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Bacon-Wrapped Potato Wedges

September 28, 2015 By Becky 39 Comments

You only need two ingredients to make these bacon-wrapped potato wedges, and they’re perfect paleo football food!

It’s football season! Are you into it? I have no idea what’s going on, but my fiancé Ben is a big Broncos fan and is also in a fantasy football league. It’s my job to complain about how much the TV is on and to make delicious snacks, like these bacon-wrapped potato wedges.

We moved this past weekend–we’d been staying with Ben’s sister and her family, and now we’re renting a little guest house from some friends of ours while we look for a house to buy. The guest house is just two rooms plus a bathroom, but it’s really cute. The kitchen and living area are in one room, but it’s a pretty good size and I’m really happy with the kitchen area. Unfortunately, the TV is right nearby, so I have to listen to football while I cook.

Since things have been pretty hectic with our move from Boston to Chattanooga last month and our mini move into the guest house more recently, I’ve been on the lookout for easy recipes. I was assigned Rebekah’s blog, Making Miracles, for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, and found so many great possibilities in her recipe index. Her blog is full of fast, easy, family-friendly recipes, and I highly recommend you check it out!

I was planning to make her baked paleo chicken tenders, since I loved chicken fingers as a kid and haven’t yet tried making a paleo version. In fact, I’m still planning to make them–I have all the ingredients and everything–but once I saw these bacon-wrapped potato wedges, they jumped to the top of my list. I had to have them right away.

Smashed Potatoes with Hatch Chile Tomatillo Crema

September 11, 2015 By Becky 25 Comments

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Smashed Potatoes with Hatch Chile Tomatillo Crema | acalculatedwhisk.com

These crispy smashed potatoes served with an addictive hatch chile tomatillo crema are perfect for game time or anytime. The recipe is grain free and there’s a paleo vegan version, too!

Have you ever smashed a potato? If not, you’re missing out. It’s an easy and fun way to get roasted potatoes that are actually crispy, and shaped like beautifully abstract flowers to boot.I saw this smashed potatoes idea over on Oh She Glows about a year ago, pinned it enthusiastically, thought about it often, and didn’t actually try it until last week. That’s one of the perils of reading as many food blogs as I do: there are so many great recipes to try, and so little time!

These smashed potatoes are going into the regular rotation, though. I’m going to offer a brief explanation of why they’re better than plain old roasted potatoes (which are pretty delicious to begin with). When you roast whole small potatoes, only a very small portion of their surface area comes into contact with the hot pan below, and they don’t have any jagged edges elsewhere to crisp up. Thus, it’s really only a tiny spot on the bottom that becomes sufficiently crunchy.

Blistered Okra with Garlic and Cumin

August 31, 2015 By Becky 6 Comments

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blistered okra with cumin and garlic 1 v3

This blistered okra with garlic and cumin is much healthier than fried okra

but just as addictive! It’s also paleo, gluten-free, and vegan.

How do you feel about okra? I always hated it in gumbo and other gummy preparations as a kid, but quickly fell in love with fried okra. Last year I even made a paleo version of fried okra that’s really good, but it’s not super quick to make.

My love for okra eventually expanded to include bhindi masala, an Indian curry where the okra is cooked with plenty of ginger, garlic, onion, and tomato, and there’s a recipe for that in my cookbook. While delicious, bhindi masala also takes a little time to make.

Blistered Okra with Garlic and Cumin #30MinuteMondays | acalculatedwhisk.com

When I scored some really beautiful okra at the farmers’ market, I wanted to cook it quickly in a way that would highlight its intrinsic flavor while minimizing its intrinsic gumminess. A little research indicated that cooking okra briefly over relatively high heat would be most likely to achieve those results.

I was so happy with how this recipe turned out! Slicing the okra lengthwise provides a nice surface for browning while preserving the attractive silhouette of the pods. (Did you know okra is also known as lady fingers? Move on over, cookies whose sole purpose is to make tiramisu!) The recipe starts with getting a cast iron skillet nice and hot, then adding butter or oil. Whole cumin seeds, garlic cloves, and dried chiles are added next, infusing the cooking fat with savory and subtly spiced flavor and a gentle, warming heat. The okra are added next and cooked for about ten minutes, turning a few times, until nice and browned. Add a hefty sprinkle of flaky sea salt and that’s it! Non-fried okra that you won’t be able to stop eating.

