Peas is one of those things you love or hate. My MOST POPULAR RECIPE OF ALL TIME is my hamburger and peas recipe.

If you love peas, you also know they brighten up a lot of dishes, like stews, meat pies and are a great accompaniment to starches such as boiled potatoes, rice or pasta.

Peas paired with some crispy bacon, sauteed shallots, some parmesan cheese wake macaroni up, not just in taste but also in looks, because this dish is appetizing.

Frozen peas work the best and are thrown into the pasta while still frozen. The bacon gives the peas flavor and half should be reserved to add at the end (to have some crispy).

As far as using butter or olive oil, both fat choices work, or use both like I do, and as I always say, don’t forget the pasta broth, which serves as a thickner.

Ingredients

• Pasta
• Peas
• Bacon
• Butter
• Olive Oil
• Parmesan or Pecorino
• Pasta Water
• Shallots

Recipes Where Peas Shine

• Italian Ground Beef, Onion, Peas
• Veal Stew with Purple Peas and Potatoes
• Peas with Ricotta Appetizer
• Salmon with Tarragon Peas Sauce

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Pasta Peas and Bacon

Easy Tasty Pasta, Peas and Bacon with Shallots, Pecorino Cheese

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Keyword bacon, pasta, peas

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 pound pasta
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 4 slices thick bacon
• 2 shallots chopped
• 3 cups frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• pecorino cheese
• pasta water as needed
• salt, pepper for seasoning

Instructions

• Cook pasta according to instructions.
• In large frying pan crispy bacon. Depending on what bacon you use, save just one tablespoon of bacon grease in the pan.
• Remove bacon and drain on paper towels. You will add bacon at end.
• Add shallot to bacon grease. saute for five minutes until softened, stirring.
• Add frozen peas and continue to cook on medium heat until peas are cooked through.
  
• Once pasta is cooked through add to frying pan with a little bit of the pasta water. Add in each tablespoon of butter, and olive oil, more if needed.
• Add bacon, pecorino cheese and toss. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Keep in mind bacon and pecorino are already salty.
  

The post Pasta, Peas and Bacon appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Made with my own roasted chicken (for an amazing texture), fresh vegetables, boxed organic broth and a little bit of heavy cream that brings it home and adds that little bit of extra gut-sticking satisfaction. You could also make your own chicken stock and I have a great recipe here with ten tips.

As I was making the filling, I kept tasting and thinking with a little more broth and a few tweaks, this could be an amazing chicken vegetable soup.

I purchased these soup crocks for my recent French onion soup recipe and we’ve used them for all kinds of things. I highly recommend them.

I swapped out the rutabagas for cauliflower which ended up being a great choice. I skipped the wine and cut back on the heavy cream. If you’re watching your carbs, you could also limit the carrots but I think a couple of carrots in a soup does make a difference.

Ingredients for Recipe for Chicken Vegetable Soup

• Chicken Breasts, Shredded
• Cauliflower
• Onions
• Celery
• Carrots
• Boxed Organic Chicken Broth
• Peas
• Herbs, Bay Leaf
• Heavy Cream (this is an option I like for a creamier soup)

More Chicken Soups from Spinach Tiger

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Chicken Vegetable Soup

Homemade chicken vegetable soup made with leeks, white wine.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Keyword Chicken pot pie, pie crust

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

1 hour hour

Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

Chicken Vegetable Soup

• 4 tablespoons cold butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil
• 3 carrots peeled, diced
• 1 small onion diced
• 2 celery stalks diced
• 2 cup cauliflower florets
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 teaspoon umami seasoning Trader Joe's (see notes)
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (4 sprigs)
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream Optional for a creamier soup
• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded See Recipe below

Baked Chicken Breasts on Bone (Method 1)

• 2 chicken breasts on bone with skin
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Baked Chicken Breasts

• Salt chicken breasts. Roast in oven at 400 degrees F. until chicken reaches 165 F. Don't over bake. I like the texture of baked chicken. See blog notes for more ideas. You CAN roast a whole chicken as I did.

