Summer squash gratin

I absolutely love summer squash. Thankfully I haven't tired of it yet since when squash is ready on the vine, it is ready in abundance. I headed to the local farmer's market this last week and they offered a few varieties of squash that I did not grow this year so I loaded my bag up with one of everything and made this recipe up. It is nice and flexible since it can incorporate all the in season produce you have available. 

Ingredients:

• 1 Yellow Squash
• 1 zucchini
• 2 tbl garlic, chopped or minced
• 1 eggplant
• 1 onion, red or sweet white
• 1 bell pepper of your favorite color
• 1 sweet potato or regular white potato
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp thyme
• salt and pepper

Prep:

Some people love gadgets. While I used to be one of them, a few mandolin digit slicing accidents cured me. Thanks to my amazing paleo powers I regrew the tip of my finger in 1.5 weeks. No kidding. Since then I use a knife for slicing. It is safer for everyone. Slice the veg thinly but not paper thin. I recommend cutting the sweet potato a little thinner since it takes the longest to soften. Once you have a pile, randomly layer them in a casserole dish. Sprinkle the herbs and garlic over the top. Drizzle the olive oil.

Cook:

450F for 45 minutes uncovered. Cover and cook another 10 until all is soft. If you like having a little extra cheesy delight on your dish to make it a bit Italian, sprinkle parmesan cheese over top and bake an additional 10 minutes. I also love this with a bit of crumbled goat cheese. 

Shepherd's Pie Paleo Style

Shepherd's Pie 

Shepherd's Pie is such a lovely dish that makes me think of cold nights in the UK watching snooker and drinking a pint or two. It is nostalgic for me and also fulfills my comfort food quota without the after effect of the guilt and bad gut. Technically a shepherd's pie requires lamb so I always use lamb. (Using any other ground meat makes a cottage pie but most American's don't care.) Being the uptight chica that I am means that I have to make it right or not at all. So my additional ingredients kind of removes it from the shepherd's pie definition but I will feign ignorance this time.  I happen to also love Cornish pasties but since I am not making a shortening and wheat filled pastry any time soon, I will get my rutabaga fix out in this incarnation. When I was shopping for the recipe I needed a proper Worcestershire sauce. While you only need 2 tsp of the stuff, it is pretty much liquid gold. Without it, you are missing the key flavor. It took me a bit of sleuthing to accomplish, but I found a gluten and soy free sauce. The Lea & Perrins Low Sodium Worcestershire sauce happens to be safe for consumption. Don't forget to keep it in the refrigerator after opening. I never knew this growing up...good thing we didn't use it often. We had been keeping it in the cupboards for years! 

Topping this tasty beauty off is sweet potato rounds where traditionally there would be white potato mash. I love a good potato mash but it really isn't that great for you. Instead you can substitute the sweet potatoes or make a cauliflower mash with a nice dose of garlic and s&p and no one will know the better. Enjoy- it gets even better the second day.

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground lamb
• 2 carrots, sliced into small pieces
• 1 sweet potato sliced into even rounds
• 1 rutabaga sliced into squares
• 5 cap mushrooms, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, chopped fine
• 1 sprig thyme, chopped fine
• 1/2 - 1 cup red wine
• 1 onion chopped fine

Prep: Heat a skillet and brown the lamb while you prep the veg. Cut up all veggies and herbs and set aside in nice pile. Turn oven to 400F

Cook: In a pan cook the lamb until nearly done and break up into pieces. Add the mixed vegetables and herbs and cook for another 5 minutes. Pour in the wine and Worcestershire sauce and cook on medium for another 5 minutes.  Once a lovely sauce has formed around the tasty meat and veg, pour into a baking dish. Top with the slices of sweet potato or whipped cauliflower. Bake in a 400F oven for 20 minutes uncovered followed by 10 minutes with a foil top on to steam soften the sweet potatoes. 

Piggy 3 ways

My husband loves pork. LOVES pork. I had to come up with a few recipes that made me happy as well and along the way I decided to combine them into one delicious dish. Is there anything better than bacon fried apples? Well, how about bacon fried apples, a pork chop with apple sauce and sweet potato with pancetta. Get your taste buds ready for hog heaven.


The veg side:
Start the veg side first as it takes the most time.
Prep:
Cut into even sized cubes: 1 sweet potato, 1 baking potato
Chop 1 red onion
Mince 1-2 cloves of garlic
Chop 2 slices of thick cut pancetta or use 1/2 package of pre-cubed pancetta
Cook:
Turn the oven to 350F and pull out a sheet pan
On the pan mix all the ingredients into one happy little pile. Season with a mixture of:
1/4 tsp white pepper
ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
Mix all the ingredients and make sure it is coated evenly. Spread into a single layer and cook for 20-30 minutes depending on the thickness of your potato slices. About 1/2 way through use a spatula to move the food around and let it toss in the pancetta grease and seasoning so that everything is evenly bathed in deliciousness.

The meat side:
Prep:
Salt, a pinch of paprika and pepper pork chops and set out to warm up to the room a bit.
Get a pan ready with bacon grease.
Chop 1 golden delicious apple into 1/4" slices
Cook:
Once the pan is nice and hot, place the chops in and don't move them. Do not touch, prod, poke, molest, squish or peek under the chops for about 4 minutes. During that 4 minutes place the slices of apple in the pan and let cook in the tasty bacon grease. Once the one side is seared and has a beautiful crust, flip over and repeat the lack of movement. Do the same for the apples.

Sweet potato & zucchini frittata

Zucchini, bell pepper, mushroom and sweet potato frittata

Ingredients: 

• Sweet Potato

• Red Bell Pepper

• Zucchini

• Pancetta (I like the cubed or thick deli slices that I then cube)

• Mushrooms, sliced. I like the cap mushrooms, about 2

• 6-8 eggs

• Salt and Pepper

Prep:Use a mandolin or knife to slice your ingredients into even pieces. Do not think you are smarter than the blade. You will slice your finger eventually. That was my humbling lesson for the day. Turn on the broiler and get out a saute pan, bowl and pie dish.

Cook:

Cook the sweet potatoes in the saute pan for about 8 minutes with the pancetta. Add the zucchini, red bell pepper, and mushroom. Cook down. In a separate bowl whip the eggs together with the salt and pepper. Now take the cooked veg mixture and place it in the bottom of the pie plate. Add the eggs over the top. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the eggs are no longer shiny. Cut up and enjoy. Serves 4-6.