Recipe: Chili Lime Shrimp with Vegetables and Quinoa
Last Monday, Andy and I attended a hospitality professionals meeting and I won a bag of groceries from Whole Foods Arden (Sacramento). They are also members of the group and brought the bag to give away at the meeting through a raffle of business cards of all the attendees.
We rarely buy quinoa, because it is a grain and not technically Paleo, but since it is a gluten free grain that is high in protein and the box was in the bag of groceries, I decided to make good use of it and post the recipe here as my thanks to Whole Foods! 🙂
Chili Lime Shrimp with Vegetables and Quinoa
Inspired by a Kaiser Permanente recipe
(serves 4)
Shrimp Marinade:
2 tsp chili powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 Tbs teaspoon cumin
1 tsp red pepper flakes (this will make the recipe moderately spicy, omit if you don’t prefer heat)
1 clove garlic, crushed
Juice of one lime
Salt and pepper
20-24 uncooked, peeled and deveined medium-sized shrimp (roughly one pound)
Note: If you can’t find peeled and deveined shrimp, it’s pretty easy to do at home, it just takes about 15 more minutes to do it. After you peel back the shell, use a small knife to make an incision right on top of the vein and down to the tail. The vein will come practically on its own under running water. I also removed the tails for this recipe.
Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the shrimp, tossing them in the bowl until they are coated. Set aside and work on your vegetables.
Vegetable Sauté:
2 Tbs olive oil or coconut oil
1/2 of a large red bell pepper
1/2 of a large yellow bell pepper
1/2 of a large yellow squash
1/2 of a large zucchini squash
1/2 of a large eggplant
1/2 of a large onion
1 1/2 cups of your favorite tomato (I used some cherry tomatoes left over from a veggie tray and one large heirloom tomato)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1/2 of one bundle of cilantro
After you wash and chop up the vegetables (cube or cut each into bite sized pieces), set them aside and prepare the quinoa.
Quinoa Base:
1 1/2 cup 365 Organic Quinoa
First, for a nuttier flavor, toast the quinoa in a skillet until it turns a little brown in color. Then prepare according to package directions. For even more flavor, cook the quinoa in a vegetable or chicken broth (substituting the water and using the same amount of broth in the directions on the package).
Prepare Vegetable Sauté:
While the quinoa is cooking, begin your vegetable sauté by heating the olive (or coconut oil) in a skillet and cooking the onion until it is translucent and then adding both the red and yellow bell peppers. Cook for 5 minutes on medium heat, then add the squashes, and then the eggplant. At this point the pan will be getting dry, so add a little water or white wine (1/2 cup), add the tomatoes and the garlic powder, and cook until vegetables are tender and the alcohol has cooked out of the mixture. Lastly, remove the pan from heat and add the cilantro leaves allowing them to wilt into the vegetables.
By this time the quinoa will be done or nearly done. Drain any excess water (or broth) out of the quinoa and set aside.
Cook the Shrimp:
Heat a pan big enough to accommodate the 24 shrimp and get the pan really hot. Place your shrimp in the pan, along with all the marinade and cook the shrimp 3-4 minutes (until they sear and turn color). Then add the shrimp to the vegetable pan, and place the vegetable pan back onto low heat. Fold all the ingredients together until everything is well combined and heated through.
To Serve:
Begin with the quinoa, and place the amount of your liking in a circle shape on a large plate. Make a nice big crater in the center of the plate, and fill it with the shrimp and vegetable sauté. Then garnish with a little more cilantro if you’d like.
You can also make this recipe with chicken if you don’t like seafood. I would marinate and cook it in the exact same fashion. 🙂
You can find Whole Foods Arden (Sacramento) on Facebook here and follow them on twitter here.
Nike Women’s Half Marathon Entry Winner #2: Congrats to Karla!
Last month, Whole Foods Market, Nike and I gave away 2 entries to the sold out Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco.
I wanted you to meet the entry winners, so you might perhaps comment below and cheer them on for the upcoming race on October 19th! Maybe you’ll even look them up in the race results following the race.
The second entry winner is Karla Euler from Jackson, GA. I asked Karla to share a little bit about herself, her daily diet, and how she is preparing for the race:
I am a 52 year old US Army Vet, mother of 3 grown daughters and grandmother to two beautiful grandchildren, both age 5. I grew up in Southern California and now live in Jackson, GA. I work as a Deputy Court Clerk so I spend most days inside a building which drives me to spend my off days outside as much as possible! I enjoy yard work, hiking, swimming, biking, pretty much anything that will keep me outside and spending time with my family 🙂
I have always tried to maintain a healthy life style and I did up until my 2 grandchildren were born. I found myself making many excuses not to eat right or exercise just so I could spend all my spare time with my grand kids. The Nike Women’s Half Marathon will be my first and has given me the motivation and determination to get myself back into a healthy life style. I have ran numerous 5k and 10k’s in the past, but I am super excited about the SF Half!! I have been diligently training for this and have loved getting back into exercise and healthy eating. I have more energy overall and feel better physically and mentally both.
The following is a typical day of eating for me:
A Cup of Black Coffee and then out for a run; I find that I do better when I don’t eat before a long run as I tend to eat dinner pretty late at night.
