Garlic Roasted Tomatoes & Sausage with Zucchini “Noodles”
Ahh, September! Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini — all summer’s heat-lovers ripen in droves. Gardens and farmers markets burst with produce, and cooks scramble to serve it all.
This dish made its debut on my table in the middle of last week. I’ve made it twice since. I can’t resist.
Garlic Roasted Tomatoes and Sausage with Zucchini “Noodles”
- 6 medium-to-large garlic cloves, peeled and quartered (adjust quantity to taste, bearing in mind that roasted garlic is much milder than garlic in its raw or sauteed state)
- 1/2 cup onion, roughly diced
- 3 cups mixed cherry and pear tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup sweet red, orange, or yellow bell pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2/3 pound pork sausage
- 1 medium zucchini
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Place quartered garlic cloves in 9×13 baking dish and drizzle with 1/8 cup olive oil, stirring to coat. Put garlic in oven to being roasting while slicing onions, tomatoes, and peppers. Add sliced vegetables, remaining olive oil, and salt to baking dish. Stir to coat with oil, then spread in a single layer before returning to oven. Roast 45 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes.
While tomato mixture roasts, use a vegetable peeler to pare the entire zucchini into wide, flat “noodles.” With 5 minutes of roasting time left, steam the zucchini in a small amount of water, then drain and keep hot until serving. Meanwhile, crumble sausage in stovetop skillet and cook over medium heat until done.
Combine sausage and tomato mixture. Serve over zucchini “noodles” and top with fresh basil. Makes 2 servings.
Keema & Sweet Potato Omelette
Omelettes again. Omelettes, omelettes, omelettes. They’re delicious, sure, but they’re such a staple on the paleo breakfast menu that we’ve seen them all. Haven’t we?
Not quite. This Keema & Sweet Potato Omelette is the best I’ve had in recent memory — fluffy, creamy, savory, salty, sweet, and 100% delicious.
Before you can make the breakfast, however, you need to make dinner. (Oh, darn. Two meals for the price of one.) What’s for dinner? Keema, of course! Keema is a simple Indian dish featuring ground lamb and the spice blend known as garam masala.
Here’s how it’s done: Saute together 1 pound ground lamb (beef works too), 1 medium chopped onion, and a couple cloves of garlic. When the meat is nearly done, add 2 Tbs garam masala and 3/4 tsp salt. Saute another minute or so, then add 1/2 cup beef broth and 1/4 cup tomato paste. Stir and simmer until the tomato paste is well incorporated.
Serve your keema with a side of cubed sweet potato roasted in coconut oil with a few red pepper flakes. Be sure to save some for your omelette!
Tea-Berry Paleo Popsicles
Can a person get too old to want a popsicle on a July afternoon?
I surely hope not.
Here’s a lightening-fast recipe (loosely based on the Eades’ Paleolithic Punch from Protein Power LifePlan) that I whipped up over the weekend and have been enjoying ever since. Using herbal tea in place of water adds depth of flavor; adding half-cup of coconut milk to the blend makes for a creamy option.
Feel free to use whatever berries you like. I like tartness in food as much as in personalities, so I used a fair number of cranberries and raspberries along with the blueberries. A cherry-strawberry-blueberry blend would be much sweeter.
Tea-Berry Paleo Popsicles
1/2 cup frozen raspberries
1/2 cup frozen cranberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups iced herbal tea (I used Lemon Zinger)
Blend all ingredients together, using as much tea as necessary to make a thick, icy concoction. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze at least 6 hours. Makes 8 popsicles (using standard 1/2-cup molds).
Savory Egg Muffins
Egg muffins: The ultimate in primal breakfast to go! I found this version particularly tasty, but feel free to substitute any variety of meats, vegetables, and seasonings. Leave out the cheese if you prefer; replace it with a couple tablespoons of coconut milk or cream.
If you like them cold, great. Prefer hot? 1 minute in the microwave is perfect for 2 muffins. Serve alone or with a side of fresh berries, greens, or sliced tomato and avocado.
Tip from a friend: Baking these in silicone baking cups (like cupcake papers, only reusable) virtually eliminates clean-up. The silicone cups make the muffins a little smaller, obviously, because they take up room in the muffin tin, but they stick to nothing and make the muffins even easier to eat on the fly.
