Lazy Girl’s Guide To Whole30: Simple + Delicious Meals

{This simple + delicious Whole30 meal series is sponsored by Tessemae’s. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.}

As you all know, I am a lover of the Whole30. If you’re new around here, I’ll give you the reader’s digest version of why: I gained 65 pounds during my second pregnancy 8 months ago and lost it all by the time I was 4 months postpartum following the Whole30 program. It was crazy and life changing and you can totally read more about my journey here.

BUT…

The thing about Whole30 is that it can be challenging to follow at first. I remember when I first heard about it, I was completely overwhelmed at the amount of prep that was involved. I almost didn’t even bother trying it, because I knew that during this season of life I simply don’t have the time or wherewithal to even bother with creating elaborate meals. But, in the end I simply came up with my own simplified way of doing things…AKA: Lazy girl style. It worked out really great for me and although I got a little bored with some of the foods toward the end of my 30 days, for the most part I still enjoyed the food I was eating. Enter my second round of Whole30 and I was singing a slightly different tune.

I was bored with all my food, but the problem wasn’t the Whole30; I just needed to spice up my meals. The only problem was figuring out how I was going to do that without spending a ton of time in the kitchen doing prep?

And then the heavens opened up (OK, or my inbox) and Tessemae’s wanted to team up together! Oh, right! How did I forget about Tessemae’s deliciously compliant dressings, sauces and marinades?! I was already a huge fan of their Southwest Ranch dressing, but hadn’t gotten around to trying their other products (my Whole Foods only carries the dressings and I needed to order online). I couldn’t wait for the box of delicious sauces to show up on my doorstep…and then it did! And it did not disappoint!

Everything has been delicious (especially the ketchup…yes Whole30 approved KETCHUP!!!), but I decided to start with a super easy dinner recipe using their Zesty Chesapeake Seafood Marinade.

Basically our BBQ is my BFF when I’m eating Whole30…especially fish. I’m not a big fish eater, but mostly because I’m not a big fish smeller. The smell kind of ruins it for me, so usually if I cook it I have zero interest in actually eating it by the time it’s ready. Plus, eau de salmon isn’t exactly the sexiest smell to have lingering in your hair, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I exclusively barbecue when it comes to salmon. Aside from the smell, I think it tastes better. So there.

This “recipe” couldn’t be easier, because basically it’s just the marinade and a few other herbs I added for good measure. But really, I think the marinade made it. I would suggest marinading it for longer than I did though. I only marinaded it for 3 hours and the flavors definitely could’ve been stronger. We ended up drizzling the marinade (it’s also a dip) on the salmon when it was served and it was delicious! Fern loved it too and has even requested it since, which is huge because she’s kind of a meat hater (or really just a non-carbs-and-dairy-hater).

We served this with a roasted veggie medley…sweet potatoes, red potatoes, carrots and brussel sprouts. I’m going to be sad when the weather gets warm and roasted veggies aren’t a “thing” anymore. But I digress…on with the recipe…

TESSEMAE’S ZESTY CHESAPEAKE BBQ SALMON 

Ingredients:

-Wild Salmon (portion size is up to you)

–Tessemae’s Zesty Chesapeake Marinade/Dip/Glaze

-Lemon

-Rosemary + Thyme

-Aluminum foil (3 large sheets)

Directions:

-Lay salmon on a large sheet of aluminum foil and fold up each of the four sides so it forms a barrier around the salmon.

-Pour a liberal amount of the marinade over the salmon.

-Add lemon slices and or rosemary and thyme to taste – really, I think it would’ve been just as good without these, but they added nice color to the photos. #bloggerconfessions

-Then wrap the aluminum foil around the salmon to create a foil packet.

-Throw the salmon on the barbecue over medium heat. We cook ours for 5-7 minutes on each side, but it’s a bit of trial and error when you’re cooking something like this as each barbecue is different. The internal temperature should be 145°F, so you can check to be sure.

-Unwrap and serve. Use more of the marinade as a dip!

Honestly, I feel kind of guilty for even calling this a “recipe”, but I mean…this is the Lazy Girl’s Guide to Whole30, so what did you expect? It’s easy peasy and I can’t help it if Tessemae’s already did all the hard work. If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it! But, I totally did scatter those herbs oh-so-artfully for the photos, so that has to count for something, right?

Check back for the rest of the series to come!

Next up…the Whole30 burger of my dreams!

 

xo

Lauren