You may remember that some months ago I got on a kick of throwing a bunch of ingredients in a pan and calling the recipe a mishmash.  There was Spring Vegetable Mishmash and also Salmon Mishmash.  The last of the summer tomatoes brought on the End of Summer Chicken Mishmash.

Actually, no, that's not what brought about this particular mishmash recipe.  What happened was that Brian and I were house hunting across the country and staying in a rental apartment with a kitchen.  The kitchen had the basic necessities of a skillet, a knife, a cutting board, and spatula.  So resourcefulness kicked in as I thought about what we could make easily that would be deeply satisfying and also meet our nutritional needs.  The nearly last of summer cherry tomatoes plus my love of spinach and garlic plus some nice chicken breasts became a hearty dinner one night. 

And boy did we need something nourishing and hearty.  Brian got on the plane with a cold and two days later I had the cold, a doozy that knocked us out.    We still went house hunting and made an offer on a house while hopped up on cold medicine.  Please note, I do not recommend extremely large purchases while under the influence of Nyquil.

End of Summer Chicken Mishmash
(or Rental Apartment Chicken Mishmash)
Serves 4

1 to 1.25 pounds of chicken breast or chicken cutlets cut into 1-inch cubes
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
pinch of red pepper flakes
4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2-4 cups of raw spinach, roughly chopped
1 to 1.5 cups of cherry tomatoes, halved (or if very large then quartered)
Sea Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cooked brown or white rice to accompany.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a 12-inch skillet until it shimmers.  Add the chicken and cook until light brown on one side, about three to four minutes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Turn the chicken cubes over and cook two to three minutes longer.  Remove the chicken from the pan.  If it looks like the pan is dry, swirl in some more olive oil.  Add the onion and cook over medium heat until it starts to turn light brown, stirring often to avoid burning.  This step can take up to 10 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and cook for one minute.  Add the tomatoes, season with a pinch or two of salt and pepper, and cook until they are starting to break down, about five minutes.  Add the spinach and cook until it starts to wilt.  Add the chicken to reheat it.

To serve, spoon rice into four bowls and then divide the chicken mishmash between the four bowls.  Serve warm.

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When I first had to give up gluten in order to save my health, I thought I would have stay away from Asian food forever.  Why?  Because I told myself a story that all Asian food, regardless of country of origin had soy sauce in it, and soy sauce has wheat in it.  In fact, there are a lot of Asian sauces that have wheat in them.  The upside is that I discovered gluten free tamari which is wheat-free soy sauce.  Also, I've learned to read food product labels really carefully.   Still, though, I never go out for Asian food for fear of being cross-contaminated, and we very rarely make it at home.  This past spring, though, I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant on a visit to see my mother in Arizona and was reminded how much I miss the flavors of various Asian cuisines.  

I was inspired to create something simple I could make at home as I am rediscovering how to take the dishes of various Asian countries, especially China and Vietnam, and make them gluten free and safe for me to eat.  With that, I present to you this very simple and delicious meal of grilled chicken with broccoli which you can easily make on a weeknight.  You'll need to do a little advance planning as the chicken needs to be marinated.  Also, if you are vegetarian or vegan, the broccoli is worth making because it's so easy and so flavorful that I eat straight out of the pan when I take it out of the oven.

Vietnamese Inspired Chicken with Broccoli
Serves 4

1.25 to 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup reduced sodium tamari (or soy sauce if you don't need to be gluten free)
2 teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce, optional (I prefer Red Boat, which is gluten free)
pinch of red pepper flakes
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
Grapeseed oil for grilling chicken
~ 1 pound of broccoli, washed and cut into florets (I use the precut bagged broccoli from Trader Joe's)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
A couple of grinds of fresh black pepper

First, marinate the chicken, which can be done in as little as one hour before grilling to as long as overnight.  Place the chicken thighs in a pie plate or square glass baking dish.  In a bowl, whisk together the tamari, honey, coconut oil, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic, and five spice powder.  Pour the marinade over the chicken, cover, and refrigerate.  If you are marinating the chicken longer than an hour, be sure to turn the chicken over halfway through the marinating time.

