Latin Style Paleo Breakfast

Latin Style Paleo Breakfast

Breakfast is one of my absolute favorite meals. It's usually the most creative of meals and this morning proves just how it can be interesting, protein filled and healthy... and tasty! SO TASTY!!!!

I was looking in the fridge for ingredients for an omelet. As usual, I found the leftover flap steak from dinner last night, veggies from the crisper, eggs... 

Then I saw it! I made carnitas this weekend. It's moments like this when I'm thankful that I always make extra. 

That's when it hit me. I have plantains, pico de gallo, and eggs. Done deal! I'm making a composed Latin style Paleo breakfast. This protein filled meal was just the exotic jump start my day needed. Luckily, I had my camera handy, and was snap happy. 

Over medium heat, I sautéed some onions that I cut longways into half circles and added the carnitas and let them get a little crispiness to them. Then I lowered the heat and scooted the carnitas to one side of the pan and started wilting some spinach. As I let the spinach wilt down, I kept adding more spinach until I had enough for 2 servings. Those were working slowly and I had 2 more burners going. I heated up some water to a low boil and a medium skillet to medium heat with coconut oil melting as it heats up. 

I got some coconut oil melting in a skillet over medium high heat for the tostones. 

Instead of tortillas fried into tostadas, I like to make tostones. Tostones are flattened and fried plantains. My version is large like a tostada, but fluffy and creamy inside and helps to anchor the flavors of the carnitas and eggs. 

Begin by cutting off the pointed tips and ends of the plantain. 

Next, cut the plantain into 2 inch long segments. Really, this depends on how large your plantain is. Some of these things get huge. These were smaller than normal - about the size of an actual banana. 

A quick note about picking plantains. If you like your plantains sweeter, go for more yellow. If you want a less sweet tostone, go for more green plantains. Try to get them when they feel moist. As they get old, whether they're green or yellow, they get stringy and the peel doesn't want to come off. Don't buy them if they're black. That's just gross. 

Set yourself up with a piece of parchment paper and spray the paper with a little spray oil. I usually don't condone the use of the microwave, but in this case, the microwave is your friend for these little gems. Microwave the plantain segments for about 30 seconds. 

Then place the slightly softened segments in the center of half of the parchment paper and fold the other half over it and press the plantain segment into a dome with the cup of your hand. 

Use the underside of a plate to press the plantain mound flat like a tortilla. 

After you peel the parchment paper away, gently peel off the other side of the paper. Slip the flattened plantain into the oil and fry until the edges begin to color. Flip and fry the other side to a golden brown. Drain the tostones on a paper towels and sprinkle with salt. 

Pile your carnitas on top of a fresh tostone and top with sautéed spinach and pico de gallo. I also poached some eggs and perched the poached pouch of yummy goodness on top of the mound. Make yourself a couple extra tostones. They're kind of addicting! 

Enjoy! 

Dungeness Crab, Chili and Lime Salad with Agave and Lime Vinaigrette

 

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One of the best foods I’ve discovered while on the West Coast is by far the Dungeness crab. There’s something sweet and delicate about the flavor. This crab is actually super versatile. I haven’t thought of something to do with crab that I didn’t like. You can definitely use other crab in its place, but why would you?

When I make this meal, I use fresh Dungeness crab, which has never been frozen. Sometimes, my local market has crab that has been cooked and picked. And they freeze any extra meat they may have. Cooking your own is even better. You can simply boil them in salty water for 15 minutes. Then dunk them in ice water to stop the cooking. Don’t beat the hell out of the crabs to get at the meat, although you might want to use a mallet. I use a lobster cracker and an oyster fork.

If frozen crabmeat is all you can get, by all means go with it. Make sure you strain the meat after it’s defrosted.  Just, please, get high quality seafood harvested locally. Maybe try blue crab or king crab. Some of those mass-produced crab meats in cans are from farms… from other countries... so that wouldn’t be buying local. I wonder if the people who live there, and eat that meat, consider it “local.” Hmmmm….

Since I make meals ahead, I separate the ingredients when I can, so all I have to do is put it together for myself when I’m ready to eat it. This helps keep crisp things crisp and salad fluffy. For this salad, I can toss the ingredients and salad with the dressing and place the crab on top. (And then rearrange the onion so it’s a nice presentation, too!)

Once you get this recipe down, you’ll be able to make it in a pinch when you have company, or when you just want something fresh and delicious for yourself. Try slicing an heirloom tomato real thick and piling the crab mixture on top. Add some avocado. Keep your macronutrients balanced. You’ll LOVE this delicious and healthy salad. Usually, I do up to a 6 ounce portion of crabmeat which, at 6 oz of Dungeness crab, is less than 2g fat, about 1g carbohydrate and 30g protein, for a total of 142 calories.