Make Chicken Vegetable Soup

• Trim leek and wash, using only white part.
• Peel and dice celery and carrots.
• Cut cauliflower into bite sized florets.
• Melt butter and oil in dutch oven or pot of your choice.
• Add vegetables (except peas) to pan. Cook about five minutes. Add sprigs of thyme (to be removed later).
• Add fresh herbs of choice. Add bay leaf.
• Season with salt, pepper, umami seasoning (if you have it).
• Stir in chicken broth.
• Once chicken broth is warmed through about twenty minutes, add in optional heavy cream. It's okay to skip.
• Add in chicken, frozen peas.
• Season as needed with salt and pepper. Serve once peas are cooked through.

Notes

You can add in other vegetables such as green beans or broccoli florets

Umami Seasoning (I  use the one from Trader Joe’s). You can substitute with poultry seasoning, or your seasoning of choice). 

Cauliflower: You can sub with potato, rutabega.

 

 

The post Recipe for Easy Chicken Vegetable Soup appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer is easy to put together and such a pretty presentation. I was inspired to make this when served a very similar starter while vacationing in Florida. All six of us loved it. Ricotta blanketed with pea pesto made with fresh mint (or tarragon), lemon zest, and olive oil makes the best appetizer.

We love to invite people over for dinner, but if I think it’s going to be too much of an ordeal, I’ll hesitate. This summer we’ve had company for several dinners and this starter is one of the ways I keep it simple, while throwing a few steaks on the grill.

Charcuterie plates can be a little heavy or too expensive to put together. I usually get one or two nice cheeses (sometimes from the small discard pile at Whole Foods), spice up my own olives with orange peel, olive oil and chili flakes, and whip up this ricotta appetizer. I did

All you need is a small food processor, or a pestle and mortar and you can make ricotta peas pesto appetizer in five minutes.

Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer Ingredients

• Ricotta Cheese
• Frozen Peas
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Fresh Mint or Tarragon
• Lemon Juice
• Lemon Zest
• Salt, Pepper

Are Peas Low Carb?

Yes, they are 8 net carbs per 1/2 cup, making appetizer low-carb friendly, as the whole recipe calls for 1/2 cup.

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Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer

Ricotta cheese blanketed with a pea pesto made with mint, lemon.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Keyword appetizer, mint, peas, ricotta cheese

Servings 12 servings

Equipment

• Food processor or super blender

Ingredients

Pea Pesto Over Ricotta

• 1/2 cup frozen peas defrosted
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon zest and juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash black pepper
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint see notes

Instructions

• Peas Pesto
• Chop your herbs to be added at the end. Set aside.
• Put peas, olive oil, lemon juice and lemon in food processor blender, and blend until mixture forms a mash (not a puree).
• Add in herbs, salt and pepper.
• Serve over ricotta cheese.

Notes

You can use tarragon instead of mint, but use sparingly. You could also use parsley, basil or lemon thyme. Taste as you add.

The post Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Cauliflower rice is the new healthy option side dish. I discovered recently I can make an amazing chicken and rice dish with it as long as I understand a few things about cauliflower.

Cauliflower rice can be great or not good at all. Let’s be honest. It can be boring, tasteless, not satisfying, unless you build the flavors and not spare the fat and salt. Once you nail this, options are wide open for a dish like this Chicken and Cauliflower Rice.

A few weeks ago, I had this idea to make comfort food. I made chicken and rice using cauliflower. Using a food processor, I riced cauliflower and baked it in the oven with chicken thighs that had bones and skin. This helped with  flavor and fat.

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There are a few ways to approach this dish and make cauliflower rice that will deliver comfort food satisfaction.

You can brown your chicken first which is another step or place it on the cauliflower raw skin side up. The underneath of the chicken pieces don’t get as browned as I would like. You can turn them over for a few minutes to brown. This is the only problem I find when baking raw chicken over vegetables, etc. It’s not going to brown, so it’s worth taking the few minutes to brown over a high heat in a frying pan prior to baking.