Breakfast:
Bowl of Oatmeal and a Banana, Black Coffee
Lunch:
Deli sandwich on wheat bread, cottage cheese with fruit
Dinner:
Baked Fish, yellow rice, garden salad, glass of milk
Additionally, I do take a multi-vitamin, fish oil, calcium supplement, and glucosamine tablet daily as well as drink plenty of water throughout the day to stay hydrated.
Thanks to Karla for submitting her story to cavegrrl.com. I am hoping to meet her on the day of the run and wish her luck in person! 🙂 Thanks to Nike and Whole Foods for allowing me to give two other women the chance to run in the race.
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
You can find the Run Nike Women’s Series and more information on the race on Facebook here.
Nike Women’s Half Marathon Entry Winner #1: Congrats to Cathy!
You might recall a few weeks ago that Whole Foods Market, Nike and I gave away 2 entries to the sold out Nike Women’s Half Marathon in San Francisco.
I wanted you to meet the entry winners (I’ll be featuring one today and one next week), so you might perhaps comment below and cheer them on for the upcoming race on October 19th! Maybe you’ll even look them up in the race results following the race.
The first entry winner is Cathy Wiggs-Hong from the Los Angeles, California area. I asked Cathy to share a little bit about herself, her daily diet, and how she is preparing for the race:
Hi my name is Cathy. I am a 34 year old mother of 3 girls ages 9, 4 and 1.5. I am a stay at home mom with the girls now, but I previously worked as a pediatric physical therapist. I love to be active, and enjoy all outdoor activities. As a family, we love to go to the beach, the pool, and Disneyland.
The Nike Women’s half marathon will be my second half. I’ve completed many shorter distance races, but have actually come to enjoy the training and actual race of the 13,1 miles. I try to eat pretty healthy in general, as I am still nursing my youngest child, but I often find it difficult to keep it as healthy as I’d like because of how busy I am.
I find that when I food prep I eat much healthier, that is something I am striving to get more consistent with. I’ve also noticed that when I “eat clean” I feel so much better both physically and mentally, that is real motivation for me to try and keep it up.
The following food journal is what I ate today and is pretty typical of what I normally eat.
Breakfast: Yogurt with strawberries and blueberries
Snack: Baked mini flat pretzels and dill havarti cheese, honey crisp apple (shared with the littlest)
Lunch: Grilled chicken breast with side salad
Dinner: BBQ’d hamburger with lettuce and avocado, baked sweet potato fries
Water throughout the day, as well as a multivitamin, glucosamine supplement, calcium, and a broad spectrum antioxidant supplement.
On days that I run, I also have a protein bar or shake following my runs.
Thanks to Cathy for submitting her story to cavegrrl.com. I am hoping to meet her on the day of the run and wish her luck in person! 🙂 Thanks to Nike and Whole Foods for allowing me to give two other women the chance to run in the race.
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
You can find the Run Nike Women’s Series and more information on the race on Facebook here.
Enter to Win a Race Entry to the San Francisco Nike Women’s Half Marathon on October 19th, 2014!
Once again this year, I am partnering with Whole Foods Market Northern California, and I will be running for them in the San Francisco Nike Women’s Half Marathon. I am really excited to have been asked again (by Whole Foods), and I am even more excited that I WILL BE GIVING AWAY TWO ENTRIES to this SOLD OUT race right here on this website (SCROLL DOWN FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO ENTER)!
You might be familiar with this race because of it’s scenic course through San Francisco and the only half marathon series to give it’s finishers a Tiffany necklace instead of a finisher’s medal!! Not only that, but the necklace is given to you by a firefighter dressed in a tuxedo! 🙂
Here I am following last year’s race wearing my finisher’s necklace (and shirt from the race!):
I’ll be sharing some recipes with food provided to me by Whole Foods Market, and providing my training reports from now leading up to October 19th.
It’s been a while since I have run a half marathon (last November), so I will be putting in some hard work from now until race day. Here’s a favorite post of mine sponsored by Whole Foods from last year’s training.
Here’s this year’s course map:
This giveaway is for a race entry only. Once you win, you will be responsible for the $180 entry fee.–The entry does not include transportation, hotel, or parking the day of the race. Keep in mind there is NO race packet pick up the day of the race, so you will need to make arrangements to attend the expo on Thursday, October 16, 12:00PM – 8:00PM, Friday, October 17, 10:00AM – 8:00PM, or Saturday, October 18, 8:00AM – 6:00PM to collect your bib number.
TO ENTER TO WIN A RACE ENTRY FOR THE NIKE WOMEN’S HALF MARATHON ON OCTOBER 19th, 2014 at 6:30am, PLEASE DO ALL OF THE FOLLOWING:
1. Like cavegrrl.com on Facebook here.
2. Leave a comment in the comment section below and tell me why you want to run the race!
3. Like Whole Foods Sacramento on Facebook here or Whole Foods Roseville here.
4. Follow Whole Foods Northern California on twitter here.
4. Share this post on Facebook.
I will be choosing TWO winners on September 1st!
Good luck! 🙂
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
You can find the Run Nike Women’s Series and more information on the race on Facebook here.
