Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Roasted beet and apple salad



Before you make this salad, do yourself a favor and go out and pick up some goat cheese, it will put it over the top.  This kind of turned into a "I have 3 pounds of roasted beets, what should I do with them?" situation, and I kind of hate lettuce but I buy it anyway, then remember I don't like it.  Issues, I tell you.


  • A few handfuls of romaine lettuce (or whatever lettuce you like), chopped
  • 1 cup of roasted beets, diced (if you've made your beets ahead of time, toss them in some coconut oil in a skillet and warm them up a bit)
  • 1/4 of a Granny smith apple, diced
  • 1/2 of a roasted red onion*, sliced
  • 2T chopped pecans
Dressing:
  • 2T red wine vinegar
  • 1T olive oil
  • 1t dijon mustard
  • 1t lemon juice
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
How are you going to roast the red onion, you ask?  Simple.  Take a whole red onion, thinly sliced, and toss it with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes.  Remove and toss in 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar.

In a large bowl combine all of your ingredients and if you're nice, this will serve two.  If you're selfish and hungry (and live alone like I do), this will make one big salad.  The flavor of the roasted beets paired with the crisp apple and mellow onions are kind of awesome.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Green beans with mushrooms and onions




Well I'm back on the paleo wagon and my problem is coming up with sides.  Today I scored some baby bella mushrooms on sale and found a bag of haricot verts in the freezer, and amazingly had some onions sitting around, so off I went.  And the results were tasty!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees


  • 1 24-ounce bag of extra fine french green beans (if you have frozen, just let them thaw and use paper towel or a salad spinner to get rid of the excess moisture)
  • 12 ounces of baby bella mushrooms, halved
  • 1 red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2-3 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2-3 teaspoons onion powder
  • 2-3 teaspoon fine sea salt
In a large baking dish combine all ingredients.  Cook at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until mushrooms are tender.  Adjust seasoning as necessary.

Serves 6