Summer White Wines at 40% Off this Weekend at Casque in Loomis
Currently one of my favorite things to do is pack a picnic (Paleo, naturally) and head up to Casque Wines for live music. That’s just what we did last weekend. We grilled up a grass-fed ribeye sent to me by Rocky Mountain Organic Meats (chilled it) and put it on top of a salad. I also made salsa and guacamole to go on the side as a sort of dipping sauce. Lime, cilantro, strawberries, then melon for dessert–and a glass of Casque’s newly released Vin Gris rose. Good times!
Stop by the winery this weekend to pick-up a mixed case of 2008 and 2009 summer white wines at 40% off the case. Wine Club Members get a whopping 50% off. This deal is available for a limited time so don’t miss out. All of the wines for sale are award winners!
Quinn Hedges is in the house TONIGHT from 6-9! Feel free to bring your own food or appetizers or pick-up some tasty yet affordable food from the Gourmet Garage next door and listen to some great live music. I have heard Quinn play before at The Chef’s Table, so I can tell you he’s great!
Casque is Open: Thursday – Saturday 12noon – 9pm, Sunday 12noon – 5pm at 3273 Swetzer Road in Loomis. Just 5 minutes from the Horseshoe Bar Exit at I-80. www.casquewines.com or 916-660-9671.
You can find Casque on Facebook here. You can find Rocky Mountain Organic Meats on Facebook here and follow them on twitter here.
Cauliflower “Steaks”
So, this recipe is proof that cooking doesn’t have to be complicated, messy, time consuming, or expensive. We all like that, don’t we? 🙂
Also, it’s a great crowd pleaser because it’s Paleo, vegan and vegetarian, gluten free, sugar free, soy free, and dairy free!
And I like it because it doesn’t take much to explain how to make it!
I got the idea from listening to the Good Food Podcast with Evan Kleiman. She described her favorite preparation of cauliflower (this way), and I was sold. Last time I was at the market, I bought two heads of cauliflower so I could experiment, and this is what I did:
Preheat oven to 375°
Do NOT core the cauliflower. Instead, cut the cauliflower straight down (vertically) so that you have 2 or 3 large pieces (steaks) with the florets still attached to the core.
Lay flat on a baking sheet and drizzle liberally with olive oil. Then sprinkle with your favorite sea salt. I have a fancy grey salt I got as a gift on my birthday from The Meritage Resort and Spa in Napa that I have been using in everything! 🙂
Place in oven and allow the cauliflower to roast… it will almost fry in the oil. After about 25 minutes, remove from the oven and flip the steaks with a spatula. Then return the pan to the oven and roast again for 20-25 more minutes, or until steaks are golden brown.
And that’s it! It’s that easy. And, that thing you have always been throwing in the trash… you know, the core? It’s the most delicious part!! 🙂
Gluten and Sugar Free Baking in Sacramento
OK, I know how that sounds. To anyone on a standard American diet, sugar free and gluten free sound like flavor free. I am here to change your mind! 🙂
On Sunday, I retired my old website, cakegrrl.com. I didn’t see the point of maintaining the blog because the name alone is 180° degrees from the lifestyle I now lead. The site contained hundreds of recipes containing processed food, wheat, sugar, etc. and I just didn’t want to tie myself to any of that anymore.
So now, here it is… I have redirected the cakegrrl.com traffic to this site, and I am hoping my long time readers will embrace the change. One thing I decided I would do over the weekend, is make myself available for hire again as a baker. The only catch is that the treats I make will be gluten and sugar free, as well as entirely from scratch and made from organic ingredients whenever possible.
Last year, I had high aspirations of being on the Food Network show Cupcake Wars, and my pals Ryan Donahue and Moriah Piper helped me make an audition video. Though I didn’t make it on the show, this video shows some of what I can do, why I believe in gluten/sugar free, and it still makes me smile when I watch it. 🙂
Is a cake made from almond flour Paleo? Hmm… not exactly, but the desserts I make are far more healthy and nutrient dense than a cake made with vegetable shortening, flour, and sugar (not to mention soy, soybean oil and artificial colors/flavors). Everything you see in the slideshow above is gluten and free of refined sugar. The chocolate I use for my truffles, cookies, cakes etc. is 70% cacao content or higher.
