Monday, February 24, 2014

Paleo/Primal cooking

Since discovering that I don't handle grains well, I've started cooking with substitutes. (Wonderful things like almond flour means that I can make things that are very close to what I ate before, without leaving me exhausted :D) While it's worth it to feel better, it's also quite time consuming, because I have to actually cook every single meal from scratch. This means that I usually just take a day on the weekend and get all the cooking for the next week or two out of the way. After all, if I'm gonna go to the effort of cooking a meal from scratch, I might as well do 4 or 5 of them and have more food available for longer right? Makes life a little bit easier anyway :).

Yesterday, I decided to cook up everything for the next month. I'm not usually this ambitious, but I'm moving, which means my kitchen will be packed up soon, and I wanted my food ready and waiting for me when I needed to eat it, instead of having all these ingredients, and no way to cook them (never a good situation to be in). So away to the store I went, and bought everything I needed. And after about 9 hours in the kitchen, I finally got it mostly done.

I made 5 "bento boxes" for lunches, which basically just consist of hard boiled eggs, sunflower seeds, roasted garbanzo beans, and raisins. Then in addition to that I made Meatza Pizza, Chicken Alfredo (with spaghetti squash noodles) Chicken Parmesan (with spaghetti squash noodles) chicken curry with quinoa, avocados stuffed with tuna salad, tortillas for tacos, banana chocolate chip muffins, chicken and "rice" (using cauliflower instead of rice) and meatballs and cabbage in stewed tomatoes. Recipes below (sorry I didn't take any pictures. I was a little pre-occupied with trying to finish before 10 pm :P)

From dropdeadgorgeousdaily

Paleo Chicken Curry
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon coconut oil or ghee
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, crushed (or to taste)
1 small fresh red chili, finely chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder (or to taste)
2tbsps coconut oil or ghee
1 boneless, skinless chicken (I used chicken thighs, but you could also use breasts) cut into thin strips
1 cup mango chutney
1 1/2 cups coconut milk or single cream (half and half)
1 bag of baby spinach or some fresh sorrel if you’re lucky
Salt and pepper to taste
Coriander (cilantro) to garnish
Method:
Heat the oil or ghee in a large steep-sided frying pan or skillet.  Coconut oil or ghee are recommended  for Paleo cooking and are absolutely delicious in this dish, but you could also use vegetable oil.
Saute the onions and garlic until soft and then add the chili and curry powder.  Fry for a minute or two until the spice become fragrant.  Add the chicken strips and saute until brown all over.
Add the mango chutney and coconut milk (or cream) and then cook at a medium heat for about five minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Add a huge heap of spinach or sorrel and continue cooking until the spinach has wilted into the curry.  If you’re lucky enough to have some sorrel, the lemony sharpness is perfect for this.
Season to taste and garnish with a little lime and cilantro (coriander).  To keep with the Paleo theme, I like to serve this with tiny roasted cauliflower florets, but some Basmati or jasmine rice would obviously work too.

Chicken and “Rice” Casserole (Grain-Free)
Serving Size: Serves 8
If your bacon is relatively lean, you may want to add a tablespoon or two of butter when you add the cauliflower to the pan (remember, it’s good to eat saturated fats with your vegetables so the body can assimilate the fat soluble nutrients. For those who follow a dairy free or Paleo diet, I know the cashew “cheese” sounds a bit odd, but trust me - it’s fantastic!

Ingredients
  • 4 pieces bacon, chopped

  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped

  • 12 ounces button mushrooms, chopped

  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Celtic sea salt
  • 1 large head cauliflower, “riced”*

  • 1 1/2 pounds cooked chicken, shredded
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (or for dairy free, Gaps or Paleo use cashew “cheese”) 

  • 1 cup raw cheddar (omit for dairy free, Gaps, Paleo)
  • 4 green onions, chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until crispy. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon from pan leaving the bacon drippings in the pan. Add onions and mushrooms to the bacon drippings and cook, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until mushrooms have released their moisture and are just turning golden brown on the edges. Make a well in the center of the pan and add the thyme and salt. Stir in the center of the pan until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add cauliflower and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chicken, cooked bacon and sour cream (or cashew cheese) then stir until combined. Season with sea salt to taste. Pour mixture into an 11 x 7 - inch buttered dish (or individual dishes as pictured above). If using cheese, sprinkle with cheese and bake for 20 minutes or so until top is just turning golden brown. Sprinkle with green onions. Serve hot.
*To rice the cauliflower - Cut the cauliflower into large pieces (about 2-inch). Place in a food processor and pulse for 7-8 one-second pulses until the size of rice. Click here to see a photo.



from Askgeorgie


 Ingredients

1 cup egg whites
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp each: cumin and garlic
1/4 tsp each: salt and cayenne pepper

