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Strawberry Ginger Mayo

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I am a big fan of mixing sweet and savory items, particularly when the savory item is also spicy. The creaminess of the mayonnaise, the sweetness of the strawberries, and the earthiness of the ginger make this condiment a well-rounded counterpart to any spicy meat. Particularly my Jerk Pork Tenderloin! It cools off the spiciness of the meat and gives the flavors an extra dimension. It’s also dead easy.

If you don’t like strawberries, you can swap it out for any other preserves, like apricot or grape. Don’t like mayo? Swap it out for sour cream. Hate ginger? Use tarragon! Or chives! Or a good mustard!  It’s very customizable.

The general principle is something sweet + something creamy + something earthy.

Kissel’s Spiced Jams does an excellent job of pairing sweet and earthy and you can look to them for flavor combination ideas, such as Apricot & Rosemary, Peach & Coriander, Cherry & Fennel, and Plum & Tarragon.

The uses for this mayo are endless.

Get a half a pound of Boars Head Jerk Turkey and Chipotle Gouda from the supermarket deli. Lay out a piece of turkey, spread on some strawberry ginger mayo, top with a piece of cheese, and roll it up like a cigar. Keep going until you run out of turkey and store in a Tupperware container in the fridge for easy snacking.

To make the mayo, you’ll need:
1 tbsp ground ginger
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp sugar-free strawberry preserves

 

Strawberry Ginger Mayo

Mix all ingredients well and serve.

Strawberry Ginger Mayo

Strawberry Ginger Mayo
 
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Sweet and earthy condiment that pairs well with spicy, savory meat
Author:
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp ground ginger
  • ¼ cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp sugar-free strawberry preserves
Instructions
  1. Mix all ingredients well and serve.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 222 Fat: 24 Carbohydrates: 5 Sugar: 3 Sodium: 151 Protein: 0

 

Roasted Lemon Cauliflower with Italian Sausage

By 4 Comments

I love to cook, but I hate making dinner. It’s so incredibly stressful to work all day, peel out of the office parking lot to the grocery store, finally drop your bags on the kitchen counter… and then have to cook. Early in the day, I will often email my husband about the elaborate meal I’m planning to make in the evening and get his feedback, but by 6:00 p.m., it’s like “Never mind what all I said previously about glazed sea bass with tender asparagus tips and a light citrus vinaigrette, how about this KFC grilled chicken I picked up instead?”

On weekends and at any other time of the day, it’s a different story, but during the week after work, I lose all motivation to cook. Except for recipes like this one. It only takes a few minutes to assemble and then roasts in the oven undisturbed while you can change into comfy clothes, check the mail, and just generally de-stress.

It was originally a side dish created by Ina Garten (who I love!) and adapted by Simply Recipes, and I further adapted it by adding meat to make it a complete dinner. It has a very rich flavor from the roasted cauliflower and the lemon, cheese, and spices combine into something that almost tastes like a super light alfredo sauce.

You’ll need

  • 1 head of raw Cauliflower
  • 3 cloves of Garlic, peeled and coarsely minced
  • Juice of 1 Lemon
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 10 Italian sausage links, cut into fourths
  • 1 tsp dried Parsley

As soon as you walk through the door, preheat your oven to 400F.

Get out a baking sheet and line it with foil, so that clean-up will be super easy.

Cut the cauliflower into small florets and put them in a single layer on the baking sheet.

Toss in your garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, lemon juice, and sausage pieces.

Use your hands to mix the ingredients until each piece is coated with a bit of olive oil.

Roasted Lemon Cauliflower with Italian Sausage

Place it all in the hot oven for 40 minutes, uncovered. The top should be lightly brown and the cauliflower should be easily pierced with a fork.

Roasted Lemon Cauliflower with Italian Sausage

Remove from the oven, sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Roasted Lemon Cauliflower with Italian Sausage

 

Roasted Lemon Cauliflower with Italian Sausage
 
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Roasted cauliflower and Italian sausage with a light sauce of lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, spices, and Parmesan cheese.
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 head of raw Cauliflower
  • 3 cloves of Garlic, peeled and coarsely minced
  • Juice of 1 Lemon
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper
  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
  • 10 Italian sausage links, cut into fourths
  • 1 tsp dried Parsley
Instructions
  1. As soon as you walk through the door, preheat your oven to 400F.
  2. Get out a baking sheet and line it with foil, so that clean-up will be super easy.
  3. Cut the cauliflower into small florets and put them in a single layer on the baking sheet.
  4. Toss in your garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, parsley, lemon juice, and sausage pieces.
  5. Use your hands to mix the ingredients until each piece is coated with a bit of olive oil.
  6. Place it all in the hot oven for 40 minutes, uncovered. The top should be lightly brown and the cauliflower should be easily pierced with a fork.
  7. Remove from the oven, sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese and serve.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 413 Fat: 23 Carbohydrates: 14 Sugar: 4 Sodium: 1338 Protein: 39

