Smashed Potatoes with Hatch Chile Tomatillo Crema

These crispy smashed potatoes served with an addictive hatch chile tomatillo crema

are perfect for game time or anytime. The recipe is grain free 

and there's a paleo vegan version, too!

Have you ever smashed a potato? If not, you're missing out. It's an easy and fun way to get roasted potatoes that are actually crispy, and shaped like beautifully abstract flowers to boot.

I saw this smashed potatoes idea over on Oh She Glows about a year ago, pinned it enthusiastically, thought about it often, and didn't actually try it until last week. That's one of the perils of reading as many food blogs as I do: there are so many great recipes to try, and so little time!

These smashed potatoes are going into the regular rotation, though. I'm going to offer a brief explanation of why they're better than plain old roasted potatoes (which are pretty delicious to begin with). When you roast whole small potatoes, only a very small portion of their surface area comes into contact with the hot pan below, and they don't have any jagged edges elsewhere to crisp up. Thus, it's really only a tiny spot on the bottom that becomes sufficiently crunchy.

Roasted Shrimp and Asparagus with Green Goddess Dressing #30MinuteMondays

Succulent roasted shrimp and asparagus are served with a tangy garlic scape green goddess dressing for an easy, 30-minute paleo dinner that's also Whole30-compliant.

I'm kind of mad at myself because I missed the boat on ramps this year. At the photography workshop I went to in May we ate them at almost every meal (there's a picture of them in this post), and when I got home I vowed to track some down so I could cook with them myself for the first time. However, I'm a lazy late-evening grocery shopper and there were never any ramps left. Before long, their short season had ended.

You'll be relieved to hear that I am NOT missing out on garlic scapes.

While ramps are their own kind of plant and are usually foraged wild (hence their limited availability), garlic scapes are the flowering stalks of garlic plants that farmers cut off so the plant's energy can be fully devoted to the bulb forming below. Garlic scapes are cool looking (see evidence above) and I like their name: it sounds like they've been trying to escape from the head of garlic, which is pretty much what they actually do.

Garlic scapes are milder than regular garlic with some fresher, grassier notes to their flavor--kind of like a cross between garlic, scallions, and chives. Here I used them to make a green goddess dressing with some fresh herbs and Primal Kitchen's avocado oil mayo, which I just tried for the first time. I'm not a mayo person at all so I don't foresee myself ever eating it straight up, but once some other flavors are mixed in to create a dressing or aioli, I can usually hop on board. (If you haven't seen garlic scapes at your local market, don't worry. You can substitute scallions and a clove of regular old garlic.)

Slow-Cooked Bolognese Sauce with Sweet Potato Spaghetti

This is Whole30 comfort food at its best. Making Bolognese sauce every Friday is a new tradition of mine, and even though I've only been doing it for a few weeks, it's already made my weekends much heartier and more delicious. I have Fridays off this semester so I can stay home while this fragrant sauce simmers away, but if you have to work you could start the sauce in the morning before you leave and finish it in the slow cooker, or make it your Saturday or Sunday tradition instead.

You want to let this sauce cook for a nice long time because the flavors will continue to meld and develop over the course of several hours. The long cooking time is the reason bolognese sauce is so synergistic. I also think the sauce tastes even better when I reheat it a day or two later, but I can never resist eating at least some of it the day I make it. The aroma is so enticing! 

Because everyone's schedule is different, I'm providing a slow cooker version and a version that cooks completely on the stovetop. Other than the cooking time, which is much longer for the slow cooker version, the only difference is the amount of liquid you add. The stovetop version needs extra liquid since much of the water in the sauce will evaporate, but the slow cooker keeps all that moisture locked in.

Parrilla Mixta Italiana

This Italian summer grilling post is sponsored by Colavita.

To me, a mixed grill is the epitome of summer eating. When I spent a semester in Buenos Aires during college, I loved to go out with friends and order a parrilla mixta, which usually consisted of grilled steak, chicken, chorizo, and often organ meats as well, with a big bowl of herby chimichurri sauce and an even bigger bowl of french fries on the side. Add a bottle of wine and you have yourself one happy evening!

I don't know why it took me so long to recreate a parrilla mixta at home, but when Colavita asked me to write a post on the theme of Italian summer grilling, this was the first thing that came to mind.

Here I've given the Argentine parrilla an Italian twist, marinating the steak and chicken with Italian seasonings and adding capers to the chimichurri. Argentine cuisine is heavily influenced by the food of Italy to begin with--even the Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires sounds uniquely reminiscent of Italian--so Colavita's oils and vinegars work really well with all the components of this South American meal.

5 Essential Paleo Flavor-Boosters for a Delicious Whole30 (Day 3)

We got a lot of snow in Boston last night, and the temperatures are hovering right around zero.  I've been staying inside and cooking up a storm, mainly testing out recipes for my review of Cooking with Coconut Oil by Elizabeth Nyland of Guilty Kitchen, which will go up this weekend.  I've made two meals from the book so far and loved them both!  Since I don't have a brand new recipe to share today, I wanted to point you towards five paleo flavor boosters to make or buy and have on hand for an extra delicious Whole30 (if you've never heard of a Whole30, check out yesterday's post where I explain things briefly).  Even if you're not Whole30-ing this month, stocking your pantry with these delicious items enables you to indulge while still being healthy!

