinade could get absorbed in the chicken since the recipe calls for 2 hours of marinading versus overnight. The taste turned out great (I also just love lemon pepper seasoning!) You could use regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts as well. I would just recommend using a meat mallet to make each chicken breast a uniform thickness. The amounts used for the recipe should work with about 1 lb of the chicken that you choose to use.
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Recipe adapted from Life's Ambrosia
Ingredients
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning
1 teaspoon paprika
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 lb. thin sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Lemon wedges for garnishing
1-2 Tablespoons coconut oil, for cooking
Directions
1) In a bowl, combine the minced garlic, lemon pepper, paprika, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and oregano.
2) Place the chicken in a glass dish and pour the marinade over the chicken. Be sure to turn the chicken over so that each side is coated.
3) Cover the dish and allow the chicken to marinate for at least 2 hours (I placed mine in the fridge for this amount of time).
4) Heat the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook 3-4 minutes each side or until cooked through. Place lemon wedges on top for a finishing garnish.
Peeling the zucchini for the pasta was an interesting task. The only kitchen tool I had that was even close to being able to produce a "noodle-like" form was a vegetable peeler. It took a couple tries, but once I got the hang of it it wasn't too bad. Just peel long enough strips to give it a thick fettuccine-like shape. However, I do think that I will soon be purchasing a mandolin to make this task faster and easier.
This was also my first time cooking with coconut oil. I was surprised at how much coconut oil was left at the bottom of the pan after the zucchini had finished cooking. I decided to drain the extra oil as the sauce already had enough oil mixed in to make it the appropriate texture.
Feel free to add whatever extra vegetables to the dish in order to add some extra color! The cherry tomatoes made a huge difference with presentation.
Zucchini Pasta with Coconut Avocado Cream Sauce
Recipe adapted from Family Living Simple
Ingredients
2 small zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 avocado
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Approximately 5-7 fresh basil leaves
2-2.5 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons coconut milk (I used Trader Joe's Original Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
Olives, chopped (your own desired amount to top pasta with)
Cherry tomatoes, chopped (your own desired amount to top pasta with)
Pepper
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
Directions
1) Cut the zucchini into noodles (or a "noodle-like" form). This can be done using a mandolin or a vegetable peeler. Only peel until you reach the seeds in the middle. The seeded pieces could be saved for another dish (or snacked on raw!) Also, do not throw away the noodles with the skin as this is the part of the zucchini/squash that has the most nutrients!
2) Place noodles into a bowl and toss with a small amount of salt to help dry the noodles out. Set aside.
3) Add the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, and coconut milk to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Add in the basil and more olive oil if necessary.
4) Heat a large pan with 2 Tablespoons of coconut oil over medium heat and add in zucchini. Cook the noodles until slightly tender, approximately 5-6 minutes.
5) Drain as much of the leftover coconut oil from the pan as possible.
6) Mix in the sauce, chopped olives, and chopped cherry tomatoes, and desired amount of pepper while the noodles are still hot.
For the next part of the meal, I cooked up some simple lemon pepper chicken. I stopped at the grocery store after work, put together the marinade, placed the chicken in the fridge, and headed out to Crossfit. It worked out to be a perfect 2 hours of marinating (as the original recipe calls for) by the time I had gotten home, showered, and was ready to begin cooking.
Now, I did use olive oil for the marinade..which I am still researching as far as whether it is really Paleo or not. From what I have read, it appears that olive oil is approved on a Paleo diet when it is not cooked. So, if you want to make this recipe truly Paleo, then I would probably recommend replacing the olive oil with another oil, such as avocado oil.
I used thin sliced chicken breasts for this recipe, so that more of the marinade could get absorbed in the chicken since the recipe calls for 2 hours of marinading versus overnight. The taste turned out great (I also just love lemon pepper seasoning!) You could use regular boneless, skinless chicken breasts as well. I would just recommend using a meat mallet to make each chicken breast a uniform thickness. The amounts used for the recipe should work with about 1 lb of the chicken that you choose to use.
Lemon Pepper Chicken
Recipe adapted from Life's Ambrosia
Ingredients
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning
1 teaspoon paprika
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Juice from 1 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 lb. thin sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Lemon wedges for garnishing
1-2 Tablespoons coconut oil, for cooking
Directions
1) In a bowl, combine the minced garlic, lemon pepper, paprika, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and oregano.
2) Place the chicken in a glass dish and pour the marinade over the chicken. Be sure to turn the chicken over so that each side is coated.
3) Cover the dish and allow the chicken to marinate for at least 2 hours (I placed mine in the fridge for this amount of time).
4) Heat the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook 3-4 minutes each side or until cooked through. Place lemon wedges on top for a finishing garnish.
Comments
Post a Comment