This hearty, grain-free, savory Paleo dinner dish is a hit with adults and teens alike in our house. I often serve it with a Spinach Salad for a filling, vegetable heavy dinner.

While we eat chicken once or twice per week, I also try to serve the boys (all 3 of them) steak each week as that is their favorite dinner. They are more than happy when I serve them grilled steak with a side of Mashed Cauliflower and Carrot Fries. For now though, back to chicken! Here’s our new favorite recipe.

This recipe was adapted from a Real Simple recipe as well as a food.com recipe. What is your favorite way to prepare chicken?

Here are some of my other favorite Paleo chicken recipes:

• Perfect Roast Chicken
• Roasted Chicken with Olives and Prunes (for Paleo use honey instead of agave)
• Chipotle Orange Chicken (for Paleo use honey instead of agave)

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It’s the day after Thanksgiving and you wonder, what to do with all of those leftovers? In fact, you might puzzle over this all weekend. What to do with the remains of a feast that have now become “must go’s”? Gluten free turkey hash is the answer to your post-Thanksgiving woes.

With just 3 main ingredients (onion, squash and turkey), this comfort food will warm your belly and empty your refrigerator the day after Thanksgiving.

You may want to try throwing in some leftover greens such as kale, spinach or asparagus. The sky’s the limit when it comes to making dishes out of your “must go’s”. This is a basic recipe template for you, feel free to add herbs and spices and throw in everything but the kitchen sink.

The trick with this turkey hash is to let the squash (or pumpkin) get nice and mooshy (for lack of a better technical term). You can also try using pre-cooked squash leftovers which will reduce your cooking time.

My husband is not a fan of leftovers and he devoured this when I served it to him.

Here are some other ideas for your Thanksgiving leftovers:

• Leftover Turkey Sandwich
• Coconut Chicken Soup (use leftover turkey instead of chicken)
• Paleo Chicken Noodle Soup (use turkey instead of chicken)

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Back in the 1990′s, before I was gluten free, I ordered my fair share of sesame noodles from greasy Chinese restaurants. That was when I lived in New York City.  Even though it’s been a long time since I’ve eaten in a Chinese restaurant, that hankering for a good gluten free sesame noodle recipe has never gone away, so I’m happy to have created this one after numerous attempts.

This recipe for sesame noodles is made with low calorie kelp noodles (not that calorie counting is my thing). Kelp noodles also happen to be very low carb. Better than that, I think you’ll find these noodles to be a delicious gluten free side dish on a hot summer’s night. They’re also perfect for a potluck.

If you’re looking for a super healthy summery raw kelp noodle recipe, check out one of my favorite websites, inphyusion.com.

I like to serve this gluten free noodle dish with:
Thai Chicken Wraps
Salmon Kabayki
Sesame Salmon Burgers

I’m just thrilled about kelp noodles. When I gave up legumes last fall I thought I had given up gluten free noodles for good. I’m glad I was wrong! Please note though that kelp noodles do have a seaweed-ish type crunch to them and their texture is different from that of regular noodles and pasta.

How do you like your noodles? Have you tried kelp noodles before? What noodle dish can you not live without?

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I’m always on the lookout for quick and easy recipes for chicken breast, so I was mighty happy when a reader left this comment on my post for grilled Mustard Lime Chicken:

Fantastic chicken! Our son was just diagnosed with Celiac Disease about one month ago, and I have to tell you that your recipes have been such a help. We all loved the chicken, and I ended up baking it at 350 until it was cooked (25-30 minutes) since it rained the day I made it and couldn’t use the grill- flavor was still excellent! Thank you!
-Ana

This recipe for chicken breast is full of flavorful lime and cilantro, and when you bake it (rather than grilling) the flavors have a chance to entirely infuse the dish. Thanks for this excellent suggestion Ana!

I don’t know if your children will like this easy chicken dish; I can tell you that mine gobble it up every time I make it. If you’re looking for healthy recipes for dinner, look no further, this chicken is it.

Healthy chicken recipes are a dinnertime staple in our house. Some of my other favorites include:

• Mexican Chicken with Rice
• Perfect Roast Chicken
• Rosemary Lemon Chicken

On another note, spring is here. It is 70 degrees today in Boulder and my garden is exploding with color (and flavor). The rhubarb plants are coming up, bulbs are blooming and the lettuce and kale in my cold frame are going wild.

