365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 12: Paleo Tacos!

If you follow us on Twitter, you may be aware that today is the start of "TACO WEEK"! (If you can't tell, I'm excited.) The idea was inspired by the 50 Tacos recipe in this month's Food Network Magazine. I love tacos, and they're probably one of the easiest things to convert to a paleo friendly meal. Just swap the standard tortilla for romaine lettuce leaves, which are built pretty much like little boats. Honestly, they're just begging to filled and taco-ized anyway. So this week is all about taking some of those 50 taco recipes and turning them into paleoesque deliciousness.

Today, we're going to start with your basic taco. We're going to seasoning the meat manually, because packaged taco seasoning is loaded with tons of salt, and while salt is important to your diet, it's always best to control your salt intake as much as possible.

Ingredients:

1 lb grass-fed ground beef

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tbsp beef broth

romaine lettuce leaves

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and garlic and saute until onions begin to soften and turn translucent. Add chili powder, ground coriander and cumin, and stir until well mixed. 

Add in your ground beef and cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Add beef broth, stir well and cook 1 minute. 

Spoon taco mixture into lettuce "boats" and serve.

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365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 11 - Tropical Protein Smoothie

Rumor has it that in some parts of the country, it's actually warm this time of year. (Houston, I never thought I'd say this, but I miss you). For the lucky citizens of those places, I present you with my summer protein smoothie recipe! You can really use whatever fruit you'd like for this one. I was having a lazy day today and didn't feel like chopping fruit, so I grabbed a bag of frozen mixed fruit from the freezer. (I keep them on hand for just such a lazy occasion) If you buy frozen, make sure that it's just fruit - no sugar added. I used a blend of strawberries, bananas and pineapple.

Ingredients:

1/2 c ice

1 1/2 c diced fruit - again, any kind is fine

1 c almond milk

1 scoop pure whey protein powder

Add all of your ingredients to a blender and blend thoroughly. Pour into a glass and enjoy. 

P.S. - I would have used a garnish and tried to make the pics for this one really pretty, but then I asked myself to name one time that I've ever garnished a smoothie? The answer was never, but if you garnish and are offended by my plain pictures, then I apologize. ;P

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Statistics on Lactose Intolerance

"The prevalence of primary lactose intolerance is estimated to be 7 to 20% for people of Caucasian descent, 65 to 75% for African descent, over 90% in some Asian populations and approximately 70% in Australian Aboriginal populations." - virtualmedicalcentre.com

I've always found the prevalence of lactose intolerance to be really interesting. As a caucasian, I fall into the 80% that can down a gallon of milk with no side effects, whereas I can't think of a single asian friend who isn't lactose intolerant. One of the most interesting things about lactose intolerance is that many scientists believe lactose tolerance to be our most recent evolutionary developement. 

"The common ability of people in Europe and some other areas of the world to continue producing lactase as adults is very likely a relatively recent evolutionary development.  Prior to the domestication of cattle, sheep, goats, and horses, which occurred after about 9000 years ago, milk was most likely only consumed by babies and very young children.  That milk was human milk.  Dairy products such as cow's milk, yoghurt, and cheese did not exist.  When nutrient rich nonhuman milk became widely available in pastoralist societies, the rare genetic variations that allowed some adults to easily digest lactose were selected for and this trait became more common.  In other words, natural selection gradually shifted to favor lactose tolerant people, resulting in the progressive evolution of the gene pools of these populations in Europe."  - "Nutritional Adaptation" by antro.palomar.edu

365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 10 - Bacon-wrapped Pork Chops Over Green Apple "Chutney"

Today's recipe is a bit of a flavor-palooza. You have the saltiness of the bacon, the savory pork, the peppery flavor from the radishes, the tartness of the apples... basically every bite is a flavor explosion.

To spice the pork, I used an adobo seasoning, which is just a fancy word for pre-mixed seasonings. They come in a variety of mixes. The one I prefer for this dish contains salt, pepper, garlic powder and tumeric.

