Colorful Coleslaw w/ Honey-Mustard-Lemon-EVOO Vinaigrette

1/3 lg. head of cabbage

several leaves of kale

3 red mini peppers

3 sm.-med. carrots

1/3 med. purple onion

Wash the kale well, remove the rib. Thin slice the cabbage and all the ingredients shown into a big glass bowl.

Poppy seed dressing is usually my go-to for coleslaw, but this time I made a honey-mustard type variation of my Lemon-EVOO Salad Dressing adding some Maple syrup, stone-ground mustard and substituting Italian seasoning for the rosemary.

This is always a good choice for a salad. It can be made a day or two in advance and keeps well for 4-5 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Bacon-Vegetable Egg Bites (for dogs and humans 😁)

Well, this was fun!

And I'm sure my old boy Oliver will appreciate this breakfast addition to his little bit of morning dry food. The 6 on the left are his. The ingredients in the little white bowl: chopped green onion and pimentos, weren't added until AFTER I made his. Dogs can NOT have onions.

12 lg. pasture raised eggs

6-8oz. of my coconut and almond milk mix

I blended these together well with an immersion blender.

Grease the baking pan. Into each cup and the pan, I put crumbled bacon, finely chopped mushrooms and kale that were sauteed together until about half cooked. That's all that goes into those intended for dogs. Mix the ingredients in the little bowl with a spoon, then put equal amount in each of the remaining 6 on the right and the glass pan.

Pour egg mixture into the 6 for the dog, then blend seasonings into the rest for the humans👨‍👩‍👧‍👦. I used a little Himalayan pink salt and my black+cayenne mix. Pour that into the cups and pan. I had about 6oz. of that mixture leftover. I put it in a sealed jar for scrambled eggs in the next day or two.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven. About 15 minutes for the cup-bites and a half hour or so for the pan. When the center is firm, they're done. Cool then store in zip-lock bags. I haven't tried freezing these, but that might work.

I just had a couple of the bites, and they turned out great. Have fun cooking for yourself, the people and pets in your life. . .Lin

Whole 30 - Another Salad Mix + Lemon-EVOO Dressing

No matter the time of year, and even though I live in Northern Minnesota, I almost always have a BIG fresh greens and vegetable mix in my refrigerator, so a salad can be put together in only a few minutes. This is my current one for the next few days. 

Salad Mix:

1 big petite or regular Romaine

6 big green onions

2 carrots

1 big handful of chopped kale

2c sliced-chopped purple cabbage

1/2 of a long, skinny, bumpy English cucumber

Slice the Romaine lettuce lengthwise into quarters. Cut into 1" cross sections. Wash well in your salad spinner, starting with warm-hot water, then drain and wash in icy cold water. Drain, spin several times to remove all the water. Rinse and dry the outer container then fill with the spun lettuce. Wash and prep the other vegetables then slice or chop them into the lettuce. Use this as the base for a tossed salad, like mine, or grab a handful and top with chopped chicken or tuna packed in EVOO. . .think of other ways to use these greens and vegetables. Chop up some fresh fruit: an apple, grapes, a whole Cutie Mandarin orange, including the skin! Put these on a bed of the greens and drizzle with the dressing. Mmmm, so good and fresh! Add to a pot of soup - grab a handful (put the cucumbers back in the mix) chop it fine and throw it into the pot.

Lemon-EVOO Dressing: 

1c single source EVOO*

1/2c pure lemon juice

2t Himalayan pink salt

1t black+cayenne pepper mix

1/2 -1t granulated roasted garlic - optional

*I can't stress strongly enough, how important it is to read labels on extra virgin olive oil. If there's a 'code' at the bottom - telling which countries the oil came from - PASS on it!! It's been proven, through chemical analysis, that often these multicountry offerings test as substances other than olive oil!! Buy only EVOO from one country / point of origin, i.e.: California, Spain, Italy, Greece, or the best by far: Moroccan.

Combine in a 14oz., or larger, glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well. This keeps in the refrigerator a long time, a month or more, but probably won't last long. In addition to using as a salad dressing, it would be a good addition, just a drizzle, to mayonnaise for coleslaw, egg salad, tuna salad and also as an excellent marinade for meats.

