Crockpotting with Herbes De Provence

I don't know about most of you, but I usually have a hard time branching out and cooking a variety of meats.  I usually stick to chicken and fish, and leave it at that. 
Well....yesterday, I bought a pork loin roast.  I usually am not a fan of roast due to the high fat content, but if you purchase a pork loin roast, it will save you many calories and fat as compared to buying a regular pork roast.  Pork is usually a meat most people stray from, for fear it is not a healthy choice....Crazy thing is, many pork tenderloins (leanest cut) are lower in fat and calories than a chicken breast! So, with that being said, don't be scared of pork recipes!  This recipe uses a French spice blend called Herbes De Provence (that you can purchase at any health food store and some grocery stores or make yourself). 

I love this recipe for three reasons:
1. It takes about 2 minutes total to prepare
2. It's in a crockpot-you come home to a wonderful, lavender/rosemary smelling home after work
3. It's healthy and soooo incredibly tender, and aids as a great leftover.

Some ideas for ways to use your pork once it's cooked:

Add BBQ sauce (GF or regular) and make pulled pork sandwiches
Make a pork stew/soup
Make pork tacos
Pork salad (like chipotle!)
Eat it plain
                                           Below is the easiest and tastiest recipe for pork! Enjoy!

Herbes De Provence Pork Loin Roast

Ingredients:

1- 3lb pork loin roast

~3/4 cup water

1/8-1/4 cup herbes de provence (I think the more, the better:-)

Directions:

Add water to bottom of crockpot. (make sure it is covering entire bottom w/ about 1/2-1" deep)  Add pork loin roast on top of water. (roast can be frozen still)  Sprinkle herbs de provence on top, completely covering sides as well.  This will look like a lot of herbs, but they should cover the entire top.  Turn crockpot on low for ~ 8-10 hours.  Come home from work, use fork to shred roast, and enjoy!

And of course, this recipe is naturally gluten free!

 Below are some nutrition facts for you who are skeptical about pork:-)

3-ounce cooked serving:	Calories	Total Fat (g)	Saturated Fat (g)	Cholesterol (mg)
LEAN CHICKEN
Skinless chicken breast*	139	3.1	0.9	73
Skinless chicken leg*	162	7.1	2.0	80
Skinless chicken thigh*	177	9.3	2.6	81
LEAN CUTS OF PORK
Pork Tenderloin*	120	3.0	1.0	62
Pork boneless top loin chop**	173	5.2	1.8	61
Pork top loin roast*	147	5.3	1.6	68
Pork center loin chop**	153	6.2	1.8	72
Pork sirloin roast*	173	8.0	2.4	76
Pork rib chop**	158	7.1	2.2	56

If you really want to go crazy and make your own herbs de provence spice blend, here is a recipe!

Herbes de Provence

Mix together

1 part marjoram

  1 part basil

2 parts thyme

1 part summer savory

1/2 part lavender

1 part rosemary

1/2 part fennel

1 part oregano

Roasted Rosemary Root Veggies

Another dish to welcome in the cool, fall weather and experiment with some new veggies you've never thought to try!  I added one new veggie to my pile of other roots to roast this week.  Turnips were the round, potato-looking veggie that were added to my cart.  Each week, I have vowed to add a new leafy green or veggie to my cart; then I attempt to work it in to one of the recipes/meals I am making that week and test it out!
Below is an estimated recipe for this fall blend of veggies-You can add more or less of spices, veggies, vinegar, etc...you can't mess this up! Make sure to broil at the end as this adds a great caramelized glaze to the top.  Enjoy:-)

Roasted Rosemary Root Veggies



2 turnips, cut in french-fry slices

1/2 sweet onion, sliced

1 yellow potato, sliced in rounds

1 sweet potato, sliced in round coins

2 celery sticks, chopped in 1/2" bite pieces

1 large portabello mushroom, chopped in 1" pieces

3 large carrots, (or 1 c baby) chopped

1 large beet, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 T rosemary sprigs

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 cup good balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray baking dish with pan spray.  Mix all veggies, spices, and oil in a large bowl until completely coated.  Pour in baking dish and drizzle vinegar evenly over the top of veggies.  Bake for ~ 40-50 minutes until veggies are just softened and tender. (not mushy!) Next, turn oven to broil, and broil for ~5-7 minutes until veggies have a nice glazed look.  Remove and enjoy!

Positively in love...

First of all, I have to show you this article that popped up on my yahoo tonight.  It is way too funny and oh so true:-) Read for yourself the article titled, "Food trends men hate" and you will realize just what I am talking about.
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Oh. My…..I have fallen in love…...In l-o-v-e with these chickpeas that is;-) These may just be another new fall fav of mine.  And low and behold, they are pumpkin flavored!  Therefore, I knew they’d be ah-mazing.  I never took people seriously when they told me roasted chickpeas were pretty great.  Well, these Pumpkin Spice Chickpeas are like pretty great bites of heaven. Be careful-once you start munching, there’s no stopping with these babies. Highly addicting.

