Shrimp Curry with Bok Choy

Don't you just love a recipe that is sophisticated, simple and full of flavor. We do especially on a weeknight after a crazy busy day. And when such a recipe includes shrimp and curry all the better. 

This simple stir fry curry shrimp was a delicious meal to end the day during our Whole 30 challenge.

This simple stir fry curry shrimp was a delicious meal to end the day during our Whole 30 challenge.

RECIPE:

Shrimp Curry with Bok Choy

1 large head bok choy

1/3 pound wild-caught shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 teaspoon fish sauce

3 Tablespoons curry powder

3 Tablespoons coconut aminos

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh basil

Rinse the bok choy and remove the large white veins near the bottom of each leaf. Chop the leaves lengthwise and set aside.

Place the shrimp in skillet and stir in the fish sauce, curry powder and coconut aminos. Saute' for 4-5 minutes.

Add the minced garlic and basil and continue to cook until shrimp is completely opaque. Add the bok choy and saute' 1-2 minutes until it begins in soften slightly.

Remove skillet from the heat and serve immediately. 

Squash Fritter Beef Sliders with Sriracha Mayo

One of the many benefits of Paleo eating is the motive to get creative with our tried and true recipes. 

Beef sliders on small brioche buns are one of our favorite treats. So we've had beef slider lettuce wraps several times since going over to our 80% Paleo lifestyle. But we were looking for a way to get a little creative with our sliders for a change. I came across this recipe for Spaghetti Squash Fritters with Sriracha Mayonnaise in a recent Sunset Magazine. 

And I started thinking if we used butternut squash in place of the spaghetti squash we could possibly use it as a bun for some beef sliders. And we just happened to have a butternut squash waiting to used. So we tweaked the recipe a bit but not too much. 

We pretty much followed the recipe for the fritters as directed with exception of swapping butternut for spaghetti squash. We cooked the split squash in the microwave as directed but it took much longer than stated. But overall it worked fairly slick. We scrapped the soft squash out and mixed it with the other ingredients.

We essentially made open face beef sliders, with some romaine, sliced tomato and avocado on top of the squash fritter, served with the Sriracha mayo. Don't skip the Sriracha mayo it definitely was the icing on the cake.

This was a nice change up from our lettuce wrap sliders of late. To be honest maybe a little more work than we will usually want to go through for a quick beef slider kind of night but if we have the time they are worth the work.

RECIPE:

Squash Fritter Beef Sliders with Sriracha Mayo

Squash Fritters

• 1 (2-pound) butternut squash
• 1 (8-ounce) package baby spinach
• 1/2 cup panko 
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large egg whites 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• Cut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds; discard. Place squash halves, cut sides up, in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave at HIGH 20 minutes or until tender. Let stand 10 minutes. Scrape inside of squash with a fork to remove cooked squash flesh to measure 4 cups.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach to pan; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Place squash and spinach on a clean dish towel; squeeze until barely moist. Coarsely chop squash mixture, and place in a large bowl. Add panko and next 3 ingredients (through baking powder), and toss well to combine. Place egg whites in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into squash mixture.
• Fill a 1/4-cup dry measuring cup with squash mixture. Invert onto work surface; gently pat into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture, forming 10 patties total. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add 5 patties to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove patties from pan; keep warm. Repeat the procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and squash patties.
•  Beef Sliders
• 1 lb. grass fed ground beef
• 1/2 Tblspn. natural burger seasoning ( we used Weber's)
• Salt & Pepper
• 
  
• Mix seasoning with beef. Form 8 small slider sized burgers. Grill until medium-rare ( or cook as desired.
• Sriracha Mayo
• 5 teaspoons Paleo Mayo
• 1 Tablespoon Sriracha
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• Mix together.
• 
  
• Stack burgers on top of squash fritters, garnish with lettuce, tomato slices, avocado and Sriracha mayo.

• 
  

Fajita Lettuce Wraps with Chipotle Aioli

The cuisine or cooking style we probably cook the most has to be Mexican inspired. Our fav chefs being Rick Bayless and Bobby Flay. And then there is the spicy quotient that we love as well. G's fav breakfast to make is his version of Huevos Rancheros whether made here in the PNW or in Mexico. There is just something about these flavors that make us very happy & satisfied.

Most of the components of Mexican food fit into our Paleo lifestyle with exception of tortillas and cheese of course. And this recipe was a perfect adaptation of our non-Paleo cooking style with our most loved flavors.

Flank steak rubbed with great spices and grilled medium-rare. Served with a chipotle aioli and caramelized veggies. Now the one unsatisfying part of this dish was how the juices dripped down your arm because the iceberg lettuce just couldn't contain them. Yeah, that's an issue. Next time we will use romaine instead or just serve it all over greens and skip the whole wrap thing all together. 

But truly that's the only thing to complain about this recipe. This was by far the best meal we've had during our Whole 30 challenge and we're 14 days in. This will also become part of regular Paleo recipe rotation.