Today, my salad for a 1pm breakfast-lunch was a big handful of the salad mix, with the addition of 1/2 medium tomato, 1/2 large avocado, 1 hard boiled egg and a handful of walnuts. Drizzled with a good amount of the dressing. Don't worry about this type of 'fat'. It's the absolute best type for your body. So many nutrients here! The fresh vitamins from the greens and tomato, the protein and fiber from the avocado, egg and walnuts. This is anti-inflammatory and it all tastes so great. . .Lin

Corn Bean & Chicken Chili

To start, sort and rinse 1+ cup of mixed beans, using only those of similar size.

In a 2 quart pan, cover them with fresh cold water and bring to a boil. Drain, rinse in cold water and repeat the boil process several times. Soak in fresh cold water overnight. Or use 3 cans of rinsed, drained beans.

1# bite size pieces of chicken thigh meat

1/4 lg. purple onion - chopped

3T single source EVOO

In a 5 quart pot, 'sizzle' the chicken, onion and EVOO, while stirring. Reduce heat and continue to stir and sauté until the chicken turns white, then add the following chopped vegetables, spices, etc.

3/4 lg. purple onion

2c chopped celery

2 chopped kale leaves - rib discarded

28oz. can petite diced tomatoes

28oz. can crushed tomatoes

28oz. fresh cold water 

1# frozen corn

1t coarse sea salt

2T ground cumin

2T turbinado sugar

1t AZ Smoked Garlic Chipotle

1t Little's Chili Lime Seasoning

1t Penzeys ground black pepper

Simmer everything gently for an hour, covered, stirring occasionally. This made almost a full 5 quarts. Later I'll make cornbread to go with it for lunch after church tomorrow. . .Lin

Chicken Rice Soup with Kale and Beans

1c golden rose brown rice
8oz. chicken thigh meat

Put rice in a strainer, rinse then stir it a little and put it on some wadded up paper towel to absorb the water. When that's drying, cut any fat off the chicken and chop the meat into bite size pieces. Put chicken and rice in a 6 quart pot with:

2-3T single source EVOO

3/4c chopped purple onion

fresh ground black pepper

Sauté over medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking and burning. When the rice and meat are browning, chop, slice or dice, then add the vegetables shown:

4 stalks celery

2-3 carrots

1 med. onion

1/2 green pepper

half bunch of dark green kale leaves

2 huge elephant garlic cloves

3 bay leaves
3T± chicken Better Than Bouillon

Sauté and stir everything, measure out 6c of water, adding about a cup now, along with the bay leaves and soup base. Cover and simmer on low, for a half hour, stirring occasionally and adding the water, a little at a time.

10oz. frozen -or- 1 can black eyed peas

1 can black beans - drained-rinsed

28oz. can diced tomatoes and juice

Add the peas, beans and tomatoes, bring back to a simmer for another 10 minutes before serving. 

This paired nicely with the Sweet Potato Biscuits. . .Lin

Chicken! Lotsa Chicken - and - Lemon-Rice Chicken Soup

Today my plan was to clean the 'fridge, and make a nice pot of chicken soup.

I recently found some gorgeous drumsticks.  I put them on paper towels to dry, thinking they'd freeze separately.

So today, I was going to take out 5 or 6 for the recipe brewing in my head.  Well, I was wrong.  All 14 or 16 of them froze in this giant LUMP! 😕 Not separable, no matter how I tried.

Well. . .now what?  They're in my big 8-quart pot, slowly steaming-simmering.  Once I can break them apart with a wooden spoon, I'll cover and turn off the heat to let them finish thawing slowly for an hour. 

The Chicken Stock Pot

My lunch on "Making Stock Day"

Next, I'll make a big, slow, pot of chicken stock by adding vegetables, leaving the skin on and boiling on low for an hour or so.  See my recipe idea below.  Then I'll remove all the solids, give the dogs ONLY the rinsed celery and carrots chopped up in their food.  Set aside some of the cooked ingredients for yourself too 😋 

Next, I'll cover the pot and put it in the snowbank on my deck until the fat rises, solidifies, and I can skim it all off.  Then it will be strained several times and. . .it's Chicken Stock!  Once cooked and cool, I'll use 6 for this soup and zip-lock the rest in two bags and freeze to use in other recipes.