I found this recipe on Purple Carrot while carrying out my new favorite time-waster; studying cooking blogs :-)  Hope you are as in love with this recipe as I am-Bon Appetit! 

Pumpkin Spice Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients~

 1 can chickpeas, rinsed & drained
   2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
   1 teaspoon olive oil
   1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
   1/8 teaspoon sea salt
   3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
   3/4 teaspoon all-spice

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400

Mix all ingredients into a bowl.

Place them in a greased baking dish and bake for approx 35-40 mins, stirring every 10ish minutes.  Remove and enjoy:-)

These are great as salad toppers, (added fiber!) as a side dish, or as a healthy snack to pop throughout the day!

And of course...they're gluten free!

Some Fall Delights

What a wonderful weekend catching up and hanging out with great friends! A great way to end a crazy week.  I must say, I have had a bit of adjusting to do lately with my current internship rotation.  I am now working at a hospital in Denver to complete my 400+ clinical hours.  To make things short, I am lacking in the area of any time to breathe.  Therefore, much to my dismay and sanity, I have not got what I call a sufficient amount of  kitchen time in this week. 
So tonight, with the help of the all-inspiring Julie and Julia playing in the background, (for possibly the 100th + time?! :-) I sit down to share a meal I enjoyed making a few weeks ago...Hope you enjoy these fall favorites:-)

 Last fall, I was just discovering how much I LOVE love curry...As you read, it's quite obvious I have a weakness for curry...Somehow it ends up in about 90% of the dishes I make. 

This soup contains a different green to most (collard), is high in fiber, and is probably one of my favorite soups yet.  The source of my obsession for curry dishes stems from one main place. In the lovely Boulder, Co, is my favorite restaurant. ever.  If you are ever in Boulder, I HIGHLY recommend that you take a visit to the little Nepalese restaurant, Sherpas.  Oh Sooooo good:-)

How fun is this?? A secret to some who may mistake this delicious place for a cute blue house and walk right on by...

                Below is my Curried Indian Soup and Naan.

Indian Curried Lentil Soup

1 lb skinless boneless chicken breast, cubed

1 can lite coconut milk

4 large collard green leaves, chopped and stems removed

1/2 cup dried green lentils

3/4 cup dried black eyed peas

4 cups chicken broth/bouillon

3 T curry powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 /2 tsp salt

       1/4" piece of fresh ginger-chopped

     2 cloves garlic, minced

   1 tsp cumin

   1/2 tsp turmeric

  1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp cardamon

For a sweeter soup, add 1 T honey and 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup shredded coconut, toasted

 (To toast, turn on oven to 375, place coconut on oven sheet, and bake for 5-7 minutes or until coconut is just browned.)

Directions:

Put all ingredients minus coconut in crock pot for 3 hours or until chicken is cooked tho
roughly. Dish into bowls, top with toasted coconut and serve with Naan.  Wa-la. It's done!

                 ~The Nutrition Corner~

My nutrition plug for lentils...A cup of lentils contains nearly 16 grams of fiber, being one of the highest fiber-containing foods out there! (The recommendation for women is 25g and men is 38g of fiber a day which is not easy to do. 1 in 10 people get adequate amounts of fiber in their diet each day. Legumes (the family of beans and lentils) will help you reach your goal by throwing them in soups, salads, side dishes and anywhere else you may need a little fiber boost.  They have less than 1g of fat, contain 17g of protein per cup, and are packed full of wonderful vitamins and minerals!

This Naan Bread is definitely the best recipe I have found after experimenting with all sorts of recipes. Naan is an Indian flatbread that is great with soups and curries.  This recipe is gluten free & authentic-tasting...Almost to the point that you'd think you were in India or at Sherpas ;-)
The best part? All of you non-gluten's can substitute regular all purpose flour in the place of  the gluten free flour and omit the xanthan gum!
Enjoy and please share any successful results! :-)

Naan Bread

You can flavor your naan with various herbs. Cumin naan, garlic naan and butter naan topped with Parsley are some fun variations. 

1 cup millet flour
1 cup GF Flour Mix
2 teaspoons guar gum or xanthan gum
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup of warm milk or almond or rice milk
1/2 cup of soy or regular yogurt
1/2 tbsp oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together and make a well in the flour.

Mix milk, yogurt, and oil together and pour about half of it into the well and slowly combine it together until a soft dough forms. (There’s not an exact amount of liquid that should be added to the exact amount of flour to make a perfect dough.) The dough should be soft enough for you to be able to dig your finger into it without applying any pressure. If dough sticks to hand too much then use little bit of oil on hand and then punch into the dough.
Cover with damp cloth and let it sit in a warm place for at least 1 hour.

Place dough in between two large pieces of plastic wrap on the counter.  Using the plastic wrap allows you to manipulate the dough without it sticking to the counter top. Shape the dough into a large rectangle and fold it into thirds, pick up the dough and turn it so you can fold it into thirds again. Throughout this process you will be removing the plastic wrap so you can fold the dough and placing it back on top as needed to manipulate the dough.

