jordansward@gmail.com

Tilapia Tacos with Cabbage Slaw

March 30, 2014

A day in the life of Jordan includes a bus, a train, another bus, work, another bus, one more train, and yet another bus. Since I leave my apartment at 6:10 a.m. and get home at 6:35 p.m. every night, I’m usually lucky if I have the energy to throw a turkey burger on the George Foreman. (Yes, I own a George Foreman. And I love it more than the average college boy).

So a quick and easy dinner like these Tilapia Tacos with Cabbage Slaw is perfect. I’ve tried to like grilled fish tacos, but they’re just not as good as the panko crusted kind! So, I sacrificed health for taste in this case, and it was definitely worth it.

I would highly recommend making the slaw the night before – it will have time to marinade plus it cuts down on cooking time!

Tilapia Tacos with Cabbage Slaw

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

Slaw
2 cups red cabbage, sliced thinly
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon honey
4 tablespoons oil
Tacos
1.5 pounds tilapia, sliced
1 egg, whisked
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon oil
8 flour tortillas
Cilantro
1 lime, sliced

Instructions

Prep - Ideally the night before
1. Whisk together vinegar, cumin, honey, salt and oil. Add cabbage and cilantro and toss everything together. Season to taste with any other seasonings you prefer and let marinate overnight in the fridge.
Make Tacos
1. Rinse and dry fish thoroughly with paper towels, slice into 1/2-inch pieces and place into a bowl.
2. Whisk egg with paprika and a pinch of salt. Pour over fish and toss thoroughly.
3. Combine panko, cumin, salt, and oil in a plastic bag, place the fish in the bag and shake to coat.
4. Heat oil in a skillet and cook fish pieces until golden brown.
5. Warm tortillas and fill with cabbage slaw, fish and cilantro leaves. I also added plain Greek yogurt and a squeeze of lime. Enjoy!

https://smilesandwich.com/2014/03/30/tilapia-tacos-with-cabbage-slaw/

Chicken Fajita Stuffed Bell Peppers

March 17, 2014

Is it just me, or have stuffed peppers recipes been everywhere lately? I had never had the classic stuffed pepper until my step mom made them the other week and filled them with rice and ground beef. Needless to say, I dug it. But since I can’t do anything like a normal person would, I decided to make this exciting variation – Chicken Fajita Stuffed Bell Peppers. They’re good. Like, really good.

One of the joys of moving into a new apartment is realizing everything you never think of needing until you need it and don’t have it. Which was exactly the case when I was uber pumped and ready to make these awesome chicken stuffed peppers, and realized I didn’t have a baking dish. So, I did what any savvy apartment owner would do and used my baking sheet. It worked out since I boiled the peppers first, but if you want to skip the boiling step make sure you have a shallow baking dish, and perhaps even fill it with a tiny bit of water so the peppers don’t dry out!

Check out my pretty Amish cutting board! Ooohhhh … Aaahhhhh …

Chicken Fajita Stuffed Bell Peppers

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

2 organic chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch chili powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 bell peppers, washed, seeds removed, cut in half
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
Coconut or olive oil
1 cup shredded organic cheese

Instructions

Mix lime juice, cilantro, and all spices in a medium bowl. Place raw chicken in the bowl, stir to coat and marinade at least 1 hour or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a casserole dish. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil bell pepper halves until soft, about 3 minutes, pushing them down with a spoon if they float. Once done, remove from pot and set aside.
Heat oil in a medium pan and sauté chicken until cooked. Remove from pan, shred with two forks and set aside.
In the same pan, sauté onion until it's soft. Turn off the heat, and stir in the chicken and tomato.
Arrange the pepper halves open side up in the casserole dish. Fill each pepper with chicken mixture and cheese. Bake, covered with foil, about 15 minutes. Uncover and bake 5 minutes more until cheese is melted. Garnish with fresh cilantro.

https://smilesandwich.com/2014/03/17/chicken-fajita-stuffed-bell-peppers/

Healthy Shamrock Shake

March 10, 2014

It’s not often that I eat something at McDonald’s and immediately want to make the copycat version, but when it comes time for a Shammy Shake, I simply can’t resist having one every year. Problem is, those mint shakes are as fattening as they are delicious. So I created this copycat Shamrock Shake recipe … the healthy way!

