Asparagus and Orange Salad

Hello! It's been awhile since I've posted! I usually post at the end of the week but last week I went to Boise to visit my Dad and Stepmom. I had a wonderful visit. It was sunny and warm the entire time. We ate out on the patio every single night. I sat in their hot tub every morning and every night. I clobbered my dad in Cribbage like I always do. He gets pretty annoyed that I keep beating him. He always says, "you're just like your mother" because she always used to beat him too. He's actually quite good at Cribbage. I'm just a little better. Sorry Dad, just a fact. 

Roasted Artichokes with Lemon and Tarragon Butter

It's artichoke season! I feel lucky having grown up eating artichokes. My mom would steam them and serve them with melted butter. We usually ate Country Crock margarine so getting real butter was a treat. It was so fun dipping the leaves in butter and sliding them through our teeth. We'd eat fast, anxiously anticipating the moment we could dive into the buttery artichoke heart. Eventually Mom started adding garlic to the artichokes, and later she make fancy curried aoili dips. 

I decided to take it one step further and roast my artichokes with lemon slices. I figured if you can roast most any other vegetable, you could probably roast an artichoke. As you see from the photos, they are absolutely beautiful. The caramelize beautifully and taste wonderful. 

If you love this tarragon butter, use the leftovers on your eggs. Tarragon is SO yummy on eggs. Or try this amazing recipe.

Ingredients

Artichokes

2 artichokes

Extra virgin olive oil

Sea salt

1 lemon, sliced 

Tarragon Butter

2 teaspoons tarragon leaves

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 stick of salted butter

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cut the stem off the artichoke, leaving about an inch behind. Cut about a 1/2" off the tips as well. Then cut each artichoke in half lengthwise. Rinse well and drain.

Stick a spoon down at the base of the hairy part (the choke) and scoop out the choke and a few of the inner leaves. Work fast because the artichoke starts to turn brown as it's exposed to the air. 

Toss the artichokes and lemon slices in a little olive oil and sea salt. Place lemon slices on the sheet pan and place the artichoke halves cut side down on top of the lemons. 

Roast 40 - 50 minutes, or until nicely browned and caramelized.

Meanwhile, toss the stick of butter, tarragon, and lemon zest in the food processor and process until combined. It will turn a beautiful bright green. Spoon into a jar or bowl, cover, and place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

When you pull the artichokes out of the oven, immediately drop a dab of the tarragon butter into the hole where the choke was. Cover loosely with aluminum foil until the butter has melted. Serve warm.

Grain Free Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies

Sorry I've been a bit absent lately. I have been a little busy and my computer broke a few weeks ago. The damn thing got a virus and now it's completely worthless. I can't decide if I want to pay to have it fixed or just buy another laptop. I'm currently using on my teeny-tiny netbook and my fat fingers keep typing two keys at one time. This is annoying. 

But I had to post these cookies today. I took them to the 8:00 AM CrossFit class yesterday for by business partner's birthday and now I'm getting harassed for the recipe because it's so freakin' good. This is probably the best Paleo chocolate chip cookie you'll ever eat. When I discovered how fantastic these are, I made about five batches in an eight day period. It just occurred to me why my weight crept up 3 pounds last week. Oops.

Grain Free Blood Orange Bread

I'm pretty sure blood oranges are out of season by now. But that's okay because you can use just about any orange or citrus fruit for this recipe. In fact, I bought some "heirloom" navel oranges at the grocery store the other day and they were so incredibly sweet. They made a traditional navel oranges taste diluted and bland. Any good orange would be extraordinary in this bread. 

Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken

Happy Sunday! It's a gorgeous gray and rainy day here in Seattle. I was going to go throw the discus around today but throwing the discus in the rain is so. not. fun. The ring gets slippery, you can't keep your hand dry enough and then you have to fetch all those discs out of the mud. Gross. I'll just stay here in my cozy apartment and think about doing my taxes and then distract with a blog post instead.

I'll tell you about Friday. Friday was full of surprises. I like surprises, especially when they force me out of my "little box of rules." My box of rules is much less full than it used to be, but old rules rear their ugly little heads from time to time.

I know you're wondering, "what is she talking about?"

Grain Free Carrot Cake with Orange Maple Cream Frosting

I baked a cake! Without grains! I don't know why this always seemed like such a big deal to me. I used to think a grain free cake would never turn out. But this cake is darn good. It does have a slightly sandy and dense texture from the almond flour, but it's very moist.

I found this cake on Pinterest. It is from a beautiful blog called Edible Perspective. The blogger, Ashley McLaughlin is a self-taught cook and photographer. How the heck did she learn to take pictures like that all by herself? Crazy. I also don't know how she got her cake to look so much better than mine. Dammit. Those perfect bloggers with perfect blogs.

