Crock-pot Basil Parmesan Chicken

This recipe is ridiculously easy to prepare and is super popular. You can throw the ingredients in your slow cooker in the morning (which takes about 5-10 minutes) and then you'll come home to the most amazing aromas in your home--it will smell like someone has been at home cooking for you all day!  I have some friends who are decidedly not morning people at all, and they do all the prep in the slow cooker the night before, store it in the fridge, and then just write themselves a note in the morning to take the food out of the fridge and plug the crock-pot in before they leave for work.

You can adapt the proportions depending on how many people you are cooking for.  This recipe is VERY forgiving, so measurements do not need to be exact.  The most important thing is that you never leave your slow cooker on without liquid inside it--it's just not safe.

Crock-pot Basil Parmesan Chicken

1-2 packages organic or pastured chicken thighs (I've substituted other kinds of chicken in a pinch, but I wouldn't recommend anything with bones.)
1/4 cup high quality olive oil
a splash-1/4 c cooking sherry
Sea Salt
Pepper
1-2 Shallots, chopped
1-2 Onions, chopped
1 package of fresh basil, stems removed
1/2c-1c grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2c-2 c Chicken Broth (I usually try to use homemade pastured broth, but sometimes used the boxed stuff if I'm out.)


Make sure your crock-pot is clean, and use some of the oil to grease the crock-pot.  Put the chicken, onions and shallots in the crock-pot.  Then add Olive oil, Broth, and Sherry. You want to make sure that there's enough liquid in the bottom of the crockpot to cover about the bottom half of your chicken.  Add sea salt, pepper, basil, and cheese.

Cover your slow cooker and turn it on low.  Cook for 7-8 hours until chicken is falling apart.  If you won't be home in 7-8 hours, you can cook it longer, you just want to make sure that you have some extra liquid in there.

You can serve this on its own, or with rice, beans, or good crusty bread.

Chocolate Cherry Granola

This granola recipe is ridiculously popular with my friends and family!


1/2 c raw honey  (make sure you know where your honey came from--lots of honey from the grocery store is actually high fructose corn syrup)
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c coconut oil
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 c organic oats (you can use gf oats if you are making this for someone with gluten intolerance)
1 c nuts of your choice (I usually use 1/2 c almonds and 1/2 c cocoa nibs)
1/2 c unsweetened coconut
1/2 c dried fruit (I usually use cherries or cranberries)
dash of sea salt

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

In a medium saucepan, combine honey, cocoa powder, vanilla, and coconut oil.  Heat on medium low until melted.  Add oats, nuts, coconut, dried fruit and sea salt.  Be sure to keep stirring so that the cocoa doesn't burn to the bottom of the pan.

Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and then spread the granola mixture over the parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes.  Take granola out of the oven and allow it to cool.  This is what will make the granola clump.  Once it is cool  and in chunks, you can store it in an airtight container.

Sweet and Spicy Chili Sauce

This sauce is great for Asian dishes.


1 Onion, minced
1 cup crushed tomatoes or tomato puree (I used home jarred tomatoes and crushed them)
2-4 tablespoons Crushed Red Chili Pepper, to taste
Sesame Oil
Splash of Rice Vinegar
Sugar or Sucunat to taste (1-3 tablespoons)
Fish Sauce to taste


Saute the onion in the sesame oil in a small saucepan until the onion has gotten crispy but not blackened.  Add the tomato sauce and the chili pepper and bring to a boil.  Add the rice vinegar, sweetener, and fish sauce.  Reduce heat and simmer the sauce for 5-10 minutes until it has thickened.  Remove from heat and let the sauce cool, then blend using a blender or an immersion blender.  Sauce should be served cold or at room temperature.

Avocado Pesto with Dandelion Greens & Pasta

What do you do when your home city is struck by a senseless act of violence?
Try a new recipe and get back to blogging, of course.

At some point I'll use a real camera, but for now
food pics from the phone will have to do!

