Sweet Potato Fries

I love sweet potatoes. I love that you can go either sweet or savory with them. I love that you can eat them as a meal. I love that you can eat them as part of a meal. I love that you can eat them as snacks like in the form of chips or french fries. I have a heck of a time getting said snacks crispy in the oven, though, and it drives me crazy. 

In her post linked below, Juli from paleOMG tells us how to make them crispy! The secret is in the sauce.. or.. oil. Either way, I tried it and they were the best ones I've ever made! 

Check it out!! http://paleomg.com/leftovers-bbq-chicken-burgers-crispy-sweet-potato-fries/

Shrimp and Sweet Corn Gazpacho

So, if something's easy, especially in the kitchen, I'm all for it. I happened upon this recipe for gazpacho in the circular we get from Stop & Shop. Really? The grocery store? Yes. I saw it and immediately felt the overwhelming desire to make this into my own recipe. Gazpacho is one of those things that just screams summer. Since the summer feels like it is so quickly coming to an end, I made it that night. I doubled the recipe so we could enjoy it all week, and for dinner that evening, I also added chopped shrimp. MMM. The amounts I am providing are for the double batch, just FYI.

Ingredients:

1 lb cocktail shrimp, chopped 

1 package frozen sweet corn, cooked and cooled {I use steam-in bag}

4 fresh tomatoes, finely diced

2 medium cucumbers, finely diced

1 green bell pepper, finely diced

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

2 tsp minced garlic

1 regular bottle low sodium V8 juice

6 Tbl lemon juice

2 tsp dried basil

1/2 cup Hot sauce, or to taste

Salt + black pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients
2. Refrigerate for 4–6 hours to allow flavors to develop
3. Serve chilled with fresh basil for garnish if desired

Notes:

• Yes, that's all you do.
• Because I made so much of it, I actually spooned a separate portion of the soup into a smaller bowl and added the shrimp to that, as to not contaminate the rest of the soup that would last all week. 

Chicken Florentine Spaghetti Squash // Paleo

This, my friends, is one worth making. Mind you, you need to get a good sausage {the weird chicken sausage we got did not work, but the thought was there and I could taste how good it would be if I had the right sausage- that's how good it was!}  Also adorable, keeping your spaghetti squash skins, and serving this up right inside! Super cute, super easy. Me, I always quarter my squash to cook it in the microwave since I'm entirely too impatient to wait for it's 40 minute roast time//so I served this sucker up in my super adorable {and bright orange} Rachael Ray bubble and brown dishes. 

Let's get to it, shall we? I found this recipe on stupideasypaleo.com

it was a guest post from the awesome chick that writes popularpaleo.com

ingredients

1 medium spaghetti squash
1 package//4 links chicken sausage (organic, gluten-free; I would go hot)
1 organic onion, diced
2–3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups//3 large handfuls organic baby spinach leaves, packed
2–3 TBL EVOO
S+P to taste
Optional: chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

instructions

1. First- cook the spaghetti squash. I will have to do a post specifically on how to do this, but here's my trick. Cut squash in half, and remove seeds and pulp with a spoon. Split squash into quarters, place in a glass Pyrex with some water, cover with plastic wrap and seal tightly. Nuke in microwave for 10-13 minutes depending on size of squash. {be VERY careful when removing from the microwave- there will be all sorts of steam trapped under that plastic- trust}
2. While the squash cooks, heat a large skillet to medium-high and drizzle in a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Once the oil is heated, crumble in the sausage, onion and garlic. Cook and stir until the sausage is just about cooked and the onion is translucent—this should take about 10 minutes or so. Add the spinach leaves on top of the mixture in the pan so that it wilts as the rest of the items cook. Stir it all together as the spinach cooks down. Turn off heat.
3. Once the squash is cooked and cooled slightly, hold each section with tongs to drain, and use a fork to scrape out the strands. Transfer into the pan with the sausage mixture, season with S+P, and toss the squash with the sausage and spinach so everything gets evenly combined. Top with parsley if you'd like. 

notes

• I think I also threw this under the broiler once it was all done. If you wanted to cheat a little, this would be delightful with a little parm sprinkled on top. Mm Mm.
• This was super easy and actually pretty quick to make. Again, if you roast your squash it takes wayyyy longer. Who has time for that after working all day?! But if you are anti-plastic-in-the-microwave as some are, you certainly can roast your squashes. 
• This reminds me slightly of the Spaghetti Pie recipe I posted here. Although, these flavors + that preparation, hmm... I might be on to something....