Tag: Paleo

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Recipe – Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mash

Ok, I confess. I MISS MASHED POTATOES!! I used to love making them with the requisite cream and butter, leaving just a bit of texture so as not to turn them into library paste. Since going Paleo many moons ago, and the other dietary restrictions that I’m supposed to follow for optimum health, I can no longer eat this bowl of happiness. I took to eating mashed cauliflower, but when we were coming up on Thanksgiving this year, for some reason I just couldn’t stand the thought of plain cauli-mash. So I thought, “why not roast the cauliflower?” Poking around online, I found that PaleOMG had already tested this out, but also did the bonus move of roasting a head of garlic to put in there. SCORE!

I found that you can take or leave the coconut milk as it didn’t add that much to this. It was mostly for the purpose of added fat and to give that tiny bit of “mouth feel” to the mash. You can add more olive oil or simply add water or stock to it. On a side note: with the stock add rather than the coconut milk, I found this worked reasonably well as a dip for veggies (think roasted garlic hummus).

(Credit: http://paleomg.com/roasted-garlic-cauliflower-mashed-potatoes/)

Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower
1 head of garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 tablespoons canned coconut milk (ed – optional. Sub in water or stock if desired)
salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Chop up your cauliflower into small florets and place in a large baking dish to roast.

3. You’ll also need to roast your garlic, so cut off the end of your head of garlic to show the cloves. Sprinkle a bit of olive oil on the head of garlic then wrap foil around it.

4. Place your cauliflower and foil packet in the oven to bake for about 30-35 minutes.Once everything is roasted away, remove from oven.

5. Place roasted cauliflower in your wonderful food processor along with roasted garlic cloves. To get the cloves from the head of garlic, just squeeze them out or use a fork to pull them out.

6. Turn food processor on, pulse until garlic and cauliflower begin to become a paste, then add olive oil and coconut milk/water/stock to help form your preferred texture. If you want it a bit smoother, add a little more of your preferred liquid. Just play it by ear.

7. Add salt and pepper to taste.

8. Consume.

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Recipe: Coconut Lime Cauli-rice

dinnerfreeThis recipe came as courtesy of Meatified.com. I like cauliflower rice, however I really get bored of it quickly. So finding new flavor combos is essential. I did some roasted garlic cauliflower mash that was outstanding – but that’s a story for another day. I was making an asian inspired fish and it was just begging for a rice side, so this one came out of hiding. I do omit the cilantro as neither Paul nor I like it. I sub in green onion, but feel free to play around with this to complement whatever you are making. This recipe is Whole30 and AIP compliant.

Coconut Lime Cauli-Rice

Ingredients
• 1 tbl coconut oil
• 1 1/4 lb cauliflower florets (4 packed cups once “riced”)
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 4 tsp lime zest (about 2 limes)
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, minced

Instructions
1. PREP: Add the coconut oil to a large pan over low-medium heat. While it is warming up, use the S blade of your food processor to “rice” the cauliflower by pulsing the florets into rice-sized pieces. You will need to do this in at least 2 batches so that you don’t get mush at the bottom of your bowl.
2. FRY: Add the riced cauliflower to the pan and stir through to coat with the coconut oil. Cook for about 5 minutes to get rid of some the of the excess moisture in the cauliflower.
3. SIMMER: Stir in both the coconut milk and shredded coconut. Add about three quarters of the lime juice. Bring to a simmer and turn the heat down slightly so that the pan doesn’t come to a boil. Simmer until tender and the liquid has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.
4. SEASON: Pour in the last of the lime juice, along with the lime zest and fresh cilantro. Season to taste with salt. Stir through and cook until the lime juice has been absorbed.

