A renewed spirit and a delicious dinner

This whole paleo challenge has been tough for a variety of reasons. Its expensive, the change in diet has made me a grumpy biotch. But the worst is I've  become wary of my kitchen, feeling like I no longer know what to do with those crazy spirals that get really hot.

I am pretty handy in the kitchen, preparing vegetarian  cuisine for the masses (or just me... ), but I have been really thrown, mentally, by the simultaneous addition of eggs and fish and subtraction of grain, tofu and tempeh-- staples in my diet.

So the internet has been my savior for the past week or so. But I got bored (see egg post. )

Nothing tasted like "me" if that makes sense? My kitchen looked like a foreign land.

But tonight, somehow, everything clicked. Ginger is still ginger even if its on fish instead of tempeh. Almond butter probably makes a delicious sauce when paired with tamari, just like peanut butter and soy sauce used to in other dishes I've made.

So tonight I experimented, with a little inspiration from the internets. Spaghetti squash with sesame oil and almond butter sauce and a spicy sesame coconut salmon graced my coffee table dining room table.

Tasted amazing, really reknewed my spirit in this endeavor. That probably sounds dramatic, but it is true!

Recipes below!



Spicy Sesame Coconut Crusted Salmon

2  4oz salmon fillets
3 Tsps sesame seeds
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut milk (not the beverage)
Juice of 1 lime or 3 Tbls lime juice

Preheat the oven to 350F

Place salmon fillets in a lightly oiled baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with sesame seeds, pepper, flakes, garlic and salt. Press down and rub seasoning in (this part is especially disgusting to me... but oh well). Drizzle coconut milk and lime over the salmon.

Bake in oven for 15-17 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.





 Sesame Spaghetti Squash and Chard


1 medium spaghetti squash, halved and seeds removed
2 tsps sesame oil
1 small onion
1 bunch chard, save the stalks!
1 small can water chestnuts 
1 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbls tamari or soy sauce (not gluten free)
3 tbls apple cider vinegar
2 tbls almond butter
1/4-1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt, more to taste
Juice of 1 lime


Preheat oven to 350F

Place spaghetti squash cut side down and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add onion to oil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. While the onion is doin its thang, remove the white stalks from the chard. Chop into bite size pieces and add to the pan with onion. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes, until chard stalks soften and onion is translucent.

Chiffonade the chard leaves (about 1 inch wide strips) and set aside.

Turn down heat to low and add ginger, garlic, tamari, vinegar and almond butter. Stir mixture until almond butter becomes smooth.

Add chard leaves to the pan, turn heat up a bit (medium low?). Sprinkle salt over chard and drizzle coconut milk over the top. Cover pan and let steam until chard turns bright green and cooks down.

Once chard is happy (doesnt it look happy?) stir to coat the leaves with the almond butter sauce. Add in the water chestnuts.

Grab that spaghetti squash (I didn't forget! Did you?)! Using a spoon, scoop the flesh out of the squash and toss into the chard saucy mixture. Stir to coat everything evenly. Drizzle lime on top.
Taste for seasoning!

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