winter Archives - Page 3 of 4 - A Calculated Whisk

Grain-free Cranberry Galette

October 10, 2016 By Becky 10 Comments

Why not end Thanksgiving dinner with a nut-free, grain-free cranberry galette? The cassava flour pie crust is so flaky and buttery, no one will guess it’s gluten free.

My obsession with cassava flour pie crust is still going strong. It all started with this gluten-free quiche lorraine with leeks, and I stayed in the savory realm with this heirloom tomato galette. Now it’s finally time for something on the sweet side: this grain-free cranberry galette with creme fraiche. Cassava flour is remarkably similar to wheat flour in how it behaves in crusts, so making this dough is a lot like making regular pie dough. Don’t worry, though, it’s really easy–it comes together in just a few minutes in the food processor.

Cranberries are often mixed with other fruits in desserts, or only make it to the table in the form of cranberry sauce. I wanted to create a treat that would highlight cranberries on their own in all their ruby-hued glory. Here their tartness is tempered with honey and a sprinkling of raw sugar, and a bit of creme fraiche adds richness and depth to the filling. I like to serve this with even more creme fraiche on top, but it’s also fabulous with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Slow-Cooker Balsamic Short Ribs with Parsnip Puree

September 23, 2016 By Becky 9 Comments

These tender slow-cooker balsamic short ribs are so comforting, with great flavor from the balsamic vinegar and rosemary. Serve them over parsnip puree with a simple vegetable side, like seared radicchio or quickly sautéed kale.

Who’s ready for part four of my ongoing love letter to short ribs? If you missed them, check out parts one, two, and three (plus the honey chipotle short ribs in Paleo Planet!). I love short ribs because they’re meltingly tender, full of meaty flavor, and really hard to mess up. They’re super easy to make in the slow cooker, and they go well with a wide variety of flavor profiles.

In this simple recipe, short ribs are cooked low and slow with plenty of balsamic vinegar and fresh rosemary for the perfect fall comfort food with an Italian bent.

To round out the meal, I like to serve these slow-cooker balsamic short ribs with an extra creamy (but cream-free!) parsnip puree. Parsnips are such a fun cold weather vegetable and they taste great as a puree–the flavor is beguiling and almost has hints of coconut to it.

This parsnip puree is pretty much heaven with some cooking juices from the short ribs spooned on top. If you’re looking for more on parsnips and reasons to love them, check out my parsnip and pumpkin soup post.

Cider-Glazed Chicken with Roasted Cauliflower Rice

January 25, 2016 By Becky 20 Comments

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

This cider-glazed chicken with roasted cauliflower rice is an easy but gourmet paleo meal that comes together quickly. It’s also Whole30-compliant!

I’ve had a jug of local cider in the fridge since Christmas, and have been wanting to reduce it into some kind of sauce for a savory dish. The idea got stuck in my head right away, so even though I love to have a glass of cider on its own, I’ve pretty much just been saving it, biding my time until a great idea for something savory with cider sauce came along.

Serendipitously, I found the idea as soon as I started exploring Erin’s blog, The Spiffy Cookie, which was my assignment for this month’s Secret Recipe Club reveal. Erin has an index of all her gluten-free recipes, which made it really easy to find good candidates for me to adapt into paleo-friendly dishes. (I had to avert my eyes from all of her ridiculously good-looking desserts, but will be back to browse those once my Whole30 is over!) Before the gluten-free recipes page had even fully loaded, Erin’s cider-glazed chicken with browned-butter pecan rice caught my eye.

Winter Vegetable Gratin

December 7, 2015 By Becky 10 Comments

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

This gluten-free winter vegetable gratin is a show-stopping side dish for holiday meals or any special occasion.

I had dinner with Mary of Chattavore the other night, and we were talking about how much we hate winter, even here in the Mid-South where we barely have one to speak of. She mentioned disliking the early sunsets, so I told her an optimistic tidbit that I learned online the other day: despite the fact that the winter solstice isn’t until December 21st, the earliest sunset of the year is often much sooner. In fact, here in Chattanooga, it’s today!

