I really enjoy making a nice Sunday dinner for my family. Last night’s Sunday dinner turned out to be an exquisite one. Everything from start to finish was spectacular. For starting out I actually made a bowl of paleo butternut squash soup to go with our meal. I never make a soup to go with dinner. I just always make soups that you eat as an entire meal. For the main course, I had some grass-fed beef strip steaks marinated in Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade. For a side dish, I wrapped Applegate Sunday Bacon around some rainbow carrots (purple, orange, and white) that I picked up during our visit to Eastern Market. This was our first time trying out bacon-wrapped carrots and it certainly will not be the last. Lately, I just want to wrap everything up in bacon! Next up for me will be bacon-wrapped brussels sprouts.

Sunday Dinner - With Primal Kitchen Strip Steak, Applegate Bacon-Wrapped Rainbow Carrots, And Paleo Butternut Squash Soup — Sunday Dinner – With Primal Kitchen Strip Steak, Applegate Bacon-Wrapped Rainbow Carrots, And Paleo Butternut Squash Soup – Awesome Sunday dinner feast!

Marinating the steaks with Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade

Using a marinate overnight with your steak usually seems like a great idea that results in a flavorful, juicy steak. This was the case with the Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade from Primal Kitchen. I have never had a steak with a Greek marinade so I was not sure if we would enjoy this or not, but so far I have not been let down by a single Primal Kitchen item. They all excel in quality, taste, and fall within the realm of clean-eating.

These marinades are low-carb, paleo-friendly, Whole 30 compliant, and do not contain any added sugars. If you are looking into eating clean I highly recommend the products available from Primal Kitchen. No nonsense ingredients, just pure and simple healthy ingredients.

This particular Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette and Marinade uses avocado oil as a base. It also contains oregano, black pepper, coriander, marjoram, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and sea salt. These are all organic ingredients.

Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette & Marinade (Avocado Oil) and two strip steaks marinating

Primal Kitchen Greek Vinaigrette & Marinade

Roasted butternut squash soup – the paleo way

I had a great time going to Eastern Market for some fresh produce and great deals on them. You can read more about that experience HERE. We went towards the end of the day when the vendors are letting things go at low prices. I picked up this butternut squash for a buck. I really should have bought more because I really enjoy it this time of year.

To make the soup I removed the skin from the squash then cut and cubed it. Cutting squash, to me, is scary and difficult. I am always afraid I am going to chop off my hand. My knife skills are rusty and have a lot of room for improvement. After the squash was cut I placed it in a large mixing bowl. I drizzled olive oil on it and the used some garlic salt and pepper on it. I also added in a big squirt of some organic minced garlic. I had the oven preheated to 400-degrees and roasted them for about 30 minutes.

Once the squash was roasted I placed the cubed squash in my blender with a cup of chicken broth and most of a can of full-fat coconut milk. I seasoned it with some pumpkin pie spices that I got from the Spice Miser at Eastern Market. I was really wanting to get some delicious fall flavor with that seasoning and it sure did not disappoint. It came through and flavored this squash with the taste of autumn.

I kept the soup warm in my Staub dutch oven while I prepared the rest of my meal. I just let it simmer on low. I sure do love my Staub and that piece of cooking equipment will be in regular rotation here at the Give It A Whirl Girl kitchen. That pot is perfect for soups, stews, sauces, and one-pot meals. It is actually the greatest cooking tool that I currently own. It is super heavy-duty and I also love that it is dishwasher safe. I highly recommend getting one for your kitchen, they are especially great this time of year.

Roasted butternut squash ready to be turned into soup

Info on Spice Miser

If you are ever browsing the sheds at Eastern Market you can’t pass up the Spice Miser setup. This is spice heaven! I never go to Eastern Market without coming home with some new spices and seasonings. I bought the Pumpkin Pie Spices. I really had no clue what I would do with it at the time I bought it but I figured I could put it to good use somehow.

So what’s inside?

The Pumpkin Pie Spices packet has the ingredients listed on the back and they are: ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves

Those spices combined with the butternut squash gave it a wonderful flavor profile. I did not use up all of the packet so I will be trying it out again with something else. Perhaps acorn squash next time?

Spice Miser - Pumpkin Pie Spices - seasoning packet from Eastern Market — Spice Miser – Pumpkin Pie Spices – seasoning packet from Eastern Market – ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves

Roasted rainbow carrots wrapped in Applegate Sunday Bacon

When I went to Eastern Market I was really on a mission to hunt down some of these rainbow carrots. In the bundle, you receive purple, white (or is it yellow), and orange. I love any food that is the color purple and the purple carrots are the best of any carrot I have ever had. I tracked down my carrots and I wrapped those beauties up in Applegate Sunday Bacon.

I roasted these gorgeous carrots in the oven at 450-degrees and they were ready at the 30-minute mark. The bacon came out with the perfect crispness and the carrots were fork tender.

Bundles of rainbow carrots at Eastern Market – I can not leave this place without taking home some purple and white carrots

Applegate Uncured Sunday Bacon and rainbow carrots ready for roasting

Rainbow carrots wrapped in Applegate Sunday Bacon – roasting in the oven at 450-degrees

Cooking the steaks

Yeah, it is that time again… time to bust out that trusty ol’ Lodge Cast Iron Pan! A good cast iron pan is all you need to cook a steak that maintains its juice and comes out nice and tender. I simply just cooked the marinated steaks for a few minutes on each side and cooked it to a medium-rare temperature. These were grass-fed beef strip steaks and the one that I had was at least a good inch thick. Gosh I just love a big fat piece of meat. I’m so primal!

Time to dig in!

This was the type of dinner that just totally blows my mind. Everything about this meal was just excellence from start to finish. I was proud of myself for creating this meal for my family. I serve a lot of great meals but this one really stood out for me. I think that when you pour your heart and soul into a dinner it really shows and shines through.