New England Fish Chowdah! GOOOOoooood.

We had a lot of coconut cream that needed using up, and I was hungry for a hearty chowder. I made it at home and we took it out to our old cabin to heat up on the hot plate after J. finished fishing in our pond and I finished sketching!

Rich and tasty and I couldn't tell it from a more traditional bowl of chowdah!

I sketched the gorgeous woods and played one of my flutes, waiting for dinner...

Here are the basics, I didn't actually use a recipe...

Nice bite-size bits...

Ingredients

4-5 slices of bacon, fried and crumbled
1/2 to 1 sweet onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 stalks celery, chopped--add celery leaves if you have them!
1 small carrot (my husband's not a carrot fan!, but more would be fine)
2-3 C. (at LEAST) of cauliflower cut into bite size chunks
2 fish filets, cut into bite size pieces (we had cod, but pretty much anything you prefer would be delicious. Maybe clams, shrimp, maybe salmon, whatever fishie!)
handful of parsley chopped (I'd just finished drying our garden parsley)
chicken broth
coconut cream or milk, full fat
1 tsp salt (or to taste)
black pepper if you're in reintroductory phase
1 t lemon juice or to taste (I do a lot of tasting)
a bit of turmeric (optional)

a splash of white wine, if desired (it seemed to add a lot!)
a little bit of ginger (I just used about 1/4 t. of my turmeric paste, which has ginger and turmeric in it)

Looks good, doesn't it?

 

I've cooked whole meals out here, but since we had Lady with us and she was soooo interested in everything I was doing, I was glad it was ready to warm up!

Yep, we both had a second bowl...same photo, though. :D

Instructions

Saute the onion and garlic in bacon grease.

Dump everything but the fish in the pan, cover with coconut milk and chicken (or fish) broth (I don't know how much I used. Cover so it's soup-like.)

Bring to a gentle boil and reduce heat to simmer till vegetables are done, then add the fish. Continue cooking till the fish is done.

Some people cook the cauliflower separately, then put it through the blender to make the soup thicker...I didn't bother. Some use a thickener, I didn't bother...it was delicous as it was!

German "Potato" Salad (yep, made with cauliflower)

We often substitute cauliflower for foodstuffs that are off limits for us, on the Paleo diet and now the autoimmune protocol.  (Even as a pizza crust!) As a nightshade, potatoes are definitely up there on the "I don't think so" list.  But this dish is so delicious you don't miss them for a moment!

SOOO delicious!  A great way to get lots of veggies, too...

Give it a try, for a summer potluck or picnic--since it has no mayonnaise it doesn't have to be refrigerated immediately, and in fact it's wonderful hot.  (It tastes hearty enough for winter fare, too...)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 a large head of cauliflower, cut up into chunks (more if you want)
1/2 lb. bacon more or less--we get Pure, from Farmland, with no nitrates or nitrites, and delicous!
2 stalks of celery sliced thin
3-4 green onions or scallions
1/4c c. diced sweet onions if you need more
T. dried or fresh parsley
splash of red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar
1 t. coconut aminos or a bit more (can use honey or maple syrup)
sea salt to taste

Fry bacon till crispy, drain and reserve fat; slice scallions into small bits, green tops as well.  Don't ask me why, but I love the Zen of cutting vegetables with a good sharp knife.  Joseph made this one...

Steam cauliflower till tender

Yum!

I like the celery cut this fine...

Saute celery and onion, if you've cut up more, in the leftover bacon grease till onions are translucent.

Crumble bacon and add it and everything else to a large bowl.  Dump the onions and celery in, splash with vinegar, add sea salt to taste, and the parsley for a bit of color.  Traditional German potato salad is slightly sweet...that's what the teaspoon of coconut aminos does.  Mix well and serve warm or cold.

I added a bit of my home made nettle salt because nettles are SO good for you, but I don't expect most people have that on hand!

And of course you CAN use potatoes if they're not a problem for you.

Traditional Spring Treat--Wilted Lettuce Salad

Wilted Lettuce Salad

We always looked forward to the first wilted lettuce salad in the spring, when I was growing up...so who could resist, with that lovely planter full of baby lettuce, chard, spinach, beet greens and more?

I picked judiciously to thin the planter and make some room for the tomato plants, then added a few wild greens as I walked back to the house: tender young dandelion greens, lambsquarter, wood sorrel...

See?  They NEEDED thinning!

I washed and trimmed everything and left it to drain while I fried up 3 slices of bacon, cut into chunks then reserved the grease.

A few onions chopped fine added to the dish...

Dressing:

Apple cider vinegar (a few tablespoons)

OR home made dandelion vinegar which is what I used.  (Pick dandelion flowers and tender leaves, put in a jar with apple cider vinegar for a week or so, shaking every day; strain and refrigerate for extra taste and nutrition!)

1 T. raw local honey

Sprinkle of sea salt and pepper, or Pepperman

Sprinkle of Italian herbs or Herbes de Provence, if you like

Stir well and set aside.

When you're ready to serve, reheat the bacon grease and pour over the lettuce, stirring to wilt and coat, add the dressing and toss.  Top with a bit of extra bacon, and if you want, a bit of grated Parmesan cheese...we were having Italian chicken/herb meatballs in red sauce, so it seemed to work!

Dig in! 

(Sort of) Lola's Broccoli Salad...

A friend has brought this to our gatherings a couple of times, and it's delicious!  So of course I begged the recipe and then proceeded to change it...so it's now organic, pretty Paleo, and even more delightful:

SORT of Lola’s Broccoli Salad

It uses quite a bit of bacon, so we actually planned it for the main dish, but remembered we had a piece of Joseph's leftover mustard-glazed salmon.  It goes well with pickled eggs, too, these from Amish Wedding Pickled Beet Eggs.  (We often make our own, but these are really almost as good, and so easy!)


So let's get at it--it's easy!

1 head of organic broccoli chopped bite size
1/2 to 1 onion
1 C. raisins more or less
1/2 C. dried cranberries (optional)
1 C. organic raw sunflower seeds more or less (other nuts or seeds would be fine, too)
1 pkg. of nitrite and nitrate-free bacon (that's 12 oz., these days)
2 T. organic sugar
1 T. honey (optional)
3/4 cup mayonnaise (I used Mark Sisson's new Primal Kitchen mayo, but sometimes we make our own.)
1 T apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste, or try Pepperman, a mix of various peppers

Cook the bacon so it's crisp, let cool and crumble.  Try not to eat too much of it before you make the salad.  Yum.

Mix the chopped broccoli florets, onions, raisins, cranberries, sunflower seed and bacon together.

Mix the sugar, honey, vinegar and mayonnaise, blend well and pour over the mixture.  Stir till coated.

A lovely picnic on the back deck kind of meal...