Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Sriracha Dipping Sauce.

by 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

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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.

by 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

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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

Turkey Sausage Cioppino.

by Filed Under: Gluten Free, Italian-inspired, Pork, Seafood, Soups 2 Comments

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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

Smoked Honey Dijon Mustard Glaze.

by Filed Under: Chicken, Fish, Fruit, Gluten Free, Grilling, Grilling/Rubs/Sauces, Pork, Sauces, Seafood, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 2 Comments

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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.

by Filed Under: Breakfast, Gluten Free, Grilling, Party Foods, Pork, Salsas & Guacamole, Seafood, Snacks, Vegetarian, Wheat Free 1 Comment

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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

Grilled Flounder Fillet.

by Filed Under: Seafood, Vegetarian 2 Comments

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For those of you who know me, know that I have a enormous aversion to fish beyond eating cold shrimp – which I can eat with really spicy cocktail sauce daily.  I’ll be honest, its always scared me.  I don’t know why but I have avoided it every chance I’ve gotten.  With my 30 lb weight loss and super clean eating, I started to lose my taste for meat.  This left me a bit high and dry other than the standard beans, nuts, cottage cheese as a protein source.  My goal is to always take in a lot of protein per day because I work out 6 days a week – hard!  So the fish topic had to be revisited and I reluctantly did just that.

Long story short, while on vacation in Maine – we were invited to a very exclusive  TD bank sponsored Lobster Bake (along with Olympic runners and other prominent New Englanders).  I proudly cracked and dismantled my lobster (with the direction of my new friend from Maine) and ate the tail… yes, the whole thing!  Then while in NH, I spoke to my good friend Jenny at length (I mean hours) about fish and the scale of fishiness.  What I should start with and what I should avoid.  I then tried my husband’s fish tacos – which was really good during our travels.  I did also have a bite of Jenny’s sesame salmon one night we were out to dinner and I was okay with it.  Progress!  So today we went to our local fishmonger and my husband got catfish and he recommended flounder fillet for me.  My husband created this recipe and I have to admit, I liked it.  I wouldn’t say love but a strong like and would eat it again.  It was mild and great over my plate of sautéed spinach (my fallback cushion).

So for all of you fish-avoiders… give this a try.  I promise, you might be surprised at the outcome!

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— Knead to Cook

Smoked paprika grilled shrimp.

by Filed Under: Rubs, Seafood, Vegetarian, Wheat Free Leave a Comment

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Today my girls and I headed out to the mall to buy some clothes for back-to-school.  Bracing myself I survived the crowded, dark, music-blasting, perfume-bombed stores to yield quite a stash of clothing for two teens to be quite happy with (despite not wanting school to start).  Rushing home, I needed a good dinner idea that could be made in a flash.  This came to mind instantly!  This dish is great to top a salad or serve as an appetizer.  Smoky and packed with flavor.  This rub is also great on any light and flaky fish (or chicken/pork).  It whips up in second and grilling only takes a few minutes.  I’m serving atop a fresh bed of baby spinach.  Perfect, easy summer dinner on a busy day (they all seem that way lately).

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs of large to extra large peel and eat shrimp
1 tablespoons of smoked paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (I used LoSalt to use a low sodium option)
1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper

Directions:

Mix the spices in a bowl until well-combined.  While preheating your outdoor grill or pan (on an outdoor grill you will need a mesh pan for grilling so the shrimp don’t fall through the grates) – preheat to 375-400 degrees.  Rub the shrimp in the spice mixture.  Coat each side really well.  Grill for  4-5 minutes on each side.  Remove and serve or top your greens and enjoy.

— Knead to Cook

Shrimp Salsa.

by Filed Under: Appetizers, Dips, Evolution Power Yoga 40 Days, Fish, Gluten Free, Mexican, No bake/cooking required!, Party Foods, Salsas & Guacamole, Seafood, Side dish, Snacks, Vegetarian, Wheat Free Leave a Comment

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Lately I haven’t been eating any meat, actually it’s been quite a few months since I have.  I haven’t had a taste for it so I adjust my sails and go forward.  I’m sadly not a seafood lover but I do love, and have since I was pregnant with my oldest 15 years ago, cold shrimp.  Not cooked shrimp, it has to be cold.  I actually think I love the spicy cocktail sauce more than anything (the shrimp being a venue to get that to my mouth) but as of late, I started venturing out of my comfort zone and this little dish is now one of my favorites that I cannot stop eating.  Hashtag addictive!  Ha ha.  This is the perfect salsa to serve with tortilla chips, as a side or straight up out of the bowl like I do it.  It is so good and so refreshing.  It also proves my point once again, clean eating can be easy, quite tasty and fun.  Plus the longer this has to sit in the fridge, the tastier it becomes.  Easiest recipe ever!

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— Knead to Cook

Broiled lobster.

by Filed Under: Seafood, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian 9 Comments

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My husband prepared broiled lobsters for dinner tonight and with several requests… I promised to post the recipe.

First, line with foil your broiler pan.  Set aside.  Take your thawed lobster tails and cut the shell (with sharp scissors) and pull the lobster meat gently out and rest it on the shell as seen above in the photo.  Then you are going to butterfly cut a well or pocket into the meat (not going through the entire tail) and sprinkle with garlic salt, paprika and pour some melted butter in.  Broil, 3-4 inches away from the broiler flame, 1 minute per ounce.

Serve with clarified butter and enjoy!

— Knead to Cook