You may be wondering why I put "chutney" in quotations. This dish is not a chutney in the traditional sense, because it doesn't contain any ground spices, sugar or pickling agents. However, the flavor profiles and the mix of vegetables, fresh fruit and residual spices is similar to a standard chutney (which is really a loose term, anyway).

Ingredients:

2 1" thick boneless pork chops

2 strips of bacon

2 toothpicks 

adobo seasoning

1 large leek, sliced thin and rinsed thoroughly

5 radished, sliced thin

1 large granny smith apple, diced

1/2 c chicken stock

To prep your pork, wrap each chop with a strip of bacon around the sides and secure the end of the bacon with a toothpick stuck into the chop.

Lightly spray a large skillet with olive oil, and heat over med-high heat. Place your pork chops into the pan and let cook 7 minutes. Flip and cook for 7 more minutes. When chops are done cooking, remove from the pan and leave them to rest on a plate.

Reduce the heat to medium and add your apples, radishes and leeks to your skillet. Allow to cook, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes. Add your chicken stock and stir. Continue cooking until all of the chicken stock has been absorbed or evaporated. 

Remove from heat. To serve, spoon your apple "chutney" onto a plate and top with pork chops. 

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365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 9 - Spicy Stir-fried Steak and Vegetables

Today, I decided to do a bargain recipe. One of the biggest excuses that I hear when it comes to eating freshhealthy food is, "It's too expensive." Most of the time, yes it's pricier than buying packed processed meals. However, it doesn't have to be. You can pinch pennies and still eat wholesome food; you just have to know some tricks. 

Next time you're grocery shopping, really look around at the meat section. Start paying attention to how much specific cuts of meat cost. There's a huge price difference in beef cuts. The thinner tougher cuts, like flank steak are significantly cheaper than ribeyes or new york strips. I usually pick up a flank steak anytime I'm out shopping, because it's super easy to slice up and throw in a stir-fry, which is what I did today. As far as veggies go, for stir-fries especially, I like to use mixed frozen vegetables. Look for those that have been "flash frozen", and you'll be getting almost the exact name amount of nutrients as if you had bought them fresh, and frozen veggies are typically cheaper. 

Ingredients:

1 large flank steak, cut (against the grain) into 1" strips.

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 bag of frozen oriental mixed vegetables

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add your steak strips and cook until evenly browned, about 3 minutes.

Add in garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 1 more minute.

Reduce heat to medium and add frozen vegetables. Continue cooking, stirring constantly until vegetables are cooked through, approximately 7-8 minutes. 

Remove from heat and serve.

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365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 8 - Cauliflower and Bacon Hash

When I first started eating paleo, I didn't put a lot of effort into trying to find recipes. I was just throwing together foods that I knew I could eat, with no creativity at all. Needless to say, I got burnt out on eggs and chicken real fast. Eventually, I had to start looking online for some new options, and this is one of the first recipes that I came across. I knew from trying to cut carbs in the past that you can sub cauliflower for potatoes in a lot of preparations because it's similar in flavor and texture, and I'm a big fan of cauliflower mashed potatoes, so I thought I'd give this one a try. The outcome was surprising, but delicious. Frying the cauliflower with the bacon fat actually gives it a sweet flavor, and the smell is heavenly. Bacon isn't entirely paleo, but we'll be lenient on this one.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

4 strips of bacon, diced

1/2 of a large yellow onion, diced

salt

To prepare your cauliflower, peel away the leaves, chop off the stem and cut the head into quarters. Grate each quarter with a cheese grater (You heard me - you're going to grate cauliflower) and set aside in a bowl. If you end up with any bite-sized chunks of cauliflower that aren't grated, you can throw them in too.

Heat a skillet over medium and add your diced bacon. Allow to cook until the fat becomes translucent and starts to render down. Add your onions and cook, stirring occasionally until the bacon is brown and crisp and the onions are translucent. Then add your cauliflower.

