Beef and Cauliflower Soup

We have been trying to follow a Paleo/Primal diet for a while. It started when our first daughter and I had a stubborn case of thrush and a holistic nutritionist I met said that dietary changes were the only way we were going to kick it for good. We have fallen off the wagon several times, but we notice that we feel better when we cut back on grains and other starchy foods.

Well with a new baby at home, I was very focused on quick easy meals that our toddler would eat with us. We relied on pasta more than I'd like to admit, and the times that we did get the paleo style meals I hoped for, it was pretty boring. Everything was pan fried or steamed because I didn't want to turn the oven  on during the Phoenix summer, and not much seasoning. Just some type of meat or fish and two vegetables and repeat.

I happened on The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking by Hayley Mason and Bill Staley at the library. We started cooking our way through it and really enjoyed it. It includes meal plans and shopping lists which I love (I've always been a sucker for those), and the food tastes great. My one complaint is that I don't like the mix of meals. We are talking about cooking our way through it again, but I think I will rewrite the meal plans and shopping lists so that you don't end up with a bunch of beef one week, lots of fish the next, or lots of greens followed by only white and yellow veggies, etc. I'll be sure to share my rewritten meal plans and shopping lists with you.

One of the recipes we recently tried was for Bison Stew. We had to use beef because our Meat Shop didn't have any bison stew meat. The results were delicious. I love the combination of beef broth and cauliflower. It tastes so rich and decadent. Yum!

Beef and Cauliflower Soup (based on The Food Lovers Kitchen)

2 lbs. beef stew meat
1 T coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
6 cups of beef broth
3 sprigs of thyme
3 sprigs of rosemary
1 head of cauliflower, broken into small florets
fermented sauerkraut
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the meat in the coconut oil in a large Dutch oven. Remove the meat from the pan. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook until the onions are translucent. Add the meat and broth to the pot.  Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 5-6 hours, adding the cauliflower for the last hour of cooking. Top with sauerkraut and serve.

This post is part of Alphabe-Thursday, Full Plate Thursday and Frugal Food Thursday.

Pretending It's Fall

I don't know if you've heard, but Phoenix is really hot. I'm talking about 118 degrees for most of the week after our daughter was born in June. But the extreme temperatures aren't the worst part of it, the worst part is how long the heat lasts. The monotony of hot and sunny weather day after day really gets old. Now this might seem like a lame complaint while parts of the country are already facing snow, but we had a high of 95 degrees  last week. That's just ridiculous for the middle of November. I've started to wear jeans and long sleeve shirts in order to feel like the weather is changing. I've also started to make some roasts and soups (more relevant to discussions here) to have a change of pace from the salads and lighter meals we favor during the summer.

We had a delicious brisket last week as part of my effort to celebrate fall through fashion and food. In addition to working well for fall, it requires very little hands-on prep, and one cooking session prepared a couple of meals. Both qualities that I look for in a meal these days with a two year old and four month old running and rolling around. We got the recipe out of The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking, but I have included an on-line link for the recipe.

Fall Brisket (from The Food Lovers Kitchen)

2 yellow onions, chopped
5 lb beef brisket
salt
pepper
dried basil
oregano
1 can tomato sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread onion in baking pan. Generously sprinkle salt, pepper, basil and oregano over both sides of the brisket. Place the meat on the onions. Bake for 1 hour uncovered. Sprinkle additional basil and oregano and pour the tomato sauce over the brisket. Bake for 4 more hours, flipping halfway through.

Let rest and then thinly slice, and serve with sauce spooned over the top.

This post is part of Gluten Free Wednesdays, WFMW and Allergy Free Wednesdays.

Indian Style Kale

We spent last weekend in New York City. We moved from New York City to Boston in December, and have been feeling homesick. It was amazing how we just fell right back into our old neighborhood. It almost felt like we had never left. This was a much needed break from other things going on, plus a trip to celebrate our upcoming wedding anniversary and my birthday at the end of the month.

Now, back at our new home we are continuing our efforts to eat lots of greens. We are trying to get at least one big serving of greens at dinner each night, but this can quickly become boring . So I have been keeping an eye out for different way to prepare collard greens, kale, chard and spinach. I was pleased to find a recipe for Kale Saag over at Not Eating Out in New York. It looked like a great new way to make kale. We simplified her recipe just a little bit because we are all about easy these days. It has great flavor. Kale can be tough and chewy, but this recipe blends it into a smooth texture. (I was toying with the idea of calling it Kale Mush for Grown-Ups, but decided that might not be a hit.) This recipe is vegan, but it would be good made with some chicken stock added instead of the cooking water, or some cream at the end.

Indian Style Kale inspired by Not Eating Out in NY
2 large bunches of kale, chopped with the stems removed
3 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 t dry ginger
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t cumin
1/4 t cayenne
1/4 t mustard

Simmer kale for 20 minutes. While the kale is simmering, heat oil over medium heat and add the onions. Cook until the onions are softened and add the spices. Cook for 2 minutes and then turn off the heat. Drain the kale and reserve 2 cups of cooking water. Place the greens in the food processor with 1 cup of water. Blend until smooth adding more water if necessary. Add the blended kale into the pot with the onions and spices. Bring everything to a boil. Serve hot.