Second, get ready to cook the broccoli and the chicken.  For the broccoli, preheat the oven to 400.  In a bowl, toss the broccoli with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Spread the broccoli on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or lightly oiled.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.

While the broccoli is baking, you have two choices for cooking the chicken: grilling or roasting.  To roast, place the chicken on a baking sheet, either lined with parchment paper or lightly oiled, and place it in the oven with the broccoli, 15 minutes before the broccoli is finished baking.  This way, the chicken and the broccoli will finish cooking at the same time.

To grill the chicken, light your gas grill on high and then turn it down to low or medium-low.  Take the chicken out of the marinade and brush it with grapeseed oil.  Grill the chicken for five and a half minutes on each side.  Serve with the broccoli.   
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We've entered that part of summer when using the oven is off-limits and when our bodies are craving lighter foods.  This meal of grilled fish and coconut rice is one of our summer standards.   It's fairly easy and fairly quick.  You can do it on a Tuesday night when things are busy.  It can easily be scaled to feed more people should you wish to have folks over for dinner, as we did this past Sunday.  All the flavors play nicely together from the coconut in the rice to the mango in the salsa.  You want to pick a mild fish for this dinner so that the taste of it doesn't compete with the rice and salsa.  Choose a salsa with tropical fruit in it, such as mango and/or pineapple, so it will play nicely with the coconut rice.  And the coconut rice is delicious with grilled chicken or grilled shrimp, too.  Enjoy!

Grilled Fish with Coconut Rice and Tropical Salsa
Serves 4

1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 cup brown basmati rice (we like the Trader Joe's brand)
2 cups unsweetened unflavored coconut water
1 pound of mahi mahi fillets, or other mild white firm-fleshed fish*
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
Tropical salsa of your choice (we like the Island Salsa and the Pineapple Salsa from Trader Joe's)

*You want a firm fish so it doesn't fall apart on the grill or when being taken off the grill.  
​
In a 2-quart saucepan, melt the coconut oil over medium heat.  Add the rice and stir to coat with the coconut oil.  Just when the rice is starting to brown, add the coconut water.  It will make a loud hissing sound.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, turn down to low and cook covered for 40 minutes.

While the rice cooks, preheat your gas grill to medium.  Pat the fish fillets dry.  Brush the fish with oil so it does not stick to the grill.  Season the fish with salt and pepper.  When the grill is preheated, turn it to low, and grill the fish according to thickness.  For thin fillets, a couple of minutes per side should do it.  For thicker fillets, at least 1/2-inch thick, three to four minutes per side.

When the rice is finished, remove the pan cover and check for doneness.  Fluff with a fork.  Serve with the grilled fish and pass the salsa at the table.  

Can you have too many mishmashes?  I know I posted this salmon one last month, but I am finding a medley of ingredients both comforting and healthy.  The other night I made this using vegetables that are finally appearing in the market as we transition from winter to spring: fresh peas, arugula, and, here in southern California, even zucchini.  It has so much flavor, so much bang for the buck, so much green beauty in one meal!  Plus, it's easy.  If you've read my blog for any length of time, you know I am a big fan of ease.

The inspiration for this recipe came from this risotto recipe.  BUT risotto requires a lot of hands on attention, all that stirring and whatnot.  So I thought about how I could make something equally as delicious, equally as nutritious, and eliminate all the stirring.  That is how you have come to find yet another mishmash recipe on my blog.  It's worth it, though, so very worth it.  And if you drink wine, I can attest to the fact that a Sauvignon Blanc plays nicely with this mishmash.  


