Tag: paleo

Strawberry Prawn Salad

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Strawberry Prawn Salad

This one is light, refreshing, and tastes healthy.

It’s also delicious, and packed with protein.

Note: a little fresh Basil or cilantro would be a great addition to this salad.

gluten-free, paleo, pescatarian, low-carb

Strawberry Prawn Salad

200 – 250g prawns

Avocado

Baby spinach

1-2 Persian cucumbers

Slivered almonds

Garlic powder

Togarishi or other spicy mix if desired

1 pint strawberries

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp date molasses

3 Tbsp olive oil

Generous sprinkle black pepper

Generous sprinkle salt

Juice of 1 lime (about a Tablespoon)

To make the dressing, whiz together 4-5 strawberries, the olive oil, lime juice, balsamic, date molasses, olive oil, salt & pepper.

For the shrimp, season liberally with salt, pepper, garlic powder & togarishi. Cook through.

For the salad, add the rest of the strawberries, chopped; the avocado, also chopped; and chopped cucumbers to a large bowl. Add the shrimp & dressing and toss.

To assemble, add halt the shrimp mix to a bed of spinach and garnish with slivered almonds.

Serves 2

Steak Salad with Spicy Mango Dressing

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Steak Salad with Spicy Mango Dressing

This is a fantastic lunch – or dinner – salad. It’s quick to make, bright and fresh, and with a hit of protein.

gluten-free, paleo

Steak Salad with Spicy Mango Dressing

Dressing:

1 mango

1 thumb ginger

4 cloves garlic

3 Tbsp orange juice

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

Sprinkle red chili flakes

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp hot & sweet sauce from Indifoods

Juice of 2 limes

Salt & pepper

Salad:

Leftover cooked steak

~ 1/2 c radish, sliced thin

3 small cucumber, sliced into thin half moons

1/3 – 1/2 c frozen peas, thawed

500g baby spinach

10-20 cherry tomatoes, halved

Assemble all dressing ingredients in a blender. Whiz to combine.

In a large bowl, assemble all salad ingredients and toss.

Toss with dressing and serve – I top with my favorite seedy salad topper mix.

Serves 3-ish if you’re having a big lunch salad

No Added Fat Crispy Air Fryer Potatoes

Categories Recipes2 Comments on No Added Fat Crispy Air Fryer Potatoes

This is a killer weeknight crispy potato recipe that comes together quickly and requires zero added fat.

gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo

No Added Fat Crispy Air Fryer Potatoes

1 large baking potato, cut into bite-sized pieces

Lots of salt

A seasoning – I used chicken salt, but your current favorite potato seasoning would be perfect

Generously salt a pot of water.

Add your potatoes and bring up to a boil.

Boil until fork tender, about 8 mins.

During the last few minutes of cooking, preheat your air fryer to 400F.

When the potatoes are tender, drain and chuck back into the pot you cooked them in. Vigorously shake to break the potatoes up a bit and get them messy. Toss with your seasoning and air fry about 12 minutes, shaking a couple times during cooking, until your desired crispiness has been reached.

Serves 2, but can be quickly scaled

Simple Stir Fry

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Simple Stir Fry

This is a quick-n-dirty stir fry I threw together the first week back from vacation inspired by Thai flavors – without having to source a few specialty ingredients.

gluten-free, paleo

Simple Stir Fry

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts

Zucchini, sliced into half moons

Bell pepper, chopped bite sized

Yellow onion, sliced into thin half moons

Green beans, chopped bite sized

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Tbsp fish sauce (check your labels for paleo & gluten free)

1 Tbsp coconut aminos or soy sauce

2 tsp chili garlic sauce

2 tsp ketjap manis (check your labels)

2 tsp molasses

Chop your veg. You are looking for about 5 – 6 cups total veg in whatever configuration you’ve got. Add to a large bowl.

Chop your chicken into bite sized pieces and add to the bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the sauces. Pour over the veg & meat and toss.

Preheat your air fryer to 400F for 3 mins.

Air fry your mixture for 8 or 9 minutes (I did 2 batches for a total of 19 minutes), tossing once or twice per go.

