Pork

Sriracha Dipping Sauce.

April 4, 2014 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Appetizers, Brunch, Condiments, Dips, Easter, Fish, Gluten Free, Grilling/Rubs/Sauces, Mexican, Pork, Salads, Sauces, Seafood, Side dish, Snacks, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wheat Free Leave a Comment

I’ve developed a fond love of cashew cream as of late. It’s incredibly easy to whip up and is one of the most versatile concoctions you can have in your kitchen. From adding maple syrup for sweet recipes to Sriracha sauce for hot and spicy. Use this as a substitution anywhere you use heavy cream. It’s perfect for anyone who is lactose intolerant because it has no dairy. The cream is actually made from cashews. 100% vegan. Gluten free. I love sharing fun, easy and super simple recipes with you. This one is perfect!

I served this up as an appetizer with fresh veggies – English cucumbers, raw asparagus, jicama and carrot sticks. My kids were also dipping pretzel crisps in it. Perfect for the Sriracha lover!
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— Knead to Cook

Vegan Kale and Basil Pesto.

March 21, 2014 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Appetizers, Brunch, Condiments, Dips, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Grilling, Grilling/Rubs/Sauces, No bake/cooking required!, Party Foods, Pizza, Pork, Sauces, Seafood, Vegan, Vegetarian, Vitamix, Wheat Free 2 Comments

On a vegan roll this week with the recipes. Again, I think many people shy away or turn their nose up to trying vegan recipes – trust me, don’t! All of these recipes I’m sharing I “test run” on my family and my kids and father are all staunch carnivores. It is nice to mix up your menu choices. Add more veggies and sub out the meat once in awhile, remember Meatless Mondays? Okay so my kids LOVE LOVE love, pesto. I haven’t made it all winter – well because it reminds me of spring and summer. It’s light and fresh and normally has ingredients that come from our garden. Well now that the snow has melted (Amen!) and spring has SPRUNG (finally) I wanted to whip up a different pesto that was nutritionally set up as a powerhouse, who doesn’t want their kids to eat more green veggies right?, and was totally vegan (because you can try a vegan recipe without dying I promise).

This pesto is so packed with vitamins and minerals – your body will be humming along nicely and when you eat lots of color (remember science and photosynthesis?) – that comes from the sun, that energy and glow will happen to you. Insert the wahhh wahhh wahhhh from Charlie Brown but I’m serious. Since becoming a vegetarian – consuming more and more vegetables has changed my skin texture and it now has a glow plus I have a ton of energy. Meat doesn’t do that for you, sorry.

Back to the recipe at hand… this recipe can be made solely with basil or a combination of basil, kale and spinach – whatever you like. Totally flexible and totally tasty. Also refrigerates or freezes beautifully. Plus how easy is this dinner… process it in your food processor or Vitamix and keep it in the fridge till you boil your pasta. Ummmm hello easy weeknight dinner. Also spreads great on crackers, acts as a dip for veggies or a spread on your sandwich, top your favorite protein, in soup… the ideas are endless.

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— Knead to Cook

Wheat Berry Stuffed Bell Peppers. Vegan. Vegetarian or Meat Lovers.

February 19, 2014 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Brunch, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Gluten Free, Ground Turkey, Pork, Turkey, Vegan, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 3 Comments

The count in my family is now 2 vegetarians and 3 carnivores. I have to admit, somedays its just hard enough getting one dinner on the table versus two different options to satisfy everyone’s needs/wishes. This dish works really well because you can prepare the base and use that for the vegan/vegetarian option and add your protein for the meat lover versions. You can make as many as you need working essentially between the two dishes. This dish can easily be prepared ahead of time as well and then just baked/broiled right before serving dinner. Plus it’s packed with protein and vitamins to keep you humming along healthy and happy!

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— Knead to Cook

Chicken, Ham and Kale Soup.

January 3, 2014 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Chicken, Italian-inspired, Pork, Soups, Stocks/Broths, Wheat Free 2 Comments

First before I get into the recipe at hand, I wanted to let you know that I have since deleted (it takes 14 days) my Knead to Cook Facebook page because they continually make it difficult for my posts (and other bloggers) to share recipes and photos. Despite having over 70k fans only 1-2k were ever getting to see a post a time and managing my efforts and time – that wasn’t working. I will continue to post on my website along with my Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest feeds so fear not. Happy 2014!

I whipped this soup/stew or stoup (ha ha) up right after Christmas with the leftover ham that we had on hand. You can always tell when you family tires of leftovers and it’s time to reinvent. This recipe came to me on the elliptical at the gym. Braising meat always brings out the best flavors and it is the easiest dinner ever. I added some nutritionally packed kale and this dinner was out of this world. I left my chicken pieces (I used cut up breasts) in large pieces but you can choose to either shred or cut smaller for more a soup feel.

Perfect for cold and chilly days like today when the kids are home from school and you need something to warm your bones. Enjoy!

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— Knead to Cook

Turkey Sausage Cioppino.

