Tag: Recipes

I came up with this one on a day where I really wanted Mexican, but didn’t think I had the time/makings for it. I had cooked meat in the fridge, but little else. I thought about what went into a taco salad. I had salad greens, meat, and in the pantry salsa and olives and just went from there.

This can be made Primal with the addition of greek yogurt.

Deconstructed Taco Salad
(by Beth Jones)

This one is quick and a great meal to whip up when you are short on time.

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lbs cooked hamburger, or cooked chicken (whatever cooked protein you have on hand)
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
½ can tomato paste (or two chopped tomatoes), optional
2 cups cauliflower rice
½ Tbsp Cumin ( can add more if desired)
1 tsp chili powder, optional
handful spinach
OPTIONAL GARNISH
lettuce
salsa (no sugar added)
peppers (unless avoiding)
green onions
black olives
avocado
plain greek yogurt (full fat – skip if strict Paleo)

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onions and cook until they start to go translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the cauliflower and heat through. Add the meat and tomatoes/paste if using. Finally add the cumin and chili powder. Serve over the the spinach. Add whatever garnishes you like.

This is a super simple curry recipe from Paleo Slow Cooking by Chrissy Gower. It can be made as mild or as spicy as you’d like it and reheats wonderfully. It also freezes well for bulk cooking. Chicken breasts will work, but tend to be a bit drier than the thighs.

Mild Chicken Curry (Slow Cooker)
(from Paleo Slow Cooking by Chrissy Gower)

This will make 4-6 servings easy and this does freeze well.

4 stalks celery, chopped
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 medium onion
4 minced cloves garlic (more or less to taste – I love garlic so a lot goes in)
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped
3 lbs chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (full fat)
½ cup chicken stock or water
couple handfuls of spinach
2-3 Tbsp yellow curry powder (use red if you want a really spicy curry)

Place the veggies and garlic in the bottom of the crockpot, pour in the water or the stock. Add the curry powder, chicken and finally the chicken. Cook on low for 6 or 7 hours. When finished, shred the chicken with two forks, and add in the spinach to wilt. Serve over cauliflower rice, spaghetti squash, or simply eat as is.

This is the recipe I made for the Paleo Webinar. It came about one day when I was really craving Italian “comfort food”. I looked in the fridge and saw some pre-cooked hamburger and veal and spaghetti squash. Having pre-cooked meat and veggies like squash, cauliflower rice and such makes meals a total breeze.  From there, it was all experimentation. I whipped up some Italian seasoning (This can be store-bought spice mix or make your  own), grabbed garlic and tomato paste and cooked this off.  It turned out to be a mega hit in this house and is still on rotation. I hope you enjoy it!

This comes together in minutes with a little bit of prep.

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced (or 2-3 Tbsp minced garlic, or as much as you can stand)
• 1 lbs cooked hamburger
• 1 lbs cooked veal (or chicken or pork)
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 spaghetti squash, cooked and separated into strands
• 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
• water or stock

Heat the oil in a pan. Add onion and cook until it starts to become translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the meat and warm through. Add the tomato paste and enough water or stock to thin it out some. You aren’t looking for a “sauce” but you don’t want clumps of paste. Add the seasoning and finally the squash.  Heat through and serve.

Spaghetti squash

Heat the oven to 375. Split the squash in half and scrape out all the seeds and the icky stringy stuff around the seeds. Place  squash halves face down on a cookie sheet Sprinkle 3 Tbsp of water around the halves and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully flip them face up to cool. When cool enough to handle, scrape the strands out into a bowl.

Italian Seasoning

(credit: from Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan)

• 4 tsp EACH dried parsley, oregano, basil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp granulated garlic (otherwise known as dried minced garlic. garlic powder works just fine if you don’t have the dried minced stuff)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional, can skip if doing AI Paleo)

Mix all in an air tight bowl. Store out of direct sunlight.

This recipe comes courtesy of fellow NE Spahten Paul Howes! I can vouch for this one – it is amazing! I’ve made this myself after he told me how to do this with some Rosemary Sage salt and it was fantastic! For the first time – I managed to make pork that didn’t turn to shoe leather. So definitely worth making for yourself. Take it away, Paul…

This is one of our favorite recipes to cook in the winter time. It’s quick, it’s easy, and all of our kids—human and furry—like it!  But before giving the recipe, I’m going to indulge in a little rant: Do not cook your meat by time alone! Always, always use a thermometer to check the internal temperature.

Very lean meats like pork loin have only a few minutes before they go from “done” to “shoe leather”. Most of the recipes I read say things like, “cook 20 minutes per pound”. Unfortunately this varies widely depending on what kind of oven you have and how accurate the temperature control is. For example, I roast most of our meats in a counter-top Breville convection oven. It has a “roast” setting that turns the upper heating element on low to brown the top of the meat, and a convection fan that circulates the hot air. I can roast meat in about an hour that would take 90 minutes or more in our regular oven. If I followed the directions in the cook book, we would eat jerky every night!

There are many kinds of thermometers. Most of what you see are electronic, have remote probes so you don’t have to open the oven, and are generally over complicated. I have killed several of these expensive models in one way or another and now use the classic dial type. They’re quick, reliable, and idiot-proof. Get one and you’ll be a better cook for it.

And now for the recipe, which could not be simpler:

• 2 lbs pork loin
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• Herbs (Herbs de Provence, rosemary and garlic, etc.)

NOTE: We find that 2 lbs. is enough to feed four or five people. If you want to buy a larger piece, have the butcher cut it in half. Roast them together in the same pan, but be aware that it will take longer.

Place the pork in a small pan, fat-side up. Drizzle some olive oil over it. Rub the salt, pepper, and herbs in. Cook at 350 until the internal temperature is 160ºF. Take it out of the oven and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. This is very important as it allows the juices to redistribute and makes the roast a lot more moist.

Slice, plate, top with a little of the pan juice, and enjoy!

Here’s another in the “quick and easy” meal series. Another one of my favorite go-to recipes. I am a big fan of fish; however, after a while the usual lemon on fish gets boring. So I came up with this one day playing with my jar of smoked paprika. This works well with any firm white fish. We usually have tilapia in the freezer but I’ve done this with cod as well. This pairs well with a sauted spinach, asparagus or broccoli

Smoked Paprika Tilapia

•     4  3 ounce tilapia filets, thaw if frozen
•     ½ teaspoon garlic powder
•     ½ teaspoon onion powder
•     ½ teaspoon salt
•     ½ teaspoon dried oregano
•     ⅛ teaspoon pepper
•     1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1. Spray skillet with non-stick spray. Heat skillet
2. Season one side of the tilapia filets
3. When pan is hot, place filets in pan seasoned side down.
4. Season the face up side of the tilapia
5. When fish is looking opaque and shifts in the pan easily, flip the fish (This should be about 5-6 minutes)
6. Cook other side until done another roughly 2-3 minutes.

If you aren’t a fan of non-stick spray (I’m not), then you can certainly use olive oil or coconut oil. Use about a Tablespoon and let it get hot but not smoking.