LARABAR Renola

LARABAR Renlola

We all know what LARABARs are; they were one of the first "Paleo-friendly" bars in the market.  A few months ago, they launched RENOLA, a new type of "granola" made of nuts, fruits, seeds, and spices, and sent me some samples to try out. 

Tweet

Fuel for Fire

Fuel for Fire Fuel Packs

A few weeks ago, Fuel for Fire sent me some samples of their Fuel Packs.  Funny thing is, around the time they contacted me, I was literally about to purchase some to take to Nationals with me but didn't quite fully execute on that.  A good friend of mine loves them and convinced me to try them out.  So when they contacted me, I was stoked to try them out.

Tweet

Baked Chicken with Capers and Olives

Lemon Baked Chicken with Capers and Olives

I've been playing around with cooking with chicken recently since I feel like it's one of those proteins easily and often overcooked, but is so good when done right: moist, tender and full of flavor.  So for my 200th post, I'm excited to share with you one of my new favorite Paleo dishes: lemon baked chicken with capers and olives.  Check it out!

Tweet

Paleo Cauliflower "Couscous"

Cauliflower "Couscous"

'Tis the season for cauliflower!  If you go to the Farmer's market now, you'll probably find many farms with lots of cauliflower, colored cauliflower, and even Romanesco.  I've been on a Mediterranean/Spanish/Moroccan/Israeli kick lately.  A couple weeks ago I made a baked chicken dish with lemon, capers, and olives and had it with some couscous (the real deal).  After my first serving, I figured I could do with out the couscous and sub it for the healthier and gluten free cauliflower mock version of it.  I try to cook with ingredients in season as much as possible, so with cauliflower fresh and in abundance, I figured it would be a great time to take a stab at our version of the Paleo "Couscous."  I want to say it has a Mediterranean flair to it, but I don't know the cuisine well enough to claim that.  Regardless, it's still pretty freaking good.

Tweet

Roasted Beet & Mâche Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Avocado

Roasted Beet & Mâche Salad with Toasted Walnuts and Avocado

You can say I've been on a Thomas Keller kick recently and I think that's because of our frequent trips up to Napa and dining at ad hoc.  The other reason is because his beets recipes are so tasty and beets are season!   

Tweet

Baked Beets

Baked Beets!

I've never been a huge fan of beets, probably because I was fed the terrible kinds, such as canned beets.  After dining at L'Arpège in Paris and ad hoc a handful of times this spring, I grew to really like beets.  They're sweet, juicy, bursting in flavor and so in season now!  So the next step of course is to cook them.  Baking them is my favorite style to eat them.  I've been getting them every week at the farmer's market!  SO GOOD!!

Tweet

Whole Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Root Vegetables

Roasted Chicken on a Bed of Root Vegetables

After dining at ad hoc restaurant multiple times in the past month, I decided to buy the cookbook: ad hoc at home.  I've always loved Thomas Keller restaurants but Ad hoc is truly special.  It's one of my favorite restaurants in the greater Bay Area, and definitely a must every time I go up to Napa.  I love how it's simple foods you can cook at home using equipment you own at home, but done way better than you.

Inspired to go back to basics, I decided to make one recipe per week from the book.  The first recipe I made out of the book was one of Thomas Keller's signature dishes: whole roasted chicken on XYZ, depending on the season, and in this case whole roasted chicken on a bed of root vegetables.  I know root veggies are technically winter veggies, but I saw them at the farmer's market and had to snag a few before summer kicks in.

Tweet

Roasted Brussels Sprout Chips - 2 ways!

Roasted Brussels Sprout Chips - 2 ways!

I feel like everyone has some kind of brussels sprouts story.  Some go crazy over them and some seriously try to avoid them.  I used to hate them.  Smelling them from a distance would already throw me off.  Then one day, drunk at a fancy bar, I had brussels sprouts chips and thought they were amazing.  Afterwards, I was on a mission to make Paleo/Primal brussels sprouts chips!

This recipe is for Roasted Brussels Sprout Chips with:

• Lemon Salt and Italian Basil
• Lemon Salt and Bacon

Tweet

Cave Cravings' Paleo Snack Box Service Review

Cave Cravings Paleo Snack Box

About a month ago I was asked to be a part of the review team for Cave Cravings' Paleo/Primal snack delivery service.  I was pretty excited about doing this review.  With many delivery services available in the Bay Area for lunch, groceries, etc, I've been waiting for one focused on Paleo/Primal foods.  In a nut shell, Cave Cravings is a service that delivers a variety of Paleo snacks, monthly.  For those with busy schedules like me, Cave Cravings' monthly delivery service will save you some major shopping and research time.  You know, like reading labels in the aisles of Whole Foods and such.

I like the Cave Cravings service for two main reasons: 1, Paleo snacks available at work so I don't munch on chips or other crap in there and 2, exposure to the different vendors who make the Paleo snacks.  You get a nice variety of products to sample from.  If I like something from one of the vendors, I'll order it separately, else, it's just enough to taste.

