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Thanksgiving Frittata (Bacon, Red Pepper, Spinach and Black Olive)

December 3, 2012 in Breakfast

My oldest daughter and I had the flu this Thanksgiving.  I did not have the energy to cook and both of us were still on thin ice when it came to solid food.  I ended up whipping up this frittata for the three healthy members of the household (my mother-in-law who was visiting, my husband, and my youngest daughter) and it was a hit!  It was also beautiful, with colors that make me think this would be a delightful Christmas morning breakfast or brunch.  We also laughed because my daughter’s class learned the Albuquerque The Turkey song for their Thanksgiving Feast at school and the punchline of the song is that they ate scrambled eggs for Thanksgiving dinner instead of turkey (because Albuquerque is such a great pet).  We weren’t that far off!

I have taken to keeping my freezer well stocked with US Wellness Meats sugar-free nitrate/nitrite-free uncured pastured pork bacon.  This bacon is so ridiculously flavorful and, because it’s pastured and uncured, it’s very healthy!  It’s also very handy for food emergencies.

Ingredients:

  • ½ medium yellow onion (or 1 small onion), finely diced
  • 1 ½ cups red bell pepper, diced (about 1 large pepper)
  • 4 cups chopped fresh spinach
  • 6oz bacon (about 6-7 thick slices)
  • 1 cup sliced black olives(equivalent to a 3.8oz-can)
  • 8 eggs, beaten

 

  1. Heat an oven proof skillet (I like to use my 12” cast iron frying pan) over medium high heat and turn on broiler (on high) to preheat oven.
  2. Cut bacon into small pieces (I like to use scissors for this job).  Add bacon and onion to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is crisp and onion is fully cooked and caramlized (8-10 minutes).
  3. Add pepper and olives to pan and sauté, stirring occasionally, until pepper is cooked (4-5 minutes).  Add spinach and stir to wilt, about 1 minute.
  4. Add beaten eggs.  Let cook on stove top 1-2 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
  5. Place skillet in oven and broil until eggs are completely cooked, puffed up and starting to brown on top (about 7-10 minutes, varies oven to oven so watch carefully).
  6. Serve and enjoy!

 

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Sausage and Mushroom Frittata

September 26, 2012 in Breakfast

This frittata is perfect for a weekend brunch or for “breakfast for dinner” night (a wonderful way to save money on your grocery bill is to have breakfast for dinner from time to time).   In addition to being an inexpensive dinner, this frittata is also a fast meal to prepare mid week.  I save time by keeping chopped red pepper and onion in my freezer (it can be thrown into the pan frozen) and buying pre-sliced mushrooms.   This recipe is similar to my Veggie Frittata Recipe but the sausage gives it a very different flavor and is a favorite of my husband and kids.

 This frittata is awesome with US Wellness Meats pork breakfast sausage, but you can use any sausage you want.  If you buy sausage with casings, you can either give it a good chop or remove the casings completely.  This frittata also works with any of my homemade sausage recipes (it’s especially good with Hungarian Sausage and Garlic Beef Sausage) and using differently seasoned sausage is an easy way to make this frittata a little different every time.  Another option with this frittata is to add a handful of chopped sun-dried tomato, a tsp of dried oregano and two handfuls of chopped black olives for a flavor reminiscent of pizza!  Serves 3-4.

 

 

Ingredients:

  • ½ medium yellow onion, diced
  • ½ red bell pepper, diced
  • 3 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced (about 1 pound)
  • 6-8 oz pork sausage, loose
  • 8 eggs, beaten

 

  1. Heat an oven proof skillet (I like to use my 12” cast iron frying pan) over medium high heat and turn on broiler (on high) to preheat oven.
  2. Add sausage to pan and break apart with a wooden spoon or spatula while it cooks (no oil is necessary here if you have a nice fatty sausage; if you are using a very lean sausage, add a tablespoon of extra virgin coconut oil).
  3. Add onion, pepper and mushroom and sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are cooked (8-10 minutes).
  4. Add beaten eggs.  Let cook on stove top 1-2 minutes, stirring a couple of times.
  5. Place skillet in oven and broil until eggs are completely cooked, puffed up and starting to brown on top (about 7-10 minutes, varies oven to oven so watch carefully) .
  6. Serve and enjoy!

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Paleo Crepes with “Nutella”

September 22, 2012 in Breakfast, Lunchbox Foods

This is the recipes that I was trying to perfect when I accidentally created my Perfect Paleo Pancake recipe.  Creating a paleo crepe has been a goal of mine for a few months and I am so happy to finally be able to share a truly delicious paleo crepe recipe with you!  This is yet another green plantain-based recipe (see my Plantain Cracker recipe for tips on storing plantains).

Crepes were always a special treat growing up.  We didn’t own a crepe maker so my mom made them the old fashioned way in our old cast iron frying pan.  I always liked them plain with just a dusting of icing sugar on top.  My brothers usually ate them with jam in the middle.  As an adult, I rediscovered crepes while gallivanting through Paris with my then fiancé (now husband).  Crepes are a standard street food in France and that’s when I discovered the sheer joy of a nutella-filled crepe (nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread and one of my greatest weaknesses before discovering paleo).  Two great loves thus combined into one delicious diabetes-inducing addiction.  So, creating a paleo version of this favorite treat makes me very, very happy.

