Saturday, March 29, 2014

PALEO: Nutty Noodle Bowl

If you are making this recipe for more than one person I would recommend doubling it!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground meat of choice
1/2 yellow onion - cut in half and thinly sliced
1 bell pepper - thinly sliced
2-4 garlic cloves - minced
3 medium zucchinis - spiral sliced or Julienned using a Paderno Spiral Slicer, Julienne Vegetable Peeler or Mandoline
*You can also add a few Julienned carrots 
SAUCE
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup nut butter of choice (cashew, almond, sunbutter or use half and half Tahini)
1/4 cup coconut aminos
3 TBSP Sriracha sauce
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 TBSP red pepper flakes - divided
salt and pepper to taste

fresh cilantro and cashews to garnish

Place all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and set aside.

In a large saute pan or pot over medium-high heat, add ground meat, onion, bell pepper and garlic. Cook down, breaking up meat until no more pink remains. Season with salt and pepper and half of the red pepper flakes. Add zucchini noodles to meat mixture and cook on low about 5 minutes. At this point I drained off all accumulated fat and water from pan. 
Continue to heat over low.

Place small prepared saucepan over medium heat and cook and whisk until sauce is smooth. Let cook and thicken for about 5 minutes. Add to veggie meat mixture and combine well.

Garnish with cilantro and cashews and serve with a wedge of lime!

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

PALEO: Spaghetti Squash with Amazing Sauce

Ingredients:
1 large spaghetti squash - cut in half lengthwise, baked, seeded and threads removed to a bowl
1 lb ground pork, pork sausage or ground seasoned turkey
1 TBSP Paleo Chef Sriracha Sauce or regular Sriracha Sauce
1 TBSP coconut aminos
salt to taste
3 - 4 cups fresh spinach
2 cups broccoli, cut into florets
SAUCE
2 TBSP sunbutter or almond butter or tahini
juice of 1 large lime
1.5 TBSP coconut aminos
2 TBSP Paleo Chef Sriracha sauce
1/2 TBSP raw honey or maple syrup
1 tsp sesame oil
3 TBSP coconut oil - melted
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2-4 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients of sauce together in a bowl and set aside.

In a large pan, brown ground pork over med-high heat along with 1 TBSP each of Sriracha and coconut aminos. Remove to bowl with squash.

In the same pan, add broccoli to pork drippings with a bit of salt. Cook until slightly browned, then cover with lid and steam (add a little water if needed). Once the broccoli is just tender, add the spinach and cover again. Cook until spinach is wilted.

Add pork and squash mixture to pan, combine well and keep warm over low heat. Pour sauce over pan contents and mix together until completely and evenly coated.

Serve hot! (Good cold too as leftovers).

Monday, March 24, 2014

Buffalo Cauliflower


Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower - trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup rice or almond flour
1/2 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
non stick cooking spray

In a small bowl combine:
1 tsp butter or ghee - softened
1/2 cup Franks hot sauce or Cholula or Tapitio if you want a real kick

Preheat oven to 450 and grease a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

In a bowl combine flour, water, garlic and salt. Mix thoroughly with a whisk.

Then, either dip each piece of cauliflower in batter or pour batter over cauliflower in a large bowl and toss to coat evenly (I find this much easier).

Place on prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced, and bake for 10 minutes - until batter hardens. Flip with a spatula and bake for an additional 5-8 minutes.

When the cauliflower is evenly cooked, remove from oven and coat with prepared hot sauce - either with a plastic pastry brush or pour mixture over cauliflower and carefully toss with a spatula to coat.

Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes or until crispy. Remove from oven and let sit at least 10 minutes.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Pizza Squash Casserole

Ingredients:
1 large spaghetti squash - cooked, seeded and threads removed from skin to a large bowl
1 lb ground meat of your choice - Italian sausage, beef, turkey (if using unseasoned meat I suggest seasoning with some salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, onion powder, Italian seasoning)
1/2 large yellow onion - diced
2 cups pizza sauce (I used 1 can organic tomato sauce heavily seasoned with salt, pepper, mustard powder, parsley, basil and thyme)
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
3 eggs (whisked) or chia/flax eggs
*pepperoni, sliced olives, sauteed mushrooms, fresh basil (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease a 9x13 casserole.
In a large pan over medium heat, add ground meat and onion. Cook and stir until meat is cooked through.
Add pizza sauce, basil, parsley, salt and pepper to the pan and mix well.
Add meat mixture to the bowl with the spaghetti squash, along with eggs and any additional ingredients of your choosing. Stir everything together until you can no longer see the eggs and everything is well combined.
Spread into prepared casserole dish and bake for 1 hour. If you are using eggs a slight crust will form over the top. If you are using chia/flax eggs the top will brown slightly but it will remain less solid.
Let rest 5-10 minutes before serving.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

