Steaks with Broccoli and Bacon with Ranch Dressing

I saw an awesome bunch of broccoli at the Farmer's Market and knew the perfect use for it: this recipe in the September 2001 issue of Food and Wine. My paleo version is a quite a treat...and it looks pretty cool, too! This dressing is REALLY good and easy.

Inspired by www.foodandwine.com.

Serves 3-4, with leftover dressing.

Ingredients
3-4 steaks of your choice
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
Dressing
1 cup paleo mayonnaise
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
2 Tbsp fresh dill, finely minced
1-2 cloves garlic, smashed and ground to a paste with a little sea salt
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Salad
1 large head of broccoli, cut lengthwise into long pieces
1/2 pound bacon
snipped fresh chives

Preparation

1. Preheat grill to medium high.
2. Combine mayonnaise, coconut milk, and vinegar in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk to combine.
3. Add dill and garlic and whisk to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Season steaks with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Grill for 5 minutes on each side or until they reach your desired degree of doneness.
5. Arrange broccoli and whole slices of bacon on plates. Drizzle with ranch dressing. Season with additional pepper, if desired. Serve with steak.

Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp Kabobs with Broccoli

I decided to jazz up our basic shrimp kabobs tonight by adding bacon. Everything tastes better with bacon, right? This meal has no waste since you use the bacon trimmings in the broccoli side. I recently read that only 20 percent of the U.S. shrimp supply is wild and that purchasing frozen shrimp is your best bet since fresh-caught shrimp is frozen almost immediately, but you never know how long the shrimp at the fish counter has been thawed. Fortunately, I found that Target stores sell frozen wild shrimp in their Sustainable Seafood section. The bacon on these kabobs is cooked through, but not crispy. The bacon fat keeps the shrimp from drying out on the grill and from overcooking. I use bacon from Wallace Farms, but if you purchase it from the store, be sure to get nitrate-free bacon without a lot of additives.

Serves 2-3.


Ingredients
18 medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 head broccoli, broken into uniform-sized pieces
9 slices uncooked bacon
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lemon
two-pronged metal skewers or 6-8 wooden skewers that have been soaked in water for 30 minutes
bacon fat, extra virgin olive oil, or coconut oil

Preparation

1. Preheat grill to medium high.
2. Wrap each piece of shrimp in bacon. Use 1/2 slice bacon per shrimp. Slightly overlap the ends of the bacon, then trim the excess and set aside. 
3. Thread 5 to 6 shrimp on two wooden skewers (like a ladder) or one two-pronged metal skewer. Use skewers to hold bacon around the shrimp. Repeat with remaining shrimp.
4. Grill for 4 minutes or until bacon is lightly browned. Turn the skewers and cook for an additional 4 minutes on the other side.
5. While shrimp cooks, chop excess bacon and saute in a medium skillet over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add a little bacon fat, coconut oil, or olive oil if pan is too dry. Add broccoli and toss to combine. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook for approximately 5 minutes or until broccoli is crisp tender. 
6. Remove from heat, season with pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Serve alongside shrimp kabobs.

Bacon-Wrapped Flounder

This recipe is another take on bacon-wrapped fish. We were entertaining friends, so I needed a meal for 6 people. When I went to buy fish, the wild flounder fillets looked great. Just be aware when purchasing fish fillets that they do vary in size. The portion size for this meal is one large fillet or two small. While I was prepping the meal, I thought I'd do myself a favor and precook the bacon just a little bit to speed up the cooking process later. Big mistake! Unfortunately, I did not account for the bacon shrinkage. In the end, I used the pre-cooked pieces to wrap some of the smaller fillets, but I will not repeat this process in the future. My stovetop griddle enabled me to cook 4 fillets at a time. I then transferred those fillets to plates I had set in a 200 degree F oven until all of the fish was ready. I served this meal with a mushroom asparagus saute. Enjoy!

Serves 6, but easily scaleable.

Ingredients
6 large or 12 small flounder fillets (or another mild white fish)
18 pieces uncooked bacon, or more (depending on fillet size)
freshly ground black pepper
toothpicks that have soaked in water for 30 minutes

Preparation

Cook fillets in batches
in skillet or griddle.

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Place 6 oven-proof dinner plates on oven racks.
2. Season both sides of fish with pepper.
3. Wrap 3 slices of bacon around each fish fillet and secure each piece with a toothpick. If the bacon is too long, overlap the ends in an X pattern.
4. Preheat a large skillet or stove-top griddle to medium high.
5. Place fish on griddle and cook each side until bacon is cooked, about 10-20 minutes total.
   NOTE: The bacon doesn't have to be super crispy, just browned. The fish is likely to be done before the bacon, but the bacon fat will keep the fish from drying out.
6. If you are working in batches, carefully place the cooked fillets on the warm plates and leave them in the oven.
7. To serve, carefully remove the plates from the oven, add mushroom asparagus saute on the side, and transfer to a heat-proof surface (e.g., placemat) on your dining table.

CABOW Salad

This dish was inspired by a lunch I had recently at a local cafe. My version is called the CABOW for Chicken Apple Bacon Onion Walnut. Anything with bacon and onions works for me. The honey mustard is an excellent complement. If you are not doing honey, the mustard works on its own.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients
3 cups rotisserie chicken or 3 cooked chicken breasts, chopped
2 medium onions, ends trimmed, halved lengthwise, and sliced with the grain
1/2 large or one small apple, cored and chopped into large pieces
9 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 Tbsp grass-fed butter
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raw honey (optional)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard

Preparation

1. Fry chopped bacon in large skillet. Remove bacon, reserving 1 - 2 Tbsp bacon fat in the pan.
2. While bacon is frying, add 1 Tbsp butter and 1 tsp coconut oil to another pan over medium-low heat. Add onions and saute for about 30 minutes, until very soft and light brown. Do not set heat too high or onions will burn. If you want to make the onions ahead and keep them on hand, check out this great recipe for caramelized onions. For the CABOW, you do not need to completely caramelize the onions; sauteing them for even half of the time gives a great flavor.
3. Whisk honey and mustard together in a small bowl,
4. Add chicken, walnuts, grilled onions, and bacon back to skillet. Toss to combine and heat for 2 - 3 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and add apples. Stir to combine.
6. Scoop about 1/3 of the mixture onto a plate.
7. Serve with honey mustard.

BLTA Chicken Breast Sandwich

Adapted from Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals, Mark Sisson and Jennifer Meier


This was pretty messy, so we ended up chopping everything up and eating it more like a salad. But it did have a great BLT flavor! Next time, I plan to cook the chicken breasts without splitting them, and then slicing and fanning the breast before topping with the other ingredients.


Ingredients (makes 4 sandwiches)
4 boneless chicken breasts
4 tablespoons mayonnaise 
8 slices cooked bacon
4 romaine lettuce leaves
2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
2 avocadoes, thinly sliced
extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil


Instructions

1. Butterfly each chicken breast by slicing lengthwise through the middle of the breast, leaving one long side connected. Open the breasts flat and lightly season both sides with salt and pepper.
2. Preheat large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add enough oil to coat the pan. Working in batches, sear the chicken breasts skin-side down and opened flat. Cook until nicely browned, 4 – 6 minutes, or until chicken releases easily from bottom of pan. Flip chicken breasts, cover pan, and continue cooking until done, approximately 6 – 10 minutes.
3. Open each cooked chicken breast and spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on each side. Layer two slices of bacon, one piece of lettuce, tomato, and avocado. Fold chicken breast shut and eat like a sandwich, or forego all that and just chop it up!