Really good mostly purple salad

Toss this all together:
A bunch or red kale, torn into smaller pieces
1/2 head red cabbage, shredded
3/4 jar (costco sized) artichoke hearts.  (Marinated in olive oil.)
A package of cranberries
Some amount of blanched sliced almonds
Some kalamata olives
Tub of gorgonzola cheese
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Vinegar.

Pretty awesome.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

I've been thinking about doing pulled pork for, oh, like a year now.  Finally decided it was about time:

Slice a large onion.

Place half of the onions on the bottom of the slow cooker.

Place the pork on top of the onions.

According to the package, I bought a "Pork shoulder butt roast", which seems redundant, as I understand shoulder and butt to be the same cut on a pig.  Maybe I'm wrong.  It was about 5.5 lbs, which was just about perfectly sized for my crock pot.

Sprinkle spices on top - I used a pre-mixed "BBQ" spice cause I was feeling lazy.

Add a can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes.  (This one also had chiles in it.)

Add a head of garlic cloves, smashed.

The plan is to cook it on high for 4 hours, then on low for another 4, see if it shreds easily by then.

Scoot

Chicken Soup Slow Cooker - Tortilla style

This recipe was inspired by a tacos day potluck here at work.  I decided i wanted to do a soup.  Then I bought too much chicken.

The night before:
Add to the crockpot:
A large chopped onion
A large chopped sweet potato
A bunch of chicken thighs (boneless).  I think it was like 3.5 lbs. worth.
Chipotle paste.  (The paste from the cans of chipotles.  Or tomato paste + spices).
A head of garlic, minced
Couple shakes of whatever spices you want.  I went with cumin, chili powder, adobo seasoning, and ....?
2 cups of chicken broth
2 cans (fire-roasted) diced tomatoes.

Realize that the slow cooker is tapped out, and won't fit any more vegetables or broth.  Hmmm.  It's looking more like a really thick stew than soup.

Let cook on low overnight.

In the morning- take out the chicken and shred it.  Clear some space in the crockpot by putting some of the chicken and veggies in a container so that the folks at work don't get everything.

Add more broth and a bag of frozen veggies.  (My mix container carrots, bell peppers, squash, and green beans.)

Take to work, let simmer on low until lunch!  Top with avocado.

Scooter.

And it needs salt somewhere along the way.

Oven Pot Roast

Put oven on 325.  Plan on 3.5-4.5 hours total.  If going for longer, turn down to 300 when you add the veggies.

Add roast in a covered pan.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

1.5-2 hours before it will be done, add carrots, potatoes, onions, and sweet potatoes.  Add more liquid if needed.

Easy!  and Delicious!

Scoot

Chile Verde

Super delicious -
Based out of Sarah Fragoso's Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook.

Ingredients:
2 lbs pork roast (most recipes I looked at called for shoulder roast, I got a sirloin roast b/c that is what was available), cubed into like 1" pieces.
1 large onions, chopped
Couple cloves garlic, chopped.
Jar of verde tomatillo salsa (or make your own.)
1 cup broth

Spices:
Paprika
Cumin
Black Pepper

Oil:
Coconut

Method:
Brown the cubes of pork in a couple tablespoons of coconut oil for 8 minutes or so.  Remove to a plate.  Add onions and garlic, saute for 5-10 minutes, add spices.  (I'm guessing I put in a 2 teasoons or so each).  Add broth and use a stiff spatula to scrape all the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.

2 options: simmer on the stove for 2-2.5 hours.

What I did: Put it all in the crockpot on high for 4.5 hours.

It was still pretty liquidy - I think simmering on the stove (uncovered) would have thickened the sauce up somewhat.  It's really good, though.

I am going to try poaching some eggs in the liquid tomorrow for breakfast - super excited.

Scoot

Bacon-Wrapped Pineapple; "Potstickers"

Made some finger foods for a work potluck:

Basically from Diane Sanfilippo's Balanced Bites:

Soak some toothpicks in water for a while.  (I did overnight).
Buy a package of bacon, cut the strips in half, width-wise.
Chop up a pineapple into ~3/4" chunks.
Wrap a piece of bacon around the pineapple, secure with a toothpick.
Cover a cookie sheet or large roasting pan with aluminum foil.
Put a metal baking rack on the pan.
Place all the bacon bites on the rack.  (So that the fat will drain below the rack.)

Bake at 350 for ~25 minutes.  I put it on broil for about 5 minutes at the end.

Awesome.

Gluten-free potstickers.

This was based off a amalgam of a bunch of different websites.

Ingredients, sauteed separately in sesame oil:
1.5 lbs. ground pork, until done
1 head napa cabbage, with some shredded ginger, until wilted
1 large onion, 1 leek, 1 green pepper, and 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped.
Combine this all and let sit.  (Overnight, in my case.)

Some spring roll wrappers.  Mine were made with tapioca flour.

Double up the wrappers, soak 2 at a time in a little bit of water.  (They are flimsy and fragile).
Roll up the filling inside them.
Fry in sesame oil.

Made about 30 or so.  Pretty labor intensive.  Pretty good, but kind of oily.  Filling was delicious.

Scooter

Balsamic Crockpot Short Ribs

This was based off Diane Sanfilippo's Practical Paleo recipe.

Rub the (bone-in) short ribs with spices: fresh rosemary, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika

Sear the ribs in a large skillet in coconut oil.

Put the ribs in a crockpot with:
1-2 sliced onions
1 cup balsamic vinegar (I used a blackberry-ginger flavored one).
A bunch of smashed cloves of garlic
1 can tomato sauce (15 oz.)
Drizzle of honey

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Awesome!