Chicken Stock:

Chicken Stock Ingredients

4-5# of chicken legs

½ med. yellow onion

1 head of garlic cloves

3 stalks of celery

celery leaves

2-3 big carrots

½T Thai seasoning

½T powdered rosemary

2T Heinz Salad Vinegar

juice and zest of 1 lemon

½T good black peppercorns

~ Tellicherrys are my favorite

*fresh cold water to cover everything

To the chicken in the pot add all the ingredients above.  First peel off most of the garlic 'paper', scrub the bulb then carefully slice it horizontally into 2 equal halves.  Peel and quarter the onion half, chop the celery into 2-3" long chunks and do the same with the scrubbed, but not peeled carrots.  Add the rest, stir together gently, cover and simmer at a low bubble, for a total of 45-60 minutes cooking time, stirring occasional. (*I added extra water since I'm going to make more than just for the soup.  I'd like an extra quart, to have for several days as a 8oz. daily 'tonic'.  This is very similar to really healthy homemade bone broth.)  Check the thickest part of a chicken leg for doneness.  If a fork inserted comes out very easily, it's done.  If not, put it back for another 15 minutes, then check again.

When done, transfer all of the chicken legs to a colander put on top of the open pot to drain.  After 5 minutes, the colander then put it on crumpled paper towels to finish draining and cool.  Put the cooked drumsticks whole, or just the skinned-boned chicken meat, in desired amounts, into heavy zip-top bags.  Press out the air, seal well and freeze.  It's now ready for chicken salad, casseroles, Chicken Cacciatore, or even more soup, whenever you need it.  Just thaw the sealed bag in a pan of warm water.

Lemon-Rice Chicken Soup:

1 med. onion

2 stalks celery

3 big carrots

4c chopped kale

2T Rosemary EVOO

the soft garlic paste

6c +/- strained chicken stock

Cooked chicken from 6 legs

1c 15-20 minute Saffron Jasmine Rice

Simmer-saute the vegetables together until they release their scent and become a little translucent.  Squeeze the garlic out of the shells.  Use it all or just a little.*  Put the garlic and stock in the pot now also, stir, cover and simmer on low heat 15 minutes.  Add the skinned, boned chicken and rice, stir, cover and cook another 15-20 minutes until the rice is the way you like.  Mmm, have I mentioned how much I love soup!? . . .Lin

*If you love Bruschetta, you might like the extra garlic mixed with Basil Pesto, spread on crispy Italian bread, topped with fresh, chopped tomatoes and Parmesan.

Citrus Beet and Greens Smoothie

2-3 big kale leaves

1c beet juice

1t-1T honey

½ big lime - zest and juice

1T orange and lemon zest

2 long stalks of celery and tops

a handful of fresh spinach

½t-1t cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

a little water or ice if needed

Take the center ribs out of the kale and rough chop the leaves and celery.  Add all the ingredients to the blender jar.  Blend and pulse until smooth.  This has a lot of flavor and healthy properties.  Smoothies made of greens, vegetables, whole juices, berries and fruit are good nutritious, cleansing drinks. . .Lin

Asian Chopped Salad

This turned out well, but the dressing started out a bit mild.  I didn't have one that felt like it would be a good option alone, so I worked around the one shown, adding things I felt were needed.  I have Newman's Own Sesame Ginger, but it seemed that would be too strong.  In the end, what this taught me is, with all these cut surfaces, the vegetables are porous.  They absorb the dressing, and, as it marinates, the strong bite is neutralized.  After a couple hours, it seemed the salad needed a little kick, so I added some Newman's Sesame Ginger, which seemed to put everything in a better balance.  

So, if you have a strong Asian dressing that you like, you'd probably be safe using it.  It won't seem as strong as it would on a regular tossed salad.  A friend of mine makes a great kale salad.  She uses Ken's Steak House brand, lite 'Asian Sesame with Ginger and Soy'.   I'll try that one next.

The salad ingredients, and amounts, are pretty straight forward as shown here.  Starting at the upper left, going clockwise, I used: celery, Brussel's sprouts, radishes, 2 mini orange peppers, kale, a 1½" cross-section of a small purple cabbage, and ½ the medium sweet onion.

⅓c tahini dressing

2T toasted sesame oil - (brown, not clear)

1T rice wine vinegar

1T honey

1T toasted garlic

3T Newman's Sesame Ginger dressing

Measure these into a small glass bowl.  Microwave for 30 seconds, then whisk well before pouring over salad.  Toss to coat evenly, then cover and refrigerate 2 hours before serving.  This is good stuff! 😊 Lin

Berry Kale Smoothie

1c frozen berries
2 lg. stalks of celery

1 BIG handful of kale

2T ground seeds: such as chia,

... flax, sunflower, sesame, pumpkin

½c Chobani plain Greek yogurt

juice of 1 lime

tart cherry juice

2T organic honey

This isn't pretty, but the flavors were really good. Additionally, it's a great source of protein, vitamins, fiber, and antioxidants.  Add cherry juice until you get the consistency you want.

