I’ve had this lofty idea in my head for the past few weeks. That taking this new job and working from home would allow me the opportunity to return to regular, or at least somewhat more frequent food blogging. Things were so jam-packed at my last job that I barely had time to think or plan meals beyond the standard equation of seared/baked meat + steamed/baked vegetable(s) = paleo-friendly meal. Mind you, it’s an equation that works, we feel great, but it doesn’t exactly keep people coming back.
So as I’m slowly settling in and getting back into the groove of actually planning our meals, I thought I’d share something we’ve been doing lately — enjoying our summer veggies in the crock pot.
It’s always been my natural tendency to forget about my crock pot during the summer. In my mind it’s for stews, chilis, roasts and the like, all fall/winter meals. However, as I’m trying to maximize summer days, I’m learning the crock pot can be quite handy in the summertime as well, especially when you consume vegetables en masse the way we do. This easy recipe makes ample use of all the summer veggies we can’t get enough of, and one crock can last us 3-4 meals.
Ingredients:
2 large bell peppers, any color, seeded and cut into strips
2 large red onions, cut into wedges (you can go with one if you’re not that much of a fan and just add a different veggie)
2 medium-sized yellow summer squash, sliced thick
2 medium-sized zucchini, ends trimmed and cut into strips (I like to vary the shapes for diversity)
5 ounces fresh green beans, ends snapped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1-3 tablespoons coconut oil/olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil (from the garden!)
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley (from the garden!)
2-4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Place vegetables in the slow cooker. Add oil, basil and season with salt and pepper, then toss to coat evenly. Cover and cook on high until vegetables are tender but still hold shape, around 1 1/2-2 hours.
- Serve sprinkled with parsley and additional balsamic vinegar if desired.
Makes 6-ish servings. Note: Made with a 5-quart crock pot, so scale as necessary.
I made the veggies, Neil made the steak. As you can see, I had a little too much enthusiasm with my veggie chopping and overstuffed the crock. Luckily it settled down a bit with cooking. It was so good that I consciously ate slower to savor each bite. Eating healthy is such a sacrifice sometimes haha.
While I sift through the several hundred photos and drawings I made over the weekend to document our home projects (!!), I thought I’d divert to a fun recipe you absolutely must try. Definitely not Paleo, but nonetheless a super easy dip to pull together when you’re aiming to snack or entertain a bit healthier. I’m late to the homemade hummus train, but it really is so easy. Once you invest in good tahini, the sky is really the limit on what you can do flavor-wise.
Ingredients:
adapted from Whole Living
1 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/8 cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
3 tablespoons sriracha sauce (I also like it with a little sweet chili sauce — why not right?)
1/4 cup tahini
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper to taste
2 green onions, sliced for garnish
Directions:
- Set a steamer basket in a large pot. Fill to reach just beneath the steamer basket; bring to boil. Add cubed sweet potatoes, cover, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until tender, 9-10 minutes. Transfer to food processor.
- Add remaining ingredients (except salt and pepper and green onions) to food processor. Puree until smooth, adding water by the teaspoon to thin if necessary. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer hummus to an airtight glass container and chill. Will keep for up to 1 week. Garnish with green onion to serve with veggies (or whatever floats your boat.)
Makes around 4 cups.
I’ve been reading that Macadamia nuts are a good (and amazingly nutritious) Paleo-safe alternative to chickpeas, so I’m thinking I will go that route with my next batch. I’m finding that with a lot of my recipe makeover projects, I like to make the original before I re-make it. Kind of a culinary “before and after,” but mostly because I like to challenge myself to get the flavor — and in this case texture — as close as possible.
That being said, Sweet Potato Hummus is slightly sweeter compared to other variations I’ve had in the past, but it complements the flavor of the tahini perfectly. The orange color makes it extra fun too don’t you think? I think mine would have been more orange if I owned a bigger food processor and been able to avoid separating my hummus into three batches to blend. Enjoy!
File this under “what we should have made for Valentine’s Day.”
Look at that color, but be careful, the intensity of my ugly blue counters against an almost magenta dinner might cause a seizure. Despite following the recipe in Whole Living almost exactly in respect to the beets, our dish ended up totally beet-ified. Ours is definitely prettier right? No matter, because the taste is amazing. We’ve now made this twice, and with little swaps and adjustments here and there, it always feels new. So far my favorite addition has been bacon. I’m not normally a huge bacon person, but it adds a nice salty crunch to the sweetness of the sweet potatoes and beets.
Ingredients:
adapted from Whole Living
1 large sweet potato, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 beets, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch wedges, greens reserved and rinsed well
2 1/2 teaspoons coconut oil, melted
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 leek, white and pale-green parts only, halved lengthwise, cut 1/4 inch thick, and rinsed well
1 yellow onion, diced or slivered
4 large eggs
1 cup cooked quinoa (from 1/4 cup dry)
3/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 cups meat of your choice (optional – we’ve used bacon and pork tenderloin so far, but it’s fine without)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss chopped sweet potatoes with oil and salt and spread evenly on one-half of a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Repeat with beats and spread on the other half of the baking sheet. Roast until tender (35-40 minutes) turning once halfway through.
- Thinly slice beet greens. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the eggs (optional, see note) greens, onion, leek, 1/4 salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook until tender and lightly browned (8-10 minutes). Stir in quinoa, thyme, and vegetables. Cook until quinoa is warm, 1-2 minutes. Serve with additional salt and pepper if desired.
Makes 4 large servings.
Note: You can opt to “scramble” the egg into the dish or cook the eggs a preferred way separately to top the dish. We’ve gone both scrambled and topped with a cooked egg and liked both equally.
Although there is quite a bit of chopping and prep work needed for the recipe, the assemblage itself pretty simple — albeit a little messy. Neil always equates working with beets to that terrible scene in American Psycho, one of his favorite movies. He was even Patrick Bateman for Halloween one year. Should him acting out the scene with beets in our kitchen worry me?
