Clara's Cooking | Vegetarian (Vegan) Korma

Vegetarian (Vegan) Korma

Ingredients:

1/2 yellow onion, diced

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced

3 carrots, cut at angle

2 medium potatoes, cubed

1 red pepper, diced

1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, seeded & diced

1 cup green peas (I use frozen)

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 cup coconut milk (I use Whole30 compliant coconut milk)

3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 tsp salt

1 1/2 TBSP curry powder (this is for medium spicy)

1 cup whole cashews (raw or salted is okay)

1-2 TBSP vegetable oil (I use olive oil with everything, but vegetable oil will results in a more traditional taste. Use olive oil to make this Whole30 compliant)

Directions:

1. In a nonstick soup pot or large saucepan, heat oil on medium heat. Add onions and cook until silvery.

2. Add garlic and ginger, allowing to brown slightly.

3. Add potatoes and carrots. Cook until slightly tender.

4. Add red pepper, jalapeño (or serrano) pepper, tomato sauce, salt, and curry powder. Continue cooking until potatoes and carrots are tender.

5. Add green peas, coconut milk, and 1/4 cup of the cilantro. Set remainder of cilantro to the side for later.

6. Simmer & stir vegetables for 10-15 minutes to allow it to slightly thicken. Add cashews in the last 5 minutes to allow them to slightly soften.

7. Serve with rice and top with cilantro. Enjoy!

Tips:

- Cook rice in an automatic rice cooker before beginning this recipe. It should be done by the time the recipe is ready!

- For a creamier, more traditional (and I’ll admit, TASTIER) version, use 1 cup of heavy cream instead of coconut milk.

- Add curry 1/2 TBSP at a time if you are wary of too much spice.

- For added protein, chopped chicken breast goes great with this dish! Add it in after the onion, garlic, and ginger.

- Eliminate the rice to make Whole30 compliant.

Enjoy!

love + light,

Clara Slate

Clara's Cooking | Easy Peasy Quiche (Paleo)

Easy Peasy Quiche (Paleo friendly!)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 chicken breast, boiled & shredded (6oz)

1 red pepper, sliced

1/2 cup sliced yellow onion

1 cup frozen shredded potatoes

2-3 scallions, chopped

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

4 large eggs (whole)

2 egg whites

1 cup coconut milk (can also use almond or soy milk)

2 tsp garlic powder

Salt & Pepper

1 TBSP olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium high. Soften red pepper and onion.

3. Add chicken to the pan and season with salt & pepper. Allow to cook together for just a few minutes to allow the chicken to absorb the flavors. Remove from heat.

4. In a separate bowl, beat 4 whole eggs and 2 egg whites.

5. Add milk, potatoes, scallions, and parsley to the bowl.

6. Add garlic powder to the bowl and season with salt & pepper. Fold ingredients together.

7. In a glass pan, add chicken mixture.

8. Add egg mixture to the pan and gently mix ingredients.

9. Bake for 30-40 minutes, uncovered.

Tips: 

- If you'd prefer to make this vegetarian, substitute steamed broccoli for the chicken.

- Add 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms to add more complexity to the taste, but saute in advance (water in mushrooms may make quiche too soggy).

- For an extra treat, add 1/2 cup shredded gouda into mix before baking (not Whole30 approved)

- Skim milk may be substituted for coconut milk (not Whole30 approved)

( before baking )

( after baking )

This is a super quick meal for guests and makes a lovely addition to a breakfast or lunch menu. Enjoy!

love + light,

Clara Slate

Clara's Cooking | Asian Cashew Chicken

Asian Cashew Chicken Recipe

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast, cut into slices

1/2 onion, cut in half and sliced

2-3 carrots, sliced at an angle

3/4 cup frozen green peas

1 red bell pepper, cut into slices

3/4 cup whole cashews

1/2 TBSP ginger, minced

1/2 cup soy sauce (or coconut aminos, to make this recipe Whole30 friendly)

1-2 tsp hot sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth
2-3 TBSP almond or cashew butter (Whole30 compliant, like Trader Joe's)

1/2 TBSP olive oil

1-1/2 TBSP cornstarch

Directions:

1. In large pan, heat oil on medium to medium-high heat. 

2. Cook chicken, tossing to cook evenly. When chicken nearly done, add onions, carrots and peas.

3. After carrots have been cooking for 2-3 minutes, add red bell pepper.

4. Mix ginger, soy sauce, hot sauce, chicken broth, and almond/cashew butter in a separate bowl. Add to pan.

5. Add 1/2 cup of cashews, setting 1/4 cup of cashews aside.  Fold into dish.

6. Cook on medium until veggies tender.

7. If needed, add cornstarch slowly until sauce slightly thickened.

8. Top with remainder of cashews. Enjoy with white rice (or spaghetti squash to make this dish Whole30 friendly).

Tips:
For additional flavoring, use water and 1 Goya chicken bouillon cube instead of chicken broth. Note, this may have additional sodium.

To make this WHOLE30 compliant, eliminate the corn starch and green peas (you can use snow peas or snap peas instead). Replace the soy sauce with coconut aminos. Use water instead of the chicken broth unless you have a Whole30 compliant broth or make your own.

Clara's Cooking | Almond Asian Dipping Sauce

Almond Asian Dipping Sauce

This is a great sauce to use with veggie wraps. Super easy to make - you’ll never have to buy premade peanut sauce again! Wondering if this may work with pad thai….hmmm….

