5 Things Friday: Whole30 Edition

As previously mentioned, my Whole30 is over, and I am certainly glad to be able to partake of all the food groups once again.  However, although I did miss having milk in my coffee and chickpeas in my salad, having limitations on what ingredients I could use encouraged me to widen my range and look for more creative uses of the foods I was allowed (trust me - chicken with vegetables gets old REAL fast).  And I have to admit, some of the Whole30 recipes I came across were delicious - so delicious, in fact, that I plan to keep cooking them even now that I'm done with the program.  For your consideration, here are 5 Whole30-approved meals that I'll continue to make:


1) Moroccan Mash

I've talked about this dish before.  It was definitely one of the best things we ate in that entire 30-day period.  We made it two weeks in a row, and had we discovered the recipe earlier I'm sure this dish would have made an appearance for dinner every week of this Whole30.  It's so simple, basically just meat and potatoes, but the combination of spices is wonderful.  The flavor profile of this dish really takes ingredients that could be boring and turns them into something special.  Also, I can get my boyfriend to eat sweet potatoes with this dish, which I assure you is a minor miracle.  Recipe from Stir It Up!


2) Fried Plantains with Cinnamon

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I've mentioned this recipe before as well.  While I had eaten plantain chips before, I had never cooked a plantain myself before coming across this recipe.  Let me tell you, I'm so glad I decided to try it.  These were SO GOOD.  Like, for serious.  They were also really quick and easy to make.  Kevin and I found that the riper the plantain was when we cooked it, the more we liked the end product.  Recipe and photograph from Stupid Easy Paleo.


3) Nectarine and Pistachio Salad

I've just realized that these top 3 dishes were all featured in my last WIAW post.  This makes a lot of sense; it was our last day of Whole30, so we ate all of our favorite things.  I'm a big fan of salads with fruit and nuts, so this was right up my alley.  Add in the avocado, and you've pretty much got perfection.  I think it's safe to say we're out of nectarine season by now, but pears work just as well here.  I also really liked the balsamic dressing, this might actually become my go-to homemade dressing recipe.  So good!.  Recipe from Maoomba.



4) Sweet Apple Turkey Sausages

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There's something about making my own sausage that makes me feel like a domestic goddess.  This recipe is a little more time-consuming than what I normally want to do for breakfast during the week so it's more of a Saturday morning project for me, but it's really not too bad.  The hardest part is chopping the onion and grating the apple, and even that's not really that hard.  And then when you're done, you have sausage and everyone thinks you're awesome!  Recipe and photograph from  Leaf Parade.



5) Citrus and Sage Roasted Baby Carrots

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This recipe is great for a quick and easy side dish that goes beyond your typical side of steamed carrots.  The orange peel really gives the carrots an interesting flavor, and it's so easy to just pop them in the oven while you're making something else for dinner.  Recipe and photograph from Meatified.



So, there you have 'em:  my top 5 Whole30 recipes.  Regardless of if you're Paleo/Whole30-ing or not, I really encourage everyone to try these dishes.  You won't regret it!   :-)