Roasted Poblano Peppers with Sweet Potato Filling

I had a Cinco de Mayo party to go to tonight so I debated on what to make.  The host was having a taco bar so I wanted something that would compliment it.  I found this recipe on Primal Palate's website and thought I would go for it.

Roasted Poblano Peppers with Sweet Potato Filling

(Gluten Free, Egg Free, Dairy Free (without the ghee), and Paleo)

Makes 4

For the Peppers
4 Large Poblano peppers
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

For the Filling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 pounds sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil, coconut oil or ghee
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, diced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

For Peppers: Preheat grill to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.  Rub olive oil onto peppers and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast peppers on each side for about 3 minutes per side, you want them charred.  Remove from heat and let cool about 10 minutes.  Take each pepper and slice a slit into it, being careful not to slice into both sides of it - you want to create a pocket.  Remove ribs and seeds.  Fill each pepper with the sweet potato filling.  Place on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes until sweet potatoes begin to brown.

For Filling: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, bake sweet potatoes for 45 to 50 minutes until soft.  Peel sweet potatoes.  Place sweet potatoes into a bowl, mash them, add olive oil, cilantro and chili powder; mix well.

NOTES:  
I wanted a faster way to cook my sweet potatoes so I cooked them in the microwave.  Just wash the potato, poke with a fork and microwave until fork tender, remove and peel (be careful the potatoes are hot).
To help remove the seeds and ribs from the peppers I used a grapefruit spoon. A grapefruit spoon has a serrated tine to it so you can use the side of it to help scrape out the seeds and ribs, but be careful to not press to hard you don't want to poke holes into the pepper.
To make more than 4 peppers at a time I doubled the recipe for the filling and was able to fill 12 peppers (my peppers ranged from large to medium in size) and found that it was the perfect amount.

Quick and Easy Paleo Shepherd's Pie

I made this tonight for dinner and just really used what I had available to me in my kitchen.

Quick and Easy Paleo Shepherd's Pie
(Dairy Free)

Top Layer: 
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup canned coconut milk
Sea salt
Place chopped sweet potato into a large pan with water.  Bring to boil and cook until sweet potato is fork tender, drain.  In a bowl, mash the sweet potatoes adding a little bit of coconut milk, mashing. Add some salt to taste.  Set aside.

Bottom Layer:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1 pound ground beef
2 carrots, thinly sliced
handful of frozen peas
1 tablespoons tomato paste
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil a 6 cup round baking dish, set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees fairnheit.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.   Add onion and cook until tender.  Add ground beef and cook, chopping up into small pieces.  Add carrots, peas, tomato paste, chicken broth, dry mustard and cinnamon mixing to incorporate all ingredients.   Place ingredients into baking dish.  Spread meat mixture flat. Top meat mixture with mashed sweet potatoes spreading to cover all edges.  Place into oven and bake for 10 minutes.  Change to broil and broil until top is bubbly.  Remove let cool slightly and serve.

Chicken Salad

I am allergic to eggs so I wanted to find a paleo type mayonnaise that I could use.  I found this recipe from Empowered Sustenance and I love it.

The chicken was from a leftover roast chicken from the night before.

Egg Free Mayonnaise
1/2 cup coconut butter
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend on high for a minute or two until the sauce thickens. Let cool at room temperature, use in chicken salad.  If you place this mayonnaise into the refrigerator it will harden, just remove and let sit at room temperature or warm gently before using.

I like to add to my chicken salad, pecans, cut red grapes, and scallions.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

I love soup when the weather turns cooler and I truly believe I could eat it every day.

Here is a super simple recipe I put together tonight.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
(Dairy Free, Gluten Free)

1 medium to large butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
olive oil
1 can coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  On a parchment lined cookie sheet add squash and sweet potato.  Drizzle with olive oil.   Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes, turn the chunks to help them to cook evenly.  Continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes or until tender and slightly brown.  In a blender add coconut milk, broth, ginger, cinnamon and a little salt.  Blend until smooth.  Depending on the size of your squash and potato you may have to blend this in two batches.  Place blended soup into a large pan and heat over medium heat.  Add more salt as necessary to taste.

