dairy-free « Nutty Kitchen

Spicy Macadamia Nut Okra

10/26/2011 6 Comments

Okra is one of our most favorite vegetables to cook. Tonight I thought that I would try a different rendition to go with our perfectly cooked King Salmon. Check out a few of our other Okra recipes under Veggies and Sides.

This dish calls for 4 cups of Okra. Simply chop off the tops and soak in 1/2 water 1/2 coconut vinegar solution for 20 minutes. Strain well and rinse well.

Prepare a wok on high heat adding:

2 – 3 thick bacon slices, finely sliced
3 – 4 large finely sliced garlic
3 stalks of curry leaves (no stems)

After the bacon has rendered a bit, add the next ingredients below.

4 Poblano peppers, sliced in half and sliced
3 red jalapeno chilis, sliced in half and sliced (we leave the seeds in on all peppers with this dish)
1/4 cup of macadamia nuts, whole
Add strained whole Okra

Continue to cook for about another 7 minutes uncovered, stirring often. Then cover and reduce heat to medium, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes – you may want to taste to see if the Okra has been cooked to your liking. You may need 20 minutes total depending on your stove an pot.

This dish rocks, it simple and an easy companion to fish and other dishes! Looking forward to your feedback. Jo

Filed under Perfect Health Diet, Primal, Recipe, Side Dish Tagged with antioxidants, bacon, Cook, Cooking, dairy-free, gluten-free, HDL cholesterol, health, Macadamia, Nutrition, Okra, Recipe, vegetables

Pescado a la Veracruzana

09/26/2011 Leave a comment

I got to spend some quality time this afternoon with my amazing friend Dunia, while my husband surprised us with this amazingly light and satisfying dish. He used fabulous fish from our friends at Alaskan Pride and organic tomato sauce.

Here is the line up for your needed Ingredients

2 lbs of white flaky fish (we used Alaskan Ling Cod from Alaskan Pride Seafoods) – cut into small filets or 2 inch cubes
Juice from 2 large limes
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp of Cilantro, chopped
3 Serrano Peppers
2 Medium Red Onions, coarsely chopped
5 Garlic Cloves
1 Tbsp rinsed capers
1 Bay Leave
4 Whole Cloves
10 Whole Black Peppercorns
1/4 cup pitted and diced Olives
1 tsp fresh Thyme
4 vine ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cups Organic Strained Tomatoes
1 cup of water
Salt and Pepper to taste

And here’s how to prepare this light and tasty dish

Combine 1/2 tsp salt, juice from limes, and fish in a large bowl. Allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes.
In a large pan, heat coconut oil on medium heat and add onions. Cook onions until glossy, then add peppercorns, cloves, cilantro, bay leave, peppers, garlic, capers, and olives. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
Next add tomatoes, tomato sauce, thyme, water, additional salt and pepper (as needed), and simmer for 15 minutes, allowing sauce to thicken.
Finally, add marinated fish, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
Serve with Cauliflower Rice.

Thank you my love, for a night off and an amazing meal!

Filed under Entree, Paleo, Perfect Health Diet, Primal, Recipe Tagged with antioxidants, Cook, Cooking, dairy-free, gluten-free, HDL cholesterol, health, natural oils, Nutrition, Recipe, seafood, Tomato, Tomato sauce

Pho Nutty Kitchen Style

09/12/2011 5 Comments

Thank you Paul and Shou-Ching for this amazing dish and inspiration from your awesome Perfect Health Diet site.

Wonderful ingredients that you’ll need to make this dish:

2 quarts of stock, we used some our duck stock
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 inches of fresh sliced ginger
3 cups of whole shiitake mushrooms, we took the stems off
3 sticks of cinnamon, keep whole
10 whole cloves, keep whole
1 – 2 tsps of whole pepper corn
1/4 cup of fish sauce
1 package of rice noodles
1 lb lamb ribs
2 tbsp coconut Oil

Garnish Ingredients

1 lb of thinly sliced grass-fed stew meat or your favorite cut
1 bunch off cilantro, chopped
4 limes, cut into 8ths
a bunch of sliced Serrano peppers

Here is how to do pull it all together:

In a large soup pot, heat your favorite stock on medium heat.
Add garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, pepper corn, fish sauce, mushrooms and cilantro and continue to cook on medium heat.
In a separate cast iron pan heat coconut oil on medium-high to high heat; add lamb ribs and cook until nicely browned and most of the fat is rendered. Once browned, add oil and ribs to soup pot and continue to cook on medium.
In another pot warm a few quarts of water on high heat. Once the water is boiling add rice noodles and cook for no more than 3 minutes. Remove from boiling water, put into a strainer, and run some cool water over them to keep them from overcooking.

So here is how to build your little bowl of paradise:

Get your favorite soup bowl, place some of the thinly sliced raw beef in the bottom, add hot soup on top and garnish with cilantro and serano peppers. Squeeze 2 – 3 wedges of limes into your soup and through the squeezed lime into your dish.

