Category: Recipes

I bought a large container of tomatoes because they were on sale and then got home and thought “What do I do with a bunch of tomatoes?”

Some of my options were –

• Slice them and eat them raw
• Slice them and add them to a salad
• Make a stir fry and include them in it
• Make homemade salsa
• Make homemade spaghetti sauce

All of those options were good but instead, I decided to bake them as a side dish. And, they came out pretty good.

The recipe calls for aged grated parmesan cheese which is not really paleo but more primal (the primal diet allows cheese). It’s quite interesting reading about the difference between the paleolithic diet and the primal diet. There are so many opinions and variations on these diets — it’s enough to make your head spin.

Despite this, I’m putting this recipe under the paleo category and you can choose whether to add the cheese or not —

First, you’ll need a few ingredients …

Next, you’ll be combining the oregano, cheese, salt and pepper. It will look like this …

You can use basil (dried or freshly chopped) or any other herb you like.

Next, you’ll be slicing your tomatoes lengthwise and putting some of your herb mixture on top of each tomato. Then you’ll be pouring a little bit of olive oil over the tomato halves.

Next they’ll go in the oven … Are you ready to try it?

Ingredients

• 4 large oblong-shaped tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
• 1 teaspoon oregano (I used dried)
• 1/4 cup freshly grated aged parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Ground pepper
• 4 teaspoons extra virgen olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450° Fahrenheit
2. Place tomatoes cut-side up on a baking sheet
3. In a small bowl, combine the oregano, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper
4. Top the tomatoes with the herb/cheese mixture
5. Drizzle the olive oil on top of the herb/cheese mixture
6. Bake the tomatoes until they are tender, about 15 minutes (but set your timer for 5 minutes earlier in case they get done sooner)

And that is pretty much it. They are juicy and great tasting!

This recipe was adapted a tad from Food.com.

I just had to share this paleo Avocado Ranch Dressing with you as it’s so easy to make and goes with any salad.

Here are the ingredients. I used dill seed instead of the fresh dill that the original recipe calls for, however, next time I’ll use fresh dill as I believe it will give it a stronger flavor.  (Olive Oil not shown)

Ingredients

• 1 ripe avocado
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 can full-fat coconut milk
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dill seed or 2 Tablespoons fresh dill
• 2 Tablespoons fresh chives
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. In a blender or food processor, pulse the avocados.
2. Add the remaining ingredients then pulse to combine it all.
3. Puree everything until its smooth.
4. Store it in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks.

The dressing came out quite thick so I adapted it by adding 2 tablespoons olive oil and then it was “pourable.”

This recipe will work on top of any salad and I also found that I can use it when making tuna salad, chicken salad, etc.

Special thanks to tgipaleo for this recipe!

For the new year I’m planning on making more salads.  Why, you ask?

Because I really enjoy them! This Red Cabbage Salad with Pears and Walnuts was simply scrumptious.  I know, I know — red cabbage!! It’s true though. The salad tasted great without the usual salad fare such as lettuce or spinach.

In addition to not being disappointed with this salad, you’ll probably be one of the first on your block who makes something out of the ordinary. Hey! That means you’ll be just like me!  (laughing)

Seriously though — I really did like this salad.

So — here are the key ingredients …

The original recipe called for grape seed oil. You won’t see that in the picture above because I decided to substitute the grape seed oil with a Basil and Sun Dried Tomato Olive Oil — it’s what I had in the cupboard and I thought it would work fine (and it did).

I also decided to make my own pomegranate syrup which was easy peasy.  (I know, I know, there is no such word as peasy but it always rhymes well …)

Anyway — let’s get to making this salad which is also paleo, shall we?

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil (or Basil & Sun Dried Tomato Oil if you can find it)
• 2 teaspoons pomegranate syrup (see directions below to make this)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 head red cabbage, cut in half, cored, and very thinly sliced (4 cups)
• 1 pear, cored and sliced
• 1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion

Ingredients for Pomegranate Syrup

• 1 cup (8 ounces) pomegranate juice
• 2 Tablespoons Pure Maple Syrup
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice

Directions

1. Whisk the vinegar, oil, pomegranate syrup, and mustard in a small bowl then set this aside.
2. Toss the cabbage, pear slices, walnuts, and red onion in a serving bowl.
3. Serve the dressing on the side or (if you’re sure all of this salad will be eaten at once) toss the salad with the dressing.

To make the pomegranate syrup:

1. Simmer 1 cup of pomegranate juice with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and 1 Tablespoon lemon juice over medium heat for approximately 1 hour until it becomes thick.

That’s it!  Enjoy!

Waking up to a -24° Fahrenheit temperature (-46° windchill) yesterday, I was not looking forward to what the day had in store.

Here is what the kitchen window looks like.  We don’t have to put our vegetables in the refrigerator as the window sill keeps them cool enough.