​Spring Vegetable Mishmash
Serves 4

Good quality olive oil
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 small yellow onion or 2 shallots, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 to 1.5 pounds of zucchini, washed, ends trimmed, cut into a large 1-inch pieces
1 cup of fresh (or frozen peas)
3 to 4 cups of arugula or spinach, washed and chopped
2 cups of cooked white rice, brown rice, or cauliflower rice
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Feta or Parmesan cheese, optional
Pine nuts, toasted, optional

In a 12-inch skillet or sauté pan, cook the onions and garlic in two tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat until the onion is translucent, about five minutes or so.  Add the zucchini and cook until nearly tender.  Stir infrequently so that the zucchini has a chance to become light golden brown on the outside.  Cooking the zucchini will take a good 10-15 minutes.  When the zucchini are crisp tender (in other words, not mushy), add the peas and the arugula or spinach.  Cook until the arugula is wilted and peas and just cooked through, another five minutes or so.

In the meantime, heat your cooked rice or cauliflower rice.  Once the veggies are done cooking, put 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of rice in the bottom of a shallow bowls, top with a spoonful of veggies, season with salt and pepper to taste, and add a sprinkle of any toppings you desire.  

Make it vegan: Eliminate the cheese.  

​Play with the veggies: Instead of 1.5 pounds of zucchini do 1/2 pound of asparagus cut into one-inch lengths and one-pound of zucchini.  Add the asparagus to the pan at the same time as the zucchini and continue to follow the directions. 

Nutritional awesomeness: Zucchini has a lot of nutritional benefits, which you can read about here.  It's a good source of Vitamin A and potassium (source).   Arugula is an excellent source of Vitamin K, which is essential for proper blood clotting. 

​

I'm really excited to share this recipe for three reasons.  One, it is damn delicious.  Two, it is healthy and nourishing.  Three, it is a method you can apply for using random ingredients in your fridge (leftover rice + that half an onion you forgot about + those three sprigs of parsley you were going to let turn black).  

This recipe was created because I had enough whole ingredients plus leftovers in my fridge that were in danger of going bad.  Food waste is a real problem, and I am trying to contribute less to that problem.  On average, "Americans waste about a pound of food per person each day."   That's insane, and it feels absolutely immoral to me given that people are going hungry in the U.S., especially children.  One in six children in the U.S. is hungry, which means at a time in their lives when they need food, especially nutritious food, for proper development, they are not getting it.  

Here is a formula for creating what I call the "From Meh to Marvelous Bowl of Leftovers."   Scroll down for the Salmon Mishmash recipe.

1. Sauté an onion over medium heat until it starts to brown.  Stir often.
2. Add some minced garlic, as much or as little as you would like.  If you have some ginger lying around, toss in some grated ginger.  Cook for one minute, stirring frequently.
3. Add any uncooked diced vegetables that need extra time in the pan, including potatoes, carrots, or zucchini.  Stir occasionally.  You want the veggies to get a nice toasted color, but you don't want the garlic to burn so you stir often enough to achieve these two objectives.
4. Toss in any already cooked protein, like cubed or shredded chicken or some salmon.  If you are going to add some spinach, toss that in now too.  What about leftover rice or beans?  If you're adding those, now is the time to do it.  Cook until the protein is heated through and the spinach has just started to wilt.  
5. Taste it.  Does it need salt and pepper? A dash of salt and a pinch of pepper can make a huge difference.  If it's tasting flat, one teaspoon of lemon juice will help brighten it.
6. Put it in a lovely bowl.  Pour yourself a beverage.  Enjoy!

Molly's Salmon Mishmash
Serves approximately 3-4

1/2 to a whole onion, peeled and diced
2 Tablespoons good quality olive oil
a shallot, finely chopped optional - only use if you have one randomly laying around
3-6 green onions, cleaned, thinly sliced white and green parts, optional - only use if you have it on hand
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced - if you really love garlic, use more.  If not, use less.
1-2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated or minced, optional - only use if you have it on hand.
2 cups or so of fresh zucchini, diced
1-2 cups of fresh peas, optional - only use if you have them on hand.  Frozen is fine, and they will need to cook a bit longer.
10-16 ounces leftover cooked salmon, flaked
2 cups leftover rice or cauliflower rice
a handful or two of spinach, optional

In a 12-inch pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion.  Cook the onion until it is starting to brown, stirring often.  This will likely take 7 to 10 minutes.  If you are using shallot, add it at the same time you add the onion.  If you are using green onions, add those when the onion has turned translucent but before it has started to brown.

