Coconut Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry

Girl Gone Paleo? Hell nooooooooo! 

If you read this blog regularly, you know I've got all kinds of healthy recipes in my repertoire. As white rice does not agree with my belly, it's one of the top ingredients that I avoid. I have turned to cauliflower 'rice' as my substitute.  If you don't know, white rice is processed, refined and stripped of the outermost and innermost layers of grain, removing most of the fiber, nutrients, and proteins. White rice digests rapidly in your body, creating increased insulin levels, increased fat storage, and will add to your waistline over time.  Furthermore, white rice offers a low level of satiety. 

So you'll eat it, but won't feel very full, and then eat some more with the end result of a guaranteed fat Buddha belly.

It has to be one of the worst feelings EVER for a foodie. So turning to cauliflower "rice" and has been a total game changer for me. Cauliflower 'rice' is cauliflower that has been processed (in a food processor) or grated until it looks like traditional white rice. #Winning!!!  It's a white food you can feel good about eating that can help your waistline shrink for bikini season... which is just around the corner.

Take my advice and try this healthy, low carb, gluten free substitute that will keep your belly feeling warm and full (in a good way!), until that time comes to sport shorts and flips-flops. 

Coconut Cauliflower "Rice"

ingredients 

1 Tablespoon of organic coconut oil 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

1 head of small cauliflower 

1/2 small sweet onion, sliced 

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

preparation

Rinse cauliflower and pat dry. Using a cheese grater, grate the cauliflower to a coarse texture (approximately the size of rice grains) 

or use a food processor to pulse the cauliflower to desired rice-like texture. 

Heat the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic for 3–4 minutes, or until the onion soft and translucent. Add in the cauliflower rice and continue to sauté for 4–5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, transfer to a bowl, cover and set aside to keep warm. 

Cauliflower "Rice" Stir Fry 

ingredients 

Cauliflower 'Rice' 

1 Tablespoon of coconut oil 

1/2 small sweet onion, slice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and grated 

1/2 head of broccoli, cut into florets

1 carrot, julienned

1/2 red pepper, julienned

3-4 bok choy,  ends trimmed and sliced 

Juice of 1/2 lemon 

1/2 teaspoon of green onion, sliced (optional) 

preparation

Wipe pan clean from making cauliflower 'rice', and heat remaining tablespoon of coconut oil over medium high. add the reaming onion and cook stirring until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for about 1 minute. Add the broccoli florets, carrot, bell pepper and bok choy, cook and stir until tender for about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper. Remove from heat and squeeze fresh lemon juice.  

Top cauliflower 'rice' with the stir fry mixture. Sprinkle with green onions or garnish of choice and serve. Enjoy! 

Whole-Grain Mustard Baked Chicken {Clean Eats}

If you follow me on social media, you know that I have been traveling, and therefore eating out almost every night.  While I do enjoy this part of my life very much, all I wanted to do was make a healthy and wholesome dinner once I got back home.  I turned to a chicken recipe from one of my favorite sources of clean eating, Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger M.D. founder of the Clean Program. 

It is important to know that the food you are putting in your body comes for good reliable sources that don't cut corners and process your foods.  This is especially true when discussing poultry and meat. Therefore, if I am cooking with proteins I always try to go to my local butcher, because I know they are sourcing amazing products that not only taste great, but are ultimately healthier for my body as they do not contain any preservatives, hormones, or antibiotics.

If you can think a few days out and plan to cook more than once, buy the whole chicken and have the butcher break it down for you.  I had the guys at Butcher and Larder break down one fresh chicken from Gunthorp Farms into wings, breasts , thighs and drumsticks.  From that, I was able to make this dish and two other dishes that I had 2 nights later, which included grilled buffalo chicken wings and chicken paillard from the breast.  It is always great to be able to cook with all parts of the animal and not waste anything. You can even use the bones from the chicken to improve the flavor of a soup stock!