Persimmon, Hazelnut and Arugula Salad with Honey Citrus Dressing
OK, sometimes I trick people into eating Primal/Paleo. Such is the case when I am invited to or Andy and I throw potluck-type parties. And this was the case last Saturday. Being Paleo/Primal at a party can be as scary as Halloween itself! 🙂
So here’s the great salad (I have named the FALL-iday/Holiday Salad!) brought that served both as a conversation piece, and the main part of dinner for Andy and myself. 🙂 You can use the ingredients below in pretty much any ratio you want––I’ll just give you the framework of what I used. And don’t miss out on the dressing. It really makes the dish!
Salad:
16 oz container of Organic Girl Arugula (you can also use a little spinach or spring mix if you’d like, but I think arugula tastes the best in this particular salad).
4 medium-sized fuyu persimmons, cubed
Arils of 1 pomegranate
4-6 slices of bacon (thick-cut, Applewood smoked)
1 cup toasted. skinned, and chopped hazelnuts
2-3 ozs. parmesan cheese–shaved…not the POWDERED kind for crying out loud 😉
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, or in my case, a catering pan if you are taking the salad to a large party. 🙂
Dressing:
1 part lemon juice
2 parts grapefruit juice
3 parts extra virgin olive oil
2 parts honey
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 tsp crushed ginger
pinch salt
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until well incorporated. Dress the salad and serve. If you are transporting the salad to an event like I did, wait until you arrive at the event to dress the salad.
Thanks to Whole Foods Market for sponsoring the food used in this recipe!! 🙂 You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
Scary Good Pesto and Blue Cheese Potatoes (sponsored by Whole Foods Market)
Last Saturday, Andy and I went to a Halloween party and I took these potatoes. They were inspired by a dip that Andy buys for us (occasionally as a treat) at Taylor’s Market. The dip/spread is called Walnut Basil and Blue Cheese Spread, and it’s rather addictive. I thought I would take the same flavor components and make them into bite-size little party treats. It was a big deal that I make a good culinary impression at this party, and I knew these would be well received. PS: They were all gone within a half an hour! 🙂
Ingredients:
2 pounds red, blue, & yellow mini potatoes–if you can’t find these, red ones will do.
1 jar 365 (Whole Foods private label) Pesto Sauce
1/4 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk (or sour cream)
1/2 cup Crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
salt/cracked pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 400°F and slice the potatoes into bite sized pieces. Generously oil a baking sheet and place the chopped potatoes it. Drizzle some oil over the potatoes (how much you use is up to you). Bake the potatoes until they are golden and crispy. Set aside while you prepare the pesto and blue cheese mixture.
For the blue cheese/pesto mixture, combine the pesto and the blue cheese in a bowl large enough to eventually hold the potatoes, too) and mix together with the back of a spoon, add the coconut milk (you can also use sour cream) to thin the mixture so that you can easily spread it on the potatoes.
Then add the potatoes in the bowl with the pesto/blue cheese mixture, and fold them in until the potatoes are well covered. Then place the potatoes back on to their original baking sheet and turn the oven on to the broil setting.
Broil the potatoes until the pesto and blue cheese mixture forms a crust and they look browned/crispy.
Go forth and be the hit of your party!! 🙂
Thanks to Whole Foods Market for sponsoring the food used in this recipe!! 🙂 You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here.
Grocery Trip and Dinner from Whole Foods Market (Nike Women’s Half Marathon Series)
Sorry for the delay on this post! I have been pretty behind on writing. 😉 It’s race week! Here’s another healthy recipe brought to you by Whole Foods! -cg 🙂
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First of all, I’d like to again thank Whole Foods Market of Northern California for sponsoring me for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon Series, and giving me a gift card to spend on food during training.
This week, my grocery trip/list was light. I had already stocked up (hoarded food, LOL) from a grocery trip a few days ago. So the above was really all I needed to make it through to the weekend.
1 pound of Brussels sprouts
1/2 pound of pork sausage
2 pears
1 cantaloupe
1 butternut squash
1 acorn squash
1 onion
1 avocado
1-6 pack of Zevia Ginger Ale
1 bottle of Roger d’ Anoia Cava (fueled by the grape!)
For dinner that evening, I made a stuffed acorn squash with onions, sausage, kale, and basil, with a side of roasted Brussels sprouts.
For the Brussels Sprouts:
1 Pound Brussels sprouts
1/4 cup olive oil
Slice the Brussels Sprouts and drizzle them with olive oil, then bake at 385°F until they are golden brown and crispy.
Now for the squash! You’ll need:
1/2 pound of pork sausage
1 acorn squash
1 onion (sliced)
1 bunch of fresh basil leaves
4 cups kale (shredded)
1 egg
1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (or parmesan cheese)
Split, de-seed and place your acorn squash on a cookie sheet and drizzle with a little olive oil. Prebake the squash at 400° for 30 minutes then remove from oven. Set aside to cool.
Cook the pork sausage in a medium skillet until it is about halfway done. Remove from the pan. Then sauté the onion in the fat from the sausage. When the onion is browned/translucent, add the sausage back in with the kale, and wilt the kale in the mixture over low heat. Then add the basil last, and wilt it a little as well. Remove the mixture from the heat, and add the egg and the cheese. Mix until completely incorporated. Then divide the mixture into two parts, and stuff each half of the acorn squash. Then return the squash to the oven (385°) and bake the squash until the stuffing is set and the acorn squash is fully baked.
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here. The Nike Women’s Series is on Facebook here.