Dungeness Crab, Chili and Lime Salad with Agave and Lime Vinaigrette

Makes 3-4 servings

For the crab

1 Pound Dungeness Crab
¼ Cup Pomegranate Seeds
¼ Cup Sauteed Onions
1 Jalapeno, minced (divided)
Zest of 1 lime
Cilantro, minced, about 2 Tbsp
2 Tbsp Agave
2 Tbsp Avocado Oil

For the salad

2 Cups Mixed Greens
1 Cup Arugula
1/3 Cup Toasted Coconut Flakes
Red Onion, sliced
1 Cup Cherry Tomatoes

For the dressing

Lime Juice, from zested lime, about 2 Tbsp
2 Tbsp Agave
2 Tbsp Champagne Vinegar
¼ Jalapeno, minced
¼ Cup Avocado Oil
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Method

You know the drill. Mix the crab mixture and set it aside. Mix the dressing and set it aside. Build your salad in your container or in a bowl, so you can toss the lettuce with the dressing and top it with the crab. Simple, huh? 

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Definitely put lids on things. I was just showing you the way I pack it. 

Paleo Chicken Sausage and Fig Stuffed Baked Apples

The other day, I was talking with a friend who learned a new trick. He hollowed out a bunch of apples and stuffed them with canned cinnamon rolls and baked them for a special treat for all of his friends for thanksgiving. I thought this was a great idea, but seeing as how I'm vehemently opposed to glutenous things, and certainly canned glutenous things, I decided to use his idea and tweak it for my own purposes. Instead of making it a sweet creation, I made it into a savory creation that just happened to have some sweetness to it. 

It was GREAT! If you think of some clever way to use this idea, while keeping it healthy, leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I'd love to expand on this idea. Maybe use a different fruit. Maybe a different stuffing. Let your imagination run wild! 

Paleo Stuffed Apples

Chicken Sausage, Fig and Pecans

Paleo Chicken Sausage and Fig Stuffed Baked Apples

A friend of mine told me how he made a yummy dessert for his friends for thanksgiving. The southern boy in me thought it sounded yummy. The health and body conscious boy in me thought that I could use this clever idea to make something that my clients and fellow foodie health nuts would appreciate.

In his recipe, he cored out apples and sprinkled the inside with sugar and spices, then he stuffed a cinnamon roll out of a can into each one of the apples and baked them. If it were me, and I was being real bad, I’d make a bourbon sugar glaze to drizzle over the top. But I’d NEVER do that… without a real good excuse! (Christmas morning?!)

Instead of allowing my inner fat kid to come out, I decided to go the savory route with this idea. And it turned out better and more dietarily fulfilling than I could’ve ever imagined! Instead of empty calories from sugar and processed pastry, I added protein in the way of chicken sausage, healthy fats in the way of pecans and even some bacon fat, and the dried figs impart healthy nutritional values like fiber, vitamin K, potassium, calcium and iron, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And we all know that apples contain a lot of fiber.

Ingredients

4 apples, cored with a paring knife, keep the bottom intact
2 strips of uncured bacon
1 link uncooked chicken apple sausage
1 onion, medium dice
1/2 Cup chopped pecans
1/2 Cup chopped parsley
7-9 dried figs, stems removed and roughly chopped
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
 

Method

For this recipe, core out about 4 apples. Don’t try to make the sides too thin. And I kept the top and cut off the core just below the stem part. Then I put the apples in acidulated water. This didn’t really seem to keep them from starting to turn, but I got them stuffed and into the oven quick enough, anyway. 

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I rendered the fat from the bacon and removed the meat once it was fairly crispy. I happened to find a chunk of uncured and unsliced bacon, which was probably just the ends of the slab that they couldn’t really slice anymore. So I was able to cut the bacon into nice lardon shapes. (These aren’t techinically lardons, because those are generally from unsmoked but cured pork.)

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In the meantime, I boiled some water and tossed the chopped dried figs into the water and let it simmer for a little bit, just until the figs are starting to get soft. Don’t boil the hell out of them. And don’t use too much water. You’ll want to strain the figs and save the liquid. I just fished the figs out with a slotted spoon and left as much flavor in the water as I could. After the figs absorbed the water and I separated the fruits out, I was left with about a half a cup of liquid.

In the bacon grease, start to cook your sausage and onions. As your sausage browns, add your figs in there. You could add the apple pieces that you cut away from the core after you hollowed out your apples. Just about when your meat is cooked, add in your parsley and pecans. Season with salt and pepper.

The mixture will be sweet, so cut the sweetness with the liquid from the figs. Add some balsamic vinegar to the fig juice and then you can pour it into the mixture. Toss all that together and stuff it into your apples.

Be careful not to force too much of the filing into the apple. If you create a lot of pressure inside the apple, it will surely split as it bakes. I tried different apples for this recipe and the ones that didn’t split were the crispier kind. So I would go with a gala or red delicious, maybe braeburn. You can totally use any kind of apple, even granny smith.

Put the apples on a parchment lined baking sheet, top with the apple top and bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

This was delicious! The trick with making it perfectly balanced is to taste and adjust the filling before you stuff the apples. And you might want to season the apples inside. Just make sure it doesn’t get to be too sweet.

This is an awesome dish and a great idea for healthy dinner ideas. You can make several if you’re having a dinner party. One is plenty filling and super healthy!

Bon Apetit! 

Some of the items I used in this recipe are as follows. 

Gastrolux Non-Stick pan! My FAVE! 

Dried Figs!