Once the onion is brown around the edges, add the garlic, and, if you are using it, the ginger.  Cook for one minute, stirring frequently so the garlic does not burn.  Add the zucchini.  Cook, stirring every so often, until the zucchini has started to develop a golden color and is tender.

Add the salmon, the rice, and the peas (if you are using them).  Cook until the salmon is heated through and the peas are tender, about three to four minutes.  Add the spinach and stir until it wilts.  Serve immediately in shallow bowls.

There are some fun condiments you can add.  If the dish tastes flat, a squeeze of lemon juice will boost the flavor.  Another option is gluten free tamari or soy sauce.  Tahini plus a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts is a delicious addition.  One last option is a light sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.  

Nutritional awesomeness:​ Zucchini is an excellent source of Vitamin C.  Fresh peas are nutritional powerhouses.  Not only do they contain protein, they are loaded with Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and Folate.  Folate is needed to make DNA and assists with cell division in the body.  
​

Back to school.  The onset of fall and cooler weather in some parts of the world.  Roast chicken.  For me, there is nothing more comforting than a good roast chicken, especially as the days become shorter.  It can boost a mood, soothe grief, bring people together, and it's deeply nourishing.

Over the years, I have had many favorite roast chicken recipes.  Judy Rodgers, late chef of the Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, created an iconic roast chicken recipe.  We loved this Barefoot Contessa roast chicken recipe served over onion and croutons right up until we discovered gluten was trying to kill me.  Now, though, I have new roast chicken recipe to love.  And I love it because it's flavorful, because it's easy, because I can reasonably make it on a weeknight since it requires little prep and it goes from raw to roasted in one hour, including preparation time.  I love it because the skin gets crispy.  I love it because it creates up to eight meals.   The first night, Brian takes a thigh, and I take a leg and a wing.  The next day at lunch, Brian takes the other thigh, and I enjoy the other leg and wing.  We shred the remaining meat, mostly from the breasts, and use it in tacos, pastas and soups.  We take all the bones and Brian makes a couple of quarts of homemade broth.  We use the broth for soups, risotto, rice, lentils, and polenta.  Nothing goes to waste.  

The secret to this easy roast chicken is that it is a spatchcock chicken.  Spatchcock is an English word dating to the early 1800's that means to split open and grill or roast.    In this case, we are splitting the chicken open by cutting out the backbone, or having your butcher cut out the backbone, and laying it flat which means it will cook more quickly.   I bought myself a nice pair of tough kitchen shears so I could cut out the backbone myself.  For a tutorial about how to do it, please watch this video.  Note: Do not skewer the chicken the way the chef in the video recommends.  It's unnecessary.  Remember, you can ask your butcher to do this for you.

My recipe is adapted from one by Arthur Schwartz.  He uses fresh garlic, but every time I made it his way, the garlic burned due to roasting at high heat.  He calls for using peanut or canola oil and I opt for the healthier choice of olive oil.  I also prefer a lower temperature to the 450 F degrees he recommends.   His recipe calls for a three to four pound chicken.  However, my experience is that U.S. grocery stores seem to only sell whole chickens that are somewhere between four and five pounds so I've taken that into account.  

I'm really excited to share this recipe with you since it makes roasting a chicken on a weeknight accessible.  Beyond the useful cooking time, it's lick the plate good!

Molly's Spatchcock Chicken
Serves 4-6

1 whole chicken, 4 to 5 pounds, preferably organic, backbone removed*
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

*Either remove the backbone yourself using the technique in this video (though, don't skewer it as done in the video) or have your butcher remove the backbone for you.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.  If your oven can do 430 F, that's our preferred roasting temperature for this recipe.

Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.  Lay the chicken on top of it and press down very firmly with both hands so that the chicken will lay as flat as possible.  

Make the spice paste.  In a small bowl, combine the paprika, garlic powder, salt, and a couple of grinds of fresh black pepper.   Stir.  Add in one tablespoon of olive oil.  Stir.  You want a paste that's not too thick so it will spread easily.  You also don't want too thin or it will slide off the chicken.   If it seems too thick add another 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.  Stir.  Judge if you need more.  Otherwise, the paste is ready.

Wash your hands and prepare to get a little messy.  Rub the spice paste all over the chicken, even using your fingers to gently separate the skin from the meat in some places and rub the paste directly on the meat.  When you are done rubbing in the spice paste, your chicken will look like this:

Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, until the internal temperature measures 165 degrees and the juices run clear.  To take the temperature of a roasted chicken, insert the thermometer in the thickest part of the leg avoiding the bone.  Another spot you can stick the thermometer is into the thigh, near the breast, and again avoid the bone.   We use this thermometer to measure the temperature of our foods.  

Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.  Using a sharp knife, break the chicken down into two legs, two thighs, and two wings.  Slice the breast meat.  Place the chicken pieces on a platter and serve.

Didn't I make that presentation sound wonderful?  Here's what really happens in our house: I pace around the chicken as soon as it comes out of the oven.  When Brian isn't looking, I'll tear off a piece of crispy skin and burn my tongue as I devour it before Brian notices.  Sometimes, I think I was a Labrador retriever in a past life given the way I hover and obsess about food.  Roast chicken emerging hot from the oven is one of those times.  

And one of the most versatile.  Vegans, vegetarians, please don't leave until you've read a bit more about this salad and see all the ways it can be tailored to meet the needs of various food preferences.

This is tagliata.  It's essentially Italian steak salad.  If your jaw just dropped because you are thinking, "How can a health coach eat beef?" well, then, let me tell you.  It turns out that my body does well on red meat and gets a bit of energy from it.  I do well with this kind of protein.  I only eat red meat, on average, every four to six weeks, so not often.  However, when I travel, when I go to a restaurant and every dish except the steak has gluten in it, something I absolutely cannot eat for medical reasons, then beef it is.

​And so this past January, when Brian and I were visiting Bracciano, Italy, and we couldn't find lunch because places were closed on a Monday or they didn't have a table for us, we found ourselves violating a rule of travel: do not eat at restaurants off a public parking lot.  But it was 2:30 p.m., and we had exhausted lunch options in two nearby towns.  And I was starving, and I can be very unpleasant if I am allowed to get hungry.  So we parked at the carpark in Bracciano, and went into the restaurant off the carpark.  And immediately we became deflated.  It had TV's on, only one table of customers, and half of the restaurant lights were turned off.  But we were hungry and determined.  I asked the waitress what dishes didn't have gluten (senza glutine) and she pointed out exactly one: tagliata.  She said it's just beef with some arugula.  I don't like to eat beef if I don't have to, but I was hungry, our options had run out, and so with some hesitation I ordered it.  I calculated that for less than 10 euros, if I didn't like it, I wasn't losing much money.  Brian had great options and went with lake trout.  

You can imagine our surprise when a platter, not a plate, of various pieces of steak, all measuring about the size of a deck of cards, was presented to me.  The pieces of steak were buried under a mountain of raw arugula, wilting from the heat of the meat, topped with shaved Pecorino Romano cheese.  On the side were some lemon wedges and a bottle of olive oil to drizzle over what amounted to be a steak salad to feed a whole family.  In our surprise and hunger, we forgot to take a picture of it, and also we forgot the name of the restaurant.  And, you know where this is going, it was so simple, so delicious, so satisfying, that if I recall correctly, we ate the whole platter.  