OMG, this Pho is just to die for with the browned lamb ribs added. Amazing and a must try.

Filed under Entree, Paleo, Perfect Health Diet, Primal, Recipe Tagged with beef, Cooking, dairy-free, Fish sauce, gluten-free, Phở, Recipe, Soup

Egg-Dijon Salad Dressing

09/06/2011 4 Comments

We love a good oil and vinegar dressing, but ever so often we crave a bit more; looks like we have hit one of those plateaus, you can certainly expect a few more recipes coming your way.

Today, we’d like to introduce a simple, but different and delicious dressing for your favorite salad. We served this dressing on top of some fabulous chilled organic butter lettuce.

Here is what you need to make this dressing

2 hard boiled eggs, very finely chopped
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp organic dijon mustard
fresh cracked pepper to taste
sea salt to taste
2 tbsp rice vinegar
sprinkle of cumin
1 1/2 tbsp chopped cilantro (save 1/2 tbsp extra aside to sprinkle on top of salad)

Whisk egg and mustard together, then adding all other ingredients.

I like to prep this 15 minutes before serving as the flavors will begin to marry and really pop for you. This is not an overpowering flavor, but rather a velvety compliment. Feel free to enjoy with a filet of anchovie or two if you are so inclined, and of course depending on what you are pairing this with.

ENJOY! J & H

Filed under Condiment, Paleo, Perfect Health Diet, Primal, Recipe, Salads Tagged with Boiled egg, Cooking, dairy-free, gluten-free, health, herbs, LDL cholesterol, Lettuce, Mustard (condiment), natural oils, Nutrition, olive oil, Recipe, Salad

Taro and Bacon Hash

08/29/2011 9 Comments

If you are looking for an alternative to your traditional carbs, such as sweet potatoes or cassava root, etc. try these amazing taro roots in this super easy hash. It is amazing, please let us know what you think of these little gems. The flavor of these taro are so silky and smooth, you have to try these. Just writing about these make my mouth water…left overs are great with eggs or sardines, or anything that you love.

Ingredients

10 Small Taro Roots (peeled and diced)
3 Strips Thick Nitrate Free Bacon (diced)
1 Tbsp Virgin Coconut Oil
Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Perfect Taro Root

Preparation

Heat cast iron pan on medium-high heat, add diced bacon and coconut oil, cook until bacon fat begins to render (3-5 minutes)
Add diced taro root and cook until taro begins to brown (10-12 minutes)
Remove from pan, serve, and enjoy!

Filed under Breakfast, Entree, Paleo, Perfect Health Diet, Primal, Recipe, Side Dish Tagged with bacon, Cassava, coconut oil, Cook, Cooking, dairy-free, Recipe, sweet potato, Taro, vegetables

Summer Brussels Sprout Medley

08/22/2011 3 Comments

The perfect summer companion to your favorite fish or grilled foods.

Sautee a red onion in 1 tbsp of coconut oil along with 2 – 3 strips of bacon, depending on your taste. We modify our coconut oil based on the bacon grease, if it’s less marbled, we use up to a tbsp of coconut oil, if not, much less.

On medium heat, saute onion and 3 cloves of fresh finely chopped garlic with bacon and oil plus your liking of fresh thyme, and a bit of caraway seed – a little bit of sea salt and fresh ground pepper and stir in your flash boiled brussels sprouts. Stir in for two minutes or so and reduce heat to medium or a little less.

To flash boil sprouts: heat small pot with salted water and once boiling add sprouts, boil for 5 minutes and reduce heat, cover for another 5 – 10 minutes depending on how much you are making.

We made 2 cups which were enough for the two of us, at boiling 7 minutes and covered for 5 before adding to the wonderful stirred veggies as you see above.

If you love brussels sprouts, this is an easy and delicious dish…we hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.

Filed under Paleo, Perfect Health Diet, Primal, Recipe, Side Dish Tagged with bacon, Black pepper, Brussels sprout, coconut oil, Cooking, dairy-free, Fruit and Vegetable, gluten-free, HDL cholesterol, health, herbs, Home, LDL cholesterol, Meat, natural oils, Recipe, Tablespoon

Pan Roasted Purple Sweet Potatoes

07/18/2011 5 Comments

We love sweet potatoes, as you know. We make lots of great dishes with them, including a delicious Filipino dish called Ube, but today we are going to share a new way to enjoy these ultra delicious potatoes. We like eating these before or after a long or high intensity workout. Along with Taro, Green Plantains, and Cassava we consider these excellent sources of low glycemic carbohydrates (or “safe starches”). Sweet Potatoes are also high in caratenoids, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber.

This dish boasts fresh ingredients, coconut oil and is jam packed with perfect carbs and glucose.