October 29, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Gluten Free, Italian-inspired, Pork, Seafood, Soups 2 Comments

My husband wanted to cook on Sunday, while I was running errands and I have to say after a busy weekend, I really appreciated a night off from making dinner. We had turkey sausage that we purchased locally and he thought it would be fun twist on cioppino – which is typically made with seafood. My kids, unfortunately, aren’t fans of seafood so he modified this soup so that everyone would love it. You can always add some peeled and designed shrimp if you like. Serve this soup up with some good crusty bread and a glass of wine and you have the perfect dinner on a cold fall evening.

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— Knead to Cook

Apple picking and apple recipe round-up.

October 19, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, Desserts, Fruit, Gluten Free, Grilling, Holiday, Nuts, Pork, Snacks, Turkey, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 2 Comments

Bring on fall! The weather finally warranted wearing a sweater or jacket. I absolutely adore this season and it is by far, my favorite. Pumpkins, cool breezes, leaves changing to vibrant colors and apples! Lots of apples. Finally after several busy weekends, we were able to carve out a bit of time to hit up my favorite orchard and pick some apples, in fact 40 lbs! In the coming days I will be sharing all of my favorite recipes for everything apple. [Read more…]

— Knead to Cook

Smoked Honey Dijon Mustard Glaze.

August 28, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Chicken, Fish, Fruit, Gluten Free, Grilling, Grilling/Rubs/Sauces, Pork, Sauces, Seafood, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 2 Comments

My little farm stand, tucked away on this windy road, surrounded by Amish farms has this wonderful little gem I found probably two or so years ago and I keep going back for more… it’s smoked honey. I’ve gotten a slew of questions about how one smokes honey every time I post a picture. I’m unsure of the exact measures that one takes to yield such an incredible product but I’m sure glad they do! It’s remarkably flexible… I can top grilled fruit with it or use it in glazes, such as this one. Tonight I’m grilling up a pork tenderloin for my family and this glaze will finish it off nicely. You can easily use it over fish or chicken as well.

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— Knead to Cook

Grilled peach salsa.

August 23, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Breakfast, Gluten Free, Grilling, Party Foods, Pork, Salsas & Guacamole, Seafood, Snacks, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 1 Comment

I feel like my house is filled with peaches! Not a bad problem at all if you ask me. These fuzzy coated fruit are a fave here and we’ve already made a gratin and smoothies with them. Next up… a grilled peach salsa to top your favorite protein. My family is having this with grilled pork tenderloin while I’ll be eating it with some tilapia. Honestly so good, bust out a bag of tortilla chips and have it as a dip too. Farm fresh and eating clean sans any guilt or preservative-packed salsas from the grocery store. Takes only minutes to grill and prepare. Keeps for up to 3-4 days in the fridge and only gets better as the flavors have time to “mingle” in the fridge. Totally vegan too!

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— Knead to Cook

Chimichurri.

May 21, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: Beef, Chicken, Egg dishes, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fish, Grilling, Grilling/Rubs/Sauces, Pasta, Pizza, Pork, Vegetarian, Vitamix 4 Comments

Chimichurri is a South American version of pesto that is served atop or along side meat and veggies. I’m planning on grilling up a ton of fresh veggies from the farmer’s market and I thought this would be perfection for a vegetarian dish. I will, however, grill up some chicken for my favorite carnivores to eat with it too. I will use fresh herbs from my garden and you can control the heat with the jalapeño according to your taste and preference. This is also perfect over tortellini pasta or on some crusty toasted bread. Yum! Can’t wait for dinner.

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— Knead to Cook

Sweet, Spicy and Smoky Dry Rub.

April 22, 2013 by Knead to Cook Filed Under: 4th of July/Patriotic, Beef, Chicken, Gluten Free, Grilling/Rubs/Sauces, Pork, Vitamix, Wheat Free 21 Comments

As the the warmer weather of spring arrives across the country, grills will be fired up and beef, chicken and pork will be seared to perfection. I will not lie, I love spring – not too hot, not to cold and everyone is finally outside enjoying the sunshine on their face. Our grill has been fired up several times in the past few weeks, moving our kitchen outdoors and I will not complain about that. Grilled food just tastes better.

Last night my husband grilled the first set of ribs for the season. I knew, I had to whip up a fresh batch of my sweet, spicy and smoky dry rub in honor of this event. It is tangy, sweet with a smoky heat. Perfection!

When using a dry rub of any kind, it’s best that you rub your meat down and refrigerate for at least 12-24 hours. If you don’t have that kind of time, give it one hour for the spices to work their magic.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of light brown sugar
2 tablespoons of salt (I used Lo Salt reduced sodium alternative)
1 tablespoon of chipotle chili powder
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika
1 tablespoon of garlic powder
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Directions:

Place everything into a mini food processor, Vitamix or you can mix by hand or by adding everything to a tupperware container with a lid. Process until well-combined. Store in a container with a lid for up to 6-9 months.

This can be used on chicken, pork or beef. Rub a generous amount on the meat and refrigerate for best results up to 24 hours or a minimum of 1 hour. Place the meat on a hot grill and cook until desired temperature is achieved. Enjoy!

— Knead to Cook