And since that trip, we've been making it about once a month, often for guests, and sometimes because it's Wednesday and we're tired, and it takes less than 30 minutes to throw together.

I've debated whether to write the recipe for one serving or four servings because it's not an exact science, and you cannot screw it up as far as I am concerned.  I've written it for four servings, planning on four ounces of meat per serving, but you certainly can scale it down or scale it up as needed.  And vegetarians/vegans, read through the recipe to see how it can meet your needs.

Tagliata, Italian Arugula Steak Salad
Serves 4

1 pound of thin steak, such as flank steak or skirt steak*
5 ounces of fresh arugula, rinsed and dried
1/2 cup or more Pecorino Romano cheese, grated**
1 lemon, washed, and cut into wedges
Extra virgin olive oil**
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

*Our supermarket usually has thin cuts of steak that are labeled for stir-fry or for carne asada.  The key is you want a thin piece of meat.  Thin pieces of inexpensive meat tend to be tough so it's key to slice it against the grain.  
**You want quality over quantity when it comes to the cheese and the olive oil.  This is a characteristic Italian recipe in that there are few ingredients so you want them all to be of high quality since they are minimally manipulated.  

​Heat your gas grill to high heat and then turn down to medium.  While the grill is preheating, brush each side of the steak with olive oil.  Next, sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper on both sides.  Grill the steak 4 to 6 minutes on each side, depending on the thickness, for medium rare.  Let the steak rest for 5 minutes.  Additional grilling guidance from my  husband, Brian, "It really does depend on what kind of steak you have.  I grill flank steak about 7 minutes per side to medium, while the thin blade or flat iron steak that we usually use for tagliata gets about 3 minutes per side to medium-well." 

To serve, cut the steak into four pieces.  On each plate, put a piece of steak, top with a handful of arugula, and then sprinkle on the cheese.  Or put the cheese on first and then the arugula.  It's up to you.  Place a lemon wedge off to the side for people to squeeze over it.  Drizzle with a bit of olive oil.  Pass salt and pepper at the table.  

Make it vegetarian:  Substitute a portobello mushroom for the steak.
Make it vegan:  In addition to substituting a portobello mushroom, omit the cheese, and instead sprinkle with chopped nuts and/or a pinch of nutritional yeast.

This recipe answers the question of what to do with leftover roasted chicken.  It also answers how to make something fun and delicious and healthy that says summertime.  I know it seems like I am asking a lot of this taco recipe, and I am because it delivers.

Brian and I really love roasted chicken.  We can make four meals just out of the thighs and legs.  We use the carcass to make chicken broth.  Then we are left with the breast meat which we are decidedly less enthusiastic about.  How unenthusiastic are we?  At our wedding, we only served chicken thighs.

We do enjoy tacos.  We always have an onion or two laying around, garlic on hand, and a random bell pepper on life support in the vegetable drawer of the fridge.  So the other night when faced with chicken breast meat that had to be used or frozen, I was excited to make one of my favorite dishes: tacos!  I was even more excited to experiment and use lettuce in place of tortillas.  

If, like me, you have an autoimmune disease and grains are causing you problems from digestive distress to inflammation, I highly recommend lettuce wraps in lieu of corn or flour tortillas.  

Chicken Taco Lettuce Wraps
Serves 4 (and possibly more)

1 large yellow onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1-2 bell peppers, sliced (I prefer orange or yellow)
Extra virgin olive oil
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1/3 to 1/2 cup of your favorite green salsa*
Chicken pan juices (drippings), optional
Chicken skin, finely chopped, optional
Salt and pepper to taste
One head of butter lettuce
Any toppings you would like from sliced avocado to black beans to cheese to hot sauce

*The salsa you choose is very important because it is one of the main sources of flavor in the dish.  For chicken tacos, I prefer something green with a little bit of kick such as Trader Joe's Hatch Chile Salsa.  

