Ever since Trader Joe’s opened in the Columbia area, our family has been a regular customer. We go in weekly to buy a dozen (or more) different items, and all of them – from the cage-free eggs, to whole milk yogurt, to cookie butter – are well worth the trip.
But the one thing I absolutely can’t do without and can’t get anywhere else is . . . the bacon.
Not just any bacon. This tidy little square package of “ends and pieces” is the perfect addition to just about anything.
I love bacon, but I generally don’t eat it in its unadulterated, strip state. I like it chopped up, crisped, and added to various recipes, and this bacon is perfect for that. Plus, it’s way cheaper than a big package of strip bacon. It’s uncured, and free of all the chemical additives we try, as a family, to avoid.
So in a sense, this pretty healthy. For bacon.
I’m including not one, not two, but three! recipes that are in frequent rotation at our house, which use this delicious ingredient. This is my first time writing recipes, and I admit, I’m a bit of slap-dash cook. So feel free to make any adjustments you like to these base recipes.
Brussel Sprouts with Bacon
I’m a late-coming lover of brussel sprouts. I couldn’t wrap my mind around actually enjoying these tiny cabbages. I recently discovered that a combination of roasting, garlic, and bacon, makes anything better. Even brussel sprouts!
Still not a brussel sprout fan? This recipe is so flexible, you could easily substitute any hardy vegetable, from fresh green beans to asparagus. Adjust the cooking time accordingly.
Ingredients
- Frozen or fresh brussel sprouts (I use the frozen package from, you guessed it, Trader Joe’s)
- Garlic (I use the squeeze bottle of minced organic garlic from Walmart. Yes, Walmart has organic, minced garlic. You can use fresh and dice it yourself if you prefer.)
- Olive oil (just enough to lightly coat the sprouts. 1 tbsp max.)
- Salt and Pepper (I know the bacon is salty. You still want to season your vegetables. Just cut back on the salt a little.)
- Italian Seasoning (A few shakes . . . if you want. Really this is just lipstick on a very tasty pig. You can omit it if you don’t have any or just don’t want to go through the effort of searching your spice rack.)
- Trader Joe’s Ends and Pieces Bacon (The whole pack if you really love bacon. Or only half. Up to you, really. How much do you love bacon?)
Instructions
There are two possible cooking methods. If you are using frozen brussel sprouts, which I tend to do, I prefer oven roasting. Plus, I’m lazy and oven roasting is less work. You can also sauté all the ingredients in a large pan on the stove top. If you are using an alternate vegetable, like beans or asparagus, I prefer to sauté. Either way results in a delicious dish.
If oven roasting, pre-heat the oven to at least 400 degrees, but no more than 450.
Either way, heat a pan big enough to cook the bacon on the stove. Crisping it up a bit first, and liquefying the fat will result in much more deliciousness. If you are in a hurry, you can skip this step, but your bacon will not be as crispy.
Chop up the bacon into small pieces. Often this package has large pieces of fat. Dice these up as small as possible for faster liquefaction. Add these pieces to your hot pan. While the bacon is cooking, line a cookie sheet with tin foil or parchment paper for easy clean up. Add the brussel sprouts, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and seasonings, to pan. Mix them up a bit to coat evenly. Once the bacon is good and crispy, add it on top of the brussel sprout mixture, stirring it all up a bit.Roast the vegetables in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the sprouts reach your desired tenderness.
Serves 4-6. This recipe is low-carb, Paleo, Primal, you know, all the diets that love bacon, friendly.
Sweet Potato Hash With Bacon
Ingredients
- 4-5 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (You can use any variety, from your typical orange sweet potatoes to the more exotic white and purple potatoes.)
- 1 package of Trader Joe’s ends and pieces bacon, chopped small
- Cajun seasoning to taste (I’ve used a bunch of different brands. They are all yummy. Use as much or as little as you want, depending on how much spice your family likes.)
- 1 tbsp cinnamon (More or less as you like. We lean towards more.)
- Salt and Pepper to taste (Always, always, season your food. You don’t need much, but it helps bring out the flavors.)
Instructions
First, heat your large skillet. Cast Iron is great if you have it. If not, really the main thing you need is a big pan. If you have a lid for this pan, even better.
Add the chopped bacon. Get it good and crispy, then scoop it out. If you leave it in, you may end up with burned bacon. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Reduce the heat to medium high.
Once the bacon is out, add the sweet potatoes and spices. Stir. Leave it alone for 4-5 minutes. That’s right, don’t touch! Once the time is up, stir it. Reduce heat to medium, or medium low. Cover it with your lid. If you don’t have a lid that fits your pan, like me, use tin foil. It works in a pinch. Cook covered for 5 minutes. Don’t touch! When time is up, stir, then cook it covered, untouched, for 5 more minutes. After this time is up, add the bacon back, stir, and cook until the potatoes are nice and soft, maybe 3-5 minutes more.
Voila! That’s it. Simple, delicious. Also a Paleo, low carb, bacon-lover diet friendly recipe.
Kitchen Sink Pasta
This remarkably healthy dish can be altered however you like. Get creative! I call it kitchen sink pasta, because I throw just about everything in here except the kitchen sink. It’s sort of a play on Chicken Carbonara, but on steroids. Healthy Steroids. The great thing about this recipe is that you can really throw whatever you have in it. You can omit anything you don’t like. Picky eaters can pick around what they do and don’t like, and yet they will still get plenty of healthy stuff.
Ingredients
- 3-4 good sized zucchini, spiralized (I have a spiralizer, and the kids love making zucchini noodles with it. If you are not a zucchini noodle fan, or you just love pasta, substitute cooked pasta of your choice.)
- 1 jar marinated, quartered artichoke hearts (Two jars if you love them as much as we do.)
- 1 jar of capers
- 1 jar roasted red peppers, sliced thin
- 1 package of Trader Joe’s ends and pieces bacon, cut in to small pieces
- 1 lb of asparagus, trimmed and cut into smaller segments
- 1-2 lbs chicken, boneless and skinless, cut into cubes (I use thighs because they are cheaper and have great flavor, but breast meat works as well)
- 2-3 tbsp butter
- White wine or chicken stock
- 1/4 cup of half and half or heavy cream (Whole milk will do in a pinch)
- Salt, Pepper and Italian Seasoning to taste
- Grated parmesan cheese for the top
Instructions
Heat up a large skillet. I spray it with just a little oil. Coconut, olive, whatever. Add the bacon pieces. Once crispy, take them out, and add the chicken, seasoning it with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Once the chicken is cooked through, I take it out of the pan. Deglaze the pan (that means, adding liquid to get all the flavorful crunchy bits off the bottom of the pan) with butter, wine/chicken stock and a little of the half and half/heavy cream, and bring this concoction to a simmer. Let it bubble on reduced heat for a few minutes to reduce and thicken. It won’t thicken a whole lot, but that’s ok.
Those zucchini noodles? Make sure you pat them dry a bit, then add them to the sauce. Stir with tongs to coat them well, then add back the chicken, bacon, all the other jarred goodies, and the asparagus. Cook until warmed through and the asparagus is the desired tenderness. Maybe 10 minutes. Might take 15 minutes max. Serve warm, topped with cheese.
This recipe is Paleo, low carb, and can be made mostly for a plant based diet that allows some bacon. You could easily omit or substitute a meat replacement for the chicken.
