Asian Beef with Broccoli

It's unofficially recipe week here at CupcakesOMG!, have you noticed? Look, I'd apologize, but I don't generally consider showering your eyeballs with gorgeous pictures of food and delicious-but-still-entirely-good-for-you-recipes worthy of an "I'm sorry." I'm sorry I'm NOT sorry.

I guarantee nobody will be sorry if you make this paleo version of beef and broccoli.

It's kinda crazy to think that something as pure as a dish named after two healthy ingredients could be full of flour, sugar, and a slew of unpronounceable ingredients. Because, just in case you weren't aware, that's how most Chinese food gets made. Don't get me wrong--I love me some good Chinese takeout, but even when you order something like "chicken with cashews", you're consuming the equivalent amount of sugar as one might find in a cupcake. And cupcakes are delicious, so just eat one of those, by God!

So the next time you find yourself craving Chinese, but not diabetic shock, this beef with broccoli is a fantastic option.

It's a one-pot/wok dish and it reheats incredibly, making it ideal for leftovers.

You could also serve it over cauliflower rice to get the full effect, but I felt like I was already going above and beyond with the sesame seeds.

If you're not a fan of beef, try it with pork or chicken. Matter of fact, I'm gonna be making this all over again with chicken this weekend. That's just one more tip for those of you who are trying to stalk me.

Beef with Broccoli
Makes 6-8 servings
Adapted from "Make it Paleo"

• 2 Tbsp. Toasted sesame oil
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. ginger, minced
• 1-2 lbs. beef, cut into 1" cubes (I bought what was on sale)
• 4-6 cups broccoli florets
• 1/2 cup green onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup coconut aminos
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. white sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Heat sesame oil in a wok or skill over high heat.
2. Add garlic and ginger to wok, and saute for 2 minutes until oil is infused.
3. Add steak, stirring until browned on all sides.
4. Once steak is seared, add broccoli. Continue to saute over high heat.
5. Add green onion, and an extra tablespoon of oil if needed.
6. Add coconut aminos and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
7. Continue to saute another 2-3 minutes, until all the flavors are combined.
8. Garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds to serve.

TwoFaced Wednesday: Sweet Potato Salad

I've already told Jenna this, but today's TwoFaced is probably my favorite recipe to date. And it all started with near-rotting tubers.

You see, last week, I bought three large sweet potatoes for literally no reason. Usually when I go grocery shopping, I try to plan out what I'll be making and build a list based on a predetermined set of meals, otherwise I'd end up bringing home things like edible flowers and multiple cartons of Coconut Milk Egg Nog, basically stuff I don't really know how to justify spending my money on. I had no plans to make anything with sweet potato, but they were singing their siren song to me, like a trampy little harlot asking passers-by if they were "lookin' for a good time." I'm talking about prostitutes, by the way. 

Slutty sweet potatoes

So as I mentioned, I had no reason to buy sweet potatoes, but I figured I could mash them or make them into fries at the very least, but a week had passed and still, I had nary given them a second glance, until I remembered an Asian-style sweet potato salad Kyle's mom makes. It's sweet, spicy, tangy, and entirely addicting. If I remember correctly, her version included peanut butter and possibly some brown sugar. I was able to make a couple easy swaps, and one surprising swap for soy sauce, making this sweet potato salad paleo and delicious!  

Most recipes call for soy sauce, but I nearly opted to leave it out (soy ain't paleo, ya know?), until I spotted this miracle of miracles.

Yeah, in case coconut crystals and coconut nectar weren't cray cray enough, Coconut Secret goes and blows your mind all over again with a soy-free soy sauce (made with coconut nectar and salt). It's not as salty as the real stuff, but it makes for an incredible substitute (even if it does punch you right in the ovaries at $5 a bottle) in any recipe calling for soy sauce.

I'm gonna just stuff my face with some of this while you go
check out The Paleo Project's take on the sweet potato!

Sweet Potato Salad
Makes a lot

• 2-3 large sweet potatoes
• 3 Tbsp. almond butter
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup Raw Coconut Aminos (soy sauce replacement)
• 4 teaspoons toasted sesame seed oil
• 3 teaspoons minced peeled ginger
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. maple syrup

Garnish

• 2 Tbsp. roasted, unsalted almonds, chopped
• bunch of green onion, sliced thinly

1. Peel and chop sweet potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Add potatoes to a pot and add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil until sweet potatoes are fork tender (about 5 minutes). Strain potatoes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk all the other ingredients together. Add potatoes, green onions, and almonds. Toss to coat. Taste it at this point, and then add salt and pepper if needed.
3. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.

TwoFaced: Kale

Kale intimidates me for some reason. I can't exactly verbalize why. I mean, I've been venturing into new leafy green territory over the past year (swiss chard has become a personal favorite), but kale continues to mystify me. 

You know what doesn't intimidate me? Becoming internet friends with another paleo-minded blogger living hundreds of miles away. Becoming Facebook friends with and Twitter follower of that very blogger. Exchanging phone numbers and texts with that basically stranger of a blogger. Even less intimidating? Meeting her in person. Tonight. For dinner at the restaurant version of our TwoFaced feature!!

But back to what does intimidate me. Kale. When Jenna and I chose it as our ingredient for this week's TwoFaced, I looked at it as a prime opportunity to bounce back from the several days of Thanksgiving gluttony I subjected myself to. I figured my strategy to just pick a recipe and make it happen was the best way to mitigate the kale intimidation factor, so I decided to make chicken roulade with kale and feta.

**I'm pretty sure no other blogger in the history of blogging has done this, but it appears as though some of my chicken wasn't cooked all the way through. Please note that I nuked these for a couple of minutes before eating. You should probably just cook your chicken longer.

In the end, kale wasn't as intimidating as it first seemed. It's actually a lot like cooking swiss chard, but tastes more like spinach. Paired with salty feta and tucked inside juicy chicken thighs, it makes a pretty delicious meal to bounce back from all that damage you did last Thursday.

And now I'm off to meet my internet friend in a strange city where I don't know anyone, said the girl who thought kale was scary.

Make sure you check out Jenna's kale concoction!

Chicken Roulade with Kale and Feta

Makes about 4 servings

• 1 package boneless, skinless chicken thighs (you could also use chicken breast)
• 3 cups chopped kale
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large pan, saute onion and garlic in a Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add kale. Saute for several more minutes, until kale wilts.

3. Move kale to a large bowl. Add feta and mix well.

4. On a clean surface, lay chicken thighs out flat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spoon kale mixture onto each chicken thigh.

5. Starting with the smaller edge, roll up the chicken (mine didn't exactly role as much as they folded into a taco, but whatevs). Use toothpicks to hold the chicken into shape. You might use 3-4 toothpicks per chicken thigh depending on how full you stuff them.

6. Drizzle olive oil in a pan and brown all sides of each rolled chicken thigh.

7. Move chicken to the oven to finish cooking through, between 10-15 minutes, or until the juices run clear.