paleo recipes

All posts tagged paleo recipes

More Crock Potting

Posted by Peter on June 7, 2012
Posted in: Food. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 comment

In my Ropa Vieja post, I mentioned that I wasn’t much of a crock pot cooker. However, curiosity and necessity (time constraint) led me to repeatedly test the effectiveness of crock pot cooking. I must say, after three crock pot successes, I may just add the crock pot into my kitchen arsenal.

Let me first introduce you to my crock pot. It’s small and funny and green. It’s lopsided, and I think that may be on purpose (either way, it’s not ever going to be straight). My grandmaw gave it to me before she passed away, so there is no way it’s ever getting replaced with what would probably be a  more efficient and attractive model. This funky little creature has been hiding in the corner of my kitchen only occasionally being called into active service as a cheese or soup warmer for a party. No longer, I say! The crock pot has seen new life and new purpose.

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While building the shed, I used the crock pot to cook me dinner a couple of times. Unfortunately, I was either too tired to care or ran out of phone and camera batteries; so, I do not have any pictures of the resulting two meals. Luckily, I used a couple recipes I scrounged up on the internet and can steal at least one picture from them.

The first recipe I tried is supposed to be for Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps. Here’s their beautiful picture of the meal they created.

I however, did not make this into a lettuce wrap. Rather, I just ended up with big ole honking slabs of pork. While lettuce wraps were never my intention, this didn’t quite cook like I expected it too. I put 3 pounds of pork shoulder into the crock pot along with the recipe for the sauce. The sauce was really the best part of this meal anyways. Unfortunately, after hours of cooking, my pork was still raw on the inside. So, I cut it into a bunch of big slices, turned the crock pot up to high and let it cook for another hour. This did the trick and we basically ended up with something like Asian Pork Steaks. They were good, although not quite true to the original recipe.

Do Asians use crock pots more than the average person? I only ask because now that I’m writing this, I notice that the other crock pot recipe I tried was an Asian Pepper Steak. Maybe I was just in an Asian mood. Either way, of the two recipes this one came out better. For some odd reason the recipe’s website just has a picture of a crock pot, not of the meal. This post already has a picture of a crock pot, so I’ m going to skip reproducing that one here.

The pepper steak came out great and was falling apart. I substituted Coconut Aminos for the Tamari that the recipe calls for. Also, I actually diced some tomatoes instead of using ones out of a can. It may have helped that this recipe’s meat was sliced whereas the previous recipe’s wasn’t. I highly recommend you check out the Crock Pot Asian Pepper Steak on Mark’s Daily Apple.

Pizza: Part 2 – Almond Crust

Posted by Peter on May 22, 2012
Posted in: Food. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 comments

If you’re looking for a pizza that LOOKS like a pizza, this is the one for you. If you want one that can stand the weight of the toppings, almond crust is the way to go. The almond crust is a bit crunchy, sturdy and a tasty alternative for a paleo pizza.

I’ve made a few different almond-crusted pizzas. The results have varied, although none of them were total failures. So far the best almond crust recipe I’ve found is from EverydayPaleo.com. The fresh rosemary is really what makes this “dough.” I use a fair amount of dried herbs, but don’t skimp here. Go for the fresh stuff. I’m sure you can get some from just about any of my neighbors around here. Seriously, I think there are more rosemary bushes than weeds in my neighborhood.

The process is pretty simple, mix the almond flour, rosemary, eggs, oil and garlic powder to form a dough. Pat it into a circle on a pizza tray, then bake it for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

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Meanwhile, I prepared my red sauce in the same manner that I did yesterday. Once the almond crust baked for 20 minutes, it got a coat of red sauce and the toppings.

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I decided to go with some raw, diced zucchini (which didn’t make it into the Chorizo Burger and Zucchini Fries), uncured pepperoni, and uncured capicola ham. While not perfectly paleo, the ham and pepperoni that I found at Whole Foods are better than any of the others I’ve seen.