Whole Foods: What’s in My Grocery Bag? (Nike Women’s Half Marathon Series)
As you can see in the photo above, Whole Foods hooked me up BIG TIME with a goodie bag full of nutritious foods to fuel my training for the San Francisco Nike Women’s Half Marathon.
There were six Larabars, a bag of kale, two tangelos, two bags of Peeled Snacks dried fruits, a tetrapack of Almond Milk (365 brand), a bag of walnuts (also 365 brand), a jar of Cucina Antica pasta sauce, a bag of Rhythm Kale Chips (my absolute favorite brand), a jar of Maranatha Almond Butter, and a bag of Go Raw Spirulina Chips.
This weekend, I made a soup with some of the ingredients Whole Foods provided for me (along with some of the foods I bought with a gift card they provided), as well as a post-race kale and egg dish! The soup I made was a butternut squash soup topped with a slice of gluten-free toast and blue cheese walnuts. I cut the toast in the shape of a heart because Andy and I met 2 years ago and we are pretty much celebrating every day over the next couple months.
Butternut Squash Soup with Blue Cheese Walnuts:
Soup:
(makes 3-4 servings)
Ingredients:
2 Tbs bacon fat
1 medium onion, chopped
1 shallot chopped
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed
4 oz red wine
16oz chicken stock
6 ozs So Delicious Coconut Milk (Unsweetened)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Topping:
1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted
2 Tbs blue cheese
1 slice (per each serving) gluten-free bread, toasted
Directions:
1. Oven roast the butternut squash at until it is tender. Approximately 45 minutes at 375°. Set aside to cool.
2. Cook the onion and shallot in the bacon fat in a medium-sized pot until they are browned. Add the red wine and allow the onion and shallot to cook further and to caramelize.
3. Pour in half of the chicken stock and bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to low and add the cooked butternut squash. Cook together for about 5 minutes, then transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Add the coconut milk to aid this process. When the mixture is smooth, return it to the pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
5. To make the topping, place the toasted walnuts in a food processor along with the blue cheese and lightly pulse 5 or 6 times to incorporate. Do not overmix, or you will end up with blue cheese and pecan spread. You want the nuts to still have a texture to them. Once you make the blue cheese walnuts, you can top the soup with them and serve with the toast.
Here’s a pretty common scene when Andy and I have dinner together. Our carbs mostly come from wine and fruit. My joke is that I am “fueled by the grape”!
We ate the soup with a salad and sausages, and had fruit for dessert.
On Sunday, I ran a the Urban Cow 5K here in Sacramento and I broke my personal record for the distance by 8 seconds. After the race, I ran another 5K as a cooldown (from the race location back to Andy’s then a loop around the local park), and then I came back to Andy’s house to take a big ol’ bubble bath and prepare my post-race meal: A kale, chicken, egg, onion, and bacon sauté. I can describe it as sort of a fried rice thing without the rice, but with bacon and kale instead. OK, I know that doesn’t make sense, so here’s a picture, and what I did to make it below that:
Kale Post Run POWER Breakfast:
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 cup shredded chicken
3 cups kale
2 eggs, 2 egg whites
2 pieces cooked and chopped bacon
salt and pepper to taste
Sauté the onion in a little olive oil until browned, and add the garlic, then the kale and sauté until wilted. Add the eggs and stir the ingredients in the pan until the eggs are cooked through. Then add the chicken and the bacon and leave on heat long enough to warm the ingredients through. Salt and pepper to taste and serve. Just what I needed after a run!
So that’s a little bit on what I have been eating! Another recipe to come in a few days and more on the training as well!!
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here. The Nike Women’s Series is on Facebook here.
Fueled by Whole Foods! (Nike Women’s Half Marathon Series)
So, I finally had time to get out to Whole Foods and start using the gift card they gave me to feed myself during my half marathon training (the Women’s Nike Half Marathon in San Francisco on October 20th). For about $65 dollars, here’s what I bought:
- 1/2 Gallon So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk
(will use in smoothies, sometimes morning coffee) - 1 pound bag frozen raspberries
(will use in protein shakes with protein powder, ice and coconut milk) - 1 package Diestel sliced herbed turkey breast
(love their products, a healthy splurge indeed!) - 1 head of organic cauliflower
- 1 small block of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
(.25 pounds or so, my biggest splurge on the list!) - 3 pound bag frozen triple berry blend
(will use in protein shakes with protein powder, ice and coconut milk) - 2.87 pounds of broccoli crowns
- 1.17 pounds of organic bananas
(will use in protein shakes with protein powder, ice and coconut milk) - 1.82 pounds of Grenache grapes
- 1 pound of Organic Girl Super Greens
- 1.5 pounds of parsnips
- .75 pounds of coconut flour
(will use in occasional treats after long runs) - ,75 pounds of almond meal
(will use sparingly to make gluten free bread or occasional treats) - 1 orange flesh honeydew melon (my favorite fruit!!)
