It's cherry season and Memorial Day Weekend is upon us, so I thought I'd spend some time in the kitchen this week coming up with a way to use all the cherries we bought at the market the other day. Every time we go grocery shopping, one of us ends up putting a big bag of cherries in the cart--they just look so good!

This recipe is grain-free and made without refined sugars (just a little bit of honey--the cherries themselves are sweet enough!). They'd be great right out of the oven with a scoop of your favorite dairy-free (or regular) ice cream, but they also keep pretty well in the fridge and make a delicious snack, dessert, or even a sweet breakfast treat!

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 1 cup almond flour
• 4 tablespoons coconut flour
• 4 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 eggs

For the cherry filling:

• 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder

For the crumb topping:

• 4 tablespoons grass-fed butter, melted
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1-2 tablespoons honey, to drizzle on top

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the crust ingredients until smooth and well incorporated. Spoon the crust out into a baking dish (I used an 8 x 4 inch one). Press it down well, making sure it's evenly spread out around the bottom of the dish and up the sides a bit. (I actually made my crust too thick this time, so next time I'll be sure to really pat it down so it's a bit thinner.) Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
3. While the crust is baking, transfer pitted cherries, honey, and vanilla extract to a small sauce pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Once the cherries have expelled some liquid, add the arrowroot powder and stir well to combine. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the grass-fed butter and coconut flower together until crumbly (you should be able to handle it with your fingers). 
5. Pour the cherry filling over the crust and top with the coconut flour crumb topping. Drizzle with half of the honey and bake at 350 for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from heat, drizzle with more honey, and serve warm.

Since Rob and I adopted a more ketogenic diet, this has become one of my favorite recipes. I love it because I always have most of the ingredients in my pantry already (soy sauce or coconut aminos, sesame oil, and some chili garlic sauce), so all I have to do is grab a pound of ground pork and some slaw mix at the grocery store.

This "egg roll in a bowl" has all my favorite Asian flavors and satisfies that Chinese takeout craving, but you can stick to a Paleo and/or keto diet (and save some money!) by making it yourself. I've also heard it referred to as "crack slaw" in the keto community, but I think egg roll in a bowl is a bit more fun to say.

The first few times I made this, I tried it with ground beef and regular shredded cabbage, and it just wasn't as good. I like it better with red cabbage, some carrots, and ground pork instead of beef--the pork gets nice and crispy and adds a nice flavor to the dish. But if you like beef, you can stick with that; and you could even do ground chicken if you'd prefer.

Ingredients: 

• 1 pound of ground pork

• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced

• About 10 ounces of shredded cabbage and carrots (I use a bag of the shredded red and green cabbage with carrots from Trader Joe's)

• 1-2 tablespoons sesame oil

• About 1/4 cup of soy sauce or coconut aminos

• 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper (optional, plus more or less depending on your heat preference)

• 1-2 teaspoons of chili garlic sauce

• About 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• Sliced green onions for garnish and some Sriracha for topping

Instructions: 

1. In a large pan, heat the sesame oil and add ground pork, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook over medium-high heat until the pork begins to brown and get crispy around the edges. Add the garlic and give it a stir.

2. Add about half of the soy sauce and the crushed red pepper. Season with salt (be conservative with the salt since you're using soy sauce) and pepper and stir well to combine. Continue to cook until the pork is completely browned.

3. Add the cabbage and carrot mixture to the pan and reduce heat to medium. Toss to combine and add the remaining soy sauce. Add the chili garlic sauce and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the cabbage begins to wilt.

4. Add the rice vinegar and give everything a good stir. Serve hot, topped with green onions and a drizzle of Sriracha, if desired.

I've been thinking about this salad for a while now and I'm so glad I finally made it--it's mostly cucumbers and tuna but I threw some lettuce and peas in there as well. The whole thing is dressed in a really simple lemon vinaigrette and tossed together with the secret ingredient...chopped mint! There's just something so beautiful about lemon and cucumber and mint together, and I especially love it with tuna. 

Ingredients:

• 1 large cucumber, sliced thinly or spiralized into ribbons
• 1/4 cup of peas
• About 1/2 cup of lettuce, chopped
• 1 5-ounce can of Wild Selections Tuna in Water, drained
• 2-3 tablespoons of fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup lemon juice (or the juice of 1 lemon)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, combine cucumber, peas, and lettuce together. In a smaller bowl, whisk lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil together. Season with salt and pepper. Pour half of the dressing onto the salad and toss well to combine.
2. Just before serving, add the tuna, mint leaves, and a bit more dressing. Toss gently and serve immediately.

I'm really excited to be partnering with Wild Selections on this post--their tuna is not only Non-GMO Project Verified but also simple, natural,and delicious. Wild Selections gives back to the oceans by donating 13 cents from every can sold—a total of $1 million by 2018—to World Wildlife Fund marine conservation and fishery improvement projects.  Wild Selections is the only brand to “pay it forward” and act on its belief to take care of the oceans for the future, not just fishing sustainably in the present.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.