Grain Free Gumbo

I have made this recipe several times in the past couple years. Previously I used quinoa in place of the long grain rice. Now I've replaced the quinoa with cauliflower rice. I used a hot andouille sausage, which made it extra spice. If you're not into spice, use kielbasa or a mild andouille. You can always add the heat later with some hot sauce or cayenne pepper. I'm not sure if this recipe should be labeled gumbo or jambalaya. I used Rachel Ray's recipe as a guide, and she called it jambalaya. Whatever you call this meal, this gumbo taste good!

Need

1 T. ghee or butter
2 T. olive oil
3/4 lb. chicken breasts cubed
1 lb. andouille sausage
3/4 lb. shrimp, deveined and tails removed
1 small onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
2 ribs celery chopped
2 T. arrow root powder or flour
1 can diced tomatoes
1 carton chicken broth (4 cups)
1 T. chicken flavoring (I used Organic Better than Bouillon)
1 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
4 Springs Thyme
Salt & Pepper

Prepare

1. Using a dutch oven or a large soup pot, heat the ghee and olive oil on medium heat.
2. When the oils is hot, add the chicken and sausage to the pot. Cook for about 4 minutes. The meat does not need to be fully cooked because it will cook more when the soup is simmering.
3. In the same pot saute the onions, peppers, and celery. Salt and pepper everything and cook until the onions are translucent.


4. Sprinkle on the arrow root powder or flour just so everything is lightly coated. This will thicken the soup.
5. Combine in the tomatoes, chicken stock, chili powder, cumin, chicken flavoring, and Worcestershire sauce.
6. Bring the soup to a simmer and add the sprigs of thyme. Taste to see if any more salt and pepper needs to be added. Simmer for 10 minutes or longer.


7. To make the cauliflower rice, use the shredding attachment on your food processor to finely grate the cauliflower. You can also use a cheese grater to shred the cauliflower.
8. About 3 minutes before serving, add in the shrimp. The shrimp will cook very easily in the hot soup.

Serve the gumbo over a large helping of cauliflower for an easy midweek meal!

Dinner for 2

We aren't huge Valentines Day people, yet we do acknowledge the day. It is a great excuse for me to cook up a special meal for the hubs. I made a three course meal and paired it with two different Italian wines. I've been volunteering as a chef's assistant at the Cook's Warehouse, and I have been learning so much! I most recently assisted Gino Noci, an Italian chef who owns a restaurant in Florence, Italy. He made the most delicious Tuscan style meal with very simple ingredients. I recreated a similar meal for Ben. The sausage gravy and broccoli are compliments of Chef Gino, but the entire meal is inspired by him and his team. They were fantastic to work with and taught me a lot! Buon appetite!

Appetizer- Sweet Potatoes with Sausage Gravy

Need

1 Large sweet potato sliced
1 lb. mild Italian Sausage
1 rip celery finely chopped
1 carrot finely chopped
1/2 medium onion finely chopped
2 gloves garlic finely chopped
1/4 t. fennel seed
3/4 c. white wine
T. Fresh chopped parsley
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Prepare

1. Heat about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauce pot
2. Saute garlic, carrot, fennel seed, and celery until almost translucent. Salt and Pepper.


3. Add the sausage and cook until brown on medium heat.



4. While the sausage is cooking, saute the slice sweet potatoes in olive oil in a different pan. Salt and pepper and cook the sweet potatoes until soft. Mix in fresh parsley just before serving.

5. When the sausage is fully brown, add the white wine and cook the mixtures until the wine evaporates.
6. Serve the sausage gravy over the cooked sweet potatoes. Add fresh Parmesan if desired. Gino served his sausage gravy over homemade potato ravioli.



Vegetarians
Prepare the gravy just the same. Omit the sausage and substitute mushrooms instead.

Entree- Filet Mignon with Sauteed Broccoli

Need

1 large crown broccoli cleaned and chopped
1 large glove of garlic chopped
3/4 c. white wine
2 pinches red pepper flakes
2 small grass fed steak filets
Salt & Pepper

Prepare

1. Saute the garlic and red pepper flakes on medium heat in 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
2. Add the broccoli to the pan and coat with the olive oil. Salt and Pepper.
3. Turn heat to high and add the white wine.
4. Cook broccoli until soft, about 7-8 minutes. By this time, the wine should have evaporated.
5. Salt and peppered each side of the steak.
6. Using an indoor grill pan, cook each side of the steak roughly 7-8 minutes each. Because we had such a thick cut of meat, I covered the grill pan with foil for 4 minutes to better cook the inside. I served the steak at about 140 which is medium-rare. It was a great temperature to serve such a tender piece of meat.


