I saw the inspiration for this recipe somewhere along my merry food blogger wanderings, though I can’t for the life of me remember where. I read the title, moved on, meant to come back to it, and completely forgot. But somehow the title stuck with me – it was something about cauliflower steaks – and a hankering was born.
My version combines the nuttiness of roast cauliflower with the sweet depth of tahini and a sharp tang from Asiago. Capers would be fantastic here, as would any sort of nice nutty spice blend (za’atar would be dynamite). I served alongside a simple steak, though I could easily see this dish turned into a grilling affair.
Roasted Cauliflower Steaks (paleo)
1 head cauliflower
Coconut oil
Sea salt and black pepper
1-2 tsp. tahini
A sprinkle of fresh asiago or parmesan cheese – omit if you are cutting dairy
Preheat your oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with foil.
Cut your cauliflower into 1/2 inch thick steaks – leaving the stem on for cutting helps. I had a medium head and ended up with 3 steaks + a bunch of florets.
Lay your steaks on the prepared baking sheet and brush with coconut oil. You might want to pour the oil into a separate dish to dip into or you just may end up with a little relative density of cauliflower vs coconut oil science project. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Broil 25 minutes, or until the steaks are browned and smell nutty – make sure to flip halfway through to avoid burning.
When the steaks are browned, brush with tahini and sprinkle with parmesan. Broil until the cheese is melted.
Serves 2 as a side with enough florets leftover for a nice lunch.
This dish was inspired by the best plate of brussels sprouts I’ve ever eaten. One of my DH and my favorite restaurants right now is Talde, an Asian/American mashup restaurant and bar helmed by the incredibly lovely and gracious in person Dale Talde (of quick-tempered Top Chef fame). Sadly, Talde is an only occasional treat as pretty much nothing I love best is ever paleo. Bacon & egg ramen with buttered toast broth, people. Pretzel pork & chive dumplings. Pad thai with fried oysters. Korean fried chicken. Seriously delicious stuff here. Talde had a brussels side one night that was fantastic. Stellar, even. Unforgettable.
This recipe is no way even remotely close to that flavor bomb, but it’s pretty darn good in its own right. Deeply flavored, intense in a good way; this makes a very satisfying weeknight meal for two. And, since it’s not a huge dish, it won’t break the gut bank, either.
3 cloves garlic
Tiny white onion – ping pong ball sized (or 3 Tbsp. finely diced)
1/2 inch ginger
Sesame oil
10 ounce shaved brussels sprouts (be forewarned: if you buy your brussels pre-shaved, they may be a bit bitter after cooking – that doesn’t bother me, but if it does you, shred your own – making sure to remove the core – with a food processor or box grater)
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. Bragg’s liquid aminos (coconut aminos)
1 tsp. Chili garlic sauce (I use the brand with the chicken – like sriracha)
Lime juice would be stellar but I didn’t have any on hand
Mince the garlic, onion and ginger. Bring 2 tsp. sesame oil up to temperature in a wok or large skillet set over medium-high. Add the aromatics and stir until fragrant, about a minute or two.
Add the brussels and stir-fry until wilted and beginning to brown. While that is working, de-fat your chicken and cut into bite-sized chunks.
Add the chicken with an additional 2 tsp. sesame oil. Stir-fry. When the chicken goes opaque, add the sesame seeds and cook an additional 2-3 minutes.
Add the fish sauce, coconut aminos and chili garlic sauce. Some lime would be fantastic here as well. Let go an additional 2 or so minutes, or until the sauce has mostly evaporated and everything looks and smells intoxicating.
Oh, wow. I cannot believe I’ve ignored you guys like this. This recipe for banana ‘ice cream’ is really tasty, dead simple to make, whips up quick, and lasts in the freezer for as long as you need it to. It’s cheap, too, averaging however much bananas cost where you live per serving. And it’s paleo. Have I mentioned it’s also good? And filling? And healthy? And lactose free? What are you waiting for?! Ice cream waits for no man!
A good friend of mine recently made the jump to paleo (ok, it was a few months ago now) and I realized I hadn’t posted a recipe for this yet for you guys. This ‘ice cream’ is fantastic. I made it pretty much all summer last year and ended up almost living on it when the days got so hot I didn’t want to move, let alone put anything in my mouth that wasn’t freezing.