RECIPE:

Fajita Lettuce Wraps with Chipotle Aioli (adapted from the 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking)

1/2 Tblspn chipotle powder

1 Tblspn smoked paprika

1 Tblspn onion powder

1 Tblspn garlic powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 Tblspns ghee (clarified butter)

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 cup white mushrooms, sliced

1 small onion, sliced

1/2 lb. flank steak

Chipotle Aioli

1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise

1 chipotle with adobo sauce, minced

1 head iceberg lettuce

1 avocado

1. In small bowl combine dry spices, salt & pepper

2. Melt ghee in large skillet over medium-high heat. 

3. Add the red pepper, mushrooms, and onions to the skillet and saute' seasoning liberally with the spice mixture.

4. When the veggies are soft.

5. Season with flank steak with spices. Heat grill, cook flank steak to medium-rare.

6. Let steak rest. When rested slice thinly.

7. Mix mayo with chipotle. 

8. Place the steak and vegetables in a lettuce cup, and top with avocado and chipotle aioli.

Paleo Paella

So the deal with Paleo that attracts it to us is that it never, ever feels like a diet because although there are certain foods you never have like; dairy, wheat, rice or sugar, there are so many incredibly delicious foods that you do have that we rarely miss those things. Well, except cheese for me to be honest! But not as much as I would expect to. 

This recipe for Paleo Paella is one that totally keeps us committed to make it through these 30 days. We love making traditional seafood Paella. The flavorful sofrito, the crispy rice that forms at the bottom of the pan. Such great flavors.

So when we found this recipe in the 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking cookbook for a paella that is made with 'riced cauliflower' we were sold on giving it a try. Although we were definitely skeptical about the idea of shredded cauliflower even being remotely like rice we were curious enough to give it a try.

The Paela turned out fantastic. You have to try riced cauliflower. It is so surprising. G said he didn't miss the crispy rice bottom of our usual paella recipe at all. We also added ground chorizo that we feel really helped bring out the traditional flavor we love. We both agreed even after the 30 days this recipe will be on our usual Monday through Friday Paleo rotation.

RECIPE:

Paleo Paella (from 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking)

1 head cauliflower, grated

1 TBLSPN ghee (clarified butter)

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

3 garlic cloves, smashed

1/4 lb. ground bulk chorizo

1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 lb. wild caught shrimp, peeled & deveined

4-8 strands saffron

1 TSPN turmeric

2 TSPNS smoked paprika

1/4 TSPN chipotle powder

Salt & pepper to taste

1 handful flat leaf parsley plus extra for garnish

1. Use a large box grater or food processor to shred the cauliflower florets into a rice-like texture. (We used the food processor and it was simple and fairly mess free.)

2. In a large dutch oven heat the ghee over medium heat.

3. Add the carrot, red pepper, and onion to the dutch oven and saute' until softened.

4. Add the smashed garlic to the pot along with the chorizo and chicken breast. Cook 2-4 more minutes.

5. Add the shrimp and cook until translucent.

6. Season with saffron, turmeric, smoked paprika and chipotle. stirring to make sure the seasonings are evenly distributed.

7. Add the riced cauliflower to the pot and stir to combine.

8. Season with salt & pepper and add the parsley. Continue to cook until cauliflower softens.

9. Garnish with extra parsley if desired and serve. 

Thai Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce

We are 12 days in now but as we were prepping to go on our 30 days of a strict Paleo lifestyle we decided to indulge in some of our favorite things before we started.

It seems Thai flavors were really on our minds as we were getting ready to be without them for awhile. Pad Thai was sounding oh so good.

So we made these Thai Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce to meet that craving. 

This was simple and fairly healthy Pad Thai-ish recipe.

RECIPE:

Thai Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce (adapted from Food.com)

Noodles

12 ounces linguine

4 tablespoons sesame oil

Sauce

1/2 cup green onion, chopped

1 cup finely shredded carrot

2 cups frozen stir fry vegetables

3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic

1/2 tablespoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce

Directions:

1.Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water according to package directions.

2.Drain and return to pot.

3.Add 2 TBSP sesame oil and toss to coat. Set aside.

4.Heat remaining 2 TBSP sesame oil in heavy pot over medium-high heat.

5.Add green onions, carrots, stir-fry veggies, garlic and ginger.

6. Saute until vegetables soften, about 4 minutes.

7.Add honey, peanut butter, soy sauce, vinegar and chili-garlic sauce and mix well.

8. Simmer sauce 2 minutes.

9. Pour sauce over pasta and toss well.

10.Transfer to platter and serve warm.

11. Garnish with additional green onions, if desired.

Yields 8 side dish servings or 4 main dish servings.

**Chili-Garlicsauce can be increased or decreased depending on how spicy you like your dish. We like spicy so we used 2 heaping tablespoons.