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After another 25 minutes in the oven, the pizza was done. No doubt it looks more like pizza than the eggplants. And this pizza was good. It had a crust and a crunch that the eggplants lacked. Plus, it was much easier to pick up and handle like a pizza. Although I’ll make this one again, I prefer the eggplant pizzas over the almond crust. First, they’re easier. No dough to fuss with. Second, the almond crust kind of dries out the pizza a little bit, especially if you’re eating it as leftovers.

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All-in-all this pizza is #winning. The crust is good, especially compared to the other almond crust recipes I’ve tried. Part of what I like about the eggplant pizzas is that they aren’t dressed up to look like a pizza. You get what you see. Pizza toppings on eggplant. The almond crust is a bit deceiving, but if you know what awaits you.

Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s post on Pizza: Part 1 – Eggplant Pizza

Tomorrow :   Meatza!

Grilled Artichokes and Seared Tuna

Posted by Peter on May 14, 2012
Posted in: Food. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Yeah, I put the side before the main dish. Seared tuna is awesome, but doesn’t really require much explanation. (Plus, I’m still kinda working on my tuna-searing skills.) For the record, I seasoned the tuna with just a little salt and pepper.

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Now, on to the main show / side dish. Start a big pot of boiling water squeeze a quarter of a lemon into it. To prepare the artichokes, wash them, cut the tops off, trim any nonsene at the bottom, and snip the points off the leaves. I always end up getting poked as I snip off the leaves. But it’s better to get poked in preparation that in consumption. Cut the artichokes in half top to bottom (along the longitude). Chunk the halved artichokes into the pot of boiling water for 15 minutes. Give them the occasional stir to make sure they’re getting uniform hot, bubbly water-love. After about 15 minutes, set them aside to drain all of the water out of them.

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While you heat up your BBQ pit, make the lemon-garlic basting sauce. To do so, simply whisk together a cup of olive oil, 1/2 tsp pepper, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp salt and the juice from the rest of that lemon. Baste the artichokes in the oil mixture, then place them on the grill. Grill for about 15 minutes, flipping and re-basting every few minutes.

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And there you have it. An easy paleo meal that only took about 20 minutes from start to finish. In case you want those artichoke instructions in recipe form, I’ve included the Grilled Artichoke Recipe on my Recipes Page.

Spinach-Artichoke Chicken

Posted by Peter on April 10, 2012
Posted in: Food. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 3 comments

Another episode of “Way too much Chicken in the fridge!” (and it’s not quite the last one).  I had a few gianormous chicken breasts from Whole Foods left over from the Roast-a-palooza and decided to do a spinach-artichoke stuffed chicken breast. However, when the time came, I didn’t feel like going through the trouble of hammering the chicken flat and rolling it around my spinach-artichoke concoction. So, I simply roasted the chicken breast (salt and pepper) in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 or so minutes, put the spinach-artichoke on the side, and ate the two together.

To start, I sautéd some onions and garlic. Next, I chopped up some canned artichokes hearts and threw them in (I know…. from the can isn’t ideal, but when you’re talking artichoke hearts, I don’t see much alternative). Shortly after, I added some baby bella mushrooms. While this was cooking down, I chopped some fresh spinach leaves. Those went into the pot until they wilted.

It’s at this point in the process that I wasn’t sure where to go. I wanted a creamy spinach-artichoke filling, but I wanted to keep it paleo. Some internetting led me to this website for paleo snack ideas. This recipe led me to both make Almond Cheese and use it in this meal (and you thought I was just making nut cheese for nut cheese’s sake). Additionally, I used a couple of tablespoons of paleo mayo from the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook. I’ve tried a few paleo mayo recipes, and so far I like this one the best. While it isn’t complicated, I’ve included the recipe for my slight twist on the Spinach-Artichoke Dip in the Recipe section.

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This was also on the day that my camera/phone ran out of battery. So, I only have the picture of the completed meal. The good news is, I should be able to start taking pictures with my actual digital camera soon (and hopefully get better quality). I think I’m just about done with the technical difficulties.