This was my awesome dinner tonight, almost all of it made from the ingredients on my shopping list today from Whole Foods. It was a Diestel Turkey salad (2 1/2 slices), on a bed of Organic Girl Super Greens (dandelion, arugula, spinach mix), 2 hard boiled eggs, 1-2 Tbs grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, eggplant “croutons” and studded with about 1/2 cup of organic Grenache grapes. I don’t typically use dressing because the egg and cheese make everything so flavorful I don’t need it. 🙂
As far as the running goes, I have an app called Runkeeper to log my daily mileage. Here’s a look at my run this past Sunday. I wanted to put in a long run on the roads because I had not done one in a while. I was even wondering if I could make it past 10 miles! Followed by the map are my mile splits:
1 mi: 9:05
+12 ft elevation climb
2 mi: 9:07 +1 ft elevation climb
3 mi: 9:01 -10 ft elevation loss
4 mi: 9:18 -3 ft elevation loss
5 mi: 8:44 -18 ft elevation loss
(water stop at 5.25 miles)
6 mi: 8:59 +23 ft elevation climb
(ran kinda through the mall and through the tunnel into Old Sac… AWESOME)
7 mi: 8:09 +15 ft elevation climb
8 mi: 8:20 -5ft elevation loss
9 mi: 8:35: +4ft elevation climb
(water stop around 9 miles)
10 mi: 8:36 -3ft elevation loss
11 mi: 8:47 +4ft elevation climb
12 mi: (last .24 of my run in front of the Sacramento Zoo) 9:38 -8ft elevation loss
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I am planning on running a short race the first weekend of October, but otherwise will mostly be concentrating on building my road tolerance and endurance.
If you would like to check out my profile and my running on Runkeeper, click here.
Look for another post using my groceries from Whole Foods, coming this week and more on my training as well!
You can find Whole Foods on Facebook here and on twitter here. My local store is in Roseville on Facebook here. The Nike Women’s Series is on Facebook here. Now get out there and go running! 🙂
Make Your Favorite Summer-Inspired Recipe with Whole Foods! $20 Gift Card Giveaway!!
I just made a terrific summer inspired dinner with ingredients from Whole Foods. I spent $54 dollars for everything you see in the above picture. And, it comfortably feeds four people.
My friends at Whole Foods had this great idea for a gift card giveaway on cavegrrl.com and sent me $40 to buy ingredients and showcase a recipe. Well, I spent a little over $40, but I did get more than a pound of chicken sausage (1.12 pounds), a package of sliced pancetta, a 1/2 pound of hazelnuts, 1/3 pound of mushrooms, 1 1/3 pounds yellow squash, 1 1/3 pounds zucchini squash, 1/3 pound of olives, 1 package of tarragon, 3 shallots, 1 lemon, an entire bag of kale salad (1 pound), 2 baguettes made by Against the Grain Gourmet, AND a bottle of French white wine. 🙂
And what did I prepare with all of the groceries? A brown butter summer squash linguine with chicken sausage, a warm kale salad, garlic buttered baguettes, served with a French blanc de blancs.
For the warm kale salad you will need:
1 pound kale salad
1/3 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 package of pancetta, sliced or diced (if sliced, you will want to chop/cut into finer pieces)
3 shallots, finely diced
1 Tbs olive oil
In a large sauté pan, heat the oil and sauté the shallots until they are translucent. Then add the pancetta and the mushrooms and cook together until the pancetta browns. Add the kale and turn with the ingredients, allowing it to wilt in the pan. Cover the pan with a lid to help wilt the kale. Add all of the salad and steam until the kale is barely tender. Set aside and prepare your summer squash linguine.
For the Brown Butter Squash Linguine, you will need a tool called a julienne slicer. I just bought one this past weekend in order to make the recipe and it has kind of changed my life. I’ll be making squash linguine at least once a month now! 🙂
I snagged the recipe from Fine Cooking.com and you can click here to find it.
1-1/2 lb. young yellow (summer) squash (about 4)
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 Tbs. finely chopped almonds or hazelnuts
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. chopped fresh tarragon or parsley
1/2 lemon
You’re basically going to slice 4-6 summer squashes (I used green and yellow) to their core with the julienne slicer. It’ll make fine strips that when cooked are the texture and size of spaghetti noodles (linguine, maybe not so much as the recipe advertises) 😉
You’ll melt the butter and add the hazelnuts cooking until the butter reaches a nutty brown color, about 2 minutes. Then you’ll add the squash and salt. Coat the squash with the butter and hazelnuts, and continue cooking for about a minute. Then you’ll stir in half of the chopped herbs, and squeeze a little of the lemon over the squash and toss. It’s a pretty easy and totally rewarding operation! 🙂
The sausages were easy to prepare. I bought the house special chicken sausage with spinach and feta, exclusively made at Whole Foods. All I did was sear them in a hot pan and finish them off in the oven. Then, I sliced them on a bias to serve. 🙂
The bread was prepared with a little bit of crushed garlic stirred into melted butter and lightly brushed on the baguette slices. I placed them under the broiler until they were toasted to perfection.
And that, my friends… is one wonderful meal at about $13.50 per person including wine. 🙂
My friends at Whole Foods want to give you a $20 gift card. So, enter by commenting below (tell me your favorite summer recipe or meal), and if you have a twitter account, follow me and retweet the link to this blog post for an extra entry (be sure to leave me your twitter handle in your comment!). I will announce the winner this Sunday. Good luck!
You can find Whole Foods Market on Facebook here (Roseville location here) (Sacramento location here) and on twitter here (national) and here (Sacramento) and here (Northern California)! 🙂
Whole Foods Holiday Meals featuring Diestel Turkey
For the second year in a row, I was happy to partner with Whole Foods to show you some holiday menu items available for ordering.