 

Garlicky Lemon Chicken

By 9 Comments

When my husband and I first started living together, I had never seen him cook before. I knew that he could cook well enough to keep himself alive, but I’d never seen the process. One day I was making dinner and I asked him to season some chicken drumsticks in a bowl on the counter. “With what?” he said. “Salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder! Isn’t this what everyone seasons raw chicken with all the time?? What the heck are we really talking about here?!?” I thought. I was thoroughly confused when I looked over and saw him very lightly shaking the seasonings over the bowl and then stepping away.

In my family, we season food aggressively. Not just in the amount, but in the way we physically do it. Meat isn’t “seasoned” unless it has been slapped around in the bowl, crushed into neighboring pieces, and massaged above and below the skin. I don’t know if it’s a Caribbean thing or just my family, but I can’t season my meat any other way.

This is one of those recipes where you really need to aggressively season the meat for the dish to come alive. There are so few ingredients, so you really need to rub everything against each other for the flavors to meld.

You’ll need:

  • 5 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
  • 1 lemon, cut into thin slices
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp Fines Herbes Seasoning (mix of parsley, chives, chevril, and tarragon)
  • 1 tbsp Onion Powder
  • 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tbsp Salt
  • 1 tbsp Pepper

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Season your chicken thighs with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Fines Herbes seasoning.

Garlicky Lemon Chicken

Thinly slice your lemon and mince your garlic.

Garlicky Lemon Chicken

Aggressively season the chicken in a baking dish.

Garlicky Lemon Chicken

Bake for 1 hour and serve.

Garlicky Lemon Chicken

5.0 from 1 reviews
Garlicky Lemon Chicken
 
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Chicken thighs baked with a simple sauce of lemon slices, heaps of garlic, and fine seasonings. Low carb, paleo, and gluten free!
Author:
Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • 5 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
  • 1 lemon, cut into thin slices
  • 5 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp Fines Herbes Seasoning (mix of parsley, chives, chevril, and tarragon)
  • 1 tbsp Onion Powder
  • 1 tbsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 tbsp Olive Oil
  • 1 tbsp Salt
  • 1 tbsp Pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Season your chicken thighs with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Fines Herbes seasoning.
  3. Thinly slice your lemon and mince your garlic.
  4. Aggressively season the chicken in a baking dish.
  5. Bake for 1 hour and serve.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 215 Fat: 14 Carbohydrates: 6 Sugar: 0 Sodium: 74 Protein: 17

 

Curry Shrimp

By 7 Comments

Curry Shrimp

I have vivid memories of sitting down at the dinner table as a little kid and seeing my father sweating profusely, dabbing his nose, and guzzling water because the food was so spicy. He would cook the meat with a scotch bonnet pepper sitting fully intact at the side of pot. Once the kids’ shares had been dished out, he would pierce the pepper with a knife and stir it around and take the dish from 1 to 100 on a spice level. As I sat there watching him, I wondered why anybody would put themselves through that. It hardly looked enjoyable.

Now that I’m an adult, I get it. Sometimes you just want that kicked-up, make-your-toes-curl flavor and you don’t care if you sweat through a suit jacket to get it.

I got this recipe from That’s So Yummy’s Jamaican Curry Shrimp  and slightly adapted it to fit the ingredients I had on hand and take the heat up a few notches. I don’t eat this because I’m allergic to shrimp (though I did sneak a small bite!), but my husband says it was out-of-this-world good.

  • 2 lbs fresh shrimp
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 scotch bonnet pepper, finely chopped up
  • 2 stalks of scallion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 roasted red pepper, chopped
  • 2 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups water

Chop up your garlic, onion, tomatoes, peppers, scallion, and scotch bonnet.

Curry Shrimp

Peel and remove the vein from the shrimp.

Curry Shrimp

In a large skillet, add olive oil, curry powder, and fresh thyme.

Curry Shrimp

Cook on medium heat for approximately 1 minute, until the curry powder becomes very fragrant. Add the tomatoes, scallion, roasted red pepper, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently so all the ingredients are coated in the curry oil.

