Mustard Crusted Salmon (featured recipe)

After watching an episode of restaurant impossible we stole this recipe and tried it out - super tasty, I highly reccomend it! And not very difficult - even though it looks like a lot of work,  it was pretty simple and didn't take too long.

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon crushed mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons cracked coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash:

• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (didn't have- just left out)
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup fresh watercress, minced (we didn't have watercress - I used fresh parsley - worked great)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced fresh mint (used dried)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic

Salmon:

• Six 6 to 7-ounce salmon fillets, with skin
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• Fresh herbs, for garnish, optiona

Directions

For the crust: In a bowl, blend the panko, mustard seeds, coriander seeds and parsley together. Season with salt and pepper.

For the wash: In a second bowl, blend the mustard with 1/2 cup water, whisking well to blend.

For the sauce: Whisk the yogurt, sour cream, watercress, vinegar, mint and garlic in a bowl. To ensure the spices are blended, scrape the sides and whisk a second time. Hold at room temperature if using within 30 minutes, or refrigerate for future usage.

For the salmon: Coat the salmon with the wash, and then finish the top side (skin side) with the crust. Repeat the process with each fillet.

In medium saute pan over medium heat, coat the bottom of the pan with the oil. When warmed, add the crusted side of the salmon to the pan and cook, in batches, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fish and finish cooking until desired temperature. Remove from the pan.

Finally, sauce the plates with 2 ounces of the watercress/mint sauce. Top with the salmon and fresh herbs if desired.

This was easy - I whipped it together in less than 20 minutes and it was eated faster than that - so, sorry I didn't get a picture before it was gone. But I know I'll make it again, so I'll try to get one for you guys then :)

Red Onion Salad Dressing

I know salad can get a bit boring, so I make a ton of dressings from scratch to change things up and keep it fresh. This one is perfect for almost any dinner, it's tangy and sweet and my current favorite.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup       red wine vinegar
1 cup          mayo or veganase
1 tsp.          brown mustard
1/2 bulb      red onion
1/2 cup       honey
1 TBLs       fresh parsley (or 1tsp dried)
1/2 cup       Oil (I use a canola/olive oil mix)
1/4 tsp        sea salt
1/4 tsp        pepper

1. Blend together in your blender - Chill & Enjoy

Roasted Veggies

I love, love, love roasted veggies. In fact, most days I will just re-heat the veggies for lunch with a big side salad and call it a day. I don't miss the meat at all.

Now, let's talk root veggies we need to step out of the carrots and potato mentality. There are sooo many amazing root veggies out there (turnips for example) that taste amazing when roasted, and the kids never notice. So next time you hit the grocery store, and you want to grab an extra veggie for the family to try out...roasting is a great way to do it.

I also love to mix in some fennel, celery, garlic, onions or leeks to add flavor and aeromatics. Use one or all of these amazing veggies to change up your palate. Ok, with that said, I'll give you my most used combo...but PLEASE get creative and come up with your own according to what your family likes most.

Ingredients:
1lg          Vidalia Onion

1lg          Fennel Bulb (with fronds and root base removed)

3lg          Carrots

2lg          Parsnips

splash     Olive Oil

sea salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400degrees. Roughly chop veggies into slightly larger than bite sized pieces. Carrots and turnips a bit smaller than fennel and onion.

2. Toss veggies in olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on cookie sheet with parchment paper.

3. Bake for 1 hour - 1:15, until brown and carmelized. Toss every 20 minutes or so to evenly cook.
Then turn off the oven and leave them in there for an extra 15 minutes to soak up all the juice.
Super tasty, all the ingredients get super sweet and release their natural sugars, I love this with a spicy roast or like I said, for lunch with some fresh green salad. In fact I will often put roast veggies on top of my salad to give myself a little change. It's great with the Red Onion Dressing.

The leftovers are perfect to toss into a pot with some stock and meat for a soup the next day.(if you actually have leftovers)

ALTERNATIVE: you can also use a splash of apple juice, and balsamic vinegar for a sweeter twist

Meatloaf (featured recipe)

Today we are featuring a recipe from my new cookbook Everyday Paleo.  Written by a busy mom of 3, Sarah Fragoso. She has a great easy going approach to the Healthy Cooking, I love her already. Here's a little taste of what she has to offer, with lot's more to come.

