Quick Roasted Salmon Over Spinach and Grapefruit Salad

Making healthy food choices is always a goal of mine, but now that I’m pregnant I have a much bigger reason to focus on it!

There are just SO many pregnancy rules these days, it’s really exhausting – everyone has opinions and does things their own way. I’m trying to follow just a couple of reasonable rules: everything in moderation, be mindful of what I am putting in and on my body. As you can see these are normal food/life rules to follow as well. I made this salad last week when all I wanted was takeout, but I knew I had a few things already at home that could turn into a tasty and nutritious dinner. Salmon – lean protein and omega 3s, spinach – folic acid and iron, grapefruit – vitamin c, etc.

 
Quick Roasted Salmon Over Spinach and Grapefruit Salad

Ingredients:

Salmon

One grapefruit, segmented

Spinach or spinach/arugula mix

Feta crumbles (leave off for dairy free option)

Nuts of some sort, I used pepitas but anything salted and toasted will do the trick to add the necessary crunch

Dressing:

Olive oil – 1 part

Red Wine Vinegar – 2 parts

Small squeeze of juice from the Grapefruit

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Salmon:
Small sprinkle of our Homemade Taco Seasoning (side note — I keep a batch of this seasoning in a ball jar with my spices because I love it so much, and it makes it so much easier just to have it)

Touch of salt and pepper

Drizzle of olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Line baking sheet in aluminum foil for easy clean up
Place salmon skin side down, if no skin spray aluminum foil so it won’t stick. Roast for 375 for 8-10 minutes

Remove skin with spatula (should be easy when lifting salmon from the baking sheet) then place warm salmon on top of dressed salad.

Enjoy!

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Turkey Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

All I can think about while it’s this cold outside is comfort food.  We all have our favorites, but recently spaghetti and meatballs has become something I’m constantly craving.  Classics like this are just perfect for this cool weather, but they are usually on the heavier side.  With just a few tweaks (like substituting turkey for red meat, spaghetti squash for pasta, or homemade sauce for store bought), you can make a much healthier meal that’s still just as satisfying.

Turkey Meatballs

-1 lb ground turkey

-1/4 large onion, finely diced

-4 cloves of garlic, finely diced

-1/4 tsp Italian seasoning

-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

-1 egg

-1 Tbsp tomato paste

-1/2 c breadcrumbs, I used gluten free Udi’s Bread for these

-2 Tbsp milk (I used unsweetened almond milk)

-1/4 c chopped parsley

-1/2 tsp salt

-pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.

Shape into golf ball sized balls and place on a lined and greased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Tomato Sauce

-1/2 onion, finely diced

-3 tsp olive oil

-3 cloves of garlic, minced

-2 Tbsp tomato paste

-2 c. tomato puree

-1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

-1/4 tsp sugar

-salt and pepper to taste

-parsley to garnish

Add the onion and olive oil to a sauce pot.

Saute over medium-low heat until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and simmer for 1 more minute.

Add the tomato puree, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper, sugar, salt, and pepper.

Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes so the flavors have time to develop.

Serve the sauce and meatballs over your favorite pasta and garnish with parsley. Enjoy!

Tuesday’s Table – Roast Chicken

My mom is known for her roast chicken. She takes them to people when they are sick, busy, sad, etc. This is her thing. I have always loved being on the receiving end of this gift but have never roasted a chicken of my own. For years I was intimidated by roasting a whole chicken. Years, like until this one, and we’re coming up on the end of 2015. BUT I have now conquered this chicken twice and am here to preach about it. Im pretty sure it will be a go-to of mine for the rest of my life, at least once a month.

Healthy, simple, homemade, guaranteed leftovers that can be repurposed a zillion different ways. Yep. This is a winner and I’m no longer a chicken — get it?…

Roast Chicken

4-6 pound whole organic chicken (the smaller the better)

2 onions, cut into eighths

1-2 lemons, several thin, round slices then just cut pieces

6-10 cloves of garlic, peeled

Rosemary sprigs

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

This will require a good bit of handling raw chicken so be prepared by having Clorox wipes and soap on hand. But this is not half as bad or as scary as I thought it would be! You can do it.

Rinse and pat dry small, whole chicken.

Chop onions and lemons

Peel whole cloves of garlic and cut rosemary sprigs

Arrange 4 slices of lemon and 2-3 sprigs of rosemary under skin of chicken (you will need to sort of separate the skin from the chicken to slide lemons in – sounds peculiar but isn’t bad).

Fill cavity of your chicken with several pieces of lemon, onion, and rosemary. As well as season it heavily with salt and pepper.

Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil, then season with sea salt and pepper.

Place the chicken on top of a bed of onions, and garlic. **Be sure your garlic is underneath the chicken so it roasts but does not burn.**

Preheat oven to 400, once you put chicken it reduce heat to 350. Roast your chicken at 20 minutes per pound,basting every twenty minutes.  This sounds cumbersome but just set the timer on your oven or phone and it’s easy as pie. If you chicken starts to get too brown towards the end, cover with aluminum foil. If you have a quick-read meat thermometer use this for double checking your chicken so it is not over or under done–it should be around 165F.

