Garlicky Sauted Kale

Ingredients
2 Tbsp bacon grease or butter
6 cloves of garlic
bunch of fresh kale
1/2 lime
sea salt
black pepper

Directions
Rinse kale, remove ribs, and tear into chip-sized pieces.

Melt grease in cast iron skillet at medium to medium-high heat. Chop garlic and saute in hot grease for about a minute, until starting to turn golden

Add as much kale into pan as will fit, and use tongs to lift and turn the kale, coating it in the grease as it starts to cook down. When it cooks down enough, add another layer of kale and do the same. Just keep turning it as it wilts and adding more to the pan.

Cook kale a few more minutes until desired tenderness. Then squeeze the lime juice right into the pan, salt and pepper to taste, and mix thoroughly. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Lime Butter Salmon

Ingredients½ cup butter (melted)
1 large garlic clove (chopped)
1 ½ tsp. fresh lime zest (for garnish)
¼ cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp. sea salt (plus more for salmon)
½ tsp. black pepper (plus more for salmon)
olive oil to mist on salmon
6 (6-oz.) salmon fillets

Directions
Choose cooking method for salmon, either grill or bake. Grilling results in dryer fish and can be easy to over-cook. Heat gas grill to moderate temperature. Season salmon all over with sea salt and pepper, then grill flesh side down on oiled grill, 3-4 minutes. Turn and grill for another 3 minutes. Baking in oven results in fish that is more moist. Preheat oven to 375. Spray baking dish with olive oil. Place salmon skin down, mist with olive oil, and lightly season with sea salt and pepper. Bake for about 18 minutes until salmon flakes with fork.

Puree garlic with lime juice, salt and pepper in a blender until smooth. With motor running, add melted butter until emulsified, about 30 seconds. Set aside until salmon is finished cooking.

Sprinkle salmon with lime zest and top with 1-2 Tbsp of the lime butter sauce and serve!

Pad Thai

My version is adapted from a recipe posted at Health-Bent. I toned down the heat for the children by doubling the "noodles" and meat, while keeping the sauce the same. The recipe serves four people as a main dish, accompanied tonight by shredded savory sweet potatoes and an impromptu vegetable soup.

Ingredients
4 zucchinis
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
4-5 boneless chicken thighs (~2-3 lbs)
1/4 c. coconut oil (or other traditional fat)
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
3 Tbsp. almond butter
1 Tbsp. chili-pepper water (or chili garlic sauce)
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 lime, juiced
Sliced green onions (optional garnish)
Garlic salt and black pepper

Directions

• Prepare zucchini "noodles" in advance by slicing with a spiral slicer, mandoline, or use a knife to slice the zucchini as thinly as you can (lengthwise). Then slice them into thin strips, similar to fettuccine and set aside. Chop the onion, mince garlic, and peel/grate ginger; combine and set aside. Measure out the following wet ingredients, combine, and set aside: vinegar, almond butter, chili-pepper water, fish sauce, and lime juice.
• Melt fat in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Season chicken with garlic salt and black pepper. Add to pan and sear skin side down (if skin is present) until you get a nice, crispy crust, about 8 minutes. Flip it over and sear on the other side, about another 7 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pan, let it rest and drain the rendered fat from the pan, until you have about 1/2 c. left in the pan. 
• In the reserved fat, saute the onion, garlic and ginger, until soft. Add the wet ingredient mixture and stir to combine. Add the zucchini noodles to the saute pan and toss to coat with the sauce. Cook for about 10 minutes, until zucchini has an "al dente" texture.
• While zucchini is cooking, slice chicken thinly. Serve zucchini, topped with slices of chicken and garnished with sliced green onions if desired.

Parsley-Lime Salmon

This dish was a perfect summer treat ... a light and bright flavor without being too spicy for the kids!

Ingredients
6 (8oz) wild salmon steaks
6 Tbsp. butter, melted
6 Tbsp. lime juice
1/3 onion, diced
3 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
(or 1.5 Tbsp. dried)
3/4 tsp. garlic salt
1/4 tsp. lemon-pepper seasoning

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place salmon in a 9" x 13" baking dish. Combine parsley, garlic salt and lemon-pepper; rub mixture onto salmon. Whisk melted butter and lime juice together; gently pour over the salmon. Sprinkle the minced onions on top. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Balsamic Walnuts

We stumbled onto this idea when making 8 Ball Zucchini Pockets. Drizzle olive oil on the bottom of a cake pan. Toss in enough nuts (I used walnut halves) to lay in a single layer on the bottom. Shake the pan to coat the nuts. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with desired amount of salt. Cook at 350 until sweet and crispy. YUM!

8-Ball Zucchini Pockets

When two wholefoodigans get together, creative food events are going to happen. Melanie and myself (Holly), got to spend two days together this week with our children happily entertaining one another. I discovered 8-Ball zucchini at the local farmers market and decided I had to try the new vegetable but it was even more exciting knowing I'd get to share the experience with another whole foodie. I bought all the zucchini she had left with only the knowledge they taste like regular zucchini and people tend to stuff and bake them.

Melanie and I started brainstorming and together we came up with the recipe below. I cooked, she took pics and we had a great time except that my 40 lb daughter was feeling sick and I had to stop and wrap her sweet self on my back while we finished.

2.5 cups walnuts halves
6-8 8-ball zucchini
2 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 fuji apple, coarsely chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil (plus some for the pan)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup of rice flour
balsamic vinegar

Chop nuts finely. (I used the vita-mix). Reserve 1/2 cup for topping.

Slice the tops off the zucchini, and hollow out. Add scooped zucchini, celery, apple, onion, garlic, and all but the reserved nuts to the vita-mix or food processor. Add the seasonings and the rice flour and fill zucchini with mixture. Grease pan with olive oil and arrange the 8 balls inside. Sprinkle with remaining walnuts and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Bake at 400 for about 40 minutes. I think a little longer might have been better.

Some notes after dinner: I think blending the mixture up too finely in the vitamix was a mistake. I think something more the texture of salsa would improve the texture of the dish. The stuffing was a little thin, I'm thinking adding eggs, chia seeds, and/or more rice flour would do the trick. The flavor was divine.

The best part was my new favorite snack (balsamic glazed nuts) that we inadvertently created while making this meal.

Gluten Free Mozzarella Sticks

They may not be pretty, but they're delicious!

If you can have dairy, you must make these. RIGHT NOW. Go ahead and get the ingredients, I'll wait. Back? ok, here you go.

The original recipe came from here, but, as the Whole Foodigans are wont to do, I tweaked it a bit, but I'm still not calling myself a "tweaker". ;)

Mozzarella cheese, cut into sticks or chunks or whatever strikes your fancy
bread crumbs mixed with Italian seasoning and salt (I made my own bread crumbs by toasting pieces of my bread)
eggs
fine flour like rice or sorghum (I used sorghum)
coconut oil (what else?)
Marinara

While making cheese sticks, heat marinara or your cheese sticks will get cold. Ask me how I know.

Heat coconut oil to cover bottom of pan about 1/4".
Dip cheese in flour, egg, bread crumbs and then if you want, back in the egg and breadcrumbs.
Put in oil.
PAY attention! Don't forget to turn them, they cook very quickly.

Eat. Die of deliciousness.
You're welcome.

Mary