Category Archives: Recipes

Whole30 Menu Planning, Part III

Turkey chili - paleo

Happy Monday!

Here are some meal-planning ideas for another week of Whole30-compliant eating. As promised, I am including a chili recipe. It’s basically a variation on my popular Turkey Chili, but without the beans and with more vegetables (see below). Continue reading

Chicken Croquettes

croquettes 4

My mom is an excellent cook and is always on the lookout for new recipes and ideas. When she saw this recipe in the Kitsap Sun in January of 2011, she immediately thought of me. Knowing I like healthy food, as do most of my clients, she thought I could put this idea to good use. It took me a few months before I actually tried it, but when I did, I knew it was a keeper.

This is a versatile recipe that can be made using various vegetables and proteins. The recipe listed below is only slightly adapted from the original, but sometime soon I plan to try it with butternut squash in place of the sweet potatoes and possibly with chopped pork. Continue reading

2014: Time to Reset

Happy New Year!

It’s a new year and time for another Whole30 challenge. The “challenge” is a 30-day diet modification that cuts out the most common allergen foods that are regularly consumed in the United States—things like gluten, soy, and peanuts. It also helps alleviate the highs and lows produced by foods. What I mean by this is that your energy is consistent. People tend not to need a pick-me up in the afternoon while on the challenge. There are no sugar rushes from simple carbohydrate-heavy meals. I participated last year and found it to be a great way to remove processed foods from my diet as well as eat regular meals loaded with vegetables. Continue reading

Polenta-Stuffed Mushrooms

mushroooms 1

If you’re planning a New Year’s party and want to serve some finger food for your guests to offset the champagne, here’s a deceptively easy recipe that combines creamy polenta with flavorful roasted mushrooms. Continue reading

Holiday Cookies

cookies 4A client introduced me to this recipe last year, and I liked it much more than I expected to. Don’t let the name deceive you: These are not very much like fruitcake (I am not a fan). They are buttery and nutty, and the dried fruits have a hint of cognac flavor. Continue reading

Cranberry Tart

cranberry tart

I almost always have Thanksgiving dinner at my mother’s house in Port Orchard, where she does most of the cooking (believe it or not, I don’t make every one of my family’s meals). When we were discussing our plans on the phone last month, she told me she had seen a recipe for a cranberry tart, but she didn’t have time to make it.

The recipe, she said, was in the current issue of Edible Seattle, which I just happened to have at my house in Seattle, too. So I prepared it for Thanksgiving dinner. I think it would make a good Christmas dinner dessert as well, so I’m sharing it with you. Continue reading

Tenderloin Crostini

tenderloin bites 1Here’s a recipe sure to please the beef lovers in your circle of friends.

One of the most popular appetizers I serve is my Steak Bites with Salsa Verde. This holiday season, I was trying to figure out a way to modify it to make it more wintry.

While I was running with one of my buddies, Polly, she and I  were discussing the food she had recently had at a holiday party she attended. She was raving about steak served with blue cheese. And, if you were to ask my coworker Laura, she would tell you that I like to miniaturize everything.

So between Polly’s story and my natural inclination, I came up with individual bites of beef tenderloin served on a mini crostini topped with a horseradish mayonnaise and garnished with creamy blue cheese. Continue reading

Prosciutto-Sweet Potato Bites

photo 1Are you entertaining this holiday season—or would you like to take a dish with you to any holiday parties? Here’s an appetizer to serve that combines the salty-savory taste of prosciutto with creamy sweet potatoes. Continue reading

Fall Chowder

photo 2 (2)A good, hearty chowder makes a wonderful meal on cold winter evenings. It is also a nice change after the Thanksgiving turkey.

I recently prepared this recipe for an event I catered for a Henry Art Gallery board meeting. I served the chowder in individual bowls and garnished them with fresh minced chives (as shown in the photo above), but it’s equally good ladled right from the stove into big bowls for your family. Continue reading

Turkey Help?

baked pies (2)I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I enjoyed the day with my family, and then spent the rest of the weekend with family, our pups, and getting ready for the busy month ahead.

If you still have turkey leftover from your feast, and your family is tiring of turkey sandwiches, here is an idea for something different. Continue reading