Savory Egg Muffins
1/3 lb hot Italian sausage
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
2 Tbs minced jalipeno, with seeds
9 eggs (more or less, depending on size)
1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded
1 1/2 tsp oregano, dried (or 3 Tbs fresh)
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cook Italian sausage, onion, bell pepper, and jalipeno in a skillet over medium heat until sausage is done and vegetables are al dente. Meanwhile, scramble eggs in a bowl and whisk in the cheese and oregano. Divide sausage mixture among 12 muffin cups, either greased or lined with silicone baking cups. Pour egg and cheese mixture over sausage mixture, filling muffin cups to just over 3/4 capacity. Bake 25 minutes or until muffins are lightly browned and centers are set. Enjoy hot and refrigerate extras, covered, for up to a week. Makes 1 dozen muffins.
Primal Jambalaya
Fast, rich, and easy. Sounds like a Hollywood starlet, but alas, it’s just a recipe. This primal version of jambalaya (no rice, of course, though you could serve it over cauliflower rice if you wished) makes for a filling, one-dish meal in about 20 minutes.
The recipe makes 2, dinner-sized servings. For a savory breakfast, split it into four servings, each topped with a fried egg or two.
A word of warning: when shopping for Polish sausage, be sure to check the label. Some brands contain an appalling quantity of high fructose corn syrup or other sugars, while others contain little or none.
Primal Jambalaya
2 chicken thighs, cooked and cut into chunks
2 Polish sausage links, sliced into coins
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 cup yellow onion, diced
1 jalapeno, sliced (with seeds)
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (not drained)
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp creole seasoning (plain salt works too)
4 Tbs fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
Brown sausage in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven. Add onion and peppers and saute over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add dry spices and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 20-30 seconds. Add diced tomatoes and chicken, scraping bottom of pan to deglaze, and simmer until chicken is heated through. Serve topped with cilantro, if desired. Serves 2.
Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Curry
Many of us primal eaters are looking for ways to balance our O-6:O-3 ratios and our budgets. Considering that one of the best ways to achieve the former is to consume grass-fed, grass-finished meats, the latter can be difficult! Many of us have to compromise by supplementing our conventional meat intake with quality fish oil, and buying less expensive cuts of grass-fed meat.
Ground beef is an easy and inexpensive favorite, but too much of it can lead to a meal plan that’s, well, less than exotic. This recipe, requested by reader Barb, is one way I’ve managed to jazz it up a bit. Obviously, you can take the basic concept and mix it up any way you like. Use chicken or steak in place of the ground beef. Try different vegetables (carrot and zucchini work well). Heat things up or cool them down. Curry is an astonishingly flexible dish. Enjoy!
Ground Beef and Sweet Potato Curry
1 lb ground beef
1 medium, yellow onion, julienned
1 red or yellow bell pepper, julienned
1 Anaheim pepper (or try a pasilla or a couple jalipenos), julienned
1 Tbs coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
2 Tbs fresh ginger, grated or minced
2 Tbs red curry paste
2 Tbs hot curry powder
2 Tbs mild curry powder
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 oz) full-fat coconut milk
1 cup beef broth
1 medium sweet potato, diced into 1/2 inch cubes
Unsweetened coconut flakes, chopped almonds, and minced green onion (optional, for garnish)
Brown ground beef and set aside. Saute onions and peppers in coconut oil until al dente, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste and powders. Saute another minute, stirring frequently, to toast spices without burning. Add tomatoes, coconut milk, broth, ground beef, and sweet potato and stir to combine. Cover and simmer over low heat until sweet potato is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Serve topped with coconut flakes, almonds, and green onion if desired. Serves 4.
Coconut Fried Plantains
Here’s an easy, 100% primal dessert I’ve been serving lately as part of my commitment to reintroduce a reasonable quantity of carbohydrate to my diet. (More on that in an upcoming post.) A whole, medium plantain contains about 60 grams of carbs, but just a quarter of a fruit fried up in healthful coconut makes a remarkably satisfying, barely-sweet end to a meal.
The medium-chain fatty acids and monoglycerides in coconut oil are widely credited with health benefits ranging from enhanced longevity to fat loss to anti-viral impact to the elimination of candida.
Tropical Traditions is a good source of quality coconut oil. Get on their e-mailing list for a steady stream of notifications about excellent deals on their products.
