CSA Recap

Helloooo!  Apologies to our loyal followers...I know we've been a bit silent over the last couple weeks, and that was not intentional.  Justin and I were over in China for the last couple weeks, and had been planning to post a few things while we were gone, until I was reminded that China blocks Google and blogs.  Whomp!  Whomp!  We'll have a recap of some of the delicious things we ate while we were traveling, but I still need to get settled back in first.  So let's pick up where we left off...our CSA recap...

And here's how we used everything...

• Chicken Marsala & Roasted Turnips
• shitake mushrooms
• oyster mushrooms
• turnips
• green onions
• Steak Frites
• sweet potatoes
• Roasted Chicken (like this one)
• whole chicken
• Kale & Bacon Frittata (sorta like this one, but with squash on the bottom)
• kale
• squash
• green onion
• Pork Chops with Mango Salsa
• green onion
• romaine
• watercress

We ended up just eating the peanuts while watching some basketball, and the potatoes were used for some home fries for a weekend breakfast.  We'll get back on track with our regular posts...promise!

Welcome to the Tropics

Now that the weather is really warming up, it's time to start cooking with spring/summer fruits and veggies.  We got things started with some pork chops topped with mango salsa.

Here's my trick for cutting a mango.  The seed in the middle is typically pretty wide, but not very thick.  So, start by slicing off the sides.

Then, score your two sides into whatever size cubes you like.  You don't want to cut all the way through the skin though.  Then flip it inside out.

Now, all you have to do is is run your knife through the bottom of your chunks to separate them from the skin.  To finish off the salsa, we added some sliced green onion, red onion, cilantro, and some lemon.

Give it a good stir, add a little salt and pepper, and you're good to go!  This would also be great with a little cucumber or some avocado, and some jalepeno if you want a little heat.

For the pork chops, we simply seasoned them with salt, pepper, cayenne, and a little grapeseed oil, and stuck them under the broiler for a few minutes on each side.  You'll want to keep an eye on them so they don't overcook and become tough.  And to finish off the meal, we had a simple salad, lightly dressed with some lemon juice, grapeseed oil, a drop of maple syrup, salt and pepper.

CSA Day AND Chicken Marsala

That's right...you're getting a two for one deal tonight!  So let's get things started.

Here's what we hauled in today...

We're really excited about this whole chicken.  The peanuts and potatoes will be a little trickier since they are both off limits with the Paleo diet, but since we allow ourselves one cheat day, we'll find a way to incorporate them into meals then.

Now...for tonight's dinner, we whipped up some chicken marsala and roasted turnips.

We started by making a "marinade" for the chicken.  I use that term loosely since it wasn't your typical saucy marinade, but that's how the recipe phrased it, so that's what I'm sticking with.  We started by slicing and dicing some green onion (since we didn't have shallots), white onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary (our little twist), and sage, and adding in a bit of grapeseed oil.  Then we layered in our chicken, making sure each piece was nicely covered in the aromatics.

The recipe says to cut your chicken into chunks, but we went more with cutlets.  So I stacked them up, making sure to get the onions and herbs in between each piece, and let them sit for about 10 minutes while we prepped the turnips.  We kept them simple and just roasted them up, similar to how we did the cauliflower here.  Once the chicken had a chance to marinate, we browned them in a pan, and then popped 'em into the oven just to stay warm (so turn your oven no higher than 200).

Using the same pan, we added the remaining onions and herbs to the pan to soften, and then added in the mushrooms.  We used both the oyster and shitake mushrooms that we picked up in our share.

Once the mushrooms have cooked down, add in your marsala wine to deglaze the pan.  Be sure to scrape up all the delicious brown bits that may be stuck on the bottom of your pan.  If you use a non-stick pan like we did, you won't have to worry about those stuck-on bits.

Once the alcohol has cooked off, add in your chicken stock.  Give everything a good stir, and be sure to season your sauce with salt and pepper.  Then you just let it simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes.  Up until this point, it was Paleo-friendly.  But we had to add a tiny bit of cornstarch to thicken the sauce.  The recipe called for arrowroot as the thickening agent, but we didn't have any on hand.  Considering there was only about 1/2 tsp of cornstarch, I'm going to say this was still Paleo-friendly.

Once your sauce has thickened to your desired viscosity, you can toss your chickens in so they can absorb some of the sauce.  Then you're ready to serve!