Cook your hash, stirring constantly until the cauliflower has softened and begun to brown slightly. 

Remove from heat, season with salt to taste and serve.

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365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 7 - Green Beans with Leeks and Pancetta

Today's recipe was inspired by one that I saw in this month's issue of Food Network Magazine. Their recipe was almost identical, but I subbed green beans for sugar snap peas (because I had some that needed to be used). It's a very simple recipe and makes a great side dish. The leeks and beans are very bright in flavor and the pancetta adds a delicious saltiness. (FYI - This dish is perfect if you're trying to convince someone to try going paleo!)

Ingredients:

1 lb whole fresh green beans

1/2 cup pancetta, diced

1 leek, sliced thin

1/2 tsp salt

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add your diced pancetta. Allow to cook until the pancetta is brown and crispy and most of the fat has rendered down, 10-15 minutes.

While your pancetta is browning, soak your leeks in a large bowl of water. Leeks are sandy, so the sand will sink to the bottom. To prepare your green beans, snap both ends off of each green bean. Leave the bean long or snap into smaller pieces, if desired.

When your pancetta is cooked, add your leeks and green beans, sprinkle with salt and saute, stirring occasionally another 10 minutes or until leeks are translucent and green beans are softened.

Remove from heat and serve.

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365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 6 - Berry Almond Fruit Salad

Today's recipe is a very quick, very simple paleo snack. You can throw it together in about a minute, and not only does the natural sweetness of the berries help curb dessert cravings while giving you a boost of energy, but the natural almonds add protein to fill you up.

Ingredients:

5 strawberries, sliced

1/4 cup blackberries

1/4 cup whole natural almonds

toss together and enjoy!

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365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 5 - Paleo Egg "Burger"

One of the reasons that I think most people shy away from doing any diet that seems a bit radical, is because it limits the places that they can eat, and they fear that they'll end up sitting on the couch, eating their weirdo meals in isolation. They don't want to lose the option of going out to eat or backyard cookouts with their friends. With the paleo diet, yes, doing these things might be a little challenging, but they're by no means impossible. You just have to get creative. 

For this reason, I opted to do a paleo take on a quintessential food - the hamburger. I LOVE burgers, and I would vehemently refuse any diet that asked me not to eat them. I couldn't do it. I tried to be a vegetarian after watching the documentary, "Food Inc.", but that lasted about 6 weeks, thanks to my love of burgers. The challenging part of making a burger paleo is not replacing the bun, but giving it flavor without the addition of the common condiments, like ketchup, mustard and mayo. You can achieve this by subbing in tastier toppings. 

Makes four burgers

Ingredients:

1 lb grass-fed ground beef

8 large lettuce leaves, any kind as long as it's large enough to fold

10 button mushrooms, sliced

4 large cage-free eggs

salt and pepper

Heat your grill to med-high (yes, we're grilling again - I told you it's my favorite method!) and allow to warm up. While your grill is heating, divide your ground beef into 4 equal portions, and roll each portion into a ball. Pat down your balls into 1/2" thick patties. Press an indention into the center of each patty with your thumb. This will keep the patty from plumping up in the center while cooking. (For other tips on cooking the perfect burger, by none other than the incomparable Bobby Flay, read this article),Season the outside of each patty liberally with salt and pepper. Flip and season the other side. 

Cook your burger patties on the grill 3-4 minutes, until you have nice char marks. Flip and cook the other side another 3 minutes. Remove and allow to rest on a plate while you prepare the rest of your burger toppings.

On the stove, heat a medium-sized skillet over med-high and spray lightly with olive oil. Add your sliced mushrooms to the skillet and saute, stirring constantly until they are brown and softened, about 5 minutes. Remove and wipe down skillet. 

Place your skillet back on the heat and reduce to medium. Spray lightly again and crack one egg into the pan, being careful not to break the yolk. (You'll want to cook each egg individually, unless your pan is large enough to cook two without them running into one another.) Fry the egg until the white is cooked through, 1-2 minutes. Flip and cook another 30 seconds. Remove and repeat with remaining eggs.

