dinner Archives - Page 6 of 10 - A Calculated Whisk

Grilled Pork Chops and Peaches

September 8, 2015 By Becky 4 Comments

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Grilled Pork Chops and Peaches #30MinuteMondays | acalculatedwhisk.com

You’re less than 30 minutes away from this healthy paleo meal of spice-rubbed pork chops and grilled peaches served with bitter greens and avocado.

How was your weekend? Whether or not it was a long one, I hope it included lots of time spent doing your favorite things. Mine did: I spent time cooking, baking, swimming, sleeping in, and eating burgers. I couldn’t have asked for much more!

It’s been about two weeks since Ben and I moved to Chattanooga, and I’m so happy to be here. I’ve only had three full days of work so far, so it’s all felt a bit like a giant vacation. We’re staying with my future sister-in-law and her husband and my three future nieces, and they are all so much fun. The girls are eight, six, and three years old, and make me want to have my own children YESTERDAY. They love to help me cook, which is a welcome change since so often I’m alone in the kitchen.

On Friday we made chocolate pudding. I’d made the recipe before (I just substitute tapioca flour for the cornstarch to make it grain-free) and knew it only made 6 servings, but figured we could stretch it to feed 7, 3 of whom are not full grown. Right when the girls and I had finished the pudding and were looking for cute little cups to put it in, Ben announced that his parents and brother would also be joining us for dinner. That raised the total count to 10.

Faced with the fear of not enough dessert, the girls suggested another batch of these brownies (similar recipe here–omit the cinnamon and cayenne and add a handful of chocolate chips for a kid-friendly, double chocolate version). I agreed. After baking the brownies, we spread our meager stash of chocolate pudding on top like frosting, added a layer of whipped cream, and sprinkled some more chocolate chips on top for good measure. The result was something so decadent that the eight year-old, who prides herself on usually being able to eat several servings of dessert, was satisfied after just one. When it follows the fear of not enough dessert, too much dessert is a wonderful thing indeed! The pudding brownies lasted for days in the fridge and made excellent snacks throughout the weekend.

Announcing Paleo Planet + Marinated Skirt Steak with Cilantro-Lime Ghee

August 17, 2015 By Becky 21 Comments

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Announcing Paleo Planet + Marinated Skirt Steak with Cilantro-Lime Ghee | acalculatedwhisk.com

Big news! I wrote a cookbook!

Paleo Planet is available for pre-order now and comes out on November 3rd, 2015. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Indiebound or read more about it on the Harvard Common Press site.

The book has over 125 paleo recipes inspired by cuisines from around the world, all made without gluten, grains, refined sugar, legumes, soy, or dairy (with the exception of ghee). There are plenty of main dishes made with poultry, beef, pork, lamb, and seafood, as well as chapters for appetizers, vegetable sides, spice blends and other pantry staples, and of course, desserts. Every single recipe has a color photo taken by me!

Writing this cookbook was a ton of work, but I’ve never eaten better than I did while working on it! It was so much fun researching dishes from different cuisines and adapting them to fit the paleo lifestyle. Some of the recipes in the book are traditional foods from a certain country, while others are more fusion recipes. Still others just incorporate exotic flavors into an old classic or provide a fresh twist on a well-loved recipe.

Pesto Shrimp Bake with Squash and Tomatoes

August 3, 2015 By Becky 25 Comments

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Pesto Shrimp Bake with Squash and Tomatoes #30MinuteMondays | acalculatedwhisk.com

I know this is a totally blasphemous thing to say in the food blogging world, especially in the middle of summer, but I’m really not a fan of tomatoes. They’ve grown on me since I was a kid, when I wouldn’t touch foods with them in it (including pizza, ketchup, and most of all anything involving raw or sundried tomatoes). I now really enjoy a good tomato sauce (like this bolognese or this garlic tomato sauce) and I’ll dip into a fancy ketchup if it’s got curry mixed in or something, but the appeal of raw tomatoes still largely eludes me.

My best experience so far has been with a couple of memorable caprese salads, including one at dbar, one of my favorite Boston restaurants, which is conveniently located just blocks from our apartment. A caprese salad with housemade mozzarella and tomatoes and basil from their rooftop garden was on the specials menu, and my mom and I had to try it. And, surprisingly enough, I didn’t hate the raw tomatoes.

Basil Lime Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

July 24, 2015 By Becky 4 Comments

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Basil Lime Chicken with Roasted Vegetables | acalculatedwhisk.com

Happy Friday! Are you ready to slather your dinner in an irresistible basil lime compound butter?

I love this meal because it’s simple and flavorful. The basil lime butter makes the chicken and vegetables more delicious without making them taste any less like themselves. Instead of obscuring the flavors of the main ingredients like heavy sauces sometimes do, it just kisses them with a little herbal, citrusy richness that still lets their natural essence come through.

