Recipes
February 19, 2012
Chili by Dan & Laura
Chili is one of my favorite comfort foods of all time! It started with my dad making chili when I was a kid during the winter. What Laura and I have done (with the emphasis on Laura) over the last couple of years is take your typical chili recipe and meatify the recipe!! (Meatify might not be a word, but you know the meaning).
The recipe below will have what I made and in () show a standard chili recipe. The point of this is to give a reference on quantity and what you can do to make your own recipe. Caution: with all of these ingredients combined it takes up a 12qt pot!! So scale as needed! A safe bet is to simply double the () ingredients. I chose to omit all of the beans from the original recipe since they do not follow paleo (legumes do not fall under paleo).
Ingredients:
-6lbs of ground beef -the smallest size at Costco (2lbs of ground beef)
-2lbs of Italian sausage-spicy (1lb of Italian sausage)
-1lb of bacon (1/2lb of bacon)
-(2-15oz chili beans drained
-(One 15oz chili beans in spicy sauce)
-Two cans of diced tomatoes-28oz (one-28oz)
-Three cans of crushed tomatoes-28oz (One-28oz)
-Three cans of tomato paste-6oz (one-6oz)
-6 peppers- combination of green, yellow, orange, and red (one of each)
-1 Whole onion (1)
-As many jalapeños as you want
-2 habaneros
-3/4 cup chili powder (1/4 cup)
-2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce (1Tbsp)
-2Tbsp Minced Garlic (1 Tbsp)
-2 Tbsp Oregano (1 Tbsp)
-4 Tsp Cumin (2 Tsp)
-2 Tsp of each: Basil, Salt, Pepper, Cayenne, Paprika (1 Tsp of each and 1Tsp of Sugar)
Directions:
1) Dice up all of the onion, red/yellow/orange/red peppers, and jalapenos. Add olive oil to a large fry pan and sauté until translucent. Once this is done, put sautéed veggies to large pot for chili.
2) Slice the bacon into small rectangles and put in skillet and fry until crispy. Once done, add to pot.
3) Brown up the Italian sausage and ground beef. Add to pot.
4) Add in all tomatoes and spices.
5) If feeling frisky, chop off top of the habaneros and add to pot. Be careful not to eat it (or touch your face).
6) Put heat on Low-Medium. Mix thoroughly. The longer is cooks, the better it will taste.
Add cheddar cheese to your bowl and enjoy!
Bonus: Pick up some gluten free corn bread from the grocery store (can be found at food lion). Instead of milk, use almond milk.
Review:
Accessibility of ingredients: All ingredients can be found in the grocery store.
Prep Time: Moderate to High. I gave it a moderate prep time because it does not have anything that needs to be done the night before or marinade for 6hrs, and I gave it a high prep time because if you are doing this for the first time or by yourself it will take a while. It helps to have one person on the veggies and the other one doing the meat.
Taste: The best part of this is you can make it as spicy as you like. Also, anything with bacon is delicious! For best results, serve on a cold, damp and dreary day.
Practicality: I did say that it makes 12qts, and you can make as much or as little as you want/can. I eat if fresh the day I make it and then put it in containers for the rest of the week. I will then eat it for lunch for the rest of the week.
February 5, 2012
From Dan and Laura
Coconut Flour Bread- Gluten Free, grain free, wheat free
Ingredients
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (or unsalted softened butter)
- 6 eggs, beaten
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey (I used agave)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
How-To
- Preheat the oven to 350°.
- Mix all ingredients together.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Source: chocolateandcarrots.com
Notes on Coconut flour source: Coconut flour is high in fiber, low in carbohydrates and is gluten free.
Review:
Accessibility of ingredients: Moderate. Coconut milk and coconut oil: Hispanic section of grocery store, agave nectar: Trader Joe’s, the hardest ingredient find is coconut flour: got it off of Amazon. The brand is Bob’s Red Mill. I might be able to be found in some of the health food isles of grocery stores and probably at Whole foods, but it was cheaper on line and we didn’t need it right away.
Prep Time: Easy. Combine ingredients, preheat and set timer…done.
Taste: It has a sweet taste to it from the coconut flour and the agave. It can be a bit dry at first, but after spending a night in the frig, it seemed to moisten up. Suggestion: wait till the bread cools down before you dig in (this can be said for all recipes that have coconut flour as an ingredient).
Practicality: This is a good treat, and although it is “paleo”, try not to overdo it.
Changes: We made this into a garlic bread to go the noodle free lasagna, but it was a bit too sweet. When we make this again I would like to add some berries.
Noodle Free Lasagna!!
