DILL CHICKEN SALAD with celery, apples, and sunflower seeds

Spring is in the air. And the ground. The snow is melting, the sun is shining, and thunderstorms grace the skies. It's a glorious time - my favorite in fact. Lately I've been craving chicken salad. Light yet substantial. Versatile and at the ready for park time, bike rides, and all the outdoor fun that comes with this season. Enjoy!

[THE RECIPE]

1 - 1.25 lbs chicken breast (I love Creswick Farms chicken), cut into large chunks or strips (2 15-oz cans of garbanzo beans to make vegan)
2 tablespoons of ghee or butter (avocado or algae oil for vegan)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup celery, chopped into small chunks
2 small or 1 large sweet apple, chopped into small chunks
1/2 heaping cup of raw sunflower seeds
1 tablespoon of dried dill or 1/4 cup fresh dill leaves
1/2 cup vegenaise or mayonaise (I love Soy-Free Vegenaise or Chose Foods Avocado Oil Mayo)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

In a large cast iron or stainless steel skillet, melt ghee or butter (or oil). Gently spread chicken (or garbanzo beans) out in pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat for about 5 - 7 minutes. If using garbanzo beans in lieu of chicken, shake the pan over the burner from time to time to stir. When the pan side of the chicken begins to brown, flip and cook another 5-7 minutes until browned. Cut into a slice of chicken to make sure it is cooked all the way through. Turn off heat and let cool for 10 minutes.

While chicken cools, combine celery, apples, sunflower seeds, pepper, and dill in a large glass or stainless steel bowl. Mix well.

Chop the chicken into really small pieces (lightly crush garbanzo beans if using). Add the chicken and vegenaise/mayo and stir until all of the mixture is coated evenly. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator for up to a week.

THAI RED CURRY with galangal and kefir lime leaf

[THE RECIPE]

Adapted from: Gluten & Dairy Free Everyday Asian by Bindu Menon

1 small red onion, finely chopped

2 T. garlic, minced

2 T. coconut oil

1 – 1 ½ lb chicken breast or lamb, thin sliced; shrimp or tofu

2 heaping tablespoons of red curry paste

1” piece of galangal or 2 tsp. powder

1 T. Thai fish sauce or tamari / soy sauce

2 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground turmeric

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 15-ounce can regular coconut milk

1 T. raw honey

1/3 c. Thai basil leaves

2 kefir lime leaves [optional]

1 1/2 c. carrots, thinly sliced

1 1/2 c. red / orange / yellow sweet peppers, thinly sliced

1 1/2 c. kale or spinach, thinly sliced

3 c. green beans, French cut or chopped

Warm oil in a large stainless steel or cast iron skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook on medium-low, stirring frequently until onion softens and garlic becomes slightly golden on edges. Add meat of choice and cook thoroughly. Add curry paste, galangal, fish sauce, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cinnamon. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Carefully pour in coconut milk and honey. Stir to combine. Add basil and life leaf and cook over medium – low heat until liquid begins to simmer. Reduce heat to maintain very gentle bubbling but not boiling, add carrots, and cook for 5 - 10 minutes or until carrots are just beginning to soften. Add peppers, beans, and kale. Cook until beans are bright green and peppers just soft. Remove from heat and serve over a bed of basmati or jasmine rice. 

PF CHANG'S STYLE TURKEY LETTUCE WRAPS WITH MARINATED CUCUMBERS

So a little disclaimer. This is absolutely the opposite of a local winter meal. Fresh lettuce in winter? No. Cucumbers in the snow? No. Water chestnuts in the mitten state? Not that I can find.

And so it is what it is and the beauty of discipline in any area of life is that there is room for exceptions and straying from the rules actually keep us balanced and in a healthier place than stubbornness and rigidity.

I love this recipe because it reminds me of PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps and beyond that it reminds me of being in Chicago with my husband, newly married and newly gluten-free. Many people have memories surrounding food and this particular dish is one of the first I ate out after learning I had an allergy to gluten. 

If you've had such a staple food like gluten removed from your diet you know the helpless feeling of looking into a menu and realizing a salad, hold pretty much everything, is the only answer. But then. Then you enter a restaurant that takes gluten free seriously and everything about the meal is suddenly transformed from desperate to beautiful and permanently impressed on your being. 

Now I don't know how the higher ups at PF Chang's feel about GMO's or organic food or supporting local farms or animal confinement. 

I hope they care. 

What I do know is that in this one particular area they made a difference for me in a very hopeless situation and for that I am grateful. 

This recipe was an absolute hit in our family. Most nights I come to the table with food prepared having no idea what the response will be. Translation, I have no idea how hard I'm going to have to fight to have said food consumed by a particular two and four year old. And by fight, I mean how creative I'll need to get. Obviously.

Coming into this meal was no different and truth be told, I expected the worst. Instead, both kids ate the equivalent of four wraps each [albeit running to and from the table]. Either way, a clear and delicious success!