For the roasted vegetables, you can use whatever you have on hand. I used beets, carrots, summer squash, and onions. They need different amounts of time to roast, so I added the beets to the baking sheet first, then the carrots, and finally the squash and onions. If you want to sub in other vegetables and aren’t sure how long they need to roast, check out this handy chart.

Caramelized Salmon with Basil Chile Oil and Pickled Vegetables

July 20, 2015 By Becky 38 Comments

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Caramelized Salmon with Basil Chile Oil and Pickled Vegetables #30MinuteMondays | acalculatedwhisk.com

Broiled salmon, basil chile oil, and quick-pickled summer vegetables

team up for a fast and fresh paleo dinner with tons of flavor.

As a recent salmon convert, I’m still a little bit surprised every time I bite into a piece of salmon and find that it’s totally delicious.

For so long the strange pink hue of salmon turned me off, but now I can’t get enough. My favorite way to prepare salmon is under the broiler, where it cooks in less than ten minutes flat. I love how the top of the fish gets nicely browned and even a little bit crispy (especially here, with the help of a sprinkling of maple sugar) while the inside remains perfectly tender. This caramelized salmon is inspired by a recipe from Lindsay of Pinch of Yum and it’s SO good.

Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Creamy Sesame Slaw

July 13, 2015 By Becky 8 Comments

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Grilled Shrimp Skewers with Creamy Sesame Slaw | acalculatedwhisk.com #30MinuteMondays

Quick and easy grilled shrimp skewers, creamy sesame slaw, and ripe avocado get together to form the perfect paleo summertime meal.

I know it’s been quiet on the blog this past week, but I’m back with another delicious and fast recipe for 30 Minute Mondays! You can grill or broil these shrimp skewers, and the vegetables don’t need cooking. That means if you grill outdoors, you can avoid heating up your kitchen and still end up with a delicious and balanced meal. That’s what summer is all about, right?

My fiancé and I have been down in Chattanooga for the past few days, checking out jobs, houses, and apartments. Even though I grew up in Boston, I’ve always felt like I’m a Southern girl at heart due to my mom’s Texas roots and all the time I’ve spent down there, so I’m really excited that we’re moving to Tennessee next month. I’m almost done with graduate school, and after we move I’ll get to start my job as a speech-language pathologist working with kids of all ages (and of course, blogging in the evenings and on weekends). I can’t wait!

Stuffed Lamb Burgers + Paleo Burger Buns

July 1, 2015 By Becky 12 Comments

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Stuffed Lamb Burgers + Paleo Burger Buns | acalculatedwhisk.com

Lamb burgers are stuffed with manchego cheese and cherry jam for an elegant twist, and served on easy-to-make yeasted paleo burger buns!

Last year, my fiancé Ben asked me to make stuffed lamb burgers for his birthday dinner. At that point I had never made a stuffed burger or even cooked with lamb, which I didn’t think I liked. Since it was his birthday, though, I went for it.

Can you see where this story is going? Spoiler alert: the burgers were delicious (and they’re especially delicious on paleo burger buns!). Stuffed burgers are not hard to make, and it turns out I DO like lamb!

Paleo Burger Buns | acalculatedwhisk.com

I make burgers all the time because they are such an easy, simple dinner, but I usually make them with beef and use butter lettuce for the buns. Upgrading to a lamb burger (and a stuffed one at that!) and making my own paleo burger buns definitely kicked my burger night game up several notches.

These burgers are stuffed with manchego cheese and cherry jam, so you end up with the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and meaty tastes. The strong flavors of lamb pair really well with fruit preserves, and I chose manchego because it’s one of my very favorite cheeses. If you’re avoiding dairy, you can stuff the burgers with just jam and they’ll still be delicious. You could even add some avocado slices on top for extra creaminess. Or, if adding jam to a burger freaks you out, you can stuff them with only the cheese (but I do hope you’ll try the jam at least once!).

Roasted Shrimp and Asparagus with Green Goddess Dressing

June 29, 2015 By Becky 10 Comments

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Roasted Shrimp & Asparagus with Green Goddess Dressing (Paleo) | acalculatedwhisk.com #30minuteMondays

Succulent roasted shrimp and asparagus are served with a tangy garlic scape green goddess dressing for an easy, 30-minute paleo dinner that’s also Whole30-compliant.

I’m kind of mad at myself because I missed the boat on ramps this year. At the photography workshop I went to in May we ate them at almost every meal (there’s a picture of them in this post), and when I got home I vowed to track some down so I could cook with them myself for the first time. However, I’m a lazy late-evening grocery shopper and there were never any ramps left. Before long, their short season had ended.

You’ll be relieved to hear that I am NOT missing out on garlic scapes.

