Paleo Basil Cashew Pesto Coated Spaghetti Squash with Chicken and Zucchini

When I posted a picture of this dish (on both The Paleo Network's and my own personal Facebook page), I didn't anticipate the response that I received. A number of people took interest in this dish - both Paleo and non-Paleo eaters alike. I knew I needed to get this recipe written before I forgot any of the details.

I separated the ingredients and directions into different sections based on the parts of the dish: Spaghetti Squash, Pesto, Chicken, Zucchini and putting it all together. It may sound like a lot of steps, but some of it can be done in advance or things can be done concurrently. For example, I roasted and prepared my spaghetti squash a couple days prior and had the squash strands in a large Ziploc bag in the refrigerator. I could have prepared the pesto in advance and had that in a Tupperware, which would definitely make for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. It truly is a simple meal packed with so much flavor. It's so good, I ate some of the leftovers for breakfast! I made this with chicken, but as I was eating it, I thought how delicious shrimp would be. If you don't have cashews on hand for the pesto, you could probably use pine nuts or macadamia nuts. 

I'll be adding this to my regular rotation. Grains and dairy were not missed in this meal. Everything seemed to work together so well. The pesto turned into a decadent sauce when tossed with the spaghetti squash. 

Basil-Cashew Pesto Spaghetti Squash with Zucchini and Chicken

Serves: 5-6

Ingredients:

• 1 large spaghetti squash or 2 small, roasted and pulled into strands

Pesto:

• 1 cup of packed basil leaves
• ¾ cup raw cashews
• ¼ cup nutritional yeast
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• Juice from one lemon
• 1 t. pink sea salt
• ½ - ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil, depending on your preferred consistency

Chicken and Zucchini:

• 3 – 4 T. Fat of choice
• 1 ¼ - 1 ½ pounds chicken tenders, breast or thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 medium zucchini, diced
• Sea salt and freshly-ground pepper, to taste

 

Directions:

To roast your spaghetti squash (can be done in advance):

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°F.
   
2. Cut in half length-wise.
3. Place cut-side down in a large baking dish with about an inch of water (I typically use two baking dishes if I am roasting two squashes).
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the shell is soft to the touch.
5. Flip the squash over (flesh side up) and allow them to cool until you can handle them.
6. Using a fork, pull out all the flesh into strands. If using immediately, just put into a large bowl and set aside. If saving for later use, put into a large Ziploc bag and store in the refrigerator.

 

To make the pesto:

1. Place all ingredients except olive oil into your food processor.
2. Process for about 30 seconds, or until everything is chopped and well-incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the food processor bowl.
3. With processor running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

To cook the chicken and zucchini:

1. Heat 2 T. fat of choice in a large skillet or frying pan over medium to medium-high heat.
2. Add chicken in a single layer and let it cook for 8-10 minutes on one side to allow it to get golden brown and crispy.
3. Season with sea salt and pepper.
4. Flip, add minced garlic and cook 3-5 more minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink.
5. Remove from pan and reserve for later.
6. Add remaining fat of choice to same pan. Toss the zucchini in the fat and allow to sauté for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.

Putting it all together:

1. If you roasted your spaghetti squash in advance (and it’s cold/cool), then heat spaghetti squash in a large skillet/pot/frying pan over medium to medium-high heat, tossing occasionally. If your spaghetti squash is still warm, just add your warm skillet/frying pan in which you cooked the chicken and zucchini.
2. Add pesto, a few spoonfuls at a time, tossing/stirring and adding more until the spaghetti squash is coated to your liking. You may have some pesto leftover (it tastes great on eggs!).
3. Add the chicken and zucchini to the skillet and mix it all together. Add a little more pesto at this point, if you’d like. Toss to coat the chicken and zucchini with the pesto.
4. Serve and enjoy!

Please share this recipe with your friends and family and on Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. I appreciate your help in helping build The Paleo Network. 

Paleo Mushroom, Onion & Spinach Frittata (with optional sweet potatoes)

I'm a big fan of breakfast foods. Yesterday afternoon, my husband and I stopped by Whole Foods to buy a few things for dinner. While shopping browsing, he suggested we get some fancy sausage for Sunday breakfast. That prompted us to buy bacon. Then my brain thought frittata, so I grabbed some veggies for that. One thing led to another and we walked out of there with quite the haul.

As soon as I awoke, I got started on breakfast. It was a pretty easy dish to put together though.

Paleo Spinach, Onion and Mushroom Frittata

Serves: 4

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2-3 T. fat of choice
• ½ onion, diced (I used yellow)
• 8 oz. sliced baby bella mushrooms (could use button/white mushrooms)
• 3 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 1 cup of roasted sweet potatoes, diced (optional)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 8 eggs, whisked
• Sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler to high.
2. Heat fat in a cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe pan) over medium to medium-high heat.
3. Add onions and sauté for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in mushrooms and allow to cook down for 5-7 minutes, stirring every minute or so.
5. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.
6. Toss in the spinach until it is wilted.
7. Add sweet potatoes, if using. I happened to have some leftover from a previous meal.  
8. Add garlic and stir to distribute. Spread the veggies out evenly in the skillet.
9. Pour the whisked eggs evenly over the veggies and let the frittata cook for about 7 minutes, or until bottom is set. Push away the edges a couple times and tilt the pan so the uncooked egg will cook properly.
10. Put frittata (in pan) on the middle rack of the oven. The broiler will cook the top of the egg. Broil for approximately 5-7 minutes or until the top is slightly browned.
11. Remove from oven and cut into 4 pieces. Remember, the pan is extremely hot, so use your oven mitts!  
12. Serve with sausage, bacon and fruit. 

