This is a recipe that my older son loves. We spent two weeks in Greece a couple of years ago, and this is my quickie version of their delicious chicken. It’s heart healthy too!

GFCF/SF

All ingredients are organic

Serves 4

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, rinsed, fat removed
Juice of 2 lemons
¼ cup olive oil + more for cooking
2 T dried Greek oregano
Sea salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375° with either an oven grill pan or an oven safe sauté pan.

2. Place the chicken in between two pieces of unbleached waxed paper. Using a meat pounder, or ladle, pound the breasts until they are even in thickness and about ½” thick. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Brush pan with about 1 T olive oil, then place the chicken breasts on it. Cook for 3 minutes, then flip. Cook for another 4 minutes.

4. While the chicken in cooking, combine lemon juice, oregano and olive oil in a small bowl. Whisk to combine.

5. Remove chicken from oven and immediately pour lemon juice mixture over. Serve with lemon potatoes.

Enjoy!

This salsa can really be used with any fish, shellfish, chicken, or even eaten on its own. The combination of raw and cooked ingredients gives it several different layers of flavor. You can change the heat by adding more or less jalapeno. This recipe is about a medium heat.

GFCF/SF

All ingredients are organic                 Serves 4

Salsa

1 mango, cubed
½ red bell pepper, chopped
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
3 T fresh mint, chopped
Juice of 1 lime
½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1” fresh ginger, peeled, grated or minced
1 large clove garlic, minced
½ shallot, minced
½ ripe but firm pear, cubed
1 T walnut oil
Sea salt and pepper

1. Combine all ingredients except for garlic, shallot and pear in a bowl with the walnut oil.

2. Heat a small skillet with a little olive oil and cook the garlic and shallots together for about 4 minutes.

3. Combine cooked shallots and garlic with other ingredients. Gently fold in the raw pear to avoid bruising. Season with salt and pepper.

Salmon

4 decent sized wild caught salmon steaks, or whatever you prefer.
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

We always BBQ our fish because I can’t stand the smell in the house, but you can prepare the fish however you like. Drizzle a bit of oil on each side of the fish, then rub the salt and pepper all over it. Once the fish is cooked, immediately place the salsa on it so that the heat from the fish warms the salsa and the juice from the salsa can run over the fish. Enjoy!

Kelly Polston
Contributing Author and Chef

Filet Mignon with Dark Chocolate Peppercorn Sauce

Steamed Asparagus

Herbed Risotto

Dark Chocolate Souffle with Cherry Hazelnut Sauce

GF/SF

Serves 2

All ingredients are organic

Filet Mignon with Dark Chocolate Peppercorn Sauce

2 filets mignons
1 shallot, minced
1 T black peppercorns, crushed
1 T green peppercorns in brine, rinsed and crushed
¾ good red wine
¾ c beef broth
¼ c almond milk
3 oz dark chocolate
Olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

1. Prepare the meat by brushing it with olive oil and rubbing it with sea salt and pepper.

2. Place on a hot grill and sear each side for about a minute. Lower the heat and cook for 4-5 minutes on each side.

3. Remove and set aside.

4. Place about 1 T olive oil in a pan and heat to hot. Add shallot and cook for about 5 minutes.

5. Add wine and scrap any bits of shallot that are stuck to the pan (deglaze). Add broth. Add peppercorns. Allow to simmer until reduced by half—about 8 minutes.

6. Just before serving, add milk and chocolate. Stir until chocolate is melted. Adjust seasoning.

7. Place on top of filet and serve immediately as the chocolate begins to thicken as it cools.

Steamed Asparagus

6-8 spears asparagus, washed and trimmed
3 c water

1. Since the rest of this dish is so rich, I chose to serve simply steamed asparagus with it. We use a bamboo steamer and a wok, but you can place an inch of water in the bottom of a pot and bring it to a boil. Place asparagus in the pot and cover. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Asparagus should be firm!