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Recipe – Paleo Fish Pie

I was sitting around wondering what to make for dinner a few weeks back. I had it in my mind that I had a bunch of fish down in the basement freezer. I thought for sure there was a bunch of cod and pollack, and I remembered I had bulk bought a bunch of frozen wild caught tilapia filets (they were on sale). So what could I do with this and thin the freezer out a bit. I kicked around a soup and baking some off, but then had a thought of something I remembered seeing in the UK. A fish pie! Now originally I was thinking about crusts and kind of a pot pie kind of thing, but when I started poking around I found that the fish pies were sort of like cottage pies or shepherd’s pie. So I took several recipes ideas and mashed them all up into what you see below. Now, I did discover that all I had was tilapia, but went ahead with the pie. It turned out really fantastic and I will certainly be making this again, although this time I will be including other bits of fish!

Paleo Fish Pie

1 whole medium sized cauliflower

6-7 garlic cloves, smashed or minced

1 Tbsp Fresh rosemary, minced

1 Tbsp fresh thyme, minced

1 can full fat coconut milk divided

2 tablespoons of butter OR Olive oil/coconut oil if dairy free.

1 brown onion, finely diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, diced

½ cup asparagus, chopped

3 large handfuls of baby spinach, chopped

1 leek, chopped

1 teaspoon of English mustard

1.5 lb white fish (or prawns or scallops), cut into small 1-inch chunks

2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated

handful each of parsley and basil, finely diced (optional)

2 lemons

salt and pepper

 

Cooking:

 

  1. First prepare the herbed cauliflower mash. Cut the cauliflower into rough florets, removing stem and leaves. Grab a pot with a steamer basket and fill water to below steamer basket. Place cauliflower into the steamer basket along with the garlic cloves. Steam until a fork pierces the cauliflower easily. Remove the cauliflower but reserve the steamer water. Place cauliflower into a food processor along with the herbs, 1/4 cup of the coconut milk, the two tablespoons of butter or oil and pulse until smooth. If still too thick use the steamer water to thin to desired consistency. Set aside
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  3. Add a bit more oil to a large saucepan or skillet. Place carrots, onion, celery into the pan and stir. Cook until slightly softened, then add leek and asparagus. Cook for a few more minutes, then add the coconut milk. Cook for 2 minutes then add the fish, ginger, mustard and the spinach. Cook for another 5 or until fish is warmed through.
  4. Pour mixture into an 8×8 or 9×9 pyrex casserole dish (something with deep sides)
  5. Spoon the cauliflower mash over top of the fish mixture. Spread the mash to the sides of the casserole dish, sealing in the fish mixture.
  6. To make this “pretty” feel free to sprinkle the top with paprika, or make a crumble topping  by mixing half a cup of almond flour with half a cup of coconut flour. Add a dessert spoon of coconut oil (ideally chilled) and rub together between your fingers to make a crumble.  Another version of the crumble I found was to combine 1/4 cup coconut flakes and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Personally I just used the paprika.
  7. Place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until heated through. Serve with a side salad, steamed veggies, or simply on its own.
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Recipe – Basil Chicken Alfredo

Ever have one of those cravings for comfort food? Something really warm and satisfying? Yeah, me too. I had some roasted chicken I needed to do something with and the usual ideas just weren’t cutting it. I didn’t want a salad nor soup. I thought about doing something Italian, but wasn’t feeling red sauce. The though of chicken alfredo came to mind, but how to make it dairy free? I found this on the site The Confident Mom, who got it from eMeals. I served it over some zucchini noodles, but spaghetti squash would be really good here as well. Enjoy!
Basil Chicken Alfredo
Serves 4
A Paleo Favorite – Simple and Easy
Ingredients
  1. 3 tablespoons olive oil
  2. 1 cup chopped white onion
  3. 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  4. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  5. 1 – 14 oz can coconut milk
  6. 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  7. 1 teaspoon pepper
  8. 1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
Instructions
  1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add onion and garlic; cook 4 minutes or until softened.
  3. Stir in basil and coconut milk.
  4. Bring to a boil; simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.
  5. Stir in salt, pepper and chicken.
  6. Cook until thoroughly heated
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Recipe – Chocolate Banana Protein pancakes

I woke up today and had this insane craving for pancakes. I got thinking about what I wanted in the pancake, and discovered a *very* ripe banana on the top of the fridge. So I thought some banana pancakes. The flaw? Besides being grain-free, I’m also egg-free..

