Have Y'all Tried the Baked Indian Chicken Yet?

If you haven't tried the Baked Indian Chicken yet, you should.  I made this for the fourth or fifth time last night and again, found it to be easy to prepare and satisfying to eat.  This is another recipe that looks like you've put in a lot of effort, when you haven't. 

Do beware that some marinating is involved.  (I hate when I get excited about making a recipe only to find out several hours of marinating or chilling are involved.)  I usually start marinating the chicken before work and then just have a few simple steps (chop onions, transfer chicken to baking dish and put in the oven) to do when I get home.

This go'round I coupled the chicken with some roasted cauliflower with a bit of curry powder.   And of course, no meal of mine would be complete without a glass of red wine!

Size Matters!!! Get Your Big Salad On.

As I was preparing my ginormous salad for lunch today, I thought - I wonder if any of my readers are making the mistake of not eating enough salad.  As I've mentioned, many of my friends and family are on the Gundry journey.  Early on, a few of us made the mistake of not putting enough greens in our salads.  In order to feel satisfied, you're going to need a lot of roughage.  It's not atypical for me to go through at least a half a bag of salad for one serving (depending on the size of the bag).  I'm talking eating your lunch out of a mixing bowl size salads.  So, if you've been torturing yourself with a lunch that fits on a salad plate - suffer no longer.  Also, you don't need to skimp on the dressing.   You should be mindful of the condiments you use, but you don't need to deprive yourself of a well-dressed salad.  And lastly, make you salads interesting - load them up with your favorite veggies.  They're "free" after all.  

Eating at my desk at work - this huge salad has bell pepper, broccoli, roasted Brussels sprouts, green beans and pepperoncinis with a few halved boccacini (small, fresh, mozzarella balls) and pecans for protein.

Some of our favorite salad mixings include:

Lightly steamed and chopped french green beans (haricot vert)
Lightly steamed broccoli

Sliced radishes

Chopped or julienned bell pepper

Thinly sliced fennel

Thinly sliced red onion

Hearts of palm

Artichoke hearts

Mushrooms

Pepperoncinis
Leftover roasted veggies (like cauliflower, Brussels sprouts)

Getting my lunch packed for work - I've got a little more than half a bag of salad and a large tupperware of  mixings.

I work with my dad, so I get to see his salads everyday too.  His bowl is even bigger than mine.  He loves adding capers and pickles to his salads.  

Here are some protein ideas too:

Chopped hard-boiled egg

Sliced deli meat such as turkey or ham

Chopped chicken

Smoked Salmon

Feta cheese 

Nuts (toasted pecans are my mom's favorite)
Leftovers from the night before (roasted chicken, sausage, steak)

I often chop and prep at the beginning of the week and store salad fixings in tupperware in the frige.  Everyday before work, I throw greens in one container (or just bring the bag), fixings in another and bring a small container (recycled spice jar) of homemade dressing. 

Speaking of homemade dressing, I usually just mix together extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a large glass jar and use it throughout the week for salad dressing.  You can try the recipe here or experiment with making your own dressing.  Max likes a lot of mustard in his dressing, I prefer less.  Sometimes I use apple cider vinegar, sometimes red wine.  But maybe you prefer balsamic.  If I'm feeling especially lazy, I simply drizzle my salad with a good-quality extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Every once in a while I make homemade Caesar (there's a recipe for a Gundry-friendly version at the bottom of this post.) There is no magic formula, but it's worth it to find one that works for you.  Making dressing at home saves you from hidden sugar and preservatives found in store bought dressings.  

Taco Salad with Steak

After a wine-soaked bachelorette weekend in Paso Robles, California, I was in no shape to make dinner.  Luckily, my charming and thoughtful husband-to-be expected that I would be in such a state and had planned to make dinner for us.  He prepared a yummy steak taco salad with pre-marinated carne asada, avocado, mixed greens, tomato, red bell pepper, pickled jalapeno peppers and a lime vinaigrette.

He grilled the crane asada for three to four minutes a side and then sliced thinly. Next, he filled plates with mixed greens, drizzled with vinaigrette, sprinkled with chopped onion, cilantro and jalapeno and then he topped the greens with tomato, red bell pepper, avocado and steak.  Yummy!  He also made us "fun-garitas" with tequila, fresh squeezed lime and sparkling water.

Here's a picture of the tasty wines I brought home with me.  Paso Robles is a wonderfully unique wine county.  I highly recommend it.  And, to my girlfriends, if you're reading, thank you so much for the perfect bach'ette weekend!

Because of the tomatoes and avocado, you'll want to avoid this meal in the first two weeks of Phase 1 or while trying to loose weight.  In Phase 3, you can substitute the steak for more avocado or a bit of manchego cheese.

Rosemary Dijon Pork Tenderloin

Make an elegant but easy meal with pork tenderloin.  I bought this one from Trader Joe's and made a simple and delicious meal. Here's what I did... 

I stuffed it with garlic.   

 And then I rubbed it with salt, pepper and chopped, fresh rosemary.   

Next I slathered it with dijon mustard.  

 Then, I popped it in a 350 degree preheated oven and cooked it until the internal temperature reached 160 degrees (about 40 minutes).  

 Let the pork sit for 10 minutes before cutting.  I served it with roasted kale and cauliflower.  Simply toss vegetables in extra-virgin olive oil and then bake until tender.  Kale roasts quickly in about 10 minutes (if you leave it in too long the leaves get too brittle).  The cauliflower will take about 45 minutes.  I put the cauliflower in a few minutes before the pork and roasted the kale while the pork was sitting.