Paleo Sambal Oelek

I adapted a recipe I found online for this Paleo Sambal Oelek that I recently used in a Spicy Beef that I made. The original recipe made gobs of this and I really didn’t want a bunch sitting in my refrigerator ~ possibly spoiling if I didn’t use it right away.

This Sambal Oelek has a spicy sweet flavor to it.  If you want it more spicy, reduce the maple sugar by 1 tablespoon and/or you can add another pepper. Either way will work.

First, here are the ingredients you’ll be needing (salt not shown) ~

Ingredients for Paleo Sambal Oelek
Ingredients for Paleo Sambal Oelek

Ingredients

  • 1 Red Fresco Pepper (or any spicy pepper of your choosing) seeds removed
  • 4 cloves of garlic peeled and chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine
  • 1 – 2 stalks lemongrass (I actually used only 1 ~ the white part only), sliced thinly
  • 2 tablespoons white vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple sugar
  • Salt (to taste)
  • 1 tablespoon lime zest, chopped

Directions

  1. In a mortar and pestle, add the pepper, garlic, ginger and the lemon grass then grind/crush it as fine as you can. (You can also use a blender instead but I found this more fun.)
  2. Add the vinegar to the mortar and pestle and mix everything together.
  3. In a small saucepan, add the ground mixture and bring this to a boil.
  4. Reduce the heat to a simmer then add the maple syrup to the saucepan and stir everything together for a few minutes.
  5. Add the salt and the lime zest then stir to combine.
  6. Remove from the stovetop and add to whatever dish you’re making.

Remember ~ this has a sweet ‘n spicy flavor to it. Feel free to make it less sweet and more spicy or vice versa. It took me a long time but I can look at a recipe now and know whether I need to adjust it or not (I was a slow learner).

Next ~ enjoy!  I added this to a Paleo Spicy Beef dish I made and it came out great.

Paleo Sambal Oelek
Paleo Sambal Oelek

For more paleo recipes, click here.

Spicy Beef

This Spicy Beef recipe is spicy and sweet ~ what a treat to your palette!

I made paleo sambal oelek (a spicy chili sauce) from scratch to use in this recipe and was quite surprised how it turned out.  Kudos to the maple syrup!

The Spicy Beef is easy to make although the sambal oelek takes a tad more time but it’s worth it.

So ~ here’s the Paleo Spicy Beef recipe for your review.  I’ve included a link below to make the sambal oelek from scratch unless you want to purchase it at the market (may or may not be paleo).

Ingredients

  • 1.5 large white onions, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
  • 1.34 pounds ground beef (approximately)
  • 1 – 2 tablespoon homemade sambal oelek (depending how spicy you want it)

Directions

  1. In a large skillet, saute the onions in olive oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, and turmeric.
  3. Season with salt and pepper then cook until fragrant.
  4. Add the ground beef and cook through until it’s browned.
  5. Stir in the paleo sambal oelek and cook through another 5-10 minutes tasting as you go along to adjust for more sambal oelek until you get the right spice flavor.

That’s pretty much it.  I served this on a bed of rice with sliced petite tomatoes and it was scrumptious!

Paleo Spicy Beef
Paleo Spicy Beef

Here’s the link for the homemade Paleo Sambal Oelek.

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

 

Paleo Spicy Grilled Lamb Burgers

I made these burgers bite-size but if you wanted a full size burger you just need to add more meat when you grill them ~ just in time for summer grilling or even grilling them on the stovetop which is what I did.

These Paleo Spicy Grilled Lamb Burgers were truly a treat.  Even though I don’t enjoy spicy foods I put just enough red pepper flakes to give it a little “kick” without them being “too” spicy.

