Chicken Cacciatore

1.5 lb chicken breasts
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup chicken or beef broth
white wine for deglazing
garlic, chopped
Essence
salt
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp thyme
olive oil

Heat pan.  Add olive oil.  Season chicken with salt and Essence.  Brown on both sides in olive oil. Remove chicken.  Brown garlic, just slightly.  Deglaze pan with a little white wine.  Add spaghetti sauce, broth, basil, thyme, and chicken.  Heat to boiling.  Cover and place in 220 (deg F) oven for 2-3 hours. Shred chicken.  Season sauce with more salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with Ribbon Pan Fry.

Waitrose Vegetable Ribbon Pan Fry

Swede (Rutabaga)

 Carrots

Spring Greens

Butternut Squash

Red Cabbage

M&S Salads

I love these salads at my local M&S Simply Food.  Need to tweak and make PHD friendly.  Safe starch substitutions for lentils and couscous?

Rainbow Super Salad
edamame
green lentils
red peppers
pomegranate seeds
spinach
rocket
couscous
chickpeas
honey and lime dressing

Greek Salad
plum tomatoes
red onion
feta
cucumber
kalamata olives
basil and mint oil dressing

Mango Salad
mango
mange tout
cilantro
lime and ginger dressing

Goat Cheese and Lentil Salad
lentils
giant couscous
goat cheese
bell peppers
lemon and basil dressing

Mulligatawny Soup

Emeril always comes through for me!  This was delicious.  I cooked it on the stove at lunchtime, and then transferred to a 220 deg oven until dinner (5-6 hours).  

Emeril's Mulligatawny Soup

Leave out the lentils and potatoes to make it more paleo.  

Breakfast (or Dessert!) Plantains

The trick to these is to wait until the plantains are very ripe (and sweet).  80% brown is not too ripe!  Plantains hold their shape much better than bananas, so even when they are very ripe you can still slice them.  It can take about 2 weeks or more for a green plantain to fully ripen.  I buy one or two each week and let them sit until ready.

1 plantain
coconut oil
salt
honey or maple syrup

Slice plantain into rounds between 1/4-1/2 inch thick.  Heat pan on medium heat.  Add oil and swirl to coat.  Add plantains.  Cook until browned; flip and cook until other side browned.  Turn off heat, but let pan sit on heat for a few minutes to cook the plantains all the way through (especially if they are sliced thick).  Serve with a sprinkle of salt and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.

1 plantain serves 2 people, or 1 really hungry person

Pork Breakfast Scramble

The idea for this recipe came off a tube of Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage.  It would be better cooked with some US Wellness Pork Breakfast Sausage.  But sometimes grocery meat has to do!

1 lb ground pork breakfast sausage
1 cup chopped cilantro
white wine vinegar

top with:
shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
sliced tomatoes

Brown sausage in pan until cooked and crumbled.  Use a splash of white wine vinegar to deglaze any stuck bits of sausage.  Remove from heat; stir in chopped cilantro.  Top with cheese and/or tomatoes.

This dish should not need any extra salt, as the sausage is usually salty enough.

Crispy Cod

This recipe is similar to the way I make tilapia, but a tiny bit more work to get a nice crispy crust.

Per each cod filet:

Mix together:
2 Tbsp almond flour
1 Tbsp arrowroot
1/2 tsp Herbes de Provence

In a separate bowl:
1 egg white whisked into 2 Tbsp water.

Add to heated pan:
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp olive oil

Place pan on burner to heat.  Pat cod dry with paper towels.  Dip into egg white wash, then into flour -spice mixture.  Set aside.  Add butter and oil to hot pan; heat until butter melts and stops sizzling.  Add filets and cook until lightly browned*.  Flip** and cook until other side is browned.  Turn off heat, but leave pan on burner.  Cover and let sit until time to eat.  Salt to taste when serving.

*I usually flip my fish when I can start to see the edges turn a light brown and look cooked through.  The secret to this fish is to NOT flip until browned.  Don't flip back and forth; just one turn.  Better to be a little bit too browned than not enough.

**My favorite kitchen tool to flip fish is the Mini-Serving Spatula from Pampered Chef.