When it comes to cauliflower rice, I typically add flavor and sauté with butter and onion, salt, pepper and herbs on top of the stove. I do that often, but in this recipe, I bake it like a real chicken and rice dish so that the fat from the chicken skin permeates the cauliflower rice and creates this most amazing comfort food. The cauliflower will reduce in size quite a bit, but it will soak up all that flavor. I suggest using a whole cauliflower for this or at least 4 cups.

How to Make Cauliflower Rice

You can now buy cauliflower rice frozen, but I like to make my own. I can get so much more from one cauliflower. However, you can still make this with the pre-bought cauliflower rice. (Costco sells big bag of Green Giant at a good value).

Use a food processor. Take off the bottom core, and cut into large pieces, and process until a little larger than rice size.

Every kitchen needs a food processor and it doesn’t have to be expensive. I like this one.

You can make a lot of cauliflower rice in mere minutes and freeze what you don’t want to use.

Boost the flavor of the cauliflower rice. It needs fat, salt and acid. I snuck in a little white wine in the broth.

Sauté a dice of onion and celery first in butter (or oil), then quickly added the cauliflower and a cup of frozen peas. Instead of peas, you could use sausage (which I might do next time), to further boost the flavors. Then put this into a large baking dish and add chicken. Bake at 375 until the chicken is done (165 degrees F. ) and crispy on top.

More Chicken Thigh Recipes from Spinach Tiger

More Low Carb Recipes from Spinach Tiger

Chicken Thighs with Olives

Chicken Thighs with Peppers

Chicken Thighs with 40 Cloves Garlic

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How to Make Cauliflower Rice for Chicken and (Cauliflower) Rice Dish

Delicious Low Carb Comfort Food. How to Make Cauliflower Rice and Make Chicken and Rice.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 6 to 8 pieces of chicken
• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• 1 head cauliflower or 4 cups of frozen riced cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons Irish butter or healthy oil
• 3 shallots diced (or 1/2 cup diced onion)
• 1 cup frozen peas optional: skip if doing keto
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or fresh thyme
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Trim cauliflower and cut into large pieces.
• Place in a food processor and pulse until the pieces are slightly larger than actual rice.
• Brown chicken on medium to high heat, just enough to brown the skin.
• Saute shallots in butter on top of stove in large cast iron pan or pan that can be put directly into oven. (see notes).
• Add to cauliflower/
• Stir in Cauliflower rice and frozen peas.
• Add herbs and season with salt, pepper.
• Place chicken on top of rice. Place in oven.
• Bake for about 40 minutes at 375 until the chicken reaches 165 degrees F. and skin is golden.

Notes

This is a one pan dish if you have a large cast iron frying pan or shallow enameled cast iron pan. However, if you don't, transfer cauliflower rice and chicken onto a shallow baking pan before baking.

The post Low Carb One Pan Chicken and Cauliflower Rice appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is the bang bang of comfort food. And, it’s gluten free, although no one will really know that it’s not simple old fashioned chicken pot pie with biscuits, just like grandma used to make.

If you’re new here, just know that this is about the 20th biscuit recipe here at Spinach Tiger. It all happened quite by accident, as I didn’t grow up eating biscuits. I think I ate my first biscuit when I was 24 years old and it came from a fast food place. Of course, I fell in love with them, because biscuits speak to the soul, even if they’re not a childhood memory.

Eventually, I married a man from the south and moved to Nashville. Just for fun, and for him, I attempted to make biscuits like this grandmother made. These biscuits to him would be like my grandmother’s tomato sauce to me. One thing led to another and after throwing many biscuits out, I cracked the code.

Google seemed to know that and so far has sent over 329,000 people to that fluffy biscuit recipe. The funny thing is they send just a little more than that to my grandmother’s tomato sauce recipe, making both of these the all time number 2 and 3 recipes out of nearly 900.

How To Make Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits, Gluten Free

For the longest time I’ve been wanting to make some kind of chicken biscuit recipe and I saw Preppy Kitchen do that on Instagram. I thought, I’ll do the same thing only gluten free.

One day I realized many people were looking for a gluten free biscuit. I put the same trial and error hard work into the recipe and cracked that code. Now the gluten free biscuit recipe beats out the regular one!

