Urban Cavewoman

Crispy Oven Baked Baby Artichokes

Posted on March 29, 2015

Artichokes are one of my favorite vegetables. Not only are they absolutely delicious, but they are packed with vitamins, minerals, and amazing health benefits. Artichokes are filled with fiber, Vitamin C, potassium, and Magnesium (which your body needs in order to absorb calcium). The health benefits of artichokes are also amazing. As already stated, the high Magnesium content helps with the absorption of calcium (very important to note ladies). Its high fiber content means that it can help with many digestive issues, and the potassium found in artichokes can help to neutralize the effects of sodium (important if you have issues with blood pressure). The curative properties of the artichoke seem to be endless; there have been claims that artichokes can help with everything from preventing cancer, to curing a hangover. Truly, the artichoke is an amazing super-food, and thankfully, it tastes really good too.

What most people don’t realize, is that while the tender heart of the artichoke is the most popular part to eat, many of the nutritional benefits lie in the leaves. Unfortunately, the leaves are often difficult to get to, and too fibrous to enjoy eating. The other down-side to the artichoke is that it can be a true pain to prepare. Fully mature artichokes need to be trimmed and cleaned in a very time intensive way in order to be easily edible at the dining table. Enter the baby artichoke. Baby artichokes are a great way to get the health benefits found in the leaves, without all of the pain and hassle associated with the fully grown variety.

There are many ways to prepare the baby artichoke, but I had seen a recipe floating around the internet for a crispy oven baked version, and decided to try it. I served these with a spicy chipotle mayo with dinner, and they were a huge hit. They didn’t turn out crispy like a french fry, but they were very flavorful and addictive. Give them a try… I bet you can’t eat just one.

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Smoked Salmon Egg’s Benedict

Posted on March 29, 2015

Until this morning, I had never poached an egg. Embarrassing, but true. You see, one of my favorite brunch selections of all time is Eggs Benedict – but it seems so complicated to make! I’ve seen people poaching eggs with those special little poaching ramekins, and painstakingly following Julia Child’s instructions to create the perfect Hollandaise Sauce. While I am in total agreement that the end product is worth it – the concept of my doing this before my coffee has set in just does not compute. So, this morning when my husband turns to me and asked (oh so innocently), “so, how do you poach an egg?” I knew that there had to be a way to recreate this Saturday morning staple with much less hassle.

Poaching an egg is actually very simple – and requires no fancy kitchen equipment other than a pot and a slotted spoon. While there are lots of fancy contraptions out there to make this process “simpler” – the old fashioned way worked just fine for us.

To Poach an Egg

Equipment

2- quart pot, slotted spoon, whisk

Ingredients

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp white vinegar

Eggs (we used 5)

Directions

Fill the pot so that it has about 1 inch of water. Add the salt and vinegar, and bring to a simmer. Crack your egg into a small ramekin. Once the water has reached a simmer, use the whisk to create a “whirlpool” in the pot, and quickly drop the egg into the water. For runny eggs, wait exactly 3 minutes before removing the egg with a slotted spoon. Personally, I like my whites FIRM, so I let my eggs cook for 4 minutes.

Let the egg rest on a plate layered with paper towel, and repeat the process.

Now, the traditional Eggs Benedict is not at all Paleo. Poached eggs, toasted English Muffin, slab of Canadian Bacon, and loads of delicious Hollandaise. Yum. But not exactly what you want to whip up for a casual breakfast on Saturday, or the best thing for you. To “paleo-ify” this recipe, I replaced the English Muffin with a fresh kale salad, consisting of avocado and dried cranberries, and tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and rosemary. I then replaced the Canadian Bacon with smoked salmon, and topped it all off with the poached eggs and a few dollops of Easy Paleo Hollandaise (recipe below).

The result was a delicious, filling and refreshing breakfast. I have a feeling that I will be getting a lot of practice poaching eggs going forward.

#paleo #whole30 Salmon eggs Benedict. Recipe will be posted later today on www.urbancavewoman.com

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Sweet Potato Au Gratin

Posted on March 27, 2015

For a while now, I’ve been hearing about nutritional yeast. Since going “mostly paleo” my husband and I have basically eliminated dairy. While I no longer miss the cream in my coffee, or having yogurt and fruit for breakfast, I do miss cheese – because cheese is awesome. While I hate the way it makes me feel, cheese is decadent and delicious – and I have definitely started to miss it. I’ve read on a few blogs that nutritional yeast is not only a great source of vitamin B, but also a pretty good cheese flavored substitute – so I decided to give it a try and order some from Amazon. When it arrived, I was flummoxed. It was a yellowy powder, that smelled vaguely like Parmesan. I had no idea what to do with it. Some blogs suggested sprinkling it on veggies for flavor, but I didn’t think that would really satisfy my gooey-cheese cravings. After some intense Google-ing, and tasting, I figured out that I might be able to use the nutritional yeast to make a cheese sauce of sorts. Potato Au Gratin seemed like an obvious choice.

I used the nutritional yeast to make a roux of sorts, and layered that with thin medallions of sweet potato, sauteed leeks, onions and pancetta. What came out was… delicious. It didn’t have the gooey texture of a typical gratin, but it was wonderful. I served it to my husband and my mother-in-law for dinner, and they both had seconds. While I’m still not a nutritional yeast ninja, this is certainly making me excited to try some more recipes out!