Paleo Flatbread (Naan)

May 7, 2015 By Becky 62 Comments

Looking for a delicious paleo flatbread to scoop up some curry? This grain-free recipe rivals regular naan in both texture and flavor!

I’ve cracked the code on paleo naan! This grain-free flatbread is soft and chewy just like its gluten-laden counterparts, and thanks to the yeast, its flavor is really authentic. I’m actually a little bit worried about having figured out this recipe, because I now want it with every single meal. It’s going to take a lot of restraint to not just eat this instead of vegetables!

I’d never considered making a yeasted paleo flatbread before, partly because yeast can be time-consuming and partly because I had heard that gluten-free doughs don’t rise as well. And while that may be true, I was pretty excited about how well this dough rose (see the photos near the end of the post for evidence). Also, since this bread just needs one quick, 45-minute rise, it’s not totally insane to make on a weeknight.

I got the idea for this bread when I saw Heather’s perfect paleo flatbread recipe on Cook It Up Paleo. Her recipe calls for yeast, but doesn’t have you wait for the dough to rise. I couldn’t try her recipe as-is because it calls for coconut flour (I’m allergic to coconut), so I decided to play around with it a bit.

Roasted Romanesco with Za’atar Yogurt Sauce

February 26, 2015 By Becky 6 Comments

Strange coincidence: last year, on January 25th, 2014, I wrote about romanesco in a post entitled 7 Uncommon Vegetables for your Produce Bucket List. I had never seen romanesco in a store. I kept my eyes peeled for it all year, but could never find any. That is, until last Wednesday, when I finally spotted some at my local Whole Foods . . . on January 25th, 2015. Weird, right?

Coming across this gorgeous vegetable exactly one year after posting about it has me wondering if it might be magic. I mean, look at those spirals! According to Wikipedia, the number of spirals on a head of Romanesco is a Fibonacci number, and its form approximates a fractal. How is it possible that something like this exists?

In addition to its special properties, romanesco is delicious. I roasted it whole because I couldn’t bear to slice it up any sooner than I had to. Its flavor is similar to cauliflower and broccoli, but a little milder and nuttier. And, just like with cauliflower or broccoli, the browned bits are extra delicious. If you can’t find romanesco, you could definitely use one of its brassica cousins for this recipe instead.

Galician Greens

August 11, 2014 By Becky 7 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

My mom is from Texas, and I lived there for four years, so I am a bit of a Southern girl at heart. I like fried okra, really hot weather, and smiling at people I don’t know (not as much of a thing here in Boston, unfortunately).

As a true Texan, my mom gets really excited about greens, but I was never able to share in her excitement until now. When I was a kid she often worked to recreate the greens my grandmother used to make, which started with salt pork and reportedly ended up as a fabulous and memorable side dish. I never had the chance to try my grandmother’s greens, so I can’t really say how my mom’s versions compared, but as a child I felt exasperation and dread whenever my mother picked up those gargantuan leaves at the store. I just didn’t like collard greens.

Roasted Beet & Carrot Salad with Goat Cheese Vinaigrette

April 28, 2014 By Becky 32 Comments

What’s your favorite color? Mine is pink (shocking, right?).

When I was scrolling through the recipes on K & K Test Kitchen to choose something to make for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, the gorgeous hue of this healthy salad caught my eye. By the time I read the words “goat cheese” near the end of the post title, I was totally sold. When I see a food that’s naturally bright pink and has my favorite kind of cheese in it, I sign myself right up.

Roasted Cauliflower with Creamy Cilantro Pesto

February 21, 2014 By Becky 11 Comments

Do you like to read “day in the life” posts? I loved this one on What’s Gaby Cooking (the first food blog I ever read!), saw this one recently on How Sweet It Is, and was inspired to write my own. I think it’s fun to get a peek into someone’s daily routine. Of course, if you don’t, you can just scroll down for the recipe.

If you’re still with me, here’s the story of my Thursday!

I woke up late, around 9:30. Since Ben works from home on Thursdays, he had made coffee. I had mine with vanilla chai spiced ghee and a splash of cream, blitzed with my immersion blender.

In the kitchen, I briefly contemplated abandoning my cauliflower plans since I wasn’t sure I had time to cook and photograph everything before class at noon, but I decided to go for it. I had a gorgeous orange cauliflower from Whole Foods, so I had to take a few shots of it before chopping it up.