I’m thinking of making a Paleo strawberry rhubarb crisp for Easter this year. Are you getting in the spring mood? If so, what do you like to cook when it gets warmer outside?

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Shepherd’s Pie is a traditional English dish. In Britain it is generally made with lamb or mutton; in this recipe I have made a simple ground beef shepherd’s pie and added bacon for extra flavor.

Shepard’s pie is often referred to as “cottage pie,” by the English; it is a casserole made of cooked meat and vegetables that is then topped with mashed potatoes and baked. I have made this dish into a Paleo casserole by using Mashed Cauliflower for the topping. This reduces the glycemic index of the dish and increases the nutritional content, since cauliflower is a super food.

I based my recipe for ground beef Shepherd’s Pie, on this Shepherd’s Pie recipe from functionalfoodie.com. As you can see, I made some adjustments. First, I eliminated the tomato sauce, as research from Dr. Loren Cordain points to the possibility that tomatoes contain immune disrupting lectins (I have therefore eliminated them from my diet as I have MS). I also did not use coconut milk in the mashed cauliflower topping, and skipped the Worcester sauce (since I’m too lazy to read ingredients and prefer to use the simple spices in my spice rack).

I hope you enjoy this gluten free comfort food as much as I have!

I found that in my fridge this Shepard’s Pie kept for close to a week. I ate it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

What is your favorite gluten free comfort food?

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These high protein Sesame Salmon Burgers pair nicely with Garlic Ginger Bok Choy (pictured in background of photo above; stay tuned for recipe next week).

I really like making these quick and easy gluten free burgers because they not only consist of highly nutritious wild salmon (obviously), they’re also packed with superfoods such as garlic, ginger and sesame seeds.  Sometimes I like to prepare the salmon mixture ahead of time (think the night before, so that the flavors can meld into the salmon and intensify) and then cook the patties in a skillet the following day for dinner.

If you’re looking for other quick and easy gluten free burgers check out my Green Chili Turkey Burgers and Shrimp Burgers.

Thanks to everyone who participated in last weeks Dagoba giveaway, and to all of you who joined me on Facebook and Twitter. The winners of the four 8oz bags of Dagoba Chocodrops and four 8oz canisters of Dagoba cacao powder are Brittany and Melissa! Congratulations y’all and enjoy!

Here are more gluten free burger recipes you may enjoy:
-Turducken Burger Recipe from Diane of The W.H.O.L.E. Gang
-Sweet Potato Black Bean Vegetarian Burger Recipe from Seamaiden of Book of Yum
-Quinoa-Salmon Burgers (Gluten-Free + Egg-free) from Ali of Nourishing Meals

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This recipe is based on one by Ellyn Goodrich at epicurious.com, called “Alaskan Halibut and Salmon Gefilte Fish Terrine.”  While Goodrich’s recipe makes a gefilte fish “loaf,” mine is for traditional (yet gluten free) gefilte fish balls (like my Bubby made) only with more vegetables, so that they are a bit lighter and healthier than the standard gefilte-fare.

What are gefilte fish?  Here is Wikipedia’s definition:

“Yiddish Gefüllte Fisch (Gefilte fish;from German gefüllte “stuffed” fish) (Yiddish: געפֿילטע פֿיש, Hebrew: דגים ממולאים‎ dagim memula’im, literally “filled fish”) is a poached fish mince stuffed into the fish skin. More common since the Second World War are the Polish patties similar to quenelles or fish balls made from a mixture of ground deboned fish, mostly carp or pike. They are popular in the Ashkenazi Jewish community and are typically eaten on Shabbat and Holidays.”

In my house, we eat gefilte fish once a year. They’re not easy to make, so we prepare them at Passover, as my Bubby did and serve them with homemade maror (ground horseradish).

Did you know that Passover starts one month from today? If you’re planning a gluten free Passover, you might want to check out my Gluten Free Passover Menu which is full of yummy things like gluten free Matzo Ball Soup and Charoset.