Recipe adapted from Clean Eats 

ingredients 

2 pasture raised chicken legs, thighs and drumsticks 
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
2 Tablespoons whole-seed mustard 
(like American Spoon  available at Publican Quality Meats or LocalFolksFoods at many locations like Whole Foods, Plum Market, Sunset Foods, etc) 
3-4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar like Braggs. 
2 teaspoons sea salt

preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

In a large bowl, toss all the ingredients together and allow the chicken to marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature. Transfer the marinated chicken into a baking dish and make sure to pour the leftover marinade over the top chicken by using a wooden spoon. 

Bake the chicken for 20-30 minutes, or until it is nicely browned. I set the oven to broil for 2 or so minutes to create that nice brown crust on top of the meat. Serve and enjoy! 

I spread mashed celery root with horseradish and scallions the bottom and placed two pieces of chicken on top. 

Zucchini Noodles aka Zoodles with Slow-Roasted Tomato Marinara

Recent weather here in Chicago has been dreary, so I grabbed the last of my fresh garden tomatoes and basil, and created this colorful and healthy lunch in hopes to fuel up "my happy tank".  Three days filled with cold and non-stop rain brings everyone down.  Argh! What happened to an Indian Summer?

My slow roasted tomatoes will make your kitchen smell like Nonna's house as they roast for several hours. If that smell can't make you feel all warm and happy inside on a dreary day,  I am not sure what will. Food is comfort. 

The zucchini noodles recipe I am sharing with you today is: 

• paleo
• gluten-free
• meatless monday
• clean eating
• vegetarian
• low-calorie 
• dairy-free 
• it's just so good for you! 

I swear by my Paderno Tri-Blade Spiral Vegetable Slicer. Available at Williams-Sonoma. It is a game-changer when preparing apples, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and zucchini! 

Williams-Sonoma

Zucchini Spaghetti (Zoodles) 

serves 2

ingredients

2-3  Zucchini, medium-sized

preparation 

Note: 

Zucchini is rather moist, however, so you should rinse them even if you plan to consume the noodles raw. If boiling or sautéing zucchini noodles, you should place the noodles inside a colander tossed with a teaspoon and let the noodles drip dry for 20-30 minutes. When done, rinse the noodles and wrap the noodles in paper towels and squeeze gently to absorb as much excess moisture as possible.

raw:

Slice off the ends of each zucchini, set in Paderno vegetable slicer to create noodles. Top with slow-roasted tomatoes or slow-roasted tomato marinara and fresh basil leaves. Season to taste with fresh ground pepper. 

hot:

Slice off the ends of each zucchini, set in Paderno vegetable slicer to create noodles. Once the noodles are created, place the noodles inside a colander tossed with a teaspoon of slat and let the noodles drip dry for about 20-30 minutes. When done, rinse the noodles and wrap the noodles in paper towels and squeeze gently to absorb as much excess moisture as possible. 

In this recipe, I sautéed the noodles with some olive oil and minced garlic of one clove. Heat your skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat with about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Sauté the noodles and garlic for about 6-7 minutes, stirring frequently. Top with slow-roasted tomatoes or slow-roasted tomato marinara and fresh basil leaves. Season to taste with fresh ground pepper. Enjoy! 

Meatless Monday {Clean Eating} Roasted Beet Carpaccio

As a Polish girl, I was born with a beet in my hand.  We go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Every week, I am sure to buy them at the farmers' market and incorporate them into my (Polish) diet.   Eating whole and clean is very important to me, and it is not as difficult as people make it out to be.  The following recipe is from the book Clean Eats, by Dr. Alejandro Junger, the person I consider to be my clean eating guru.

A few months back, my husband and I hosted a small dinner party.  I was looking to make something, like a gorgeous starter or passed appetizer that would impress my guests.  When I saw the roasted beet carpaccio pictured in his book, I instantly knew this dish would be the one to get everyone at the party talking.  It did not disappoint.  The presentation was colorful and elegant, and most importantly it was delicious.  As most people usually eat a meat or fish carpaccio, a vegetarian option makes for an attractive option.

adapted from Clean Eats  

ingredients

4 large beets, peeled (use rubber gloves when peeling beets!)

