Tag: paleo

Roasted Pumpkin Miso Pasta

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This lower-than-it-could be in carbs dish started life as the baby of a Japanese curry recipe and a ramen recipe and snowballed into a straight-up yummy pasta dish. I’m super bummed I only made enough to serve two; this was fantastic.

gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan

Roasted Pumpkin Miso Pasta

About a cup chopped pumpkin or butternut squash

2 tsp. white miso paste

Veggie or chicken stock

1/2 tsp. red chili flakes

Olive oil

1 Tbsp. + sesame oil

Curry powder

1 inch peeled fresh ginger, minced

2 scallions, minced

Sesame seeds

Soft egg (optional)

Togarishi (optional)

Kontjac noodles or sushi rice or ramen or udon or zoodles – all would be awesome, though I’ve only tried wide kontjac and rice

Preheat your oven to 200C/375F. Peel and chop the pumpkin into smallish pieces. Add to a prepared baking sheet, lash with oil, and sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and curry powder. Toss. Bake about 40 minutes or until browned in spots and soft.

Let cool for a beat, and then add to a blender with the miso, red chili flakes, 2 tsp. oil, 1 Tbsp. curry powder, 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, and 1/2 a cup of stock. Blitz, adding more stock if needed to get smooth. I used about a cup in this stage.

In a saucepan or tall-ish sided skillet, add the minced ginger and the white + light green parts of the scallions with 2 tsp. garlic oil. Sauté until the onion is beginning to soften.

Add the blitzed pumpkin and another half cup or so of stock. Let simmer down to the consistency of a thick soup.

Add your drained and rinsed kontjac or whatever curry vehicle you’re feeling, toss, and let simmer a few minutes to combine.

Serve with an optional soft egg, the green parts of the scallions, a little drizzle of sesame oil, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, and some togarishi if you want another hit of spice.

Serves 2 but can easily be scaled up

Thai-Style Red Curry

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Finally! I’ve been trying to make a silky, luxurious feeling Thai-style red curry for a minute and keep screwing something up. Either I don’t let it reduce long enough, or I drown the flavors some how – or I forget a key component like curry paste or coconut milk.

This go round, I forgot to pick up coconut milk. I swear my kitchen eats the stuff. I’ve lost like 3 cans of it in the last few months. But, with a last-minute grocery trip I was all ready to go. Whoo. I’m glad I was, too – this is a good one.

gluten-free, paleo, pescatarian

Thai-Style Red Curry

1 can coconut milk

Veggie, fish or chicken stock (1 of the empty coconut milk cans’ worth)

2 Tbsp. Thai red curry paste

2 tsp. sugar

2 Tbsp. fish sauce

2 Tbsp. soy sauce/coconut aminos

Zest and juice of 1 lime

2 stalks fresh lemongrass, peeled to reveal the soft center – mince 1 and whack the other with the back of your knife to release its flavors while cooking

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 scallion, thinly sliced

2 Thai red chilis (optional), minced

1.5 cups pumpkin or butternut squash, chopped

3/4 cup chopped okra

2 Tbsp. minced basil

Minced smoked salmon (optional)

Rice to serve

This is a simple slow-cooker dump meal. Prep all ingredients and dump into your cooker (minus the salmon, basil and green parts of the scallions). Cook however you would make a stew.

When complete, add to a saucepan and simmer until reduced a bit and silky. Serve over rice, topped with the green parts of the scallion and chopped basil.

Serves 4

Sausage Mix

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I miss Italian sausage. Or any sausage, really, that isn’t merguez, sojuk or a loose mix for kebabs.

The only sausage other than those I’ve seen where I live are chicken or beef hot dogs, and occasionally some smoked turkey or beef kielbasa. Delicious, but not exactly what I’m after. I’ve also seen Beyond Burger brats a couple times, but haven’t for months and I’m tired of waiting.

I used to make sausage back in my Charcuteapalooza days and loved it. This isn’t that, and maybe someday I’ll have the access and equipment to make legit sausages again, but this is a step in at least having those flavors in my life again.

I used my mix two ways: sprinkled liberally over ground chicken in a hash type situation, and sprinkled over potatoes with a little sun dried tomato oil before roasting. Both were delicious.

gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan

Sausage Mix

1 tsp. each of the following dried spices:

Oregano

Basil

Paprika (I used sweet but smoked would also be delicious)

Black pepper

Onion powder

Dill

Rosemary

Celery seed (or celery salt)

2 tsp. each of these:

Garlic powder

Salt

Cayenne pepper

If you have fennel, this mix will lean more Italian sausage – add 2 teaspoons to the mix. I did not, so I added half the amount of dill. Caraway would also be nice in the 1 tsp. quantity, as would thyme or sage.