Serves 3 – 4 with no carbs; can easily stretch with carbs

Air Fryer Steak

Categories Picture of the Day, RecipesLeave a Comment on Air Fryer Steak

We’ve been eating one of these steaks most nights we have been home these last few months – DH has perfected his method to a science. I just tried it and smoked the damn house out (again) 😂🙄🤷‍♀️.

gluten-free, paleo, keto

Air Fryer Steak

A steak – preferably ribeye or strip of about 12 – 14 ounces and an inch thick

A little butter

Your favorite seasoning (we use Lowry’s Seasoning Salt)

Preheat your air fryer on 400F for 3 minutes.

Season 1 side of your steak, add to the basket of the air fryer seasoning side down and season the other.

Let cook 3 minutes.

While that’s cooking, get a pan ripping hot. When DH does this, he uses the center burner of our stove – which apparently doesn’t get as hot as my favorite burner, which smoked the house out.

Cook 1:30 per side.

Remove from the heat, pop your little bit of butter on, and let rest a few minutes.

We slice ours into bite-sized pieces because we are heathens and have been having great fun with ‘kitchen steak’. Seats are for sides. 😆

Serves 2

Pork Belly Meatballs

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Pork Belly Meatballs

These babies are a riff on Lions Head meatballs and use up a chunk of the bounty pork belly my wonderful DH brought home last week. One can only have so many days of pork belly slices in a row.

gluten-free, paleo

Pork Belly Meatballs

Meatballs:

500 – 600g pork belly, skin off

1 Tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos

1 Tbsp oyster sauce (check your labels!)

2 tsp rice vinegar

1 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp sichuan pepper (I mashed 6 – 10 peppercorns with the butt of my knife to crush)

To form the meatballs, chuck all the ingredients in a food processor and work into a paste. Form into ping pong sized balls and set aside.

Simmer Sauce:

1.5 Tbsp oil

1 cube sugar

2 Tbsp ginger, minced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp sichuan pepper

2 tsp 5-spice powder

2.5 c water

2.5 Tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos

1/4 c mirin

2 tsp sweet soy (check your labels!)

1 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp water

Bring all simmer sauce ingredients but the cornstarch to a hard simmer in a large pan. Let simmer 5 minutes to reduce a bit and get the flavors to start working together.

Add the cornstarch slurry and let cook, stirring, a minute or so until you think it’s beginning to thicken.

Nestle the meatballs in the pan and cook, covered, 5 minutes.

Add 1/2 a package snow peas, halved, and a couple bok choy, chopped.

Pop the lid back on and let go 3 minutes. Take the lid off and continue cooking another 2 – 3 minutes.

Serves 3 – 4 for dinner as a stand-alone, if fleshed out with a carb could stretch another serving

Air Fryer Pork Belly

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Air Fryer Pork Belly

This is a decadent dinner and can stretch – we found the fattiness of the pork meant we didn’t need a huge hunk for dinner. I expect this piece we did to last 4-5 servings, depending on what else we do with it.

gluten-free, paleo, keto

The back half looks a little brown – this was after the first smoking incident, caused by the oven. With a little more smoke. Still damn good though.

Air Fryer Pork Belly

500-600g pork belly

2 Tbsp rice vinegar, divided

1 tsp Chinese 5-spice (or any 5-spice kind of situation, really – I think mine isn’t strictly Chinese, but that is what I was going for)

Salt & pepper

Score the skin of your pork belly about every half inch or so.

Add to a shallow dish (I used one of my largest Tupperware). Sprinkle with half the rice vinegar and dust with the 5-spice. Add some pepper.

Flip, pat the skin dry and let sit uncovered in the fridge 4 hours to overnight.

Preheat your air fryer to 180C.

Flip the pork belly again, sprinkle with the rest of the vinegar and add a healthy amount of chunky salt.

Put on tinfoil, and fold/tuck the sides up to make a little tray.

Add to your air fryer and cook :45 – 1 hour.

Note: This may cause life to become smoky. I smoked the house out and have no idea why; the fat didn’t leak and nothing was burned.

Either way, brush the salt off the top.

If your life is smoky, finish off in the oven at 400 until the skin cracks.

If you managed to avoid such drama, crank the air fryer up to 400 and do the same. This should take 5 – 10 mins.