Roasted Radishes with Poached Duck Egg and Tarragon Butter

My friend Kyla brought me duck eggs. Isn't that so nice? She's friends with a local chef who gave them to her and instead of keeping them all to herself (which I would have done) she called me and brought two of them right over! I get so excited when I get my hands on an ingredient you wouldn't normally find in your standard grocery store. It was really fun coming up with a recipe. 

ACT4Health: A New Approach to Cheating

Let's talk about cheating. I'm not talking about the Atlanta cheating scandal that's in the news right now. I'm also not talking about the Tiger Woods, David Letterman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or the Kristen Stewart style of cheating, although I'm sure you'd like to talk about that. <boring>

Let's talk about cheating on your diet. 

When it comes to dieting, people define cheating in a variety of ways: When you eat something that is on your diet's "avoid" list. When you eat more calories than you have allotted for yourself for the day. When you reserve one day of the week where you eat whatever you want. Typically cheating is a behavior that involves some variation of a set rule or regulation you have created for yourself.

Indian Spiced Meatball Soup

This is one of those days where I'm feeling so lazy I can't even think of anything to write. I got up this morning with stiff muscles, bruises in weird places, and a blister in my thumb webbing. No, I didn't get into a fight. Well, not with a person. With a barbell maybe.

Yesterday, Level 4 CrossFit celebrated their 10th birthday by hosting "CrossFit Championships 2013." It was a party of sorts, with some workouts thrown in. Actually, it was a full day of workouts, and a little party thrown in at the end. But I guess it depends on the way you look at it. All I know is that I slept great last night and woke up this morning in a crazy-weird dream about my CrossFit trainers, $595 worth of Junior Mints, and sorority birthday parties.

Five-Spice Roasted Winter Squash

Tired of roasting your squash with just oil and herbs? As much as I love the simplicity of thyme or rosemary on my roasted vegetables, sometimes you want something with a little more pizzazz. Enter Chinese Five-Spice.

Chinese five-spice powder is made up of equal parts cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel seeds, and Szechuan peppercorns. You can find it in most grocery stores and Asian markets. The warm and sweet nature of this spice blend is a perfect match this time of year on a sweet winter squash. 

Seared Chops with Blood Orange Sauce

When you write a blog it easy to fall into the trap of wanting to impress your readers with really extravagant dishes. Maybe it's my own desire to prove myself as a skillful home cook, to my readers and to myself. Maybe it's because I just love a good challenge.

ACT4Health: Why it is So Hard to Change

I see a lot of clients in my psychotherapy practice who are struggling to make changes in their life, and they don't understand why. They come in with no shortage of motivation; they can see how their current behavior patterns are not working for them. They have identified new target behaviors. But even with a bucket full of enthusiasm, they can't seem to generate new, more healthful behaviors.

I often hear clients use the word "stuck" to describe their experience; they are cemented to a ineffective way of life. They feel puzzled, gridlocked, suffocated, and frustrated.

So what keeps people stuck? In my experience, it comes down to what Kelly Wilson, Ph.D, author of The Wisdom to Know the Difference, calls Not Showing Up.

A Winter Dinner Party

I don't know if you know this but the food from this blog gets created in a teeny tiny kitchen. When I stand in my kitchen, I can almost touch all the walls without moving. If you need the blender, you're going to have to take out the rice cooker, waffle iron, food processor, and mixing bowls first in order to get to it. It's frustrating at times, but just goes to show that making extraordinary meals doesn't require a fancy kitchen. 

But when my business partner asked to house/dog sit for her last weekend, I was excited to cook in her much larger kitchen. And because her home is on the waterfront, I decided to have all my best gals over for a dinner party! I spent the entire day preparing. We had a wonderful time.

The Menu

Appetizers

Sauteed Medjool Dates with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

Cheese Plate and Artisan Salami 

Rosemary and Sage Roasted Almonds

Castelvetrano Olives

Salad

Winter Pear Salad With Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Main

Beef Short Rib Stew

Dessert

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Cardamom Whipped "Cream"

Sauteed Medjool Dates with Olive Oil and Sea Salt

I stole this recipe from one of Seattle's favorite local chefs, Renee Erickson. She is chef-owner of Boat Street Cafe, The Walrus and the Carpenter, and The Whale Wins. The recipe is from the book Secrets of the Best Chefs by Adam Roberts.

I love this appetizer because it is so simple to make, and the dates are strangely addicting. Salty. Chewy. Sweet. I made them for the Winter Dinner Party. We couldn't stop eating them.

Beef Short Rib Stew

This is the main course from the Winter Dinner Party. When I saw this in a recent issue of Food and Wine, I knew I had to make it. I was delighted to see the recipe came from Ethan Stowell, chef-owner of several incredible restaurants here in Seattle.