If you have a gluten allergy, or have adopted a gluten-free or Paleo lifestyle for whatever reason, and you are looking for someone to cater dessert or a cake for your event, you can contact me at misscavegrrl at gmail. I am especially interested in working with gluten free or Paleo brides-to-be! Cheers!
Picture of me was taken by Debbie Cunningham. Check out her Facebook page here!
Paleo Picnic: Lamb Burgers with Curry Ketchup
This past weekend turned out to be pretty good weather, so RB and I decided we would pack a picnic and head over to Music in the Park at Curtis Park. It was a great time, and enjoyed by people of all ages.
We sat on a blanket made up of squares of old polyester pants sewn together by RB’s Yia, Yia. In our picnic basket, we brought lamb burgers wrapped in napa cabbage and topped with rings of red onion, avocado, feta cheese, and curry ketchup that I made just before we packed the basket. We also brought a broccoli, cauliflower, and bacon sauté with toasted almonds and our favorite snack, parsnip chips.
Suggested wine pairing is the Shenandoah Vineyards Zingiovese, which is a 54% Sangiovese, 48% Zinfandel blend*. A beautiful elixir from our friends at Sobon Estate that stands up to the spicy and sweet of the curry ketchup and the meatiness of the lamb.
*The percentages do not add up to 100%, but I took the blend info straight from their informational PDF here. *shrugs* 😉
And now… the recipes!
Lamb Burgers
1 lb ground lamb (we used Superior Farms)
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbs oregano
1 tsp coriander
1 1/2 Tbs crushed garlic
pinch salt
Mix all ingredients together with your hands in a medium-sized bowl until well incorporated. Form into 3 or 4 patties (3 for best results). Refrigerate until you are ready to grill.
Curry Ketchup
2 containers of organic tomatoes
(I used small, cherry sized yellow tomatoes)
1 small can of tomato sauce
1/3 cup water
2-3 Tbs tomato paste
1 Tbs pomegranate molasses (if you don’t have pomegranate molasses,
you can use regular molasses, or honey)
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp curry
2 tsp crushed garlic
Rinse the tomatoes then put them in a pot with the tomato sauce and the water. Bring to a simmer and cook the tomatoes and allow them to burst open. This is what you want. The tomatoes will cook and break down and get thick this way. Keep the mixture on a simmer until the liquid content reduces by half. Then, add the rest of the ingredients (all the spices and the molasses, then the tomato paste). At this point, the mixture will resemble ketchup, so continue to reduce until it gets to your desired thickness.
This recipe makes about 1 1-2 to 2 cups, so you can bottle the unused portion and refrigerate for a week. The funny thing is, is that on a picnic with RB, the ketchup didn’t make it through the night. When we got home, he piled some more of the vegetables on a plate and on top of them went the rest of the ketchup. 😉 At least I know he loved it, so that’s why I decided to share the recipe with you.
The “bun” for our burgers were leaves of napa cabbage. The leaves of the cabbage are durable enough to conveyor belt the meat to your mouth, but tender enough to bite into. We sliced the red onion very thin, and naturally, feta was the cheese of choice.
Thanks again to Superior Farms for providing such a nice variety of lamb. We really enjoyed all the cuts. You can see how we prepared the rack here and the boneless leg here.
Tahoe Dinner Party and Lemon Garlic Salad Dressing Recipe
Last weekend, RB and I traveled to his house in Incline Village and hosted a small dinner party. This time, we served up a boneless leg of lamb from Superior Farms, as well as some of our favorite Paleo dishes. You can click here to find the recipe for the marinade we used on the lamb as well as on the chicken.