In spite of the cold, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to accomplish quite a bit and also try a new recipe.

It was just “one of those days” when everything went right. I paid my bills and a friend’s bills, sent out January birthday cards, organized files for the new year, prepared my quilting blocks for more sewing then cooked a new recipe.

In the middle of all that, I headed outdoors when the temperature was a -16° to put the mail in the mailbox for pickup. Later, when it was a balmy -12°, I went outside to retrieve the delivered mail. Brrrr.  I should have worn my long johns.

Feeling a sense of accomplishment, I went to the kitchen and gathered the ingredients for the new recipe I wanted to try. Hmmm … after reading through the recipe, I decided I was going to improvise on the instructions and ingredients — and so I did. The original recipe is a Broccoli, Chicken and Almond Saute but I used a vegetable mix instead of just broccoli along with a few other changes.

So — here is what I did. And — you will enjoy this one. It’s easy and quite tasty.

First — here are the ingredients you’ll be needing (olive oil and chicken not shown):

After preparing your chicken thighs, you’ll be putting them in an olive-oil-greased cast iron skillet (if you have one) for browning …

This is looking good …

While the chicken is browning, you’ll toss your vegetables in a skillet to start their cooking process along with a splash of sesame oil.

After the vegetables are about halfway cooked, add the chicken and toss everything together.

Allow everything to cook through.  Ready to try it?  Remember you’ll be using two skillets side by side.

Ingredients

• 4-5 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces
• Salt
• Olive oil
• A Spice Rub of your Choice (I used Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute)
• 1 lb vegetable mix – cut into bite size pieces (I used carrots, cauliflower and broccoli)
• 1/8 teaspoon chile powder
• 1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil (or a splash here and there)
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Add the spice rub (or spices of your choice) in a large bowl along with some salt and pepper.
2. Add the chicken pieces to the spice rub and toss to coat.
3. Heat an iron cast skillet on medium and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil.
4. Toss the chicken into the skillet and allow the chicken to brown on both sides.
5. On the other skillet, add a tablespoon or two of olive oil along with the chili powder and set the heat on medium low.
6. Once the skillet is hot, add your vegetable pieces to this second skillet and toss with the olive oil.
7. Add a splash or two of the sesame oil.  (Take a peek at your chicken and turn it to make sure it’s browning on both sides.)
8. Once the chicken is browned on both sides, remove it from the heat and set it aside until the vegetables are starting to soften.
9. Add the chicken to the vegetable mix and toss together.
10. Taste one of the chicken pieces to make sure it is thoroughly cooked through.
11. Add the almonds and toss everything together again.

That’s pretty much it. It’s quick, easy and a great comfort food for any day of the week. And, I thoroughly enjoy my Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute. It has a tad of cayenne pepper — small enough for me to enjoy and strong enough to give the chicken a flavor boost the way my husband likes it.

All of you who are in the midst of this polar vortex — STAY WARM!!!

This Baked Butternut Squash recipe is a “side” dish from none other than Betty Crocker.  Remember her? I wonder if she knew she had made a paleo dish. It’s not hard to do.

You won’t need too many ingredients.

And you won’t need to do too much to make this recipe either.

Alright so … let’s take a look at this easy peasy recipe …

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 lb butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2-3 cups)
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (I used one Firebird apple)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Place the butter in  a 13×9-inch glass baking dish.
3. Heat the butter in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes or until melted.
4. Remove from the oven and stir in the cinnamon and nutmeg.
5. Add the squash and toss to coat the squash with the cinnamon mixture.
6. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
7. While waiting for the squash to bake, get a large bowl and mix the apples, syrup and vinegar together.
8. Once the 20 minutes are over, pour the apple mixture over the squash mixture.
9. Cover with foil again and bake another 10 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and stir then bake another 5 to 10 minutes longer or until the squash is tender.
11. Stir everything one last time before serving.
12. Sprinkle with the pecans if you desire.

And that is pretty much it.

Enjoy this easy to make recipe.  I did!

Looking out the window, small snowflakes fall to the ground and join the thousand others that have attached themselves to the cold sidewalk. We should have a good 5-8 inches before the day is over.

The air is crisp — the sky white. Beauty at its best.

And here to make matters even better is the perfect soup. Really. I wouldn’t lie to you. This soup is much better than the squash soup I’ve made in the past and it’s vegan, paleo and gluten free. Yes! The sweet potatoes give it a wonderfully sweet taste. No added sugar. You just have to try it.

You will need just a few ingredients.

And it’s so easy to put this soup together. One of the “hardest” parts is slicing and chopping the leeks.

These will be put in a large pot (make sure you read all the directions below as I’m giving you a very shorthand account of the steps you’ll be taking – just the major ones).

The second hardest part? Peeling your sweet potatoes and cutting or chopping them into small bite sized pieces.