Coconut Fried Plantains
1 medium plantain, peeled and cut lengthwise, then width-wise into quarters
1/2 cup unsweetened, dessicated coconut
2 Tbs coconut oil
1 cup coconut cream
Dash of cinnamon
Melt coconut oil in the bottom of a glass bread pan. Roll each plantain quarter in the oil, then in the dessicated coconut to coat generously. Return plantain quarters to pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until coconut is well toasted. Serve each plantain quarter on a small plate with 1/4 cup coconut cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Serves 4.
Strawberry and Avocado Salad with Chile-Lime Dressing
Here’s a simple one — a springy side dish with bright colors, contrasting textures, and interesting flavors. Drizzle the extra dressing over an accompanying piece of grilled chicken.
Strawberry and Avocado Salad with Chile-Lime Dressing
4 cups fresh baby spinach
8 fresh strawberries, quartered
Dressing
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 tsp cayenne powder
Easter Eats for Non-Primal Peeps
Can it be Easter already?
The last few days at In the Night Farm have featured howling winds and rain mixed with snow, the biting sort of weather that turns the horses like weather vanes, tails against the gusts, backs hunched and heads lowered as if to pray for summer’s haste.
It may not have felt like spring, but indoors, a primal Easter feast was underway. Because we’re running late this year on butchering, I didn’t serve the usual leg of lamb and fancy trimmings. Instead, I took it easy with this simple, Mexican-influenced menu that left plenty of time for socializing with my (non-primal) guests:
Steamed Crudites with Adobo Yogurt Sauce;
Garlic Pulled Pork, a recent cookbook-contest winner from Mark’s Daily Apple;
Bacon Stuffed Anaheim Peppers, since the store didn’t have large jalapenos for my recipe;
Strawberry and Avocado Salad with Chile-Lime Dressing; and,
Coconut Fried Plantains
And wine, of course.
I love creating satisfying, primal meals for non-primal guests. Include plenty of interesting colors, flavors and textures, and most people will never notice the absence of sugar and grain.
Happy Easter to all, and to all a good night! (Did I mention we had wine?)
Slow-Cooked Carne Asada and Bacon Stuffed Jalapenos
Let’s face it: primal eating can be a bit pricey. Back in my flegan days, I filled up on beans and grains from the bulk section — cheap and easy, but sky high in carbohydrate and antinutrients. These days, I keep my eyes open for inexpensive cuts of meat and tasty ways to prepare them.
In my corner of Idaho, we have a large Hispanic population, and carne asada (the unseasoned kind, just thinly sliced, tough beef) is usually available. I picked up a large package the other day and spent a grand total of about 10 minutes preparing this dish. The stuffed jalapenos made a delicious, if somewhat less economical, side.
Slow-Cooked Carne Asada
2 lbs carne asada
1 large, yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 (4 oz) cans diced green chiles
1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1-2 jalapenos, chopped (seeds included)
2 Tbs chili powder
2 Tbs oregano
2 Tbs cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine ingredients in slow cooker with beef on the bottom. (There’s no need to pre-brown the meat.) Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 5 hours, until meat is tender and easily shredded with two forks. Serves 6.
Bacon Stuffed Jalapenos
8 large jalapeno peppers
1 (8 oz) package full-fat cream cheese
3/4 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
8 slices bacon, cooked and chopped
Halve and seed the jalapenos, and place them in a glass baking dish. Mix together cheeses and bacon. Stuff jalapeno halves with cheese mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, or until peppers are tender and filling is browned on top.
Note: Want an appetizer for your primal Mexican meal? Sliced jicama makes a great substitute for chips when dipping up guacamole. (And it pleases the low-fat crowd, too, which is handy for parties.)
Pumpkin Spoonbread Mini-Loaf
This is one of those “special” meals for me — too high in carbohydrate for frequent consumption, but a tasty start to a busy weekend day on the farm. The recipe as written will run you about 65g carbs, but you can knock that down to 35 by eliminating the raisins. Or, split the loaf with someone you love and serve it with eggs and bacon on the side.
I call this “spoonbread” because it has a consistency somewhere between pudding and sweet bread, not unlike the cornmeal-based dish from down south. This dish is sweet, though, instead of savory, and is excellent topped with butter or coconut cream.