Even though it’s a month away, I’m ready for Passover, as for me, it is the holiday which ushers in spring!

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My version of Perfect Roast Chicken is based upon one from Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.  This go to dish is something I make at least once a week, after which I generally use the carcass for chicken stock.  My best friend from childhood, Helen, introduced me to Ina, and I have been hooked on her books ever since.

While Ina’s recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken calls for wheat flour, chicken stock and butter, mine is a tad simpler and gluten free as well.  My boys love this roasted chicken.

What is your favorite chicken dish?  Leave a comment and let us all know!

More gluten free chicken recipes you may enjoy for dinner:
-Herb Garden Chicken Slow Cooker Recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking
-Roast Chicken with Garlic, Ginger and Lemon from Tasty Eats at Home
-Pistachio Pesto Crusted Chicken from Cook It Allergy Free

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This recipe comes from The Spunky Coconut Cookbook by my adorable friend, Kelly Brozyna of the spunkycoconut.com.

Last weekend, between all of my writing deadlines, I snuck out of the house, away from the computer to meet up with Kelly and her family at the Boulder Farmer’s Market.  We grabbed some grub from the market, splashed around with her gorgeous daughters in the creek, then walked around downtown together for a while.

How refreshing!  I hadn’t been out of the house for that long in a while, and Kelly, her husband Andrew (an author in his own right) and their girls were so fun to be with.  The outing totally took my mind off work, and I’m really looking forward to getting together with all of them again.  Below is my version of Kelly’s delightfully delicious gluten free chicken meatballs.

Spunky Coconut’s Baked Chicken MeatballsNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
1 cup zucchini, chopped (about 1 zucchini)
1 cup carrots, chopped (about 2 carrots)
½ cup parsley, coarsely chopped
3 medium cloves garlic
¼ cup blanched almond flour
1 egg
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ teaspoon chili powder

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. In a food processor, pulse together the zucchini, carrots, parsley and garlic
3. Add almond flour, egg, and chicken
4. Then add salt, pepper and chili powder and process until thoroughly combined
5. Drop tablespoon sized balls of the chicken mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet
6. Bake meatballs for 20 to 25 minutes
7. Serve

I serve these meatballs over (gluten free) homemade Zucchini Noodles, with the Tomato Sauce recipe from The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, though you can serve them over anything you like!  I have found that the Zucchini Noodles taste even better if you toss them in a bit of olive oil and tomato sauce and let them sit and marinate for an hour on the counter.  Then top with these gluten-free meatballs.  Then yum.

The winner of last weeks giveaway for an Elana’s Pantry gift bag including The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, an EP t-shirt and an EP shopping tote is Lisa Vance!  If you haven’t entered the giveaway for a copy of Ali Segersten’s book, The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, head on over to my Healthy School Lunch post and do so! I’ll announce that winner on Monday, October 4th, 2010.

Today I’m giving away a copy of The Spunky Coconut Cookbook. To be entered just leave a comment below. This giveaway will end October 7th, 2010.

Update: the winner was Audrey J!

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This high protein salmon dish with Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup from Pacific Foods was a big hit with my husband, and children as well.

The sweet, smoky taste of the sauce (which simply uses the above soup) along with healthy spinach and salted salmon, results in a sophisticated entree that is not too challenging to make –a lovely dish that will wow your guests.

Thanks for all of your votes in the first round of Pacific Foods Everyday Chef Challenge!  Because of you, I won that round, and healthy, high protein, gluten free has even more exposure in the mainstream.  I especially want to thank Chris James of Celiac Handbook for tirelessly spreading the word about the contest on Twitter and Facebook.

The dish below is my entry for round 2 of the Pacific Foods Everyday Chef Challenge.  Please head on over if you have a minute and vote for your favorite recipe.  Same rules apply as last time, you can vote every 24 hours until the contest is over one week from today, on Wednesday, October 6th.

The winner of the Pacific Foods giveaway for a case of Broths and Soups is Amy Cazier! We’ve got some big giveaways coming to Elana’s Pantry this fall and winter. Stay tuned by signing up for email updates or following me on Facebook or Twitter :-)

* Disclosure: I am working with Pacific Natural Foods as a participant in this promotion and have received a stipend

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