MeatLoaf
Ingredients:

2 pounds        Ground Beef
1 cup             Almond Meal
2                    Eggs
1 (6oz)           Tomato Paste
1                    Red Onion - finely diced
3 cloves          Garlic - minced
1/2 cup           Fresh Basil - minced
1 tsp               Marjoram
1/2 TBLs        Sea Salt
2 tsp.              Pepper

1. Pre-heat your oven 350 degrees.

2. Mix all ingredients together by hand in large mixing bowl.

3. Place meatloaf mixture into a large glass baking dish. form into a loaf.

4. Bake 1 hour, or until meatloaf is no longer pink in the middle

Ok, I made this for my family last night and made just few tiny adjustments. I did not have almond meal so I ground some almonds and made a fine powder to add. I only used about 1/4 cup of this almond powder. I used a palm full of dried basil (didn't have fresh) I also added fresh parsley (minced).

It was a little dry for my taste. I think when I make this again I will add Braggs Liquid Aminos to moisten it. I might also make a glaze with Worchershire sauce for the outside to create a crust; or perhaps cover in marinara sauce to bake, it just needed a little something extra for me. But all in all, I liked the recipe. I loved her use of tomato paste instead of ketchup, which has soooo much sugar in it.

So leftovers... they would make an amazing base for some meat sauce. Just crumble meatloaf into marinara and serve over some baked spaghetti squash - YUM! Or use in chili, soup, lasagna etc.
Or another idea, is to just bag it up into freezer bags to store for the next time you need some italian style hamburger for a dinner.

Hope you try it out and let me know how you made it. Looking forward to sharing some more of Sarah's recipes soon. If you like them I would highly recommend her cookbook, I have found several recipes I'm looking forward to try.

Everyone's Journey starts at day one...where will you end up?

Easy Winter Salsa ---bonus raw chili

So wintertime means no fresh garden tomatos..but that doesn't mean no fresh salsa! That would be a travesty! So here is a little recipe to get you through the season...

Ingredients:

2Lg cans       Diced Tomatos
1-2               Whole Jalapenos - spicy
                     (remove stem, seeds and membranes - mild)
1sm              Onion
bunch           Cilantro (handful)
3-4cloves     Garlic
1-2               Limes (juice)
                    sea salt & pepper

1. In a blender - dice jalapenos, garlic, some tomatos and some cilantro.
Blend until finely chopped (no large pieces) place in a glass or metal bowl.

2. In the blender - pulse the rest of the tomatos, onions, and the rest of the cilantro. (pulse till desired thickness)  Add to bowl.

3. Season with lime juice (and/or zest - your call) salt & pepper,
If too acidic add a TBLs. of raw honey
This will taste best after a few hours sitting in the fridge.

BONUS RECIPE: Raw-ish Chili

Grab some black beans (canned) drain and heat. Pour into a bowl, Cover in fresh cold salsa. Add a pinch or two of cumin. Stir.
- you could use a different bean too.

Makes a great lunch, but split it in two and you could easily get a couple snacks out of it. I like to up the raw veggie factor by adding fresh dice tomatoes, green chillies, avocados, cilantro or mangos etc.

Could be used in corn totillas as a filling if you tolerate corn. Lettuce wraps are a great alternative to tortillas. Of course all the usual suspects: cheese, corn, tortilla chips, sour cream etc. if you are not avoiding these foods. but I just love it in the bowl covered in yummy avocado...so good!

Endurance training a thing of the past?

Well what can I say, I am addicted to the Crossfit way of working out...and it seems that the American consciousness is catching up...you gotta read this article, very informative and a good read
Is your Workout making you Fat?

Of course occasional endurance training has a place, and always will, for every fit individual. But I, for one, am glad to hear that my days of spending hours on the elliptical are at an end....of course now I never get to watch tv.

DECEMBER - WATER

In December our new goal for the month is all about Water.

