Curried Shrimp Salad

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 2-4

1 lb cooked wild shrimp, tails removed
½ cup frozen green peas, defrosted
¼ cup chopped green onion and/or celery
½ cup expeller pressed mayonnaise
Juice of one lemon
1 to 3 tsp Curry Powder to taste
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Avocado
1 Bag prewashed Organic Greens (Arugula, Field Greens)

1. Place shrimp in a colander and rinse in cold water. Squeeze juice from half of the lemon onto the shrimp. Dice if desired.

2. In a bowl, combine shrimp, green peas, green onion, celery, mayonnaise, curry powder, sea salt and pepper.

3. On two or four plates, divide the greens evenly.

4. Spoon out shrimp salad onto the bed of greens, dividing evenly among the plates.

5. Peel and dice the avocado, and garnish each plate with it. If desired, drizzle cold pressed olive oil on the greens.

By Mila McManus MD|2015-08-05T06:31:20-06:00July 28th, 2015|Articles, Recipes|

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Serves 4

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
• ½ cup fresh or frozen onions, sliced
• 1 cup fresh celery, sliced
• 2 Tbsp butter or coconut oil

1. Rinse and remove the green leaves and stems from the cauliflower.
2. Cut the cauliflower into pieces and use a food processor to shred to rice consistency. This can be used with the blade by pulsing to desired texture. Or if you have a shredding blade, this too will work well.
3. Slice the mushrooms, dice the celery and onion and set aside.
4. Melt the butter or coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
5. Add all of the ingredients and cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring often to avoid burning. Serve.

Be creative and add veggies you like such as peas, zucchini, bell pepper, carrot, scallions, green beans, sugar snap peas. The versions are limitless. Chop in leftover chicken, shrimp, pork, veal, lamb or beef. Spice it up with curry or fresh cilantro.

From Paleo Slow Cooking by Chrissy Gower, Victory Belt Publishing, Las Vegas, 2012

By Mila McManus MD|2015-05-19T11:49:39-06:00May 19th, 2015|Articles, General, Recipes|

Sautéed Spinach with White Beans and Pine Nuts

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 T grass fed butter

1 T cold pressed olive oil; extra for garnish

2 T pine nuts

1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced

One 15.5 ounce can, small white kidney or cannellini beans

1 lb fresh spinach, trimmed and washed

Sea Salt

½ cup lightly packed fresh basil (about 15 leaves), thinly sliced

1 T finely grated lemon zest

Freshly ground black pepper

Heat a 12-inch skillet over medium heat. Add grass fed butter, pine nuts and garlic and cook, stirring often until the pine nuts are golden and the garlic is fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the beans and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

Add the spinach and ¼ tsp salt and cook, turning with tongs until wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the basil, lemon zest and pepper to taste. Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and serve.

Nutrition Facts, 1 serving: Calories 180; Fat 10g; Protein 9g; Carbohydrates 21g; Fiber 8 g; Magnesium 242g

Adapted from recipe at www.finecooking.com, Issue 104

By Mila McManus MD|2015-03-22T23:30:10-06:00March 22nd, 2015|Articles, General, Recipes|

Healthy and FAST Cabbage Sautee

1 head of green cabbage
6 slices of uncured bacon
1 Apple, cored and sliced, if desired
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Cut raw bacon up into bits and pieces. Using medium heat, cook the bacon bits and pieces in a skillet or Dutch oven until brown and crisp. Remove from the pan, reserving the bacon fat.

2. Wash the cabbage, remove the outermost leaf. Remove hard core. Cut the cabbage into quarters or six even slices. . Place the segments into the bacon fat. Lightly salt and add pepper to taste. Cover and sautee until desired tenderness about 5-10 minutes. If desired, add apple slices at the same time.

3. Dish cabbage and apples onto plates and top with crisp bacon crumbles.

If bacon is not used, simply cook the cabbage in butter or chicken broth.

By Mila McManus MD|2015-02-03T23:15:22-06:00February 3rd, 2015|Articles, General, Recipes|

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Pear, Red Onion, and Walnuts

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with Pear, Red Onion, and Walnuts

Makes 4 Large Stuffed Mushrooms

4 Large Portobello Mushrooms (3 inches or more in diameter)
6 small (1 inch) Portobello mushrooms if the above are already stemless
2 organic Bartlett pears
2 small red onions, chopped into chunks
½ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
Sea Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Balsamic Vinegar
Grass Fed Butter
Fresh Rosemary and Thyme
Optional: Crumbled Goat Feta Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wash the Portobello mushrooms, remove the stems (to use in the stuffing) and pat them dry. Place the mushrooms in a baking dish. (If mushrooms were already stemless, purchase 6 small 1 inch baby Portobello mushrooms to be used in the stuffing).

3. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter in a pan on low to medium heat. Pour a small amount of balsamic vinegar in a separate small dish or bowl. Using a kitchen brush, lightly brush the mushrooms first with balsamic vinegar and follow with a light brushing of melted butter. Place the baking dish with mushrooms in the oven for 5-7 minutes until the skin of the mushrooms begins to soften.

4. Use the remaining butter in the pan to sauté the red onion with a pinch of salt until lightly caramelized or browned.

5. Take the mushroom stems or 6 small Portobello’s and roughly chop them. Then wash, dry and roughly chop the pears including the skin. Add the chopped mushrooms and pears to the onions and sauté very lightly, just enough to soften them. Remove from the heat and add the walnuts, a pinch of sea salt, finely chopped rosemary and thyme.

6. Remove the mushrooms from the oven, spoon the mixture into the bowl of the mushroom so that the stuffing slightly overflows and then return them to the oven to bake for another 5-10 minutes until fragrant, the stuffing is soft, and the mushrooms are beginning to slightly shrivel. During the last few minutes, sprinkle with goat feta cheese if desired, baking until cheese is melted.

By Mila McManus MD|2014-12-02T03:23:43-06:00December 2nd, 2014|General, Recipes|

Toasted Pecans, Sweet or Spicy

Serves 12, ¼ cup servings
Ingredients:

¼ cup of melted, organic butter
4 cups pecan halves
Sweet : ¼ to ½ cup Xylitol or Erythritol (depending on desired sweetness) and 1 to 2 TBS Cinnamon, All Spice, or Pumpkin Pie Spice
Spicy : 1 TBS sea salt and ¼ – ½ tsp ground red pepper, chili powder, or cayenne pepper

1. Melt butter and add the sweet or spicy ingredients, stirring well. Toss pecans in mixture.

2. Spread pecans on a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Bake at 325° until crunchy. (About 30-45 minutes)

By Mila McManus MD|2014-10-21T22:46:08-06:00October 21st, 2014|General, Recipes|

Sweet Potato Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 T butter or coconut oil, melted
¼ Cup celery, diced
¼ Cup pecans, chopped
¼ cup green onions, chopped

Dressing:

1 clove garlic, minced
1 T lemon juice
½ tsp mustard powder
4 T cold pressed olive oil
1/8 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss cubed sweet potatoes in a bowl with the melted butter or coconut oil. Bake cubed sweet potatoes on a cookie sheet or pan until tender but not mushy (about 45 minutes). Allow to cool slightly. Chop celery, pecans, and green onions and put in a bowl with the sweet potatoes. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix together the garlic, lemon juice, and mustard powder until mustard powder is dissolved. Slowly whisk in olive oil until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed and mixture begins to thicken. Add parsley, thyme, pepper, and salt. Stir.

Put just ¼ cup of the dressing into the bowl with the sweet potato salad and gently toss. The remainder of the dressing can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks in a glass jar. Potato salad can be served warm or cold.

(Adapted from Get Healthy through Detox and Fasting by Don Colbert, MD)

By Mila McManus MD|2014-07-31T14:40:56-06:00June 27th, 2014|General, Recipes|

Melissa’s Easy Fermented Salsa

From our Friend, Melissa Humphries, The Primitive Diva.

You will need the following ingredients:

•6-8 Fresh tomatoes
•2- 3 green onions, chopped
•1 large size chopped jalapeno(seeded)
•6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped or pressed
•1 bunch cilantro
•juice of 1-2 limes
•2 T. sea salt
•1/4 c. filtered water with tsp of salt (This is the brine)

Pulse in food processor until it reaches a consistency that you enjoy. Some prefer a chunkier salsa. Place in a quart-sized, wide-mouth mason jar. Press down lightly until the juices rise up; if there is not enough liquid to cover the vegetables, add a little brine water. The top of the vegetables/liquid should be about an inch below the top of the jar. Cover with a loose jar lid OR a towel, place jar in a bowl to catch any expansion overflow and keep at room temperature in a dark and undisturbed area for about 5 days before sealing and transferring to the fridge.

A note about timing: that “5 days” is a very subjective figure. It depends on a number of factors. The temperature of your kitchen is also a factor. I like the flavor that develops at 5 days; however, you may let it ferment for up to several weeks.

How do you know when it’s done? Taste it every single day. Open it up, press the vegetables down, and give them a taste. When it tastes really good (slightly effervescent), it’s done. You’ll know it’s done when it starts to taste less salty.

I don’t know that I’d let this one go TOO long… probably better slightly fermented than sauerkraut-level fermented.

There are MANY variations with salsa, so you can experiment with a few of your favorites. Add a variety of fresh peppers, fruits, carrots, etc… You could, for example, make a Salsa Verde with substituting the tomatoes with tomatillos and addition of cucumber.

By Mila McManus MD|2014-02-14T11:53:44-06:00February 14th, 2014|General|