Also? It’s toddler-approved. My girl has a munchkin who loves bananas – and this dessert. It’s making its way into heavy rotation at her house as a summertime treat to combat her little guy’s first summer dealing with crazy heat.
This ice cream is surprisingly creamy for having a single ingredient and has a light banana taste when made with no add-ins. I always add almond butter because I absolutely love it and usually honey and a generous pinch of flaky salt as well. If paleo marshmallow fluff existed, that would go in as well. Ooooh. Steve’s Original Paleo Krunch (or some other grainless granola) would be fantastic here. Cocoa nibs if you’re so inclined.
1-Ingredient Paleo Ice Cream
1 banana per serving
Add-ins: I usually use 1 Tbsp. almond butter + 1 tsp. honey + a big pinch of flaky salt per serving
Peel your banana, break into large pieces, and freeze at least an hour to overnight before starting.
Put your banana + any add-ins into your blender. Blend until it looks like soft-serve. At this point, your ice cream is entirely edible – but if you stick it in the freezer for a couple of hours, you will be rewarded with a rich, dense ice cream that is so satisfying you’ll never miss the dairy – or other ingredients.
Serves however many you want it to.
A note about blending: Don’t overload your blender. Just … don’t. Even if you have a Vitamix. Your blender doesn’t want to handle 9 bananas at once and you’ll have to dig out frozen and welded-together clumps of fruit before doing the right thing and blending 2 bananas at a time max. Just be patient and wait for the first bananas to do their thing before adding more. Of course this comes from experience. Experience and my wonderful, supportive DH giving a much-deserved ‘I told you so.’
I’m glad I kept those aging stalks of lemongrass in the crisper drawer. They’ve been there, silent, like an accusation, for weeks. I finally found a vehicle for their tender lemony brightness – meatballs. Specifically, Thai inspired meatballs. The lemon works well here, balancing the fish sauce and providing a nice bridge for ginger’s blustery heat. If you do not have access to lemongrass, a bit of zest would work; just don’t go crazy with it. A teaspoon or so should do.
My attempt to ‘sex up’ meatballs.
Lemon Ginger Thai Meatballs
1 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce
1.5 Tbsp. fresh ginger
2 Tbsp. cilantro
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 lb. grass fed ground beef
2 stalks lemongrass
2 Tbsp. coconut aminos
Fat of Choice (if you make this salad as a side, bacon fat is a fantastic fat to use)
Mince your ginger and cilantro. Add to a bowl with the beef, chili garlic sauce, fish sauce, and coconut aminos. Bash the lemongrass with the back of your knife to get the goodness out – chop and add to the bowl.
Form little ping pong sized balls and fry in fat of choice over medium heat until browned. Flip and brown.
Makes about 14 balls, enough to serve 2 for dinner + 1 for lunch.
This dish received the highest of praises from the DH. He not only ate every bite, he also said he really liked it. Sweet. Into the repertoire you go. While not strictly paleo as-written, you can easily swap something more paleo-friendly for the snap peas — tiny broccoli florets (broccoli overload!), kale, even celery would go great here. As would mango. Mmmmm … spicy mango.
Spicy Broccoli Slaw with Snap Peas and Bacon
4 ounces thick-sliced bacon, diced
2 tsp. grainy mustard (I use Maille)
1 tsp. chili garlic sauce (I use the kind with the chicken and flecks of garlic)
2 tsp. apple cider vinegar (I use Bragg)
1 tsp. honey
3 Tbsp. almond oil (or any neutral oil – grapeseed would be great)
6 ounces broccoli slaw
5 ounces sugar snap peas
Flaky salt and pepper to taste
Brown your bacon, drain and set aside. Make a vinaigrette out of the wet ingredients and whisk to form an emulsion. Toss everything together and serve.
Serves 2 for dinner. Great with a grilled meat (or in our case, some really substandard bratwurst).