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almond butter 

(I use Trader Joe’s brand)

1/3 cup milk

1 TBSP lime juice

1/2-1 TBSP fresh ginger, 

peeled and minced

1 TBSP minced garlic

Salt & pepper

Directions:

Mix together in small bowl, making sure to get lumps out of almond butter. If you dislike ginger, consider using soy sauce and/or onion powder instead.

Tip: To make Whole30 compliant, replace the milk with water or a compliant coconut milk or almond milk. Also, make sure your almond butter is compliant and doesn't have any peanut oil!

Enjoy!

love + light,

Clara

Clara's Cooking | Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ooh yes, one of my favorites. Absolutely LOVE vegetables roasted, especially brussel sprouts or cauliflower!

Ingredients:

2 lb brussel sprouts, halved (slice really large sprouts into quarters)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 to 1 cup of olive oil
Salt and black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 400F.

2. Mix all ingredients together in large bowl; fold until well coated.

3. Place into large baking pan, spread well to form one layer.

4. Roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking time.


Tip: For extra flavor, sprinkle parmesan cheese on top!

Serve as a side dish to any meat or seafood, or eat these on their own! YUM!!! You can also toss these with pasta.



Enjoy!

love + light,
Clara

Clara's Cooking | Easy Beef Bourguignon Recipe

Easy Beef Bourguignon Recipe

There are several versions of this recipe. If you have the time, it’s totally worth it to add bacon and use bacon fat to cook the vegetables. If you want a fairly quick prep time with still a lot of flavor, try my recipe! This is one of our all time favorite recipes. Even if you make a mistake, as long as you have the red wine and slow cooking process (which allows the beef to easily fall apart with a fork), you can’t go wrong.

Ingredients:

Crock Pot or slow cooker

2 medium potatoes, chopped into large pieces for stew (into 8 pieces per potato)

1.5-2 cups diagonally sliced carrots

1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped

6oz frozen pearl onions 

1 TBSP minced garlic

1 cup sliced white button mushrooms

1 to 1.5lb beef cut for stew

1 cup red wine (I like any pinot noir)

1 TBSP tomato paste

12oz chicken or vegetable broth

1 bay leaf

2-3 sprigs of thyme

Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Vegetable Oil

Directions:

1. Set slow cooker to LOW.

2. In a medium-large pan, brown garlic in oil. Cook yellow onion until silvery.

3. Add potatoes, carrots, and pearl onions. Cook until slightly softened.

(To prepare the meat:)

4. Pat beef dry, season with salt and pepper. 

5. Heat a separate pan to medium high. Add vegetable oil.

6. Sear beef a few minutes on each side. 

7. Set pan aside, but DO NOT clean pan. (see below)

8. Add beef and vegetable mix to slow cooker. 

9. Add tomato paste, broth, and 3/4 red wine to slow cooker. (set 1/4 of red wine aside)

10. Add bay leaf, thyme, salt, and pepper to slow cooker. Cook stew for 6 to 8 hours on LOW (or 4-6 hours on high).

While the stew is cooking:

11. Add oil to the pan where you had seared the beef earlier. 

12. Add mushrooms one layer at a time. Stir to mix them with the beef flavoring leftover in the pan.

13. Cook mushrooms until browned, being careful not to crowd the mushrooms (they need space and patience to brown properly).

14. Add 1/4 cup red wine to cooked mushrooms and allow to cook, reducing fluid about 50%.

15. Pour pan ingredients to slow cooker when stew has 20-30 minutes left of cooking time.

16. Serve alone or with a slice of French bread.

Tips: This is the kind of dish that tastes AMAZING the following day, because all the flavors have had time to merge together. You could make this for a dinner party of holiday celebration a day in advance, as the stew reheats well!

To make Whole30 compliant, make sure the vegetable broth does not contain any restricted ingredients. Also, you'll need to eliminate the wine, which unfortunately makes a HUGE difference, turning this recipe into a regular beef stew. It's still delicious, but I would add more mushrooms in this case to add complexity to the flavors.

Enjoy!

love + light,

Clara

Clara's Cooking | Turkey Veggie Meatloaf Recipe | Whole30

Turkey Veggie Meatloaf Recipe (Whole30 friendly)

Ingredients:

1 cup finely chopped carrots

1/2 medium yellow onion

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 bell pepper, finely chopped

1-2 TBSP garlic, minced

1lb ground meat (turkey, beef, etc.)

1 egg, beaten

3 TBSP tomato paste (I like the Delillo's Whole30 friendly version)

2 tsp each thyme, sage, rosemary (fresh if possible)

1/2 TBSP onion powder

1/2 TBSP garlic powder

Salt & black pepper

Olive oil

Cooking spray (I like to use olive oil in a Misto sprayer)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Saute onion, garlic, carrots, bell pepper, and celery in pan.

3. Scramble 1 egg in large mixing bowl.

4. Add meat, spices, and veggies to mixing bowl. Mix well together.

5. Lightly coat bread pan with cooking spray. Bake at 350F for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until cooked through. 

Tips:

If you have leftovers, these can make yummy sandwiches!

If you prefer to mix by hand, place cooked veggies in fridge while you prepare the egg, meat, and spices.

14oz tomato sauce (to put on top)

Enjoy!

love + light,

Clara