Also, guess what?  I found another blogger doing a Whole30!  Even though she's across the country in Austin, I'm still so happy not to be in this alone! Stop by Quarter Life Crisis Cuisine to say hi to Ashley and see what she's cooking.  She recently posted a Paleo taco casserole with sweet potatoes that looks amazing.

1.  Ghee--This stuff is amazing.  No wonder Indian food is always so delicious, since almost every recipe starts with ghee!  It's easy to make your own ghee at home.  It smells so good, and tastes even better.  Seriously, you might want to eat it with a spoon.  It's the only kind of dairy allowed on the Whole30, and I am so glad to have it.  Non Whole30ers, you should still make this!  It has a much higher smoke point than butter, so you can cook with it and not worry about it burning.  Also, the flavor is just superior to regular butter in every way.  Best of all, ghee is free of lactose and casein, so people with dairy intolerances are often able to enjoy it.

Learn how to make ghee with these step-by-step instructions from Nom Nom Paleo.  If you're looking for a Whole30-approved way to drink your coffee in the morning, you might want to try this Bulletproof Coffee from Stupid Easy Paleo that's made with ghee and coconut oil.  I also use my ghee to fry eggs and saute meat and vegetables.

Cranberry Maple Syrup & Cran-Maple Compote (Paleo, Vegan, Gluten-free)

You heard it here: cranberry is the new pumpkin!  I am pretty much ready to put these little red super-berries in everything I make from now until Christmas.  I love the depth the tart flavor of cranberries adds to desserts, and they're great in savory dishes, too.

This recipe is so easy--just two ingredients, and you end up with two delicious and giftable condiments.  The cranberry maple syrup would be great on pancakes, but I'm also thinking about incorporating it into a festive cocktail.  I've already used it as the base for another dessert (involving chocolate) that would make a great gift, so stay tuned!  If you want to be really prepared, make a batch of this now and just stash it in your fridge.  I promise you won't be sorry you did!

The cranberry compote is also delicious, and less sweet than the syrup for those of you who don't want to get a toothache.  I used some to make a parfait with yogurt and pecans this morning, and it was amazing.  (Holiday parfait--it's a thing!  A delicious thing that rhymes!)  You could also spread the compote on toast or even serve it with pork chops.

I had so much fun watching and listening to the cranberries pop while I was making this recipe.  It's more subtle than popcorn, but still great.  I tried to make a video of it to post on Instagram, but it turns out I don't know how to do that.  Anyway, it made me think of the song "Get It Poppin'" (warning: explicit lyrics) from ten years ago--it's a completely ridiculous Fat Joe song where he asks the ladies what they're gon' do, and they say "I'ma get-get-get it poppin!" over and over again.  So, yes ... that song has been stuck in my head since I made this.  Still totally worth it, though!

Crepes with Cherry Orange Syrup (Paleo, Gluten free)

On weekend mornings, I like to start the day with something a little bit special.  Eggs are great, but what I really want on a lazy Saturday morning is something sweet.  As you may have noticed, I have already made lots of paleo and gluten free pancakes.  So, I decided to give gluten free crepes a try.

Salted Caramel Sauce

Happy May Day!  My favorite month of the year has arrived.  To celebrate May, and my one-month blogiversary, I decided to make this delicious salted caramel sauce adapted from Two Peas and their Pod.  Now that I have two jars full of this stuff, I can make these salted caramel skillet brownies and my life will be complete.  

I used coconut milk in my version because I had some and wanted to see if it would work--it did!  You will not taste the coconut at all.  I have a theory that the sauce is slightly healthier with this modification (if you gloss over the huge amounts of sugar and butter).  I also added vanilla, which gives the sauce greater depth.

Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe

Yield: About 2 cups

Total time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1 cup coconut milk or heavy cream

1-3 teaspoons sea salt, to taste (I used Maldon)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Get all your ingredients ready so you won't have to scramble while you're making the caramel--it burns really easily!  

Heat the sugar in a saucepan over medium-high heat.  When the sugar starts melting, whisk it until fully melted.  Then, swirl the saucepan around until the sugar turns a deep amber color or measures 350 on a candy thermometer.  My caramel was a pretty deep color by the time all the sugar melted, so I just stopped right there.  I don't have a candy thermometer and really didn't want to burn it.  Good news--it turned out great : ).

Add the butter and whisk until fully melted.  Off the heat, add the coconut milk or cream, salt, and vanilla and stir until smooth.  If your caramel is stubborn, reheat over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until it smooths out.

Let the caramel cool for about ten minutes in the pot, then pour into jars and cool to room temperature.  Stored in the refrigerator, this sauce keeps for about a month.  However, I don't think mine is going to last that long.

Any other ideas about how to use this fabulous sauce?  I'm tempted to put it in or on everything, from my morning coffee to pizza.  Someone stop me!  

You might also like:

Salted Caramel Skillet Brownies

Salted Maple Caramel Peach Bars

Homemade Vanilla Extract