Pumpkin Spoonbread Mini-Loaf
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 cup powdered, unsweetened, dessicated coconut
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup raisins (not packed)
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup flaked, unsweetened coconut (optional, for garnish)
Pre-heat oven (a toaster oven is perfect!) to 425 degrees. Combine first 9 ingredients (pumpkin through salt) in small bowl and mix well; add raisins and walnuts and stir to combine. Pour batter into greased mini-loaf pan. Sprinkle top with coconut flakes, if desired. Bake 60-75 minutes. Cooking time will vary depending on oven, and you may wish to cover the top with foil to prevent over-toasting of the coconut, particulary if using a toaster oven. Spoon finished loaf onto plates or into bowls and enjoy! Makes 1 mini-loaf.
Red Hot Chicken Curry
I mentioned this dish in my post about tracking food intake, and reader Steve emailed to request the recipe. My pleasure, sir!
For those who prefer a bit less heat, simply eliminate the hot pepper and reduce the hot curry powder to 1 tablespoon, or substitute a mild curry powder.
Red Hot Chicken Curry
1 Tbs coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
1/2 large yellow onion, julienned
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
1/2 pasilla or other bell pepper, julienned
1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thin, diagonal slices
1 hot pepper (I used Chinese 5-color), not seeded, minced
2-3 Tbs hot curry powder
2 tsp Indian tandoori spice blend
2 Tbs red curry paste
1 Tbs fresh gingerroot, grated
1 (14.5 oz) can coconut milk, full-fat
1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
1 lb cooked chicken, cut into strips
4-6 cups fresh spinach
Green onion and unsweetened coconut flakes for garnish (optional)
Melt coconut oil in deep skillet or large-bottomed saucepan over medium flame. Add vegetables except spinach (garlic through hot pepper) and saute 2-3 minutes. Add spices (curry powder through gingerroot) and saute about a minute more, stirring constantly to toast the spices while preventing them from burning. Add broth, stirring to remove bits of spice from bottom of pan. Add coconut milk and chicken. Reduce heat and simmer 2o minutes, stirring occasionally while allowing flavors to meld. Stir in spinach and allow time for leaves to wilt, about 2 minutes. Serve topped with chopped green onion and coconut flakes, if desired. Serves 4.
Hottie Hen with a Pig — Primal Redux
Once upon a roadtrip, my mother and I stumbled upon a brightly painted cafe in the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town of Stites, Idaho. Inside, we found a menu that included one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten. “Hottie Hen with a Pig” featured a handmade crust topped with the usual sauce and cheese, plus strips of roasted chicken, slices of jalapeno, smoked bacon, and fresh pineapple. It’s a meal I’ve duplicated many times…but not since going primal.
Even Conventional Wisdom knows that pizza is an indulgence, but for the primal eater, it becomes even more so. All that dairy and, worse, all that bread! Many of us are willing to excuse dairy, on occasion, but the carb-laden bread can be, um, harder to swallow. The fat wouldn’t be a big deal, except for all those carbs waiting to open the insulin floodgates and shuttle both carbohydrate and fat energy into storage as bodyfat.
Primal and low-carb forums abound with recipes for primal pizza crusts. Some are comprised of baked parmesan, others of grated cauliflower, coconut flour, or almond flour. The only one I’ve tried was made from shredded zucchini and cheese. It was tasty, but extremely high-calorie (I don’t usually worry about calories, but this thing was ridiculous!) and not particularly effective as a substitute crust.
Now, I’m not big on low-carb substitutes for high-carb foods. I’d rather build my meals around foods that are naturally low in carbohydrates than engage in culinary gymnastics with mediocre results. On the rare occasion that I decide to to eat something high carb, I plan for it and enjoy the real thing. But this weekend, when I got to thinking this weekend about Hottie Hen with a Pig … and my planned Christmas indulgences … I decided to try something new.
Another primal blogger (can anybody remind me who?) has written about his experiments with meatzza, a pizza-like concoction with a “crust” of ground beef. What would happen, I wondered, if I turned that Hottie Hen into a crust instead of a topping? The answer? Good things. You gotta try this.
Hottie Hen with a Pig
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup tomato paste
1.5 tsp dried oregano
2 oz cheese, shredded (I used mozzarella and parmesan)
2 slices bacon, crisped and broken into pieces
1/4 cup pineapple, diced
2 Tbs jalapeno, diced (leave the seeds if you like it hot!)
1 Tbs red onion, diced
Place the chicken breast between two sheets of waxed paper. Using a mallet, pound it to 1/4 inch thickness. Saute chicken breast in butter over medium heat until cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Place chicken breast in a pie plate and spread with combined tomato paste and oregano. Top with cheese and remaining ingredients. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Slice into wedges and serve hot. Serves 1.