Fried Okra with Avocado Crema (Whole30 Day 18)

January 19, 2014 By Becky 4 Comments

My mom grew up in Austin, and that’s where I learned to love fried okra. We used to go every year to visit our family, and we always ate at this amazing cafeteria called the Marimont that has now been closed for several years. We would stay for a week, and eat there everyday for lunch. Here’s what I used to get: two or three sides of macaroni and cheese (theirs was the best!), an order of fried okra, and a slice of chocolate cream pie. I miss that place so much!

Fortunately, there are other places to get great fried okra (I recently had some really delicious okra at Tupelo Honey in Chattanooga). However, as far as I know, none of those places are in Massachusetts, and none of them offer fried okra that’s paleo, gluten-free, vegan and fried in coconut oil. I still consider my version an indulgence since it uses a lot of oil, but treats like this are important, especially when you’re doing a Whole30 and can’t have any desserts.

I made an easy avocado crema to go with my okra. If you have extra crema, it would also be great on eggs or as a dip for veggies. Of course, the okra is also amazing plain, with just good coarse salt sprinkled on top!

Orange-Glazed Brussels Sprouts (Whole30 Day 10)

January 11, 2014 By Becky 6 Comments

I’ve made it to Day 10 of my Whole30! It feels good to be 1/3 of the way there, and I am loving eating so many vegetables. I’m not loving being the only one who can’t have any bread when we’re out to dinner, but so far the pros outweigh the cons. I like how the Whole30 forces me to be creative in the kitchen, finding new ways to make meat, eggs, and vegetables extra delicious.

As a kid I never liked brussels sprouts, because I’d only tried the mushy, boiled ones. The first time Ben made me Brussels sprouts, I was totally surprised. I LOVED them. He pan-fried them in a skillet until they were browned and crisp around the edges, and sprinkled them with plenty of Cajun seasoning. It’s a simple technique, but somehow it never tastes as good when I try to make it.

Since I’m not the best at making sprouts Ben’s way, I decided to think of a new way to prepare them. I love roasting vegetables because it’s so easy, and a parchment-lined cookie sheet means minimal cleanup. I was inspired by the huge box of oranges I have to create an easy glaze with fresh orange juice and zest, coconut aminos, and chili paste. The results were so delicious that I ate the entire batch for lunch! The glaze is spicy and sweet, and since the Brussels sprouts are roasted instead of cooking in the sauce, they retain their nice crispy edges.

Someday soon, I hope to use this recipe to convince a new person that they love Brussels sprouts. Maybe it will be you!

If you already love Brussels sprouts, what’s your favorite way to prepare them?

Sweet Potato & Kale Gratin (Whole30 Day 8)

January 9, 2014 By Becky 19 Comments

Looking for more Whole30 recipes? Check out my cookbook Paleo Planet (there are over 80 in there!) and the Whole30 section of my recipe index.

Phew! Posting every single day is starting to get very exhausting!

Don’t get me wrong–I love to dream up recipes, cook, take pictures, and then write about it. It’s just that somehow I find myself on the couch each evening around 11, realizing there is so much work left to do! Yesterday’s post went up at 11:59 pm. It always takes a little bit of pressure to actually get my nose to the grindstone.

I think that since it’s 10:58 right now, and I already have the photos and the recipe all set, I should be getting this one up a little earlier.

But before I hit “publish”, though, let me tell you about this good-looking gratin!

Braised Zucchini (Whole30 Day 6)

January 6, 2014 By Becky Leave a Comment

We’re going nose-to-tail with our zucchini today! I saw these charmingly small organic zucchini at Whole Foods, and was inspired to cook them without trimming the ends off, chopping them up, or turning them into noodles. Sometimes, we just have to let zucchini be! It’s a beautiful vegetable, and when it’s browned like this and braised until tender, you can eat the whole entire thing.

This zucchini is slightly spicy thanks to the cumin, paprika, and cayenne, and has just a hint of tang thanks to the sherry vinegar. The vinegar, broth, spices, & shallots form a deliciously rich sauce that you can serve spooned over the zucchini, and/or on top of whatever protein you’re eating with it.

I had this for lunch alongside a pork chop, cooked using the method outlined in this recipe, seasoned with salt and pepper and just a little garlic powder. Bonus: if you decide to make these pork chops, with or without the apple compote, they can cook in the oven alongside the zucchini, and everything will be ready at the same time.