Cook This: Juniper Brined Pork Chops, Vegan Caramelized Shallot Mashed Potatoes and Sauteéd Green Beans

Heading into my last day of vacation I wanted something delicious but not too complicated. I remembered that I tried this recipe once before and had some kinks to work out so was excited to get back to it.

I found this recipe on the foodandwine.com (photo is from the site, not my kitchen, see link for credit). Usually I mess with recipes but this time just prepared them as-is so instead of copying the recipe verbatim I'm linking. The first time I made these they were a bit tough. It turned out I missed the "double cut" part. I used the correct cut, was more careful this time, and it was better but still not perfect. Next time I'll check them at 20 minutes and not wait the recommended 30 minutes.

The recipe calls for brining chops for 2 hours (enough time to clean the kitchen from the rest of my cooking and hop on the spinning bike for a quick workout) then browning chops and placing in the oven for about 35 minutes. I made my potatoes and green beans earlier but the oven time is just about exactly how long you need to make the potatoes and green beans.  And yes my husband took my kid out today.



Caramelized Shallot Mashed Potatoes. 
Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs mashing potatoes (there is never any agreement on this...I use yellow potatoes)
• 1 TBSP soy-free Earth Balance
• 1/4-1/2 cup (your preference) MimicCreme or organic cream/half and half if you want dairy.
• 3-4 large shallots sliced into crescents
• 2 TBSP olive oil

1. Cut potatoes into 2 inch chunks and put in saucepan with water just covering. Bring to a boil then simmer until soft.

2. While potatoes are cooking cook shallots on low until they are first soft and sweet, then continue to cook until they get slightly crispy. (If you're doing green beans you can wash and cut at this time.)

3. Once potatoes are soft, drain 90% of water and start to mash with potato ricer or fork. Add Earth Balance and cream to preferred taste and texture.

4. Add carmelized shallots and any cooking oil left in pan to potatoes. Mix and season with salt and fresh ground pepper if desired.

If you're trying to do lower carb, this recipe might work with cauliflower as well. I'll try it and let you know how it goes. 

Sauteéd Green Beans

In Shallot pan, saute washed and dried green beans (I like to cut them in half) until done to taste. If you have it, sprinkle with a little truffle salt before serving. It's spendy but a jar goes a long way. I also love to use truffle salt on popcorn. Delish. 

Enjoy!
-Dr Samantha

Simple Dinner Party: Avocado, Orange and Kohlrabi Salad, Yucatán Pork Stew and Quinoa.

My favorite stew, it turns out, is a fabulous dinner party main dish. Not only does it taste great but all of the cooking and clean up is done long before guests arrive. It is pretty easy to put together and then just simmers for 4-5 hours.

Dinner party day at 1pm, getting started:

Yucatán Pork Stew. I first saw this recipe in a very fun newsmag called The Week, which had reprinted from Food and Wine. When I was visiting my sister in San Francisco we walked into Avedano's, her favorite local butcher shop and I saw a copy of the recipe on display. It had originated in that very shop! The only changes I've made to this recipe are that doubled the carrots and onion, and I serve the cilantro on the side. If I didn't have a 3 year old I'd probably throw some jalapeños into the stew to give it a little kick. Please note also that browning the pork may take up to 20+ minutes. Also, I take the lid off after the first hour and cook it for closer to 4-5 hours, rather than 3 so it cooks down a bit more and the house smells yummy. The rest you just throw together. Oh, and make sure you use a large pot, I like my 6 quart enameled cast iron pot, Absolutely delicious.

This will serve 7 hungry folks with several rounds of leftovers. Freezes great!

20 min before guests will arrive, start the quinoa.

Quinoa. 20 min before you are going to serve dinner, put 2 cups quinoa and 4 cups of cold water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer about 20 min until water is gone and grain is a little fluffy. Toss lightly with a fork to lighten it up.

The salad can be made right before guests arrive, or as they are arriving.

Salad. Makes 6-7 plates.

• 1 head butter lettuce
• 3 ripe but not oversoft avocados cut into wedges then halved
• 3 seedless oranges cut into sections then halved- rind and white removed
• 2 small or one medium kohlrabi, grated
• 3 T cup olive oil
• 1 T fresh squeezed lime
• 3 T white wine vinegar
• 1/3 tsp brown sugar
• 1/3 tsp cumin
• 1/3 tsp ground black pepper
• salt to taste
• additional lime to taste

1. Wash and dry butter lettuce leaves, leave whole.
2. Whisk together dressing ingredients in a small bowl
3. Mix oranges and kohlrabi in medium bowl.
4. Pour dressing over oranges and kohlrabi and toss.
5. Add avocado and lightly toss

Place butter lettuce leaf or two on a small plate and top with a spoonful of avo mix.

Sorry no photos, I'll see if I can snap some the next time I make them.

Recipe: Breakfast Pizza- Wheat and Dairy free.

We love breakfast foods at our house. I'd say that on any given week you'll see breakfast for dinner at least once (and cereal for snack? I won't even try to count.)

Last week we had a showdown...one of my boys wanted 'pizza' for dinner and the other wanted eggs. Thus the birth of our new favorite dinner: Breakfast Pizza.

Ingredients (we doubled it and made 2 so my son could take it for lunch all week.)
1. Whole grain pizza crust. We like Graindance frozen spelt pizza crust- it has gluten, but no wheat. You could also use a frozen rice pizza crust or a homemade pizza crust if you are gluten free.
2. 6 eggs. I recommend omega-3 fed free range eggs.
3. Half of a bag of frozen spinach or a few cups of fresh spinach with large stems removed.
4. 1 onion chopped.
5. 3 cloves of garlic pressed or minced. Trader Joes has frozen 'garlic cubes' that we keep on hand in case we don't have fresh available.
6. Olive oil.
7. Sun dried or fresh tomatoes. If you use fresh, remove the goopy part.
8. 3-4 sliced of precooked turkey, veggie, or regular bacon chopped (optional, we happened to have cooked bacon in the fridge when I made this.)

Preheat oven to temp recommended with your pre-cooked pizza crust

In saute pan, saute onions and garlic in olive oil. We like to use lots of olive oil and cook them slowly so the onions are a bit sweet, but as long as the onions are soft when you're done, it's all good.

Add spinach and tomatoes and cook until soft, mixed and aromatic.

Beat eggs with a fork and pour into the veggie mixture until just barely cooked/still a little wet.

Put all of this on top of the pizza, sprinkle bacon on top, and bake for about 10 minutes or crust is browned and eggs are set.

Serve hot, or not.