Grilled Portobello Mushrooms With Spinach And Goat Cheese

Portobello mushrooms done on the grill are very tasty. Add a tangy peppery marinade and combine them with a quick sauté of greens and a nice creamy goat cheese and they become a perfect light meal or side dish that comes together in a flash.  Grilling the mushrooms on the BBQ adds a nice smokiness that balances the flavour of the goat cheese perfectly.

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms With Spinach And Goat Cheese

2 large Portobello mushrooms, stems removed and brushed clean

1 small log of goat cheese (ours was Chevrai with fine herbs, you will only use about half of it)

Marinade:

3 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

3 Tbsp Organic Olive oil

1 tsp coarsely cracked fresh ground black pepper

½ tsp sea salt

1 tsp fresh thyme, woody stems removed, roughly chopped (or ½ tsp dried)

Vegetable Saute:

1 Tbsp coconut oil (or butter)

1 onion, sliced in ½ inch slices

3 cups baby spinach

Salt to taste.

Preheat your BBQ or indoor grill to medium high.

Cut 4  round slices from your log of goat cheese, about ½ inch thick, and set aside

Melt the coconut oil in a medium sized cast iron pan over medium high heat and sauté the onion slices  until they just start to color a bit. Turn heat to low, and stir occasionally.

Baste mushrooms with the marinade and BBQ or grill for approx 3-4 minutes per side, basting once more per side as they grill. Reserve a bit of the marinade to drizzle on your mushrooms after they are plated.

When mushrooms are flipped to their second side, turn the heat back up on your onions to medium high and add the spinach. Season lightly with salt and sauté until the spinach is just wilted, 2-3 minutes.

Place the BBQ’d mushrooms on your plates. Top with your sautéed spinach and onions.  Place 2 rounds of goat cheese per mushroom on top of the spinach, and drizzle the remaining marinade on top of the cheese. Serve while hot!

Grain Free Quinoa Salmon Cakes

These are a great meal when you forget to take something out of the freezer to thaw, or you are trying to stretch the food budget a wee bit until pay day. They go together quickly if you have some quinoa set aside, and bake in just enough time to set the table and toss a salad to serve on the side.  Be sure to choose a wild caught salmon with no extra added ingredients.

Grain Free Quinoa Salmon Cakes

2 cans wild caught salmon, drained

1 cup pre-cooked organic quinoa

2 eggs, preferably pastured

½ cup Best Baa Raw Sheep’s Milk Feta Cheese, crumbled (or feta of choice)

2 cups organic baby spinach, (chop after measuring)

2 Tbsp chopped fresh organic basil (or 2 tsp dried)

1/3 cup organic sun dried tomatoes, finely diced (drained if in oil, soaked in hot water and drained if dry)

1/8 tsp organic cayenne

½ tsp Herbamare or sea salt of choice

Preheat oven to 375F

Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl until very well combined. Using hands shape into patties, and place on a greased baking pan.(Mine made 10 patties, about 1 inch thick and 3 inches across)

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked thru. Serve warm or chilled.

Ready to go in the oven to bake!

Beef And Spinach Soup With Thyme

I am always looking for ways to use up leftovers, and they often end up in a soup of some kind.  With a leftover protein and some veggies, plus a freezer full of bone broth, a nourishing soup is easy to throw together quickly.

Beef And Spinach Soup With Thyme

1 small- ish red onion, diced, mine yielded about ¾ cup

1 ½ cups chopped mushrooms

3 stalks celery

2 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cups leftover cooked grass-fed beef, shredded or sliced in thin bite sized pieces

4 cups beef bone broth 

Bundle of thyme **(see below for pictures) or 1 tsp dried

3 cups baby spinach

Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté the onion, mushrooms, celery and garlic over medium high heat, stirring often until the veggies start to brown and the bottom of the pot looks like this: 

Add broth, thyme bundle and beef. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the veggies are all tender.

Turn off heat, remove the thyme bundle, add the spinach and stir until it wilts. Season with salt and pepper and serve hot.

Bundle the thyme with butchers twine

if you cover your thyme in the garden
 you can pick it fresh all winter :)

Zucchini Spinach Salad

I made this salad for my brothers birthday dinner on the weekend. There was an awesome picture of a similar salad on Pinterest, but when searching for the actual recipe, there were only links to the picture. So, me being me, I invented my own. I think it turned out pretty well. I had the leftovers for lunch the following day and it holds up well. I almost liked it better after it sat, so don’t be afraid to make it in advance!  Feel free to use any feta you like, but I highly recommend using the Raw Sheep's Milk Feta from Best Baa, it is my favourite feta EVER!!