Method

1. In a blender pitcher, combine all ingredients. Process for 10-20 seconds to break up any lumps in the coconut flour. Let is sit for 10 minutes so the coconut flour hydrates.
2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat and oil the bottom lightly if the nonstick coating isn’t great. When hot, pick up the pan and pour 1/4 cup of the batter into the center of the pan, giving the pan a tilt-rotate-jiggle action to spread the batter into a thin pancake about 8 inches or so across.
3. Put the pan back on the burner and let it cook until the top of the tortilla doesn’t look shiny anymore, and is not sticky to the touch. If it feels solid enough to flip, its time to flip. If it needs another minute, give it another minute. Timing isn’t crucial.
4. Use a big, wide pancake turner to flip it onto the other side. Another minute of cooking, and your tortilla is done. I recommend removing it to a paper towel-lined plate to free up the skillet for the next tortilla. Stacking the cooked tortillas on a bare plate works too, but gets some condensation moisture on the bottom to they end up a bit wet.
Makes 6. The last tortilla might be smaller than the others if you have less than 2 oz of batter remaining at the end.
From cookeatpaleo (I added mayo to it as well because my avocado wasn't mashing well enough and I needed something to hold it together) :
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 avocado
  • 1 lemon, juiced, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped onion, to taste
  • 5 ounces cooked or canned wild tuna
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
  1. Cut the avocado in half and scoop the middle of both avocado halves into a bowl, leaving a shell of avocado flesh about 1/4-inch thick on each half.
  2. Add lemon juice and onion to the avocado in the bowl and mash together. Add tuna, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Taste and adjust if needed.
  3. Fill avocado shells with tuna salad and serve.

One of my favorites from Marksdailyapple:

Slow-Cooked Cabbage, Tomatoes and Meatballs

1356065666 18f3dc209f 1Last week we discussed the merits of canning your own foods. So you canned a bunch of tomatoes and now you need a good reason to use ‘em! Enter the following unstuffed cabbage recipe:
Ingredients: 
1 large head of cabbage
1 pound of ground meat (turkey, chicken, beef…you decide)
½ pound of spicy sausage, casing removed
½ cup minced onion
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 16 oz can tomatoes – including the juice
3 tbsp vinegar
1 carrot – unpeeled, ends chopped off
Salt and pepper to taste
Method: 
Preparation could go one of two ways. If available – and you have the time to throw it together in the morning – a crock pot could be used. The slow cooking process really allows the flavors to mingle and creates, in our opinion, a tastier dish. However, this dish also turns out well when made in a roasting dish and may work better for those who like to throw dinner together on the fly.
Now on to the actual method…
First, cut the cabbage into large chunks and use your fingers to roughly separate the leaves. Place half in the bottom of the crock pot or roasting pan. In a large bowl, mix the meat, sausage, onion, spices, salt and pepper. Using your hands, tightly roll the mixture into a series of small meatballs about 2-3 inches in diameter (if you don’t roll them tightly enough, they’ll break apart – while this does nothing to the taste, it looks more appetizing when you have the meatballs!) Place the meatballs on top of the cabbage and cover with the remaining cabbage. Set aside. In a food processor, combine canned tomatoes (with juice) and vinegar and pulse a few times so that the tomatoes are broken down but not pureed. Pour the mixture over the cabbage, add the carrot* and cook in a crock pot for 6-8 hours on low or in an uncovered roasting dish in an oven at 350 F for 1 hour. Remove carrot and serve piping hot.
We know this dish sounds kind of strange, but trust us, it is delicious. It all comes together to form a hearty, gorgeous amalgamation of light green cabbage, bright red tomatoes and juicy sausage and is super easy to make. Give it a try tonight and let us know what you think in the comment board.
*Due to the acidic nature of this recipe, most stuffed cabbage dishes call for sweetener to be added. However, a carrot will actually soak up the acidic flavor without adding any sugar. Just be sure to discard it before serving.
from yourpaleorecipes:

chocolate banana muffins
3 mashed over ripe bananas (Mine for small/medium size)
1/2 tsp baking soda
6 eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut oil 
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup chocolate chip

mix everything but the chocolate chips together in the blender. Stir in chocolate chips, and put it in your muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.

Chicken alfredo:

chicken, diced up
1 head of broccoli, cut and steamed until tender
spaghetti squash
alfredo sauce

Cook spaghetti squash in oven for 1 hour and 15 min at 400, then cut it open, and pull out noodles with a fork. 
Add cooked chicken, steamed broccoli, and alfredo sauce. Mix it all together and enjoy!

Chicken parmesan:

Chicken breasts
Tomato sauce or marinara sauce
mozzarella cheese
parmesan cheese

Place chicken breasts in 9x11 pan, cover with tomato sauce and add some italian seasoning (or just cover with marinara sauce. your choice) then smother with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, and cook for 30 min at 350. Can use spaghetti squash noodles as a side to the meat.

Meatza Pizza:

I used ground turnkey, but the original recipe says to use ground beef, and it might work better that way. Anyway, this one came from my mom.

2 lbs ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 tsp garlic powder (and I added some italian seasoning as well)

mix it together, and spread it out on a pizza pan. Cook at 350 for 20-30 min, until meat is cooked, but not dry. It will shrink. Top with pizza sauce, toppings, and cheese, then bake for about 10 min more until cheese is melted. Let it cool, and enjoy!


When I get a chance, I still have a few more meals to make (two salads, and an experimental sandwich, in addition to cooking up the leftover fish I have) So I'll post on those when I get them done :) Happy cooking!



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