The sun set at 5:29 in Chattanooga today, and will set at about the same time tomorrow and the next day. After that, it will begin to set later and later. (The days will continue to get shorter because the sun will be rising later in the morning, but if you’re anything like me and Mary, that doesn’t bother you quite as much as the early nightfall.)

The winter solstice has always been a nice turning point for me in my thinking–almost like it’s the very first sign of spring. Even in Boston when the worst of winter doesn’t come until January, knowing that each day we were gaining minutes of daylight made me feel optimistic. Thanks to my new knowledge about the earliest sunset preceding the solstice by several weeks, I’m going to go ahead and start with all that positive thinking today!

Simple Roast Chicken with Carrot Top-Kale Pesto

November 20, 2015 By Becky 12 Comments

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

This simple roast chicken with carrot top-kale pesto is paleo, gluten free, Whole 30 compliant, and just the thing for chilly weekends.

Meet my new favorite weekend tradition: simple roast chicken with carrot top-kale pesto.

The routine goes like this: buy a local, free-range chicken and some fresh produce on Friday, roast the chicken with root vegetables and blend the greens into a pesto on Saturday, and make homemade chicken stock on Sunday. (Of course, you can start the routine any day of the week–that’s just what works best for me since I’m at work all day Monday through Thursday.)

I’ve been carrying out this roast chicken tradition pretty much every other weekend. I love every part of the process: buying what I need at the farmers market, roasting the chicken and vegetables, preparing the pesto, making the broth, and of course, eating what I’ve made (and sometimes even sharing it).

Since moving down to Tennessee and joining a winter CSA from Big Sycamore Farm, I’ve become even more obsessed with cooking with local ingredients and trying all different kinds of vegetables. So when I got a gorgeous bunch of carrots with all their vibrant greens still attached, I was determined to use the tops. I knew I’d read about carrot top pesto somewhere, and a quick search reminded me that the recipe is from Diane Morgan’s cookbook Roots (and is also available online via Culinate).

Chewy Molasses Cookies

December 25, 2014 By Becky 5 Comments

Is it too late for a Christmas cookie?

If it is, I understand. I hope you’ll consider this as you’re choosing a Boxing Day, New Year’s Eve, or random January afternoon cookie. Chewy grain-free molasses cookies work anytime.

Normally I don’t love cookies unless there’s chocolate or caramel involved, but I’ve made an exception here. There’s something about the rich flavor of molasses in a chewy cookie with a hint of crunch from a coating of sparkling sugar that I can really get into.

Roasted Jerk Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes

December 4, 2014 By Becky 6 Comments

This paleo roasted jerk chicken with carrots and potatoes is just the thing to warm you up on a winter evening.

As winter settles in, I’m trying to remain focused on the few cold-weather activities I actually enjoy– namely, roasting things, making hot drinks, and baking cookies. (Don’t even try to get me excited about skiing, snowboarding, or sledding. I’ll just meet up with you in the lodge for some hot chocolate when you’re done freezing your nose and toes on the frigid slopes.)

There is one other winter activity I enjoy, though, and that is going on Caribbean vacations. I don’t have the money for a trip anywhere warm this year, but Ben and I had an amazing time in Jamaica year before last. Today we relived some of those good times by eating this paleo roasted jerk chicken with carrots and potatoes. It’s no trip to the islands, but it does taste really good.

Ginger Thyme Tea

November 30, 2014 By Becky 15 Comments

This caffeine-free ginger thyme tea is easy to make at home
and perfect for when you’re feeling under the weather.

I woke up Thanksgiving morning with the beginnings of a cold. Black Friday was even worse, with the irrepressible urge to nap setting in a mere three hours after I woke up. Yesterday, after getting over ten hours of sleep the night before, I spent the hours between six and eight pm dozing off on the couch with a purring cat on my stomach and a scarf wrapped around my head. I’ve gone through two pocket packs of tissues and finally had to cave and buy a full-size box.

