fall Archives - A Calculated Whisk

Sheet Pan Crispy Chicken Thighs with Cabbage & Apples

March 27, 2020 By Becky Leave a Comment

Sheet Pan Crispy Chicken Thighs with Cabbage & Apples

This sheet pan crispy chicken with cabbage and apples tastes amazing and is easy to throw together. It’s paleo, dairy free, gluten free, and Whole30-compliant–and all you’ll need to wash is one baking sheet!

Is anyone else holding on to wintry foods for longer than usual this year? Even though it’s almost April and the high will be 85 degrees in Chattanooga today, I’m still craving everything roasted or braised, plus soups, stews, and all other things comfort food.

I know almost everything is a struggle these days, and I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and home as much as possible. Access to food is now spottier than ever and constantly shifting, so I hope you are staying well fed. I photographed this over a month ago when it was still business as usual here, but lately have had to try several times before succeeding in obtaining bone-in chicken.

Pumpkin Alfredo with Seared Alaska Scallops

October 23, 2019 By Becky 2 Comments

This post is sponsored by Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. I’m thrilled to be partnering with ASMI to share a series of delicious recipes highlighting sustainable, wild-caught seafood from Alaska.

Pumpkin Alfredo with Seared Alaska Scallops

This low-carb pumpkin alfredo with seared Alaska scallops and crispy sage is the perfect quick but fancy dinner for chilly fall evenings at home.

I’m here with your perfect fall dinner: pumpkin, creamy sauce, brown butter seared Alaska scallops, and crispy sage. This is one I could eat pretty much every day of the week because it’s so flavorful and healthy but takes less than half an hour to make.

Did you know that Alaska has sustainable fishing built right into its state constitution? That means seafood from Alaska is always wild caught and fished in a way that preserves the environment and marine ecosystem for generations to come. I’m so excited to be partnering with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to share a series of creative recipes with Alaska seafood and encourage you to #AskforAlaska while shopping and dining out.

October is National Seafood Month, so this is the perfect time to make sure you’re eating seafood several times a week. Why not start with this pumpkin alfredo with seared scallops?

Gluten-free Financiers with Figs

October 5, 2019 By Becky Leave a Comment

These gluten free financiers have a flavorful, tender crumb thanks to brown butter and almond flour, and are studded with fresh figs.

After weeks of sweltering weather with highs in the upper nineties, we’re finally having a “fallish” day here in Chattanooga with highs only reaching the upper eighties. I bake no matter the weather, but feeling a tiny chill in the mornings really makes me eager to turn on the oven. If you’re doing some fall baking this weekend, I highly recommend these gluten-free financiers with figs.

Financiers are a French treat made with brown butter, almond flour, and egg whites. There’s usually a bit of all-purpose flour in there, too, but here I’ve used cassava flour* (*affiliate link–I earn from qualifying purchases. All affiliate links in this post are marked with a *) to keep them gluten free and grain free.

Shepherd’s Pie with Rutabaga

September 24, 2019 By Becky 17 Comments

Rutabaga is even more delicious than potato atop this paleo version of shepherd’s pie. This shepherd’s pie with rutabaga is one of my go-to dinners during the colder months! Recipe and photos updated September 2019.

I’ve been making this shepherd’s pie with rutabaga for over five years now! It’s my husband’s very favorite and most-requested dinner, and I love it, too. With fall making its official arrival this week, I decided it was high time to pull this recipe out of the archives, shoot some new photos, streamline the cooking process, and share it with you again. (I’ve left in one of the old photos in for posterity–I’m sure you can figure out which one it is!)

Pumpkin Caramel Cheesecake Pie (Gluten-free, No-bake)

November 19, 2018 By Becky 8 Comments

This pumpkin caramel cheesecake pie requires no cooking, and all the layers are made in the food processor with no need to wash it in between. It’s the perfect last-minute Thanksgiving dessert! This pie was originally published in fall of 2013. I’ve tweaked the recipe and updated the photos.

This pie is so easy, and so good! If you already have your caramel sauce made (try salted caramel, salted maple caramel, or even store-bought), there is no cooking required–just a few rounds of food processing. And, in case you need another reason to make this, there’s pumpkin involved! There’s also caramel, whipped cream, and a delicious two-ingredient crust. The cheesecake layer is rich, but not overpowering–I think even people who don’t love cheesecake will probably love this.

Gluten-free Pumpkin Sheet Cake

October 26, 2018 By Becky 2 Comments

This easy gluten-free pumpkin sheet cake with whipped cream frosting is the ideal dessert to feed a crowd at Halloween or Thanksgiving.

My most perpetual pregnancy craving has been and continues to be cake. Last week I was desperate for some, and became fixated on making a sheet cake. Sheet cakes are really the best kind when you’re baking to satisfy a craving. Why? They’re huge and fast. There’s no need to prep more than one pan or stack and fill layers. It’s a snap to make them look nice with no piping. They also bake and cool super quickly because they just have one relatively thin layer.

Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu

September 28, 2018 By Becky 18 Comments

This post is sponsored by Pomì.

