Happy Sunday!  How’s everyone’s weekend going? I finally had some time to catch-up on my life, cleaning every inch of our house in preparation for the arrival of… both sets of parents!  Adam’s parents and mine are coming all the way out to San Diego to hang with us, soak up the sunshine and meet each other.  Do you ever notice that you think you’re keeping your house clean with the cursory cleaning throughout the week, but it’s not until the threat of a mother (OR TWO) coming to town that you realize you were, in fact, living in filth. Well, this weekend, I realized we’re disgusting.  However, after a little elbow grease, 2,000 paper towels and four hours of Sheryl Crow Pandora, I’m ready for House Beautiful to come in and take some photos.

The recipe I wanted to share today is nothing mind-blowing, BUT it’s fantastic, super easy and really fills you up if you’re trying to figure out a good paleo lunch time option.  I have the most trouble with lunch for some reason. I think it’s because I work from home, so I just don’t think about it when I shop, then I get into 7 hours of conference calls and the next thing you know, I’m eating a bowl of pasta with lemon and brummel & brown.  I’m convinced my problem areas are a direct result of my lunchtime breakdowns.  So… I was on a mission to figure out something I could throw together in ten minutes, or even make at the beginning of the week and dole it out throughout (if you’re not ten yards from your kitchen come lunch time).

I’m calling this “Perfect Paleo Lunch” – and don’t skip the avocado.  It adds a creamy texture that will make you forget cheese ever existed (well, you won’t need it for this. but we all know, no one that can be trusted, would ever be able to forget about the goodness of cheese).

One reason why I love summer cooking so much is the easy clean-up when you grill up your dinner.  Today was suuuuper hot in San Diego and after an extra sweaty session of boot camp, all I could think about was eating a light, fresh dinner.   Adam is back from another out of town trip and the last thing I wanted to do was waste any time cleaning dishes, so this dinner hit the spot and checked all the boxes – Clean Eating, Low Carb, Fresh Ingredients, Easy Clean-up.  CHECK!

This would be a great meal for this weekend as well!  Any fun plans for Labor Day?  Not laboring, I hope. That’s unpatriotic, tell your boss I said so and proceed to your bbq/pool party/etc.. Adam and I are going to Joshua Tree for some hiking, camping and off-the-gridding, I’m really excited to figure out some creative camping food.  This gal doesn’t do hot dogs more than once a year.  And I’ve already been to a baseball game, so…. you do the math.

Chicken Chipotle Skewers with Avocado Creme

Ingredients:

Chicken

• juice of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 1/2t  chili powder
• 1/2t paprika
• 1/4t  cumin
• 1/8t cayenne pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2t light brown sugar
• 1 1/2t minced chipotle in adobo
• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• minced fresh parsley, to garnish

Avocado Cream Sauce

• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt
• 1 clove garlic
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions

Whisk together the lime juice, canola oil, salt, chili powder, paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic, brown sugar, and chipotle in a pie plate. Add the pieces of chicken and toss to coat. Cover the plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to an hour), stirring and turning the chicken once at the halfway point as it marinates. (OR just toss it all in a gallon ziplock, shake it up and lay flat on in the fridge – turning once)

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. While it’s heating up, thread the chicken onto skewers (throw away any remaining marinade). Transfer the kebabs to the grill, and cook, turning every few minutes so all sides are browned, until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 F. Transfer the kebabs to a plate, tent with foil to keep warm, and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the avocado sauce: Split the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and add to the bowl of a food processor along with the yogurt, garlic, and lime juice. Process until the sauce is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the kebabs with the minced parsley to garnish, and serve with the avocado sauce for dipping.

Side: I added a tomato, avocado, cherry tomato and bacon salad.  Just chop everything up; add salt, pepper, a drop of Tabasco and a tiny bit of olive oil and you’ve got a perfect summer side!