Let’s take a look at the recipe ~

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground lamb
  • 2 tablespoons dried mint
  • 2 tablespoons dried coriander
  • 1 tablespoons dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried garlic or 1 teaspoon minced garlic cloves
  • 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions

  1. Preheat a skillet on medium heat and add the olive oil
  2. Place the lamb in a large bowl then add the the mint, coriander, oregano, garlic, white wine vinegar, and maple syrup then mix everything together.
  3.  Add the cumin, allspice, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper then mix well.
  4. Shape into 8 small patties (or 4 large ones).
  5. Grill the burgers 5 – 10 minutes on each side, or until well done.

Pretty simple, no? I served these bite sized lamb burgers with rosemary roasted sweet potatoes and sliced tomatoes.

I’ll be putting this recipe on my “favorites list” as they really came out delicioso!

Paleo Spicy Grilled Lamb Burgers
Paleo Spicy Grilled Lamb Burgers

For additional Paleo recipes, click here.

This recipe was adapted from Spicy Lamb Burgers found on AllRecipes.com

Chicken Cauliflower Casserole

This paleo Chicken Cauliflower Casserole is so simple to make that I will probably make it quite often.

I just happened to have some leftover cauliflower from when I made the Spicy Indian Cauliflower dish.  I’m always excited when I can use leftover ingredients from one dish as it cuts down on the budget. Makes sense, no?

This dish came out quite tasty. Pat, pat on my back. (I have some bragging rights, don’t I?)

Here’s the recipe for you to try ~

Ingredients

  • 2 garlic cloves, diced
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • Sea Salt, dash
  • 1/2 can diced tomatoes
  • 1/2 onion, sliced
  • 1/2 cauliflower, cut into small pieces
  • 4 skinless boneless chicken thighs, cleaned and cut into small bite size pieces
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
  2. In a large skillet, add 1 teaspoon olive oil and when heated, add the onion and cook until it’s clear.
  3. Add the garlic, basil and parsley to the onion, stir and let this cook for a minute or so.
  4. Add the tomatoes and cauliflower to the onion mixture then season with salt.
  5. Add the chicken pieces to the skillet mixture and stir everything together.
  6. In a 9 x 13 baking pan (I used glass), cover the bottom with aluminum foil, add 1 teaspoon olive oil and use a pastry brush to coat the bottom of the foil.
  7. Add the chicken mixture to the baking pan, cover this with aluminum foil then bake for approximately 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

That’s it!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.  I served this with half of a sweet potato and steamed broccoli.

Chicken Cauliflower Casserole Chicken Cauliflower Casserole

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Sometimes I go to Costco (a large warehouse store) and purchase food that, unfortunately, has to bought in bulk.

I always seem to pick up a package of 6 peppers and thus this paleo Stuffed Bell Pepper recipe. My go-to book for vegetables is called 1000 Vegan Recipes which has some really great recipes. (Doesn’t the phrase Bell Pepper make you think of the limerick “Peter Piper Picked A Pack of Pickled Peppers?”)  (laughing)

I adapted the recipe, especially removing the beans, and present it to you below.

Feel free to substitute yellow or green peppers ~ as long as it’s a fairly large pepper, it should work fine for you.  Although I don’t have a preference in peppers, I realize some people do.

Ingredients

  • 2 large red bell peppers
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, minced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 12 ounces mushrooms, lightly rinsed, patted dry and chopped
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
  • 1 tablespoons dried parsley
  • 1 tablespoon dried dill
  • 1/4 cup dry flax meal
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes.
  2. Cook the peppers in a pot of boiling water to soften ~ about 3 to 4 minutes, then drain and set aside.
  3. Preheat the oven to 375º Fahrenheit and lightly oil a 9×13 inch baking pan and set it aside.
  4. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat then add the onion, cover and cook until it’s softened.
  5. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook, uncovered, for 5 additional minutes.
  6. Add the walnuts, pecans, parsley, dill, half the flax meal and the chia seeds to the mushroom mixture then season with salt and pepper and let this cook through for another 5 minutes.
  7. Stuff the softened pepper halves with enough of the stuffing mixture to fill the peppers then arrange the stuffing side up in the prepared baking pan.
  8. Cover with foil, bake for 20 minutes then uncover, sprinkle with the remaining flax meal and continue baking until the peppers are hot ~ about 10 minutes longer.