We also put my parsnip chips (recipe here), sautéed vegetables with dukkah (recipe here) a huge salad, a fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew, and bacon wrapped dates on the menu. Maybe I’ll get RB to let me film a video demo for the bacon wrapped dates someday, and I will feature it here. 🙂
But in this post, I will give you a simple recipe for our favorite salad dressing so with all the pictures of dishes you might have seen on this site before, at least you’ll have something new to make. The dressing is also a great dipping sauce for grilled chicken or ahi tuna.
PS: The wine we served was a magnum of Scribner Bend’s Black Hat Tempranillo Lot 56 Reserve. Cheers!
And now the recipe… 🙂
Lemon & Garlic Dressing
Ingredients:
2 Tbs crushed garlic
1/4 cup lemon juice
1.5 to 2 Tbs olive oil
dash of salt (to taste)
cracked pepper (optional)
Directions:
Combine the ingredients in order, in a small bowl. I know it seems like a lot of garlic,
but it makes the dressing thick, and that is a very desirable thing! 🙂 After you have all
the ingredients together, you’re done, but make sure you give the dressing another stir
or two before you top your salad.
Tips:
1. Use the crushed garlic that comes in a jar, or make your own with a
food processor. You want the garlic to be pulverized for the best results.
2. Use the best olive oil you can find! Preferably Kotinos.
Blueberry Pork Meatballs with Blueberry Sauce
Hey! In case you didn’t see it, I am in the Sacramento Bee today, as part of a round-up of blueberry recipes.
I am posting it again here because I wanted to explain my inspiration for my recipe. I wanted to contribute a dish to the Bee that wasn’t a dessert, or a breakfast item. Something original that used blueberries (which in their original state are very good for you), and didn’t candy them up. Most of all, I wanted to make a Paleo recipe! 🙂
So, if you’re invited to a potluck, or you are throwing a little party this season, this is the perfect dish to share. It might sound a little strange at first, but think of the classic turkey and cranberry combination, and you might see where I am coming from! 🙂
INGREDIENTS
4 dried figs
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 pound ground pork
1/2 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons minced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 egg, room temperature
1 tablespoon rosemary (grind in a spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle)
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Blueberry sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 shallots, finely diced
1 cup red wine
1/4 cup water
1 cup blueberries
1/4 cup lemon juice plus 1 tablespoon zest
4 tablespoons unsalted grass-fed butter
Dash salt
2 tablespoons honey
INSTRUCTIONS
Pulse the figs, blueberries and cinnamon together in a food processor; set aside.
Mix the ground pork, ground beef, minced onion, garlic, parsley, egg, ground rosemary, salt and olive oil together until well combined.
Then add the fig and blueberry mixture to the meat mixture. Mix well, leaving small chunks of the fruit intact. (Think chocolate-chip cookie dough.) Form the meat and fruit mixture into ping pong-size balls. Line a baking sheet with foil.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees while you prepare the sauce.
For sauce: Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
Sauté the shallots until they are translucent. Add the wine, followed by the water, and reduce for about 3-5 minutes. Add the blueberries. As the skins burst open, add the lemon juice and zest. Let the sauce continue to boil and thicken (5 minutes).
Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in butter until it is completely melted. Salt to season.
Cool the sauce slightly, and add the honey to sweeten and help thicken the sauce a little more.
Pour the sauce over the meatballs and bake them at 350 degrees until the meatballs are slightly browned and before meat is cooked through.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest. (The meatballs will be cooked through with the residual heat.)
Primal Pre-Race Dining at… Piatti Mill Valley
A few weekends ago, Running Bum and I took a little trip to Mill Valley to poke around at some property he is interested in buying. I tagged along with him to run a race the next day. The race, the Marin Memorial 10K, is one of the fastest 10K courses in the area, but it’s still a really tough course. No PR, and I was definitely not running with “fun runners” that day.
For our pre-race meal, we dined at Piatti. And we kept it Primal. Since Piatti is one of my sponsors on cakegrrl.com and will be migrating to this site at the end of the month, I wanted to show my audience on this site what we had for dinner that evening–without touching wheat/pasta/grains/rice.
