Recipes – Page 27 – Simply Norma

Roasted Chicken & Butternut Soup

The cold Minnesota weather makes having soup for dinner a favorite of mine and this Roasted Chicken & Butternut Soup was no exception. Can’t you just smell the warmth coming from the stovetop?

The butternut squash, along with all the other ingredients, was quite tender and tasteful.

The soup was served with Broccoli Crunch — a salad that could have been a meal all on its own although, the combination of apples and broccoli was not my favorite. Is it possible to have too much crunchiness in a salad?

Large chunks of chicken sure were satisfying in this soup. Mmmmm …

The soup is from a Martha Stewart recipe so it’s “safe” to try (for those who might be hesitant to try something from a newbie).

Blueberry Pumpkin Loaf

This was the best paleo bread I’ve tasted so far on the paleo diet — a Blueberry Pumpkin Loaf.Â

Some of the ingredients are bananas, fresh blueberries (and it’s not even spring yet!) and almond flour.

I was surprised that the loaf didn’t taste like almond flour. It tasted like a “regular” blueberry loaf which was wonderful.

Shortly after the loaf was made, we had a friend come visit and he had a slice. He thought it was delicious also. My husband tried to tell him (before eating some) that it was paleo but we hushed him up quickly so we could get a true picture of whether he liked it or not. Yesterday I saw my friend again and he again commented how much he liked it.

So if you’d like to try something new yet “old” (in the sense of blueberry loaf), this is the recipe for you. And if you try it, let me know how it turns out.

Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad

This Cranberry Walnut ChickenÂ Salad was one of my favorites as it uses three ingredients I enjoy eating — dried cranberries, walnuts and, of course, chicken.

The celery that’s also in this salad gives it a nice crunchy taste which compares nicely to the softer ingredients.

I had this for lunch a couple of days in a row as it was quite tasty.

This makes for an excellent paleo lunch.

Xim Xim de Galinha

Catchy name for a chicken stew, eh?

Xim Xim de Galinha is chicken stew and the original recipe calls for shrimp, peanuts and dende oil but we didn’t use any of those ingredients. Always nice to improvise when one cooks, isn’t it?

My picture didn’t turn out as well as I would have hoped. Sorry about that. Fortunately it tasted fine though and made for a good paleo meal.

I was a little disappointed in the BrazilianÂ Avocado Salad that was served with it though.

The salad turned out kind’ve mushy and red onions with avocado just don’t seem to go together. We did not use the soy sauce that is called for in the recipe but that shouldn’t have made a difference because it was the texture of the ingredients that tasted “sloppy” in my mouth. Does that make sense?

Ah well … I can’t expect every new recipe we try to be great, can I?

Sweet Potato Latkes

Are you tired of reading about sweet potatoes? I hope not as I could live on them. I’m not sure why my taste buds love them so much.

These sweet potato latkes (pancakes) were moist and used very few ingredients to make.

They make for a great paleo breakfast or even a snack and can be served with pure maple syrup if you’re so inclined. Â I didn’t really need to add maple syrup to them though as they were sweet and moist enough.

They are fried instead of “on the grill pancakes” but didn’t taste too oily for me.

Have you ever fried pancakes before?

Paleo Pumpkin Gingerbread Cupcakes

On the paleo diet we’re on, we try not to eat too many sweets but occasionally my son will throw in something sweet that doesn’t use gluten and usually uses honey or pure maple syrup instead of sugar.

Recently he made pumpkin gingerbread cupcakes that had a maple icing. They actually turned out pretty good. The spices remind of the Thanksgiving holidays when we use more cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

We’ll have these again I’m sure as they were quite tasty. The spices used always seem to give me a warm fuzzy feeling inside — like it’s Christmas without it being Christmas.

Paleo Bison Chili

This is the second recipe we’ve tried with bison, the first one was for bison and turkey sausages.

ThisÂ Bison Chili was quite hearty, thick and used ground bison with a LOT of tomatoes. I think next time I probably will cut down on the tomatoes a bit though as it was too tomatoey for me and, although I like tomatoes, it would have tasted better with less of them.

With this soup, we had anÂ Endive, Pear and Walnut Salad. The original recipe calls for feta cheese but since we’re eating paleo, we excluded the cheese. The endive tasted a little bitter at first but once I tossed it a little in the dressing, it was fine since it had honey added to it also.

The older I get, the more I like salads that have nuts and fruit in them. Cranberries, pears, apples, walnuts … they all seem to taste really good in salads.

I wonder if that means I’m a fruity nut now. Â (hahahaha)

Bison & Turkey Sausages

Uh, yes … I agreed to try bison for the first time ever in my life. Have you ever tried it?

These Bison & Turkey Sausages were really good and a nice change from the usual breakfast food of fruit, paleo muffins or plain ‘ol eggs. They do complement eggs very well though which is how I had them a few times.

The sausages didn’t taste like bison. Well, I can’t really say that with a straight face as I hadn’t tasted bison before. I guess what I should be saying is that it didn’t taste odd or unpleasant but was a really good sausage. How good? Well, I could probably have them every morning. (laughing)

Seriously! They were that good and perhaps part of the reason was some of the ingredients that were used such as maple syrup, cinnamon and sweet onion. Check out the recipe for yourself to see.

Then, by all means try them.

The National Bison Association says that bison has a slightly sweeter and richer flavor than fine beef. Now, if anyone should know bison, shouldn’t it be them?

“Nutritionally you are getting more protein and nutrients with fewer calories and less fat.” The National Bison Association

If you decide to try them, let me know what you think. I don’t believe you’ll be disappointed.

Salmon Charmoula

Here’s another salmon recipe for you to try. It’s called Salmon CharmoulaÂ and we had a baked sweet potato with it.

The dressing for the salmon was interesting as it had quite a few ingredients like cumin and cilantro which gave your mouth a nice burst of flavor when you put it on a fork and slid it in your mouth.

The only thing I would have changed about the dressing was the amount of green olives it had as it made it taste quite salty. But I do love green olives!

We have been eating more and more sweet potatos/yams as they are quite healthy for you with their high content of vitamins such as B6, D and C.

Hmmm … I wonder if anyone’s ever had a sweet potato smoothie. Â Anyone?

Slow Cooker Twenty Garlic Chicken Dinner

If you like garlic (like I do) then this recipe is for you! It uses approximately 20 garlic cloves so make sure the one you’re next to also has the same meal so you don’t scare them away. (laughing)

Side-note: I’ve heard that garlic has cancer-fighting properties. Have you ever heard that? (You can “google” the benefits of garlic to see what information is out there regarding that claim.)

Using a slow cooker is such an easy way to make meals because you start the meal early in the day and simply forget about it.Â And that’s the best thing about this recipe — it’s both easy and tastes great.

The recipe is calledÂ Slow Cooker Twenty Garlic Chicken DinnerÂ and my son served it with aÂ Chilled Green Bean Salad.

The salad was not my favorite although I do like green beans. I think the combination of the basil and the onions made the salad too complicated for me. In addition, I don’t think the basil went well with the green beans.

So, if you decide to try the green beans and you don’t want onions and basil in it, try other herbs and vegetables until you get the right one for you.