Simply Norma

I’m considering this salad paleo although I did use aged sliced parmesan cheese and most dedicated paleo-ites don’t use cheese but since the cheese can be omitted, I’m labeling it paleo.  (smile)

Lately, I’ve had a salad almost every day. Something about romaine lettuce, spinach, kale, etc. just seems to draw me.

Here are the ingredients …

So … let’s put this recipe together …

Ingredients

• 1 bag of Spring Mix Salad
• 1 bag of Power Greens (baby kale, baby chard & baby spinach)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 red apple, thinly sliced
• 1 Anjou pear, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons Spiced Cider (I used Trader Joe’s as it has no added sugar)
• 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Pure Maple Syrup
• Kosher salt and pepper (according to your taste)
• 1/4 cup aged parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Add the Spring Mix and the Power Greens to a large bowl.
2. Squeeze a little lemon juice over the apples and pears and toss with the greens. This will keep them from turning brown.
3. Add the parmesan cheese and toss to blend it all together.
4. In a small bowl, combine the cider, cider vinegar and maple syrup then add the oil and whisk it all together.
5. Add salt and pepper to the dressing and stir to combine.

That’s pretty much it!  Serve the dressing on the side so that you can save any leftover salad — otherwise it will be soggy later.

This recipe was adapted and paleo-ized from an Orchard Salad by Rachael Ray.

I absolutely loved, loved and loved this paleo Chicken Soup. Even my “hum-ho, it’s okay” husband thought it was really good.  That means I’ll be making it again.

And, it was so easy — look at the ingredients …

The instructions say to shred the chicken and after I cooked the chicken and let it cool, I used my hands to cut the chicken into bite sized pieces. It was fun!

So … here are the instructions for you to try this wonderful soup — let me know if you change anything in the recipe as I made a few changes myself.

Ingredients

• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
• 2 celery ribs, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 1/2 quarts chicken broth (original recipe calls for bone broth)
• 3 cups boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded
• 1/8 cup minced fresh parsley
• 3 eggs at room temperature and lightly beaten
• kosher salt and pepper to taste

(I doubled the amount of carrots and celery as I wanted a heartier soup. I also decreased the amount of fresh parsley.)

Directions

1. In a large skillet, on medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of coconut oil.
2. Once the oil is heated, add and grill the three chicken breasts until cooked through. If the chicken breasts are thick, you can slice them in half before adding them to the skillet to make sure they get cooked all the way through.
3. Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from the skillet and set it aside to cool for approximately 10 minutes.
4. After the chicken is cooled, shred the chicken with your hands into bite-sized pieces (or use a knife to cut it up). Set this aside until needed.
5. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
6. Add the onion, carrot, and celery then cook until the vegetables are soft.
7. Stir in the thyme, broth, and the chicken.
8. Bring everything to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes or so.
9. Stir in the parsley.
10. Pour the beaten eggs into the soup in a slow steady stream and stir slowly.
11. Remove the soup from the heat then add salt and pepper according to your taste.

So delicious! The cold Minnesota nights just got a little bit warmer because of this soup.

Enjoy!

I changed this Real Simple recipe just a little bit because I couldn’t find the collards at the grocery store. Is that strange? I don’t believe I’ve ever bought collards before so I don’t know if they are a regular food item that the grocery store should carry.

Anyway, the spinach worked just fine.

Here are your ingredients (besides your chicken thighs, salt and pepper) …

And your baked chicken thighs will eventually come out looking all pretty, like this …

There’s simply not much to this tasty recipe so — let’s get ready to try it.

Ingredients

• 1 pound parsnips, cut into 3-inch lengths, halved or quartered
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and black pepper
• 4 large bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 bunch of spinach, stems discarded and leaves thinly sliced (about 2-3 cups)

Directions

1. Heat your oven to 425° F.
2. Toss the parsnips, honey, 1 tablespoon of the oil, and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper on a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Roast, tossing occasionally, until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Season the chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper and brown the chicken in batches, 4 to 6 minutes per side.
6. Transfer the chicken to a rimmed baking sheet but reserve the drippings that are left in the skillet.
7. Bake the chicken in the oven until cooked. I stab my chicken with a wooden skewer and my chicken is done when no “pink” liquid comes out of it. You could also use a meat thermometer and insert that in the thickest part of the chicken. You want a temperature of 165° F for doneness. You’ll be baking the chicken for 12-15 minutes more or less.
8. While the chicken is baking, add the raisins, vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper to the drippings in the skillet and combine it all, scraping up the bits stuck to the pan, until the vinegar is reduced by half, oh – a minute or so.
9. Add the spinach to the skillet and cook, stirring, until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes.
10. Serve the salad with the chicken and parsnips.

Quite a snap to make and this recipe had everything incorporated into it — the meat, salad and a veggie.

Enjoy!

I know it’s October but it’s still not too late to grill outside — or, make these inside if you like. I especially liked the marinade on these Paleo Chicken Kebobs. Delicious!