Goal: Start your day with an 8oz glass of water.
Every meal drink water only. Use other drinks (milk, juice, soda etc.) as a between meal snack.
EXCEPTION: when making all raw juices (or real food smoothies) as your meal. Drink water with your raw juice - and treat juice as the meal.

Example: For breakfast instead of milk with your eggs and fruit. Drink water. Then later in the morning if you still want some milk, have a glass by itself.

Why should I worry about drinking water with my meals? And what is so special about starting my day with water?

First off, starting your day off right is the best way to ensure a productive day. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND drinking a glass of lemon water within 30 minutes of waking up. Lemons are naturally detoxing and will give you a "clear head" approach to your day. Here's a great post on 5 reasons to pop some lemon into your morning glass....but I digress. Lemon or not, Water is the best Drug to start your day off right!

When we eat, we typically drink more liquids than we do during the other parts of our day. If we replace that liquid with cool clean water, we up our daily intake without having to carefully plot out our water intake. So how much water do we need in a day? "The Institute of Medicine determined that an adequate intake (AI) for men is roughly 3 liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day. The AI for women is 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day." according to the Mayo Clinic , anything we can do to continue to increase our daily water intake is a real bonus. (LINK has some great info- check it out)

Aside from making my skin glow and my headaches go away - there are some MAJOR benefits to your overall health and SERIOUS weight loss effects as well:

Let's talk about your metabolism -there are different kinds but I'm referring to the "get rid of excess fat" kind of metabolism. This is actually something that our sweet little liver does for us when it converts stored fat into energy.
Of course, the liver has other functions, but this is one of its main jobs. Unfortunately, another one of the liver's daily jobs is to pick up the slack for the kidneys, which need plenty of water to work properly. If the kidneys are water-deprived, the liver has to do their job along with its own, lowering its total productivity. It then can't metabolize fat as quickly or efficiently as it could when the kidneys were pulling their own weight. If you allow this to happen, not only are you being unfair to your liver, but you're also setting yourself up to store fat, unnecessary fat.

Another reason why your body might be storing excess fat is toxins. When your body encounters toxins that it can't metabolize or excrete as waste, it coats them - in fat. That's right fat, to protect your body from the toxins while they are "stored" until you can get rid of them. Well my friends, that means a cleanse is necessary, and what is the best way to cleanse your body? - water. We've really come full circle haven't we? ;)wink

And yeah, it's great for your skin, but did you know it also improves muscle tone? Oh yeah, you can lift weights till the cows come home, but if your muscles are suffering from a drought you won't get the tightening your looking for; AND since muscle require water for elasticity to contract more easily, your workouts are less effective.

Plus - (remember that great skin comment) hydrated skin remains more plump, elastic and less saggy. So as we lose our tummy's, thighs, and tushes all that loose skin has a better chance of being restored, tightened and smooth!

So my friends - I have discovered although I don't always like the hassle of chugging down half my body weight in ounces; I'm working harder to do it - because I'm learning it has just as much affect on my health as exercise and I feel so much better doing it :)

Chimichurri Sauce

Ingredients:
1 bunch      Parsley
8 cloves     Garlic
3/4 cup      Olive oil (extra virgin - if you have it)
1/4 cup      Red Wine vinegar
1 TBLs      Lemon Juice (or lime- whatever)
1 TBLs      Red Onion
1 tsp          Dried Oregano
1 tsp          Black Pepper
1/2 tsp       Sea Salt

Directions:
1. In food processor - pulse until desired consistency. I like it pureed, but it's whatever you like.
Taste. Add more lemon juice, garlic, salt or pepper as desired.

This will keep in the fridge as long as the lemon juice is good...about a week or so.

SERVE over a flank steak, sliced (like pic above) or on any protein. Yummy mixed in with black beans as a side dish. Makes a fun salad dressing - just add more oil and vinegar. As a base for sandwiches or even pasta (if you eat wheat). There are tons of ways to use it, just try it and be creative. Let me know what you used it for.