Now, I’m not going to rave about how this Healthy Shamrock Shake tastes just like the ice cream-packed one you get from McDonald’s, but it is good enough to satisfy that March-time craving.

You can also make this a protein shake by adding a scoop of your favorite brand of vanilla protein powder.

Healthy Shamrock Shake

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

2 large bananas, peeled, cut into chunks and frozen
3/4 cup fat free milk (almond, soy, dairy, coconut)
3/4 tsp mint extract
1 handful kale
1 Tbsp cocao nibs (or chocolate chips)
Sweetener of choice, to taste (honey, dates, agave)

Instructions

Place the handful of kale in a blender with 1/4 cup of milk and blend thoroughly.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth. Adjust sweetener to your liking and garnish with cocao nibs.

https://smilesandwich.com/2014/03/10/healthy-shamrock-shake/

Paleo Sweet Potato Layered Breakfast Casserole

March 7, 2014

So, I was just about to add a different, much less appealing recipe and came across this photo sitting in my media folder. OHHHH! How could I almost forget about this one? It’s a paleo breakfast casserole that’s layered with eggs, sweet potato, turkey sausage and vegetables. And it is amazing. It was my breakfast for a whole week during the time that I was in cruise-preparation mode.

Now this isn’t my first or second sweet potato breakfast recipe, but this might be my favorite. I’m not a huge fan of sweet breakfasts, so savory recipes that can be made ahead of time are sort of my thing. This one’s perfect because you can cut it, freeze it, and take a piece to work for breakfast each day! It reheats beautifully … a perfect quick paleo breakfast casserole recipe if you ask me.

Paleo Sweet Potato Layered Breakfast Casserole

What you need:

2 small sweet potatoes

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1 bag precooked turkey sausage crumbles (you can use any sausage you like!)

½ onion, diced

1/2 green and orange bell pepper, diced

5 eggs

½ cup coconut milk

¼ teaspoon sage

Red pepper flakes (to taste)

Sea salt and pepper (to taste)

What you do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Grate the sweet potatoes, place in a microwave-safe bowl, and microwave for 2 minutes to soften them up. Pat with paper towels to get rid of extra moisture.

3. In a medium skillet, heat coconut oil and sauté the onions and bell peppers. If your sausage is not precooked, cook it at this time in the same skillet.

4. Beat the eggs in a bowl, then stir in coconut milk, sage, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Spray a 9 x 13-inch casserole pan with cooking spray, then assemble the casserole. Spread the sweet potatoes on the bottom, then add the sausage, then the vegetables. Pour the egg mixture all over the top.

5. Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

2-Minute Paleo Tuna Salad

February 28, 2014

GUYS! I’m moving out! Although I’m beyond excited to move to the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago, this also means that I will be a blogger on a budget. SO, prepare yourself for budget-friendly, super easy, don’t-require-a-ton-of-dishes recipes. 🙂

Which brings me to one of my favorite quick lunch solutions. When you just don’t have time to meal prep, and you just don’t have energy, and you just happen to have a can of tuna sitting in your pantry, make this 2-Minute Paleo Tuna Salad! It’s so delicious and takes minutes to throw together. Tuna is one of those cheap ingredients I like so much that I buy it at Costco.

And just because I took this picture on my dysfunctional iPhone before I ate it at work doesn’t mean it’s not delicious! Please note that this is not strict paleo but life is about breaking the rules.

2-Minute Paleo Tuna Salad

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

1 can albacore tuna in water
2-3 tablespoons homemade pesto (see recipe below)
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup bell peppers, chopped
*Note: These are estimated quantities - I suggest just throwing in however many vegetables and nuts you like!