Then you’ll be adding the sweet potatoes to the pot along with a few other things …

Oh, this leafy vegetable (called watercress) was something I had never tried before. Don’t be afraid of it though if you’ve never tried it. Although it tastes bitter when eaten by itself (of course I had to try it), it blends beautifully with the sweet potatoes and has no bitter taste at all when cooked. (Some people describe the taste of watercress as being peppery and tangy but I didn’t get that flavor.)

Look at this beautiful soup that’s coming along so well …

Okay so — you’re going to try it, right? I strongly encourage you to try it. This soup is chock full of vitamins. Go on — search it out and see for yourself. Check out the nutrition in the sweet potatoes and the watercress. Can something this healthy be so good?  Yes!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 3  large Leeks, white & palest green parts only, chopped and rinsed well
• 3 large Sweet Potatoes, peeled and diced (original recipe calls for 4 but mine were pretty big so I used 3)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Vegetable Bouillon Cubes
• 1  cup packed Watercress leaves, chopped loosely
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups Light Coconut Milk
• Salt and freshly ground Pepper to taste
• 1/4  cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot.
2. Add the leeks and saute over medium heat, covered, until they begin to turn golden. Stir occasionally.
3. Add the sweet potatoes, bay leaf, bouillon cubes and enough water to cover everything.
4. Bring the soup to a gentle simmer, covered, until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. (Prick a fork through a few of the potatoes to make sure they are tender.)
5. Mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot with a fork then stir those pieces back into the soup to thicken it.
6. Add the watercress leaves and coconut milk then simmer over very low heat for 10 minutes longer.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside, covered, for an hour or two before serving.  (You can also make this soup the day before as it tastes even better the more it is allowed to blend together. Make sure you refrigerate it.)
9. Add the parsley right before serving and heat the soup through one more time.

I adapted the original recipe by using coconut milk instead of rice milk as it makes it more paleo friendly. Thanks to Kahakai Kitchen for this recipe.

I served this with a side salad and paleo muffins.

If you like sweet potatoes, you will definitely enjoy this soup.

These paleo Chipotle Meatballs were absolutely scrumptious.  I did change the recipe a tad so they wouldn’t be too spicy for me. The recipe makes a LOT of meatballs — well, for two of us it was a lot.  We ate the leftovers for breakfast and lunch — yum!

There are two sets of ingredients that you’ll need to get started …

This is the first time I’ve purchased clarified butter (also known as Ghee). It comes in a bottle and doesn’t have to be refrigerated.  Interesting, no?

The original recipe uses dried chipotles peppers but it says that we can also use canned chipotle peppers — I chose the canned. This is what they look like — make sure you remove the seeds.

Oh — here’s what the clarified butter looks like … smushed butter (laughing).

Prep your ingredients so you can have them ready as needed. Make sure you read through all of the instructions first — I know, I know, it’s a simple instruction but when I’m in a hurry I think I can wing it as I go along and sometimes it just doesn’t work.

This is what your meatballs will look like before you fry them. You can make them smaller so they will be bite-sized if you wish.

I used two skillets to fry the meatballs because I wanted them to be almost cooked at the same time.

Next you’ll be putting the meatballs in a large pot with the sauce and cooking them through.

Are you ready to try this delicious recipe? Don’t be afraid to make the whole batch — really and seriously, these are good. Just make sure you adjust the spices to your taste.

Ingredients (for the meatballs)

• 1 large onion, peeled and diced (reserve half of the cooked onion for the sauce)
• 2 pounds ground beef (I used 2.13 — that’s just the way the measurement came out)
• 2 canned chipotle peppers (seeds removed)
• 2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 2 large garlic cloves, diced
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
•  3  tablespoon virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sea or kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons clarified butter (ghee)

Ingredients (for the sauce)

• 1/2 of the onion mentioned above
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 canned chipotle peppers, seeds out
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 1/2 cups diced canned tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large skillet, saute the onion in 2 tablespoons clarified butter until it’s clear.
2. You’ll be using half of the onion in the meatball mix and reserving the rest for the sauce in a side bowl.
3. While the onion is cooking, pre-chop all the other ingredients for the meatballs.
4. Slice the chipotle peppers in half, remove the seeds then chop the peppers finely.
5. Combine the beef with half of the cooked onion, garlic, chilies, paprika, cumin, coriander, salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil.
6. Use your hands to knead and combine all of the ingredients then make small balls from the meat mixture.
7. Set the meatballs aside until you’re ready to cook them.
8. Preheat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet (or two) until its hot. If you use 2 skillets, make sure you add olive oil to each one (I showed 2 tablespoons because I used 2 skillets).
9. Add the meatballs and cook on medium high heat for 3 minutes on each side or until well browned. You will not be cooking them all the way through at this point.
10. Add the sauce ingredients to a large pot along with the rest of the cooked onion (but not the tomato puree yet).
11. Stir the sauce to blend everything well, then add the diced tomatoes and stir completely.
12. Add the meatballs to the sauce and cook uncovered for 8-10 minutes stirring frequently as you want the meatballs to cook all the way through.
13. Once the meatballs are cooked through, taste the sauce to make sure you don’t need to adjust anything, i.e. more salt, cumin, etc.