The holidays are supposed to be full of celebration and fun, and Whole Foods can help take the hassle out of things like making a grocery list, figuring out what to make and how much, not to mention the hours of time you will save not having to prepare the meal.
I picked up my grocery bag full of items last Friday night, and on Saturday evening before the Clarksburg Country Run (Half Marathon), Andy and I tried them out as my pre-race meal.
The food came in a nice insulated zip up bag. (Most of the items were not Paleo, so I stuck to trying two or three things and made a salad and parsnip chips to complete my meal).
First in the bag was a fully cooked – Roasted Petite Diestel Turkey
If you read this blog, you know all about Diestel turkeys, raised in Sonora, CA by one of the last family owned and operated turkey ranches. The bird was a smaller size breed (perfect for 2-4 people!!). It comes perfectly cooked so all you have to do is reheat before serving. The turkey is Global Animal Partnership Step 3 Rated and retails for $54.99 | 6–8 lbs
Even though the Diestel’s turkeys don’t need gravy, the next item in the bag was a quart of:
Turkey Gravy–Whole Foods gravy is slow simmered with fresh veggies, roasted turkey, garlic and herbs. All you have to do is heat before serving and enjoy with any of our all natural turkey options. For $8.99 you get 1 quart.
Whole Foods Market Pull Apart Rolls we received in the bag were made by Grateful Bread. They come plain, but to jazz them up, I brushed them with melted butter, and added sea salt and herbs de Napa (an herb blend of lavender, sage, rosemary, and thyme). The rolls are $1.99 for the 6PK, and $2.99 for the 12 Pack.
I sliced some apples to eat with the block of Borough Market Foods Stilton.
The cheese is made from pasteurized cow’s milk with vegetarian rennet.
Texture is creamy and buttery, and pretty strong. It also pairs with Tawny Port, Pork, Pears, Figs,Walnuts, or honey. Borough Market Foods Stilton is made for WFM and is a bit younger than some other Stiltons, giving it a creamier texture. The cheese costs $18.99 per pound.
I did have a piece of the Celebration Toffee, as it was my pre-race meal. 😉
The candy is a collaborative effort between Whole Foods, Allegro Coffee, and Enstrom’s Candy Co. in Grand Junction, Colorado and is exclusive to Whole Foods Markets. These all natural toffees are available covered in Milk Chocolate or Dark Chocolate. The toffees are made with Allegro Celebration Caffe coffee. The toffee is actually studded with coffee beans and is 100 calories per piece. It goes for $9.99 for an 8 ounce container.
Last but not least, there was a WFM Pecan Pie in the bag. I only tasted the pecan topping and I am just not sure what Andy did with the rest of it. 😉 The pie is $16.99 for a 9″.
As for what to drink with dinner, a safe bet is always a Pinot Noir. It’s bigger and more fruit forward than burgundies, but softer than other red meat-centric red grapes. Pinot Noir can walk the middle ground–a much needed characteristic when it comes to Thanksgiving: a multi-course feast of many different flavors. The featured Pinot Noir this month at Whole Foods is the HRM Rex Goliath Pinot Noir.
To view the different options available for ordering you can go here. If you are overwhelmed by the choices (there are so many!) You can try their Traditional Roasted Turkey Dinner that serves 8 people for $99.99! That’s only $12.50 per person. It contains: a Fully Cooked Diestel Turkey • Savory Herb Stuffing • Mashed Potatoes • Turkey Gravy
Dinner Rolls • Classic Cranberry Relish • and a Pumpkin Pie.
Happy Holidays! P.S. Last day to order for Thanksgiving is November 19th!
Whole Foods Farm-to-Table Dinner
On October 18th, Andy and I were invited to preview the new Whole Foods Market in Davis and to a Farm-to-Table Dinner put on by Whole Foods featuring the suppliers and farmers of products that were to be sold in the new store.
We appreciated the dinner so much that we felt it deserved it’s own entry here on cavegrrl.com. The dinner probably could have been a ticketed event and sold to the general public for $125 each or maybe more. It was extremely special to be seated by our new friends, The Diestels. Their turkey went into one of the SEVEN courses I will describe below.
Also, this dinner wasn’t entirely Paleo, or even Primal, sometimes Andy and I have to just take one for the team. 😉 We stayed away from the wheat of course, but I am sure there was sugar involved in some of the courses. The main thing is that the ingredients were organic, clean, and that the farmers and suppliers themselves were eating with us. That translates to me that they all believe in their own products.
The evening’s dinner began with a salmon on crostini and Lava Cap’s 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. I pretty much stuck with this wine the whole night because it was a more style style of Sauvignon Blanc (less grapefruit) that I really loved.
First Course
The first course was the K & B Seafood Trio: Steamed clams and mussels in a white wine sauce with chorizo. IT was served with oyster on the half shell, Oyster Rockefeller, and Woods Fishery shrimp cocktail. We had been hosted the previous evening for happy hour at a high end restaurant and were served shrimp cocktail, and I have to say it paled in comparison to the K & B variety.