PALEO: Shepherd's Pie

Ingredients:
4 TBSP olive oil - divided
1 large onion - diced
1 lb bacon - sliced
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced celery
1 lb ground beef or venison
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 large heads cauliflower - trimmed, chopped and steamed until very soft

Preheat oven to 350.
Heat 2 TBSP olive oil in a large fry pan over medium heat.
Saute onion just until soft.
Add bacon pieces and saute until mostly cooked - about 10 minutes.
Add carrots and celery and saute until soft.
Add ground beef and cook until brown. Season with salt, pepper and paprika.
Add broth and cook down until 60% evaporated.

Place cauliflower in a food processor with remaining olive oil and puree until smooth. I also seasoned mine with a little sea salt and cayenne. 

Pour beef mixture into a greased 9x13 casserole dish. Spread cauliflower mixture over the top. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.


Monday, March 17, 2014

Greena Colada

Ingredients:
1 large cucumber - peeled and chopped
1/4-1/2 cup water
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks
1 TBSP coconut oil
sweetener of choice (I use a tsp maple syrup)
1/2 cup ice cubes

Add all ingredients to a blender and process on high until liquid.
You can also add a half cup shredded coconut!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

PALEO: Parsnip Ribbons

Ingredients:
3 slices bacon - chopped
3-4 medium large parsnips (or 2-3 large)
2 cloves garlic - minced
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley - chopped
*1 TBSP Capers (optional)

In a pan over low heat, cook bacon for 10-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to render out as much of the fat as you can without burning it.

Meanwhile, peel and trim ends from parsnips. Using your vegetable peeler (or ribbonizer) create long flat strips of parsnip until you have used as much of it as you can. Eat the rest!

Add the ribbons and garlic to the pan with the bacon. Stir well until parsnip is fully coated with bacon grease. Keep burner on low, cover and cook for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning/sticking.

Remove from heat and toss is parsley and capers. If you want you can also garnish with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

PALEO: Saute Side

Ingredients:
3 slices bacon - chopped
2-3 medium leeks - sliced (white part and all but top 2 inches of green part)
1 medium yellow onion - cut in half and sliced

Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat 3-4 minutes. Add leeks and onion and sprinkle with just a little salt and pepper. Saute, stirring occasionally until leeks and onions are tender.


PALEO: Zucchini Fritters

Ingredients:
4 cups shredded zucchini (about 5 medium)
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 egg - beaten, or 2 ground chia/flax eggs
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
Coconut oil, ghee or butter for cooking

Place your freshly shredded zucchini in a colander and sprinkle with salt - let sit 10 minutes.

In a bowl combine the egg, pepper and cayenne. Squeeze as much excess water out of zucchini as you can and add to egg mixture along with flour and baking soda. Stir and combine well.

In a large pan heat oil or butter over medium heat. Shape about 1/4 cup zucchini mixture at a time into tightly formed patties and cook on each side 4-6 minutes or until nicely browned. It seemed to take a little longer to brown with the coconut oil. Be sure to add more oil/butter for each batch.

Let cool slightly on a cooling rack so they don't get soggy. Serve warm/hot!

PALEO: London Broil

So this one is super easy and cheap, but very delicious!

This London Broil cost about $8 - it fed 2 people and there were leftovers!

Season heavily with favorite rub or seasoning blend. I did salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder and a little chili powder. Place on a rimmed baking sheet or baking dish and broil under HI BROIL for about 6-8 minutes on each side. Internal temp should be around 135-140 for rare.

Serve with sauteed onions, leeks and bacon!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

PALEO: Turkey Beet Burgers

Ingredients:
3/4 - 1 lb ground turkey
1 large beet - peeled and grated
2 eggs or chia/flax eggs
1/2 apple - peeled and diced
1/2 medium onion - diced
3-4 cloves garlic - minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
*1 tsp onion powder (optional)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
you can also use other seasonings like oregano, thyme and parsley! 

In a bowl combine turkey, eggs, beets and seasonings - set aside.

Over medium-high heat, saute onion with a little olive or coconut oil about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute 2-3 minutes. Add apple and cook and stir another 2-3 minutes. Let cool.

Once cool enough to handle, add sauteed veggies to turkey mixture and combine well. When ready to cook, heat a few TBSP of olive or coconut oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Form mixture into patties and cook, covered, about 6 minutes on each side. The beets make everything quite pink and it's hard to tell when the meat is cooked through so it's better to leave it on longer - or you can even finish it off in the microwave if it starts to get too crisp on the outside.

I topped mine with a bacon slice, mustard, jalapenos and wrapped it in lettuce!