In a large skillet over medium heat add 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, the onion, garlic, and bell peppers.  Stir to combine.  Stir occasionally to keep the garlic and vegetables from burning.  Cook for 7 to 10 minutes until the onion is starting to brown on the edges.  Add the chicken and the salsa and stir to combine.  If you have chicken juices from cooking the whole chicken and chicken skin, add them with the salsa.  Cook for another 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the liquid from the salsa has evaporated.

While the vegetables and chicken are cooking, slice the root off the butter lettuce so all the leaves are separated.  Wash the lettuce leaves gently on both sides to remove any extra dirt.  Dry the lettuce leaves gently.  Notice the gently part?  If the leaves are handled aggressively, they might break and there goes your taco shell, and nobody needs that kind of frustration when taco happiness is involved.  

To serve, set up a buffet of lettuce leaves next to the chicken taco filling next to toppings so people can go through like an assembly line.   Also, you've worked hard so get someone else to do the dishes.  :)

Nutritional awesomeness:  Chicken is a good source of protein, niacin, and Vitamin B6.  Niacin, also known as Vitamin B3, is beneficial in balancing blood cholesterol levels.  Yellow and orange bell peppers are an excellent source of Vitamin C.  They have a low glycemic load.  Onions are an excellent source of Vitamin K, which helps blood clot and assists in transporting calcium around the body (source).  

To me, Bolognese sauce is the essence of cooking:  The sizzling of vegetables, the layering of flavors, and then the long, slow simmer to reach perfection.  And that perfection is easy to reach.  There's not a lot of measuring or precision involved, just patience and love.  

The challenge for me was how to make the sauce healthy.  Classic, though not necessarily traditional, recipes call for up to three types of meat (beef, pork, and veal) plus pancetta or bacon.  Sometimes, the veggies are cooked in butter since it's a northern Italian recipe where butter is used as well as olive oil.  I've seen recipes list heavy cream in the ingredients.  First, I swapped out all the ground meat for ground turkey.  Next, I made the pancetta optional.  Last, I eliminated butter and heavy cream.  What did I keep?  The vegetables, the layers of flavor, and the slow cooking method to create all that flavor.

This is the kind of recipe that is great to make on a weekend or when you have time to slowly cook the sauce.  That way, if you're busy during the week, you can store it for five days in the fridge or three months in the freezer and use it when needed.  It's perfect for a cold day, over pasta, or zoodles, or polenta.  If you like cheese, it benefits from a liberal sprinkling of the best quality Parmesan you can afford (I get mine at Trader Joe's).  And if you have leftover Parmesan rinds, definitely throw one or a couple into the sauce for the last hour of simmering as it will really develop the umami flavor of the sauce.  

Healthy & Delicious Turkey Bolognese
Makes 4 - 6 servings, and still you may have a little leftover

2 oz. pancetta, cubed, optional
2 medium yellow onions, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2-3 stalks of celery, diced
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes or more to taste
2 to 4 Tablespoons of tomato paste
1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
1 cup chicken broth
Parmesan rind, optional
salt and pepper
fresh Italian parsley, chopped, for garnish
pasta, polenta, zoodles, etc. for serving

In a large pot, brown the pancetta over medium heat.  Remove the pancetta, but not the drippings, from the pan.

Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic and olive oil to the pan.  Stir so the veggies are coated in the pan drippings and olive oil.  Saute over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the onions are just beginning to turn color.  Stir in the tomato paste and pepper flakes and continue to cook over medium heat for one minute.  Add the wine (or 1/2 cup of chicken broth) to the pan and stir to release the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Add the turkey.  Break it up into small pieces using a fork or two wooden spoons (what my husband calls the "choppy choppy" method).  Once the turkey is broken up, lower the heat to low, add the chicken broth, pancetta, and Parmesan rind (if using), and simmer for 30 minutes to one hour.  

During the last 20 to 30 minutes of cooking, prepare what you plan to serve the Bolognese sauce over, whether that's pasta or polenta or something else.