Our appetizer was the Kobe steak crudo, secret sauce, capers, and tiny arugula. The dish comes with crostini, but we politely asked the server to see if he could swap it out for something else. Instead of telling every server in the world we are Paleo, I simply just say, “we are gluten-free”, or “we are wheat-free”. Our appetizer was served, honoring our special request, with a small side Caesar salad. Perfect.
Next up, we split a chopped romaine salad with salami, chickpeas, olive, peppers, artichokes, and two cheeses. I don’t freak out about chickpeas, and enjoy them about once a month, so I love them on this salad. I ordered the dressing on the side, but to be honest, this salad has so many goodies on it, I didn’t even need dressing or my typical balsamic and olive oil blend.
For the entreés, he went for the cioppino and I the espresso crusted filet, served with bloomsdale savoy spinach, extra vegetables instead of the mashed potatoes, Pt. Reyes blue cheese, and aged balsamic. We ate everything family style, as I love to get RB’s input on things I plan to write about. (Sometimes he even writes for me!)
The cioppino is probably the best I have ever had. The chef did something magical with his addition of a small amount of sambuca to the broth. The stew was heavy on seafood and once again by request we were able to get some extra vegetables on the plate instead of the bread that is typically served with cioppino.
The espresso filet is something I liked so much, I am going to try and replicate it at home. The execution was flawless both presenation and cooking-wise (medium rare!!). I tried to share it with RB, but I think I downed most of it. 🙂
By the way, this meal is going down as one of the best since we have been together. Of course, the meal at Place Pigalle still ranks supreme, but this one rates top notch on service and food quality. It just doesn’t feel or look like a chain restaurant.
Another win was the wine we drank with our meal. Piatti has a selection of wines available on tap called Barrel-to-Table (Piatti’s revolutionary barrel-to-table wine program pours these wines through a custom tap and barrel system which eliminates oxidation and brings the wine directly to the table using the most environmentally sustainable technology – no corks, foils or bottles.) So, yes, I will take the wine hose for $1,000, Alex.
Indeed, I was intrigued, so we tried the Kemiji Pinot Noir (a Barrel-to-Table selection), because we both thought it would be the best compromise for a pairing between the cioppino and the filet–and it was! Instead of playing around with a mere glass or a 1/2 Liter, we went for the Big Gulp–a whole liter for $55. 😉
That evening, we stayed at Marin Hotel and Suites. We took advantage of an Amazon sale from a couple of weeks prior and got the room at a very steep discount. RB and I just love steep discounts. 🙂 It was a pretty good room for the price, equipped with a mini kitchen: a coffee pot, microwave, full-sized refrigerator, sink, and dining area. A bonus for me was that the room had a clock radio by the bed with an iPod dock and speakers…I took advantage of it, and plugged in my iPhone so I could blast Born and Raised. 😉
You can find Piatti Mill Valley on twitter here and the Sacramento location here. The Sacramento menu changes around, but you can typically find my favorite salad (the salad pictured above) on it. 🙂 You can find Piatti on Facebook here.
PS: At the Sacramento location, don’t miss the summer music series every Friday night (hello, live music on the patio!) and the $10 wine list on Saturdays. 🙂
Sausage Party…
Yes, it’s true. Last Sunday afternoon, I was the only girl at the party…sitting at a table with 5 boys.
You see, Running Bum threw a party at his house (in honor of one of his friends on his 60th birthday).
And, a few weeks ago, the marketing people at al fresco sent me some coupons to try their product and show it to all of you.
So to help out on the food preparation, and because I sensed it was a good opportunity to try the different flavor options, I skewered up the sausages with a colorful bunch of vegetables, and we threw them on the grill.
The varieties we sampled are pictured below:
The sausage and vegetable kabobs were the perfect way to try the different flavors. The Sweet Italian sausages had a red and green bell pepper flavor, the Roasted Garlic had a more mild flavor, and our favorite, the Roasted Pepper and Asiago had a great red bell pepper flavor with just a touch of cheese. The sausages were flavorful enough on their own, so I am happy we tried them this way and not disguised in a complicated recipe.