575 calories, 21g carbohydrate, 26g fat, 66g protein.
(Compare that to 726 calories, 66g carbs, 30g fat, 55g protein if you put half the chicken breast, along with the other toppings, on 1/3 of a Boboli whole wheat crust.)
Pumpkin-Banana Noatmeal
Giving up grains wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. The vast majority of the time, I’m quite content to build my meals of vegetables, meat, fruits, eggs, and nuts.
All the same, there’s something about 0-degree weather than can make a woman want a huge, steaming bowl of oatmeal swimming in cream. A nice omelet will kill that craving, of course, but today I tried a different route: Noatmeal.
Yes, yes, this concoction is relatively high carb. Winter squash, including pumpkin, and bananas are outliers in the primal eating world because, as produce goes, they’re both quite high in sugar. A bowl of this noatmeal will run you about 55 grams of carbs. PANIC! Um, no. I’m having a Melissa Urban moment on this one.
Besides, this meal fits nicely into into a day during which I consumed only about 30 carbs up until dinnertime, slammed out a tough metcon workout, and manually hauled 80 gallons of water from garage to horse paddocks because the outdoor spigots are frozen. Deal with it.
I can’t claim all the credit (well, okay, I can claim hardly any of the credit) for this recipe. I got the idea from another poster at the MDA forums. I even stole the term “no-atmeal” from a different non-cereal recipe Mark posted recently. Worse yet, I don’t even have a photo for you because my desktop computer is currently languishing with an expired video card, which means that while I can, technically, access my photo processing software, I can’t actually see anything on the screen. So. Use your imagination.
Pumpkin-Banana Noatmeal
1 medium banana
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 1/2 tsp coconut oil (the MDA poster noted that cream cheese works, too)
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp salt
pinch cloves
chopped nuts
Chop the banana into very small cubes (the size of corn niblets). Mix together all ingredients except nuts. Cook in a heavy saucepan over low heat until hot, stirring frequently to prevent burning. Serve topped with chopped nuts and more coconut milk, if desired. Serves 1.
Primal Hamburger Casserole
Raise your hand if you’ve ever eaten Hamburger Helper. (Yes, I confess that my hand is up. But I haven’t touched the stuff in at least 4 years, and I rarely did so before that.)
Because my family lived on a small farm and raised a beef cow every year, I grew up eating a lot of ground beef. Though I never have come around to liking meatloaf, I do have fond memories of meaty spaghetti sauce, thick burgers, and hamburger casserole.
The problem with most hamburger casseroles, however, is that they tend to include pasta and/or beans, either of which renders them high-carb and un-primal. Fortunately, a dose of big flavor (in the form of herbs, olives, and especially sundried tomatoes) can primalize this meal with ease.
I’ve enjoyed this quick, one-dish casserole several times lately, including once over spaghetti squash fried in butter for a large dinner, and once for breakfast with an egg over easy on top. If you eat dairy, a sprinkle of parmisan or cheddar would make an excellent garnish. I used fresh herbs because my garden is bursting with them, but dried will work too if they’re all you have on hand.
Primal Hamburger Casserole
1/3 lb ground beef (not lean — we want those saturated fats!)
1/3 cup onion, julienned
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 mushrooms, sliced
10 black olives, sliced
10 sundried tomato halves, chopped
1 Tbs each fresh basil and oregano (or 1 tsp each dried)
Pre-heat skillet over medium flame. Add beef, onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Stir to crumble beef, and occasionally until meat is cooked. Add olives, sundried tomatoes, and herbs and cook about 1 minute until heated through. Serves 1.
Further Adventures with Coconut & Fish
I seem to have developed a new addiction. The combination of fish and coconut, particularly with a generous helping of mixed vegetables, is remarkably seductive. It wasn’t long ago that I posted this Thai Fish and Vegetable Soup with Coconut Milk. Last week, I threw together this 10-minute meal of Coconut Mahi-Mahi with Tomato-Avocado Salad.
Yesterday, after an evening of riding lessons and farm chores, Ironman and I whipped up a quick meal featuring similar flavors in another form: Coconut and White Fish Stir Fry. Unfortunately, I failed to take a photo of the dish before inhaling it along with a dessert of sliced bananas and strawberries topped with a bit of dark chocolate and coconut milk, so you’ll just have to imagine its bright vegetables, white flakes of fish, and flavorful, orange sauce.