Herbed Risotto

1 c Arborio rice
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ c shitake mushrooms, sliced
2 T fresh thyme, chopped
1 T fresh rosemary, chopped
¼ c sheep’s milk parmesan, grated
1 T olive oil
Sea salt and pepper

1. Place olive oil in heavy bottom pan and heat. Add garlic, rice and mushrooms. Sauté for 5 minutes.

2. Carefully add broth and wine, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil.

3. Add herbs; lower heat to simmer and cover.

4. Cook covered until liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently.

5. When liquid has been absorbed, stir in cheese. Serve immediately.

Serve this dinner with an organic red wine such as Carmenet Cabernet Franc Moon Mountain Estate Bottled 1998 (around $30), or Pares Balta Mas Petit 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon (around $14). The rich peppery sauce needs a nice, heavy wine to compliment it.

Kelly Polston
Contributing Author and Chef

The great thing about this recipe is that you can make it with your kids. The bbq adds another layer of flavor to your pie, and it means you can be outside with the family while it cooks. The pesto has broccoli hidden in it for an extra helping of vitamins, minerals, and protein (yes, broccoli has protein—who knew?) Pizza is one of those great things that you can really personalize. Put whatever toppings on it that you like. We like to make individual sizes and even smaller ones for appetizers.

Pizza Crust

This is a great kid helper part of the meal.

This is made with quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) flour. Quinoa is 17 % protein and contains amino acids. It has a distinctive taste, but the pesto controls it. Due to high fat content, quinoa flour needs to be kept in the refrigerator or freezer as it can go rancid.

Flour mixture

1 ¼ c organic white rice flour
1 c organic quinoa flour
1 c organic tapioca flour
½ c organic garbanzo bean flour

I use a fork to mix the flours together.

Pizza dough

3 ½ c flour mixture
1 ½ t xanthan gum
1 egg
1 egg white
2 T rapid-rise yeast
1 c plus a little more warm water
3 T organic olive oil
1 T sugar
½ t salt

Heat your bbq to hot—remember pizza is baked at extremely high temperatures—leaving one burner area, or side if you’re using charcoal, at a medium temperature.

Fill a 1 cup measure with warm water. Add the yeast and sugar. In a large bowl, mix the flours and xanthan gum. Add the egg, egg white, olive oil and salt. Mix with a fork. Add yeast and water mixture. Add more flour or water as needed. It will be sticky, but it will hold together.

With oiled hands, place the dough on a greased cookie sheet and flatten it with your palms. Bake on the medium area of your bbq for 8-10 minutes with the lid closed.

Par-cooked pizza shells can be wrapped in parchment and frozen for later use.

Pesto

1 large bunch fresh organic basil (about 4 oz)
2 c organic broccoli florets
Large handful of raw organic macadamia nuts (or walnuts or pine nuts)
6 cloves organic garlic (or more or less depending on your preference)
Good handful of organic grated parmesan reggiano (omit if you need dairy free)
1c organic olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Remove leaves from stems of basil. Wash and dry (a salad spinner works best)

Steam the broccoli for about four minutes.

Place all ingredients except for oil in bowl of processor. Turn on the processor and begin to drizzle the olive oil into the basil mixture. You may not use all of the oil. Process until the pesto is the desired thickness. (You want your pesto to be the consistency of a paste to spread on your pizza crust.) Taste; adjust salt and pepper.

I use the leftovers as sandwich spread and dip.

Chicken

2 organic chicken breasts (you can use any part of the bird that you like, I’m just partial to breast meat)
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Organic olive oil

Wash and dry the chicken. (You don’t have to do this, it doesn’t make the chicken have any less salmonella; it’s just that I find raw chicken slimy and gross without this step!)

Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Chicken breast can be bland, so really season it. Drizzle olive oil over the meat. Take a paper towel folded into a square and pour some olive oil on it. You’re going to place this in a pair of tongs and rub the medium heat area of your grill with it. Place the chicken on the grill and cook about four minutes on each side. The meat should be 160° when a meat thermometer is inserted into the thickest part of the breast. Remove from grill and let rest for about five minutes, then slice thinly across the grain.

Assembling the Pizza

Here’s another kid helper time.

Spread your pesto topping all over the crust, leaving about a 1 inch edge all around. Add your sliced, grilled chicken. Put the pizza back into the bbq and cook until the crust is golden and the toppings are hot, about 7 minutes.

Remove the pizza. I like to take a block of organic parmesan reggiano and a vegetable peeler and shave strips of cheese directly onto the hot pie. (Omit if you need dairy free.)

Cut, serve and enjoy!

by Kelly Polston

Author and Chef