This was truly delicious! I paired this with a Spinach Turkey Frittata  (although I substituted beef instead of turkey) and it was perfect.

Paleo Stuffed Bell Pepper
Paleo Stuffed Bell Pepper
Paleo Stuffed Bell Pepper
Paleo Stuffed Bell Pepper

Adapted from the recipe found at 1,000 Vegan Recipes, Pg. 335, to paleo-ize.

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

Spicy Indian Cauliflower

I’m still craving Indian food and found this nice Spicy Indian Cauliflower recipe that I had to make a few changes on to paleo-ize.

I’m not normally a fan of cauliflower but this was simply delicious. I did cut back on the cayenne from 1/2 teaspoon to 1/4 teaspoon and it still had a bite to it.

Let’s take a look at the recipe ~

Ingredients

  • 1 medium head cauliflower, cut into small flowerets
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1/2 cup shredded onion
  • 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (I used canned)
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne
  • 1 teaspoon maple syrup
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Directions

  1. Steam the cauliflower until just tender, about 5 minutes, then set aside.
  2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat then add the onion, ginger and garlic and cook this through stirring occasionally until it’s soft.
  3. Stir in the tomatoes, coriander, cumin, cayenne, maple syrup and salt.
  4. Add the steamed cauliflower and stir until the cauliflower is coated with the spice mixture.  (Add a small bit of water if it gets too dry.)
  5. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 5 minutes.

I served this paleo Spicy Indian Cauliflower with Indian Chicken with Gravy and Grilled Zucchini.

Spicy Indian Cauliflower
Spicy Indian Cauliflower

Adapted from the recipe found in the book 1000 Vegan Recipes.

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

Indian Chicken with Gravy

I could eat Indian (from India) food every day if … my husband liked it as much as I do. He’ll go to Indian restaurants with me ~ maybe once a year. I may have to declare myself single for a day and treat myself to lunch all by my lonesome just so I can eat Indian food more often.

That being said, I have found that Indian restaurants tend to serve food in little bowls that seem to cost a lot of money. So ~ sometimes it’s not cost effective to eat there.

This Paleo Indian Chicken with Gravy is scrumptious. The ginger, cumin and garam marsala spices just burst in your mouth with flavor. Yum!

Let’s take a peek at this recipe, shall we?

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter or you can use regular butter)
  • 3 chicken legs, skin removed
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 onion, minced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
  • 1 small tomato, coarsely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon garam masala
  • 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
  • 1/2 serrano chile pepper, seeded and minced
  • 3/4 cup water

Directions

  1. Heat the oil and ghee in a large pot over medium heat.
  2. Cook the cumin seeds in the oil for a couple minutes.
  3. Add the onion then cook and stir until clear.
  4. Stir in the garlic and ginger then cook until the onions brown.
  5. Stir in the tomato, tomato paste, garam masala, turmeric, serrano pepper, and water then cook another 5 minutes.
  6. Lay the chicken into the sauce and mix it with the seasonings in the pot to coat them.
  7. Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low then cook until the chicken until it’s thoroughly cooked ~ approximately 40 minutes.

And that’s it! The chicken came out so moist and tender and, as I mentioned before, the flavors were delicious.

The original recipe was found at All Recipes and I paleo-ized it by changing the vegetable oil to olive oil. I also decreased the amount of chicken needed and adjusted the rest of the recipe for “just the two of us.”

Indian Chicken with Gravy
Indian Chicken with Gravy

I served this meal with curried sweet potatoes.

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

 

An Old Recipe ~ Pinon

I’m not sure what possessed me to think about an old recipe that I learned as a child when I was a Camp Fire girl.

