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FunnyLove

family + food + feelings

gluten free

Springy Asparagus Salad with Herbs + Lemon

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It’s another non-dressing salad, aka my favorite way to throw together a super quick and fresh meal. 

Our farmer’s market has finally started back here, which means we are in Spring Greens heaven, and so many of these ingredients are able to be found locally right now. I actually created this salad a few months ago for another project, which is encouraging because even if you don’t make this RIGHT NOW, you likely can find the ingredients year-round at any regular grocery store. 

The gist is this: raw greens, fresh herbs, and a few choice veggies blanched super quickly in salted water that get cooled and served on top. Salt, pepper, lemon juice, olive oil, and parmesan top the dish for flavor, so we don’t need to mess with making a dressing. 

I LOVE salads like this this time of year, because you can customize them based on what you like or have in your fridge that needs to be used up. Literally any veggie, herb, or cheese can be swapped out here, this is just a combination that I love. 

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Burrito-Style Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

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It’s a baked sweet potato that tastes like the inside of a beef burrito! 

This is definitely one of my new favorite dinners; stuffing anything into a sweet potato. We first did this in January when Jay was doing Whole30, and it somehow feels fun to stuff a meal into a potato and call it a health food. Sweet potatoes are one of the Whole30 go-tos for filling but compliant meals, and we happen to love them. Specifically, I love the sweet+spicy combo of topping these with jalapenos, and the filling is super simple with ground beef and fajita veggies. 

You can swap out the meat for ground chicken or turkey, or make these all vegetarian with extra veggies. DEFINITELY add cheese and/or sour cream if you aren’t avoiding dairy; I love topping these with all sorts of things just like a burrito or taco. 

These do take a bit of time because the potatoes themselves take some time to bake, but you get the rest of the meal done while the potatoes work and the whole thing is ready in about an hour. You can also roast a bunch of sweet potatoes on the weekend for extra prep help, then just warm them back up when you are making the filling for your potato. 

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Coconut Vanilla Chia Pudding (vegan, dairy free, sugar free)

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I mean, come on. All of the free things, which means that pudding for breakfast is totally acceptable whether you’re on a diet or not. 

When I was reading about Whole30 and the philosophy (a ton that I disagree with), there is a note that it isn’t recommended to eat chia pudding because it can make you think of real pudding and THAT IS SO BAD and on and on. So I presented this to Jay, who’d been asking for chia pudding, and he rolled his eyes and we made chia pudding. 

Great story, right? So, while this isn’t on the hoity-toity list of recommended Whole30 foods, it is totally compliant with all of the actual rules and delicious to boot. You can also make this with sweetened versions of any of the ingredients, which…wouldn’t be gross, hence why some people feel the need to detox from sugar. Because it’s good. We enjoyed this without added sugar, though, thanks to some fresh fruit and raisins which add sweetness without sugar to the final dish. 

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Whole30-ish Beef Stew

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Because God forbid I just follow the rules, right? 

The thing with this stew is that it was just so.close. to being Whole30, but I reallyreally needed red wine in it. I was going to also use Worcestershire and flour to thicken it, but decided ONE THING is fine and the other two we can definitely live without. Because I’m not doing Whole30 and Jay didn’t actually know any of the rules before he started it. I do think that braised beef is so great with the tang of wine or beer (and the acid helps tenderize the meat), but if you don’t use alcohol or are doing Whole30 just leave it out and you’ll still love this dish. 

With that out of the way….here’s your plan for the next snow day, sick day, chilly day, comfort-needing day. This stew works with all of those situations and then some, why don’t we have more beef stew on Christmas Eve? I adore it; the simplicity of the flavors with the “well, yeah, I simmered it for awhile” satisfaction that makes it feel slightly fancy but totally unpretentious. 

The method is simple: sear a bunch of beef chunks until really crispy on the outside. Toss some veggies in those drippings, then everything goes back into the pot together with tomato paste, garlic, spices, and wine. Broth makes it soupy, then it simmers covered for a bit, then uncovered to finish the dish and thicken the sauce. The potato here breaks down a bit to thicken the sauce (so we don’t need flour), and the end result is just SO delicious. I adore super cooked veggies in dishes like this, soaked in the broth and wine mixture and just YES. Someone please make this for me asap, I think I feel a sore throat coming on (not really just want food brought to me). 

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Sausage Kale Soup with White Beans

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I have been SO excited to tell you about this soup. It’s my new fall signature dish, and I haven’t met a single person who doesn’t like it. 

It’s simple, first and foremost. The ingredients are easy to find, there aren’t too many of them, and they all add a ton of flavor to the finished dish. The whole soup can be made in about 30 minutes, and you can eat it right away or let it simmer for a little while, whatever works. 

I actually have two meals like this for your Thanksgiving week – meals that are simple, delicious, and appeal to lots of people. This soup is gluten free and can be dairy free with the cheese on top omitted, and I use local sausage and kale because the flavor is SO much better. You can use any sausage you like, hot or mild, any kind of kale you can find, even pre-chopped bagged stuff to save even more time. The kale and sausage combine with stock, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and that’s IT. Throw in some white beans (or skip them for a lower carb option), blanket the whole thing in parmesan, and good to go. 

I love this for nights when people are kind of coming and going, which seems to happen so much more in the fall, and I love it for holiday weeks where you definitely need to eat but making multiple dishes for a meal isn’t as much fun when Thursday involves SO many dishes and steps. Let’s do it!

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