Since I know a lot of people get sick around the holidays, I thought I’d share my favorite homemade remedy: a simple ginger thyme tea.

Grain-free Cranberry Orange Bread

November 21, 2014 By Becky 10 Comments

My family doesn’t have a well-defined set of Thanksgiving traditions. Growing up with divorced parents, I often divided my time between two Thanksgiving dinners, having the main meal at one house and dessert at another. Things always felt briefly desolate as I was shuttled between the two under the cover of early nightfall, but a slice of pie (or three) put an end to that pretty fast. And I wouldn’t have wanted to miss out on spending time with either of my families.

My mom and I usually had dinner at a friends’ house, and didn’t have to do much of the cooking. (I don’t think either of us has ever roasted a whole turkey, unless she did a bunch of turkey-roasting before I was born and neglected to tell me about it.)

Kratiem Prik Thai Short Ribs with Quick-Pickled Carrots

November 10, 2014 By Becky 8 Comments

Wintry weather has already made an appearance in Boston; we had our first snow, albeit a small one, last weekend. I hate being cold outside and abhor feeling cold indoors even more, but I also, like a true New Englander, am always reluctant to turn on the heat.

My best solution for cold days at home is to have something in the oven pretty much at all times. And since I can’t always be making and eating desserts, my favorite thing to do is braise meat or chicken. The cooking time is nice and long, so it will really warm up your house (or at least your kitchen). The bonus effect of this heating strategy is that you will also be really well fed.

Bacon and Sweet Potato Chili

March 12, 2014 By Becky 16 Comments

This bacon and sweet potato chili is my go-to paleo dinner. The recipe makes a large batch, and it freezes well!

Do you have a really big skillet? If not, you are going to want to go buy one so you can make this bacon & sweet potato chili right away.

If you are not convinced that you need a 14-inch skillet, I understand. However, I intend to convince you to make this chili. It’s the best chili I’ve ever had, and it’s a complete and colorful one-pot meal. If you didn’t just go buy a huge skillet and/or don’t need to feed a bunch of people, you can halve the recipe and make it in a normal-sized pan.

Why is this the best chili ever? Well, because bacon. And sweet potatoes. And all the fresh things on top that make this the perfect comfort food to carry you from winter into spring.

This dish is for people like me, who don’t want beans or any tomato products or a lot of excess liquid in their chili. I just need salty bacon, sweet potatoes, some perfectly spiced meat, and what’s basically deconstructed guacamole for a topping. Using half pork and half beef gives the chili even better flavor. It’s amazing right away and it’s even more amazing the next day. My mother agreed that this is the best chili ever, and she is kind of hard to please. I haven’t heard her rave so much about a food I’ve made since this cranberry orange curd tart.

There is kale in this recipe. If you don’t want to put kale in your chili you obviously don’t have to, but I want to tell you that you can barely taste it. It’s just a nice way to sneak in some greens and start feeling a little more springy. I got the idea to put kale in chili from the cookbook Cooking with Coconut Oil, and now I’m hooked. It adds great color and texture, and makes me feel extra healthy when I eat it.

One more reason to make this bacon and sweet potato chili, and to put kale in it? Kale & sweet potato are really good friends. See proof here.

Orange Ginger Squash Soup

January 1, 2014 By Becky 6 Comments

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Orange Ginger Squash Soup (Paleo, Gluten free, Whole30)

This orange ginger squash soup is easy to make, super comforting, and Whole30-compliant. A sprinkling of pomegranate seeds on top makes it worthy of a festive occasion, too!

It’s Whole30 time! In addition to eating right all month, I’ve committed to posting everyday as part of Blogher’s January NaBloPoMo. The theme is pressure, which seems fitting–I’m putting a lot of pressure on myself to eat clean food and blog about it every single day for a month! I probably won’t be able to share 31 new recipes, but instead will sometimes blog about how I’m feeling and what resources I’m using. I’ll be sharing lots of simple recipes, which will hopefully inspire you to get in the kitchen and whip up something healthy even if you aren’t committing to a whole Whole30.