About K & B from their website:
K & B Seafood was founded in 1992 on Long Island in New York State, U.S.A. Ideally situated to deliver fresh seafood around the world, we receive fresh product directly from local baymen and fishermen, as well as from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Located close to the Fulton Fish Market and JFK International airport, we are able to deliver fresh and frozen seafood within hours by refrigerated truck or air carrier. Local, domestic, and international customers are served the finest seafood on time.
K & B Seafood is a licensed Shucker and Packer on the USFDA Interstate Shellfish Shippers list, a USDC Approved Fisheries Establishment, an approved EU (European Union) Seafood Shipper, and is licensed by the Russian Veterinary Service Rosselkhoznadzor to export fish and seafood to the Russian Federation.
Second Course
The second course was a Riverdog Farms Butternut Squash Soup topped with blue cheese crème fraiche. I had only a few bites because I was pacing myself for the other courses to come, but it was creamy, satisfying, and made splendid use of the ingredients.
About Riverdog Farms from their website:
Our farm is certified by California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and is located in the beautiful Capay Valley where rich creek-bottom soil, intense summer heat and winter frost make exceptionally tasty fruits and vegetables.
Partners Tim Mueller and Trini Campbell, along with their daughter and 50 full time employees, keep the farm going year-round. The seasonal, organic produce is available through Riverdog Farm’s Community Supported Agriculture Program (weekly veggie box deliveries to neighborhoods), wholesale distributors, select retail markets, and at all Berkeley Farmers’ Markets.
From our fields to your table, Riverdog Farm’s CSA program offers freshly harvested produce, every week, all year round to delivery locations in the Bay Area, Davis, and Sacramento.
Third Course
Our third course was a Santa Barbara Smokehouse Smoked Salmon Salad with argula, pickled red onions, fried capers and horseradish crème fraiche drizzle. Mmmm salmon.
About Santa Barbara Smokehouse:
Santa Barbara Smokehouse-maker of Cambridge House Smoked Salmon, which the New York Times has called “the best smoked salmon in the world”-is located in downtown Santa Barbara. Many major hotels such as the Bellagio and the Wynn, as well as cruise ships and restaurants, order exclusively from the Santa Barbara Smokehouse and the company boasts of accolades from Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse, among others.
At this point I tasted the other wine of the evening, The Andis Mouvedre (2010, Amador County).
Fourth Course
For the fourth course, we were served a Pozzi Lamb Chop, with a root vegetable puree and salsa verde. Yes, yes, and yes. This was the only true Paleo course! Pretty sure the puree was a parsnip and turnip duo. The chop was perfectly medium rare. In my opinion, this course did the most justice to the ingredients.
About Pozzi from their website:
Pozzi Ranch is located on the quiet hills overlooking the town of Bodega, in Sonoma County, California. For over 40 years, Joe Pozzi has raised natural, grass-fed lambs and cattle on the pastures of Pozzi Ranch and other grasslands throughout Sonoma and Marin County.
Fifth Course
The fifth course was a mini Pot Pie featuring Diestel Ranch turkey. You may have read about the Diestel Ranch last week right here on cavegrrl.com! 🙂 Unfortunately, my favorite ingredient was covered in pastry! Still, I managed to scrape off most of the crust and enjoy the filling, pretty traditional to a chicken pot pie, and studded with Diestel‘s delicious turkey breast.
About the Diestel Family Turkey Ranch from their website:
In 1949, using the knowledge gained from working on his Uncle Ernest’s ranch, my dad, Jack Diestel, began his own turkey ranch in Sonora. Today our family continues Uncle Ernest’s and Grandpa Jack’s tradition of naturally growing range turkeys on the family ranch using the same secrets to deliver the best tasting turkey directly from us to you.
– The Diestel Family
Sixth Course
The sixth course was a Panorama Grass-fed Beef Short Rib served with Community Grains creamy polenta. OK! So this was my second favorite course and I DID have some of the polenta. It was such a nice treat. The meat was tender and falling off the rib. I could tell it was cooked for a very long time on a low temperature.
Dessert
Dessert was a slice of Chocolate Decadence Cake (made at Whole Foods) served with Temple Coffee. I passed on dessert in favor of another glass of Lava Cap Sauvignon Blanc. 🙂
Andy and I would like to thank Whole Foods for the invitation to the opening and dinner. It was an exciting and memorable evening for all.
Special thanks to Andy for taking some of the food courses. I took a few on my iPhone. I apologize for lighting, as dinner was served outside and it was hard to fight the lack of light once the sun set.
Whole Foods is now open to the public as of today, October 24th. For more information, you can visit their website here.
Whole Foods Market Davis Opens Today, Oct. 24th!
Here’s some information on the new Whole Foods in Davis opening today at 10am:
Whole Foods Market will open its fourth Sacramento area store at 500 1st Street, in the Davis Commons, today, Oct. 24. Store leadership and Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza will be on hand for a bread-breaking ceremony at 9:45 a.m. and doors will open at 10 a.m. The opening day ceremonies will also include a check presentation to the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science to help launch the Honey and Pollination Center at the UC Davis Campus.
“We are looking forward to being part of Davis’ vibrant food and wine community, as well as building lasting relationships with local vendors, the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, students, residents and everyone in between,” said Cyn Leo, store team leader, Whole Foods Market Davis. “And we’re very excited to announce that we were able to bring over 100 new jobs to the Davis community!”