This dinner was provided courtesy of Weber Farm. I am fortunate enough to have a best friend that is not only kickass, but has her own home farm (with eggs I dream about and honey I use way too quickly) and whose male relations hunt often and hunt successfully. It was at her table, way back in college, that I first tasted venison and loved it. Despite her years of warnings that venison is a meat on advanced setting, I finally conned her into sending me home with some to try and make something fabulous out of. And I did. She sent me home with two perfectly portioned baggies of pre-chunked venison back strap – which I’m guessing she uses in a braise – and the instruction to make her something good so she can crib the recipe. I think she would have enjoyed last night’s (and the night before’s) dinner as much as I did.
A note about venison: Venison (deer) is a very, very lean game meat that doesn’t taste particularly gamey at all if cleaned and prepared right (luckily, those Webers know what they are doing). It tastes kind of like really lean beef and can get very tough and chewy if you either cook it too long or not long enough. Venison is a meat that needs added fat – it’s too dry without it – so don’t be afraid to finish with a little butter. I’ve had it cube steaked & chicken-fried, stewed, steaked, jerkyed, burgered, and sauteed and have loved it each and every way. Venison is awesome and it’s a shame I can’t just run to the store and grab some. That, by the way, is a hint that I would like more, please, next time I visit 🙂
If you don’t have access to venison, duck would be fabulous here. Or, if that’s out of range, beef or bison would be great as well. Even chicken would be tasty. Or pork. Really pretty much anything that walks or swims and is slow enough to let you eat it. Pork belly would be amazeballs.
While I’m on the subject of substitutions, this sauce I made for duck would be a fantastic sub for the blackberry wine sauce in the recipe.
Yes, I see that these are green beans. I took this picture when we had a repeat dinner the next night.
6 oz. blackberries – fresh or frozen (I used a frozen package of fresh berries)
1 c. red wine (use your favorite, or if you don’t have a favorite, something that one liking red wine would happily drink. None of that cooking wine crap.)
1/2 in. ginger, peeled and halved
1 Tbsp. honey (I used wildberry honey from Whidbey Island, but any good quality honey would do)
1 Tbsp. unsalted grass-fed butter
The Venison
10 oz. venison (I used pre-chunked backstrap)
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 Tbsp. unsalted grass-fed butter
Granulated garlic
Granulated onion
Salt & pepper
The Veg
1 bunch broccolini (or like in the picture, green beans)
2 Tbsp. fresh grated parmesan (or other hard salty cheese)
2 tsp. olive oil
Salt & pepper
First, get your sauce going. In a medium pan over medium heat, bring the blackberries and wine up to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the ginger, and macerate to break the berries up. Simmer 20-30 minutes, or until the wine has reduced and the sauce gets a little thick. If you want it thicker, simmer longer. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add the honey and taste for sweetness – if it needs more, wait a minute or two before adding. When the sauce is at your desired thickness, turn the heat off and drop the butter in, swirling to combine – the heat from the pan will melt it.
While the sauce is going, turn your broiler on high and place the veg on a foil-lined cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cheese. Broil 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is browned and the broccolini is just about to start burning in spots.
The last thing you want to make is your meat, as this is pretty quick-cooking. In a large pan over medium-high heat, melt your coconut oil. Add the venison, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and onion. Cook until browned on that side. Flip with tongs quickly, sprinkle the other side with seasoning, and let go until browned on the other side. Ideally, you want your pieces to be medium-rare, so use your judgement. Venison cooks just like beef, and in my experience I was able to cook the large chunks perfectly, but had some chewy smaller bits. They were still delicious. When your meat has cooked to your liking, turn the heat off and drop the butter in. Toss to coat as the butter melts.
This is not a ‘healthy’ or ‘paleo’ recipe, but it is delicious. My mother in law makes this dip for family gatherings and special occasions (luckily us coming to visit counts as just such an occasion), and I love it. Crave it, even. It may or may not be the first thing I think of when I know a visit is imminent. Not that the in-laws aren’t great, but since one of the (many) reasons I married their son was his prowess in the kitchen; I’d say that getting excited about a visit (partially) because of food is not out of the question. Lucky for you guys, she was gracious enough to share the recipe and help direct the photography.