My Camp Fire leader was Puerto Rican and every now and then she would take us to her house and feed us.  This time, she taught us how to make a wonderful dish with green beans, plantains and beef. It was delicious then and it was delicious now.  It even heats through well as leftovers.

My Camp Fire leader is one of the most important people in my life.  My mother was very strict but she allowed my leader, Becky, to take me wherever she chose.  She would take me shopping for clothes, dinner at the old Marshall Field’s in Chicago and also helped me land my first job.

I have always considered Becky my foster mother because without her I wouldn’t have made it through my teen years “intact.” I was a bit wild, i.e. I would run away from home sometimes, but she was always there when I called her to pick me up.

Being a social worker, Becky had many contacts and she eventually opened up her own business which was a Home Care Agency. She cared for people and gave my mother her first real job.

So, it was with sadness that I learned this past year that she had early onset dementia. Her sister took her home to Puerto Rico so that the family could take care of her.  Such a beautiful life …

Anyway, I made this Paleo Piñon with Becky in mind. I haven’t had it in years and searched the internet to get the “gist” of it again.

I believe you’ll enjoy it ~ it’s a real treat to have mature “maduro” plantains as they are nice and sweet.

Ingredients

  • 4 large ripe (yellow) plantains
  • Coconut Oil (for frying)
  • 6 eggs, beaten (3 for the bottom of the dish and 3 for pouring over the top of the casserole)
  • 2 cans green beans (or you could use fresh ones but they need to be steamed and cooked first)
  • 1/2 cup tomato sauce
  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 onion chopped finely
  • 1 bell pepper (color doesn’t matter), chopped finely
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon basil (or another herb of your choice)
  • Salt and Pepper (to your taste)

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. Cut the ends off of the plantains then peel them using a knife by cutting a slit down the side and then taking the peel off with your hands.
  3. Slice the plantains into diagonal pieces. You should get about 12-18 slices per plantain.
  4. In a medium sized skillet on medium low heat, add enough coconut oil so that it will coat the bottom of the skillet. When the oil is hot, add the sliced plantains to fill the bottom of the skillet (do not overlap). Once the first group of plantains are golden on both sides, transfer them to a paper towel lined dish. Continue this until all the plantains are cooked then set them aside.
  5. In another skillet set to medium heat, add the olive oil.
  6. When the olive oil is hot, add the onions and cook until they are clear.
  7. Add the garlic and stir into the onions.
  8. Add the pepper to the onion mixture, stir and let heat through for 5 minutes.
  9. Add the ground beef and cook until the meat is cooked all the way through.
  10. Season the beef with the basil, tomato sauce, salt and pepper.
  11. Remove from the stovetop when cooked.
  12. In a pie dish, add 3 of the beaten eggs to the bottom.
  13. Next add the plantains on top of the eggs, then add the green beans and lastly the beef mixture.  Continue this layering ~ you want to end with one layer of plantains on top.
  14. Lastly, pour the last three beaten eggs over the top of this casserole. (This should give it a nice shine.)
  15. Place the pie dish in the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the egg is set.

It sounds like a lot of work but really it isn’t.

A lot of Puerto Ricans who make this dish use Sazon for flavoring but it has MSG in it (along with other things I can’t pronounce) and that can tend to give people migraines so I don’t cook with it. You can replicate Sazon if you want to (just Google it).

I chose to keep my recipe simple but you can really add a lot of spices to this dish if you like.  Cumin might go really well with it.

Hope you enjoy it!

Paleo Pinon
Paleo Pinon

I served my Paleo Piñon with guacamole and sliced pineapple. It didn’t come out with the layered look but tasted fantastic just the same.

Paleo Pinon
Paleo Pinon

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

And, for an article on the benefits of coconut oil, click here.

Roasted Chicken Thighs With Apricots (Paleo)

This paleo recipe is quite flavorful and I enjoyed the spices on my palate and believe you will also.

Although it seems like there are a lot of ingredients it’s really just a tad of this and a tad of that ~ and most things you’ll have in your cupboard already.