2 handfuls of frisée, spinach or arugula

1 small handful of fresh herbs, such as mint, dill, parsley, ideally some edible flowers

Juice of one lemon

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for beets

Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste 

preparation

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place beets in a baking dish, pour about 1/2 inch of water and then cover the dish with tinfoil. Roast the beets for about 45 minutes or until the beets are fork tender. remove them from the oven, drain the water, and allow the beets to cool. 

Once the beets have cooled, use a mandoline to slice them unto very thin rounds. Be careful as I sliced my finger on my mandoline, if you don't have one use a sharp knife to slice the rounds. 

Arrange the thinly sliced beets  over two serving plates, covering the entire surface of each plate. Drizzle the beets with olive oil and sprinkle them with the  sea salt. In a medium mixing bowl, toss the greens and herbs with the lemon juice, olive oil and salt and fresh ground black pepper.  grab a small bundle of greens with your hand and place it in the center of each plate, on top of the beets. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Clean Eats: Mango Kombucha Slushie/Smoothie

Need a bright and cheerful way to start your day? This mango slushie recipe from Clean Eats by Alejandro Junger is the way to go!  Ginger, Mango, and lime are always an amazing combination according to Dr. Alejandro, and the addition of kiwi fruit adds to the slushies yumminess! The recipe also calls kombucha. It's been my goal to make my own but until then I always buy GT's brand. For any kombucha virgins, it's the an ancient raw elixir that is naturally fermented and carbonated tea; filled with probiotics, powerful antioxidants and enzymes. It's liquid magic! 

ingredients 

1 cup frozen mango slices ( I bought mine at Trader Joe's for $2.69) 
2 kiwifruits, peeled and quartered, and frozen ahead of time ( .49/each at Trader Joe's)
Juice of one lime (.49/each)
Ginger flavored kombucha (GT Gingerade from Whole Foods $3.69)
1 tablespoon coconut nectar (I use Coconut Secret from Whole Foods $8.99)
Ice cubes ( optional) 

preparation 

place all the ingredients in a blender and blend on high setting until the frozen fut had broken down. Serve immediately. Enjoy! 

Oven Baked Dover Sole with Garlic, Capers & Green Olives (Clean Eats)

After a few months of great anticipation, my Clean Eats book finally arrived, Yippee!  This recipe immediately caught my attention, as I love the caper-garlic topping it features, and the fact the fished is baked as opposed to pan-roasted or grilled.   In my kitchen, I usually prepare sole a la grenobloise, or with a pan roasted lemon herb butter.   I believe Dover sole is best served simple, as it is tender and flaky, with a mild sweet almost buttery flavor. Dr. Alejandro Junger recommends smaller cold water fish, as they contain fewer toxins and heavy metals.  Dover sole falls under this category (Flounder can be substituted too).  Whichever fish you use, I recommend calling your local market ahead of time to check the availability. In worst case scenario Trader Joe's sells a frozen wild caught Dover Sole (4 fillets for about $6.50)

Furthermore, this recipe is suitable as part of a cleanse, but ideally should be used in the 21-day Clean Program.  Dr. Junger recommends this dish to clean the gut,  which he believes to be the root of most chronic diseases. 

adapted from Clean Eats 

Serves 2 

ingredients 

1 pound of sole fillets, cut into two portions 

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

1 large garlic clove, thinly sliced (I used two cloves as I love garlic) 

1 teaspoon of capers, rinsed 

1/4 cup pitted green olives, sliced 

1 cup organic chicken stock, vegetable stock or water 

2 tablespoons fresh oregano, roughly chopped 

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper 

preparation 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Arrange the sole fillets in an lightly oiled baking dish or swallow roasting pan, season with salt and pepper, and set aside.  Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium high heat, I recommend using a cast iron saucepan.  Add the garlic and sauté until golden brown making sure not to burn the garlic. Stir in the capers and olives until the mixture is combined. Add the stock or water at medium heat and allow the liquid to reduce by half before adding the fresh oregano,sea salt and  fresh ground pepper.  Pour the sauce over the fish and place the baking dish in the oven. Bake the fillets for about 10 minutes, or until they flake easily with a fork. The fish should be opaque, not dry. Serve immediately. Enjoy! 

