Organic Black Bean, Turkey, 'Shroom Chili with Dean and Deluca spices

Chili for someone else because it has no GARLIC in it and 

I L O V E Garlic!!  

But, I have a good friend who just had back surgery, and she and her husband like my chili that I make just for them. The first time I made it, their request was no garlic, no onions, no mushrooms and not spicy & made with ground turkey and black beans.  SAY WHAT?!? That isn't chili!!  But over the years, they have decided that everything but the garlic is ok, so this is how I make it now, just for them. Since it's a pretty good dish, I decided to blog it.  At the end I'll tell you what I would add to it for me!  

First, I bring out the big crock pot so they can have some to eat and some to freeze.

I used over a pound of Shelton's ground turkey from happy pastured turkeys with a little S & P and I sautéed that in a little bit of olive oil just to brown it, then put it in the crock pot with the tomatoes and tomatoe paste.

Then I sautéed the shallots and mushrooms in a little olive oil and added that in. If you wanted to make this vegetarian, the mushrooms are meaty and hearty and make a great meat substitute or just a great addition to chili with meat or turkey.

Then I dumped in the rest of the ingredients and spices and turned it on low in the crockpot where it will stay for the next 8 hours or so.

Ingredients

1 or more pounds of ground turkey or beef

2 cans of organic black beans, drained and rinsed (if you remove these, it becomes #PALEO
2 cans of organic petite diced tomatoes
1 10 oz package Trade Joes crimini mushrooms, chopped up fine
2 medium shallots chopped up fine
1 jar yellow and red roasted peppers from Trader Joes chopped up
Equivalent of 1 can of tomatoe paste, though I squirted it out of a tube

2 small turkish bay leaves  

Dean and Deluca Chili Powder Blend which is what sets my chili apart from other chili because it is a rich dark perfect blend of spices!
Dean and Deluca Hungarian paprika, greek oregano, basil, thyme and cumin to taste. they don't like things 'spicy' so i never use more than a teaspoon of anything and mostly just a pinch.  Last time I made it they said it was kind of boring, because I barely used any spices, so i upped the chili powder blend in this one!  They just don't like 'hot' spicy things I think . . . or garlic!

If I was making it for me, I would add a ton of fresh grated garlic, greek black olives chopped up, red chili pepper flakes, Louisiana hot sauce & more fresh peppers chopped up. 

I would serve it with greek yogurt and colby/jack cheese shredded on top of it and maybe some more olives chopped up on top.  I USED to serve it with crushed up fritos and sour cream and cheese on top.  It was yum, but I don't eat fritos anymore :( 

Mish Mash of Italian Paleo one pot dish for dinner or whenever . . .

Paleo Spaghetti . . . kind of . . . sort of . . . but not really

So, I haven't made anything new for awhile until tonight.  This is really a mish mash to resemble spaghetti/italian something because I was missing Italian food. Basically Spaghetti and Meat Sauce.

I started with:
one sweet onion, chopped
about 6-8 ounces of brown crimini mushrooms chopped
sautéed in a little olive oil because i don't like cocoanut oil but that's what i should have used

Then I added 1 pound of Shelton's ground turkey to the veggies

Season with whatever you want but I used S & P, garlic, Dean and Deluca Oregano and Basil

I then added the threads from one pre-cooked spaghetti squash that I had roasted in the oven and pulled the 'spaghetti threads' out  ( here is how to do it in case you need directions: http://www.kitchentreaty.com/how-to-cook-spaghetti-squash-two-different-ways-in-the-microwave-or-in-the-oven/ )

I also had some crunchy roasted cauliflower that i chopped up and added to the whole thing, 3 big florets

Then I added about 3/4 of a jar of gluten free, organic pasta sauce and heated it all up. You could also just use fresh tomatoes cut up and some organic tomatoe sauce, maybe a little tomatoe paste instead. Add some red pepper flakes to make it hot. Grate some cheese over the top of it and even mix it with real spaghetti to make it go farther if you aren't doing paleo.

It actually tasted really yum, even though it's not the prettiest thing i have ever made.  

From Clinton Kelly on The Chew, Pork Chops and Apple Compote from his Grandma!

PALEO Pork chop and Apple Compote a la Clinton Kelly on THE CHEW

I adapted The Chew's Clinton Kelly's recipe for his Grandma Annette's Pork Chops and apple compote, for last night's dinner.  Mostly because I didn't have the cabbage at home, I had everything else, and I was hungry.  For the entire post, including the braised cabbage, which would have been wonderful, go to this link:  Clinton Kelly's Grandma Annette's Pork Chops.

For Christmas, I received a great present all the way from FLORIDA, of a Lodge cast iron skillet, allowing me for the first time ever, to be able to start a dish on the stove and then finish it off in the oven, which is what I did. However . . .  I have to keep reminding myself that the handle is H O T!!! and to use an oven mitt!

Just as an aside, I do use a lot of Dean & Deluca spices, because I think they are the best, but for sure the cinnamon is the most fragrant, sweetest cinnamon powder you will ever find, in my opinion.  I also added a few raisins to this. Trader Joe's has a Jumbo Raisin Medley that doesn't have any added sugar & they are really kind of tangy sweet different tasting, so I threw a handful in while it was on the stove and I did add a little more water while it was cooking.  I put the recipe as THE CHEW had it, but I seldom stick to a recipe. 

ingredients:

• For the Pork Chops:
• thick cut pork chop 
• extra virgin olive oil
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 
  

• For the Apple Compote:
• 3 granny smith apples (peeled and large diced)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon Dean and Deluca cinnamon
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• salt to taste
• 
  

•   

Chicken Thighs with lemon, mushrooms, asparagus

So tonight's dinner is something else I made up and is Paleo friendly. Let's call it:

 chicken thighs with lemon and vegetables 

 

This is what I used:
4 bone in, skin on Chicken thighs from Whole Foods 
Dean & Deluca rosemary 
1 lemon, cut into quarters 
1 TBSP coconut oil 
granulated onion 
garlic powder 
Dean & Deluca Tandoori blend
S&P
Sliced crimini mushrooms
thick cut asparagus 

I seasoned the chicken,  then browned on both sides in the hot coconut oil. i added some olive oil though because i realize that the reason i don't like coconut oil is that it tastes and smells like coconut. i don't care that much for coconut. granted, most of the taste cooks away, but it's too much for me for a savory dish. 

Then I put the thighs in a roasting dish lined with parchment paper, squeezed the lemon juice from half the lemon into the bottom of the dish. 

Then i browed the veggies that i had left over, in the rest of the pan oil for a minute or so, then I poured all of that into the same dish along with the squeezed lemons and baked at 400 for 35 minutes.

It was AMAZING