Ingredients
Sauce
1 lbs – Ground Italian Sausage
1 lbs – Ground Beef
2 tbsp – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5 Cloves – Garlic Minced
1 – Onion Chopped
4 – 15-oz Cans – Tomato Sauce
1 – 14-oz Cans – Fire Roasted Tomatoes
2 – 3.5-oz Cans – Tomato Paste
2 tbsp – Oregano
2 tbsp – Basil
1 tbsp – Chili Power
1 tbsp – Paprika
1 tbsp – Red Pepper Flakes
1 tbsp – Pepper
1 tsp – Cayenne Pepper
1 tsp – Salt
1 – Bay Leaf
¼ Cup – Heavy Cream
Layers
1 – Large Spaghetti Squash
1 – Eggplant
3 – Zucchinis
1 – 15-oz Container – Ricotta Cheese
Quattro Formaggio Cheese (Four Cheese Italian Blend)
¼ Cups Almond Meal
¼ Cups -Flaxseed Meal
3 – Eggs
Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Coconut Oil for Frying
Directions
Sauce
- Brown the ground Italian sausage and ground beef. Keep separate from sauce so grease does not make it into the sauce.
- In sauce stockpot sauté onions and garlic in olive oil.
- Add in browned meat and tomato paste.
- Add tomato sauce and fire roasted tomatoes. Add additional water to sauce for desired consistency.
- Add spices
- Slow add heavy cream and cook sauce on low for an hour or two.
Note: This makes more sauce than is required. You can play with the amount of meat to give it more of a chili consistency. You can even use a store bought sauce. It is also on the spicy end so modify accordingly for your taste.
Fillings
- Spaghetti Squash
- Cut spaghetti squash in half and remove seeds.
- Cook in oven for 1 hour @ 450 degrees till the squash and be removed by a fork for a spaghetti consistency.
- Optional: Spread the spaghetti squash and roast in the oven for an additional 15 minutes to remove excess liquids
- Zucchini
- Slice zucchini ¼ inch thick and roast in oven for 30 minutes at 400 degrees.
- Eggplant
- Peal and slice eggplant.
- Bread eggplant using eggs, almond meal, and flaxseed meal.
- Fry eggplant in either coconut oil or extra virgin olive oil on both sides.
Assembly
- Start layering in a lasagna dish. Fried eggplant, followed by spaghetti squash, then a layer of meat sauce, ricotta cheese, next zucchini, finally another layer of sauce before topping off with the Quattro Formaggio Cheese.
Bake
- Bake for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees
Review:
For the record, this is a Laura original.
Accessibility to the ingredients: Moderate. The flaxseed meal can be found at Publixs and can be subbed with 100% almond meal (found at Trader Joe’s) if you don’t have any on hand. The coconut oil can be found in the Hispanic section of most grocery stores (I got mine from the Food Lion on W. Georgia Rd.)
Prep Time: Heavy. There is a substantial amount of prep for each layer; however, this is also not one of those recipes that you start making at 8pm after a workout. This needs to be a weekend feast meal!!
Taste: If my mother could see me now. I am eating all the things that I used to hate: Eggplant, zucchini, and squash. A squash is named after the sound it makes when it hits the ground. With all joking aside, it is a great meaty and veggie feast. The fried eggplant in the almond meal is great. Also, it is great as a leftover.
Practicality: This makes a large tin of food. It can make a quick lunch or dinner for days.
(Note: the pic of the plate also has some paleo garlic bread)
JANUARY 29, 2012
I am going to start writing reviews of foods that are Gluten Free and Paleo friendly. Although the recipes will have both of these characteristics, quantity and frequency still need to be regulated. What I mean is that you cannot have a “paleo pizza” for every meal and say you are on the paleo diet.
The point of these recipe reviews is to help people who would like to start paleo but are not comfortable coming up with meal idea, to assist people who are currently doing paleo to improve their recipe selection, and to help people make their diets varied, interesting, and most importantly DELICIOUS!!!
I will be grading these recipes on three criteria: accessibility of ingredients, prep time, and taste.
For all of these recipes I will show the original recipe. I will make notes of any changes that I have made, and I will specify which way I prefer.
I will also be varying the complexity of the food and ingredients, the type of meal (i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner, side, meat, veggie etc.).
Disclaimer: some of these meals were made with the help of my wife Laura.
ENJOY!
Dan
Sweet Potato Latkes
Source: everydaypaleo.com
Ingredients:
5 cups grated sweet potato (I slightly packed the cups)
2 eggs (I used 4)
2 tablespoons onions, minced (I used between ¼ and ½ cups)
1 teaspoon cinnamon (I used 2tsp)
Sea salt and black pepper for taste (Pinch of each)
Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Heat a griddle of skillet over medium heat and melt a spoonful of coconut oil (I also added in some Trader Joe’s Irish butter). Take small handfuls of potato mixture and drop onto the hot griddle or skillet and press down gently into little “cakes.” Cook for 3-5min per side or until golden brown and crispy and the potatoes are done all the way throught. Top off with fried eggs and bacon if you so desire (I did it with the fried eggs). Makes 12 latkes (I got it to make 8 large cakes).
Reviews:
Accessibility of Ingredients: Easy, You should have all of these ingredients are your disposal either in your pantry/fridge or at the local grocery store
Prep time: Takes as long as it takes to grate 5 cups of sweet potatoes in a cheese grater and then cook time.
Taste: I LOVE sweet potatoes so this one was easy for me. I love them! You could try adding/subbing in some more spices like nutmeg and chili powder