The bonus is that each sausage is an average of 140 calories. And I am always looking for a calorie bargain.
It was fun afternoon. The party guests are all runners, and it was very entertaining to hear their stories, since I am kind of a beginner at the sport.
All the food we served was Paleo, because two of the guests besides RB and myself already follow the diet.
We also dined on pork and blueberry meatballs (recipe to come), a huge salad, and prosciutto-wrapped melon. Dessert was some 80% chocolate and bacon-wrapped dates. RB and I really love to entertain and cook for others!
To learn more about al fresco, you can find them on Facebook here, and you can follow them on twitter here.
Updated: Tanka Bars: Ain’t no Bull, It’s Buffalo!
Mmm… meat candy. That’s how I would describe the Tanka Bar. It’s a jerky-type bar made of buffalo and dried cranberries. Flavor-wise, it’s got a sweet and savory combination that I really love.
I also love the small amount of ingredients used to make them: Buffalo, Dried Cranberries (cranberries, sugar), Water, Salt & less than 2% of Flavorings, Red Pepper, Granulated Garlic, Granulated Onion, Lactic Acid Starter Culture.
They are surprisingly low calorie, and make a great breakfast or afternoon snack. They are small and compact, and perfect to pack on a camping or hiking trip.
Tanka…What a funny little name. What does it mean? From the Tanka website: “In Lakota, Tanka means large or great. It changes depending on how it is used when spoken. What Tanka means to me is a little different. When I see people doing good for themselves and their families, that is Tanka.
When I see people saying good words and backing it up with good actions — when there is no separation in someone’s belief and their reality — that is Tanka.”
The only thing not so “Tanka” is the price of the bar. 😉 They retail for about $3 apiece. However, if you use the promo code CAVEGRRL during checkout when you shop the Tanka store, you’ll get 15% off on REGULARLY-priced items. The code is not valid on specials and is good until June 30th!
You can follow Tanka Bar on twitter here and find them on Facebook here.
Parsnip Chips
I know, this plate doesn’t look like much. But please trust me when I tell you it might change your life. It will definitely make you fall in love with parsnips if you are not already.
All you need:
5 or 6 parsnips
Olive oil
Sea salt
Preheat your oven to 355°F.
Slice the parsnips into little “coin” shapes. Arrange them on a baking sheet and douse them liberally with olive oil.
Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, then flip each one with a spatula. Bake 20-30 more minutes. Some of the parsnips will get really browned and crunchy… some will just get crispy on the edges. It’s a really great texture contrast.
Take them out of the oven when they are browned and crispy and coat them lightly with sea salt. Toss and serve.
Paleo doesn’t have to be expensive or difficult. 🙂
Spiced Lamb and Vegetable Kabobs
Probably my favorite thing to make for dinner during summer is kabobs. They’re simple, healthy, and take very little time to prepare. I put together this spice rub for lamb we bought last weekend from Taylor’s Market. It was London broil, and the butcher even cubed the meat for us.
Spice Mix:
1 Tbs Chili powder
1 Tbs Cumin
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Onion Powder
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Curry
1/2 tsp Salt
London broil Lamb (cut into cubes for kabobs) from Taylor’s Market
Assorted Vegetables
(mushrooms, peppers, red onion, squash)
Mix all the spices together in a small bowl. Place the cubed meat in a medium-sized bowl and pour about 1/8 to 1/4 cup olive oil over the meat. Sprinkle the spice mixture over the meat and oil and mix together with your hands until well combined.
Marinate the meat for about 20-30 minutes.
Chop the vegetables and if you are using wooden skewers rather than metal, allow them to soak in some water while you are chopping the vegetables, so that they won’t burn when exposed to the grill.
Arrange the vegetables and meat on the skewers. Of course, this isn’t rocket science… however you arrange the skewers is up to you. We had a lot of extra meat left, so we ended up doing a few skewers with meat and onions only.