[THE RECIPE]

Serves 4

Adapted from this recipe

1 lb organic, pasture raised ground turkey or chicken

1 - 2 T. extra virgin coconut or olive oil

1 medium onion, minced

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

1 heaping tablespoon of peeled and minced ginger

1 8-ounce can of water chestnuts, finely chopped

1 tsp. garlic powder

5 T. coconut aminos or gluten-free tamari sauce

2 T. raw honey

1 T. brown rice vinegar

1 cucumber very thinly sliced [using knife or mandolin]

raw apple cider vinegar

sea salt

1 large head of bib or butter lettuce, rinsed and laid on towel to dry

cooked [and sprouted if possible] quinoa or rice, optional

green onions / scallions, chopped, optional

Warm oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey and cook until well done, breaking into very small pieces while cooking. Once the turkey is thoroughly cooked, add onion, garlic, and ginger. Saute over medium heat until onion is soft and transparent [5 - 10 minutes]. Stir in the garlic powder, tamari sauce or coconut aminos, honey, and brown rice vinegar. Let mixture cook for about 10 minutes or until the liquid is reduced to one third of the original. Add water chestnuts at the end and cook for 3 - 4 minutes. While the turkey filling is cooking, slice cucumbers and place in a glass bowl. Toss with enough cider vinegar to coat and sprinkle with a few pinches of salt. Mix well and place in refrigerator until food is prepared. 

Once the meat is ready, either place meat, lettuce cups, marinated cucumbers, and quinoa or rice on the table or scoop filling into lettuce cups and top with cucumbers, quinoa or rice [if desired], and serve immediately. 

ONE WEEK OF MEALS CROCK POT STYLE

This past year I've found so much beauty and healing in slowing down, demanding less, giving up pushing and pulling and worrying and controlling, and instead quieting my mind in an effort to really feel my body and hear my soul.

When you're in the "health world" or routinely pick up a health-based magazine or see a fear-based health post or wonder which diet is actually the best, it's so easy to quickly become immersed in food-based fear and anxiety. Most of us want to feel good and live healthfully and we educate ourselves and change our diets and start working out. All good things. And yet there comes a point where the line between making some healthy lifestyle choices shifts to wanting to control it all and simply caring turns to obsessing. And fear of whatever the opposite of health is, or could be, becomes the driving force.

Here's what I've learned: no matter how healthy we eat, how much knowledge we gain, how many supplements we take, how much we care and do and give up, if "being healthy" causes anxiety and stress and fear, health will continually allude us.

Here's what I've also learned: it's okay.

It's okay to release all of the fear. It's okay to release all of the stress. It's okay to say no to the worry. It's okay to get to a point where we say enough is enough. It's okay to think we've failed. It's okay to not feel our best every minute of every day. It's okay to sit in the discomfort of life and experience the emotions that come with. It's okay to get sick from time to time. And it's okay to ask for help when being okay seems unbelievable.

So close the diet books. Discontinue the health magazines. Turn off the sound and chatter of the voices out there and begin to listen to the voice within. I know from experience that the voice of our true, honest, ego-less, projection-less self is infinitely wise and grace-filled and honest and compassionate and vastly inclusive and forgiving. Find someone who can help uncover this voice.

Give up the chatter and noise and meditate. Practice mindfulness. Breathe. Listen to really awesome music. Completely loose all sense of time doing something you love. Go outside. Seriously, even in the winter go outside. Connect with people you care deeply about. Be open and honest and vulnerable. Laugh. Laugh a lot. Let yourself stay up too late and sleep in too long from time to time and don't for a second regret it. And be present. Take all of the energy wasted on worry and fear and being anxious and focus on just being present. Right now. This second.

And forget about food. And health. And whatever you think you should be doing.

Because food matters. But it only matters as one small piece of the great big, beautiful, unique puzzle that makes up you.  


So Crock Pots.

And dinner.

Let's be honest, Crock Pots are one of mankind's most amazing inventions. Well Crock Pots and electricity. And air travel. And indoor plumbing. And pacifiers. You get the point. I affectionately think of ours as Ms. Chef, getting dinner done when I don't have the energy, motivation and/or time to do so. For me, there is something about having dinner prepared before 9am that brings a sort of ease to my day. Feeding my family well demands a decent amount of my time and using a Crock Pot allows me to spend elsewhere the time I would be standing at a stove - hopefully on things that fill me up and give me life and allow me to be present.

Here is a week long meal plan using just the Crock Pot. Some meals are meat-less, some use meat, and all are based on whole, un-processed foods. You can choose to serve with the sides listed, create your own sides, or stick to whatever is in the pot. These recipes are great for cooler temperatures and the winter season.

May you find a little extra space in your life to slow down, take in beauty in whatever way you find it, and forget about food. 

SUNDAY
Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls
*prepare lentils for Monday by placing dried, uncooked lentils in a large glass bowl and covering with double the amount of water and a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar.

MONDAY
Lentil Soup
Serve with oat baguette, seed bread, seed crackers, or bread / crackers of choice.

TUESDAY
Whole Chicken
Serve with steamed or roasted vegetables.

WEDNESDAY
Butternut Squash Risotto
Serve with steamed or roasted vegetables.
*prepare black beans for Thursday by dried, uncooked beans in a large glass bowl and covering with double the amount of wate and a tablespoon of raw apple cider vinegar.

THURSDAY
Black Bean Soup
Serve with fresh cilantro and roasted sweet potato or parsnip chips.
Modifications: Rather than cooking over stove, simply put all of the ingredients [including uncooked, pre-soaked black beans] in Crock Pot on high for 6 - 8 hours.

FRIDAY
Creamy Chicken Soup using leftover chicken from Tuesday [click on link and scroll to "Meal 6"]
Serve with roasted cauliflower [click link and scroll down for recipe].

SATURDAY
Fish Tacos
Serve on a bed of quinoa or rice and top with fresh cilantro, avocado, and freshly squeezed lime juice.
Recipe modifications: I used Cod in place of Tilapia and seasoned with freshly ground cumin and coriander seeds.