The ingredients are so basic.

Are you looking at that large tub of honey? It’s actually five (5) pounds of honey. You won’t be using a lot — don’t worry. We recently attended a fair and they had this raw honey on sale so we had to get it.

For the veggies — you can use whatever you like. I made it simple and used a green pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes. Food does not have to be complicated in order to taste great.

Here is what your marinade will look like …

Ready to try this recipe? I’m planning on using this marinade for baking some chicken thighs soon.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 (15 1/4 ounce) can unsweetened pineapple chunks or use chunks from a fresh pineapple
• 1/2 cup liquid aminos
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
• 1 large green pepper cut into pieces
• Mushrooms
• Cherry Tomatoes

Directions

1. Put the cut chicken in a large shallow dish.
2. Drain the pineapple and keep 1/2 cup juice in reserve. Set the pineapple aside.
3. Mix the pineapple juice with the next 7 ingredients in a small pan and bring this to a boil on the stovetop.
4. Reduce the heat and simmer the marinade for appoximately 5 minutes.
5. Pour the marinade over the chicken.
6. Cover and chill the chicken for at least 1 hour.
7. Remove the chicken pieces from the marinade but reserve the marinade.
8. On skewers, alternate the chicken, pineapple, green pepper, mushrooms, and tomatoes.
9. Grill the kabobs for approximately 20 minutes or until the chicken is done.
10. Turn and baste frequently with the marinade.

And that’s how easy it is. Very scrumptious! Very very scrumptious!

This recipe was adapted from Hawaiian Chicken Kebobs.

This Butternut Squash Soup is a Martha Stewart recipe that is absolutely wonderful. The soup is creamy and quite filling so make sure you don’t have it with anything heavy. I served it with a Pear and Walnut Salad.

Since we had leftovers of this soup, I froze it and it tasted just as good the second time around as the first time.

Here are some of the ingredients you’ll need. The original recipe calls for 4 cups of water but I was afraid it would taste too watery so I used a 1/2 a quart of vegetable broth and 1/2 a quart of water. I also used cinnamon and pumpkin spice because I like the taste of those spices.

The recipe also calls for 2 inches of fresh ginger but, for my taste, that was a little bit too much ginger and next time I’ll reduce it to 1 inch fresh chopped ginger.

Have you ever seen the inside of these beautiful butternut squash before?

After peeling the squash and cutting off the ends, you can scoop the seeds out with a large spoon or a small knife which worked better for me.

Next you’ll be slicing the squash and cutting it into bite size pieces (1 inch or so).

After preparing the rest of the ingredients, you’ll be putting the squash in a large skillet and allowing the squash to soften.

So far so good? The hardest part of this recipe is peeling and cutting the squash. Ready for the recipe?

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 piece (1 inch) fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 3/4 pounds small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin spice
• Coarse salt and ground pepper (to your taste)
• 1/2 quart Vegetable Stock
• 1/2 quart water

Directions

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
2. Cook the onion until clear, about 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the ginger, garlic, and squash stirring occasionally for a few minutes.
4. Stir in the water and vegetable broth.
5. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the squash is tender which is anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes.
6. When the squash is soft (you can poke it with a fork to check it) then turn the stove top heat off.
7. Pour 1/4 of the squash mixture into a blender and puree it.
8. Remove the pureed soup from the blender and set it aside then pour another 1/4 squash mixture into the blender and puree. Continue doing this until all of your squash mixture is pureed.
9. Make sure not to burn yourself while pureeing this hot soup — remove the blender cap (not the cover) and put a towel over the top of the blender. Hold the towel down as you’re pureeing.
10. Pour all the soup into a pot and stir the orange juice into it until it’s all incorporated.
11. Add salt and pepper to your taste.

Whala! You are finished and ready to eat.

This soup is creamy and rich. It has the texture of cream of wheat which I love but, unfortunately, my husband does not.

Enjoy! This is truly a hearty and healthy soup.

The crock pot — used more often when the weather gets chillier. So I scrounged around looking for a recipe that uses chicken thighs and found a Paleo Savory Cinnamon Slow Cooker recipe – although the original recipe uses chicken breasts. I also altered the ingredients a little bit — but not much.

This recipe can be made ahead of time, frozen and then defrosted in the refrigerator the night before to use the following day.

I did not freeze the recipe but instead marinated everything in the refrigerator for a couple of hours in the morning then tossed it in the crock pot for a few hours.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 Bell Peppers, sliced
• 1 Onion, diced
• 2 teaspoons Paprika
• 4 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 cup of Chicken broth
• 1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients in a Ziplock freezer bag, remove all the air and seal it.
2. Marinade for at least a couple hours or alternatively, freeze overnight and defrost before it’s time to put it in the crock pot.
3. Pour contents of the bag into the crock pot and cook on low for 6 hours or on high for 4.

And that, my dear friends, is all it takes. It tastes absolutely delicious.

Enjoy!