Most Paleo recipes call for a ton of eggs and/or almond butter. So what to do? Look up vegan paleo recipes, of course! I found a great recipe on Eat the Cookie (http://eatthecookie.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/blueberry-pancakes-vegan-and-grain-free/) for vegan blueberry pancakes. I followed this fairly close, and the modifications I made are below. Enjoy! (And yes, there was bacon on the side.)

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Chocolate banana protein pancakes

* 1/2 cup almond meal
* 1/4 cup (scant) flax meal
* 1/3 cup chocolate protein powder
* 1 ripe banana
* 1/2 tsp baking powder
* 1/4 tsp baking soda
* 1/8 tsp stevia powder or 1 tbsp maple syrup
* 1/4 tsp salt
* 4 Tbsp full fat coconut milk
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* Olive oil (for the pan)

To cook:

Dump all the ingredients in the food processor and spin until combined well.

Heat up a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, your pan is ready.

Use a ladle or measuring cup to scoop out some batter. Pour it onto the skillet and allow to cook for a few minutes, flip when the bottom is set.
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Feel free to top with whatever you like, however, we left them plain. These did pass the Mini Test. He loved them!

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Recipe: Basil Chicken “Alfredo”

Hey guys! It’s been a busy time here in the Jones household, but I really wanted to share this recipe. I found this one while looking up some “paleo meal plans”. Yes, even I get bored eating Paleo and go digging for new inspirations. The original recipe calls for spaghetti squash. If you have the time, it’s a great “pasta” substitute, however, I was short on time. For those of you not Paleo, feel free to use regular or gluten free pasta. This was on a sample menu from eMeals.

Basil Chicken Alfredo

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped white onion (or half a large onion)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
14 oz can coconut milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

Either 1 roasted spaghetti squash or 3-4 zucchini, peeled and grated/peeled/spiralized into noodles.

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 4 minutes or until softened. Stir in basil and coconut milk. Bring to a boil; simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thickened. Stir in salt, pepper and chicken. Cook until thoroughly heated. Turn the heat to low and add the noodles. If using zucchini, let cook for a minute or two to soften the “zoodles” to al dente.

Serve with a side of steamed veggies or a salad.

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Recipe – Pad Thai, Beth style

Made an insanely easy version of Pad Thai today. I’d really been wanting some but many of the recipes I found just weren’t what I was looking for. For example – I don’t like anything that smacks of a satay sauce (read nut butters) in my pad thai. Um, no. I understand the sprinkling on at the end, but not adding nut butter to the pad thai sauce. Lots of others just seemed horribly complicated or unbalanced in some way.  I kept thinking to myself, this can’t be that hard. Street vendors can churn and burn this stuff! I finally found a great reference <http://chezpim.com/cook/pad_thai_for_beginners> for “authentic” pad thai.  What he said about the sauce made total sense. You need that balance of sweet, salty, hot, sour, and umami. Sadly, my tamarind paste was way out of date, so I couldn’t use it, but limes made a reasonable substitution. I didn’t feel like gaffing with cayenne pepper, so the sriracha came out of hiding.  So here’s what I came up with. This has been modified for my own tastes/allergies, however, feel free to add in a couple eggs and bean sprouts. I also strayed from the path and added more veggies in there by way of finely minced spinach and veggie “noodles”.