I served this dish with a side of garlic lemon sautéed organic spinach. 

Clean Eating

About 5 years ago, I read a life changing book called Clean, by Dr. Alejandro Junger. Since then, I have tried to live my life and eat according to this book. As Spring is here, there is no better time to get  "clean" then now. We put so much "garbage" in our bodies, and we are exposed to so many daily toxins, we need something to help us get rid these. I know its easy to eat unhealthy, but how do you feel afterward?  Usually like crap.  Make the extra effort, eat healthy.  It takes a lot of work, but give your body the good energy it needs.  There is no better way to get on the right track after the long dreary winter than with Dr. Junger's 21-day program. You will feel so rejuvenated!  Read the above interview with Dr. Junger about clean eating. Also, I'm very excited for his new book to come out next week with contributing recipes from Gwyneth Paltrow, Dr. Oz and Cameron Diaz! I pre-ordered mine with 100% of author proceeds goes to a charity.

What is “clean eating”? Dr. Junger: Have you noticed that more and more people are less comfortable using rigid definitions to describe how they eat (i.e. paleo, Atkins, mediterranean, vegetarian, raw, etc.)? We take some ideas from one way of eating, some other ideas from somewhere else and we create a personalized plan that works for each of us. That’s the idea behind clean eating. It’s not a dogma, diet, or a set list of foods that are deemed good or bad. It’s not a restrictive diet or “rabbit food” as some critics like to call healthy eating. It’s really a way of looking at food. I like to imagine clean eating as a pair of glasses that lets you make sense of the food options around you. When you put these glasses on, or keep the clean eating idea in mind, you ask yourself two questions, “Is it a whole food?” and “Is it one of my toxic triggers?” My team and I have described exactly what a whole food is and how to discover your toxic triggers here (PDF). How is clean eating different from the latest diet trends (i.e. paleo, raw foods, South Beach, mediterranean)? Dr. Junger: Clean eating is broader than most diet trends. We’ve found that some people do better on a mostly vegetarian diet, or some people do best with good amounts of animal protein. Some do grains, some people don’t. Whatever diet is God’s gift for one person, may very well be a stomach ache for another. So unlike any diet, clean eating does not have a set list of foods to eat. We focus on our minimalist definition, whole foods minus toxic triggers, and then begin personalizing from there. You say this isn’t a diet, but all of your programs have a set list of foods? Dr. Junger: This is absolutely true. Each program I have created, whether it is a cleansing program or a gut repair program, has a list of included and excluded foods. The list is your “prescription” for the duration of the program. But when we follow a program we are doing it with a specific purpose in mind (cleansing, gut repair) and for a specific period of time. They are not meant to be followed all the time. If they were, we would run into all the same problems that occur when people try to follow a diet long term. It rarely works. Restrictive diets can never give us broad enough choices to account for how we actually eat or want to eat throughout the year. Which is why most people who diet to lose weight tend to gain it back and then some. “Clean eating” is not a program or diet. It’s a way of thinking about our food choices. And you can easily begin by eating whole foods minus your toxic triggers and continuing to pay attention to how your body responds. Over time, your body may respond differently to certain foods and you can adapt accordingly. In my new book, Clean Eats, I have chosen to remove dairy and gluten because my clinical experience has shown me that these are the foods that most often give people trouble. Gluten has been connected to an almost endless list of health problems and dairy tends to create mucus, skin issues, and fatigue. That said, it may not be necessary for you to exclude these items all the time, but I recommend that you do test them by doing a cleanse to discover if they are a trigger food for you. This sounds good, but can I really eat this way long term? Dr. Junger: I understand your concern. We’ve all been affected by the diet mentality. This is the idea that there is one way or a perfect way to eat and if we do this all our problems will be solved. Whenever most of us, myself included, try to stick with these “perfect” plans, we fail, mostly because they are unrealistic and too restrictive. We may feel better at first but then end up feeling worse over time. This is why it’s hard to believe you can eat this way