Pepper and Pancetta Piperrada

Hi all!

Get excited for this special feature guest post, written by Maxx, my partner and equally creative force behind the new weekly column: Brooke and Maxxs Culinary Crafts.  As an aside, to sample our mouthwatering, fudgy, decadent, showstopper of a chocolate cake, check out the link here.

Without further ado though, his enticing entrée and posting:

Fresh bell peppers shine in this recipe, a Spanish-influenced dish fitting for any meal.  I fixed this for Sunday brunch; the savory flavors working nicely in pairing with the velvety eggs.  If your knife skills are sharp, you can whip this up in 30 minutes, an easy preparation for sure.  The recipe is derived using this original for inspiration.

I had been seeking the opportunity to put Brooke to the test after I learned that she is somewhat picky about her Bell peppers.  I myself had never appreciated the subtleties in their flavor over the range of colors in which they are available.  A fortuitous family pack of peppers at the grocery store afforded me the opportunity to buy a quartet of them; green, red, yellow, and orange.  When preparing the dish, I reserved samples of each and administered a blind taste test.  Brooke correctly differentiated her least favorite, the green pepper, at first, before being swayed by the flavors of the orange.

Ultimately, she identified the similar tasting peppers: orange and green, and yellow and red, only she reversed her selections within those two pairs.  I was impressed overall after being skeptical in her ability to distinguish the peppers by color.

So, onward with what you’ll need to make this breakfast dish:

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Grain Honey Mustard Marinated Salmon

Happy Monday, all!

For recipe #2 on Brooke and Maxxs Culinary Crafts, we decided on a honey mustard marinated salmon accompanied with a side of sweet potato fries.  Our attempt at going semi healthy and lightening things up after the swan dive taken into wholehearted consumption of the sweet stuff over the last few weeks 😉

This recipe may be really good for you but it tastes awesome.  In Maxxs words, “fun to eat” with the tiny, almost bead-like texture of the grains atop tenderly cooked salmon.  The zest of the mustard playing well with the subtle sweetness from the honey added to it.  Sweet potato fries, the perfect of sides for this simple but comfort foody, totally satisfying plate.

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Crash course on Paleo

This particular lifestyle has begun to receive a fair amount of hype over the last couple years, while just recently exploding into major trendiness.  Both receiving lots of good as well as bad press.  Is there any meat behind the supposedly life changing claims?  What are the benefits along with the potential pitfalls?  While not personally following a Paleo diet (though I do dabble), enough of my recipes fall under the umbrella of this particular lifestyle that make it fitting to post a short and sweet descriptor of what Paleo is and why it seems loads of people are jumping on the bandwagon.

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Salmon Pesto Zoodles

Hi all,

Long time, no post.  I admit, this ones a bit of a cheat but a delicious one, nonetheless.  Healthy, light in calories, while full of flavor and totally tasty.  Easy to make on a weeknight after a long day of work and hits the spot just right.

This recipe serves two people.  Its gluten/grain free, can be dairy free if you either omit the pesto or get a vegan version, and is of course sugar free.

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Paleo Sunflower Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

To all lovers of old school chocolate chip and/or peanut butter cookies (or, for the truly daring, lets take the two and combine 😉 because really, what’s better than chocolate and peanut butter fused?  Nothing, that’s what.  Besides possibly pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread, but that’s another debate for a different day).

The coolest thing about these cookies though?  They deliver all the taste of a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie but are grain free, dairy free, Paleo and free of refined sugar.  The texture is cakey and moist.  They taste lightly sweet and peanut buttery, except these guys are made with sunflower butter.  The supposedly healthier cousin to PB, as its not a legume/nut.

Get excited for these guys.  Easy to make and totally delicious.

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Paleo Chocolate Frosting

Hi all,

Here’s a delicious, healthy ish frosting recipe.  Ideal for cupcakes (especially on these moist, fudgy Paleo ones), cakes, you name it.  I was stunned this is a mostly Paleo recipe.  Yet it tastes creamy, sugary, thick, like a real deal version of chocolate frosting.  Enjoy!  This might become your new go-to 😉

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Paleo Chocolate Cupcakes

Man oh man, do I love chocolate, frosting and cupcakes.  The moist, cakey texture.  The rich, sugary taste of frosting.  The charming and oh so perfect small size making it nearly impossible to eat just one.  Queue mouth watering.  However, damn what a bummer how unhealthy they are.  Loaded with sugar, dairy and grains.

On Pinterest one day, I stumbled across several Paleo cupcake recipes, which I automatically assumed were likely to taste terrible.  However I decided to experiment with making a batch last night.  WHOA.  Like the astoundingly awesome, flavorful cauliflower pizza I made a couple weeks ago, these blew my mind.

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Portbello Mushroom Burgers

Hi all,

Love burgers but wish they weren’t loaded with all those heavy carbs?  This recipe delivers the taste without all the extra bread.  Get excited for this one, its the bomb.  Summer is THE time for burgers, and the season isn’t over just yet ;-).  Lets milk burger season for all its worth, eh?  Enjoy this healthier but just as mouthwatering rendition.

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Zucchini Coconut Bread

Hi all,

Happy Hump Day!  Get excited!  This recipe is sweet, delicious and ultra healthy.  Its Paleo compliant, grain free, dairy free and sugar free.  Whip up a batch and you’ll have a healthy, tasty treat for tea/coffee time every day this week.  Awesome stuff, eh?

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Coconut Blueberry Pancakes

Hi all,

Happy weekend!  You know what that means…pancake time!  Here’s a spin on my latest recipe but with blueberries.  Summertime means berry pickin and eatin.  Plus lighter recipes.  This one fits the bill on all accounts.  Light, fluffy, lovely.  Yet grain/gluten free, dairy free and sugar free.  Yum, yum!

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