Week Five. Recipes and Meal Ideas 21-25

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1 Week Five Recipes and Meal Ideas Spaghetti Squash & Chicken with fresh Pesto in a Skillet When I first found this recipe I chose it because people were so surprised I had never made pesto. I can accept a challenge. I am not sure it turned out like the original recipe wanted it but it was amazing. I served it and we ate it like we were in a gourmet restaurant but we were at home. Real food is so fun to cook with. The basil was out of my garden because my plants are merely wonderful.

2 The Pesto 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves 1 cloves garlic peeled 2 tablespoon pine nuts or chopped cashews (I used cashews because of price and availability) 2 tablespoons grated all-natural Parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon fresh lemon or lime juice 1 2 tsp each pink Himalayan salt and fresh ground pepper Chop the basil leaves, garlic, and nuts into small pieces. Add all to a glass measuring cup or small container you can use with a hand emulsifier. Add the cheese. Emulsify the mixture as best you can. Add: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a slow stream until emulsified, and fully incorporated. I ended up using a fork at the end and stirring until it was well mixed. You will need to scrape sides often. Cut a medium spaghetti squash in half, scoop out seeds. Very lightly coat the inside with olive oil. degrees F skin side up, on a flat sheet pan for about 45 minutes. Once cooked enough to handle, use a fork to shred "spaghetti" out of the skin. Now toss Spaghetti Squash 'noodles' lightly with your freshly made Pesto. Set aside. Try not to eat this all before you make the rest of the recipe. The Skillet Portion 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil divided 1 lb pasture raised chicken tenders 1 2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest or lemon herb seasoning pink Himalayan salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste ¼ sliced fresh mushrooms 1 tablespoon sun-dried tomatoes 1 2 cup packed baby spinach 1 tablespoon chopped cashews to sprinkle on top when complete

3 Sprinkle chicken tenders with sea salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Heat large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tsp oil, and then cook chicken 3-4 minutes per side, until cooked through. Remove from pan, and set aside. Heat 1 tsp oil in skillet, once hot and add mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes, then saute until tender, about 2 minutes, add in fresh spinach during last 30 seconds. Remove the mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach onto a place. Add Spaghetti Squash coated with the fresh pesto to the pan and dump the mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach on top. Lightly toss everything together. Add chicken on top in a design as pictured. Garnish with fresh Parmesan and chopped cashews, serve immediately.

4 2. Most Amazing Tuna, Celery and Walnut Salad Serves 2-3 Be searching for recipes all the time. I found this one on the food channel and modified it to meet my nutrition standards. Light and tasty. This is a refreshing light way to eat tuna. Very healthy. Great snack with a pile of the tuna salad and a small stack of crackers. Keeps your hands and mouth busy while watching TV. 4 ounces of Albacore or premium tuna 2 tablespoon chopped capers 2 tablespoon finely chopped celery 2 tablespoon chopped toasted walnuts 1 tablespoon olive oil

5 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon finely minced black olives 1 teaspoon finely minced parley 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice Salt and pepper to taste Ak-Mak wheat crackers Combine the tuna, capers, celery, walnuts, olive oil, vinegar, olives, parsley and lemon juice in a medium bowl and season with salt and pepper. Top the crackers with the tuna mixture and serve.

6 3. Lemon, Dill and Garlic Baked Salmon Serves 2 This salmon melted in our mouth. Someone told me that the key to salmon is butter, garlic and lemon. I cannot disagree. 1 salmon filet (I cut mine into serving pieces prior to serving.) 1/3 cup salted butter, melted 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 4 garlic cloves, crushed, diced 1 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill 1 sliced lemon

7 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lay the sliced lemon on the bottom of the baking dish In a small pan melt butter and add garlic as it melts. Once melted add the lemon juice and dill. Pour half the butter mixture over the lemons and add salmon. Pour the other half butter over the salmon. Depending on the thickness of your salmon you will bake on 375 degrees F. for minutes. Do not overcook. Salmon should be moist and flaky. When I plated this I placed the salmon on the plate, but a couple lemon on top and spooned the butter on top. If you are not a salmon fan, it is generally because the salmon is dry. If this is not overcooked, this is absolutely moist, tender, flaky and delicious.

8 4. Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps This is a delicious light meal. Serves 4 1 pound of chicken thighs, cut in to bite size pieces (so much better than breasts) 1/4 cup coconut oil or lard 2 cloves of minced garlic 1 teaspoon pink Himalayan salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper or grind fresh pepper over. 1 teaspoon dried basil

9 3 tablespoons Coconut Amino (Healthy substitute for Soy Sauce) 3 tablespoons maple syrup 1/2 cup toasted cashews Sliced red onions for garnish Bibb lettuce leaves for serving, Romaine lettuce leaves if Bibb lettuce is unavailable. Melt the coconut oil or lard in large skillet and add the bits size pieces of chicken thigh. Season with garlic, salt, pepper and basil. Saute until chicken is almost done. Add the coconut amino and continue to cook stirring. The liquid will begin to reduce. Add the maple syrup and stir 2-3 minutes or until there is very little liquid left. Add the cashews and stir until heated. Remove from heat. Place a serving size spoonful in the center of lettuce leaves and top with slice onions.. You can get Coconut Amino at fresh food stores such as Whole Foods, Thrive, Market of Choice, etc.

10 5. One Pan Mexican Quinoa Vegetarian Recipe of the week Serving: 4 plus The first time I made this, I was in my son s home and his wife was at work but had left a recipe for me to make. This was it. It was light, healthy, nutritious and delicious. And it s so easy to make even the quinoa is cooked right in the pan! Alternative for this recipe if you are not vegetarian is to add sliced Italian sausage, bratwurst of chicken. This is one of the recipes that I can use canned black beans and canned tomatoes. Look for beans that just say beans and water. The tomatoes I use are hunts because they are not chemically processed. 1 tablespoon olive oil 2 cloves garlic minced

11 1 jalapeno minced 1 cup quinoa 1 cup vegetable broth 1 (15-ounce) can black beans drained and rinsed 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes 1 cup corn kernels frozen, canned or roasted 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 2 teaspoon cumin Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 1 avocado halved, seeded, peeled and diced 1 lime Juice of 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and jalapeno, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in raw quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder and cumin; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until quinoa is cooked through, about minutes or until quinoa is tender. Top with avocado, lime juice and cilantro. Serve immediately.

12 Bonus Recipe for Snack Goat Cheese and Cucumber Spread Shared from our friend, Deborah Niemann, If you need to know about goats, she is your person to follow. This recipe it modified from hers using yogurt instead of mayonnaise and red onion instead of green onion. 4 small or 2 medium cucumbers, 2 tablespoons full fat plain yogurt 4-5 ounces of goat cheese chevre 1 tablespoon red onion diced very small

13 salt and pepper to taste multi-grain bread or naan, flatbread or whole wheat baguette Cucumbers need to be peeled and shredded. Do not use the seeds. Stop shredding before you reach the seeds or your spread will be too watery. Add all ingredients except bread. Mix together well with a fork. Really good on toasted multigrain bread. Spread mixture generously on toast and serve.