This Video Shows you How to Make the Biscuits for Chicken Pot Pie

If you haven’t made my gluten free biscuits before, you’re in for a treat. They are super good, and there’s a video to show you how to get it right, at the top of of this page.

The only crazy thing that happened today is I found an even better way to make my gluten free biscuit, using some golden flax. When they came out of the oven, I bit right into one, to find out my idea worked even better than I thought. I immediately rushed over that very popular recipe to let people know this new discovery.

Golden flax also known as linseed, comes from the flax plant , which is cultivated for its seeds as well as its fiber and contains Omega 3 fatty acids. It adds flavor and texture to grain free and gluten free baking.

Use Left Over Chicken for Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits

The chicken can be left over, or you can sauté cubed boneless chicken breast. I tend to like roasting chickens and using leftovers. It’s money saving and kitchen sensible.

You can play around with the veggies. I kept it on the simple side with peas, carrots and onion. Not wanting to use flour for thickener, I used unflavored gelatin in broth (similar to what I did in this chicken marsala recipe). You can use a corn starch slurry if you want to.

It’s great if you have your own homemade chicken broth, but you can use store bought. Make sure to use a low sodium. I added in a little dijon mustard to boost flavor and a good deal of parsley. I think some other herbs like dill or tarragon would be great too.

When I made the biscuits, I added in some dried herbs and fresh parsley to the flour.  You will get 8 biscuits which is more than enough for this recipe, and give each serving two biscuits.

I baked the biscuits separately and then placed them on top of the chicken, as I like crispy bottoms. Some like to put raw biscuits on the creamed chicken and then bake the biscuits, but you risk some sogginess.

You can make each component ahead of time and then place biscuits on top and reheat in oven. If you do this, just don’t bake biscuits to the full golden brown. Leave room for a few extra minutes.

I hope you enjoy this yummy Southern comfort food. It’s a little richer than my normal middle of the week dinner, but sometimes life calls for the most comforting of food. Nothing says comfort more than chicken pot pie with biscuits.

More Gluten Free Baking Recipes

More Biscuit Recipes

More Chicken Recipes

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Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits, Gluten Free

Creamy chicken with vegetables and gluten free southern fluffy biscuits on top.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter divided
• 1 large onion diced
• 2 carrots shredded or sliced
• 2 ribs celery diced optional
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 package unflavored gelatin see notes to use corn starch flurry instead
• 2 tablespoons white wine optional
• 2 cups frozen peas you can use less
• 4 cups cubed cooked chicken see notes
• salt and pepper
• handful parsley reserve some for garnish
• Gluten Free Biscuits Recipe Here

Instructions

• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in frying pan. Add diced onion, celery, diced carrots. You can shred carrots as I did if you desire.
• Add gelatin to broth to thicken. Or, you can use a corn starch slurry instead. Add 1 tablespoon of corn starch mixed with 1
• Once onion, celery and carrots are softened, add broth.
• tablespoon cold water, which thickens sauce
• Add in a tablespoon of dijon mustard. Stir to incorporate.
• Add in a few tablespoons white wine or dry vermouth. Cook on lowfor about fifteen minutes.
• As the broth is cooking down, make the biscuits.
• Add in chicken and peas.
• Add 3 tablespoons minced parsley. Reserve some for final garnish.
• Once the chicken mixture is creamy enough, add golden baked biscuits to top serve.

Notes

Chicken: You can use left over chicken, chicken from a store bought pre-cooked chicken. If you are using raw, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small bite sized pieced, stir fry in butter or oil of choice until done. Remove chicken. Set aside. In same pan, start recipe, by adding butter, vegetables.

Thickening the sauce: You can either use a corn starch slurry to keep the recipe gluten free or use an unflavored gelatin which you add to the chicken broth.

Biscuit recipe is here. As an option, Add in freshly chopped herbs to the flour before adding butter.

The post Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits, Gluten Free appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Just in case you’re like me, moving away from the sweet flavors and the heavy carbs, turkey cauliflower fried rice is for you.

