Mexican Summer Supper Loaf

• This tangy take on meatloaf is the perfect main course to pair with sides for a two person summer supper. It takes no time to prepare, and without the addition of eggs it is much lighter than traditional meatloaf. Additionally, the lime zest is high in healthy bioflavenoids and really gives the dish a kick... so don't omit it! 
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• Ingredients
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• 1 lb grass fed beef (higher fat content is best)
• 1/2 of a medium red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• zest and juice of one lime 
• 2 tsp coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 heaping tsp cumin
• 1 heaping tsp chile powder
• 1 tsp coconut aminos
• 2 tbls black coffee
• 1 tbls + 1 tsp olive oil
• OPTIONAL: 3 tbls sour cream for garnish (raw if you can get it!)
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• You will need

• 1 loaf pan or baking sheet
• mixing bowl
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Directions

Preheat your oven to bake at 350 degrees. Saute garlic and onion together with 1 tsp olive oil until onion is transparent. Mix remaining tbls olive oil and all remaining ingredients by hand in mixing bowl until evenly blended. Mix in olive and garlic mixture. Remove to loaf pan and shape into square loaf against one half, leaving the other half empty unless you've doubled your recipe. If you're using a baking sheet mold your loaf shape by hand. 

Bake for 1 hour on the top rack of your oven. Employ Ina Gartens trick here and place an additional loaf pan or other oven safe dish filled with hot water on the rack below your supper loaf. The steam will allow the loaf to bind together and retain its moistness!  Allow to rest outside the oven for five minutes before slicing and serving!

Baked egg cradles

• These little sweeties are the perfect breakfast for two, and far more impressive looking than labor intensive. They also take about two minutes to prepare and pop into the oven, which isn't too shabby.
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• Ingredients
• 4 whole eggs
• 2 large avocados 
• 1/2 cup grated aged Parmesan (optional)
• cayenne pepper or smoked paprika for garnish (optional)

NOTE: If you opt to omit cheese, add sea salt to taste after cooking.

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• You will need

• 1 cupcake tin
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Directions

Preheat your oven to bake at 200 degrees. Split avocados length wise and remove pit. spoon out a bit of the avocado meat (and put it in your mouth) so that the wells are a bit deeper than the pit made them. Place each half inside of a cupcake well, hole up. Crack each egg into each avocado. You may have to hsprinkle with parmesan and cayenne pepper or smoked paprika. bake approximately fifteen minutes, or until yoke is just slightly firm. 

simple garlic cauliflower mashers

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• This recipe is easy as pie and holds up well in comparison to the starchy mashed potatoes I used to whip up. If you don't eat cheese then feel free to omit it, and add an additional two tablespoons of grass-fed butter in its place. If you eat neither cheese or butter, this recipe is still tasty with the second ingredient list. 
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• Ingredients
• 1 head white cauliflower (or a comparable amount of purple for an alien-like mash)
• 4 tbls butter (grass-fed is best!)
• 1/2 cup aged Parmesan cheese, roughly cubed
• 1 tsp crushed garlic (grinding 2 cloves with mortar and pestle will make you feel extra cool.)
• sea salt and course ground pepper to taste

DAIRY FREE ALTERNATIVE

1 head white cauliflower

2 tbls garden fresh herbs

2 tsp crushed garlic

1 1/2 tbls olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Separate cauliflower into flowerettes and submerge into boiling water. cover and boil until cauliflower is easy pierced with a fork. Approximately ten minutes. Drain cauliflower thoroughly, taking care to empty the strainer of all excess water. Add half of each ingredient to food processor or blender, and pulse until  the mixture is smooth. Remove to serving bowl and blend the remaining half together in the same fashion. Remove last half to serving bowl. Mix lightly and serve while hot.

NOTE: If you don't have a blender or FP, you can easily hand mash your ingredients. Just grate your Parmesan first, so that it will evenly distribute itself. 

Green Butter Chicken

This recipe doesn't call for butter, strangely enough. But the meat is so tender once it's done cooking, that it falls off the bone and melts in your mouth like...you know. It becomes even more of a nutritional powerhouse with the addition of fresh herbs (where the green comes in) It's also super easy, which is a plus.

Ingredients

6 pieces bone-in organic chicken. (Drumsticks, thighs, whatever you've got on hand)
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch parsley
2 tbls sesame oil
2 tbls olive oil
zest from one lime (lime rind meet cheese grater)
5 tbls apple cider vinegar (or any vinegar you've got on hand besides balsamic)

sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste (I do 1/2 tsp salt and five or so turns on the pepper grinder)

Directions

When I plan on making this for dinner, I start the marinade for it during lunch. If you're pressed for time,  the chicken really only needs to soak in the marinade for two hours before it's ready to pop into the oven.

Marinade: Wash Cilantro and Parsley and pat dry. Chop coarsely and add to mixing bowl along with salt, pepper, oils, vinegar, and lime zest. Cut the remaining lime into wedges and reserve to use as garnish at serving time.

Add chicken to bowl after patting it dry of any excess moisture. Rub marinade into chicken thoroughly, (hands work best for this) making sure to rub herbs and oils underneath the skin as well as on top. Once chicken is thoroughly coated, cover and refrigerate until cooking time.

To cook: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. While you wait, arrange the chicken in an oven safe baking dish and scoop any leftover marinade in over the meat. Bake uncovered for 55 minutes or until its juices run clear, turning halfway through. Serve with pan juices poured over the top of each piece and lime wedges for garnish.

Seriously, it's that easy... and really impressive tasting.