After removing from the oven let rest 10 minutes before carving.

Raw chicken, ick. After washing and patting dry, I stand the chicken up on top of paper towels so it can continue to dry while I chop onions, lemon and prepare garlic.

As you can see there is no reason to be shy with your seasoning. 
Basting. Use either a baster, silicon brush or a big spoon.

  

Ta-da!

Three Things To Do Now to Make Your Holidays Much Easier

OMGitsNovember. Halloween has come and gone. If you haven’t noticed from, well, just about every marketing campaign out right now, Christmas is apparently right around the corner.  While you don’t have to be that neighbor with the Christmas decorations up the week after Halloween (or hey, more power to you!), a little planning now can really save you in the next several weeks.  Here are just a few of our tips to get a couple of holiday stressors checked off your list now.

1.Get Cooking

Make a couple of things now to put in  your freezer and pull out for Thanksgiving, just a side or two will save you serious time and stress leading up to the big day. Even if you don’t know what you are doing for Thanksgiving yet, inevitably you will be invited to some sort of function, and this way you will already have your work done. We will be posting recipes of some of our favorite Thanksgiving sides for Tuesday’s Table during the month of November – some healthy, gluten free and dairy free options too!

2. Plan for your Decorations

Go ahead and order your wreaths and garland from Gracious Garlands. You can order online in a matter of minutes then you will officially have that checked off of the list so you don’t have to rush out in search of pretty, fresh greenery come mid-December. Gracious Garlands started in Nashville almost 20 years ago by Vicki Worsham. Her daughter, Elle, has helped her through the years and has recently taken the reigns expanding their gorgeous greenery offerings and services not only to Nashville but to Atlanta and Charleston as well. The “wreath experts” over at Gracious Garlands say the recommended wreath size for your front door is either a 20 inch or 24 inch wreath. They have several varieties of these and more sizes starting at, $26.00. If you have a glass door or French doors they have double sided wreaths, too!

  
They also have several types of garland, kissing balls and in Nashville they will even do a custom mailbox for you – how welcoming is that?!

Check their website, www.graciousgarlands.com for the pick up days in your area. Your orders must be placed by this Friday, 11/06. So you only have a few days, but spend two minutes playing online, place your order, and be glad you have that checked off of your (what will become a) mile long list leading up to the holidays.

I’m thinking that I will order their White Pine Garland to go around my mantle and 20″ Ultimate Holiday Mix wreath for my front door… or maybe their exquisite Magnolia Wreath. You just cannot beat the smell of fresh greenery during the holidays, go ahead and start burning your trusty Frasier Fir candle now to prepare yourselves.

 

3.Knock out the Gifts
One of my favorite things to do, both for Christmas and birthday gifts, is keeping a running list of gift ideas for different people in my phone and/or on Pinterest in a secret board.  Whenever an idea pops in my head for the perfect gift, I can just add it to my list without having to hope and pray that somehow I will remember it when the season hits.  When I’m running around buying Christmas presents, I can always reference my list to see who would like what.  And I feel like it’s always a good idea to keep a couple of extra gifts at home…for those friends who swing by your house with a surprise gift for you!

Get Excited!

Not only is this time of year going to be a blast, but here at Adeline Alley we’re going to be here to give you more tips on cooking and decorations all season long! ‘Tis the season.

Easy, Healthy Snack – Homemade Apple Chips

I am currently doing a Whole 30/Paleo type of diet and felt like I was missing out on fun fall snacks: pumpkin treats, candy corn, etc. Then I remembered my childhood love of apple chips, and decided that was something that would be healthy and satisfy my sweet tooth without cheating. They were extremely easy and mostly hands off. The hardest parts are a little bit of patience and cutting the apples thin enough, but if you have a mandolin it is a piece of cake! If you like apples and want a healthy, sweet treat you will love this finished product! I am sure kids will love it too, but beware these babies go fast!

  

Homemade Apple Chips:

3-4 apples of your choosing (I used 1 large honeycrisp and 2 galas)

1/4 tsp. Cinnamon

2 small packets of Stevia

1/8 tsp. Nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Wash and slice your apples VERY thinly. Using my mandolin, I put it on the 1/8th of an inch and slice away. Watch your fingers!! Mandolins are scary.

Place your apples on a cookie sheet with either a silpat or on aluminum foil to help with sticking

Sprinkle them on one side with combination of cinnamon, sugar* and nutmeg

Bake at 250 for 1 1/2 hours, flipping once (yes, this takes a bit but your home will smell excellent and they are worth it because everything else is so easy)

*If these are not “crisy” turn oven to 275 and bake for 5 extra minutes. Just be careful not to pay attention so you don’t burn them.

Take out and let cool and continue to crisp up for 10-15 minutes and enjoy!!