Before I get to that I want to thank you. Over 23,000 of you visited my recipe for Cheesecloth Wrapped Roast Turkey, and 3600 of you watched the video. That’s just amazing and I hope you enjoyed it.

The other night we made a typical Italian dish, rice with peas, except I used cauliflower and it was just as comforting.

Today, of course, I have lots of turkey left over and I still had some of that cauliflower rice.

Thus, paleo turkey cauliflower fried rice was born. I’m giving you the recipe just as if you would have to start from scratch. I don’t do paleo 100% of the time, but it’s where I turn in between parties, dinners, etc, and I have way to many things coming up this month. I’m not as strict as some as I do eat dairy, but I try hard to stick to grain free eating several days a week.

Cauliflower is great around the holiday times because it fills you up, yet is healthy, and a good food to help you stay fit throughout the holidays. A few months back, I went on a roll with cauliflower, making paleo, vegan mashed cauliflower, and cauliflower parmesan.Cauliflower today. Cookies tomorrow. You know how that goes.

This was a fun lunch, and just enough to give me fuel for navigating the mall. Yes I do get out there; it’s tradition to start our Christmas season, even though I’m one of those who does most of my shopping last minute.

How about you?  Are you pushing and shoving the crowds shopping or shopping on-line?

Let’s connect and Stay in touch. Please subscribe, as Spinach Tiger will be bringing you lots of Christmas joy in the way of food. Of course, you can find me in all the usual social media places, including the new Periscope where I cook in real time, live.

In the meantime, here are a few more ideas for Thanksgiving left overs and Happy shopping.

Thanksgiving Leftovers

Mini-Turkey Pies

Turkey Pie Reinvented

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Paleo Turkey Cauliflower Fried Rice for Turkey Leftovers

Take turkey leftovers and go Paleo with Turkey Fried Rice using Cauliflower

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 head caulflower
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 2 tablespoons tamari sauce see note
• 1/2 onion diced
• 1 cup peas
• 2 carrots diced
• 8 ounces turkey diced
• 1 egg
• Sriracha Optional

Instructions

• Remove stems from cauliflower. Put into food processor and pulse until you have large rice sized pieces.
• Heat oil in pan, add onion, carrot, until softened.
• Push vegetables to side and scramble egg quickly into small pieces.
• Add cauliflower, turkey, and peas.
• Add in Tarmari Soy sauce. Mix well.

Notes

Tarari is a gluten free soy sauce

The post Paleo Turkey Cauliflower Fried Rice appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

I often see people complain that the reason they don’t eat healthy is that it’s too much trouble, takes too much time, and it’s easier to grab something more convenient. I want to help to change that. I know the struggles of eating healthy. That’s why I’m featuring more meals that only take about twenty  minutes to prepare. In this case you could make the pea mash ahead and this dinner

Tarragon basil pea mash is the perfect fat/carb side for seared salmon that only takes about 7 minutes to prepare.  Salmon full of good fat, protein and flavor. Basil, tarragon and lemon season the pea mash, and the salmon is so tasty it’s only adorned with salt the pepper.

I like to see salmon done very barely cooked in the center, yet crispy on the outside.

I prefer the all clad stainless steel, when pan frying fish.  Using the smallest amount of oil, the salmon skin grabs onto the bottom of the pan and when it’s crispy, it just releases. By this time, the pan is hot and when the salmon is turned over, it will crisp up on the bottom  in about four minutes, making sure my salmon does not get overcooked. It’s so buttery that it doesn’t need much, but when the mood strikes to make it special, a pea mash makes a perfect marriage.

Are Green Peas Paleo?

I’ve deemed this a paleo friendly dish, although I know some will disagree. That’s fine. Kris Kresser in “Your Personal Paleo Code” proposes that green peas, green beans should not necessarily be ousted from the Paleo community, as some people benefit from them just fine. There is some serious silliness in what is deemed the “Paleo Community” with some of the same silliness and dogma I see in the Vegan community.