Coconut and White Fish Stir Fry
12 oz cooked, firm white fish, separated into large flakes (We used red snapper last night, baked just like the Coconut Mahi-Mahi in the link above.)
6 cups julienned vegetables (We used carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli, onion, tomatoes, and spinach. Note that the spinach doesn’t count toward the 6 cups!)
2 Tbs Coconut oil
1/2 Tbs fresh chili paste
Lime juice
1/3 cup coconut flakes, dried and unsweetened
Heat coconut oil in wok or large skillet. Add veggies and saute quickly, stirring frequently; season with chili paste and a generous squeeze of lime. Add fish and allow to heat briefly, stirring gently. Plate and top stir fry with a sprinkle of coconut flakes. Serves 3-4.
Fat Guacamole Devils
Confession: I’m still adjusting to the concept of intentionally and preferentially adding fat to my diet. It’s just so contrary to everything I’ve ever been taught! But, it makes sense when you consider how your body processes food:
Dietary fat does not raise blood sugar (which the body recognizes as toxic in excess), so there is no need for the body to generate an insulin rush whereby to hustle said blood sugar into its cells, where it is stored as body fat. That’s what carbohydrates do. Fat, on the other hand, triggers the release of a different hormone — one that indicates satiety to the brain, so you stop eating and your body can happily process its safe, non-insulin-spiking fuel. (This process is explained beautifully in a brief video of the Drs. Eades, provided by Fathead.)
So, eating fat not only notifies the brain that you’re full, instead of setting you up for an insulin crash and resultant hunger even though your fat cells are freshly stocked with fuel, as carbohydrates do, but it provides a fuel that your body can safely burn for hours to come. Dietary fat is not stored as body fat! Plus, it tastes good!
This quick, easy, high fat, low carb, moderate protein snack is one of my new favorites. Check out the recipe, which I was honored to have featured at my favorite primal blog, Mark’s Daily Apple.
Simply Primal: A 10 Minute Meal
I love to cook, and I usually schedule my evenings such that I have plenty of time to prepare a nice meal. But you know how it is. Some evenings refuse to go as planned. Fortunately, primal meals can be almost laughably simple.
This evening after work, I had such fun out on an endurance conditioning ride with my horse that I added a few miles — and half an hour — to our loop. We returned happy but sweaty, so I spent some extra time hosing her off after unsaddling. Then, I still had evening chores to do…
By the time I came inside, I didn’t really want to spend much time in the kitchen. A quick look at My Fitness Pal told me that I should shoot for a low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein meal to finish out the day. Here’s what I came up with:
Coconut Mahi-Mahi with Tomato-Avocado Salad
It was delicious, and it took me all of 10 minutes’ prep time. (That includes a trip to my garden to pick the tomatoes.) Here’s what I did:
1) Coat tops of mahi-mahi fillets with coconut oil and unsweetened, dried coconut. Put in a 375 degree oven.
2) Slice tomatoes and avocado. Dress lightly with olive oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper.
3) Serve when fish is done (bake time is approximately 20 minutes for 4-oz fillets).
Nutritional stats for this meal, assuming 1 4-oz fillet, 1 cup tomatoes, and 1 whole, small avocado per serving: 674 calories, 30g carbohydrate, 53g fat, 18g protein
Perfect.
Primal Energy Mix
Many primals consume a lot of nuts, and for good reason. They’re simple, energy-dense, and full of healthful fats. Trail mix is a popular snacking recommendation — but you have to be careful with commercial mixes.
Most commercial trail mixes are made with roasted nuts, whose fats are damaged, and contain added salt or sugar. It can also be hard to find mixes without pusedo-chocolate or other candy pieces, which naturally jack up carb/sugar intake and tend to spur cravings that can result in excessive consumption of otherwise-healthful nuts. Fortunately, it’s easy to make your own mix from quality ingredients.
I concocted this Primal Energy Mix specifically for use during extended physical exertion, such as when participating in equestrian endurance racing or long conditioning rides. For snacking on regular days, I make a similar mix without the dried fruit, which adds more carbs than I need for sitting in front of a computer all afternoon.
Primal Energy Mix
2 parts raw almonds
2 parts raw walnuts
1 part raw cashews
1 part coconut flakes, unsweetened
1 part dried fruit, unsweetened and unsulfered (I like figs and home-dried apricots.)
