Simply Norma

This Balsamic Heirloom Tomato Salad is a great summer salad to make as it can be quickly and easily made.

You need just a few ingredients to get you going …

The original recipe calls for green, yellow and red tomatoes. I used what I had (although it would be a lot prettier with the other colors).

You’ll be draining the tomatoes in a colander with a bowl underneath …

And, that’s pretty much MOST of the steps. Here’s the recipe so you can try it …

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 to 2 pounds Heirloom Tomatoes (of different color and variety or just red)
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Salt
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 pinch of dried oregano
• Fresh black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Wash the tomatoes and remove the stems.
2. Slice tomatoes into halves, quarters or eighths depending on the size of the tomato.
3. Toss the tomatoes into a colander that sits over a large bowl.
4. Generously sprinkle the salt over the tomatoes then gently toss and let them sit for 20 minutes. (The salt removes some extra water from the tomatoes and seasons them.)
5. In another bowl, combine the sliced green onions and garlic.
6. In a measuring cup combine the balsamic vinegar, olive oil and oregano and whisk this together until blended.
7. Put the tomatoes in a bowl then pour the balsamic mixture over the tomatoes.
8. Toss, season with fresh black pepper and serve.

Quite easy, eh? Yes, yes — easy and simple is always good.

I can’t say enough about salads — especially those with nuts and … cheese. Yes, there I said it again. Cheese. I don’t have cheese very often but this salad called for blue cheese and I thought I’d try this Arugula Salad with Orange Dressing.

This was so delicious but I have to confess that I changed the recipe up a bit. The original recipe for the salad calls for a pear and I didn’t have one handy so I left it out and replaced it with dried cranberries and radishes. For the dressing, I used olive oil instead of vegetable or canola to make it paleo friendly along with replacing the sugar with honey. The recipe you see below includes my changes.

It was so delicious! The orange dressing ingredients make quite a bit so I’d half it next time or save some to use in another salad (remember to serve it on the side).

I used pecans and “candied” them. Click here to read how to do that the “paleo” way.

So, here’s this easy salad recipe.

Ingredients (for the salad)

• 12 ounces (total) of arugula/baby spinach leaves (I used spinach and kale instead of arugula)
• 4 ounces crumbled blue cheese
• 4 ounces caramelized pecans
• 3 radishes sliced thinly
• Dried cranberries

Ingredients (for the dressing)

• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 2 teaspoon grated orange rind
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Add all the salad ingredients together in a large bowl and toss to combine.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the dressing ingredients then serve the dressing on the side.

Whala! There you have it — easy, delicious and healthy!

Here’s a really really simple recipe for Pineapple Chicken Teriyaki and it requires very few ingredients which is wonderful! I used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos instead of soy to be more paleo friendly.

Since I had a can of pineapple chunks instead of crushed pineapple, I simply chopped mine up into smaller pieces.

Now to combine everything together to make the teriyaki sauce …

The chicken is marinated in the teriyaki sauce for 30 minutes to overnight in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. This will help the chicken to absorbe the flavors.

Next, you’ll be broiling the chicken …

Ready to try this paleo recipe?

Ingredients

• 1 – 8 ounce can crushed pineapple
• 3 tablespoons Braggs liquid aminos or soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions

1. For the teriyaki sauce, place the crushed pineapple, soy sauce, honey, ginger and garlic in a bowl then whisk to combine.
2. Pour half of the teriyaki sauce in a resealable plastic bag and reserve the other half.
3. Add the chicken breasts to the resealable bag then seal it and give the chicken a good massage to coat with the sauce.
4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.
5. When ready to cook, turn the broiler on and place the rack in the middle position.
6. Put the marinated chicken breasts on a foil-lined baking sheet and spoon some of the chunky pineapple/ginger from the marinade on top of the chicken to help keep the chicken moist.
7. Broil for 8 to 10 minutes on each side for a total of 16-20 minutes.
8. Discard any remaining marinade in the bag.
9. While the chicken is broiling, heat the reserved teriyaki sauce in a saucepan and bring it to a simmer for about 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.
10. When the chicken is cooked, slice the chicken, pour the teriyaki sauce over the top and serve immediately (or you can leave it whole).

Simple, eh? I like simple recipes.

Well, I’m not sure exactly what went wrong with this Sweet Plantain Drop Biscuit recipe. Everything was going smoothly and I was hoping that these biscuits would turn out because I absolutely love sweet plantains AND biscuits … but, the biscuits came out more like a cookie.

Check it out and let me know if you can tell what might have gone awry. The ingredients were simple enough — and yes, my eggs were at room temperature (that’s something I learned a long time ago in baking).

The plantains were quite ripe also — yes, just like the recipe says, they have to be very ripe even to the point of the skin being all black (as long as they aren’t moldy).

