Whole Wheat Skillet Focaccia Bread

I love making Focaccia because it's the low-maintenance girlfriend of the bread world. It's delicious, adapts to suit pretty much any topping you like, and only takes about an hour to make from start to finish. We're pretty hard core about sodium in our house so I didn't add any to the dough, but if you'd like a little hint of salt with your bread, feel free to sprinkle a small amount of Kosher Salt on top before baking.

Whole Wheat Skillet Focaccia Bread
Serves 4-6

1 cup warm water (between 105-110 degrees F)
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tbsp honey
2 1/2 tbsp olive or avocado oil, plus more for greasing pan
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp dried crushed rosemary
1 tsp dried onion flakes

Preheat oven to 200 degrees, and grease the inside of a 12" cast iron skillet with oil.

In a medium bowl, combine water, yeast, and honey. Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is dissolved and the surface is bubbly.

In a separate bowl, combine flours and seasonings. Stir to combine.

To the yeast mixture, add the oil. Stir in half the flour mixture, and once combined, stir in the remaining half. Using a wooden spoon or spatula, continue roughly stirring the dough for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes smooth and isn't sticking to the sides of the bowl as much. You can also turn it out onto the counter and knead by hand, but focaccia is meant to be a soft, slightly sticky dough, and it's easy to add too much flour if you knead by hand.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll into a roughly 12" circle. It doesn't have to be perfect, because you can work it a little to make it fit once you place it in the skillet. Cover with a damp towel, and place in the oven for 20 minutes to proof.

Remove from oven, and increase the temperature to 400 degree. Using your fingers, or the floured end of a wooden spoon, press small dents into the top of the bread. Sprinkle the top liberally with oil, and whatever seasonings you desire (I usually top it with a little more dried rosemary and some dried onion flakes).

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown on top. Let cool for 2-3 minutes, and then remove from skillet to a cooling rack.

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Instant Pot Beef & Portobello Mushroom Stew

There's not much I can say about this recipe that you wouldn't already know - it's hearty, simple, and basically the perfect meal to fill your tummy on a cold winter day (I ate mine on a snowy afternoon while sitting on the couch wearing thick wool socks, and watching Chronicles of Narnia 😍). Pair it with some crusty bread to soak up the stew, and it's pure heaven!

Instant Pot Beef & Portobello Mushroom Stew

Serves 4-6 

2 tbsp butter
2 lb beef chuck, fat trimmed & cut into 1 inch cubes (I prefer doing this because it results in much tenderer beef than using pre-packaged stew meat)
1 tsp dried crushed rosemary
1 medium yellow onion
2 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 1/2 cups no sodium added beef or chicken stock
8 oz portobello mushrooms, sliced
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2-3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp water

Place butter in Instant Pot, and press Saute function. In two batches, sear the beef cubes on two sides. Don't crowd the beef, or it will steam instead of brown. When finished, turn off the Saute function and add all beef back into the pot.

To the beef, add the onions, celery, carrots, dried rosemary, stock, and pepper. Stir to combine, and then toss the sliced portobello mushrooms on top. Close the lid, and cook on Manual for 15 minutes at high pressure. When the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally (otherwise you'll have to attempt eating boiling lava stew). If after 15-20 minutes the pressure hasn't fully released, open up the valve to release any remaining pressure.

In a small bowl, combine the flour and water with a fork to remove any lumps in the flour and create a slurry. Stir into the stew, and then turn on the Saute function. Let come to a boil for about 5 minutes in order to thicken the stew. Serve with Whole Wheat Skillet Focaccia.

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Curried Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Veggies & Peanut Sauce

I found the basis for this recipe in a little magazine our grocery started sending out to regular customers, and reworked it to make it a little more heart-friendly. I cut back on the red curry paste (which is slightly high in sodium at 15%DV for 1 tsp) and noticed no difference in taste, and pretty drastically reworked the Peanut Sauce recipe because the one they published was so thick and gloopy, you couldn't even toss the vegetables in it.

Ingredients
serves 4-6

Turkey Meatballs
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 egg
1/3 cup oatmeal, ground
1 tsp Thai red curry paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried onion flakes
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Roasted Vegetables
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
2 medium sweet potatoes, spiralized
Olive oil, for drizzling

Peanut Sauce
3 tbsp creamy low-sodium peanut butter
1 tbsp honey
2-3 tbsp rice vinegar (depends on how thick you'd like your sauce)
2 tsp sesame oil
2-3 tsp Sriracha

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375. To make meatballs, place oatmeal in a food processor and pulse until it's fine-ish like a flour (it's okay if it has a few small pieces in it). In a large bowl, combine egg, oatmeal flour, curry paste, garlic, onion flakes, and pepper. Stir to combine, and then work in the ground turkey. Shape into golf ball size meatballs, and then transfer to a prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15-16 minutes.

While meatballs are baking, on a separate rimmed baking sheet, toss vegetables with olive oil until evenly coated. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

To make the Peanut Sauce, add ingredients to a small bowl, and whisk well to combine. Place roasted vegetables in a large bowl, add peanut sauce, and toss well to combine. Serve meatballs over vegetables.

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