Simple Squash Soup

Ingredients:
1sm          Onion - diced
1 TBLs     Butter
splash       Olive Oil
1              Butternut Squash
3-4 cups  Chicken Broth
1/2 tsp     Dried Marjoram
1/8 tsp     Cayeene Pepper (1/4 if you want it spicy)
to taste     Coconut Milk (about 1/2 cup or so)

Directions:
1.Take squash and cut in half lengthwise. Oil and bake in oven on 400 degrees face down on a pan about 40 minutes or until tender. (in a pinch - microwave face down on a plate for 10 minutes for each half)

2. In a pot on med heat, saute` onions in olive oil and butter until tender and slightly brown. salt and pepper

3. Add chicken broth (you can use water and bouillon) and dried herbs.

Scoop out cooked squash and place in a blender (or food processor) add cooked onion mix.

4. Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Return to pot. Salt and pepper.
Add coconut milk to get consistency you want. Taste.

Easy Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:
2 sm.cans         Tomatoes (pureed or chunk)
1 small              Onion - finely diced
3-4 lg               Cloves Garlic (minced)
splash               Olive Oil
2 TBLs.            Tomato Paste
splash               Braggs Liquid Aminos
splash               Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp- 1 TBLs (each)  Dried oregano, parsley, basil, thyme (to taste)
1 tsp.                Fennel seed (smashed) - this is to taste..or optional
1 tsp.                Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:
1. In a sauce pan warm some olive oil on med heat. When oil is hot add your onions and saute` until tender and slightly brown. salt and pepper.
NOTE*** If you would like to add additional veggies/meat to this sauce - add them now
pre-cooked meat works best here. (for example - using leftover meatloaf)
(example - shredded zucchini, bacon, sausage, or diced peppers etc.
If adding mushrooms... do not salt until after they have browned)

2. Add in dried spices, tomato paste & garlic. Bloom (or heat until the garlic is fragrant) WARNING - do not heat too long your garlic will become bitter.

3. Add in the rest of the ingredients...these are approximate because you need to adjust to your taste. Be sure to salt and pepper along the way.

ADJUSTMENTS:
If sauce is too chunky for your family - puree` in a blender
(or smash with a hand potato ricer)

If tomatos have too much acid - add a TBLs of raw honey

SERVE over grilled veggies like zucchini, eggplant and squash, Or grilled chicken. Or for spaghetti, use spaghetti squash.

NOVEMBER - 51% RAW FOOD

In November our new goal for the month is all about raw food.

Goal: Every meal load up your plate with 51% raw fruits, veggies and nuts/seeds. Fill the remainder (49%) with your usual meal.

Example: Add an apple with you usual egg in the morning. Or as you pop out the door grab a handful of almonds with your morning water. With your lunch time sandwich include extra slices of tomatoes, sprouts, onions, lettuce, cucumbers etc. Use salads and/or veggie trays as staples for dinner side dishes. etc...

Why should I worry about if my food is raw or cooked? And what is so special about 51%?

At the very least, eating a diet of 51% raw fruits and veggies will increase your overall intake of powerful vitamins and antioxidants. Most foods loose a portion, if not the majority of their healthy nutrients, to the cooking process; therefore increasing your intake of raw allows your body to have access to an abundance of these powerful vitamins and antioxidants. Plus, you get the added benefit of increasing your overall consumption of raw fiber, with aids in overall digestive health.

The calories found in the veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds are (for the most part) some of the easiest to digest and utilize, therefore reducing your overall calorie consumption and aiding in weight loss.

These foods typically contain more water as well and aid the body in your hydration levels (more on that in December's Goal).

Eating over half of your daily intake as raw food has the power to change your overall heath and wellness in ways that you will only understand by testing this principle. There are numerous studies that have been done on the differences between raw food and cooked food and it's effects on the body; but the real lab - the only one that matters - is your life. Try it for 30 days and see how much cleaner, fresher, clearer and better you feel.

The reality is, the food we eat matters, and the way we feel and how our bodies preform is directly linked back to the fuel we put in. Raw food is a premium resource for the best fuel we can currently get our hands on redily and inexpensively. For more information on specific aliments etc. here is a link for medical research on raw foods effect on health and well being

Detox Delusion