Buffalo Chicken Dip
10 ounces chicken breast (canned)
Frank’s Red Hot Sauce (the recipes calls for 1/4 to 1/2 cup; my MIL uses less if a non-spicy eater is in residence)
8 oz. cream cheese (full fat is best)
1/2 c. ranch dressing (Hidden Valley is the favorite)
1/2 c. sharp cheddar, shredded
Tortilla chips to serve
Preheat the oven to 350. Combine cream cheese, hot sauce and chicken in a medium pan over medium heat. Stir to combine until cheese is melted and chicken is broken up.
Remove from the heat, add the ranch, and stir. Pour into an 8×8 casserole dish and top with the cheddar. Bake 20-25 minutes and serve with tortilla chips.
Serves umm…. depends on who is in the house. If my sister in law and I are both there, maybe two? Three? She usually doubles or triples the recipe, depending upon how excited the two of us look.
*Drool* Ok, so this isn’t *technically* Carolina-style pig. I lack a pit and/or a smoker and am not bbq level confident about my grill skills, so this is a compromise. A damn tasty compromise. This pork is a great thing to have on hand when the midday munchies hit and gives you more than a week’s worth of lunch or dinner toss-in meat. Making a salad? Chuck in some pork. Need to use up some random veggies and half an avocado? Call it a stir-fry and add some pork. Craving pineapple, pork and vinegar? Well, there you go. You can make this wonder meat on a Sunday and eat it all week. Now that’s my kind of time vs. payoff investment.
Slow Roasted Pork, Carolina Style (paleo)
Based on the Momofuku Pork recipe posted on Yummy Supper
3-5 pounds pork butt (shoulder), skin removed
3 tsp. salt per pound (I used sea salt)
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. sugar per pound (I used regular white)
Black pepper
Time
Heat
1 c. apple cider vinegar (Bragg’s is awesome here)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. Texas Pete (or other hot sauce if you must. you can also omit for a less spicy version)
Big pinch red pepper flakes
Few grinds black pepper
1 big pinch salt
Mix your salt, sugar and pepper together in a small bowl and sprinkle very liberally over the pork on all sides. Place in the fridge to cure for 24 hours.
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F. Slap your pork into a cast iron skillet or similar pot and slip into the oven for 3 hours. After the 3 hour mark, baste once an hour for an additional 3 hours.
While your pork is going through its first stage cooking, make the sauce by combining all ingredients in a small saucepan and bringing to a boil. Stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved, remove from the heat, and let chill in the fridge a couple hours until ready to serve.
Pull when falling apart to the touch and a beautiful mahogany with a maddening smell. Pull with 2 forks like a dog burying a bone.
Slather with sauce and serve with everything – pineapple salsa, broccolini & avocado, just a fork … seriously, pork goes with everything. It’s the LBD of dinner meats.
This recipe grew from a craving. A pineapple and tomato craving. And what’s better to pair with pineapple and tomato than the salty tang of coconut aminos? Not much, I’ll tell you, unless you’re talking about heat. Fresh heat from diced jalapenos takes this salsa over the edge. The components are great in and of themselves, but with the slight pepper crunch from the jalapeno, something magical happens.
This recipe takes a little marinating time – about an hour – but the chicken comes out well worth it. This is a riff on a soy/pineapple/egg white chicken my mother used to serve and never fails to bring me right back to that dish, which at the time was one of my favorites and ever-so-exotic.
Tropical Chicken & Broccoli with Spicy Pineapple Salsa
Tropical Chicken & Broccoli
2 boneless skinless breasts chicken
4 Tbsp. coconut aminos
2 tsp. honey
1 big pinch red pepper flakes
2 c. broccoli
Drizzle olive oil
Pinch salt
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
Spicy Pineapple Salsa
1.5 cups fresh pineapple
1 c. cherry tomatoes
1 tsp. honey
1/2 jalapeno
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp. rice vinegar
Big pinch flaky salt
1 tsp. chipotle powder (optional. I’m not sure it added anything to the dish)
First, get your salsa going. If you are using fresh pineapple, peel and core and cut into bite-sized pieces. If you’re going the canned route, do yourself a favor and pick pineapple in natural juice; you don’t want cloying sweet here since you’re looking to walk a balance between sweet, hot and tart. Add the pineapple to a medium bowl.
De-seed and dice the jalapeno, halve the tomatoes and crush the garlic. Add to the pineapple bowl, along with the honey, rice vinegar and chipotle powder if you’re using.
