Vegetable Lasagna (Primal)

Primal Vegetable Lasagna
primal / grain-free

Yield: 4-6 alone, or 6-8 with salad

2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/4in thick

1 eggplant, sliced lengthwise 1/4in thick

Oil of choice

1-1.75 lb meat (ground beef, sausage, whatever)

1/2 onion, sliced into crescents

6-8 mushrooms, sliced

1 carrot, diced

2c kale, chopped

2T garlic, minced

16 ounces tomato sauce

16oz mozzarella, sliced 

1/4c parmesan, grated

16 oz cottage cheese, or ricotta

1 egg

1 t garlic powder

1 t basil

1 t oregano

1 T parsley

Salt + pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with the eggplant and zucchini. Brush with oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes, keeping your eye on them, and rotating or flipping as you see fit.

Meanwhile, saute the meat. Season with salt and pepper. Once cooked, remove from pan.

Add the onion, mushroom, carrot, and garlic to the pan; season with salt and pepper and saute for 3-5 minutes. Add the kale. Add the beef back into the pan, along with the prepared tomato sauce. Cover, bring to simmer, remove cover and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

Mix the cottage cheese with the egg, herbs, and salt and pepper.

Oil a baking dish (9x13 for a thinner lasagna). Add 3/4-1c of the meat sauce to the bottom of the pan. Layer all the zucchini vertically. Next, add 1/2 the cottage cheese/egg mixture. Top with 1/2 the mozzarella, and 1/2 the parmesan. Next, add the remainder of the meat sauce, then all the eggplant, layering it horizontally. Add the remaining cottage cheese/egg mixture, following by the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan. 

Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 30 minutes then allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

What's your favorite way to eat eggplant?

Fiesta Frittata/Holy Taco Pie

 So I had all these leftover onions from cooking fajitas and made this delicious frittata. Seriously - it's amazing. I want it all the time. The onions that I had were already cooked and definitely had flavor from the meat they were cooked with, but I'm writing the recipe how I'd make it without the leftover onions.

Fiesta Frittata/Holy Taco Pie
primal / paleo option / grain-free / gluten-free

Yield: 8 servings

1 yellow onion, crescents

1-1.25 lb ground chorizo sausage

4-6 mushrooms, sliced thin

1-2 bell peppers, sliced

1-2 c greens, I used kale

10 eggs whisked with

1/2-3/4c whole milk*

S+P

Cooking fat of choice (coconut oil, bacon fat, olive oil)

1/4c cheese of choice (cotija!)**
*Coconut for paleo
**Omit for paleo

Topping ideas:

Green onions

Cilantro

Jalapeno

More cotija

Fresh diced tomatoes

Cabbage

Pico de gallo

Sour cream/yogurt

Heat your oven to 375 degrees.

Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add 1T cooking fat of choice to the pan, followed by the onions, and season with salt and pepper. Cook until translucent (you could add some spices here if you want, but the chorizo from our butcher is super flavorful. If you do, I'd do a dash of cumin, maybe a touch of paprika). When the onions are soft and translucent, remove from the pan. 

Add the chorizo and cook until done. Remove from the pan. Add a touch more oil, and throw in the mushrooms. Salt and pepper them. Let them soak up all the fat/flavor that rendered out of the sausage. Add the peppers (and any other veggies besides greens), give them some S+P, and stir fry for a minute. 

Add the onions and chorizo back in the pan, followed by the greens. Stir everything together. At this point I added a touch of butter to melt along the bottom of the pan because the particular pan I was using sometimes sticks in crucial situations. 

Pour in the eggs and milk evenly over the top of the fiesta in the pan. Top with some cheese. Cotija preferably, but cheddar or colby jack would suffice if necessary. 

Cook for 20 minutes, or until the eggs are completely set but not overcooked! Top with anything and everything and devour.

Store leftovers in the fridge. Reheat in a 350 degree oven wrapped in foil for 15-20 minutes. Or eat cold. Whatevz.

Oh hey cell phone photo. Oh hey Grandma plates.

Do you like frittata or quiche better?

Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti, or Christmas Biscotti

I have this recipe scrawled in a notebook from who knows when... I've been making it for years, after searching for the perfect replica of the biscotti I remember growing up. It's delicious, and we make it for our friends and family every Christmas, along with other goodies, and sometimes throughout the year by special request :)
It's extremely simple to make biscotti and once I made the first batch years ago I kicked myself for waiting so long. It was one of those things (yet another) that I had on my to do list for so long, but waited out of lack of knowledge or intimidation, only to find it was so simple (I'm looking at you, pie crust)!
As with all simple recipes, the quality of your results depends greatly on the quality of your ingredients. Use good quality extracts and extra virgin olive oil, as well as fresh eggs (can I insert how excited I am to not be buying eggs and being able to depend solely on our backyard ladies?!), berries and nuts.

Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti

Yield: 30-36 depending on your cut

1/4 c olive oil

3/4 c granulated sugar

2 t vanilla extract

1/4 t almond extract

2 eggs

1 3/4 c AP flour

1/4 t salt

1 t baking powder

1/2 c dried cranberries

1 1/2 c shelled pistachios

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees then combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl (flour, salt and baking powder).

In a stand mixer, combine the wet (olive oil, sugar, extracts). Blend and then add in the eggs. Add the dry to the wet gradually. Mix until combined and then fold in the cranberries and pistachios.

Divide the dough in half (it will be sticky) and use wet hands to form 12x2 inch logs on a silicone baking mat lined cookie sheet (or parchment). 

Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, lower the temperature to 275 degrees, and let the biscotti cool for 10 minutes before slicing on the diagonal into 3/4 inch slices. Lay the slices on their sides and bake 8-10 minutes longer. 

Cool on a wire rack, and store in an air tight container. These keep for a long time, and freeze beautifully, but I doubt they'll last that long :) 

Enjoy.