Combine in a large bowl or zip-top storage bag. Store, airtight, in a cool and dark location to protect those precious fats!
Thai Fish & Vegetable Soup with Coconut Milk
Ahh, coconut. The darling of primals everywhere, coconut is a richly satisfying source of healthful (yes, healthful!) saturated fats. Rarely does a day go by that I don’t use coconut milk and oil, or at least consume a few unsweetened, dried coconut flakes in my homemade trail mix. I cook in coconut oil and use the canned, full-fat version of coconut milk for topping bowls of berries or other fruit, blending in smoothies and salad dressings, making flavorful curries, accompanying a half-ounce of dark chocolate for dessert, dressing up black coffee, and making soups like this one.
2 Tbs coconut oil
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh basil, loosely packed
Sweet Potato & Zucchini Frittercakes
Looking down the barrel of another day of stacking hay, I found myself in the mood for a relatively high-carb breakfast — but something different from yesterday’s Hay Day Hash. Vegetable pancakes, which tend to be more like fritters in texture, sounded perfect. Instead of the usual savories like onion and garlic, I chose to flavor these with warm spices, dried fruit, and coconut. They were delicious!
On a less active day, I would lower the carb count in this recipe by switching out half the dried fruit for walnuts, and possibly swapping the quantities of sweet potato and zucchini. The latter change would render even more important the step of salting, draining, and squeezing out the vegetables; if they’re too moist, the frittercakes won’t stick together in the pan.
Sweet Potato & Zucchini Frittercakes
1 1/2 cups sweet potato, grated
1 cup zucchini, grated
1/4 tsp salt
1 small egg (or half of a large, beaten egg)
1/4 cup raisins (not packed)
1/4 cup dried cranberries (not packed)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch of ground clove
2 Tbs coconut oil
Combine grated sweet potato and zucchini with salt, and allow to sit in a colander for 10 minutes. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Transfer vegetable mixture to a bowl and add remaining ingredients, except coconut oil, and combine thoroughly.
Heat coconut oil on griddle. Drop batter by large spoonfuls onto griddle and flatten into “pancakes.” Fry until browned and crispy, about 4 minutes on each side. Serve with butter and a snowfall of unsweetened coconut.
Makes 4 frittercakes.
______________________________________________
Hungry for more? Follow me on Twitter!
Hay Day Hash
You’ve heard about farmhands and big breakfasts, right?
I’ve worked at a ranch or two in my time, and I’m here to say that everything you’ve heard is true. Even here at In the Night Farm — no massive operation by any stretch of the imagination — breakfast has extra significance on certain days.
Take today, for example: Up at dawn to feed the horses. Coffee. Chow down on Hay Day Hash…because next, we’re driving across the Idaho-Oregon border to pick up 20 tons of hay. Lucky for us, the farmer will load it on the flatbed semi trailer…but guess who gets to unload all those bales and re-stack them here on the farm? Yep. Yours truly. Stack and sweat, sweat and stack. 20 tons is a lot of hay. Moving it requires a lot of breakfast.
Hay Day Hash
1 cup zucchini, diced
1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
1/2 cup pasilla, diced
1 jalapeno, minced (Seed the jalapeno before mincing if you prefer less heat.)
1 cup sweet potato, diced small, boiled until al dente, and drained (Note that many primals avoid sweet potatoes, though their glycemic index is vastly preferable to white potatoes. I eat them on days, like today, when I want to boost my carb intake in anticipation of extensive physical activity.)
4 ounces cooked meat (I used leftover beef roast, but you could also dice up some chicken or use a bit of sasuage.)
Creole seasoning to taste
Saute zucchini, onion, and peppers in large skillet over medium heat, using butter or coconut oil to prevent sticking, 3-5 minutes. Add sweet potato and cooked meat; heat through. Season to taste. Top with hot sauce, if desired, and serve with a side of fried eggs.
Serves 1-2, depending how much hay you have to move!
________________________________________________
Hungry for more? Follow me on Twitter!
Primal Dessert Salad with Berry-Orange Dressing
As a recovering flegan, I eat more produce than do many adherents to the primal lifestyle. Indeed, more than a few swear they thrive on animal products — or even just meat — alone.
Well. You’ll never see me go that far. I’m too thoroughly convinced of the macronutrient value provided by fresh vegetables and fruits. Even primal guru Mark Sisson swears by his daily salad.