Zucchini Spinach Salad

Salad:

6 cups organic baby spinach, lightly packed

1 medium organic zucchini, sliced thin

1/3 cup chopped fresh organic basil

½ cup toasted organic pumpkin seeds

½ cup dried organic, juice sweetened cranberries

2/3 cup Best Baa Raw Sheep Milk Feta, crumbled (or feta of choice)

Dressing:

1/3 cup organic olive oil

Juice of ½ an organic lemon

3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (or white balsamic)

½ tsp Herbamare or sea salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

I used my spirulizer to get
the zucchini nice and thin, you
could also use a mandolin or
a vegetable peeler to get
nice thin slices!

Toss the salad ingredients together in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine dressing ingredients, and toss well with combined salad ingredients.

Serve right away, or refrigerate till needed, up to 8 hrs.

Easy Avocado Lime Salad Dressing

Served here on a bed of lettuce, cucumbers,
leftover bbq chicken and sprouts :)

This is one of my favourite salad dressings. Tangy and creamy, perfect for any spring salad! If you need to keep it dairy free, you can add more water in place of the kefir or yogurt.  This makes enough to dress a large salad, and keeps well for a day or two in the fridge.

Easy Avocado Lime Salad Dressing

1 ripe avocado, halved, pit and skin removed,

1 lime, juiced (approx 2 tbsp juice)

1/3 cup plain kefir or yogurt

1 clove garlic

½ tsp Herbamare or other sea salt

¼ cup water or more

Optional:  few dashes of hot sauce

Place all ingredients in blender and blend till smooth.  (we have the Cuisinart Blender with the individual cups, they work well for this dressing) Add more water if needed to thin to desired consistency.

Serve over salad of choice!

Quinoa Veggie Wraps

This is a nice light lunch idea, with two options. Grain Free using a lettuce leaf, or using a rice wrapper. The rice wrapper does hold together a bit easier for eating, but they both look pretty!   I had to tie my lettuce ones, as they kept springing open. Just remove the kitchen twine when eating!

The amount of filling here should fill at least 10 wraps of choice, depending on the size of your wrap.

Quinoa Veggie Wraps

3 cups cooked, cooled quinoa

2 cups spinach, coarsely chopped

½  cup parsley, chopped

Dressing:

3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lime

2 tsp sesame oil

3 Tbsp olive oil

½ tsp Herbamare or sea salt

1 Tbsp sesame seeds

Toppings of choice: (this is what I used, feel free to change it up, being sure to slice thinly!)

1 carrot, grated or julienned

Thinly sliced cucumber

1 Avocado, halved, peeled and sliced thin

Alfalfa or red clover sprouts

(other suggestions: thinly sliced zucchini, peppers, radishes, tomatoes, beets, basil leaves, onions, green onions, other sprouts, etc)

Wrap options:

lettuce leaves, rice wrappers, (for grain eaters, you could do a traditional wheat wrap or pita as well)

Mix together the quinoa, spinach and parsley in a medium mixing bowl.  Set aside.

Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small mixing bowl, and add to the quinoa mixture.  Stir well to combine.

In a nice firm large lettuce leaf or in a rice paper wrapper (soak 30 seconds in water till softened and then use, see pictures below for technique) place about 1/3 cup of the quinoa , and any toppings of choice. Roll up as best as possible. Secure lettuce with a piece of kitchen twine if necessary. Cut rice wraps in half on an angle if desired before eating. We served ours with a drizzle of organic hot sauce. 

rice wrapper, dry

rice wrapper, after being soaked for 30 seconds

add fillings, fold ends in

roll tightly

Creamy Broccoli Soup

I was hoping, being as it is the beginning of April, to start a bunch of healthy salad posts for spring. But alas, winter seems like it is staying for at least a few more days, so you get a soup instead!

This soup goes together quickly, taking about ½ hr start to finish. (if your broth is frozen like mine generally is, add 10 minutes) It is filling enough for a hearty lunch or dinner, and easily converted to become vegetarian if so desired.  So enjoy the soup, and hope, along with me,  for some warm spring weather soon!

Creamy Broccoli Soup

1 organic onion chopped

2 cloves organic garlic roughly chopped

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 cups chopped organic potatoes

4 cups chicken bone broth (or sub a good quality veggie broth for a vegetarian soup)

4 cups chopped organic raw broccoli (peel the stems if necessary)

Optional:  sour cream or thick yogurt  to swirl on top for serving

Sauté the onion and garlic in the coconut oil over medium high heat until the onion starts to get a bit of colour to it. Add the potatoes, and sauté for about 5-6 minutes. Add broth (mine was frozen, so I left it cooking on medium high, covered for an extra 10 minutes for it to thaw the broth) Bring to a boil, and simmer, covered for 10 minutes. Add broccoli, cover and simmer until the veggies are all cooked thru, approx 5-6 minutes.   Purée the  soup right in pot with an immersion blender, or in batches in your blender and return to the pot. (If you use your blender, take care, as the hot soup can spurt and burn!!) 

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve hot with a swirl of sour cream if desired.