Instructions

Drain the tuna. In a small bowl, mix to combine the tuna and pesto. Stir in the pine nuts, tomatoes and bell peppers.
For best results, refrigerate for a few hours before eating.

https://smilesandwich.com/2014/02/28/2-minute-paleo-tuna-salad/

Healthy Homemade Pesto

1/2 cup raw almonds

1 clove garlic

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup cheese of choice (Pecorino)

1 cup olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. You may need to add a bit of water to get the correct consistency.

Sweet Potato Salad

February 18, 2014

This week’s mantra: Just Think Spring.

Raise your hand if you’re sick of winter. *Jordan raises both hands* I’ll save you from all my wintery gripes and get to the point of this post: SWEET POTATO SALAD. This colorful potato salad is shockingly delicious. I don’t even like potato salad, and I especially don’t care for mayonnaise, so for me to find a potato salad recipe that I enjoy means it must be a good one.

This recipe uses sweet potatoes (my favorite spud variety) and a light vinegar dressing, so it’s much healthier than the normal creamy, bacon-y, white potato-y kind. Plus, in my humble opinion, much more delicious! I swear to you, although this doesn’t include any of the normal bad-for-you ingredients, it tastes JUST like the potato salad you’ve been enjoying at picnics for years.

Give it a try, I dare you. And if you don’t want to make it again, I’ll give you an open shot to launch a snowball right at me. (Yes, I’m that confident in this recipe).

Just Think Spring.

Sweet Potato Salad

What You Need:

6 cups sweet potatoes, peeled, cut in 1/2-inch pieces

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/2 cup safflower oil

2 cups celery, thinly sliced

1/2 cup red pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced

salt and pepper, to taste

2/3 cup copped walnuts

lettuce leaves

What You Do:

1. Steam potatoes 10 minutes or until tender. Transfer to medium bowl and cool.

2. In small bowl combine vinegar, mustard and safflower oil. Mix well. Pour over potatoes. Add celery, red pepper, green onions, salt, pepper and walnuts. Mix well. Divide among plates lined with lettuce.

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

February 5, 2014

Spoiler alert: I’m a genius.

Okay fine, maybe I’m not the genius, but whoever thought of this definitely is. I’ve seen recipes for barbecue pulled chicken stuffed sweet potatoes floating around and always wanted to give them a try. I mean, I like BBQ chicken and I like sweet potatoes, so why not stuff them together and call it lunch?!

Don’t be scared. If you’re one of those people who can’t stand the thought of your food touching on your plate (you know those people I’m talking about) then this may not be the recipe for you. But trust me, the combination of the sweetness of the BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s, duh. As if you had a choice?!) and sweet potatoes is comforting and delicious.

If you close your eyes, you can just imagine yourself eating this meal at a friendly barbecue party …. instead of cuddling up with it in your kitchen during a snow day. Sigh.

Even if you’re cooking for one like me, I would advise you to learn how to cook whole chickens. The thought of man handling an entire bird (they’re alarmingly heavy) is a little scary, but roasting a whole chicken is budget-friendly and super convenient! Pop the chicken in the oven (or slow cooker) one night and have it for dinner. Then, use the leftovers to make awesome creations LIKE THIS ONE.

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, The Lazy Way

Serves: 2 for lunch, 1 for dinner

What you need:

1 sweet potato

2 cups chicken, cooked and shredded

Your favorite barbecue sauce, to taste

Green onion

What you do:

1. Wash your sweet potato and stab it with a fork a couple times. Wrap it in a paper towel and microwave for 5 minutes or until easily pierced with a fork; turn it over halfway through cooking.

2. Mix the chicken with your desired amount of barbecue sauce. (I went light so it was a bit healthier). Cover and microwave for 2 minutes.

3. Cut the sweet potato in half and top with chicken and green onion.

Barbecue Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, The Better Way

(This way takes more time, but it tastes better of course)

1. Place 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts in your slow cooker. Cover with a generous amount of your favorite barbecue sauce (about 2 cups). Cook 5 hours on LOW or 2 1/2 hours on HIGH.

2. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with two forks. Assemble the sweet potato as instructed above.

I think you might also like ….