2013-07-04 15.14.51

Pad Thai – Beth style

Sauce:

  • 1/4 cup lime juice (or tamarind pulp/concentrate if you have it on hand)
  • 1/4 cup coconut amines (or GF soy sauce, or even regular soy sauce for those not needing GF)
  • 1/4 cup (scant) fish sauce (start with 2 Tbsp and add from there, to taste – it’s easier to add than take out)
  • 2-3 Tbsp sriracha (less if you don’t want it so spicy)
  • 2-3 Tbsp Palm sugar or honey (a bit less if you use white sugar or brown sugar)

Pad Thai base:

  • 2-3 Tbsp coconut oil (or oil of choice)
  • 1 lbs ground turkey or chicken
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 1/2 cup green onion, sliced thin
  • 6 cloves of garlic (more or less to taste – I love garlic)
  • 4 cups spinach, minced in a food processor or blender
  • sweet basil (or thai holy basil if you can get it), julienned
  • 1-2 zucchini, cut with spiralizer or wide flat noodles made with a peeler (feel free to use spaghetti squash, or regular rice or kelp noodles for GF)
  • 1/2 cup or more shredded carrots
  • cilantro (optional)

Bang out the sauce first. Add all the sauce ingredients to a small saucepan and heat up until sugar/honey is dissolved. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust accordingly. The idea is to balance all the elements, but play with it to suit your own tastes. Set aside.

Add oil to a large pan or wok.  Heat the oil and add the finely minced onion. Cook for 30 seconds or so, then add the ground chicken and garlic. Cook the chicken until there is no pink. Towards the end of the cooking of the chicken, add in the green onions and spinach. Heat through. Then add 1/2 cup-1 cup sauce. Add in the noodles. Heat through. Then add the basil in the last minute of cooking. Serve warm.

 

 

 

 

 

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Recipe: Moroccan Breakfast Mash

This recipe comes courtesy of NE Spahten Eryn Souza Schlosser. who found it on Paleo Periodical. Take it away Eryn…
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Hi Everyone! I was asked to post this recipe on another page so I figured I would post here as well 🙂
Here is one of my favorite recipes for a pre-workout meal or breakfast before a busy day. This recipe makes quite a bit. A little goes a long way portion wise. I can get between 3 and 4 meals out of this depending on the size of the sweet potatoes. Side note- if you are not familiar with the spices try them. They are delicious! If you would rather not I find “All Spice” worked very well. Also, I prefer to use regular coconut milk for this recipe. I find the “cream from the top of the can” this calls for doesn’t thin it out quite enough for my personal preference. Any questions let me know. Enjoy! 🙂

Moroccan Breakfast Mash
– 1 red-fleshed sweet potato, peeled and diced
– 1 plantain (or banana, but it will be sweeter), diced
– 1/4 cup coconut cream, skimmed from top of can
– 2 Tbsp. coconut butter (or 1 Tbsp. coconut oil or pastured butter)
– 1/2 tsp. each cinnamon and ground turmeric
– 1/4 tsp. each ground ginger and ground cardamom
– pinch of salt (unless you happen to be using salted pastured butter)
Topping Options: chopped pistachios or walnuts, diced dried apricots and/or dates

1) Put sweet potato and plantain pieces in a steamer basket over water and steam until soft (stab with a fork to test), about 8 minutes. This can also be done in the microwave—add a little water and zap for about 8 minutes.
2) Pour sweet potato and plantain pieces into a heatproof bowl. Mash with a fork until desired consistency is reached. If you prefer a smoother texture, you can also whirl it up in the food processor. Then add the rest of the ingredients and stir together until combined.
3) Serve with whatever toppings you please. Enjoy!

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Recipe: Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

The base of this recipe came from Practical Paleo, by Diane Sanfilippo. It was her buffalo chicken lettuce wraps recipe. In and of itself it’s a great recipe, but I felt the need to pump it up a little. I researched various BBQ sauces and honey BBQ sauces and put with her spices and garnishes. The results were fantastic! This is also a QUICK one to whip up. Perfect for a warm day when you don’t want to heat up your kitchen. I like the suggestion of using chicken thighs, but feel free to sub in chicken breasts, turkey or whatever protein you have on hand. You can also use something like Tabasco or Frank’s Hot Sauce for this, but I didn’t have any on hand. 🙂

buffalo chicken

Buffalo Chicken lettuce wraps
(This is double her recipe – I had 2 lbs of chicken on hand. So everything here is doubled up)

