Tag Archives: Paleo

protein, recipe, vegetables

Frisée Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing and Poached Egg

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My expert gourmet sister said this is called a lyonnaise salad. She also pointed out that the lettuce I used wasn’t actually frisée, but whatever I used turned out pretty tasty!

I got (what I thought was) frisée lettuce in my bountiful basket yesterday and had no idea how to use it. After googling recipe ideas, I learned that frisée is best with warm, savory dressings. The recipe I ended up using comes from epicurious.com. You can read it here.

I followed every step exactly- I tore the lettuce into bite sized pieces.

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I cooked some delicious uncured Black Forest bacon cut into 1/4″ pieces.

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I finished the hot dressing with shallots and red wine vinegar.

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The part I was most excited about was successfully poaching an egg to top the salad with! The instructions in the recipe are very helpful.

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I don’t usually love salads, but this beast is SO GOOD! I will definitely be making this bacon salad again and again. It’s gluten and grain free and very simple to put together once you get the hang of poaching eggs. It would be delicious without the egg, too.

recipe, treats

Paleo Mocha Pound Cake

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Remember the watermelon cake I made a few days ago? The coconut whipped cream I frosted the cake with was sooo good! I didn’t want to throw the leftover whipped cream away, so I set my mind to baking a coconut flour cake to go with it! The inspiration came from Paleo Spirit. My cake is not nearly as beautiful or quite as “paleo.” The changes I made include swapping 2 eggs for egg whites, the maple syrup for stevia, and 1/2 cup coconut oil for applesauce and plain greek yogurt. I’m glad the cake still turned out rich, moist, and delicious!

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Ingredients:
2/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
20 packets stevia
4 eggs
6 tbs egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c coconut oil, melted
1/4 c plain greek yogurt
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl.

2. Whisk eggs and egg whites in a stand mixer. Add remaining wet ingredients to the eggs and mix to combine.

3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine on low speed. Scrape down sides of the bowl. Whip the batter on high speed for 1 minute to make it fluffy.

4. Pour the batter into two greased loaf pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

5. Allow to cool and frost with coconut whipped cream.

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It’s yummy unfrosted too!

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Enjoy with a cup of coffee! 1/4 of a loaf (1/8 of total recipe) is 166 calories, 9 g protein, and 5 g fiber when served unfrosted.

breakfast, recipe

Turkish Eggs Menemen

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Ever since Colby and I visited a friend of ours in Istanbul last December, I’ve been dreaming of menemen. Menemen is a special dish consisting of eggs cooked atop of simmering vegetables. We ate it for breakfast almost every day there and felt very spoiled to have such a flavorful meal each morning. I figured the sauce must take hours to cook, so I never thought to recreate the dish at home. Now that I realize it takes less than 15 minutes to make, I’ll be enjoying it a lot more often!

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Ingredients:
1/2 green pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 small onion, diced
1 large tomato, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbs olive oil
2 eggs (or 1 egg + 3 egg whites)
Salt, pepper, and fresh parsley as seasonings

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion and green pepper to the hot oil. Sauté until tender.

2. Add diced tomato and garlic. Continue to stir until the tomatoes break down.

3. Top the bubbling mixture with eggs and allow the eggs to cook a bit.

4. Gently fold the eggs in with the vegetables until cooked through.

5. Season with salt, pepper, and parsley.

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protein, recipe, vegetables

Paleo Spaghetti

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Yesterday was a rainy day that begged comfort food- a perfect day for Spaghetti! I was excited to try out this great Italian spice blend, Spezia 11, from a tasting party last weekend. This fresh, handmade blend of herbs and seasonings is delicious on chicken, flatbread, meatballs, vegetables, and just about anything needing Mediterranean flair.

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The herbs made my spaghetti sauce outstanding!

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Ingredients:
1 summer squash, spiralized
1 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
6 oz ground turkey
2 tbs Italian seasoning (such as Spezia 11)
1/2 cup sugar-free marinara sauce (such as Victoria’s White Linen Marinara from Costco)

1. Sauté the onion and bell pepper in olive oil until softened. Add garlic and sauté for a minute more. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, brown to ground turkey. Once no longer pink, add the Italian seasonings. Add the sautéed vegetables back in. Stir in the marinara sauce and heat until bubbling.

3. Serve over lightly sautéed or raw summer squash. This sauce is great on regular spaghetti or zucchini noodles too!

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recipe, starch

Sweet Potato Curly Fries

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Remember the awesome Spiralizer I used to make zucchini noodles? It has a different blade you can use to make curly fries! I decided to try it out on sweet potato. Here’s a great recipe you can use to get crispy oven fried sweet potato fries instead of mushy or burnt ones.

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Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato, scrubbed
2 tbs canola or olive oil
Seasonings (about 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/2 tsp garlic powder)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spiralize the sweet potato or cut into uniform slender wedges.

2. In a large ziplock bag, toss the sweet potato pieces with oil and seasonings to coat well.

3. Spread the fries in a single layer on a large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Keep them as spread out as possible, or else they may steam instead of baking which will result in mushy fries.