And — that’s it!  This recipe really is worth trying.  You can make the meatballs without the chipotle peppers but they really do give it a nice little burst of flavor.  Want them spicier? Just add more chipotle peppers. And then … enjoy!

I served the meatballs on a bed of pumpkin ginger noodles with a side salad.

This recipe was adapted just a tad from Finger Lickin’ Chipotle Meatballs.

Here’s an improvised recipe — the original one had the lamb chops cooking on the stovetop.  That didn’t work too well for me as the house got very smokey and in our house the alarms are quite sensitive.

In the long run, I did my husbands lamb chops on the stovetop and I plopped mine in the oven until they were cooked the way I like them — no pink at all in the middle. Any hint of redness makes me gag. But my husband likes his meat medium rare sometimes. Ugh.

Anyway — here are the ingredients I used for the marinade.

And it will turn out looking like this …

And you’ll be marinading the lamb chops for a couple hours or you could just brush them on the lamb chops right before cooking if you forget to marinade.

Ingredients

• 5-8 lamb loin chops (I used small ones)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1/2 Tbsp dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Marinade the lamb chops in a mixture of garlic, rosemary, thyme, red wine vinegar, and olive oil for 1-2 hours. I put them in the refrigerator for this.
2. When ready, remove the chops from the refrigerator and allow them to sit until they are at room temperature – approximately 30 minutes.
3. Heat a cast iron skillet to medium heat and place the lamb in the skillet.
4. Cook the lamb chops for 4-5 minutes in the skillet then flip them over and cook them an additional 3-4 minutes.
5. Remove the lamb chops from the skillet and allow them to rest for about 5 minutes.

And that  is how you get medium rare lamb chops.  I didn’t realize they wouldn’t be cooked all the way so I gave my husband his portion and then I did the follow:

Baking Lamb Chops

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F convection (or regular bake).  Add the lamb to a baking dish and bake for approximately 20 more minutes.
2. Check for doneness with a meat thermometer which should read 170 degrees.

Keep in mind that the lamb was in the skillet first so it was partially cooked through which is why it doesn’t need to be in the oven longer. I just followed the additional step because I can’t eat meat that’s not well done.

And — after all this, my picture didn’t come out so great.

But the lamb sure did! That was quick thinking on my part, no?  Aww, shucks, I knew you’d think so. (laughing)

Here are the two recipes that I combined to get MY baked lamb chops.

Marinated Herb Lamb Chops

Herb Roasted Lamb Chops

These will be the second paleo brownie recipe that I have tasted. The first ones were made by my son awhile back when we first started eating paleo.

These brownies were not bad but could have been a tad better. My husband and I had different opinions of what more was needed though. I thought they were a bit dry but my husband thought they weren’t sweet enough. Interesting how two people eating the same food can critique it differently, no?

I had some problems with the original recipe as you’ll soon see. The ingredients were pretty simple though.

And once everything is put together, this is what the mixture will look like.

The original recipe calls for a 9×13 baking dish.  Uh, no. There is no way this batter will spread out into a 9×13 baking dish.  See?

I used an 8×8 baking dish and it worked quite well.

And the final product came out looking pretty good.

Alright so — I’m going to change the recipe just a tad to make it sweeter and to (hopefully) give it more moistness.  Let me know what you think. (Keep in mind I haven’t tried the variation yet as we’re still eating this first batch.)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup almonds, ground
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder, unsweetened
• 5 large eggs (instead of 4), at room temperature
• 1/2 cup raw honey (instead of 1/3)
• 1/3 cup apple sauce, unsweetened
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup coconut oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine the coconut flour and unsweetened cocoa powder then sift 2 times to lighten the mixture.
3. Add the almonds to the flour/powder mixture.
4. In another medium sized bowl, whisk the eggs then add the raw honey, apple sauce, vanilla extract and coconut oil.
5. Make a hole at the center of the dry ingredients and whisk in the liquid mixture until well blended.
6. Spray a non-stick baking spray in an 8×8 baking dish.
7. Put the batter into the baking dish and place it in the oven.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool then enjoy!

Note: In my convection oven, it took 25 minutes to bake but I tested it at the 20 minute mark. Convention ovens tend to cook things quicker.

Ahh … goodness!

This recipe was taken from Paleo Brownies Coco Nutty Recipes and they have more recipes there for you to try. Check them out!