You’ll be frying these beautiful plantains on a skillet until they’re browned on both sides.

Then adding them to a food processor and pureeing them.

So far … so good. I could hardly wait. Next, you’ll be adding the maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs, and coconut milk and pureeing this until its all smooth and not clumpy. Looks smooth to me …

Next add the stuff that helps thicken it, i.e. coconut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt then puree it one more time to blend it all.

Looking beautiful!

The recipe asks you to use an ice cream scoop to plop them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper but my ice cream scooper is odd shaped so I had to use two plops. At this point, my hopes are still high.

Alas! They flattened and never recovered. I checked the underside of the biscuit and had I left it to bake longer they would have burnt. And I watched them (I really did!) but they never puffed up.  Sigh …

So — I’ve renamed them to Sweet Plantain Cookie until I can figure out what went wrong.

Anyone have any thoughts? By the way, I did use the canned coconut milk which I found delightfully thicker than the boxed one I’ve been using from Trader Joe’s.

Here’s the recipe for you to try …

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 brown plantains
• 3 tablespoons Grade B maple syrup (I used grade A)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon canned coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons coconut flour
• 1 to 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the ends off the plantains then use your knife to cut them in half lengthwise to peel the skin off. The browner the plantains are the sweeter they will be and the easier the skin is to take off.
3. In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat the coconut oil then add the halved plantains to the skillet.
4. Cook on both sides for about 3-4 minutes until browned.
5. After browning, remove them and add them to the food processor.
6. Puree until they begin to clump together.
7. Add the maple syrup, coconut oil, eggs, and coconut milk to the plantain mixture then puree until smooth and there are no clumps.
8.  Next, add the coconut flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt to the food processor then puree one more time to blend everything together.
9. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and, using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter out to form balls then plop them on the baking sheet keeping them about 1 inch away from each other.
10. Bake for 20-25 minutes until slightly brown and completely cooked through.
11. Allow them to cool before eating.

That’s it! Let me know if you try them and if you make any changes.

A special thanks to PaleoOMG who has an amazing website if you’re looking for more paleo recipes.

My husband likes to have chicken salad for his lunch so I try to find different recipes on the internet to make for him. This is one I made that he liked. Yippee!

The recipe uses an avocado but I didn’t add that to the salad when I first made it. Instead, he took an avocado with him and had it “fresh.”

This Chicken Salad with Grapes, Apples and Cranberries is very easy to make. Easy is always good. I love easy!

We buy frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts at Costco in a large bag. It works beautifully for these lunch salads.

Not too many ingredients …

Ready to try it? Here ya go!

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken breast (cut in half), thaw if frozen
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 3/4 cup green grapes, halved
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 apple, peeled cored and chopped
• 1 cup Paleo mayonnaise
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Boil water in a medium sized pot that will hold your chicken pieces then bring to a simmer.
2. Add the chicken and cook for approximately 10 minutes. Use a thermometer to check the temperature of the chicken so it’s not overcooked.
3. While waiting for the chicken to cook, get a large bowl and add the cranberries, celery, grapes, walnuts and the apple. Give it a good toss to combine it all.
4. In a separate small bowl, combine the mayonnaise with the lemon juice then season to taste with salt and pepper. Set this aside.
5. Once the chicken is cooked, pour out the water and allow the chicken to sit until it’s cool then shred it with your hands or (as I did) dice it in bite size pieces.
6. Add the chicken to the cranberry mixture.
7.  Pour the dressing into the large bowl with the chicken, fruits and vegetables and combine everything well so that all the ingredients are coated with the dressing.
8. Eat right away or refrigerate for a great lunch salad.

Enjoy! Enjoy!

Ready for a new paleo salad recipe? I probably won’t make this one too often but not because it wasn’t good. It’s the pomegranates. They are expensive. I bought a container with the seeds in them instead of buying an actual pomegranate and fighting with it to get the seeds out.

The first time I saw a pomegranate my friend was sitting with it in her hands, peeling it and removing the seeds — one by one. It didn’t look like much fun.

This salad is worth making though. I know a lot of people have Sunday family dinners and this would be great for such an occasion.

The dressing was a little too balsamic-y for me but I followed my usual pattern of serving it on the side so I was able to manage how strong it was in the salad.

Here’s the recipe for you to try. Let me know if you “play” with the dressing.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 4 cups trimmed baby arugula
• 4 cups baby spinach
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/4 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds

Directions

1. Bring the vinegar to a slow boil over medium-high heat.
2. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. The vinegar will start to resemble a syrup.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and add the honey.
4. Set aside while you assemble the salad.
5. Toss the arugula and spinach with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
6. Add the pomegranate seeds, blueberries, almonds and balsamic reduction.
7. Serve immediately.

See how simple that was? It’s a pretty salad too!

Special thanks to Against All Grain for this recipe.