Grill the kabobs until the vegetables are slightly charred and the meat is cooked to your liking.
We paired the kabobs with a Tempranillo from Fall Line Winery.
Artichoke Pizza with Bacon, Chicken, & Pesto Dipping Sauce
Pizza? Yes. It’s all Paleo. The crust is made of cauliflower and almond. Before you shake your head and walk away, just try it. 🙂
So this is sort of a long recipe, but it’s highly worth it.
I promise you it tastes better than real pizza and you will get full on 2 pieces rather than eating 4 or 5 from a delivery joint.
Artichoke Pizza with Bacon, Chicken, & Pesto Dipping Sauce
8 ounces cooked and diced chicken
4 slices thick cut bacon, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup sautéed bell peppers
1/2 cup cooked onions
1/2 cup cooked mushrooms
So, before you begin the crust or the sauces, I highly recommend you sauté the onions, mushrooms, and bell peppers in some olive oil and garlic and pre cook them before you use them as toppings on this gorgeous thing I call a pizza. You can cook the chicken however you want (grill it for the best results)… and the bacon will do just fine in the microwave or in the oven baked on parchment paper.
Now that you have your toppings mise en place, you can begin to prepare the crust:
Crust:
2 cups almond meal
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/8 cup ground flax seed
1 1/2 cups cauliflower, cooked and pulsed into couscous-like consistency
2 eggs
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp fresh rosemary chopped
Place all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with hands until well combined.
Press into a well-oiled baking pan and then bake in pre heated oven for 15 minutes while you prepare the artichoke spread and the pesto topping/dipping sauce.
Artichoke Spread (this will be one of the pizza “sauces”)
1/3 cup pitted green olives
2 15-oz cans/jars artichoke hearts, drained
1 Tbsp capers, drained
2 tbs crushed garlic
1 Tbsp fresh parsley
1/8-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Pulse all ingredients in a food processor and set aside.
This spread can be used as a “hummus” type dip for vegetables, or as the first layer of spread on this pizza.
Red Sauce
This is the only step where I took a little teeny shortcut.
I used an organic pasta/tomato sauce in a thin layer over the artichoke spread before I topped the pizza with the cooked toppings and about 3/4 cup of shredded parmesan cheese.
When you have all your toppings on the pizza, put it back in the oven and bake until the pizza is warmed through and the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Then, remove it from the oven and allow to cool slightly before topping it with dollops of the homemade pesto.
Pesto Topping
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
Pulse all ingredients in a food processor and set aside. You will use this “topping” on the pizza after it comes out of the oven and you are ready to eat it.
Ding! It’s not delivery… it’s Paleo… 😉
Treat Yo Self: Chocolate Covered Gingersnap Truffles
What do you do when you made a little too much gingersnap dough from the gingersnap crusted ham recipe?
Well in this case, I used it to make chocolate covered gingersnap truffles! Let me reiterate that if you are using Paleo to lose weight, you might not want to make these just yet. But, if you are at an ideal weight, need to gain weight, or you are celebrating a special occasion, these are a great dessert! 🙂
Paleo Gingersnaps
1.5 cups Blanched Almond Flour
1 tablespoons ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp clove
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 Tbs fresh ginger or ginger paste
1 omega 3 Egg
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/8 cup molasses
1/4 cup Coconut Oil (Tropical Traditions for best results!!)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (including lemon zest).
In a small mixing bowl beat eggs, honey, molasses, and vanilla extract with a hand mixer.
Pour wet ingredients into dry and beat with hand mixer until combined.
Add coconut oil into batter, and continue to blend until combined.
Press the dough out flat on a parchment lined baking sheet, about a tablespoon in size. Bake cookies for 15 minutes at 375.
Let cool completely then break the cookie into crumbs and set aside.