I’m caught in the middle here, as I’m a fish eating, meat eating, vegetable eating tiger. I love it all, as long as the ingredients are star quality, and produced upon an eco friendly, body friendly value system. That’s my dogma and I’m sticking to it.

I for one will never stop eating green peas or green beans because someone said my late great ancestors didn’t eat them. I’m more concerned with getting people away from mac and cheese in a box and pesticides in whole foods. I think that when people get dogmatic without scientific information and decide to ban whole green food, they lose normal non-health nut folks who will shake their head and deem the Paleo community as nutty.

They will return to the garbage food and I can’t say I blame them on some count. Dogma about anything makes people shriek, get all in and then get all out. Like crash diets.

We don’t eat like that, and in reality, any of us in America who care about health are always swimming upstream, just to avoid hot donuts and hot dogs, and ridiculous food like chicken fried tofu (which is aplenty at my local Whole Foods and makes me shake my head every time I see it).  Choosing healthy is not for the weak at heart. It takes ferocity, so why make it harder than it has to be.

Here’s a healthy dinner that takes under twenty minutes to prepare. Some people will tell you it’s not healthy. Some people  shriek at olive oil the way they used to shriek at coconut oil. Some people will tell you that browning food will kill you. Some people will tell you that 10,000 years ago no one ate green peas and we shouldn’t either. You have to use your own good judgement. This is way up the health food chain. You could be eating at Captain D’s.

Whether you poach your salmon or pan fry it, this is a delightful dish, light and filling at the same time, and takes you giant steps forward in eating healthy. If you want to add in more nutrition, add an avocado to the pea mash. Smooth, creamy, and no one is going to tell you avocado is bad for you. At least not this year.

Avocado pea mash is another option. This version below follows the same instructions and add in an avocado. It’s creamier and quite tasty.

Tarragon Basil Pea Mash with a crispy pan fried salmon might just help you to make better dinner choices, whether you are eating alone or having a dinner party.

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Tarragon Pea Mash with Crispy Pan Fried Salmon (Paleo Friendly)

A fragrant herb infused pea mash with pan fried salmon.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Pea Mash

• 1 tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon butter or use more oil of choice
• 1 leek sliced
• 2 shallots or 1/2 onion diced
• juice of one lemon with zest
• big handful fresh basil
• big handful fresh tarragon

Pan Fried Salmon

• 1 pound of salmon cut about 2 inches thick.

Instructions

• Saute leeks and shallot (or onion) in oil and butter until softened.
• Add frozen peas.
• Add half lemon zest. Save remaining for salmon
• Season with salt and pepper
• When peas are warmed through, turn off heat.
• Add in the juice of one lemon
• Add in fresh herbs.
• Place in blender or Vitamix or use a stick blender to mash, leaving as a mash, not a puree. You may need to add in some more olive oil.

Pan Fried Salmon

• Take salmon out 30 minutes prior to cooking.
• In the meantime, take the other half of the lemon zest and place in olive oil.
• Season salmon with salt and pepper.
• Heat lemon olive oil in frying pan that is just large enough to hold salmon.
• On medium heat, fry salmon top side first for 3 minutes or until it’s crispy and moves away from the bottom of pan easily. Turn over.
• Fry skin side down for another 4-6 minutes until the bottom is crispy. Cover the pan to cook through. Be careful not to overcook.
• Place on top of the pea mash. Serve immediately.

Notes

You can add an avocado to the pea mash, for a creamier version.

The post Tarragon Basil Pea Mash with Crispy Pan Fried Salmon (Paleo Friendly) appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Last week during the snow day, I found myself taking buttery spaghetti up a notch by adding peas and bacon when trying to fix a quick lunch.   I never make mac and cheese. I didn’t grow up eating mac and cheese, but I did grow up eating buttery spaghetti, and often, it would have peas in it.

The peas add some sweetness and a different texture, and I don’t need to tell you what bacon adds.

Since this is ten minute meal, this is a ten minute post, hoping to inspire you with delicious satisfying faster food that will entice kids to eat and make your busy day easier. For younger kids, use a macaroni pasta like bow ties, but do introduce your family to all kinds of pasta.

