Pan Seared Ahi Tuna with a Cilantro Ginger Slaw

This is a delicious and healthy lunch or dinner dish that is super simple to prepare. You will love it!!!

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 6 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 Ahi tuna steaks (I like to do about a 4-5 oz steak).
• 2 cups Green cabbage, shredded
• 2 cups Purple cabbage, shredded
• 2 TBS Pickled ginger
• 3 TBS Cilantro, chopped rough
• 1 TBS Black sesame seeds
• Salt and pepper
• Coconut oil

Dressing for slaw

• 1 tsp Sesame oil
• 1 tsp Agave nectar
• 1 TBS Yuzu juice
• 2 TBS Rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp Wasabi paste

Instructions:

1. Wash Ahi and pat dry, season with salt and pepper. Place in fridge while you prep slaw.
2. Mix cabbage, cilantro, sesame seeds, and ginger in a medium mixing bowl. Place in fridge.
3. Mix up slaw dressing and reserve, dress right before serving.
4. In medium to large skillet heat 1 tsp of coconut oil on medium high.
5. Sear tuna for about 3 min on each side, at the end of the second side sear the edges quickly- serve rare.  You can always cook longer but do not over cook! You want it to be pink in the middle. 🙂
6. Place tuna on top of dressed slaw salad! Serve with anything else you like, I did sweet potato gnocchi!

Chunky Beef and Vegetable Stew for the Crock Pot

I should just start calling Tuesdays Manly Meal Tuesday’s. I made this yesterday for dinner in the crock since I’ve got class until late every Tuesday evening. It keeps Evan happy so that makes me happy 🙂 This is a great cooler weather stew that goes great with some homemade cornbread! The best thing about it… when you get home from work all you have to do is eat and enjoy!

Prep: 20 min

Cook Time: Low 8-10 hrs, High 4-5 hrs (I prefer low).

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lbs stew meat, try to get a quality grass fed organic beef of possible
• 1/2 C. Flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 3 C. Beef Broth ( I like Kitchen Basics)
• 1TBS Worces­ter­shire Sauce
• 1/2 C. Red Wine
• 1 tsp. Paprika
• 2-3 Bay Leaves
• 1 TBS ZestyBeanDog Fine Herb Blend
• 2-3 Cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 Large onion, chopped fine
• 3 C. Carrots, chopped or cubed
• 4 Celery stalks, chopped
• 3 White potatoes, cubed (you can use Russet but I like these).

Instructions:

1. Place cubed meat in a large plas­tic bag or bowl. Com­bine 1/2 cup flour (you will need it to cover your meat) with 1/2 tea­spoon salt & 1 tea­spoon pep­per; pour into the bag or bowl with the meat, then shake to coat. Then heat 1 table­spoon of butter in a large skil­let over medium-high heat. Add stew meat, and cook until evenly browned on the out­side, you want to sear the meat. It takes a few min­utes. Remove your stew meat & place into the crockpot.
2. Take your finely diced onion and garlic and put it in the same skil­let, with 1 table­spoon butter, and cook so your onions are translu­cent and softened. Then add in your red wine to make sure all the good bits are lifted off the skil­let & pour the con­tents of the skil­let into the crock­pot.  It’s important to get all the good bits from the meat and the onions of the bottom of the pan, so you don’t lose the fla­vor.
3. Now add the rest: ZBD fine herb blend, bay leaf, paprika, Worces­ter­shire sauce, beef broth, carrots, celery, and potatoes.
4. Cook for about 8-10 hours on low or 4-5 on high. If you would like it to thicken up a bit cook the last hour with the lid off the crock, or you can add a little bit of flour… Enjoy!

Cheers!

Grilled Chicken Club with Sweet Potato Chips AND Give-Away Winner Revealed!

I’ve been on a sandwich kick lately, it’s easy and the possibilities are endless. I knew there was a slight chance we would have some trick-or-treaters last night so I didn’t want to get too busy in the kitchen just in case… Well we had 2 groups, about a total of 8 kids so it wasn’t very eventful. Evan and I ate more candy than we gave out… as suspected 🙂 Below I’ll post what we dressed up as over the weekend!

