Tasty Raisin » Paleo http://www.tastyraisin.com Sat, 17 Jan 2015 23:34:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.9.1 Spicy Vegetable Kebabs http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/06/15/spicy-vegetable-kebabs/ http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/06/15/spicy-vegetable-kebabs/#comments Sun, 15 Jun 2014 18:31:40 +0000 http://www.tastyraisin.com/?p=183
Spicy Vegetable Kebabs
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
Vegetables
  • ½ green pepper
  • 1 large onion
  • 2 medium tomatoes
  • 1 cup baby portobello mushrooms
  • 1 cup fennel, chopped
Marinade
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • ½ tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon oregano
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Kebabs
  1. Chop the green pepper, tomato, and onion into large pieces.
  2. Add the vegetables to skewers in any order you like.
Marinade
  1. Add all of the spices to the vegetable stock in a container large enough to fit the kebabs.
  2. Mix in the honey and the olive oil into vegetable stock mixture. Its helpful to measure and add the oil before the honey because the residual oil on the tablespoon helps the honey easily glide off the spoon.
  3. Once the marinade is fully mixed, add the kebabs to the container with the marinade and make sure to rotate the kebabs in the marinade.
  4. Let the kebabs sit for 20 minutes in the marinade, rotating every few minutes.
  5. Cook the kebabs on a grill over medium flame, making sure to watch and rotate the kebabs as they start to cook and occasionally baste the kebabs with the left over marinade .
  6. Remove the kebabs from the grill when the vegetables are done (Approximately 15 minutes), basting one last time with the marinade and serve.

Add the vegetables to the skewers in any order that you like. I found we had to be very careful when adding the mushrooms, especially the smaller ones as they would sometimes break and fall off. They were really good on the kebabs though, so it was worth the extra effort of adding them. I love the hearty texture of mushrooms in vegetarian dishes.

Before marinade.

Once the marinade is complete place it in a pan with the kebabs. The marinade does not have to fully cover the kebabs (ours didn’t, obviously) just be sure to rotate the kebabs every few minutes in the marinade so that they get completely covered. You can really let them sit in the marinade as long as you like but we let ours go for 20 minutes and the flavor of the vegetables was perfect.

Marinading.

Make sure to occasionally baste the kebabs while they are cooking on the grill. It adds extra flavor to the veggies. Once the veggies are all slightly charred, they are done and ready to be served.

After cooking.

]]> http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/06/15/spicy-vegetable-kebabs/feed/ 0 Avocado and Tomato Salad http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/03/06/avocado-and-tomato-salad/ http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/03/06/avocado-and-tomato-salad/#comments Thu, 06 Mar 2014 21:30:50 +0000 http://www.tastyraisin.com/?p=128
Avocado and Tomato Salad
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • ½ avocado
  • 1 small tomato
  • ¼ cup red onion, chopped
  • Juice from from ½ lime
  • Pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Chop the avocado and tomato into bite-sized pieces.
  2. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and squeeze lime juice over mixture.

 

]]> http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/03/06/avocado-and-tomato-salad/feed/ 0 French Green Beans with Mushrooms and Garlic http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/03/02/french-green-beans-with-mushrooms-and-garlic/ http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/03/02/french-green-beans-with-mushrooms-and-garlic/#comments Sun, 02 Mar 2014 01:47:35 +0000 http://www.tastyraisin.com/?p=71
French Green Beans with Mushrooms and Garlic
 
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Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1½ cups fresh green beans
  • ⅔ cup mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
  • 8 garlic cloves, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
  • 4 tablespoons of broth (chicken or vegetable)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Slice the green beans length wise.
  2. In a frying pan, sauté the garlic and mushrooms with the olive oil for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the green beans and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add the broth to the pan and continue cooking until the green beans are tender.
  5. Finish with the green onions and parsley.
  6. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For a fancy looking side dish, this is an easy recipe.  The mushrooms and garlic in this dish make it quite savory and hearty. We are always looking for new ways to cook vegetables and this turned out to be one of our favorites.  This is also a very easy recipe to make vegetarian/vegan by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

]]> http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/03/02/french-green-beans-with-mushrooms-and-garlic/feed/ 0 Spicy Meatballs in Tomato and Fennel Sauce http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/03/01/spicy-meatballs-in-tomato-fennel-sauce/ http://www.tastyraisin.com/2014/03/01/spicy-meatballs-in-tomato-fennel-sauce/#comments Sat, 01 Mar 2014 23:56:31 +0000 http://www.tastyraisin.com/?p=20
Spicy Meatballs in Tomato & Fennel Sauce
 
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Beef meatballs with habanero peppers, cooked with chilies, and served with vegetable tomato sauce.
Serves: 4+
Ingredients
Sauce
  • 2 cans (8 oz. each) crushed tomatoes
  • 1½ cup fennel, finely chopped
  • 1½ cup Cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • ½ green pepper, finely chopped
  • 5 tablespoons parsley, chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
Chilis
  • 2-3 dried chili peppers, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup white vinegar
Meatballs
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
  • ¼ habanero pepper, finely diced
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons dried thyme
  • Salt & pepper
Instructions
Sauce
  1. Heat crushed tomatoes in pot on medium-low heat.
  2. Sauté fennel, mushrooms, onion, and pepper until onions are translucent.
  3. Add all vegetables to crushed tomatoes, turn heat to low and cover.
Chilis
  1. Crush whole chilies and salt in mortar and pestle.
  2. Combine crushed peppers and vinegar in small saucepan.
  3. Warm over low heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes until vinegar becomes spicy.
Meatballs
  1. Combine habanero pepper, oregano, thyme, and ½ of the parsely to beef.
  2. Generously salt and pepper
  3. Mix and form into about 30 small meatballs, or 15-20 large meatballs.
  4. Add about half the meatballs and chili/vinegar mixture to a pan on medium heat and cook until browned.
  5. Repeat for remaining meatballs.
  6. Add all meatballs to sauce and let simmer for at least 15 minutes.
  7. Serve garnished with remaining parsley.

These meatballs pack some serious spice with both habaneros and dried chilies.  Served in a thick tomato sauce with plenty of veggies, this is a seriously filling dish.  Enjoy with a side of good toasted bread!

First we make some meatballs.

Rolled meatballs.

Crush some whole dried chilies with a mortar and pestle.  Adding some salt helps with the grinding.  Simmer the peppers in vinegar until fragrant.  The fumes from this process are quite potent, so watch your eyes!  Then brown the meatballs in the spicy vinegar liquid.

Chili peppers before being crushed.

Meatballs browning in the pan.

Add the meatballs to the veggie and tomato sauce to let simmer!

Meatballs simmering in the tomato sauce.

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