– 2 lbs chicken thighs
– 4 tsp Chipolte pepper
– 1 Tbsp garlic powder (original calls for 1tsp – not nearly enough for this house)
– 1 tsp onion powder
– salt and pepper, to taste
(My adaptations)
– 2-3 Tbsp honey (more or less. Free poured this)
– 2 Tbsp cider vinegar (free pour so this is a guess)
– 1 Tbsp maple syrup
– 1 tsp smoked paprika
– 2 Tbsp olive oil + 2 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil, divided
Garnishes
– Romaine lettuce or Boston Lettuce (really any lettuce that can hold stuff)
– grape tomatoes
– avocado, diced
– green onions diced
– (non paleo folks break out the blue cheese dressing)

Slice the chicken into 1/4 inch strips. Toss into a bowl or a ziplock bag. Add the spices, and if using, the honey, vinegar, syrup paprika and olive oil (this oil is purely to help the spices spread and stick).

Heat up remaining oil in a skillet over medium heat. Put the chicken into the skillet. Cook for roughly 5-10 minutes (stirring occasionally) or until chicken is cooked through.

While chicken is cooking, prep your garnish and lettuce leaves. Serve the chicken in the lettuce cups, garnish as desired.

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Recipe: Paleo pancakes, two ways

One of the things I sort of miss being Paleo is waking up to a nice lazy Sunday breakfast. Remember those? Pancakes, bacon or sausage, eggs, toast and juice and limitless coffee? We didn’t have them often but it was nice when we did. I woke up Easter morning wanting such a breakfast. Now this gets interesting, as I don’t eat grains, limit sweets in the AM and have the egg allergy. So what’s a cook to do?

Go to Google, of course. 🙂

I found this great recipe from Eat the Cookie for vegan blueberry pancakes. Now I had some problems with the recipe as written (mostly my fault) but it’s a sound recipe. The writer gives a vegan, and non vegan version. I took it a step further. I decided to make them with chocolate protein powder and banana to see if I could make them closer to what I wanted in a pancake (lighter). Still no egg and these turned out extremely good. We ended up with roughly 8 pancakes, using a 1/4 cup scoop. Your servings may vary.

Vegan Blueberry pancakes (as written on the blog)

1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup (scant) flax meal
1/3 cup protein powder or coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp stevia powder or 1 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup warm milk of choice
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup frozen blueberries (keep ‘em frozen until i say!)

method:
1. combine all wet ingredients in a small bowl.-not the blueberries!
2. separately, combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. -not the blueberries!
3. combine the wet and dry, and allow to sit for a few minutes. the batter should be a little thick, you’ll want to scoop it out of the bowl, not pour. -still, wait on the blueberries.
4. heat a skillet over medium heat, and add a small amount of oil to the pan. once the oil shimmers, your pan is ready.
5. use a ladle or measuring cup to scoop out some batter. pour it onto the skillet, and top with a small handful of blueberries. allow to cook for a few minutes, flip when the bottom is set.
these will turn out a beautiful, crisp on the outside, moist and crumbly on the inside pancake.
6. top with hot blueberries, coconut cream, and maple syrup.

Now for the modified version:

Chocolate Banana Protein pancakes

1/2 cup almond meal
1/4 cup (scant) flax meal
1/3 cup protein powder
1 Tbsp coconut flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp stevia powder or 1 tbsp maple syrup (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1 really ripe banana
2/3 cup warm milk of choice (I used canned full fat coconut milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract

method:
1. combine all wet ingredients in a small bowl. Banana counts as a wet ingredient here.
2. separately, combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.
3. combine the wet and dry, and allow to sit for a few minutes. the batter should be a little thick, you’ll want to scoop it out of the bowl, not pour.
4. heat a skillet over medium heat, and add a small amount of oil to the pan. once the oil shimmers, your pan is ready.
5. use a ladle or measuring cup to scoop out some batter. pour it onto the skillet, and allow to cook for a few minutes, flip when the bottom is set.
6. Plate up and top as you wish.

Serve with some additional protein to make a complete Paleo breakfast.