Gluten-free Meatloaf

Gluten-free Meatloaf with Roasted Cauliflower and Sauteed Spinach

We try to have ground beef once a week because it is an affordable way to incorporate some grass-fed beef into our diet. I have a couple of recipes in regular rotation that are always good - burgers with mushroom sauce and meatloaf. When I have looked up recipes for gluten-free meatloaf most of the recipes seem to use gluten-free breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs. That seems like cheating to me. I guess what I really want is a grain-free meatloaf, and they can be hard to find. Here is our solution- just meat, vegetables, spices and an egg. It works whether you are low-carb, Paleo, Primal or most other special diets (just not vegetarian ;).

What is your favorite ground beef recipe? We are always looking for new inspiration.

Combine the meat, vegetables, spices and egg.

Shape the mixture into a loaf and top with the sauce. I like to use as few pans as possible
so I roasted the cauliflower on the same sheet pan.

Meatloaf 
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
2 ribs of celery, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1 t salt
1 t thyme
1 t pepper flakes
1/2 t oregano
1 egg
1/4 c mustard (we like spicy brown)
1/4 c ketchup


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the garlic, onion, carrot and celery in a food processor. Pulse until everything is finely chopped (but stop before it becomes puree).* Add the vegetable mixture to a large mixing bowl along with the beef, spices and egg. Combine thoroughly with your hands. In a separate bowl, combine the mustard and ketchup. Shape into a loaf shape on a baking sheet. Slather the meatloaf with the sauce (there will be some leftover).** Bake for 1 hour. Let rest for 10 minutes. Slice and enjoy.

*The meatloaf holds together pretty well. It is key to put the veggies through the food processor. When I have chopped them by hand, it has made the texture too course and the meatloaf falls apart when I slice it.


**I'm someone who likes a lot of sauce, so I make enough to coat the meatloaf and have some extra at the table. If you only want enough to coat the meatloaf, 2 T of mustard and ketchup should be enough.


This post is part of Gluten-Free Wednesdays, Works for Me Wednesdays, Allergy Free Wednesdays, and Real Food Wednesdays.  

Vegetables alla Carbonara

Vegetables alla Carbonara

Sometimes I get something on the brain, and have trouble adjusting the plan. For example, I planned on making Spaghetti Squash alla Carbonara inspired by Paleo Parents tonight. When I got to the store I couldn't find any spaghetti squash.... Hmmm? What to do? I could have prepared an entirely different dish, but I wasn't up for thinking on my feet. So I substituted some butternut squash and broccoli and proceeded. I was worried that it would be kind of weird, but it was actually delicious. I would make it exactly the same way again. Vegetables alla Carbonara was born.

The eggs, cheese, vegetables and bacon ready to be combined.

Vegetables alla Carbonara inspired by Paleo Parents
4 T olive oil
1 large butternut squash, peeled and chopped
2 crowns of broccoli, chopped
12 oz bacon
6 eggs
1/2 C whole milk
1/4 t oregano
1/4 t basil
1/4 t garlic powder
1 C Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat two large cookie sheets with olive oil. Place the squash and broccoli each on a cookie sheet and toss to coat in oil. Bake for 45 minutes, or until tender. Cook the bacon until crispy. Reserve the fat. Beat the eggs, and mix with milk, oregano, basil and garlic powder. Heat the bacon fat and use it to cook the eggs until they start to firm up. Combine with the roasted squash, broccoli, eggs and cheese. Enjoy!

This post is part of Alphabe-Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Frugal Food Thursday,

Dinner Inspiration

As I mentioned in my last post, we have been trying to avoid sugar, flour and grains (more on why in a future post). These limitations have put us in a definite dinner rut of meat, winter squash and kale/chard. So I set out to find some inspiration that looked tasty, healthy and affordable. Here's what I found:

10 Grain-Free Dinners on a Budget from Holistic Kid

A delicious looking/sounding Taco Salad at Riddle Love. Also planning to check out her weekly meal plans too.

One of my favorite blogs, Nourished Kitchen, is always inspiring, but this Chipotle Chile, Chicken and Black Bean Soup looked especially appealing to me.

Do you have any recipes to recommend for an affordable grain-free dinner? Please share your dinner inspiration.



Last night we enjoyed a roasted lemon garlic chicken with baked butternut squash and sauteed red chard with garlic. Still part of our basic pattern, but it was tasty. We drizzled the pan drippings over the squash, and I highly recommend it.

Lemon Garlic Chicken
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
zest of 1-2 lemons
1 pasture raised chicken
1/2 C Chicken Stock
2 T butter

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.

Mix the garlic and lemon zest together. Gently loosen the chicken skin and push the garlic and lemon under the skin. Try to evenly distribute over the whole chicken. Place the chicken into a dutch oven and add the chicken stock. Rub the butter over the chicken. Cook the chicken for 1-2 hours (until a leg wiggles easily). Remove the lid, and turn up the heat to 400 degrees and cook for another 20 minutes or until the skin is golden.