These crepes are nut-free (and coconut-free if you substitute another oil for the coconut oil), although clearly the paleo nutella isn’t.  Other delicious fillings or sides for crepes are fresh fruit, fruit spreads (like jam or coulis), coconut cream (the top fatty half of a can of full-fat coconut milk), coconut cream mixed with lemon juice, and nut butters.  You can also try a savory filling with these crepes or even use these crepes in place of tortillas for enchiladas.   You could even roll some deli meat and paleo mayo or mustard into these crepes for a fun lunchbox food!

Crepes are easiest to make with a crepe maker or a crepe pan.  However, these specialty kitchen tools are not a necessity.  I made my crepes with a 12” non-stick omelet pan (the edges are at a good angle for getting underneath the crepe to flip it).  Sure, it’s more work and my crepes are not as thin or even as they would be with a crepe maker, but it still works for me.  But, if you find yourself wanting to make these often, investing in a crepe maker is definitely worth it.  This recipe makes 6-7 crepes and is easily doubled.

Ingredients (Paleo “Nutella”):

 

  1. Blend hazelnuts in food processor or blender for 2-3 minutes until a paste begins to form.
  2. Melt chocolate and coconut oil together (you can use a small saucepan over low heat or your microwave).
  3. Add warm chocolate to hazelnuts and blend an additional 2-3 minutes until completely smooth.  Let cool.  Store at room temperature for up to a few days or in the refrigerator for a few months.

 

Ingredients (Nut-Free Paleo Crepes):

 

  1. Peel plantains (I find it easiest to quarter them first) and place in a blender or food processor with the rest of the ingredients.
  2. Puree batter for 2 minutes until completely smooth.
  3. Meanwhile, heat a crepe maker, crepe pan, or omelet pan over medium to medium-high heat (I set my element to 6).
  4. Add 1 tsp of coconut oil to the pan for each crepe (just enough that the crepe doesn’t stick, but not so much that the batter can’t spread out when you swirl the pan).  Add 3-4 Tbsp of batter (you could use a ¼ cup scoop or just eyeball it) to the pan and immediately hold the pan up over the element while you swirl/angle the pan so that the batter spreads out into a uniform circle. (If you have a crepe pan, use the spreader to spread out the batter.  If you have a crepe maker, follow the directions.)
  5. Cook for 45-75 seconds on the first side, until the top looks dry.  Flip and cook for 15-30 seconds on the second side.
  6. Add more coconut oil to the pan and repeat with the remaining batter.
  7. For nutella crepes, spread 2-3 Tbsp of paleo “nutella” over one side of the crepe and roll or fold.
  8. Enjoy!

 

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Perfect Paleo Pancakes

September 15, 2012 in Breakfast, Featured Recipes, Nut-Free Baking

These hotcake-style pancakes were a serendipitous accident.  I was working on a crepe recipe (which I will be posting soon!) and my first attempt was not crepe-like at all, but a light fluffy and delicious, if maybe a little too thin, pancake.  Once my crepe recipe was perfected, my next priority became to take a step backward and see if I could thicken up the first batter variation to make an even better pancake.  The results were more marvelous than I could have hoped for.  These pancakes are awesome.

One of the biggest complaints about paleo pancakes is that they are difficult to flip.  Because almond flour batters don’t hold together very well, you have to make small 2-3” diameter pancakes that also take an eternity to cook.  Coconut-flour pancakes hold together marginally better, but many people don’t like either the texture or the flavor (including me) and they still take 15-20 minutes to cook over low heat so they don’t burn on the outside before cooking on the inside.  Paleo pancakes also tend to be very dense.  I have tried 7 or 8 different paleo pancake recipes from other blogs, looking for one that works or was at least close enough to use as a base to experiment with.  I never found one I liked… until now!

These plantain-based pancakes are not dense; instead they are so light and fluffy.  They cook quickly (about 6 minutes total, which is comparable to traditional pancakes).  They are so easy to flip that you can make them as big as your pan (I made mine 5-6” in diameter) or as small and dainty as you like.  They also happen to be nut-free (and you can sub any fat you want for the coconut oil to make them coconut free).  See my recipe for plantain crackers for tips on picking and storing green plantains.

What can you top these with?  My kids love maple syrup and butter (total shocker, right?), but berries, sliced peaches, sliced bananas, pretty much any sliced fruit would be delicious.  Nuts or a dust of cinnamon would be good additions too!  You could throw some coconut cream on top to be extra decadent (you can buy coconut cream in a box or you can take the thick fatty top part of a can of full fat coconut milk that has been sitting in a cool pantry or refrigerator overnight).  However you choose to dress these pancakes, I hope you enjoy them!  This recipe makes 6 large (5-6”) pancakes.

 

Ingredients:

 

  1. Peel plantains (I find it easier to quarter them before I peel them) and place pieces in your blender or food processor.
  2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender or food processor and process until it forms a smooth batter (about 1-2 minutes).
  3. Heat 1 Tbsp of coconut oil in a frying pan or on a griddle over medium-high heat.  Pour batter into the frying pan until your pancake is the desired size.
  4. Let cook 4-5 minutes on the first side, until the top looks fairly dry with little bubbles in it (just like regular pancakes!).
  5. Flip!  And cook on the second side for 1½-2minutes.
  6. Repeat with remaining batter, adding a little more coconut oil to your pan as needed.

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