Prep: 15 min

Cook: 15 min (depending on thickness of chicken).

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

• 2 Free range chicken breasts, pounded flat with a mallet to desired size.
• 4 Slices of cooked natural bacon, nitrate free.
• 4 Slices of nice bread, your choice ( I used a 9 grain).
• 1 Sweet potato
• 2 TBS Olive oil mayo
• 1 Lemon, juiced into mayo
• 1 tsp ZBD Fine Herb Blend
• 1 – 3 TBS butter for bread toasting and cooking chicken
• Purple onion (however much you like)
• Roma tomato (however much you like)
• Spinach (however much you like)
• 1 TBS Olive oil to brush on potato slices
• 2 Slices of sharp cheddar

Instructions:

1. Pre-Heat oven to 400 F. Slice sweet potato on a mandolin, very thin into rounds. Line rounds on a greased foiled tray and lightly baste with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt. Cook for about 15-20 min or until done. Once almost done add cheese to melt onto chicken.
2. In some butter cook chicken breast in large skillet on medium, season with salt and pepper.
3. Slice produce that goes on sandwich.
4. Toast bread lightly then add sliced to a large skillet with a bit of butter to finish the bread off.
5. Mix up a quick aioli with mayo, lemon juice, and ZBD fine herb blend.
6. Assemble sandwiches bread, chicken, cheese, onion, tomato, spinach, bacon, bread. Stick a tooth pick in it and there you have it!
7. Pull chips from oven and serve with sandwich, we like to dip our chips in a yogurt based dressing like caesar or ranch.

Cheers!

The Random Subscriber Winner is…

Rufus’ Food and Spirits Guide!  Congrats!

You won a jar of ZestyBeanDog Fine Herb Blend before you can buy it! Message me with your shipping address, jendaugherty2010@gmail.com

Halloween Fun… can anyone guess who we were? I sewed Evan’s costume from scratch very last min…about 5 hours before the party, talk about last min!!! 🙂

Delicious Crock Pot Chicken and Sweet Potatoes

On days that I’m super busy I find that it’s very helpful to throw something in the crock pot for dinner since I know I will be reluctant to cook when I get home…usually resulting in ordering a craptastic pizza or eating out -spending too much $$…  So when I can I usually throw something like this together when I come home for lunch to let the dog out.  It takes about 15 min or so and then all I have to do when I’m off work is serve it up  🙂

Prep: 15 min

Cook Time: 4.5-8 hours (4.5 high, 8 low)

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 Chicken thighs, remove fat if desired (I remove all but one).
• 1/2 Yellow onion, sliced into thin slices
• 1 Large sweet potato, sliced into wedges
• 1 garlic clove, mashed and chopped
• 1/2 tsp. Sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. Fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
• 1.5 C. Chicken stock
• 1/4 C. White wine
• 6 Stems of fresh thyme, removed from stem
• 1/2 TBS Dried herb blend
• Wild rice if desired to serve with chicken

Instructions:

1. Heat medium/large skillet on high, place chicken meat side down and brown thighs (about 5 min). Leave grease in skillet and turn to low.
2. Place thighs in crock, browned side up.
3. Cook slivered onions and garlic in the chicken grease, if you didn’t skin your chicken of fat you may want to discard some of that fat with a paper towel (careful it’s hot). By leaving one thigh with the fat I find that it leaves just enough for the onion to cook in, plus my husband likes the skin… so he gets that every once in a while as a treat. Cook onion and garlic until lightly browned.
4. Add raw sweet potato wedges to crock pot surrounding the thighs, pour stock and wine on top of potatoes and chicken.
5. Add onions and garlic to the top of chicken and then add seasonings including herb blend.
6. Cook for 4.5 hour on high or 8 on low in a crock pot.
7. Serve with rice or noodles if desired.