Be Creative with your fruit - vegetable choices and make some great smoothies once in a while! . . Lin

Garlic Lemon Chicken with Kale and Beans

1½# chicken breast meat

2T extra virgin olive oil

1T salt & pepper base seasonings*

1c± water or dry white wine

½ med. yellow onion

6 lg. cloves garlic - sliced

⅓ lg. red pepper - sliced

1 lemon - zest and juice

½ bunch flat leaf kale

black beans - rinsed and drained

cannelloni beans - rinsed and drained

½ chopped cilantro stems and leaves

Saute' the chicken in the olive oil until browning.  Add seasonings, water or wine, as needed to keep it from sticking.  *I used fresh ground garlic sea salt and a really good lemon pepper in addition to the one shown.  Add the onion and continue to stir as needed to keep everything from sticking.  If the liquid is thin, stir in a tablespoon of corn starch to thicken it up.  Add the next group of ingredients, cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.  Next add beans, then top with kale, again cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Stir, turn off heat, put the cilantro on top of everything.  Cover and let stand a bit, then stir and serve.  This makes 6 - 300 calorie servings, or 4 - 450 calorie servings. . .Lin

Simple Kale Salad

1 bunch of flat leaf kale

1 small onion - sliced thin

1-2 carrots - grated

½c slivered almonds

Mizkan Sesame Dressing

Optional extras: finely minced fresh garlic, and/or ginger, craisins, golden raisins, chopped apple, chopped pear, mandarin orange segments.

Slice the ribs out of the kale leaves.  Cross cut the leaves in ¼" ribbons.  Wash and spin them in a salad spinner to remove all the water.  Put in a medium glass bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.  Drizzle - very lightly - with the sesame dressing, a little goes a long way!  I kept it very simple today, but this salad would be great with any of the optional ingredients added. . .Lin

Chili-Tomato Chicken and Pasta

Every so often I find I'm really craving pasta.  Last year I found a wonderful specialty pasta that has the best flavor.  It's called Chili-Tomato little hats pasta - but - I only bought one package 😒

I'm usually pretty good at tracking down such things online, but when the only option was to order this from a company in Germany, it seemed a bit laborious.  So, I'm going to use the last little bit of it to create something yummy and just hope to find this particular brand of pasta again someday.

I'm still deciding on the ingredients, but so far I'm thinking chicken with a tomato and sour cream base, kalamata olives, green garlic-stuffed olives, garlic, onion. . .and we'll see what else emerges. . . Hmmm, maybe artichokes. . .although those are usually better in a pasta salad recipe using Italian dressing.  Lots of options though.

1¼# chicken breast meat

½c dry white wine

¼c Tuscan Herb flavored olive oil

¼c minced garlic in olive oil

⅓ lg. onion - finely chopped

6oz. chopped roasted red peppers

4oz. sun dried tomatoes - chopped

3oz. GOYA Sofrito tomato base

Combine these ingredients in a 5qt. pot and bring to a quick simmer.  Turn of the heat and let everything marinate an hour or so.  After an hour, add the following ingredients:

a few leaves of dark green 'bubble' kale - chopped

14oz. petite diced tomatoes

2 sm.-med. zucchini - chopped

1 yellow pepper - chopped

⅔ lg. onion - chopped

1½c sliced kalamata olives

al dente cooked sm.-med. pasta

1c sour cream

This turned out amazing.  It was just what I was craving.

I omitted the artichokes and green olives, but I'll be doing something with those in the not too distant future.  A variation on one of my many Mediterranean Pasta Salads sounds like a good idea. . .Lin

Stirred Eggs and Vegetables

2 jumbo grass-fed-pastured chicken eggs

a big, big handful of kale - chopped

assorted heirloom or sliced beefsteak tomatoes

Himalayan pink salt, fresh ground pepper and chili lime seasoning

Steam the kale, covered in a little water for 10-15 minutes.  Drain, butter and season on the plate.  Slice and arrange the tomatoes.  Meanwhile, as the kale is cooking, heat up a pan with a little butter, when it sizzles, crack in your eggs.  Season, then stir gently until they're done the way you like.  Plate and serve.  This is a serving for one, but of course, can be doubled, tripled, etc., depending on how many you're cooking for.