To assemble your burgers, stack two lettuce leaves on each plate. Place one burger patty in the center of the lettuce. Spoon on mushrooms, top with a friend egg and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Fold the lettuce over everything and dig in!

 

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365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 4 - Veggie, Prosciutto and Egg Scramble

I've always been a huge fan of breakfast, as in I would literally eat it for every meal if I could. Unfortunately, most of my favorite breakfast foods are grains - cereal, pancakes, waffles etc. So, as you can imagine, when I first started on the paleo diet, it was pretty torturous for me. The friend who got me into it (and let me just add for the record that the whole reason I agreed to do it was because he said, and I quote, "You can't give up carbs because you're a woman and you're weak. I'm a man, and I have willpower." He knew that would work!)... anyway, back to what I was saying - my friend told me to make omelettes. He said they were the easiest way to make sure your meal was nothing but veggies and protein. I do love omelettes, but I completely lack the ability to flip one, so I took his idea and turned it into scrambles instead. 

The great thing about scrambles is that you can really just toss together whatever you have in your fridge. There are no set rules for what goes in one, and really, almost anything meat or veggie related will taste good. This morning I ran to the grocery store and picked up some prosciutto (which is a thinly sliced dry-cured italian ham, if you're not familiar with it) and a bag of small tri-color sweet peppers. They're basically miniature bell peppers, which I had never seen before moving here, but I LOVE them. They come in a big bag and I use them in everything. Add those two things to the mushrooms and radishes that I already had and - voila! - instant scramble.

Makes one serving

Ingredients:

3 mini sweet peppers, diced

3 radishes, diced

4 button mushrooms, sliced

3 slices of prosciutto, cut into 1" pieces

3 eggs, beaten with 1 tbsp of water

Lightly spray a large skillet with olive oil, then heat over medium. Add diced bell peppers and radishes and allow to cook for 5 minutes or until the veggies begin to brown. Add mushrooms and prosciutto and cook another 3 minutes, until mushrooms start to brown and soften. Pour in beaten eggs and stir constantly with a wooden spoon or spatula until eggs are cooked completely, about 2-3 minutes. 

Serve.

 

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*If your local stores don't sell prosciutto, you can get it here.*

 

365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 3 - Almond-crusted Mahi Mahi Over Lemon Asparagus

Mahi Mahi is a great fish for paleo, because it has a slightly sweet flavor that works well with a nut crust. Macadamia crusted mahi mahi is pretty common on restaurant menus, but macadamia nuts aren't something that I usually have in my pantry, so I opted for almonds instead.

To cook the aparagus, take one bunch of it, snap the stalks at their natural breaking point (an inch or two from the bottom, tossing out the small broken pieces). Then arrange your stalks on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, pepper and a thin drizzle of olive oil and cook under your broiler for roughly 5 minutes or until the asparagus is bright green. Remove and squeeze the juice from 1 lemon over the stalks.

For the mahi mahi - 

Ingredients:

2 mahi mahi filets (or any white flaky fish)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup natural whole almonds

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, cut into wedges

First, make a crusting station by beating one egg in a small bowl, then grinding up your almonds in a food processor until you have them coarsly ground. You should have some powder and some larger almond chunks. Then pour the ground almonds into another small bowl. 

Place a large skillet on the stove over med-high heat and pour in your oil. Allow to heat for a few minutes, while you crust your fish. 

Start by dredging one fillet in the egg, allowing the excess to drip off, then coating both sides with your crushed almonds.

Lay coated fillet in the hot skillet. Repeat with second fillet. Allow fish to cook in the pan until the bottom half is white and opaque and the almond crust has browned nicely. Flip and continue cooking until fish is cooked through. 

To serve, divide your asparagus unto two plates and top each bed of asparagus with a fillet of the fish. Serve with two lemon wedges.