4. Bake in the top rack of the oven (any lower and the fries may burn) for 20-25 minutes, flipping once.

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recipe, snacks, treats

Plantain Chips: Sweet and Salty Style

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I started out making regular plantain chips, but the plantain I used was a little too ripe. What a fortunate mistake! I ended up thinking of this delicious twist on the salty snack.

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Ingredients:
1 plantain, preferably yellow
Salt
Peanut butter
Chocolate chips
Coconut oil cooking spray (Trader Joe’s)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and thinly slice plantain. Place slices on a baking sheet lined aluminum foil and sprayed with coconut oil cooking spray.

2. Most the plantain slices with coconut oil spray and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 8 minutes, flip, and bake for 5-8 minutes more or until they are golden.

3. While still warm, place one chocolate chip on each plantain slice and smear a tiny bit of peanut butter to each one.

Oh.My.Goodness! These were an unexpectedly tasty treat. It’s hard to beat the flavor combination of chocolate, peanut butter, and salt on plantain!

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recipe, vegetables

Baba Ghanoush

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Baba ghanoush is an eggplant salad dish popular in Turkey, Isreal, Egypt,
Syria, Lebanon, and other Arabic countries. In some countries it is used as a dip for pita bread, while in others it is served as a salad with tomatoes, onions, and a dressing of olive oil and pomegranate concentrate. This recipe is a basic version- you can spice it up however you’d like!

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Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs tahini paste
2 tbs lemon juice
1/4 c parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp salt

1. Bake the eggplant on a lined baking sheet at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes or until the flesh is soft.

2. Slice the eggplant in half lengthwise and allow to cool. Scoop out the insides and purée in a food processor with all remaining ingredients.

3. Serve room temperature or cold with a drizzle of olive oil and vegetables for dipping.

Eat this as an appetizer, side dish, sandwich spread, or turn it into hummus by adding garbanzo beans to the food processor in step 2.

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recipe, starch

Tostones and Mofongo recipe: gluten free fun with plantains

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I went out for dinner and drinks with my coworkers last Friday night at Bar + Bistro, one of my favorite tapas restaurants in Vegas. My favorite tapas were the tostones- little sandwiches made on fried plantains instead of bread!

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These were SO delicious!! I couldn’t wait to recreate them at home. I’ve never used plantains before, so I did some research first.

-tostones are a dish that comes from Puerto Rico. They are eaten as a side dish in place of rice, pasta, or bread.

-plantains are starchier and less sweet than bananas, so they can be eaten savory or sweet. They also have more potassium than bananas!

Tostones are quick and easy to make. I found plantains at Whole Foods for $1 per pound. You can get an even better deal at Hispanic supermarkets. Pick a plantain that is green. I didn’t know any better, so I got a yellow one with some dark spots. It was still good, but a little on the sweeter side.

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Ingredients:
-1 plantain, large
-2-3 tbs grapeseed, coconut, or canola oil
-salt to taste

1. Cut the plantain into 1.5 inch slices. Heat the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat.

2. Fry the plantain slices until golden on all sides, but not burnt. Adjust the flame as necessary.

3. Stand the plantain slices on a paper towel and gently flatten each one with the bottom of a plate or mug until they are about 1/4 – 1/2 inch thick.

4. Return the plantain patties to the skillet and fry until golden on both sides. Return to paper towel to remove excess oil. Season with salt to taste.

I served my tostones with leftover slices of African roasted pork and mint sauce. They would be really good with roast beef, carnitas, or turkey breast as well!

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My tostones were not as crispy as the restaurant version because I used less oil, but they were still very tasty!

For a different variation called mofongo, simply mash the fried plantains with a bit of garlic at the end. This is a very tasty alternative to mashed potatoes!

protein, recipe

African Roasted Pork Loin with Mint Yogurt Sauce

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This is a recipe for the best dinner I’ve ever made (according to Colby). I think you’ll love it too! The idea for juicy African pork tenderloin with Harissa sauce came from an issue of Cooking Light magazine a few years back.

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Ingredients:
1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed
1/4 c roasted red peppers
2 tsp minced garlic
3 tbs olive oil, divided
3 tbs lemon juice, divided
2 tsp cumin, divided
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1 tbs sambal olek (fresh ground chili paste)
6 oz plain greek yogurt
Small handful mint leaves, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a food processor, pulse together roasted bell pepper, garlic, 2 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs lemon juice, 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp salt, and sambal olek to make Harissa sauce. Place in a large bowl.

2. Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a skillet. Sear the pork tenderloin on all sides.

3. Place the pork in the bowl of Harissa sauce and coat well. Transfer the pork to a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Pour the remaining sauce on top. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees (medium) or 165 degrees (well done).

4. To make the mint sauce, combine yogurt, chopped mint, 1 tbs lemon juice, 1 tsp cumin, and 1/2 tsp salt.

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Try this dish with curried cauliflower, Israeli couscous, or tomorrow’s recipe… Tostones! Here’s a sneak peek:

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