We haven’t had corned beef on the paleo diet until trying this recipe.
So, how did the Corned Beef and Sweet Potato Hash taste? Well, it was interesting. Good, but interesting. The corned beef turned “shreddy” while cooking which gave the beef a whole different texture while chewing.
Corned Beef and Sweet Potato Hash
I had the corned beef for breakfast and it “microwaved” very well as leftovers on other days.
This is a very simple recipe to make and tastes great with scrambled or fried eggs — just like “regular corned beef hash.
A recent article in the U S News paper talked about different restaurants that have secret menus.
It’s true! Even before the article came out, my family was looking at what the menu possibilities were at Panera (a bakery/restaurant) and we happened to come across their secret menu or as they call it, the “hidden” menu.
There aren’t too many options but enough to hopefully satisfy a paleo diet.
Here are the menu items they currently have:
For breakfast there are two: Power Breakfast Egg White Bowl with Roasted Turkey and Power Breakfast Egg Bowl with Steak
For lunch/dinner there are four: Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad, Power Mediterranean Roasted Turkey Salad, Power Chicken Hummus Bowl and the Power Steak Lettuce Wrap
My son and I stopped at Panera’s recently and decided to try a couple of their lunch options. We settled on the Power Mediterranean Chicken Salad and the Power Steak Lettuce Wrap.
Ordering was simple enough but we had to wait awhile to get our to-go meals. It appeared that the “cooks” weren’t familiar with the items we ordered but eventually our items were bagged up and ready to go.
The meals come in a box and we were given a plastic fork and knife for each meal.
Panera Hidden Menu
Here’s the Steak Lettuce Wrap which at $7.99 seems a bit high for the amount of food you get (a LOT of lettuce). I was disappointed in the presentation and the quality of this entree. The pesto sauce, what little there was of it, had almost no flavor. Everything else just seemed to be plopped together on top of four large lettuce leaves. Not quite what I consider a “wrap.”
Steak Lettuce Wrap
My son didn’t seem to have any complaints about the Mediterranean Chicken Salad which was also $7.99.
Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Well, at least they’re trying, right? Perhaps we’ll go back to see if there’s any improvement.
It is so tempting on a lot of the paleo recipes we try to think of having white rice with them. It seems like the rice would go perfectly with this recipe also as the rice would soak up the juices. But, enough of that talk as rice on the paleo diet shouldn’t be eaten very often unless one needs extra carbs because they’re exercising.
On to the review of this recipe.
Beef Rendag
It was pretty good! A couple of ingredients — cinnamon and cardamon pods — give the beef an interesting taste. No, not a bad taste. Just interesting. I would never have though of putting cinnamon with beef, would you?
The Beef Rendang does require some interesting ingredients that you wouldn’t have in your cupboard. Well, most people I know wouldn’t have MOST of the ingredients in their cupboard.
But hey, it’s always good to try something new and add a little spice to your life. Yes?
I’ll bet you’re wondering what Shakshuka is, eh? The definition from Wiki is as follows:
“a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, often spiced with cumin.” Sound good so far?
Shakshuka
We used an iron skillet to make this dish and served it right from there (it would have been quite cumbersome to take it out).
You do have to like tomatoes in order to enjoy this dish. I would say “have it with rice” but since we’re eating paleo, we had it with Sweet Potato Wedges and Avocado Sauce. Quite good!
Shakshuka
Simple, filling and healthy! That’s what food should really be all about.
The Shirazi Salad we had was delightful, tasteful and simple to make. Only three veggies needed to make it and a tad of lime juice. That’s three gold stars for this salad.
Persian Shirazi Salad
But this was not the entree for our dinner. This was the side dish to a Pomegranate Stew with Chicken. I hear what some of you are saying … pomegranate stew? Yes, pomegranate. It is a unique recipe (at least for me) and tasted fine. You can even taste the cardamon in this recipe — very subtle.