Curry Shrimp

Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat back down to medium and toss in your shrimp.

Curry Shrimp

Stir the shrimp into the mixture and let simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes or so, until the shrimp is cooked and no longer opaque. I served this on a bed of cauliflower couscous.

Curry Shrimp

4.0 from 1 reviews
Curry Shrimp
 
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Quick and spicy Jamaican curry shrimp with tomatoes, onions, garlic, and scotch bonnet pepper.
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs fresh shrimp
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 scotch bonnet pepper, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 roasted red pepper, chopped
  • 2 tbsp curry powder
  • 1 tomato, chopped
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • Salt and Pepper
  • 1½ cups of water
Instructions
  1. Chop your onion, tomato, pepper, scallion, garlic, and scotch bonnet pepper.
  2. Peel and remove the vein from the shrimp.
  3. In a large skillet, add olive oil, curry powder, and fresh thyme.
  4. Cook on medium heat for approximately 1 minute, until the curry powder becomes very fragrant.
  5. Add the tomatoes, roasted red pepper, onions, scallion, salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme.
  6. Sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently so all the ingredients are coated in the curry oil.
  7. Add water and bring to a boil.
  8. Reduce heat back down to medium and toss in your shrimp.
  9. Stir the shrimp into the mixture and let simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes or so, until the shrimp is cooked and no longer opaque.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 99 Fat: 2 Carbohydrates: 9 Sugar: 3 Sodium: 145 Protein: 13

 

 

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

By 13 Comments

When I was in law school, I was one of the managing editors of our law review. Part of this job entailed waking up obscenely early in the morning on weekends and editing articles line by line in the basement of the library. One of the best parts of this job (other than the excellent company… hi Nicole! hi Mike!) was that we’d usually stuff ourselves with fresh bagels slathered with Boursin cream cheese.

I had never heard of Boursin cheese before then and I developed an obsession with the stuff. It has a soft, crumbly texture like goat cheese, but it tastes like scallion cream cheese. Only much lighter.

The other day I was craving some and, as I’m staying away from bagels at the moment, I searched around for a suitable recipe. This one is slightly adapted from Baked Bree’s Chicken with Boursin Mushroom Sauce and it is absolutely heavenly. The velvety sauce would be good on anything, but it really shines against juicy chicken breasts.

You’ll need:

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pkg baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1 thinly sliced shallot
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 pkg Boursin Garlic and Fine Herbs cheese
  • 2 tbsp dried parsley

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

Slice your shallot and mushrooms and set aside your Boursin cheese and butter.

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

Add extra virgin olive oil to a large skillet and cook the chicken breasts on high heat for 5 minutes. Flip the chicken breasts over, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for an additional 15 minutes. The chicken should be fully cooked at this point. Remove chicken from the skillet, put on a plate, and cover with foil to keep warm.

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

Add the mushrooms, butter, and shallots to the same skillet the chicken breasts were in.

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

Cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are golden brown.

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

Add the wine and cook until the wine has reduced by half. Turn the heat to low and add the Boursin cheese and parsley.

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

Stir until the cheese has melted.

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

Slice your chicken breasts into strips and drizzle with the Boursin mushroom sauce.

Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts

4.0 from 1 reviews
Boursin Mushroom Chicken Breasts
 
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Chicken breasts with a creamy Boursin cheese and mushroom sauce
Author:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pkg baby bella mushrooms, sliced
  • 4 tbsp butter
  • 1 thinly sliced shallot
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 pkg Garlic & Fine Herbs Boursin Cheese
  • 2 tbsp dried parsley
Instructions
  1. Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides.
  2. Add extra virgin olive oil to a large skillet and cook the chicken breasts on high heat for 5 minutes.
  3. Flip the chicken breasts over, reduce heat to medium, cover and cook for an additional 15 minutes. The chicken should be fully cooked at this point.
  4. Remove chicken from the skillet, put on a plate, and cover with foil to keep warm.
  5. Add the mushrooms, butter, and shallots to the same skillet the chicken breasts were in.
  6. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are golden brown.
  7. Add the wine and cook until the wine has reduced by half.
  8. Turn the heat to low and add the Boursin cheese and parsley.
  9. Stir until the cheese has melted.
  10. Slice your chicken breasts into strips and drizzle with the Boursin mushroom sauce.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 578 Fat: 43 Carbohydrates: 5 Sugar: 1 Sodium: 85 Protein: 36

 

 

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