Dessert- Chocolate Fondue

Dessert was a dark chocolate fondue sauce. I melted dark chocolate, a few pours of cream, and a dash of red wine over a double broiler. We dipped berries, clementines, biscotti, and other treats in the sauce. It was the perfect dessert to a delicious and simple meal. (Exact recipe and pictures to come later)

This meal is a lot of fun to eat and to make! Although it is not a perfectly healthy meal, it is also not too terribly unhealthy. Pair it with your favorite Italian wines and you'll have the perfect night in.

Sweet Sauce and Spicy Sausage

Who doesn't like Italian food? Italian food is my favorite cuisine. Traditionally, it is also a cuisine that can sometimes leave me feeling bloated and sleepy. If you eat the warm buttery bread that is usually served before hand, that is pretty much your carb count for the day. I decided to omit the bread and exchange the pasta noodles for spaghetti squash. I also used tomatoes that had zero preservatives and no water or citric acid added. I made a basic tomato sauce and cooked spicy sausage and peppers to go over herb spaghetti squash. It sounds more challenging than it really is. It's a long post though, so grab the vino if you're still interested.

Need

Tomato Sauce
1 box Pomi Tomato Sauce
1 box Pomi Tomato
4 gloves chopped garlic
2 T. fresh chopped basil
1 T. fresh chopped parsley
1/4 t. bay leaves (or 1 whole bay leaf)
1/4 t. garlic powder
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Sausage and Peppers
1 lb hot Italian sausage
1 yellow bell pepper cut into strips
1 red bell pepper cut into strips
1 green bell pepper cut into strips
1/2 large onion cut into strips
1 large glove of garlic
Olive Oil
Red wine

Spaghetti Squash
1 small yellow spaghetti squash
1 T. fresh chopped basil
1 T. fresh chopped parsley
1 T. Olive Oil
Salt (about 1/4 t.)
Pepper (about 1/4 t.)

Prepare

Start the tomato sauce right away. In fact, you can make the sauce a few hours ahead if you want the sauce to simmer longer. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to a sauce pan and heat on medium. About a minute later, saute your garlic in the sauce pot and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, garlic powder, and herbs. Salt and pepper to taste. (I added about 1/4 teaspoon of each.) Simmer the sauce on low. If the sauce seems watery, take the lid off and it will start to thicken.

Cook the Italian sausage on medium heat in a large pan to brown on each side. Browning take about 4 minutes a side. Next, put a lid on the pan to allow the sausage to cook on the inside. It took approximately another 5 minutes for the sausage to be fully cooked. The internal temperature should reach at least 165ºF and there should be no pink.






Once the sausage is fully cooked remove them from the pan. Set the heat of the pan to medium-high. Throw in the peppers and onions. Add a large pour of red wine. I had pinot noir on hand, so that it what I used. Turn up the heat and allow the peppers to cook on high for 3 minutes. Bring the heat back down to medium, throw in a large glove of garlic, and cook until the veggies are tender. Slice the sausage while the veggies are cooking. Toss the sausage back in the hot pan a few minutes before serving.










There are several ways to cook spaghetti squash. I have had the most success when cooking it in the microwave. First cut the spaghetti squash in half. Using a microwave safe dish, place one half of the squash face down. Fill the dish with water so there is enough water to cover the bottom of the dish. Microwave on high for 6 minutes. Refill the water if needed and microwave on high for another 6 minutes. Prick the squash with a fork to check tenderness. If the outside cannot be easily pricked with a fork, cook for another minute. The squash will be extremely hot! Make sure you use a oven mitt to handle it. Repeat same process for other half of squash.










Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds inside the squash. Once the seeds are discarded, use a fork to scrape out the squash into a medium size bowl. The squash "noodles" should peel up easily. Toss in the olive oil, herbs, salt and pepper.

Finally, top the herb squash with a layer of tomato sauce, then the sausage and pepper mixture. To make it extra special add some fresh Parmesan on top.

It seems complicated, but it is worth it!