Once you have simmered the sauce, taste it, and add salt and pepper as needed.  Remove the Parmesan rind.  At this point, it is ready to serve over your favorite pasta or polenta.  If you are using it later, let it cool to room temperature.  Next, package it in a storage container and either place it in the fridge for up to five days or in the freezer for up to two months.    

Nutritional awesomeness:  Ground turkey is an excellent source of protein.  If it is pasture-raised, it also will contain a good ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids.  Ground turkey is a good source of niacin and vitamin B6.  You can read about the health benefits of vitamin B6 here.  Olive oil is a monounsaturated fatty acid that has been shown to help lower bad cholesterol.  It contains polyphenols which are powerful antioxidants.  Studies in Europe have concluded that olive oil consumption helps lower blood pressure. One Greek study with 36,000 participants concluded that there is an inverse relationship between eating olive oil and rates of cancer.  Onions are a good source of Vitamin C.  Carrots are an excellent source of Vitamin A, which promotes vision health, bone growth, and immunity.  Celery is an excellent source of Vitamin K, which is essential for blood clotting and recovering from injuries.  
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Have you heard of pipian sauce?  It is one of the many sauces that Brian and I use to have a flavorful dinner without spending a lot of time and money in the process.  Traditionally, pipian sauce is made of tomatillos, onions, cilantro, sugar (ugh, why?), sesame or pumpkin seeds, and toasted bread.  You can find it in Mexico and Central American countries.  I do love a lot of flavor in my foods, and I do not love a lot of time spent for that flavor.   I imagine that done correctly, this sauce is a lot of work.  Luckily, I found a recipe for it in Rick Bayless' wonderful cookbook, Mexican Everyday, which was pretty straightforward.  Then, we did what we do often, we made it even easier and removed unnecessary ingredients, like sugar.  Rick Bayless recommends serving with with salmon and so do we.  It's great with grilled salmon.  The fat and the sweetness of the fish are cut with the spice and acidity of the sauce.  I also enjoy pipian sauce on eggs, grilled chicken, and I imagine it would be good with grilled pork.  Hey, vegetarian and vegan friends, it makes a nice dipping sauce for roasted cauliflower or green beans.  When thinking about pairing it, the sauce is spicy so it's ideal with something sweet.

How did we make this recipe our own?  Rick calls for blending the primary ingredient, a tomatillo salsa, in a food processor.  We are not doing that.  Why?  Because I am the dishwasher and heck no I will not be washing any unnecessary dishes thank you kindly.  This is just to make the sauce smooth.  I'm fine with it chunky.  We eliminated the sugar because geez louise why do you need sugar in it?  You don't.  He adds ingredients one at a time to the saucepan, such as first reducing the salsa before adding the broth and tahini.  How much time do you have?  That's what I thought:  you don't have time to be adding ingredients one at a time.  Your time is valuable!  Thus, we just pour all three ingredients in the saucepan at once, and let it reduce, thereby freeing us up to make salads, roast veggies, and grill fish or chicken.  

Quick & Easy Green Pipian Sauce
Makes enough sauce for 4-6 meals

2 cups jarred tomatillo salsa (use your favorite since it's the dominant flavor of the sauce)
1 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
3 tablespoons tahini that has been well stirred
​Swirl of olive oil

In a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, lightly swirl olive oil around the pan one time.  Lift the pan and tilt it to ensure even distribution of the olive oil.  Add the salsa, broth, and tahini.  Whisk together.  It may look like the tahini has separated a bit.  This is normal and it will come together as it reduces.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low.  Stir or whisk occasionally to prevent the sauce from scorching on the bottom of the pan.  Cook the sauce until it has reduced by half to two-thirds, depending on your preferred thickness.  Serve warm with grilled or roasted chicken, fish, and/or vegetables.  

Nutritional awesomeness:  Tomatillo salsa is an excellent source of vitamin C.  Tahini contains iron and calcium.