Remember, this category of recipes - Quick Healthy - Less Than 30 Minute Meals - isn't time-of-day-specific.  Think out of the box!  This would be great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. . .Lin

Side Dishes: Potatoes & Kale -- Almonds, Beans & Rice

1 bunch of red kale

1 lg. shallot

small red potatoes

rosemary olive oil

crushed rosemary

fresh ground garlic sea salt

fresh ground black pepper

Cut the potatoes in half, drizzle with olive oil and add seasonings.  Add the chopped kale.  Cover and sauté until the kale is tender and the potatoes are done the way you like them.

~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~    ~

1/2c brown rice
1/2c slivered almonds
2T butter
1T minced garlic
1t seasoned salt
2 med. carrots - chopped
1 14.5oz. can black beans - drain and rinse

Sauté together all but the beans and the carrots.  After the rice is a little browned, add 1c water, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.  I forgot about the longer cooking time for brown rice, so I'd actually add the carrots after everything has simmered for half the time, so they're not overcooked.  This is also when you add the beans.  Simmer the remaining 20 minutes or so and serve.

Bean, Kale, Lentil and Yam Soup

* I only used the green kale in this soup

2T coconut oil

2T fig balsamic vinegar
2 lg. shallots - sliced thick

5 lg. cloves of garlic - minced

1 med. onion - chopped

2 celery ribs - sliced

2 yams - scrubbed, quartered, sliced

1T± Garam Masala

1t fresh ground garlic-sea salt

½t fresh ground pepper

4 c chopped kale - green, red or a mix*

2 14.5oz cans diced fire roasted tomatoes

1-2 14.5oz cans mixed beans - drain-rinse 

⅔c dry brown lentils 

4c water

2-4T± chicken soup base
1T sugar or honey

Put the oil and vinegar in a 5qt pot and heat, just enough to melt the coconut oil.  Add all the prepared vegetables and seasonings.  Toss-stir around, gently, so everything is coated.  Leave this on the stove, with no heat, for a couple hours, turning over occasionally to continue to coat and marinate all the vegetables.

Sauté and stir for 10-15 minutes to brown a little.  (The oiled-seasoned vegetables could be oven-roasted, at this point, if you prefer.)  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer on low until the yams, kale and lentils are tender.  Beans and lentils are a great combination.  I read the other day that brown lentils have the distinction of being one of the highest in the beans-legumes category, in fiber and protein.  I'll be using more of these in future recipes.

Check seasonings, making any changes needed.  This turned into a really interesting, sort of Indian or Indonesian, slightly sweet, slightly spicy soup.  Serve with some nice crusty, buttered bread. . .Lin

Kale-Artichoke Spread — Kale-Artichoke Chicken Pasta

12 lg. leaves of dark curly kale

1 14oz. can quartered artichokes

5oz. fresh grated parmesan cheese

4oz. chopped pimentos

3/4c mayonnaise
1 ex.lg. purple shallot - minced
1/2c chopped kalamata olives

3T fresh lime juice
2T minced garlic (from a jar)

1/2t sea salt

1/2t black pepper
*2T Taco Bell mild sauce
*or 1/4t of cayenne pepper

To cook the fresh kale, cut out the rib, slice the leaves lengthwise a time or two, then cross-cut them into small pieces.  Cook, covered , in a little water, simmering for about 20 minutes.  These need to be well cooked.  Drain, then dry the kale with some crumpled paper towel, or between sheets of paper towel.  Add to the bowl containing the finely chopped artichokes and remaining ingredients, down to the Taco Bell sauce.  *Once all this is mixed, if mixture seems to liouidous, omit the sauce and use the cayenne pepper.  Serve this with bagel chips as a spread or dip.  Makes about 5 cups.

Kale-Artichoke Chicken Pasta
6-8 oz. dry med. size pasta--cooked al dente'. 
12oz. frozen grilled chicken strips
2-3c Kale-Artichoke Spread

This can also be combined with pre-cooked grilled chicken and pasta, then baked @ 350° for 20 minutes (covered for the first 10 minutes) for an interesting Mediterranean main dish.  It's was really good! . . .Lin