Stash in the fridge to give the flavors a chance to marry.
Cut the chicken into strips and add to a large plastic bag, along with the coconut aminos, 2 tsp. honey and red pepper flakes.
Marinate in the fridge for an hour.
While things are chilling, put your broccoli on a baking sheet, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Broil until starting to brown, flip, and continue broiling until nicely browned to just about where you want it – about 25-40 minutes depending upon how large your pieces are and how far from the heating source you place the rack.
When the broccoli is done, add to a large pan with the sesame oil and sesame seeds and toss to finish browning. Set aside.
Add some fat to the pan and sautee the chicken until done through and browned on all sides. Be careful while the chicken cooks, as the honey will want to burn. Keep it moving so that doesn’t happen.
Serve the chicken topped with salsa alongside the broccoli.
This is one of those meals where everything went wrong – I consciously decided to swap the main meat, the grocery was out of chorizo, I didn’t have as much adobo sauce and almond flour as I thought – and yet it all came together just fine into a damn tasty little dish, and not at all as meat clogged as I had thought it would be. I was expecting heavy, greasy, and to finish feeling like I’m on meat overload – happily, that was not the case here.
Yeah, that’s a meaty little snowman head and a meaty little mitten – in May – what of it? That’s just how I roll. With the cool kids.
Mini Turkey & Sausage Spicy Meatloaves with Seared Tomato Relish
1 lb. ground turkey
1 lb. fresh sausage (the original recipe called for chorizo; I used some sort of spicy ‘mystery sausage’ from the freezer and it turned out great)
1 Tbsp. adobo sauce (from a can of chipotles – read your label!)
2 eggs
Scant 2 Tbsp. almond flour (you can omit this alltogether and things will work out just fine – the meat mix will be a little wet but all will be well. If too-wet meat freaks you out, just halve or omit the egg – ground meat in a muffin tin is very forgiving)
1 large onion
5 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. coconut oil
2 c. cherry tomatoes
1 tsp. adobo sauce + sriracha or more adobo if you have it and you need it for spice
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 c. cilantro
juice of 1 lime (maybe more)
extra lime juice + 1/4 an avocado per person for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add to a medium pan with the coconut oil and sautee until translucent and beginning to brown around the edges.
Add half the onions & garlic to a large bowl and half to the bowl of your food processor.
To the bowl (not food processor), add the ground meat + sausage slipped of its casings + egg + flour + 1 Tbsp. adobo and mix by hand until incorporated.
If you’re a normal adult human and have “regular” muffin tins, you will need 2 for this recipe. If you’re like me and only have 1 tin of mini muffin cups and a couple novelty tins for making holiday cakes, muddle through as you can. Whatever kind of loaf you’re making, fill your cups, making sure not to fill each cup up more than 3/4 of the way through or you will have a hot mess on your hands. A hot mess and overflowing grease. Yum. I made 1 tin of mini muffins + 1 tin of snowman/mitten muffins + 3 burger sized patties fried on the stovetop.
Pop those babies into the oven and set the timer for 25 minutes.
While the loaves/muffins/snowmen heads are baking, toss the tomatoes into the pan you were using for the onions and let cook until blackened in spots and beginning to pop open. Add to the food processor, along with the remaining adobo, olive oil, lime juice, and 2 big pinches of salt. Process. Taste for seasoning; adjust heat/acid/salt if necessary. At this point, if your salsa is too wet (mine was), toss back into the pan and cook some of that liquid off. Make sure to re-taste for seasoning. Add the cilantro and set aside.
When your timer goes off, check the meatloaves. You’re looking for rendered fat on the top (you won’t have a whole heck of a lot if you’re working with turkey), and done looking bottoms. If you are using metal pans, you may have a nice crust. Silicone tins aren’t really into all that mess. If things look good, you’re in the clear. I was slightly worried about doneness (and was secretly hoping for a nice crust), so I jacked the heat to 400 and blasted the loaves for an additional 5 minutes.
Serve over a bed of sliced avocado, topped with the relish and a squirt of fresh lime juice.
Makes a bunch – I’m getting 4-6 servings (3 mini muffins, 2 snow men/mittens, or 1.5 burger patties per serving). Your mileage may vary.
Gastography 