Salt Crusted Salmon Filet

This is a simple grilled dish that won't dirty up your kitchen, and is great for those hot summer evenings where you don't want to use your oven.  The salt, sugar and lime give extraordinary flavor and balance to the fish.  Keep an extra wedge of lime on the side to squeeze over the finished product.  If you like your bland fish, this dish is not for you!

1lb or larger, salmon filet with skin
1/3 C of coarse salt (sea or kosher will work well)
1/3 C packed brown sugar (light or dark is fine)
Zest and juice of two limes

Cut salmon filet in half and place on baking sheet or plate, skin side down.  Mix together salt, sugar, lime zest and lime juice in a small bowl. Combine well (should resemble a coarse paste).  Generously apply salt mixture to each half of salmon filet.  Place one filet on top of the other (like a sandwich), wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate on baking sheet or plate, for approx. 2 hours.  After refrigerated, remove salmon from plastic wrap and wash off salt rub under cool running water.  Grill skin side down for approx 15-20 min at medium heat (depending upon grill heat and size of filet) until cooked thoroughly.

Coconut Chicken Curry

This creamy delicious dish is a great way to satisfy any dairy craving.  It is super easy and will have you going back for seconds (or if you are me, thirds)!!  Feel free to change up the veggies.  I will try adding sliced mushrooms next time I make this. My original experiments with this dish (pre- allergen free diet) contained soy sauce.  I have replaced the soy with fish sauce.  Don’t worry, the strong flavor of the fish sauce works in this dish, and adds the salty element that keeps it balanced.  Hope you enjoy this one as much as we do!

• 2 cans coconut milk (please use regular coconut milk, not light)

• Zest of 1 lime
• Juice of 1 lime
• 4 TBS yellow curry powder (curry powders can vary in taste.  Some have a very heavy clove taste which I am sensitive to.  I suggest adding 2 TBS first, tasting and then adding more if desired).
• 3 TBS packed brown sugar (light or dark will work)
• 2 TBS of fish sauce
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• Pinch of black pepper
• Sea or Kosher salt to taste (I use a large pinch)
• 1 reasonable “squeeze” of Sriracha chili sauce (if you don’t have this, use a few dashes of hot sauce to taste..but you gotta get some of this, it rocks!)
• 1 small sweet onion (please support your local Southerner and use a Vidalia onion), sliced
• 10 or so miniature potatoes , halved or quartered depending upon size (you can use regular potatoes too, just quarter up)
• 5 or more torn basil leaves
• 3 cloves of whole, crushed garlic cloves (just give it a good wack under your knife)
• 1 large sweet red pepper (or use 5 or so of those mini sweet peppers) sliced
• 1.5 lbs of skinless chicken thighs (I used bone in, but will try boneless next time).  There were 4 thighs in the 1.5 lb pack.

In a large saucepan whisk together coconut milk, lime zest, lime juice, curry powder, brown sugar , cinnamon, crushed red pepper, black pepper, fish sauce, and sriracha.  Turn heat on medium high.  Add garlic, potatoes, sweet red pepper, sweet onion and chicken thighs.  Bring to a boil, cover, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook for approximately 30 minutes, or until chicken registers at 165 degrees on a meat thermometer and potatoes are tender.  Give it a taste, and add pinch of salt if needed.  Add torn basil leaves and serve over rice.

Crispy Roasted Chicken

Roasted chicken has always been a staple in our house.  I have replaced the “butter rub” with olive oil and added an old bay spice rub to give this bird and extra kick.  Save all your leftovers including the bones and giblets, to make delicious soup the next day.