This one's inspired by Chef Chloe's recipe, but I made some tweaks.  Soooooo Good!  This is some of the creamiest, richest pesto I've ever tried.




2 Avocados
1 bunch fresh Basil
1/2 cup pecans (mine were roasted an salted, but raw ones would have worked fine)
2 fresh lemons
1/2c (plus enough for to saute the greens) olive oil
1 bunch dandelion greens
1 handful grated salty cheese, like parmesan or asiago (optional if you are going vegan)
1/2-3/4 lb of pasta (I used gluten free pasta, but any kind would work)


Boil the pasta in sea-salted water.

Meanwhile, cut open the avocados and mash them up.  Cut open one of the lemons and squeeze all the juice into the avocados.  Blend in the olive oil, basil, pecans, salt and pepper with a food processor or immersion blender.

Saute the dandelion greens in olive oil.  Dandelion gets really bitter, even when cooked, unless you use something to take away the acidity.   The other juiced lemon, salt, pepper, and handful of cheese will help cut the bitterness.

Drain the pasta, add the greens, and toss with the rich and delicious pesto.  Fab!

Flourless Brownies

They're really good.

Inspired by my recent post about cutting down on junk food by making your own, these brownies are YUMMY.  They do not have the consistency of regular brownies, but are a low sugar, healthy alternative to packaged cookies and are also a great way to use your extra summer zucchini!  Inspired from a recipe from Fast Paleo.






1 cup almond butter or peanut butter
1 1/2 cup grated zucchini, packed tight
1/3 cup raw honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1-3 tsp 5 spice powder
6 oz of high quality dark chocolate, 70% or higher, cut into chunks
oil for greasing a pan (I used coconut oil)


Preheat Oven to 350.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

Grease a pan and pour mixture in.

Bake 25-35 minutes or until fork or toothpick comes out clean.

Asparagus with Lemon Butter Sauce

Pastured Butter and Fresh Lemon
bring out the best of the Asparagus

Asparagus is in season!

This recipe is excellent.  Even my non-asparagus loving husband asked for seconds.

To get all of the benefits of the healthy fats, choose grass-fed butter and grass-fed cheese.








1 bunch fresh, organic Asparagus
1 lemon
2-3 tablespoons pastured butter (I use Kerrygold or Kate's)
sea salt
black pepper
1/4 cup grated or finely shredded Parmesan Cheese




1)Melt the butter over low to medium heat.  As the butter melts, cut the lemon into small chunks.  Remove the seeds, squeeze the juice from the lemon wedges into the pan and then put the whole wedge in.  Salt and Pepper to taste.  Let the lemon wedges sizzle and soften for 2-5 minutes.


2)Trim the bottoms off the asparagus and put the asparagus into the sizzling lemon butter sauce.  Toss the asparagus to coat in the sauce and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus are tender, 5-7 minutes.


3)Plate asparagus and sprinkle with cheese.


Enjoy!

Sunny-Side-Up and Greens over Flatbread

Inspired by my most recent post about eggs, here's an easy recipe inspired by one I found in whole living magazine. (Thanks, Martha Stewart!)  Collards can be bitter, but the lemon juice cuts through the bitterness and instead makes this recipe zesty and delish.

2 medium sized whole wheat pita or flat bread
4 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 cups thinly sliced greens.  I used collards, but kale or chard would also work.
1/2 an onion, sliced
a handful of chives
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt, pepper, and other seasonings to taste.  I used sage, thyme, basil, and red pepper.
4 farm-fresh, pastured eggs


Heat the oven to 425.  Line a baking pan with parchment paper.  Brush both sides of pita with olive oil.  Mix greens, onion, and chives in a bowl.  Add the remaining olive oil, the lemon juice, and the seasoning to the bowl of greens.  Toss them all in the bowl until evenly coated.  Mound the mixture onto the pita and bake for 5 minutes.  Then, pull the pan out of the oven, crack the eggs over the greens, and bake until the eggs are set, about 6-7 minutes.