Breakfast Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potato Paleo Pancakes

Paleo Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl

January 13, 2014

There comes a point in your paleo diet when you’re eating a lunch of six microwaved turkey meatballs and you begin to think that the whole thing is totally not normal and no human should ever consume this much meat in a short amount of time. Well, maybe that was just me yesterday.

Eating this way is a lot of work. And money. And self control. And meat. BUT judging by my progress just in the first week, it is definitely worth every damn microwave turkey meatball I have to eat. Nothing has ever worked better or quicker for me than eating a high protein, low carb, low sugar diet. I can proudly say I’m 5 days away from being in a bikini, and I’m almost ready! (Well, as ready as I’ll ever be).

So, per my Sunday ritual, I spent yesterday prepping lunches for the week and came up with this recipe for Paleo Mock Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl. Now, to say this tasted just like Chipotle would be a stretch of the truth, but either way it tastes pretty darn good! If I was eating normally, I’d definitely add black beans, and I think then it would closely resemble Chipotle’s version.

I took the shortcut way of making the cilantro lime cauliflower rice, but it’s better if you sauté it with onion in a pan rather than microwaving it. But, sometimes a girl just wants to be lazy on a Sunday, okay? I also chose to use chicken thighs – not because they’re juicier and not because I prefer the taste to chicken breasts, but because they’re cheaper. This cavegirl is balling on a budget.

Paleo Mock Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl

What You Need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

6 chicken thighs

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 small white onion, chopped

1 each green and orange bell peppers, chopped

1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles

Mexican seasonings (I used a blend of cumin, chili powder, coriander, salt and pepper)

1/2 head cauliflower

Juice of 1/2 lime

Fresh cilantro

What You Do:

1. Heat the oil in a pan and season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken thighs on each side, but don’t cook through. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, sauté garlic, onion and peppers. Once they’re soft, add in the tomatoes and seasonings. Place the chicken thighs back in the pan, nestled into the vegetable mixture. Cover and let simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, blend the cauliflower in your food processor until it resembles rice. Place it in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 5 minutes until it’s soft. Stir in your lime juice and cilantro. (This can also be done in a pan on the stove).

4. When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and shred it with two forks. Add it back to the pan and stir. (If the mixture is too liquid-y, simply let it cook with the lid off for a few minutes).

5. Serve chicken on top of cauliflower rice! Yay healthy Chipotle.

Nana’s Paleo Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce

January 7, 2014

I’ve recently been a tad bit weird about red meat. Perhaps it’s because my grandpa is a farmer, so we had an extra refrigerator just for those white packages of red meat that would be cooked into tacos and burgers and beef stroganoff and anything else you could imagine. Although I was a young adolescent who would literally eat anything my mom cooked (bless her soul for cooking for us every day), now that I’m old enough to cook for myself I’d just rather avoid red meat. Plus, I was tormented with something my whole family loved (the one thing I loathed) … Tater Tot Casserole.

Anyhoot, the one form of red meat that I can still stand is a beef roast. It just reminds me of comfort food and I just like it, okay? I don’t know why. So when I decided to do this paleo challenge, I got literally the BEST. IDEA. EVER. There’s an Italian restaurant we go to that has a menu item called Nana’s Gravy. It’s basically rigatoni with red meat sauce, except the meat in the sauce is shredded beef. So um, lightbulb! Tomatoes, plus vegetables, plus beef, plus zucchini “noodles” equals Jordan being a culinary paleo genius with this recipe for Nana’s Paleo Slow Cooker Tomato Sauce.

I said I was doing “modified” paleo diet because those crazy cavemen try to tell you which fruits and vegetables to eat. For me, if it’s a vegetable, I’ll friggin eat it. Fruits I’m still careful with (berries are best, and apples and bananas when I’m feeling naughty). So even though this recipe uses canned tomato sauce, just buy the organic kind with no added extra junk and I’d say you’re fine. Or you can be overly ambitious and make your own tomato sauce. Over achiever.

Okay so now that I’ve rambled for this long, here’s a photo to make your eyes happy.

I’ve also decided that Paleo recipes are the least sexy food ever. But you (after eating paleo) will be so it’s okay.