• 1 whole bird (chicken) with giblets (we usually get a 4lb bird)
• ½ bag (half of a 1.5lb bag) of baby potatoes
• 1 small sweet onion (I prefer Vidalia)
• 3 cloves of garlic, whole, slightly crushed
• ½ cup of white wine or chicken stock (if you are using wine, please only use a wine you would drink!)
• ½ lb of peeled baby carrots
• 3 whole beats peeled and cubed (optional)
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• Old Bay
• Salt and pepper
• Roasting pan (use a roasting pan only large enough to fit bird and veggies, otherwise your veg will burn)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove neck and giblets from cavity of bird and store in refrigerator (we will use these the next day for chicken stock).  Thoroughly rinse inside and outside of bird, pat dry, and set aside.  Cut baby potatoes in half (or quarter if large). Slice onion and peel and cube whole beats.  Add potatoes, onion, beats, garlic and carrots to the bottom of the roasting pan. Generously drizzle vegetables will EVOO, season with salt and pepper and toss in bottom of pan to coat.  Add ½ c of wine to roasting pan with veg.  Pour approx 1/3-1/2 C of old bay in separate small bowl (sorry, I don’t measure this exactly.  I put in separate bowl to eliminate any cross-contamination)..Place bird on top of veg mix, drizzle EVOO, and give it a nice rub down.  Then take large pinches of the old bay, and rub into the skin of the chicken.  The bird should be completely coated with spice, don’t be shy!

**Note, feel free to add any combination of vegetables that you like.  I normally just use whatever is in the house at the time.  I really love the beats as they are nutrient superstars and they add extra sweetness to the mix**

Bake bird at 450 degrees for 30 minutes (every oven is different, so make sure you are checking on it with out opening the oven door).  This short period at high heat will make the skin nice and crispy and seal in moisture.  After 30 minutes, lower heat to 350 degrees and cook for about another hour or until internal temp of thickest part of bird reaches 165 degrees. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, I highly suggest you invest in one- you can get a fancy digital one that you leave in the bird while cooking for a reasonable price, I have one similar to this that I purchased on Overstock.com; http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/DigitalThermometer/3322936/product.html?rcmndsrc=2.

Once bird is thoroughly cooked, remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting.  Enjoy!

Here's the story behind the motivation to eat allergy free

I finally called the Pediatrician after several months of my 3 month old vomiting after every feeding, sometimes projectile, and at least 1 x per day accompanied by a gagging spell which was so frightening, especially to a brand new Mom.  The last thing on earth I wanted to do was to put her on any medication.  She was so small and fragile, I didn't want to put anything foreign in her precious little body.  The gagging started happening more often, and became much scarier when she started turning colors, and was unable to breath for what seemed a lifetime, as she was trying to rid her stomach of whatever was causing it grief. The Pediatrician ordered a barium swallowing test to rule out any anatomical issues with the esophagus.  GREAT, now I have to expose this little being to radiation!!!  I was not happy, but desperate.  The swallowing test came back to normal ($1,500 later!!!), and now onto the relux medication.  Tagament…nope, didn’t work so we tried Prevacid.  The gagging spells became much less frequent.  Now they were happening once a week instead of every day.  However, they were STILL happening and Maria was spitting up after every meal and then some.  So I thought back to very early on to something the Doc told me; “No diary while nursing”.  If some babies have sensitivities to dairy that is passed through the breast milk, are there other foods that can cause issues too??  YES!!!! So the Pediatrician and I decided that I needed to try an allergen free diet for 4 weeks.  This was by no means an easy task for a person raised on pasta and cheese.  But it was totally worth it for me, and ended up not being as hard as I originally though.  I LOVE to cook, so this was welcome challenge to my culinary creativity.

Since we have began eating this way, my daughters reflux has pretty much disappeared!!  I have taken her off her medications and both my husband and I feel great!  I challenge anyone to try this eating lifestyle for 4 weeks…I guarantee you will see an improvement in the way you feel. 

Usually it is just my husband and I eating dinner together, but there are normally leftovers, so I would be comfortable saying these recipes could feed 3-4 people (depending upon appetite). 

I use as many organic ingredients as possible.  However, it is not required.

Manga!