Pan Seared Scallops with Coconut Cauliflower Puree and Dill Veggies

This is my seventh day on the Whole 30 plan.  Today I had my first craving for carbs and an almost desperate flash to get crackers.  The need came and went quickly.  I observed it with interest wondering what the trigger was.  Likely, it was the workshop I attended.  At lunchtime the smell of their lunch wafted throughout the room.  And while I was driving home, it triggered. 

I don't cook scallops.  Ever.  This was my first time.  I always think of them as fancy and upper class.  They seemed unreachable.  But this plan is stretching my culinary skills so why not?  This was delicious.  The sweetness of the scallops, the spicey fresh dill and the coconut creamy puree were heavenly. 

All the food that I have had on this plan so far is delicious.  It definitely doesn't feel like a diet. 

What you need...

2-3 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
1 tablespoon coconut oil
small head of garlic cut into to smaller pieces
1/2 can of coconut milk

10-11 Scallops
1 tablespoon clarified butter

4 carrots cut into chips
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
3-4 tablespoons fresh dill chopped

Salt and pepper to taste.

Optional:
1 avocado
1 cup sweet olives (or your favorite)

To do...
1.  In a pot saute the garlic in the coconut oil for a minute.
2. Add the cauliflower and let it cook until the garlic is golden but not burnt
3.  Add the coconut milk, cover and let simmer until the cauliflower is soft.
4.  While this simmers steam the carrots with a tablespoon of dill in a steamer for 15 minutes.
5.  While the carrots are cooking, melt the clarified butter in the pan at medium heat.
6.  Add the scallops and pan sear them until one side is golden, then the other (10 minutes max).
7.  Remove them from the heat. 
8.  When the cauliflower is soft, puree them in the pot with a hand blender. 
9.  Assemble the plate, start with a bed of carrots, top with the puree, place the scallops on top, sprinkle with tomatoes and then dill. 
10.  Salt and pepper to taste. 
11.  To add more fat sprinkle with avocado and olives to taste. 

Definitely worth doing again and my husband said it was something to serve to guests for sure!

Chicken and Pineapple

So today I broke a 19 year love affair with aquatarian/vegetarian life to experiment with the Whole30 wholly.  Such a meaty diet deserves some compromise to see if it works.  I have been eating seafood everyday for four days and I just get tired of it.  So today, it was a break with history to rediscover chicken.  I confess my gut needed to adjust a bit to it but my taste buds enjoyed it. 

Here is how it went...

1 lb thin sliced chicken breast (my husband insisted that breast is better than thigh)
a spoonful of clarified butter
3-4 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped
1/3 onion chopped
1/2 small maui pineapple chopped
3/4 red pepper
1/4 cup basil coursely chopped
1/4 cup slivered almonds

To do...
1. Pan sear the chicken at medium heat in the clarified butter.  Turn over when it is a gold brown.  Brown evenly on both sides.  Remove from pan. 
2.  Add garlic and onion to remaining fat and let it cook for half a minute.
3.  Add pineapple and red pepper.  Let it heat up and reduce, the flavors really combine.  About 10 minutes for real flavor, this gets better the longer you let it sit.
4.  Add the basil and cook another couple of minutes.
5.  Top the chicken with the pineapple and sprinkle with slivered almonds. 

I served this with steam beans topped with clarified butter and let the almonds flavor them as well.  Satisfying. 

Crab, Spinach and Coconut Salad

Crab, Spinach and Coconut Salad

I'm learning that when ordering at a restaurant the Nicoise salad is a good choice without the potatoes.  I had one last night at the 35th Street bistro with cold smoked salmon but the warm green pesto topped salmon Nicoise at the Nordstrom cafe was even better today at lunch. I love olives. 

So, inspired by the Nicoise but working with what was in my refrigerator.  I made this salad for dinner. 

To start combine the following in a bowl:

1. A couple handfuls of baby spinach, washed and spun dry
2. 1 nectarine chopped
3. 1/2 a mango chopped
4. 1/2 cup basil chopped
5. 1/2 lb crab meat precooked and sweet
6. 1 bell pepper chopped
7. 1/2 cup sweet green olive.  (I love these olives, they are bright green and sweet and I need to find out their name)
8. 2 hard boiled eggs sliced
9. 1/3 cup coconut flakes

To make the dressing:

1. Combine 2 tablespoons coconut vinegar with a 1/4 cup avocado oil. 
2. Toss completely so all leaves are slathered. 

I enjoyed the sweetness of the fruit and crab and if the spinach is completely saturated with the dressing it cuts the bitterness of the spinach.  Very satisfying.