So let’s talk about this paleo slow cooker tomato sauce. It might just be the best thing I’ve made so far. The beef gets super tender in the slow cooker, plus you have all the flavors of a standard marinara sauce, plus I even snuck in a few vegetables for added nutrients!

If you’re a normal human being, serve this over whole wheat rigatoni. Please. Today. Do it do it do it do it. Your stomach will thank you for it.

Paleo Slow Cooked Beef Roast Tomato Sauce

Save Recipe

Print Recipe

My Recipes My Lists My Calendar

Ingredients

1 beef roast (organic, grass-fed, blah, blah)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 14.5-ounce can stewed tomatoes
2 14.5-ounce cans tomato sauce
2 teaspoons fresh garlic
Fresh basil, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
3-4 small zucchini, sliced with a mandolin, spiralizer, julienne or knife

Instructions

Salt and pepper the outside of your beef roast. Saute in a pan about 4 minutes each side until just the outside is browned.
Throw that hunk of meat in your slow cooker, then dump in the peppers and onion, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and whatever other herbs you like to put in your marinara sauce. Give it all a good stir. Cook on LOW about 6-8 hours.
When it's about 45 minutes away from being done, add in the mushrooms and continue cooking.
Once the meat is done, remove it from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks. Add it back in with the sauce and stir it all up.
Saute your zucchini "noodles" in a pan until they're soft. Serve the meat over the noodles, or pasta if you prefer. ENJOY!

https://smilesandwich.com/2014/01/07/paleo-slow-cooked-beef-roast-tomato-sauce/

Notes: I cut my zucchini noodles a bit bigger than normal because I wanted them to stand up to the hearty sauce, but in hindsight I think I would have gone with smaller noodles.

Also, I kept the noodles separate to make a better photo, but that was just silly of me. If you’re going to reheat this, throw it all into one container so you have less zucchini flavor and more beefy tomato sauce flavor.

Paleo Sweet Potato Scramble

January 4, 2014

In exactly 15 days I will be cruising to the Western Carribean, and considering temperatures are well below zero here in good old Chicago, to say I’m excited is a vast understatement. Now of course I’m an advocate of having a healthy lifestyle all year long, but sometimes a girl just needs to go on one of those short-term intense “diets.” Like, for example, after drinking and eating everything in sight during the holidays mere weeks before she has to be seen in a bikini.

Ipso facto: today starts my 15-day modified paleo challenge. Now, I did paleo for the better part of an entire summer before, and my only complaint is that it’s a loooot of meat. I’m not a fan of red meat, but am willing to give it a try for the sake of this challenge. We’ll see how it goes.

To keep myself accountable, of course I’m going to document everything I make, starting with this Paleo Sweet Potato Scramble. The most important thing to keep in mind when doing a challenge like this is, you HAVE to plan ahead. If you fail to plan, you better plan to fail. I’d suggest cooking on the weekends and freezing or refrigerating breakfasts and lunches.

Normally I eat a Greek yogurt every single day for breakfast because it keeps me full until lunch. But, since dairy is a no-no for cavemen, this scramble is something I can reheat for quick breakfasts during the week. The eggs and bacon are great protein while the sweet potato has filling fiber. Reheated eggs are not ideal, but the sacrifice must be made.

This isn’t the sexiest meal, but it tastes really really good. Trust.

Paleo Sweet Potato Scramble

What You Need:

1 sweet potato, peeled and grated

1/2 cup red, green and yellow peppers (mine was a frozen blend)

3 slices organic uncured turkey bacon

2 eggs and 3 egg whites

Coconut oil

Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes, to taste

What You Do:

1. Cut up your bacon into small pieces and fry it, set aside. In the same pan, saute the peppers in coconut oil until soft and set aside with the bacon. Next, add more coconut oil to the same pan and throw in your grated sweet potato. Cook until soft.

2. Add the peppers and bacon back in the pan with the sweet potatoes and stir. Turn the heat down to low.

3. In a separate pan, scramble your eggs. Add the eggs into the pan of sweet potato mixture. Season with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and enjoy!

Check back here to follow me on my get-cruise-ready-quick adventure.