Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Many of you know of my borderline addiction to soup and making soup.  I’ve been wanting to open a soup restaurant just don’t have the financial backing to do it…yet!  Last night was the perfect night to make soup here in New England, with a Nor’easter having just dumped a big pile of snow on us and temperatures in the negative numbers, what else are you supposed to have for dinner?!?  I posted a picture of the soup on Facebook so decided to put the “recipe” on here.  Enjoy!

 

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cartons of chicken broth (no sugar added)
• 2 tablespoons Asian garlic & chili sauce
• juice of 2 limes
• 3 medium size carrots, sliced
• 3 celery sticks, sliced
• 1 package baby bella mushrooms, diced
• 2 leeks, cut in half and sliced
• 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Start out by pouring half a carton of chicken broth into a soup pot along with 2 tablespoons garlic & chili sauce and the juice of 2 limes
2. Cut your chicken breasts into chunks and add to the broth and cover
3. While your chicken is cooking, cut all vegetables and put to the side
4. Allow the chick to cook for approximately 10-15 minutes until completely cooked, then remove chicken from broth and set aside
5. Once the chicken is removed, add the remaining chicken broth, all vegetables and any spices to the broth
6. When the chicken is cool enough to touch, shred it with your hands and add it back to the soup
7. Allow to cook on a low to medium heat until the carrots and celery are tender.
8. ENJOY!!!

Spicy Tuna & Zucchini Cakes

This recipe came to me while on the elliptical at the gym this week. I had a piece of tuna marinating in the fridge overnight and had no clue what I was going to have with it when all of a sudden, this popped into my head! They came out delicious and are pretty easy and quick to make. Definitely one of my favorite things I’ve made, I hope you enjoy it! Following this recipe will make about 6 small to medium sized pancakes, you can enjoy them as a meal or a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 tuna steak
• Juice from 2 limes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons garlic chili sauce (found in the Asian aisle at the grocery store)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup (ish) chopped scallions

Instructions:

1. Start out by combining the lime juice, garlic cloves and the garlic chili sauce ( I use the Magic Bullet blender to mix). Marinate the tuna steak in the mixture overnight
2. When you’re ready to cook, put coconut or olive oil in a skillet and heat to a medium temperature
3. Dice the raw tuna and put it in a large mixing bowl, add a little of the marinade to keep the flavor
4. Shred the zucchini and add it along with the chopped scallions and egg to the tuna
5. Mix everything together with your hands to thoroughly combine everything
6. Make mixture into small pancakes and put in the skillet. Cook until golden brown then flip (about 5-7 minutes per side)
7. ENJOY!!!

Sweet Potato Hash

This has quickly become a crowd favorite!  I’ve made it multiple times and each time, everyone LOVES it!!  It started out one Sunday morning, I didn’t want to make boring eggs and fruit or bacon, saw a sweet potato in my vegetable basket and the rest is history!  This can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.  I made a big pan of it (minus the eggs and goat cheese) for a pot luck at work this week, everyone loved it!

Ingredients:

• 2 medium size sweet potatoes
• 1/2 – whole red onion
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• 4-6 links spicy turkey sausage (remove casing)
• goat cheese crumbles
• eggs (1-2 per person)
• enough coconut oil (or olive oil) to coat the pan)

Instructions:

• Heat a large skillet to a medium heat with coconut oil in the pan
• Dice sweet potatoes and red onion and add to skillet (this is the longest part)
• In a separate frying pan, get your turkey sausage cooking.  Once it starts to cook, chop up the links so it’s more of a ground sausage consistency
• Make sure to mix the sweet potato/onion mixture frequently so it doesn’t stick but it will probably need to cook about 30 minutes before the potatoes become fork tender
• Once the sausage is cooked, add it to the sweet potato/onion mixture and cook until potatoes start to caramelize
• While everything is cooking, chop up some scallions (amount depending on you, I like a lot)
• Get another frying pan out (I use the one the sausage was cooked in) and fry your eggs.  I like mine to have a runny yoke, feel free to cook them however you like
• When the potatoes are nice and lightly browned, put a scoop in a bowl, top with a little scallion, goat cheese then your egg on top.  I then put a little more scallion and goat cheese on top of the egg
• ENJOY!