Chocolate Coating:
TCHO chocolate discs
Coconut Milk
Vanilla, or your favorite liqueur
Chili “Fries” with Avocado Sauce
This is what I had for my Easter dinner. Why? Because it’s perfect food for a ballgame, and that is exactly what I watched this evening! Sunday night Major League Baseball on ESPN! 🙂 And, why blow my diet when I have lost 10 pounds so far? Stay the course, of course. With food like this, it’s EASY to do. Yum. One of the things I do miss (admittedly) is beans! But, I threw in some baby portobello mushrooms diced up and they had the look and “umami” (if you will) of black beans.
Here’s how to make some delicious ball game watching, yet very PALEO grub:
“Fries”
1 or 2 butternut squashes (400g is about one serving)
salt
To prepare the “fries”, it is helpful to have a food dehydrator. This is to dry out the squash as much as possible before you bake it in the oven. I cut my squash into “fry” pieces, then stacked in the dehydrator and set on the vegetable setting for about an hour.
While you have them in the dehydrator, you can prepare the chili.
Chili:
1 pound grass fed ground beef
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 shallot, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, halved, seeded chopped
4 baby portobello mushrooms, diced stems and caps
Spice Mix:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper, or to taste
After you have prepped all your ingredients, preheat your oven to 385°. You’ll be baking the squash after it has dried out a bit. The dehydrator helps to get the squash pieces more crispy.
Prepare the tomato base (recipe below)
Tomato Base:
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water (if you aren’t counting calories, you can use red wine in place of the water)
1 (16 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
Blend the tomatoes in the blender or food processor, and add the tomato sauce and water. Add the spices into the tomato mixture, then set aside for later use.
Cook the onions and meat:
In a medium pot, brown the beef with the thyme, sage and garlic. When browned, remove and drain beef. Set aside. Heat the olive oil and add the onion, garlic, shallot, red bell pepper, jalapeno, and mushrooms. Saute until vegetables begin to brown, about 7 to 10 minutes.
At this point, you can remove the squash from the dehydrator, and place it on an oiled sheet pan. Bake in the oven until brown and crispy. (This will probably take as long as it does to finish the chili, so it works out well!)
Put the meat back in the pot with the vegetables, and pour the tomato base with spices over them. Stir to coat everything and combine it. Reduce (cook for 5-10 mins on a lower heat) to intensify the flavor. While the chili is reducing, and the fries are crisping in the oven, you can make the avocado sauce.
Avocado Sauce
1 whole avocado
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup chicken broth
salt
Mash the avocado with a fork and add the juice of one lime, the chicken stock and salt to taste. Mix well and set aside. You will use it as a topping for the chili on the “fries”.
When the fries have browned and crisped up, take them out of the oven and place them on your plate. You can salt them if you like, but I find there is enough salt for me in the chili and avocado sauce. Top the fries with the chili and then pour the avocado mixture over the fries.
If you try this recipe, let me know! All recipes I post here will be fully endorsed by me, which means if I haven’t cooked it, eaten it (and liked it) I don’t expect you to either. Happy cooking and Happy Easter!! 🙂
Everyday Paleo: Recipes for Real Life!!
I made the meal (pictured above) last night and the main course (stuffed portobello mushroom) was inspired by a recipe in the new book Everyday Paleo by Sarah Fragoso.
I began a Paleo diet at the end of March after about 2 years of reading about eating Paleo and resisting, insisting the way I was eating and living was ok with my body and just peachy with the environment around me. (I will expound on both of these topics in later posts.)
Then after I gained 33 pounds that I had lost last year, and my clothes no longer fit me, I decided enough was enough. I had to DO SOMETHING. I remembered all the reading I had done on Primal/Paleo and still had a blog subscription to one of my heroes: Mark’s Daily Apple author Mark Sisson. Even though I repeatedly turned away going completely Paleo, a lot of information he wrote about on his website really struck a chord with me. It made so much sense. So, I joined a website to start logging my calories daily (note: many Paleo people do not log calories or measure portions), and decided this time I would follow Paleo.
