Marinated Chicken and Mushrooms on Cabbage Steaks

MARINATED CHICKEN:

I made this recipe up many years ago, I think--30 at least, so I could have forgotten where I got it!--and LOVED it.  I used white Worcestershire sauce (then called Marinade for Chicken, then discontinued!), then, and we've stopped using the commercial stuff at all, but I decided to try my new recipe for AIP Worcestershire in its place, and it was LUSCIOUS.

Here's how:

2-3 large chicken breasts or 7-8 boneless thighs, cut in cubes
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine (I used chardonnay)
3-4 sliced garlic cloves
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce, home made* (or commercial if you don't mind the weird ingredients)

1 cup of sliced mushrooms, more or less

Mix liquids and add chicken and garlic, marinate at least 6 hours, then cook in the same sauce till chicken bites are done. Remove chicken and quickly saute' mushrooms in the same pan.

Serve it all over cabbage steaks*, as we did here, or rice or potatoes (if you can do grains and nightshades) or cauliflower rice. Or put in a bowl and go for it!

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HOME MADE WORCESTERSHIRE SAUCE

*I used this recipe for the Worcestershire sauce, and it's as good as the traditional stuff I grew up on! https://www.instinctualwellbeing.com/paleo-aip-worcestershire-sauce/ 

I wonder if I can figure out how to make a white version!  Or maybe I'll just try this one I just found: https://www.spicealley.com/blogs/recipes/white-wine-worcestershire-sauce
(Of course, without cornstarch...I'll bet tapioca starch would work just as well.  I'll use honey or maple syrup instead of white sugar, too...)

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*CABBAGE STEAKS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Slice cabbage from the head, about 1/2" thick slabs.  (If it's near the stem, core that out.) Place on a cookie sheet, coat well with olive oil on both sides, salt and pepper both sides, and roast for 15-17 minutes till edges are crispy.  (If you want more crisp, you can stir the steaks areound and put it back in the oven for a while.  YUM.)  We like this just as a simple side dish, as well...

Portobello Pizza

Since going Paleo and eliminating grains from our diet, one of the things I missed most was pizza. OK, dairy isn't strictly Paleo, but it's borderline acceptable, and everything else on it is good.

Ingredients:

As many large Portobello mushrooms as you would like pizzas with stems & gills removed. I usually figure on two per person. Choose large, deep mushrooms that will hold more stuff.

Sauce – I use Bertolli Organic Olive Oil, Basil, & Garlic. There’s always a lot left over from a new jar, but there are lots of uses for this stuff.

Your favorite pizza toppings – shredded mozzarella, chopped pepperoni, olives, onions, peppers, whatever. If you want to use sausage (which I did in the picture) you should pre-cook it or you will have possibly undercooked pork and definitely way too much grease dripping off your pizza. I don’t measure the ingredients, just kinda eyeball the mushrooms I have and make enough topping mix to fill them. If you make a bit too much, it goes well on a salad and should keep in the fridge for a few days.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

To make:

Mix together the toppings in a mixing bowl. Add a little olive oil to give them a bit of cohesion.

Line the mushroom caps with sauce and pile on the ingredients as high as they’ll go and still hold together. As the cheese melts they will shrink down.

Bake on a rack at 350 for about fifteen minutes – the cheese should be melted and slightly browned, and the mushrooms should be tender. We have a toaster oven with a pan that goes beneath the rack to catch any drippings and it works very well, but a rack inside a baking pan will do if you’re using a standard oven. If you don’t have a rack these can be done in a baking pan, but you might want to bake the mushrooms by themselves for a few minutes to dry them out before stuffing them.

Here's the result, less one bite which I took before remembering that I really should take a picture if I'm going to post this!

TRADITION!!

American Thanksgiving...and 

Grandma's Green Beans 

(sort of...)

We all have special family traditions, especially at holiday times.  (Although I loved my grandmother's green beans any time, any place!)  This is a recipe that's familiar to most of us, in one form or another, a Green Bean Casserole.  (Believe it or not, we saw it pre-packaged at the discount store the other day.  That's just WEIRD.)

Normally, it looks pretty much like this, though I'll admit I've jazzed it up a bit--made it a little more grown up and somewhat healthier than the version I grew up with.  (Still can't do without those French's Onions, though...)

Instead of regular canned green beans, consider preparing fresh ahead of time, cooking them till tender by steaming or (gasp!) boiling.  We get organic ones from our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), which delivers fresh vegetables and fruit (and sometimes meat) to our door.  I've also used canned organic beans, and that works just fine, too!

You'll need about 4 cups of beans to make enough to share with the family...

Give this a try!

4 C. or two cans of green beans, preferably organic

1 large can of cream of mushroom or cream of celery soup--regular, fat free, or "Healthy Request" if you like (*or make your own, it's not hard!  See the recipe below...)

1 small can of organic mushrooms OR 1 C. of raw mushrooms, saute'ed in butter or canola oil or a mix.

1 1/2 C. grated sharp cheddar cheese--if you've got access to organic cheese, great.  (Or grate...)

1 T. fresh garlic, minced (the jarred stuff will do, of course)

A splash of white wine--like 1/4 to 1/2 cup.  Dry-ish wine is probably best, but I've used Rhine with no complaints...

A squeeze of fresh lemon juice.  Trust me, you'll like it...

Dash of sea salt, if you wish...

And yes, all right, one small can of French's Onions.  Yum.  Don't eat too many out of the can...

Grate the cheese, if you haven't bought already grated.  I love my old Salad Shooter!  (They cost a tad more now, but if you grate much (carrots, cheese, whatever) you'll like it too.)

 Mix the green beans, cheese, and soup together in a large bowl...

 

A handful of the onions are good in the mixture, too!  (OK, 2/3 cup, if you like measurements...)  Add the garlic, wine, lemon juice, and salt and stir.

Pour into a large, greased flat pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for a half hour, sprinkle on more onions (YES, more) and bake for 5 more minutes or till the onions are golden brown.  

Two of my godchildren request this every Thanksgiving, and it's all gone by the end of the meal!

(And yes, you're right, that illustration didn't actually go with this recipe, I forgot!)

* Homemade cream of mushroom soup

1 lb. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/4 C. butter or butter and oil mixture, not margarine.  (Have you read the ingredients on margarine??  I don't THINK so. )
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 T. flour (we get organic white/whole wheat flour)
4 C. broth (chicken, vegetable, whatever.  Swanson's makes a quite good organic chicken broth!)
1 C. cream or half and half
salt and pepper to taste.

Saute mushrooms, onions, and garlic in butter till tender, add the flour and stir over medium heat for about a minute.  Remove from heat and add the broth, return to heat, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and continue to stir for about 2 minutes.  Add the cream, whisk, but don't let it boil again.  Voila, cream of mushroom soup!

(If you use celery chopped fine, then of course this is cream of celery soup!)