I've been incredibly lazy on the recipe/cooking front lately. On Sunday night, the thought of making guacamole was almost too much to bear--luckily I had a hungry and determined fiance available to cut avocados in half. So, as I'm sure you can imagine, I've been all about the easy way out. What do I already have? What can I whip up in just a few minutes that isn't totally boring? Enter egg salad bacon bites. Fancy enough to make as an appetizer for friends, but easy enough to make because you've probably got the ingredients in your fridge already.

Ingredients:

Three eggs, hard-boiled

One tablespoon mayonnaise

1/4 teaspoon each of garlic powder, mustard, and crushed red pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

Several slices of bacon

Cherry tomatoes and green onion for garnish

1. Pre-heat your oven to 375. Cut each strip of bacon into three or four pieces.

2. Assemble the bacon on a mini-muffin pan. Press each piece down so it bakes into a "u" shape.

3. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

4. In a medium bowl or mixer, combine hard-boiled eggs with mayo, garlic powder, mustard, and red pepper flakes. Season also with salt and pepper.

5. When the bacon is done, take it out and add a spoonful of egg salad to each piece. Top each one with half a cherry tomato and sprinkle the plate with sliced green onion, if desired.

We stopped by The Muddy Pig in St. Paul one snowy afternoon when Rob's brother, Sam, was visiting us a few weeks ago. It's a little hole-in-the-wall with a nice, simple, but high-quality menu and a great beer list, so it's exactly the kind of place that goes on the list when one of our brothers visits.

I got the Buffalo Chicken Salad and was really pleasantly surprised when they served me a big salad (with no croutons!) with a whole, juicy chicken breast on it. The seasoning was more of a dry-rub than a Buffalo sauce, which I wish I had known so I could have gotten balsamic vinaigrette instead of blue cheese, but whatever--it was delicious. Rob and Sam enjoyed sandwiches and a few beers and we had a great time.

The Muddy Pig

162 North Dale Street

St. Paul, MN 55102

Food 3.5/5
Service 3/5
Atmosphere 2.5/5
Prices & Specials 4/5
Paleo-Friendly 4/5

 

The Super Bowl is this weekend, which, I dunno, means something about football. To me, it's just always been a terrific snacking opportunity. Being Paleo for parties and sporting events is often pretty difficult, which is why I always try to eat dinner before I go, and always contribute a dish so I know there's at least one thing there that I can snack on.

This year, I'm bringing my Paleo take on Pigs in a Blanket! If you haven't noticed yet, my Paleo version of anything that is usually covered in bread is just wrapped in bacon instead. I also made a honey mustard sauce for dipping, because I think Super Bowl snacks are all about dipping, and I totally love a little homemade sauce to fancy up a dish. Happy Super Bowl weekend, friends, and go...team, go!

   

Ingredients:

One to two packages of cocktail smokies

Bacon (I love Trader Joes' Uncured Apple Smoked Bacon)

Two tablespoons Dijon mustard

Two tablespoons of honey

Salt, pepper, and a spritz of lemon juice to taste

1. Cut each strip of bacon into three parts.

2. Wrap each piece around one of the sausages. Secure with a toothpick.

3. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

4. While that's in the oven, put mustard and honey in a bowl and mix together with a spoon.

5. Add salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon juice.

6. Serve the honey mustard with your Paleo Pigs in a Blanket and enjoy!