I googled “Paleo recipes” and also looked for podcasts about Paleo. It was then I found a podcast called “Everyday Paleo”! Everyday Paleo is hosted by Sarah Fragoso, and Chrissy Gower (blog author of Growing Up Paleo). and I also discovered that it was recorded practically in my own backyard!! I am located in Sacramento, and the Everyday Paleo hosts hail from Chico! I was encouraged to have likeminded people, not to mention Paleo experts so nearby. At the time I became a listener, Everyday Paleo only had 10 episodes under their belt, so I was able to listen to all the archived shows. In the shows, Sarah talked about her upcoming book, which is the very book I am now recommending!
So, I have to tell you at first glance Paleo eating seems very restrictive. But, if you look closer, you will see that it’s more about what you CAN eat. Everyday Paleo gives you a shopping list if you have no idea where to start, and if you are already a Paleo pro, it gives you fresh recipe ideas. If you are not Paleo, but you are someone who is gluten intolerant, BOOM! a whole book you can eat from!
The great thing about Everyday Paleo is that it is so accessible for anyone at any fitness level. One reason is because Sarah herself was not the most fit person. There are before and after photos of Sarah and the results are spectacular! You would never know she has three children and that one of them is in high school!
Speaking of kids, Sarah has made the recipes kid-friendly. There are dishes in the book for all ages, and ones that can be prepped ahead of time and reheated. None of them are difficult to make, and the average prep time for the recipes are 30 mins.
I also love that Sarah put exercise “recipes” in the back of the book. It’s not all about cardio anymore. I am excited because I am a beginner with resistance training (after always having been a chronic cardio fanatic) , and this book serves as a good starting point for me.
Oh yes, I almost forgot… About that meal I have pictured above: It was inspired by a recipe out of Sarah’s book! It is a spin off of her recipe for “Giant Stuffed Portobellos” I made mine with a 1/2 pound grass-fed ground beef, 1/4 pound nitrate-free ground sausage, a sautéed mixture of shredded carrots, onions and green and red bell peppers, and the insides of the tops of the mushrooms and their stems.
To prepare the stuffed mushrooms, I browned the meat, then sautéed the vegetables in some of the fat to cook them. I should note that when I prepare stuffed mushrooms, a vital step for me is to roast the mushrooms in the oven before stuffing them. This really brings out the richness of the mushrooms. I brush the caps with a little olive oil and brown them while I am preparing the stuffing. I place the side where the stem was down to roast.
I seasoned the cooked meat and vegetables with salt, garlic, fresh sage, and black pepper. I then added one egg to the mixture to bind it. In the recipe from the book, Sarah also uses coconut flour as a binder. I suspect that this takes the place of breadcrumbs in a regular stuffed mushrooms recipe. I did not use either. I piled the meat and veggies in the roasted mushrooms and pressed them to compact. Then I placed them in the oven again (I used a lower temperature of 350°). The finish product should be browned and bubbly when you take it out of the oven.
I topped mine with a tomato sauce I made from Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted tomato products. I pulsed a can of the fire roasted tomatoes and a little tomato paste in the food processor, along with salt and minced garlic. Then I cooked it down to reduce some of the liquid. To obtain a “ketchup-like” meatloaf effect on the mushrooms, I put the sauce on as they were roasting in the oven. Yum!
The side dishes I made were: Mashed Cauliflower & Acorn Squash, and Kale with Nitrate-Free Bacon and Toasted Walnuts. I will post the recipes separately to come, because I want to this post to focus on Sarah’s book.
I am still reading through it, but I can tell you the price ($17) is completely worth it for the amount of information you get. Not only that, but there are HUGE illustrations for every recipe, along with easy-to-read type. This is a bonus if you are in your kitchen actually making a dish. You can still read it at a bit of a distance, and your kids will be able to read it, too. For anyone who is already acquainted with Paleo, there is a foreword by Robb Wolf.
The book officially releases Monday, but you can pre-order, even though it says “temporarily out of stock”. Just ignore that and click on the “add to cart” button anyway. 🙂
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