Options could include  mushrooms, or even toasted breadcrumbs. Instead of parmigiano reggiano, you might consider tossing with goat cheese, or topping with a fried egg.  Try adding in some herbs like tarragon (great with the peas) or some Italian parsley.

While it’s not to consider options, the buttery spaghetti with peas and bacon is a great dish just as is.

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Ten Minute Buttery Spaghetti with Peas & Bacon

Spaghetti with butter, peas and bacon is a fast easy meal that is satisfying and hearty.

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 7 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 pound spaghetti or macaroni
• 6 slices bacon
• 1/2 cup good quality unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups frozen peas
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano reggiano

Instructions

• Cook pasta according to directions one minute less in large pot of boiling, salted water.
• While pasta is cooking, fry the bacon. Drain on Paper towels, break into small pieces.
• In frying pan, put butter and olive oil. Drain pasta and add to buttery pan. Add in frozen peas, cook for one minute. Toss with bacon. Season with salt and pepper.
• Serve with parmigiano reggiano.

Notes

Options: Use macaroni instead of spaghetti. Toss with goat cheese instead of Parmesan. Add in mushrooms or toasted bread crumbs.

The post Ten Minute Buttery Spaghetti with Peas & Bacon appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Cold weather drives us to comfort food dishes like homemade Italian beef stew, paleo friendly, grain free. This is what healthy comfort food looks like. It’s NOT diet food. It’s not fat free. It’s not stuck in some frozen wrapper in the lean watcher section. It’s on top of the stove, wafting deep, flavorful beef, tomatoes and vegetables, telling our brain hearty food is at hand.

If I could only choose to cook one way, it would like this. Rustic, healthy, hearty, one pot dishes, adding in enough fat and wine to make a simple dish seem special. This is food for the home cook. If this were in one of the trendy restaurants, it would be short ribs and complicated sauces with a heaping of grains like barley or polenta. Nothing wrong with that kind of cooking, but at home, we need simple, approachable food that we can pop on top of the stove on a day the kids are home on a snow day, and time is short, but appetites are big.

This is the dish that a woman will love (cause it’s nutrition packed, grain free). This is the dish a man would marry her for, because comfort food and beef usually make a man happy. (Please don’t write me if I hurt anyone’s feelings or stereotypes; I’m making a point).

The Key to a good Italian Beef Stew is San Marzano Tomatoes.

I call this Italian style stew, because I added in a lot of San Marzano tomatoes, herbs, and wine to give it that Italian taste. I started out with olive oil, onions and garlic. I ended with a garnish of red chili pepper and freshly grated parmigiano reggiano.

Record temperatures in Nashville, snow on the deck (which I love, made us grateful for a hearty, healthy, Italian beef stew.

You may also be interested in my Paleo Friendly Vegetable Beef Soup.

You may also be interested in these amazing roast turnips.

More Paleo Recipes

More Soups and Stews from Spinach Tiger

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Homemade Italian Beef Stew with Wine, Paleo Friendly, Grain Free

A Paleo Friendly, gluten free, grain free Italian stew with turnips instead of potatoes.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 4 hours hours

Total Time 4 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 pounds lean beef cubes
• 6 carrots
• 2 celery sticks chopped
• 2 onions chopped
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 2 large cans San Marzano Tomatoes order here
• 1 quart beef broth or 1 tablespoon organic bouillon paste (or can use water)
• 1 cup white wine can use red
• 2 handfuls parsley divided
• fresh thyme
• oregano
• 6 small turnips large diced
• 1 bunch Tuscan kale ribs removed, torn into pieces
• 1 cup frozen peas optional
• parmigiano reggiano cheese
• cracked red pepper to taste