Tweet

Kaddo Bourani

Kaddo Bourani

So you might be wondering, what is Kaddo Bourani?  At a high level, it's an Afghan dish of caramelized pumpkin topped with two sauces: a mint-garlic yogurt sauce and a savory meat sauce.  I like this dish because it's bursting with flavor.  The dish incorporates very contrasting flavors while maintaining balance.  Each of the three components of the dish can be too much on it's own: the pumpkin perhaps too sweet and the yogurt, too sour, tangy, and cold.  However when all combined together: cool, sweet, tangy, savory, minty, the results are quite amazing!

Tweet

Roasted Parsnip and Pear Soup

Roasted Parsnip and Pear Soup!

It's been months since I've posted a recipe, and I know a lot of you have been on my case about it!  A large part of this is because of all the traveling I've been doing for work.  Now that things have calmed down a bit and Thanksgiving is just around the corner, I decided it was time to post a Paleo/Primal/clean/gluten-free recipe for a possible Thanksgiving dish.

Tweet

Morels with Madeira

Morels with Madeira

I loooove mushrooms.  Last Sunday, I was lucky enough to take home some fresh wild Morel mushrooms!!!  The Morel season is typically from early to mid April to mid-June, so small window.  You have no idea how excited I was. 

Tweet

Escarole and Pork

Escarole and Pork

I wasn't sure what to call this dish, but the main ingredients are escarole, ground pork, and king trumpet mushrooms.  It's kind of unique in that you can serve it as a side dish or as the main course.  I had this with Stuffed Chicken Breast.  I can also imagine it tasting pretty bomb on top some cast-iron Cauliflower 'rice'.

Tweet

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Stuffed Chicken Breast

Cheesy veggies wrapped in meat... it's tough to mess this one up for taste.  You'd be happy to know it's super easy to make and doesn't require much effort :)

Tweet

Chicken Zucchini Salad w/ Almond Basil Pesto

Chicken Zucchini Salad with Basil-Almond Pesto

Mmmm pesto.  A versatile sauce, pretty much delicious on anything.  Instead of using the typical pine nuts or walnuts base, I decided to use toasted almonds instead.. just for kicks.

Tweet

Asian Steak Tacos

Marinated hanger steak w/ carrots, cabbage, and ginger-scallion sauce

I really like the steak tacos at Calafia Cafe in Palo Alto.  It's a great option for eating out, Paleo style.  Since they didn't look hard to make, I decided to try to make them at home.

Tweet

Primal Snacks for the Super Bowl

A few Super Bowl paleo/primal friendly snacks

It's Super Bowl time again!  This year we decided to deep fry pretty much everything... even guacamole, while still keeping it "Paleo", hah.

Check it out.  A ton of time was put into developing these recipes!  Enjoy.

Deep Fried Guacamole | Spicy Buffalo Wings + Blue Cheese Sauce | Sweet Potato Fries | Stuffed Mushrooms | Mozzarella-Basil-Tomato Bites

and from last year:
Guacamole | Plantain Chips | Bacon and Guacamole Sammies | Deviled Eggs | Kale Chips | Cran-Ginger Cookies | Marvelous Meatballs 

Tweet

Indian Chicken Curry

Indian Chicken Curry + Indian Cauliflower Rice

The problem with most Paleo/Primal/clean recipes out on the Internet these days is that they're all the same damn thing.  Almost all try too hard to "Paleo-ize" the dish.  This goes from adding that extra cup of veggies to make the carb/protein/fat ratios in the Zone Diet to going to trying very hard to make it look like the real deal for that one food porn shot.  With all that energy and focus devoted to aesthetics and Paleo-izing, so many of these recipes fail to incorporate the essential flavors and methods crucial to what makes the dish, the dish.

Alright, I'm done ranting.  Please don't take offense.  Anyway, here's a unique Indian curry recipe that actually taste like it could be from India.  I was hooked on it for awhile!  Though not a quick dish to make, we took the time to properly create the paste, revisit, and enhance.

Tweet

Indian Cauliflower "Rice"

Indian Curry + Indian-style cauliflower "rice"

I used to LOVE Indian food.  In college and for awhile afterwards, I ate Indian food at least three times a week!  I even went to India to pig out.  When I started the whole Primal/Paleo thing, one of the first recipes I tried to make was Paleo butter chicken.  It didn't quite taste like the real deal... especially when served with a side of veggies instead of naan and Indian rice.

Tweet

Thanksgiving Scalloped Root Vegetables

Scalloped Thanksgiving Root Vegetables.  Clean/Primal/Paleo.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I decided it was time to post a Paleo/Primal recipe for a possible Thanksgiving dish.  For the clean eaters, the problem is that traditional Thanksgiving dishes tend to be full of carbs, except for the turkey.  Look we have mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, dinner rolls, sweet roasted root veggies, green beans, cranberry sauce, and a whole lot of pies.

Last year, I posted a Paleo Thanksgiving sausage stuffing recipe.  While it was still good, it was a different dish.  It lacked the essential texture and rich bread flavors crucial to making it taste like the real deal stuffing.  Since Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, instead of ruining one of those delicious carby Thanksgiving dishes by trying to make it "Paleo," I decided to create something totally new.  We used a variety of in-season vegetables (which for the most part are root vegetables) and Thanksgiving flavors to create Scalloped Root Vegetables!  This is clean, gluten-free, Primal, and "Paleo," depending on your definition.

Tweet