Blueberry-maple sausage and applewood-smoked bacon from Whole Foods

This is a great basic recipe for a frittata. You could easily swap out some of the veggies for other veggies. I considered buying asparagus instead of the spinach. You could also add a little meat directly to the frittata.

Hope you enjoy this dish as much as we did! I will definitely be making more frittatas in the future. It was so easy to make and different from the usual omelette or fried eggs. 

Question of the day: What meats and/or veggies would you put into your ideal frittata? I would love a sausage, mushroom and onion frittata drizzled with pizza sauce. Pizza frittata! That may be next on the docket.

Please like and share this recipe with your friends and family. Feel free to use the Pin It button located below this post. If you don't see the Pin It button, please click on the title of this blog post and that will pull up the individual post. You should then see the Pin It button at the bottom of the post. If you like this dish, please comment so others will know. Thank you! 

Zucchini Noodles with Chicken, Bacon and "Bread" Crumbs

Bacon + "Bread" crumbs + Chicken + Zucchini + Olive Oil + Garlic = a flavorful and easy dish that will hopefully satisfy your pasta cravings. Zucchini is a low-carb, Paleo substitute for pasta. If you have a vegetable spiralizer, you could use it to make the zucchini noodles. I hadn't purchased mine yet, so I used my food processor when I last made this recipe.

This dish was inspired by a basic pasta dish consisting of spaghetti or fettuccine, olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese. I have added some additional dimensions with the chicken and bacon, but it still has that delicate flavor. You could easily omit the chicken or use a different protein. Salmon would taste amazing as well. You could also omit the bacon, if you so choose.

Zucchini Noodles with Chicken, Bacon and “Bread” Crumbs

Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 7 medium zucchini, shredded (I used my food processor shredder attachment, so they were a little bit shorter than “noodles”)
• 2 T. + ¼ cup Coconut oil, divided
• 1 ¼ pounds of chicken tenders or breast, diced or 3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• Bragg’s Sea Kelp Delight Seasoning, to taste (or another 
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, to taste
• Sea salt and Fresh-ground Pepper, to taste
• ½ cup almond flour
• Olive oil, to drizzle at the end
• 8 slices of bacon, crumbled

Directions:

1. The first step is to prepare the zucchini noodles. Put them into a strainer (over a bowl or in the sink) and toss them with a little bit of salt. The salt will speed up the sweating process to rid the excess moisture. Let set for 20-30 minutes.
2. After the sweating time, squeeze them in a kitchen towel (or with paper towels).
3. While the zucchini is sweating, melt 2 T. coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer. Allow to cook for a few minutes before stirring it around. Continue cooking until no longer pink, about 7-8 minutes. If you are using shredded rotisserie chicken, then you'll just need to heat it up for a couple minutes in the skillet. 
4. Stir in the garlic and seasonings.
5. Add the zucchini noodles to the skillet and toss around.
6. While the zucchini noodles are warming up, melt the remaining ¼ cup coconut oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the almond flour and season with sea salt and pepper. Stir constantly for 2-3 minutes to allow the almond flour mixture to “toast.” If it's too thin, just add a little more almond flour. 
7. Plate the zucchini-chicken mixture, drizzle with olive oil and top with approximately 2 slices of crumbled bacon and a couple tablespoons of the “bread” crumbs.
8. Dig in! 

Paleo Tuna Salad

I've been making tuna salad for ages. This is just a basic recipe that I came up with. I love the combination of flavors and colors along with the crunch from the veggies. We ate ours atop mixed greens and also added diced avocado (not shown in any of the pictures). The avocado really shined with the tuna. I've been making this version for a while, but never really documented the ingredients or measurements. Something else that's great about tuna salad is that it can easily be adjusted depending on how many people you're feeding. Just add extra cans of tuna, veggies and a tad more mayo and Dijon to coat it all. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Paleo Tuna Salad 
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3 - 5 oz. cans wild-caught tuna
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 3 carrots, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used Lemonaise), but homemade would be awesome
• 1 - 1 1/2 T. Dijon mustard
• Sea salt and pepper, if desired

Directions:

1. Drain cans of tuna, pour into a bowl and flake with a fork. 
2. Chop your veggies and add to the tuna. 
3. Add mayonnaise and Dijon mustard. 
4. Stir everything together until combined. 
5. Taste for seasonings. Mine didn't need any as the Lemonaise and Dijon added plenty of flavor.
6. Serve on mixed greens, on Paleo bread, in a Pure Wrap or in a lettuce/Chard/Collard Green leaf. Top with avocado. 

My husband's coworker called the salad (topped with avocado) a masterpiece. My mom said the salad was so colorful. Here's the best compliment: my husband was originally going to eat pizza and salad for lunch that his work was providing. After eating dinner, he decided he wanted leftover tuna salad for lunch. He chose my tuna salad over free pizza! That was really sweet. 

This takes so little time, but is packed with flavor. Enjoy!