Banana Ice Cream

This one is not unique, it is a recipe I ran into on pinterest:  http://userealbutter.com/2010/08/12/single-ingredient-ice-cream-recipe/

This is banana only ice cream. The kids and I love it.  We have had banana ice cream every morning since its discovery. 

Simple to do...

Freeze sliced bananas in a plastic dish overnight.  In the morning, blend them in blender until creamy.  The creamy part takes awhile but it is worth it.  You will need to stop the blender a few times to push the banana to the blade.  I also stage dropping the slices in, the banana bounces around like rocks in the blender.

Variations:

I top a dish with raw cashews and/or pistachios for an after workout treat.   

For the kids:
We create parfaits with banana ice cream, coconut yogurt, granola and berries.  They love how decadent it feels but it is so healthy and even dairy free!

Shrimp Scramble

Yesterday I was loving the combination of lime, cumin, coriander and cilantro.  With little left in the fridge but eggs and shrimp and went all out and created a scramble for dinner.  I enjoyed it thoroughly and no one complained about eggs for dinner!

Whole 30 Shrimp Scramble

3-4 cloves of garlic smashed and chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 stalk brocolette chopped
2 tablespoons cumin and coriander each
1/2 pound of fresh, local shrimp
juice of 1 lime
5 eggs
1/2 cup cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

How to...

1. Saute garlic in olive oil for a couple of minutes over medium heat
2.  Add bell pepper and brocolette then the cumin and coriander and cook for 3-5 minutes
3.  Add the shrimp and saute, add the lime juice
4.  When the shrimp begins to turn white and pink, add the eggs.  I crack them right in the pan and scramble them in the center then slowly mix in the rest of the food as the eggs firm and turn yellow.
5.  When the eggs are completely cooked (no slime) turn the heat off and add the cilantro, salt and pepper. 

Sweet and tangy!

Whole 30 Sweet Potato Hummus

Sweet Potatos will likely be the theme for a while.  They are nutritious, dense enough to satisfy me and they are amazing in just about anything.  I love hummus but on the Whole 30 diet all legumes are off limits.  So I compromised and came up with this sweet dip for carrots and sugar snap peas. 

Whole 30 Sweet Potato Hummus

1 head of garlic, peeled, smashed and coarsly smashed
1 quarter red onion chopped coursely
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 sweet potato peeled and thinly sliced this coursely chopped (thinner and smaller the quicker they cook)
2 tablespoons cumin and coriander each
2 small zuchini (from the garden) cubed
juice of half a lime
1/2 cup raw cashews
3 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

How to...
1. Sautee garlic and onion in olive oil over medium heat for a couple minutes.
2.  Add sweet potatos then the cumin and coriander.  Cook for 3-5 minutes.
3.  Add zuchini and saute with lime juice.
4.  Cook until the sweet potatos are soft no longer than 10 minutes.
5.  Add mixture to a food processor and blend until combined.
6. Add cashews, olive oil and cilatro and blend some more.
7.  Add salt and peper to taste. 

Enjoy!

Whole 30 Sweet Potato Salad

My first day on the Whole 30 diet forced me to be creative with food in the kitchen. I hadn't prepared for the restrictions when I went shopping that day. In fact, making the decision to go on this diet really snuck up on me and suddenly I decided - Today is the day! July 11th!

My motivation? I want my energy back. I want to sleep well. I want to be able to something other than just work. Here's to hoping this diet works.

whole 30 Sweet potato salad

1 Sweet potato, peels removed and chopped into cubes
3 spears brocolette chopped into rough cubes
1 Heaping tablespoon of coconut oil
1 orange, cut into cubes
1/2 cup raw cashews or other nuts (the sweetest of cashews is stunning in this but almonds could be good too)
1 avocado cubed

How to...
1. Steam the sweet potato amd brocolette in steamer for about 20 minutes.
2. Remove from steamer while still hot and add coconut oil. Let it melt and cover them.
3. Add orange and nuts. Mix gently.
4. Top with avacado as a green garnish. Don't mix it unless you want a creaming avacado dressing.

This was delicious and I ate it all in a day. I'll make it again today.