Here’s what you will need to make this complimentary dish to your favorite protein:

This side dish feeds 2 – 3 people

3 medium to small purple sweet potatoes, raw
1 full stalk of fresh curry leaves
2 medium sized stalks of fresh rosemary, blades only
1 large white onion, sliced
fresh cracked black pepper to taste
pink Himalayan sea salt to taste
1 tsp capers, drained
3 tbsp coconut oil
3/4 cup of cooking sherry (optional) if you don’t like sherry, use water, but the sherry really does add amazing flavor

Heat coconut oil in a large skillet, once really hot add fresh curry leaves, rosemary, capers and onion. The curry leaves will get nice and crispy…you want that.

Continue to cook on medium – high, depending on your skillet.

With a vegetable peeler peel sweet potatoes and then slice them with a mandolin. Once the onion slices are golden brown, add potato slices and toss until they get a little brown. Then add the sherry, salt and pepper, cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 20 – 30 minutes. Depending on your skillet and your stove, you may need to add a sprinkle of water or two within the cooking time. Make sure to check often to ensure that you are not burning them.

This is a great side dish and we hope that will enjoy it as much as we do.

As always, our best and live healthy. Jo and Henry

Filed under Paleo, Primal, Recipe, Side Dish Tagged with coconut oil, Cooking, Curry Tree, dairy-free, gluten-free, HDL cholesterol, natural oils, Nutrition, Recipe, Side dish, super-food, sweet potato, vegetables, Vegetarian

Bison Masala with Fresh Curry Leaves

06/20/2011 2 Comments

Fresh curry leaves are fabulous…they actually do not have anything to do with “Curry” they are little gorgeous green leaves that enhance your dishes.

The leaves are highly valued as seasoning in southern and west-coast Indian cooking, and Sri Lankan cooking, much like bay leaves, and especially in curries, usually fried along with the chopped onion in the first stage of the preparation. They are also used to make thoran, vada, rasam and kadhi. In their fresh form, they have a short shelf life, and they don’t keep well in the refrigerator. They are also available dried, though the aroma is largely inferior.

The leaves of these little lovelies, Murraya Koenigii, are also used as a herb in Ayurvedic medicine. Their properties include much value as an anti-diabetic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-hypercholesterolemic etc. Curry leave also contain iron. They are most excellent if you throw them into hot oil before you begin adding your other ingredients. The flavors are so subtle, they really do bring out other spices in a gorgeous way. A must try if you haven’t yet.

This is one of my top favorite sauces that Henry has made for me so far.

Blend the following ingredients very well in to a paste:

1 large yellow onion
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup tomatoes
3 garlic cloves
2 tsp turmeric
8 Thai chilies
1 tsp Garam masala
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 bunch cilantro
Salt/pepper

Secondly, heat a tablespoon of coconut oil, once the oil is hot, add fresh curry leaves, peppers and 1/4 onion, diced.

Finally add bison/ground beef, add masala paste, garnish with cilantro and enjoy! We served our with some fresh boiled beets.

Filed under Entree, Paleo, Primal Tagged with antioxidants, coconut milk, coconut oil, Cooking, Coriander, Curry, Curry Tree, dairy-free, Garam masala, gluten-free, Indian cuisine, Nutrition, Recipe

Cooking with Apples Series: Gala Red Cabbage

06/07/2011 Leave a comment

Cooking with apples adds interesting flavor and texture and is an amazing addition to dishes especially for pork, poultry and fish. This is my mom’s goody – but oldie.

It’s best if you use tart apples such as Gala, Fuji, Granny Smith apples unless you want to make something very sweet and more pulpy.

The rich red color of red cabbage reflects it concentration of anthocyanin polyphenols, which contribute to red cabbage containing significantly more protective phytonutrients than green cabbage. Interest in anthocyanin pigments continues to intensify because of their health benefits as dietary antioxidants, as an anti-inflammatory, and their potentially protective, preventative, and therapeutic roles in a number of human diseases. WHFoods: Cabbage Nutrition

Ingredients

1 large Gala apple, cored and peeled, and shredded
1 large red cabbage, cut in half, chopped into thin slices
1 tbsp coconut oil
3/4 cup of water
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
3 whole cloves
3 whole cardamom pods
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
Pink Himalayan sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
1 pinch of caraway seeds

In a large skillet or sauce pan, heat coconut oil on medium – high, add onions and saute until very glossy, then you add cabbage, water and all other spices. Cover, and reduce heat to low – medium and cook for about 15 minutes. Now add shredded apple and vinegar stir thoroughly until all ingredients are blended and all water has evaporated. Check to make sure that it tastes to your liking and serve.

This side dish takes about 20 minutes to prepare and cook and is very easy. Enjoy, we served it in the last post as accompaniment to our pork shoulder.

Filed under Paleo, Perfect Health Diet, Primal, Recipe, Side Dish Tagged with Cabbage, Caraway, coconut oil, Cooking, dairy-free, Gala (apple), gluten-free, HDL cholesterol, Recipe, vegetables

Indian Spiced Ground Pork and Okra

05/28/2011 2 Comments

We came up with a new interesting and satisfying dish that will beautifully showcase and compliment the amazing Gruener Veltiner Grand Reserve 2006, as promised on our last post.

This wine brings out each and every spice and magnifies it’s taste to the utmost senses;