Makes about enough for 1 lb. of meat + 1 tray of potatoes

Potato Salad with Damn Good Dressing

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This dressing, which was based on an everything dressing posted by one of the blogs I’ve been following long enough to be on its mailing list but whose name escapes me as I’m sitting down to type this up (maybe First Mess?) is fantastic and I could see it being equally as good on vegetarian as meat dishes (I served my salad with some simple seared salmon and it was delicious), and even great on salads. I would also stir this into some nice rice or orzo for a little quick saucy flavor boost. Yum.

gluten-free, paleo, pescatarian, vegetarian, could be made vegan, FODMAP friendly

Potato Salad with Damn Good Dressing

Salad

1/2 kg new potatoes (or other small variety that doesn’t turn to mush when boiled)

4 – 6 hard boiled eggs

2 big hands arugula

Dressing

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast

2 Tbsp. soy sauce or coconut aminos

1/5 tsp. flax seeds

1 tsp. sturdy brown mustard

2 tsp. lemon juice

3/4 cup neutral oil

1 big hand parsley

1/2 bunch chives

1.5 tsp. anchovy paste (you could swap for miso – what you’re after is umami)

Boil your potatoes 10 minutes or until fork-tender. Drain and quarter. Add to a large bowl.

Hard boil your eggs. Peel, quarter and add to the bowl.

Add the arugula.

In your blender or food processor, combine all dressing ingredients. Hit with some salt and pepper. Whiz until the herbs are chopped and the dressing is combined. Taste. Add more salt/pepper/lemon juice as necessary.

Pour about a cup over the still-warm potatoes. Toss to combine and let sit until you’re ready to serve.

I served my first round of this salad room temperature with nicely seared salmon. Subsequent servings have been heated in the microwave with a little dressing added and they’ve also been great. It’s even decent cold and I’m not a fan of cold cold potato salad.

Serves 4? 5? Depends what you’re doing with it. I got 2 dinners + 2 lunches out of it. And I have about 3/4 of a cup of dressing leftover for the rest of the week.

Kale & Squash One-Skillet Meal

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This dish feels like a return to my OG ‘everything in skillet; every dinner with a leafy green’ ways. And it was (almost) glorious. A note of caution: watch your salt levels. I wanted my finished dish a bit on the salty side and ended up veering into bad territory. Oops. Stock, as luck has it, still gets saltier as you cook it down – funny how those constant truths never change.

gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian & vegan as written, FODMAP friendly

Kale & Squash One-Skillet Meal, pictured here with added chicken thighs

Kale & Squash One-Skillet Meal

1 bunch chard, kale or other leafy green

2 cups chopped butternut or other squash variety (I had a big slice off of some sort of pumpkiny thing and it worked well)

Stock (I had FODMAP-friendly chicken stock; vegetable would also work well

Half a jar (1/3 cup when chopped) sun dried tomatoes

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Zest of 1 lemon

Neutral oil

Salt & pepper

De-seed, peel and chop the squash. Wash and chop the chard. Chop the sun dried tomatoes. Zest the lemon.

Add a few good glugs of neutral oil to your largest skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash and shallow fry until just beginning to soften or until your veggie begins to stick, if you’re like me and decided to give your new cast iron pan it’s inaugural run with something that could have easily failed. Add glugs of stock every time the pumpkin is dry, cooking and stirring frequently until 3/4 of the way cooked through.

Add the chopped chard stems and another glug stock, letting simmer until the stems are tender.

Add the chopped chard tops, lemon zest, chopped sun dried tomatoes and another glug or two of stock and let simmer until the stock has cooked down.

Now, I foolishly added salt & pepper with every addition and mine was way too salty. I’d say add salt & pepper with the squash and then taste at the end to see if you need more.

Despite the saltiness, this dish made a great base for additions and I ended up dressing it different ways for a few days. I added leftover fried potatoes the next day after breakfast. I added some leftover fried up turkey ham and served it with eggs for lunch. Leftover chicken thigh made a good second dinner addition, and I had originally intended on adding sausage to the mix but couldn’t find my beloved Beyond Burger bratwurst (aka the only sausage I can find where I live that isn’t merguez or some sort of Middle Eastern spiced beef varietal).

Serves 4 – 6 depending on how much squash you put in and what you add later – I stretched mine to 6 servings with additions

Sumac Chicken

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This is a nicely spiced little weeknight chicken that goes perfectly with a side of roasted or fried potatoes.

gluten-free, paleo

Oops. I had no idea my Hipstamatic phone app was set to moody black & white when snapping the leftovers – picture a nice spice crust on a chicken breast with a dusting of lemon zest

Sumac Chicken

3 – 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 tsp. sumac or lemon powder

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. coriander

Zest of 1 lemon

Salt & pepper

Pat the chicken dry and dust liberally with the spices. Pat the spices in and hit with salt and pepper. Cook using your favorite method – I baked mine at 220C/375F for 15 minutes; this would be an awesome addition to flour for fried chicken.

I served mine alongside a semi-failed potato rosti (my potatoes didn’t form a cake, but who’s kidding – fried potatoes are always awesome).

Serves 3 – 4

BBQ Chicken Meatball Bowl

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I’m calling this BBQ sauce for lack of a better descriptor. This sauce is actually a riff on the burger sauce I made a few nights prior involving spicy mustard, chipotle Choula and Kewpie mayo.