The spices consist of cumin, cinnamon, coriander, paprika and turmeric. Then there’s the dried apricots and a little bit of ginger which I grated. This is what gave it the most “kick.”

Spices
Spices

Everything will be put into a dutch oven and will just bake through. You can also just put it in a casserole dish with aluminum foil over it. Simply enough, no?

Here’s the list of all of the ingredients ~

Ingredients

  • 4 skinless chicken thighs (bone-in)
  • Salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
  • 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 medium yam (or sweet potato), peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 cups chicken stock
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped or whole
  • 1/4 cup slivered almonds

Directions

  1. Heat the oven to 350°F.
  2. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper.
  3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot then add the chicken thighs and cook, stirring occasionally until well browned on all sides
  4. When done, remove from the skillet and set this aside.
  5. Add the onion slices to the skillet and saute over medium heat stirring frequently until they begin to brown.
  6. Add the garlic, stir and cook through another 1 minute.
  7. Add the yam or sweet potato, ginger, spices and the 2 teaspoons of salt then cook through for another minute or so.
  8. Add the chicken stock, the chicken thighs, and all the remaining ingredients and bring this to a boil.
  9. Transfer everything from the skillet to a casserole dish or dutch oven, cover and put it in the oven to bake for approximately 25 minutes.

(You can start this in the dutch oven and simply move that directly into the oven.)

Paleo Roasted Chicken With Apricots
Paleo Roasted Chicken Thighs With Apricots

That’s it!  Simple as making pumpkin pie! Hmmm … wish I had some pumpkin pie right about now … (laughing)

Delicious!  I served this with a bowl of steamed broccoli.

Paleo Roasted Chicken With Apricots
Paleo Roasted Chicken Thighs With Apricots

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

 

 

Coconut-Crusted Chicken with Mango Salsa

Here’s another Rachael Ray recipe that was quite good, and the only change I had to make to paleoize it was to use olive oil instead of vegetable oil. Cool, eh?  (Hmmm … does anyone say cool anymore?)

Ingredients for Coconut-Crusted Chicken with Mango Salsa
Ingredients for Coconut-Crusted Chicken with Mango Salsa (1 of 2)

Of course, we’ll need chicken.  I used four (4) skinless boneless chicken breasts.

Skinless and Boneless Chicken Breasts
Skinless and Boneless Chicken Breasts (2 of 2)

Then I prepped the vegetables ~ just a little dicing.

Prep the Vegetables
Prep the Vegetables

The chicken is dipped in a whipped egg and tossed in the unsweetened coconut to be coated.  Then it’s cooked in a heated skillet on both sides before baking in the oven.

Coat the chicken with egg and unsweetened coconut flakes
Coat the chicken with egg and unsweetened coconut flakes

Once the chicken is brown on one side, turn it over and cook it on the other side.

Cook the chicken
Cook the chicken

Okay then ~ ready to see this simple and easy paleo recipe?

Ingredients

  • 1/2 pound frozen mango, thawed and chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
  • 1/3 cup chopped red onion
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 egg, scrambled
  • 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  • 4 - 6 ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees .
  2. In a small bowl, combine the mango, bell pepper, onion, cilantro and vinegar then season with salt and pepper.
  3. In a shallow bowl, beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
  4. Place the coconut in another shallow bowl.
  5. Dip the chicken in the egg, then in the coconut. Press to coat. You want to make sure the chicken is coated on both sides.
  6. In a large, ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.
  7. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until golden, about 3 minutes.
  8. Transfer the skillet with the chicken in it to the oven and bake until cooked through, about 12 minutes.
  9. Serve the chicken with the mango salsa on top or on the side.
Coconut-Crusted Chicken with Mango Salsa
Paleo Coconut-Crusted Chicken with Mango Salsa

I served this with sliced avocado and a zucchini-carrot medley.

To see additional paleo recipes, click here.

To see the original recipe, click here.