I added some smoked salmon in the bowl with the soup to add some protein.

White Bean Chicken Chili

White Bean Chicken Chili

(Dairy Free, Gluten Free)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/3 cup cassava flour (Here is where I get mine from, Otto's Naturals)

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can coconut milk

2 cups chicken broth

2 cups frozen corn

1 - 15 ounce cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups boneless chicken, cut into small pieces

1 - 4 ounce can chopped green chilies 

1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

In a dutch oven heat olive oil over medium heat, add onion and garlic.  Cook until onions are tender.  Stir in flour, salt and chili powder, mix well.  Add milk and chicken broth, stir until thickened slightly.  Use a whisk to help break up the flour and to make it creamy.  Add remaining ingredients except cilantro.  Cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste and to check for flavor and add more salt as necessary.  Stir in cilantro and serve.

Chicken Coconut Curry

Like always I find a recipe online and then tweak it slightly to fit either my food allergies or my tastes. Tonight was no exception.

Chicken Coconut Curry
2 tablespoons ghee (use coconut oil to make this dairy free)
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 can full fat coconut milk
Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
3 boneless chicken breasts, cubed
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
Salt to taste
In a medium sized dutch oven, heat ghee over medium heat, let melt, whisk in curry powder.  Add coconut milk and whisk until incorporated.  Turn heat to low.
In a large skillet, bring a little bit olive oil, over medium high heat.  Add onion and garlic.  Cook until onions are translucent.  Add chicken and cook until it is no longer pink.
Add sweet potatoes to coconut curry mixture, stir.  Add chicken, onion and garlic mixture to coconut curry and stir.  Stir in fresh ginger. Turn heat to high and bring mixture to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, reduce heat and place lid on dutch oven.  Cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste and add salt as needed. Serve over quinoa.

Marinated London Broil with Parship Mash and Minted Peas

Marinated London Broil
1-1/2 pound london broil
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Place london broil into a large Ziploc bag.  Add all of the ingredients into the bag.  Seal up and massage meat to help incorporate the marinade.  Place in refrigerator and let marinate for about 3 to 4 hours (the longer you let it marinate the more flavor it will have).

In a large heavy duty skillet (I always use my cast iron skillet) place over medium high heat, add a couple of tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.  Add meat to the pan to sear it, don't move the meat, for about 6 minutes, flip and sear other side.  If the meat is a thick cut it might take longer per side.  This cut that I had was really thick so I seared it on both sides and then put it (the entire pan) into the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit and let it cook for about 10 minutes more.  I cooked it until the internal temperature reached 125 degrees Fahrenheit which will then give it a perfect medium rare.  Remove it from the pan or oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes.  Slice against the grain and serve.

Parsnip Mash
2 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
Canned coconut milk
Salt and Pepper
Place parsnips into a pan and cover with water.  Place on stove and bring to a boil.  Cook until the parsnips are fork tender.  It will take about 10 minutes.  Remove from stove and drain water.  Add parsnips back into the hot pan.  Place pan back on burner (that is turned off), this will help to get rid of any excess water.  Add garlic and using a masher, mash parsnips, add a little bit of coconut milk and continue to mash and add coconut milk until you get the consistency you want.  We like our mash slightly chunky.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Minted Peas
Fresh peas aren't yet in from our garden so I am using frozen peas.
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/2 package frozen peas
3 sprigs of fresh mint
Salt
Place peas into a small colander and rinse with hot water, set aside.  Remove mint leaves and finely dice, set aside.  In a small skillet over medium high heat, add coconut oil, let it melt.  Add peas and toss to cook for about 2 minutes.  Add mint and toss to incorporate into the peas.  Cook for 2 minutes more.  Serve.