It also works well as the base for a meatball dressing.

gluten-free, paleo

BBQ Chicken Meatball Bowl

Carrots:

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. neutral oil

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 375F/220C. Toss the carrots with the rest of the ingredients and spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet that’s been lined with silicone or tinfoil. Bake about 25 minutes or until desired brownness has been reached.

While the carrots are working, make the meatballs and sauce.

Meatballs:

1 lb. ground chicken

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 Tbsp. coconut aminos

1.5 Tbsp. tomato paste

1 Tbsp. onion powder

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. baking powder mixed with 1 tsp. water

Mix all meatball ingredients together by hand – warning: the mix will feel a little wet if you’re not used to making meatballs by this method. Shape into ping pong ball sized meatballs and drop into a large pan where you’ve brought a few good glugs neutral oil up to medium high heat.

Fry until browned on all sides, being sure to turn gently as the balls will be a bit delicate until 2 sides are cooked.

Sauce:

2 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp. brown mustard

4 Tbsp. coconut aminos

1 Tbsp. honey

1/2 cup water

Salt & pepper

Whisk sauce ingredients together and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by about half.

Serve alone or over a side of rice, shirataki noodles, spaghetti or spaghetti squash. Serves 3 – 4

Stir-fried Beets

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This recipe is based on a loose description posted on Instagram about a month ago. No idea which ‘grammer I caged the idea from, but I suspect it was someone either Indian or Middle Eastern, given the direction this dish took. Or, I could have just had Zaatar and mustard oil on hand 🙂

Either way, this is a good little side – would be nice with some tangy goat cheese if you do dairy, and also goes nicely with the Vaguely Persian Crispy Rice I posted awhile back.

gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo

Stir-Fried Beets

1 – 2 roasted and peeled beets, grated (about 1 cup)

2 Tbsp. roughly chopped garlic

1 tsp. yellow mustard seeds

1 tsp. black mustard seeds

1/2 tsp. dried oregano

1 Tbsp. ghee or your favorite fat

Zaatar for dusting

1 Tbsp. mustard oil

1/2 tsp. cayenne or red pepper flakes

Heat the oil and ghee over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds & oregano and cook, stirring, until fragrant and just beginning to pop. Add the garlic and stir to combine.

Add the beets and flatten to cover the bottom of the pan. Hit with salt and pepper. Let crisp up a bit before stirring – or, let form a cake on the bottom of the pan and flip in wedges (or altogether if you’ve got that kind of skill).

Let brown on the other side, too.

Dust with Zaatar before serving.

Serves 2 – 3 as a light side

Indian Spiced Burgers

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Our little Monday night burger night needed a little kick in the pants. We’ve been doing whatever fake meats our local market has on hand (our favorites so far have been the Beyond Burgers and the Quorn Southern Fried “chicken” patties)j, and it’s been going really well. This week they happened to be out of good (non-lentil, non-bean) options, so I went for something a little different.

It was a big hit with me; with DH, not so much. He’s much more of a traditionalist when it comes to “staple” kid-friendly foods and has to be in the right mood for anything too far off the beaten path.

gluten-free, paleo

Indian Spiced Burgers

500g ground beef

1 Tbsp. ginger garlic paste (I used prepared)

3/4 small bunch cilantro

2 small green chilis

2 tsp. ground coriander

1 Tbsp. ground cumin

1 Tbsp. curry powder (your favorite mix)

Juice & zest of 1 lime

1 tsp. red chili powder (I used cayenne)

Mince your cilantro and chili. Add with the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Mix until combined well, but not gluey.

Divvy into 4 burger patties and fry until your desired done ness has been reached.

I served mine with Kewpie mayonnaise and a generous dollop of Bombay Sandwich Chutney on a soft bun. DH added cheese to his.

Serves 4

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Dilled Curry Potatoes

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This sounds like a weird combination, but it works really well. Bonus: this side dish makes a great little flavor punch for pretty much any main component. I served mine with next week’s Indian Spiced Burgers the first night and leftovers with plain chicken in the next day’s lunch and both were flavorful and delicious.

gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan

Dilled Curry Potatoes

500g baby potatoes

Neutral oil

1 Tbsp. curry powder (your favorite mix will do, and some fresh curry leaves would also be great here)

1 small green chili pepper

1 Tbsp. ground turmeric

1 tsp. red chili powder (I used cayenne)

4 – 5 cloves fresh garlic (3 Tbsp. when minced)

2 Tbsp. fresh dill (or more if you have more – I would have actually liked a little extra)

Salt & pepper

Fill your largest high-sided sauté pan with water to 3/4 of the way up the sides, nestle the potatoes in, add a bunch of salt and bring to a shallow boil for 10 minutes or until soft. Drain carefully and cut into halves.

While the potatoes are cooking: mince the garlic, chop the chili pepper, assemble the dried spices, and chop the dill. Set the dill aside.

Add enough oil to your pan to cover the bottom, and heat over high/medium-high until the oil starts to shimmer. Add the potatoes, liberally salt and pepper, and give a good stir for a couple minutes until they start to color.

Add the spices and garlic and stir-fry until the potatoes are as browned as you want them to be and the garlic goes nice and crispy.

Transfer to a large bowl and toss with the dill to complete.

Serves 3 – 4