Divide the dough into 8 small balls and flatten the balls between the plastic wrap to make 8 naan shaped rectangles about 1/4 inch thick.

Heat a  heavy skillet (one with a lid). When skillet is very hot place the naan wet side down and cover it with a lid. Let it cook for about one minute.  When it is cooked it will release from the pan with a spatula. Cook the other side of the naan over the direct flame of the burner using tongs. When you see some charred brown spots then you know that the naan is done. 

Serve with soup and enjoy!

And of course, both recipes are gluten and dairy free!

A night in the world of GF bread baking...

Tonight I finally finally lucked out...By combining a new yeast bread recipe that I altered, with a few tips/tricks from my gluten free baker friend (at PVH), I have had a successful night in the world of GF yeast breads!  Gluten free yeast breads almost NEVER turn out even slightly close to a regular yeast bread, so to finally have some luck is pretty exciting:-)  Paying $6-8 for a loaf (ONE LOAF!) of GF bread is pretty outrageous, and most of the time it tastes like one of the two things; cardboard or sawdust.  Mixing your own flours and making  homemade bread is so much cheaper, tastier, and of course, more therapeutic!....This winter/fall, I hope to do some more experimenting when the weather turns cold, and we need some extra heat added to the house (always a great excuse to bake in the winter;-)
Below is the GF loaf/yeast bread I made tonight (See links at top of blog for GF flour/blend info)

This bread contain sorghum as its main flour....First a little nutrition.... & below is the spice:-)   
Like other slightly exotic grain crops, sorghum is used primarily for animal feed in the United States, although cultivation of this grain is on the rise. The seeds, stalks, and leaves can all be fed to livestock or left in the field and used as a forage crop. In the United States, a wet milling method is used to make sorghum starch, used in a variety of industrial applications such as adhesives and paper making. In much of the rest of the world, however, it is consumed by humans as well as animals.
Sorghum is favored by the gluten intolerant and is often cooked as a porridge to be eaten alongside other foods. The grain is fairly neutral in flavor, and sometimes slightly sweet. This makes it well adapted to a variety of dishes, because, like tofu, sorghum absorbs flavors well. It can also be eaten plain.
This grain is commonly eaten with the hull, which retains the majority of the nutrients. The plant is very high in fiber and iron, with a fairly high protein level as well. This makes it well suited to its use as a staple starch in much of the developing world.  (Any grain that is whole and not refined is preferred for maximum nutritional value!)
Sorghum was probably brought to the United States by African slaves, who cultivated it in the Southern states. Some classic Southern recipes include sorghum, suggesting that it was integrated into American cuisine by the 19th century, when additional strains were brought over from China. The grain is also used around the world to brew beers,(how they make GF beer currently) with its close relative, broom corn, cultivated for the manufacture of traditional straw brooms.

Tasty Sorghum Bread

Dry Ingredients:

Sorghum Flour 1.5 cups

Tapioca Flour 3/4 cup

Cornstarch 3/4 cup

Xanthan Gum 2 1/4 tsp

Soy Milk Powder 1/2 cup

(or if you don't have a milk allergy/intolerance, you can use dry milk powder)

Salt 3/4 tsp

Unflavored Gelatin 1 1/2 tsp

Egg Replacer (I used Flaxseed meal) 1 1/2 tsp

Sugar 3 T

Dry Yeast Granules 2 1/4 tsp

Wet Ingredients:

Eggs 2 eggs plus 2 whites

Canola Oil 3 3/4 T

Dough Enhancer (or could use vinegar) 3/4 tsp

Water 2 cups

Grease a loaf pan & dust w/ rice flour.

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Set Aside.

In another bowl (or your mixer bowl), whisk the egg and white slightly; add the canola oil, dough enhancer, and most of the water. The remaining water should be added as needed after the bread has started mixing, either in your mixer or in the pan of the bread machine.

Add the dry ing. a little at a time to the wet, mixing well for about 3.5 mins.  The dough should be a cake batter (or just a little thicker) consistency! This is super important that your dough is not the consistency of a "normal" yeast bread dough.

Spoon into the prepared pan, cover, and let rise in a warm place about 55 mins.  Barely mix once again, let set for 10-15 mins, and then place pan in oven  and bake @ 400 for 15 minutes.  Turn the temp down to 375, and bake for another 45-50? mins.  The baking time and temp is all experimental and will differ for those of you at lower altitudes and with different ovens.  The top should be a dark brown, but not a burnt look.  If the top is getting too dark, cover loosely with foil for the rest of the baking time.  Let set for 20 mins in pan, then remove, slice and enjoy!
*This recipe is modified for high altitude baking; If you are at lower altitudes, try leaving out 1 egg and adjusting your oven temp/baking times.

Nutrients per slice: Kcals: 110, Fat 3 g, Carbs 17g, Chol 0 mg, Sodium 100 mg, Fiber 2 g, Protein 6 g.

*You can add flaxseed, spices or nuts to this bread for a boost of flavor, healthy fats and fiber.