Paleo Lemon Pepper Chicken & Brussel Sprouts

I know I have another recipe for Lemon Brussel Sprouts and I still stand by that being an awesome recipe.  However, I like to tweak my recipes and usually the more times I make it, the better it gets.  This is one of those examples, from the Lemon Brussel Sprouts came Lemon Pepper Chicken & Brussel Sprouts.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

 

Ingredients:

• Package stir fry chicken strips
• Juice from 2 lemons
• 1/4 red onion diced
• 4-6 strips turkey bacon diced
• Teaspoon coconut oil
• Cracked black pepper
• Garlic powder to taste

Instructions:

• Start by cutting brussel sprouts in half and removing the gross stems and boil them until fork tender
• While brussel sprouts are boiling, heat a large skillet and melt coconut oil in the pan
• Once skillet is heated to a medium heat, start cooking diced turkey bacon and diced onion with crushed black pepper and garlic powder
• In a separate pan, cook chicken strips with the juice of one lemon and plenty of cracked black pepper
• Once chicken is cooked, add it to the bacon and onion mixture (including the juice)
• Cover ingredients with cracked black pepper
• Let cook for about 7-10 minutes mixing ingredients together
• Drain brussel sprouts and add to skillet
• Add juice from the other lemon and a little more black pepper
• Mix everything together and cook until brussel sprouts start to caramelize
• ENJOY!

Spicy Veggie & Turkey Burger Soup

I make this soup when I have extra veggies in the house that I don’t want to throw away.  I’ll list what I used for this specific batch of soup (because it came out freakin amazing!) but feel free to use whatever  veggies you like!

Ingredients:

• Package of Ground Turkey Burger
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 1 cup baby carrot cut in about 4 pieces
• Bundle of asparagus
• 1 leek
• 1 cup brussel sprouts cut in half
• 2 cartons of organic chicken broth
• 1 jar of hot salsa (make sure to check ingredients, no added salt or sugar)

Instructions:

• This recipe is super easy!
• In a soup pot, combine chicken broth, salsa and veggies (except onion) and let simmer on low
• In a skillet, cook onion and turkey burger together until turkey burger starts to brown
• Add burger to your soup and let simmer for about 30-45 minutes until veggies are cooked thoroughly
• ENJOY!

Paleo Italian Style Coleslaw

Okay guys, ready for the easiest coleslaw recipe ever?  This is perfect to bring to those summer cookouts and BBQs as a way to eat healthy but still enjoy those summer favorites!  Best of all, it’s only 5 ingredients and I make mine in the tupperware container I bring with me!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• about 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 bag shredded cabbage & carrot (it’s pre-made coleslaw,  you can shred your own if you want but I’m going for easy)
• Black pepper
• garlic salt

Instructions:

Okay, ready for this.  Grab a big bowl, mix all your ingredients together and put in the fridge to chill it until you’re ready to eat.  Yup, that’s it!  Use as much or as little garlic salt and black pepper as you like.  This is easy and super delicious!

Enjoy!

Easy Paleo Guacamole

Aside from my Honey Mustard, this guacamole recipe is the easiest recipe I’ve made!  I got this quick and delicious idea from my little sister’s boyfriend who makes it at all of our cookouts.  Since I don’t eat tortilla chips anymore, I make this more as a dipping sauce for fish or chicken or I dip baby carrots in it.  It’s so yummy, I could just eat it with a spoon!

The measurements for this are based on my personal preference and making enough for just me.  You can make it for a party, just increase the amount of everything. If you aren’t sure how to cut and pit an avocado, here’s a short video to walk you through it.

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe avocado
• juice of 1 lime
• fresh cilantro (amount is based on preference, I use a handful or so)
• sea salt

Instructions:

• Cut avocado and scoop into a bowl
• Use 2 tablespoons to mash the avocado halves (I leave mine a little chunky but you can make it whatever consistency you prefer)
• Finely chop the fresh cilantro and add to the avocado
• Add the fresh squeezed lime juice
• Finally, add the sea salt.  I use about 1/2-1 teaspoon but again use how much you like
• ENJOY!