The more you know… the more you wonder how the f@#% you’re still alive.  That’s what I’ve found the more I learn about the food we eat and more specifically the food that is most readily available to us.  I recently saw an article about ten American foods that are banned in other countries.   Let’s just say, it’s not just Cheetos and high fructose corn syrup.  It’s things like farm raised salmon (the kind that many, many restaurants serve), certain food coloring (used in things like Goldfish crackers, Kraft Mac & Cheese) and flame retardant drinks… yes you read that right FLAME RETARDANT DRINKS (think Mountain Dew).   These foods have been found to contain cancer-causing agents, drugs and chemicals not safe for human consumption and other disturbing additives.

Now, don’t worry, I’m not going vegan (not that there’s anything wrong with that) anytime soon, but I do try to be more conscience about the foods we eat in Casa de L&L.  It’s still baby steps, but this baby is movin’ in the right direction.

So, tonight’s meal is fresh to death and legal in not only the US… but also Australia and New Zealand.  Phewwwwyy.  We’ve got wild caught grilled Sockeye Salmon with a light and fresh mango, avocado and black bean slaw.

Wild Caught Salmon with Organic Summer Mango Slaw:

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb. Alaskan or Sockeye Salmon – non-farm raised!
• 1 15 oz. can organic black beans, rinsed
• 1 15 oz. can organic sweet corn or 3 ears of grilled corned cut off the cobb
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 organic red pepper, chopped
• 2 organic mangos, peeled and chopped in squares
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and chopped
• 2 T. chopped fresh oraganic cilantro
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1 T. pickled jalapeno, finely chopped
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1 bunch of fresh spinach, chopped
• 1 lemon
• a couple shakes of seafood seasoning

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium high heat.

Saute red peppers and corn over medium heat for about 4-5 minutes. Combine peppers, onion, corn, black beans, mango, avocado, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno and salt and pepper. Set aside to let flavors come together.

Season salmon with salt, pepper and seafood seasoning (optional) and grill for 7-10 minutes, skin-side down. Salmon should flake easily with a fork.

While salmon is grilling, saute chopped spinach with salt and pepper until wilted.

Plate salmon over wilted spinach and top with Mango Avocado Slaw.

So, are you up for a serious challenge?  Here’s how it goes: Grab The Police’s “Roxanne,” turn up your speakers and position yourself in a plank.  Whenever Sting says, “Roxanne,” you do a push-up; whenever he says “Red Light,” you do a plank knee tuck.  Throughout every other part of the song, you’ll be holding your plank.  As you know, verse 2 and 3 are really when you either get incredibly drunk (me 6 years ago) or when you want to vomit  from exhaustion (me 3 days ago). Okay,  go try it now. Ryan and I will wait…

HOLY HELL, eh? But kind of awesome too, huh?  Welcome to your new chapter.

Speaking of The Police, I’d like to arrest this dinner for being so damn good. This meal is so sneaky – it’s low-carb, high protein, gluten-free AND you significant other/roommate/Kramer-like neighbor will never suspect it’s healthy.  What a snnnnnnneeeaakkky mom!  If you’ve got 20 minutes (from start to plate), you’ve got dinner that people will high five you for.

Mexican Zucchini Skillet with Carne Asada

Mexican Zucchini Skillet:

Ingredients: 

• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb zucchini, diced
• 1 large tomato, cored, seeded and diced
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp minced pickled jalapeño
• 1/2 cup crumbled queso blanco (or queso fresco, cotija or feta)
• 1/2 avocado, cubed
• fresh lime juice, to taste
• salt, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

Cook the garlic in oil in a large skillet over medium heat 1 minute, stirring until sizzling. Add zucchini and cook stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes or until slightly softened. Add the tomato and green onion and cook about 3 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and add cilantro, jalapeño and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with queso blanco and avocado.  Serve hot.

When you add the tomatoes, have your dinner partner throw the carne asada onto a high heat grill.  Cook 2 minutes each side and cut into strips, served over the mexican zucchini!