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365 Paleo Recipe Project: DAY 2 - Pork, Mushroom and Blueberry Salad

For today's recipe, I opted to grill again. Grilling is really my favorite method of cooking meat, because it's quick, easy and I love the added flavor that charring gives. However, I recommend saving your grilling recipes for when it's nice outside, like yesterday - 70 and sunny. Today, thanks to the wonder of Illinois weather, it was 45 and gloomy, and of course I was wearing a t-shirt and no shoes. But, like a boss, despite being able to see my breath, I still soldiered through and grilled the pork for my salad. 

Ingredients:

4 boneless pork chops

3 cups of romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

1 cup of sliced button mushrooms

2 tbsp dried wild mountain blueberries (you can get these at any store that sells bulk organic foods)

1/4 tsp dried parsley flakes

salt

pepper

ground coriander

1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)

 

Heat your grill to med-high.

While your grill is heating, prepare your pork by arranging your chops on a plate and seasoning each side lightly with salt, pepper, coriander and parsley flakes. 

Place on grill and cook 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Remove from grill and put on a clean plate. Let the pork chops rest for five minutes. 

Divide your lettuce and mushrooms evenly into two bowls.

After your pork has rested, slice each chop into 1/4" slices and place two sliced chops onto each salad. Sprinkle salads with 1 tbsp each of the dried blueberries and serve with lemon wedges to be squeezed over salad in lieu of dressing, if desired.

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*If you don't have a health food store or a source for organic dried fruit near you, you can order organic dried blueberries here*

 

365 Project - 365 Paleo Recipes in 365 Days

We here at ePaleoCookbooks - myself in particular -  have decided to start our own little 365 Project, and bring you one new paleo meal every day for the next year. We'll be including pics and the recipe (yes, I am actually going to make them) with each one, so stay tuned in each day, and be prepared to salivate.

 

365 Paleo - DAY 1

Steak Kabobs

*I actually got these kabobs premade at my local farmer's market, but you can easily make your own. You just need a couple wooden skewers - soak them in water first, so the don't catch fire on the grill - meat and veggies. The ones I bought had tomatoes on the ends, so I had to remove those, since tomatoes aren't paleo.*

Ingredients:

a nice thick grass-fed steak, cut into 1 1/2" cubes

one bell pepper, sliced into 1" pieces

one red onion, sliced into 1" pieces

ground black pepper

 

Once all of your meat and veggies are prepped, assemble them by sliding one piece of each unto a wooden skewer and repeating until the skewer is full, leaving 1" at each end empty so that you can pick them up. If you have leftover ingredients, assemble another skewer. 

Let your skewers sit out until meat is room temperature, about 30 minutes. 

Heat your grill to med-high heat. Place skewers on your grill. You don't need to oil the grill, because once the grates have charred the meat, they will easily lift off. 

Close the lid to the grill and let skewers cook 3-4minutes. Open lid and flip your skewers. Cook another 3-4 minutes. Continue flipping and cooking until the edges of your meat have taken on a tasty looking brownness and you have clearly defined char lines. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes longer.

Remove from grill and let rest on a plate for 5 minutes to allow the juices in the meat to redistribute. Sprinkle with black pepper, serve with a small piece of fruit or a handful of nuts and enjoy. 

 

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The Hunger Games - Katniss and Paleo

I came across a great blog post from one of my favorite sites, nerdfitness.com, and it cracked me up so much that I thought it definitely worth a share. 

The post itself is about surviving in The Hunger Games, but there were a few paragraphs about Katniss' diet, where (and I will insert said paragraphs below), you will see that Katniss' paleo diet definitely gave her an advantage in the arena. 

I currently happen to be reading the 2nd book in The Hunger Games series, so of course I'm left planning my personal strategy, should I ever be forced into a fight to the death for food and survival, so I'm glad I've been working on my hunter-gatherer skills. :P

Here's the snippet from the blog post:
 

"Katniss spends her days hunting out in the woods, tracking and trapping animals, fishing in ponds, foraging for plants and roots, hunting with a bow and arrow to take down deer, and carrying all of those things back home.  While the other tributes in the game have to rely on the food provided to them at the start of the games, Katniss survives by hunting and finding her own food in the wilderness.