Enjoy! We have eaten this as-is alongside some parsnips one night and drizzled with a little sweet soy the next. I’m scheming a jammy wine sauce for a third night.

Serves 4 – 5

Spiced Meatballs

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Spiced Meatballs

These baby meatballs are inspired by a Moroccan meatball dish I heard about somewhere on YouTube and are delicious. I’ve eaten them as-is, with chunky potato, topped with a fried egg, and alongside parsnips. All versions were great.

gluten-free, paleo

Spiced Meatballs

1 lb ground beef

2 Tbsp grated onion

2 Tbsp minced onion

3 Tbsp parsley, minced

3 Tbsp cilantro, minced

1.5 tsp sweet paprika

1.5 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric

Mix together and roll into tiny big marble sized balls. Ish. Try to go for smaller than a ping pong ball if possible. Set aside while you make the sauce.

For the sauce:

350g jar plain tomato sauce or marinara

1/2 onion, chopped pretty fine

1 bell pepper, chopped pretty fine

4 cloves garlic, chopped pretty fine

1 chili pepper, chopped pretty fine

2 Tbsp cilantro, minced

2 Tbsp parsley, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp salt

2 tsp sweet paprika

2 tsp cumin

1 Tbsp oil

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the peppers, onion, chili and garlic and sauté until the onions are translucent.

Add the cilantro, parsley, oregano, pepper, salt, paprika and cumin and let meld until the spices bloom and become fragrant.

Add the tomato sauce and half a can of water if the mix looks like it may be too dry.

Let simmer 10 – 15 minutes or until the volume reduces back down to half.

Add your meatballs in a single layer and sauté 10 – 15 minutes, covered.

Serve with olives, eggs, whatever tubers you have lying around, polenta or cous cous.

Serves 4

Flank Steak with Salsa

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Flank Steak with Salsa

This is a fantastic – and quick – weeknight main.

gluten-free, paleo

Flank Steak with Salsa

1 lb. flank or flap steak

1 large tomato

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced and salted

1 green chili, minced

1/4 c parsley, chopped

1-2 tsp fresh thyme, picked and chopped

1/4 c smoked almonds, chopped

4 Tbsp flavored vinegar (I used ume plum but sherry would be good here)

2 anchovies

Salt, pepper & oil

First, make your salsa & sauce by adding half of the following to a blender & half to a bowl: chopped tomatoes, parsley, thyme and almonds; sliced and salted garlic, and vinegar. Add the sardines to the blender only.

Blend half the mix and toss the other. Set aside.

Heat a pan over high heat, and add a bit of high smoke point oil. Salt & pepper the steak and brush some of the blended sauce over. Sear on one side, flip, re-sauce and let cook a couple minutes (about halfway done). Flip again and sauce. Continue cooking until your desired doneness is reached. Re-sauce and let rest.

To serve, layer slices of steak over a bit of the blended sauce and top with the chunky salsa.

Serves 3-4

Tandoori Pan

Categories RecipesLeave a Comment on Tandoori Pan

This is a quick weeknight flavor Bomb that makes a great meal prep.

gluten-free, paleo

Tandoori Pan

1 lb chicken breasts or tenders

2-4 sweet potatoes, about 4 cups chopped

1/2 cup frozen peas

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp sweet paprika

1 Tbsp garlic powder

2.5 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground coriander

2 tsp ground turmeric

3/4 tsp ground cardamom

1.5 Tbsp oil (I used mustard oil)

2 cups cilantro

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp lime juice

1 tsp sweetener (I used maple syrup)

1/2 avocado

Pinch red pepper flakes

Salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 200C. Prep a baking sheet.

Chop the sweet potato and add to a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the spices.

Add 2/3 of the spice mix to the sweet potatoes and toss with 3/4 of the oil + good cracks of salt and pepper. Bake 20 minutes.

While the potatoes are working, toss the chicken and peas with the rest of the oil and spice mix.

Scooch the potatoes to the sides of the pan and add the chicken + peas in the center. Bake another 10-20 minutes or until the potatoes are nice and browned and the chicken is cooked through.

While that is going, blend the cilantro, garlic, lime, sweetener, avocado and red pepper with enough water to loosen. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4