This easy Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu is packed with rich, hearty flavor and is perfect for cool fall nights. Enjoy it with pasta, spiralized veggies, or polenta.

It’s officially fall, which means it’s time for warming comfort food dishes like this Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu. This meaty sauce gets its flavor from organic, 100% Italian Pomì strained tomatoes, a classic soffritto of onion, celery, and carrot, and of course, the short ribs themselves. If you haven’t tried short ribs before, you are in for a treat: after being seared and then pressure cooked to perfection in the Instant Pot, they shred into the most tender morsels of beef you’ve ever tasted. The sauce is finished with a handful of fresh basil for freshness, and a splash of heavy cream or coconut milk for creaminess if you’re so inclined.

Instant Pot Bacon and Sweet Potato Chili

September 21, 2018 By Becky 8 Comments

Instant Pot Bacon & Sweet Potato Chili (Paleo, Whole30)

This paleo & Whole30-compliant Instant Pot bacon and sweet potato chili is an old favorite made twice as fast in the pressure cooker. Make a big batch and freeze some for later!

I’m kind of a chili purist. I don’t like beans in my chili and I don’t want any tomatoes in there, either. I also don’t like it to be too soupy. Over the years I’ve tried many chili recipes, but my bacon and sweet potato chili is the only one I come back to again and again. Many of my friend have made it, too, and it’s always a hit. It freezes really well, so it’s a perfect make-ahead meal. I’m definitely planning to stock my freezer with some to have on hand once our baby arrives!

32 Paleo Comfort Food Recipes for Winter

December 11, 2017 By Becky 26 Comments

This collection of paleo comfort food recipes will keep you warm and nourished all winter long!

Looking for more delicious paleo recipes? Check out my roundups of Whole30 Instant Pot recipes and Whole30 sheet pan dinners.

Raise your hand if you could use some comfort food right about now! Between the cold weather and the seemingly incessant parade of Christmas treats, I’ve been craving healthy, hearty, hot dinners. In case you have been, too, I put together this collection of my very best and favorite paleo comfort food recipes.

Between all the cookies and the shopping and whatever else you’re up to, I hope you can find time to share some of these dishes with your family (or just make them for yourself!). Many of these recipes are great to make ahead and/or Whole30 compliant, so I’ve noted details like that below. Which one will you try first?

Here’s to a healthy and happy holiday season filled with plenty of satisfying meals!

6 Ways to Top Roasted Sweet Potatoes

November 22, 2017 By Becky 22 Comments

This post is sponsored by the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission.

With these six ways to top roasted sweet potatoes, everyone will be sure to find something they love. Pick one or two to make for dinner or go all out and try all six!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! I’m here today to tell you about a delicious meal idea that, while not necessarily meant for Turkey Day itself, is certainly perfect for any busy night (or day or even morning) of the year when you need some fast and healthy grub.

Bok Choy Salad with Apple and Persimmon

November 14, 2017 By Becky 6 Comments

This vegan and paleo bok choy salad with apple and persimmon is healthy enough for a detox but beautiful and tasty enough for your Thanksgiving table!

Is anyone else in need of something delicious and fresh, but still kind of festive? I’ve got you covered with this bok choy salad with apple and persimmon. Amidst all the pie and stuffing and mashed potatoes and even a few early cookies, I am fairly sure that we all could use something like this.

If you’re surprised that bok choy can be eaten raw in a salad, you are not alone. I just learned this recently myself. A couple weeks before our wedding I decided to do Alisa Vitti’s four-day detox, and this bok choy salad is based on a very simple one that she shares as part of the cleanse. I was initially quite suspicious that a combination of raw bok choy, onion, and apple could ever taste good, but since I get bok choy all the time in my CSA and it cooks down to almost nothing in a stir fry, I decided to give the salad a try.

Hubbard Squash Soup with Pistachio Gremolata

October 9, 2017 By Becky 20 Comments

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This easy hubbard squash soup with pistachio gremolata will quickly become a favorite in your fall weeknight rotation. The slightly sweet soup and punchy gremolata complement each other perfectly.

It’s October (how?!?), and it’s time for squash soup. Posting squash soup has become an inadvertent fall tradition here at A Calculated Whisk, beginning with butternut squash soup with fried garlic and chili oil in October 2014. The tradition continued with 2015’s parsnip and pumpkin soup and last year’s butternut squash and potato soup (with bacon and pomegranate on top!).

Autumn 2017’s squash soup feature is this hubbard squash soup with pistachio gremolata. I invented it on a whim when I got sick a few days after my wedding and have not been able to stop eating it since. The soup is rich and delicious on its own, but worlds better with a few dollops of pistachio gremolata swirled in.

I originally made this soup with a red kuri squash from my CSA–the one pictured in the top right of this photo. Since then, I’ve had trouble getting my hands on another red kuri, so I turned to buttercup squash (pictured above), which is another member of the hubbard squash family. I have a slight preference for red kuri squash and am constantly on the lookout for it, but either will work (and other orange-fleshed winter squashes like butternut will probably work, too).