Birthday!

Last week was my big 2-5! 

Old right?

I chose to celebrate by making dinner for a small group of delightful people, because we are all decidedly broke, eating at restaurants is difficult for glutards and well I love to cook.

With the help of my fabulous sous chef, Suz, I managed to throw together a delightful meal:

Steak

Roasted beets and sweet potatoes with pistachio butter

Braised Kale

Dessert: Coconut macaroons

NOM.

Unfortunately, I made my guests wait till 8pm (European style right?) to eat, so food was inhaled before proper documentation could be taken. (read: I dont have photos)

But this was one of the most cohesive and successful meals I have ever thrown together so I highly recommend checking out the links below

This Steak Marinade was so tasty. I let the meat marinate for about 2 hours while I prepped and chopped everything else. I used Coconut Aminos instead of soy-sauce, to make it paleoriffic.

The big surprise of the evening was for sure the roasted beet dish, borrowed from my friends at Whole9. I added sweet potatoes and used coconut oil instead of olive oil. It really isn't the prettiest dish, but the pistachio butter is absolutely incredible. 

And finally because I am doing this fabulous 21 Day Sugar Detox I was really at a loss for what to make for dessert... I am not a fan of zee coconut flour and didn't want to jump head first into the dried fruit world (I was allowing myself a little leniency with the sugar, because... come on its my BIRTHDAY!) 

But I stumbled upon this Chocolate Drizzled Coconut Macaroon Recipe and fell in love! Its super super simple and comes together very quickly. They bake MUCH faster than the recipe indicates. Mine were done after 15-20 minutes, so keep an eye on them. 

Instead of using their chocolate drizzle, I used some of my homemade chocolate coconut butter (sugar-free, paleo, 21DSD friendly, vegan, you name it friendly) 

Chocolate Coconut Butter

Ingredients

3 cups unsweetened shredded/flake coconut

1/2 tsp salt

3-4 tbls melted coconut oil

1/3 cup unsweetened dutch cocoa powder

In your food processor combine coconut, salt and 2 tbls of melted coconut oil. Blend on high until mixture starts to liquify. Slowly add remaining coconut oil. Continue to blend until smooth. This process takes anywhere from 5-8 minutes. You may need to pause and scrape down the sides. Add the cocoa powder to the food processor and blend for another minute. This mixture should be VERY liquidy. Pour into glass jar and store at room temperature. It will harden (to a solid state) as it comes to room temperature. 

To use on macaroons, drizzle liquid on top of cookies with a fork. Let sit to harden a bit. 

nom. 

Om nom Cauliflower!

To me.... Cauliflower is a slightly disappointing cousin of broccoli...
Paleo promises of this magical veggie being a fabulous rice substitution or the base of a gluten-free pizza crust have produced some truly terrible dinners....

The Suzz, however, introduced me to Buffalo Cauliflower.  This ridiculously firey treat was the kick-start to my change of heart.... Unfortunately, out of the kindness of Suzzane's heart, we tried to make a paleo version of this (almond flour and water blegh) and it turned out to be kind of hot mess (badum psh hah). Cover anything in enough hot sauce and its still pretty tasty....

So I took it upon myself to give cauliflower a second chance.... Inspired by a gluten-free baked onion ring recipe, the original buffalo cauliflower and random ingredients in my cupboard, I managed to make something truly awesome. Cheesy, spicy, cripsy, and delicious... cauliflower...

Because this really was a make-up as I go kind of recipe, all proportions are estimates.


Ingredients:

• 1 small head cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds
• 1/4 nutritional yeast
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• hot sauce (franks, tapatio, etc) 

Preheat oven to 425F.
Lightly oil a large baking sheet. 
In a small bowl, whisk together egg and almond milk until throuroughly combined. In another small bowl combine all dry ingredients and mix well.

Dip individual florets in the egg wash and then into the spice mixture, being sure to thoroughly cover the cauliflower. Place on oiled baking sheet.

Bake for twenty minutes, until sesame seeds start to brown. Remove from oven and pour hot sauce, to your liking, over each floret. Return to oven for 5-7 more minutes. The outsides should be crunchy and delicious.