Paleo 'Ranch' Dressing

Ok, first I made homemade BBQ sauce which is also Paleo friendly because Ive been craving BBQ chicken!! That turned out d-licious!! Then when I was getting the rest of my sides ready to serve with my BBQ chicken (asparagus and green salad) I was really really craving ranch dressing!! So I started thinking....there has to be a way to make ranch dressing. I started throwing things in an jar that has a good sealing lid so I could shake it and this is what I came up with. I wouldn't say its an exact replica to ranch....but I would say that it can definitely cure your ranch blues!!

*Beware....these are not exact directions that I used.....I tried to keep track of what I did, but I didn't measure anything so these are my approximations  ;O)

1/4 cup of homemade Paleo mayo you can use any recipe you want I used this one!
1/4 cup coconut milk (from can)
2 T red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, grated on micro plane or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/8 tsp salt or as much or as little as you like
1/2 T dijon mustard
3 dashes of franks hot sauce

Put all ingredients into a jar or container with a well sealing lid and shake the snot out of it!! Refrigerate for about an hour before serving for best results. The coloring might be a little yellower than ranch but if you are looking for that 'creamy' salad dressing.....you've come to the right place. ;)

Chicken Pad Thai

This dish is AMAZING!! It is so fresh and light and delicious but filling. It is a perfect summer meal. I could literally make it and eat it everyday for lunch!! Making this dish is the first time I have used tamarind paste and who knew that stuff was sooo tasty??

It's interesting that tamarind is used in Hispanic and Asian cooking. My hubby grew up in El Salvador and he remembers his grandma making juice out of the tamarind and also just eating it raw. So on our hunt for tamarind paste (which we found at our local Asian market) we also visited one of our local Hispanic markets and bought some whole tamarind pieces so we could taste that too. Not gonna lie....it was pretty yummy!!

approx. 8 oz  rice noodles

 4 boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked

1 red bell pepper, sliced thinly

1 stalk celery, sliced thinly

3 spring onions, sliced thinly

2 to 3 cups bean sprouts

1 cup fresh cilantro, lightly chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, lightly chopped

1/3 cup dry roasted unsalted peanuts, lightly chopped

DRESSING:

1/2 cup hot water

1 +3/4 Tbsp. tamarind paste

1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar

1/4 cup fish sauce

1-2 Tbsp. chili sauce

 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 thumb-size piece ginger, minced

Cook noodles according to package direction. Drain and cool. In a large bowl place all ingredients.  Make dressing and pour over your noodle mixture. Toss until everything is coated in dressing. Serve.

Jicama Apple Slaw

For the love of food....if you do nothing else tomorrow....take your self to the store and buy some jicama and whatever else you don't have from this recipe and MAKE THIS SALAD!! Salad slaw whatever you want to call it......it's U-STINKEN-MAZING....it's fresh, it's light, it's refreshing, it's filling and wonderful.

I've seen a bunch of different recipes with cabbage and jicama and I've heard of apple and jicama but usually with some sort of mayonaisey sauce on it....and who wants something light and crisp and delicious with mayo on it....not me!! So I came up with this the same way I come up with most things I make.....I read 1937 recipes then I put all the stuff I like together to come up with my own.

Don't get me wrong....jicama is divine on its own.....but THIS....well.....oh....just go to the store and buy some jicama...if you like apples you will like jicama!!

*chanting* must make this slaw....must make this slaw...you are getting sleepy.....must make this slaw.....*snap* now go to the store!!

1 whole jicama (the size of a cantaloupe) peeled and sliced in long skinny strips
1 large apple, peeled and seeded, cut into long skinny strips
1/2 cup (packed) cilantro, diced fine
1 orange, zested and juiced
1 orange, diced
1 lime zested and juiced
3 T rice wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 T olive oil
1 T honey

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss well. Serve immediately or chill and let the flavors mingle and hang out with each other.

Nectarine, Raspberry and Chicken Salad w/ Citrus Vinaigrette

*Doing a happy dance* Isn't this gorgeous????? I just love the colors!! I had some leftover chicken from last night (see previous recipe) and I had seen a recipe that was a nectarine chicken salad, but it called for mayonnaise and mixing it all together and that just didn't sound appealing to me today. Soooooo.....I decided to go with the concept, but make it my own. Here is what I came up with and the citrus vinaigrette was a bright added touch!!

Now, tattoo man being my food critic, said he didn't love the celery. He thought I should have used carrots instead. But...me....I thought the celery was great!! So....you can take it or leave it.....the real stars of this salad are the fruit, chicken and dressing as far as I'm concerned!!

Serves 2

1 1/2 cups of diced cooked chicken (I used leftovers, but you can cook 2 boneless skinless breasts)
1 nectarine, cut into 1" pieces
4 cups romaine lettuce, torn into bite sized pieces
2 T sliced red onion
1 celery stalk, diced
1/4 cup almonds, chopped or sliced
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

First place lettuce in a bowl, then top with chicken, onion, nectarine, raspberries, celery and almonds. Pour vinaigrette over top and serve!!



Vinaigrette
2 oranges juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried herbs from pantry (anything that sounds good)
1/2 tsp salt
1 clove grated garlic
2 tsp honey

Put all ingredients in a container that has a good sealing lid and shake the snot out of it.

Turkey/Chicken Salad

Since Thanksgiving is coming up, I thought we'd talk about leftovers!! Here is one of my favorite turkey leftover recipes!! I LOVE a good chicken salad so why not substitute leftover turkey!! If you notice, there is also a dinner roll in the picture. I got that recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks website....and oooohhhh man are those rolls good. I will put the recipe up so you can try them out!!

Another good thing you can make with your leftovers is Potato Soup out of the mashed potatoes, or stuffing patties....just take your leftover stuffing and shape it into a crab cake looking thing. Then fry on both sides or bake it and serve with a little leftover gravy!

Turkey/Chicken Salad

3-4 cups cooked turkey/chicken
1 cup chopped cashews
2 stalks celery chopped
3 green onions chopped
1 1/2 cups red seedless grapes
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 tsp cinnamon
dash of fresh grated nutmeg
dash of salt

Mix everything together and serve on your favorite bread or over greens or avocado.

Here is the link to thepioneerwomancooks.com it will take you directly to the dinner rolls....which I highly recommend making. I made them on Wednesday and just refrigerated the dough until Friday, which is when I cooked Thanksgiving dinner for my family, and they worked out perfectly!!!

Enjoy and happy eating!!


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/pw_dinner_rolls_-_no_kneading_required/