While ramps are their own kind of plant and are usually foraged wild (hence their limited availability), garlic scapes are the flowering stalks of garlic plants that farmers cut off so the plant’s energy can be fully devoted to the bulb forming below. Garlic scapes are cool looking (see evidence above) and I like their name: it sounds like they’ve been trying to escape from the head of garlic, which is pretty much what they actually do.

Garlic scapes are milder than regular garlic with some fresher, grassier notes to their flavor–kind of like a cross between garlic, scallions, and chives. Here I used them to make a green goddess dressing with some fresh herbs and Primal Kitchen’s avocado oil mayo, which I just tried for the first time. I’m not a mayo person at all so I don’t foresee myself ever eating it straight up, but once some other flavors are mixed in to create a dressing or aioli, I can usually hop on board. (If you haven’t seen garlic scapes at your local market, don’t worry. You can substitute scallions and a clove of regular old garlic.)

Crispy Chicken with Fig and Shallot Compote

June 19, 2015 By Becky 22 Comments

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Crispy Chicken with Fig and Shallot Compote | acalculatedwhisk.com A simple but gourmet paleo dinner, perfect for a Whole30 or anytime. @beckywink

So, there may or may not be a poem at the end of this post, entitled “Ode to Figs” and written in the style of Pablo Neruda. (Have you read his poem “Ode to the Artichoke”? I’m not very into poetry but I’m very into artichokes–it’s one of the few poems I truly appreciate. Here it is in Spanish and English.) Figs are special, so I’m sharing a special but easy recipe that showcases them in all their glory. Plus, my ridiculous poem.

I got so excited when I discovered fresh figs at the market earlier this week. It seems that figs have a short season in early summer and a longer season in the fall, so if you can’t find them now, hopefully you’ll bookmark this post for later.

Slow-Cooked Bolognese Sauce with Sweet Potato Spaghetti

June 10, 2015 By Becky 17 Comments

There’s nothing more comforting than a slow-cooked Bolognese sauce with sweet potato spaghetti! It’s gluten free, paleo, and much more colorful and nutritious than regular spaghetti and meatballs.

This is Whole30 comfort food at its best. Making Bolognese sauce every Friday is a new tradition of mine, and even though I’ve only been doing it for a few weeks, it’s already made my weekends much heartier and more delicious.

I have Fridays off this semester so I can stay home while this fragrant sauce simmers away, but if you have to work you could start the sauce in the morning before you leave and finish it in the slow cooker, or make it your Saturday or Sunday tradition instead.

You want to let this sauce cook for a nice long time because the flavors will continue to meld and develop over the course of several hours. The long cooking time is the reason bolognese sauce is so synergistic. I also think the sauce tastes even better when I reheat it a day or two later, but I can never resist eating at least some of it the day I make it. The aroma is so enticing!

Because everyone’s schedule is different, I’m providing a slow cooker version and a version that cooks completely on the stovetop. Other than the cooking time, which is much longer for the slow cooker version, the only difference is the amount of liquid you add. The stovetop version needs extra liquid since much of the water in the sauce will evaporate, but the slow cooker keeps all that moisture locked in.

Chorizo Chicken with Olives and Roasted Peppers + Yellow Rice

May 25, 2015 By Becky 36 Comments

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Chorizo Chicken with Olives and Roasted Peppers + Yellow Rice | acalculatedwhisk.com A simple and flavorful paleo dinner!

Most people love simple recipes. I’m actually the opposite–I want the things I cook to be a little bit of a process. Nothing insane, but a few different components. I love the act of cooking, and I usually don’t want it to be over too quickly.

This chorizo chicken is the best of both worlds. If you want it to be super simple and quick, you can buy a jar of roasted red peppers or even leave them out. You can also serve this with a tossed salad instead of the rice. If you’re looking to have a little fun, though, you can roast your peppers on an open flame.

This genius recipe comes from Karen of Lavender and Lovage. I was assigned Karen’s blog for this month’s Secret Recipe Club reveal day, and had so much fun perusing her recipes. She lives in England but also spends a lot of time in France, where she has a cooking school. Karen has a huge selection of recipes on her blog, including several tempting choices like Scottish rhubarb and ginger crunchy streusel cake and bacon-wrapped turkey breast, which I want to make when the holidays roll around.

Slow-Cooker Short Ribs

May 11, 2015 By Becky 14 Comments

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If I had to pick one food to write a love song to, it would probably be short ribs. I just found out about them a couple of years ago when I ordered them at a restaurant expecting spareribs, and was surprised that the meltingly tender meat I received had no bones at all. The texture of short ribs feels so deluxe if you’re used to steak or ground beef. I can’t get enough!

You can buy boneless or bone-in short ribs. I usually buy bone-in because I think cooking with the bones in gives the meat extra flavor. They can be served on the bone, like in this recipe for kratiem prik thai short ribs, or off the bone, shredded, like I’ve done here.

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