What we can learn from Katniss: Katniss is a prime example of a paleo eater, built for optimal functionality – sure she indulges by eating bread every once in a blue moon, but for the most part she eats what she can catch, capture, or grow.  Now it’s your turn.

You might not need to go out in the woods and hunt things this afternoon, but it doesn’t mean you can’t eat natural foods and avoid the processed stuff.  As Michael Pollan will tell you, “eat real food, mostly plants.”  The more real things you can purchase (or hunt, or grow) and the more you can learn how to prepare food for yourself, the less reliant you will be on outside sources for sustenance (drive through windows, instant meals, microwave dinners) and the better chance you’ll have at surviving for a long and healthy existence."

 

Pycnogenol

I grew up with a mother who was a health nut, so vitamin supplementation is pretty second nature for me. 

That doesn't mean that I take every vitamin I come across, but I'm always interested in new health benefits, especially for supplements that I've never heard of. So, when I came across this blurb in the April edition of Good Housekeeping magazine, I thought it was cool enough to pass on.

The supplement in reference is called pycnogenol and it's derived from pine bark. Previously, it had been po

pular for its ability to combat jet lag, but according to GH,

"In an eight-week study,  [Italian student] participants taking 100mg a day [of pycnogenol] fared better on their finals than a control group did and also tested higher on alertness, memory and mood. The gains, say researchers, may be due to pycnogenol's antioxidant potency and its effects on the brain's circulatorysystem..."

*You can check out this article from Nutritional Reviews for more information on the benefits of pycnogenol*

 

 

Rendering Your Own Animal Fat

One of the rules of paleo dieting is that you have to eliminate processed oils from your diet, with the exception of coconut oil because coconut oil can be derived naturally. This can making cooking on the paleo dieting a little challenging, since you have to get creative with other fatty sources. A few paleo cookbooks will give you recipes for rendering your own fat from animals, but I found this cool blog which has a breakdown of how he rendered goose fat. 

 

If you've ever seen your grandma cook with bacon grease, cooking with rendered animal fats is pretty much the same idea. You just cook the animal for your meal, and save the grease for later on. My mom always stored bacon grease in a coffee can in the freezer. It solidifies at room temp, so whenever you need to grease a pan, you just scrape off a little of the lard and smear it on the pan.

 

Check out this blog post from Paleo Diet and Living

http://www.paleodietandliving.com/paleo-diet/beginners-guide-to-rendering-goose-fat-and-other-animal-fats/

Varying Degrees of Devotion - RECIPE

If you talk to anyone about the paleo diet, you'll quickly notice that everyone has a different set of rules that they follow, based on what they consider "paleo". I call these, "varying degrees of devotion". 

A strictly Paleolithic diet doesn't allow for the use of anything that was created by modern (or semi-modern) man. Things like processed oils, salt - which can be mined or dried out from salt water - sugar, even peanuts and corn, were all introduced to the human diet after the paleolithic era. 

However, if you look at most recipes, either online or in paleo cookbooks, you'll find some of these items included.

Take for example, this recipe from paleodietlifestyle.com.

 

Raspberry Spinach Salad:

Ingredients

• 3 tbsps olive oil;
• 2 tbsps raspberry vinegar;
• 1/4 cup fresh raspberries, crushed to a puree;
• 8 cups baby spinach;
• 2 cups fresh raspberries;
• 4 tbsps walnuts, crushed;
• ½ red onion, finely chopped;
• 3 kiwis, peeled and sliced;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

 

Looks and sounds amazing (and I will be making it today for lunch), but in the strictest of terms, it's not "paleo" thanks to the salt and olive oil. But it is healthy and a great mix of heart healthy fats, proteins and energy supplying carbs, so unless you're a paleo purist, I say bend the rules a little and enjoy!