The 19,741-square-foot store, located in the former Borders location in the Davis Commons, features unique décor elements including reclaimed bicycle parts seen throughout the store; a beautiful mural by local artists Lacin/Christophel Mural & Design and indoor atrium cafe seating area. Green store design elements include reclaimed Douglas fir, used for various fixtures and wainscoting; glycol refrigeration system and LED lights, including track lighting and all case lights.
Additional highlights include:
Local Vendors – a wide range of products from within 100 miles or less of Davis will be featured:
- Riverdog Farm, Fully Belly Farm, Capay Organics and Wildboar Farms will offer a variety of items throughout the year including apples, tangerines, stone fruit, row crop vegetables, tomatoes and greens.
- Honey from Sola Bee Farms in Woodland
- El Dorado Roasting coffee from El Dorado Hills, Temple coffee and Old Soul coffee from Sacramento
- Baked goods from Grateful Bread Company, Sugar Plum Vegan and Sacramento Baking Company from Sacramento and Natural Food Works gluten-free baked goods from Davis
- St. John Family Farm pasture-raised eggs from Corning
- Berkeley Olive Grove 1913 olive oil from Oroville
- Drinkwell Softers lacto-fermented soft drinks from Eatwell Farm in Dixon
Meat – large meat counter with special offerings including local Panorama organic grass-fed and grass-finished beef and Country Natural grain-finished beef from cattle that have never been in a feedlot. Also available will be grab-and-go seasoned and marinated meats, stew and pot roast kits, house-made sausages, locally-raised Field to Family air-chilled chicken, local Pozzi grass-fed lamb and Diestel Ranch turkeys.
The store offers the best-tasting, freshest and highest-quality meat available that meets the company’s strict quality standards, which include that animals are raised on a vegetarian diet without being administered antibiotics or added growth hormones.* All beef, pork, chicken and turkey carried in the fresh and pre-packaged cases at all Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S. comes from farms that are rated according to Global Animal Partnership’s 5-Step™ Animal Welfare Rating program.
Artisan Bakery – featuring Whole Foods Market artisan hearth breads, brownies, cakes, fresh baked pies, cookies, cupcakes and gluten-free, raw and vegan treats. Also not to be missed are treats from local bakeries including Grateful Bread Company, Sugar Plum Vegan, Sacramento Baking Company and Natural Food Works.
Seafood – large seafood counter featuring a vast array of fresh and frozen selections, as well as all the marinades, sauces, seasonings and herbs to complete a meal with seafood as the centerpiece. New to the store are Dungeness crab offered year-round, gravlox, cold smoked wild sockeye and rope hung cold smoked salmon. Whole Foods Market also offers a large selection of sustainable seafood certified by the Marine Stewardship Council and rated by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program.
Prepared Foods – featuring an extensive selection of foods made by a team of talented, in-house chefs. Specialties include a daily selection of house-made soups, an extensive salad bar and a full-service burrito bar as well as sandwiches, pizzas and charcuterie. A wonderful array of healthful and tasty lunch options will be available on a daily basis, including a variety of nutrient-rich items like quinoa, brown rice and kale.
Beer and Wine – A large wine and beer selection featuring local and international offerings.
Bulk Section – The department will feature over 200 bulk food items including grains, flours, nuts, spices, oils and vinegar. To cut back on packaging waste, customers are encouraged to bring their own reusable containers.
Coffee Bar – features freshly-brewed espresso and coffee daily from Allegro®.
Nut Butters – grind-your-own organic peanut and almond butters.
Whole Body – an extensive array of mineral make-up and premium quality facial care, organic apparel & sustainable accessories, best-selling health books and healthy eating cookbooks and an extensive variety of natural immune support for the upcoming cold and flu season.
Store Dining and WiFi – Free wi-fi and dining space inside in the atrium and outside.
Store Tours – shopping tours tailored to special diets such as gluten-free living and store tours for parents, as well tours themed for how to shop on a budget, are available. Private tours can be arranged by request for organizations such as schools and senior centers.
Whole Foods Market Community Giving Days — at least four times a year, Whole Foods Market sets aside a day on which five percent of the day’s net sales is contributed to a local 501(c)3 non-profit organization. The first Community Giving Day will be on Dec. 5 and benefit Davis Farm to School.
Nickels for Nonprofits – when customers bring in their own bags for groceries they have the option of receiving a five-cent refund (per bag) or donating the money to a selected charity. The first non-profit beneficiary is Friends of the UC Davis Arboretum.
Donations Out the Back – perishable products that aren’t sold during the day are donated to those in need. Whole Foods Market Davis is proud to work with Yolo County Food Bank.
Kid’s Club – children ages 2 through 8 are eligible to complete a scavenger hunt to receive a free treat.
Parking & Entrances – there are two entrances into the store, one facing downtown and the other facing west, towards the parking lot. There is free two hour car parking; 40 bike parking spots are available.
Store Information
Whole Foods Market Davis, 500 1st Street, Davis, CA 95616
Tel. 530-750-2266
Hours: 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. daily
Store Team Leader: Cyn Leo
Website: www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/davis
Like them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/WFMDavis
Follow them on Twitter: www.twitter.com/
Special thanks to Whole Foods, Jennifer Marples and Charaighn Sesock of KOA Communications for arranging the tour, and to Andy Harris for the photos.
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