long-term. Clean eating is different than this. It’s not about perfection. There is no perfect diet, no magic bullet that will bring us to health heaven. Rather, there are open principles that can inspire us to stick with foods that have been proven to help us feel better. For me, that means whole foods minus your toxic triggers. What are your biggest food challenges? Dr. Junger: I’m the first to admit that I’ve created my programs to help me with my own health problems. I use the Clean Cleanse, Clean Gut, and Refresh programs regularly to get myself back on track because I do eat foods that don’t always make me feel great. I definitely do not always follow my own advice. Probably my two biggest challenges right now are eating too much sugar and eating too quickly. I’m bringing as much awareness as I can muster in order to change them but it’s a slow process. One of the ways I work with these issues is to be a part of a community of people interested in clean living. Spending time with family and friends who have a habit of eating clean is the simplest way for me to keep on track and feel good. Isn’t clean eating expensive? Dr. Junger: This is a great question and an important one. It’s something that I go into in Clean Eats. Sure, if we compare the immediate cost of eating cheap processed foods versus the cost of whole foods, there is a difference. But that’s only part of the story. The other side of the story is that getting sick is very expensive. In fact unpaid medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy today. Changing the food we eat is the number one action we can take to maintain our health long term. The second point is that most of the expensive health foods are boutique foods. These are your kombuchas, raw food bars, and specialty cakes and cookies. Whole fruits, veggies, greens, fish, meats, eggs, sweet potatoes and non-gluten grains, some of the items on a whole foods diet, are not the foods that tend to drive up the cost at the register. That’s why Clean Eats focuses on basic whole foods you can find anywhere. We have some fun specialty foods in there like maca or coconut water, but none of these are essential items, just ones to use on occasion. Can you tell us a little more about Clean Eats and why you wrote it? Dr. Junger: Well, first, this is the kind of book the Clean community has been requesting for years and for good reason. The Clean Eats recipe book is the foundation for all the programs and books I have created so far. Whether you are talking about the power of cleansing in my first book Clean or the power of gut repair in my second book, Clean Gut, the foundation is the type and quality of the food you eat. And that’s where Clean Eats comes in. The book gives you so many incredible healthy recipes that you can use for the rest of your life. I really feel that the most important tool in our wellness toolbox, is our own kitchen. What you make in your kitchen, when made with clean foods, is the medicine we need today. So it made perfect sense to me that a doctor like myself would create a recipe book. It almost feels like a responsibility. Will this book turn me into some health obsessed, stressed out person? Dr. Junger: I hope not! I know that it is easy to get stressed out about our health. Many of us feel lots of symptoms from digestive issues to fatigue to skin problems. And many of us are also aware that we live in the most toxic time in the history of the world. So, it is important to give attention to our health and what we eat. But obsessing over it can quickly backfire. All the stress creates even more problems. I like to take a step back and ask myself, “Why are we doing all this?” Yes, we want to reduce the probability of chronic health issues, but I think there is another reason, and this reason can keep us from getting stressed. The reason I give attention to my health is that I want to live more. This means I want the energy and joy so I can show up more for my family, spend more time with my kids, and do all things I've been planning to do. And I want my health to be a foundation for that. I give it my focus from time to time, so I don’t need to focus on it all the time. That’s what I love about the Clean Eats book.The recipes are amazing and delicious and they all have the whole foods approach already built in, so you don’t have to spend time analyzing each recipe. via Any final thoughts? Dr. Junger: I’m interested in hearing from our community what you think about the book when it’s released on April 29th and what are your most important wellness questions. The interaction with everyone who has done one of our programs and who lives clean is one of my greatest joys. It’s what motivates me in my own life and in developing tools to inspire you to live clean.