A Blueberry Tossed Salad (to make before blueberry season is over!)

August 16th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (Comments Off on A Blueberry Tossed Salad (to make before blueberry season is over!))

I am a salad lover and I love to make awesome salads – but when I’m going to make a salad, any “plan” I have usually consists of:

Step 1: rummage through the fridge for vegetables

Step 2: throw it all together

Step 3: eat

Some plan, eh?  Salads (and smoothies) are just not something I think to use a recipe for – but this also means I often make the same thing over and over again.

The Quinoa Bowl

January 9th, 2014 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (2 Comments)

I love this term “quinoa bowl”.  It just sounds so… cozy.  Like we should nestle right in and rest our heads on pillows of soft, fluffy quinoa and take a little nap.

Sweet potato spinach quinoa with cumin

Or just eat it.  That’s fine too.

Over the holidays I tried my hand at Sweet Potato Kale Quinoa Cakes to take to a New Years Eve dinner party, but they were sort of a flop.  They tasted great, but they didn’t hold together very well.  Still, even though the quinoa cakes were a fail, the ingredients were a win and I was left wanting to make it as a dinner side – more specifically, a “quinoa bowl” that I’ve seen around the interwebs and have been excited to steal try.  A quinoa bowl is comfort food with benefits – warm and carby, but some nutritional perks you don’t get with rice or pasta.

Coconut Curry Chicken Stew

December 31st, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (5 Comments)

I’m on a mission to eat more turmeric.

Turmeric Powder

I don’t think it’s news that turmeric is a health food – but it’s one of the supplements recommended by Dr. Perlmutter in Grain Brain, so I’ve recently been thinking more about this pungent spice.

Turmeric is one of the spices that make up curry powder (among cumin, coriander, ginger) and it’s got a list a mile long (literally – if you write really big and use a lot of paper) of alleged health benefits.  It said to support your immune system, it has anti-inflammatory properties and is often recommended to those who suffer from joint and arthritis pain.  It’s believed to have a positive effect on cholesterol and contains curcumin, an anti-oxidant that can protect us from damage by free radicals and can potentially slow the signs of aging.

Hearty Chicken Tomato Vegetable Soup

November 24th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Lunch - (1 Comments)

It’s been a sleepy Sunday here.  I just finished eating this bowl of soup for lunch.  Soup that was so delicious it deserves a blog post – for you, and for me, because I don’t want to forget what I did so I can make this again.

Selfish, selfish woman.

Hearty Chicken Tomato Vegetable Soup

Also note that I did burn my tongue on this soup.  I couldn’t wait for it to cool.

I roasted two bone-in chicken breasts yesterday afternoon and once I removed the meat from the bones, I put the bones into the crock pot with a handful of other miscellaneous chicken parts I’ve been hoarding in my freezer (thanks to you genius people who gave me this tip!) for homemade bone broth.

Caveman Fajitas

October 10th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Dinner Time - (5 Comments)

Even though I’m not participating in a 40 Day Paleo Challenge, I’m still cooking for someone who is – so for the time being, I’m making dinner like any good cave woman would.

Namely, low-carb/grain free chicken fajitas.  Just call me Wilma Flintstone.

Paleo Chicken Fajitas

Lettuce as a our tortilla was the only thing I did differently to make these chicken fajitas Paleo friendly.  You could obviously use a regular flour tortilla here in place of lettuce if that’s what floats your boat.  (And if you can float a boat with flour tortillas, you must tell me and we will alert the National Academy of Physics!  Or whoever is in charge of gravity, momentum, centrifugal force, etc, etc.)

Chicken Soup Habits

September 7th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Healthy Habits - (7 Comments)

Earlier this year I wrote about making chicken soup with bone broth and why bone broth is good for you.  To recap, broth made from animal bones and the bits that hold it all together (think ligaments and cartilage) is where lots of good, nutritious stuff is hanging out.  When you simmer these parts in water over a long period of time, you can make a broth that rich in vitamins, minerals, supports immune function and bone health.  Best of all, it’s delicious!