Instructions

• Season meat with salt and pepper.
• Brown meat in large dutch oven or frying pan.
• Remove meat, set aside on a plate.
• Add in onions, two carrots, finely chopped, celery. Cook for five minutes or until onions are softened, on medium low heat. Add in minced garlic and cook for about one minute. You don't want that garlic to go past pale golden.
• Deglaze pan by adding in 1/2 cup of white wine. You can use a red wine if you choose.
• Cook down for about ten minutes. Add in tomatoes. Just smoosh up with your hands, adding all tomato and juices.
• Add beef back in. Add in handful parsley, reserving some for garnish, bay leaves, fresh thyme.
• Add in 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper.
• Cook on top of the stove on very low simmer for three hours, stirring frequently. Add beef broth or water a little at a time.
• This stew is a soupy stew, not very thick and you can choose not to add in the beef broth. The tomatoes with the beef and herbs will yield plenty of flavor.
• Remove bay leaves, and any parsley, or thyme stems.
• An hour before serving, roast carrots and turnips in oven for twenty minutes, tossed in olive oil and salt.
• Put into the stew, add in kale and frozen peas.
• Season again with salt and pepper, fresh chopped parsley.
• Serve with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and red chili pepper.

The post Homemade Italian Beef Stew with Wine, Paleo Friendly, Grain Free appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

This is an upgraded version of a dish my family eats all the time. I first discovered the amazing combination of two simple ingredients, when put together are magical, at an Italian Club potluck.

At first I was put off.Who brings a ground beef dish to a potluck, if you’re Italian.

No one. Unless it’s meatballs. But, there sat this little dish of ground beef, onion and peas, and after my first bite, I nearly ate it all. I think went back three times, while Pasta and bread were flying into the mouths of  the Italian Americans.

I was criticized recently of stereotyping Americans interpreting Italian food, but non-Italians should take heart, as we Italians are most critical of each other.

Now perhaps that’s a stereotype, but it is what it is. We all know your Italian family makes the best sauce. And your Aunt Carmella makes the best eggplant and my Aunt Rita makes the best stuffed shells.  I even take pride in saying no one beats Retro Rose’s Southern Fried Chicken anywhere and I’ll smack down anyone’s Southern biscuits. But, the most trouble is in the Italian food. My grandmother had issues with certain regions of Italy. Their sauce was inferior to her mothers, etc., and there were would be these funny stories about entire villages in Italy that only thought they could cook!

I think we are born this way. Try to imagine the thoughts going round the room in that Italian Club pot luck. You better believe they were summing up each dish, all the while enjoying the food with gusto. I was drawn to the most humble dish in the room, because it was different and just delicious.

I’ve written about that dish here, which is still one of the all time most popular dishes. It’s simple. Olive oil. Onions. Ground Beef. Red Chile Pepper.  A few herbs.

Today, I made exciting changes. I added kale, and I added milk to the ground beef. Grass milk with grass fed beef. It’s a healthy dish, and it’s in keeping with my commitment to the primal blueprint, an offshoot of the paleo diet.

Whether you eat for health or eat to eat, you can’t go wrong with Italian style ground beef with pancetta, kale, and peas. It’s affordable, delicious and takes about twenty minutes in total. Now that’s reason enough to pin this one.

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Ground Beef Italian Style with Pancetta, Kale, Sweet Peas

A most delicious, twenty minutes dish, of ground beef, pancetta, kale and sweet peas. Rustic, Affordable.

Course Entree

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 3

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 large onion diced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup diced pancetta
• 1 pound grass fed ground beef
• 1/4 cup organic milk
• 1 cup peas
• fresh thyme
• 1 bunch lacinato kale
• 1 to mato or a handful of small cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon cracked chili pepper

Instructions

• Prepare kale: Wash, rinse, cut out the ribs and chop into bite sized pieces. Set aside.
• Heat oil in pan. Add in onions and pancetta and cook until softened.
• Add in ground beef over top of onions. Pour milk over ground beef. Salt ground beef.
• Stir together. Milk will make it slightly cream and adds nice texture
• Continue to stir frequently until ground beef is cooked.
• Add frozen peas and stir until peas or cooked, which only takes a few minutes.
• Add fresh thyme and chopped kale until kale is softened.
• Turn off heat. add in some fresh tomato or tomato grapes. Serve immediately.

The post Ground Beef Italian Style with Pancetta, Kale, Sweet Peas appeared first on Spinach Tiger.