Pomegranate Stew with Chicken
The combination of the salad with the stew seemed a little odd to me at first but when you have a hot item with a cold one it blends quite well.
If you like lamb shank like I do, this recipe is for you.
It’s tender, moist, melts in your mouth and you’ll want to make it again and again.
Lamb Shank Dinner
And, if you’ve never tried fennel, this is a good time to try it as the juices meld together nicely. We did not use the anchovy fillets that were called for in the recipe — you can if you’d like and please let me know if you do and how you like it. I’ve never been an anchovy fan.
Lamb is such a comfort food for me and I’m not sure why. While growing up, we mainly had chicken. It wasn’t until late in adulthood that I actually had lamb and fell in love with it.
I’ve posted quite a few paleo dinner entrees already but breakfast is a huge part of a paleo diet because if you start off with a full belly, the rest of the day is pretty easy.
So this Breakfast Sweet Beef recipe (which is really a beef casserole) with its sweet potato and spinach ingredients really made for a healthy and hearty way to start the day.
Breakfast Sweet Beef Mix
I am partial to sweet potatoes though and have found that I can have them every day. Since we don’t eat sugar on the paleo diet (except for the occasional honey), the sweet potatoes satisfy the sweet tooth that I have.
You can substitute regular potatoes if you’re so inclined but I much prefer the nutrients in the sweet potato.
I am not a cook by a long shot but I do like to try other people’s recipes and “play” with them to see how I can make them my own. Currently, my son is doing the cooking and I am doing the tasting — not a bad arrangement, eh?
Lamb, lamb and lamb. I only know of one person who doesn’t like lamb. Are you a lamb lover?
This Moroccan Lamb Stew is made in a crock pot which makes it not just delicious but easy to make. The only problem I ever have with lamb is that it is so expensive so we don’t have it on a regular basis.
Moroccan Lamb Stew
This lamb stew went very well with a Moroccan Carrot and Orange Salad that had plump golden raisins and pine nuts that made my mouth say “whoa! I love this!”  (laughing)  Okay, okay — my mouth really didn’t say that but it was quite pleased with the raisins and nuts.
Moroccan Carrot and Orange Salad
Does it seem odd to you to have a carrot salad with lamb stew? Normally rice would be served so you can soak the juices from the stew with it but we haven’t introduced rice to our paleo diet yet and we find that salads go just fine with just about anything.
Here’s another lamb recipe that I’ve tried that tasted good also:
This Moroccan Chicken Stew has one of my favorite vegetables.  Can you guess what it is? Sweet potatoes! So, it’s no wonder that this stew is one of my favorites. The chicken in the picture looks a little underdone, doesn’t it? But in reality, it was quite tender and was cooked all the way through.
The ingredients include cinnamon and ginger which makes it quite tasty.
Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes
We haven’t started eating rice yet so we have to get creative with the entrees we have that are “juicy.” To accompany this stew, we decided to have a Moroccan Zucchini, Grape and Bell Pepper Salad in keeping with the Moroccan theme.
Moroccan Zucchini, Grape, and Bell Pepper Salad
For me, this salad was just okay. I’m not a big fan of raw zucchini. Actually, I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten raw zucchini before I had this salad. Hmmm …
But if you’re a zucchini love, this salad would be really good for you.
Ahhh … I’ll bet you’re wondering about the Christmas Tree Salad, especially since I’m posting in April, right? Well, frankly, I love salads all year around. The owner of the recipe thought the salad looked like a Christmas tree so that’s why she named it Christmas Tree Salad.
The salad has many healthy ingredients like oranges, pecans, cranberries … well, you get the idea.
Christmas Tree Salad
We had Salmon Provencal with this wonderful salad which made it a perfect Paleo dinner.
Salmon Provencal
The topping on the salmon was really delicious and is included in the Salmon Provencal recipe.
This was the first time I had tasted pomegranates. Isn’t that odd? I’ve lived over 50 years and never tasted pomegranate.