Besides, I can still be plenty weird without sacrificing spinach. Not only do I regularly astonish (appall?) co-workers by carting gigantic containers of greens, veggies, avocado, and hardboiled eggs to the office for breakfast, I also enjoy this sweet salad in place of dessert:
Primal Dessert Salad with Berry-Orange Dressing
Salad:
2-3 cups mixed salad greens
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup fresh peach slices (Mango and cantaloupe are good, too)
1 ounce walnuts, chopped
Dressing:
1 whole orange, peeled and sectioned
1/2 cup red berries (Raspberries and strawberries work beautifully. Cranberries are a particular favorite of mine, as I like a bit of tartness in food and people alike.)
1/4 cup olive oil or coconut oil (Coconut oil will solidify and make the dressing grainer, but it imparts wonderful flavor.)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp honey (Optional. Not all primals eat honey because, although it is a natural sweetener, it is quite high in fructose, which stimulates the release of insulin in the body. Once you’re accustomed to an un-sugared diet, this dish will be quite sweet enough without the honey.)
Blend dressing ingredients thoroughly, then chill. The juices, orange pulp, and oil will emulsify into a prettily pink, shiny, thick dressing to toss with the greens immediately before serving. (The dressing recipe makes enough for 4-6 salads, and keeps well in the refrigerator for several days.) Top the dressed greens with fruit and nuts, and enjoy. Serves 1 for brunch or 2 for dessert.
It’s a piece of cake…only better!
____________________________________________________
This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop. Be sure to drop in and see what else is on the menu!
____________________________________________________
Hungry for more? Follow me on Twitter!
Intersection: NightLife Goes Primal
Goodness. Three years of eating a “flexible vegan” diet are now under the bridge.
I enjoyed them. Being flegan expanded my culinary skills and leaned my body. The prodigious consumption of fresh produce virtually eliminated my seasonal allergies and longstanding arthritis pain in my bunions. I felt virtuous and strong.
Until I tried to get stronger.
Last March, a good friend got me started on bodybuilding. No, not the steroid-laced hoax whose ultimate goal is the perfect(ly grotesque) photo of a musclebound body that can’t perform real work.
I’m talking about real bodybuilding. Pushing, pulling, and lifting bodyweight and iron. Building functional strength that can drive a fence post, buck hay, run for miles, and ride an endurance horse as effortlessly through mile 45 as at the starting line.
For several months, all went well. I ate my usual flegan meals based on whole grains, legumes, and plenty of vegetables. My push-up count climbed. My sprint times fell. By June, I could see the beginnings of six-pack abs…but I could also feel the strain.
Slower recovery times, cottony muscles that performed hard workouts in the morning but wanted to nap by afternoon, and reduced sleep quality all had me looking for answers. I knew nutrition was almost certainly a major factor, but wasn’t I already offering my cells a glorious buffet of healthful, whole foods? What was going wrong?
Intuition, research, and discourse with my bodybuilding friend led me to one of the more obvious solutions: protein. Even the most protein-rich vegan foods, many of which are highly-processed soy products, don’t hold a candle to animal products.
I stopped selling my chickens‘ eggs and started eating them. Two a day. It helped. I kept reading, scouring the library and internet for ideas supported by published, independent, peer-reviewed research rather than the industry-financed, politically-motivated stuff of conventional wisdom.
Patterns emerged. Startling patterns that warred with my existing nutritional construct. Patterns backed by research. Patterns I couldn’t ignore. Protein, it transpired, was the tip of the iceberg.
Here’s what I learned:
- Whole grains are bad for you. Legumes aren’t much better.
- Carbohydrate reduction — not calorie reduction — is the key to fat loss and good health.
- Large quantities of natural dietary fats, including saturated fats, are beneficial.
- Animal products are important for thriving health.
Scores of articles, chapters, blog posts, and research papers passed under my review as I evaluated these ideas. Meanwhile, I added a daily serving of fish to my diet….and felt better. I took the huge step of eliminating all grains and legumes….and felt much better. Reluctantly, I reintroduced more meats while maintaining my usual, high rate of vegetable consumption…and felt better still.
But what did I eat? How does a person who has relied for calories predominantly on grains and legumes survive without them? By replacing them with natural, healthful fats and proteins, that’s how.
My daily diet shifted from this “flegan” menu:
Pre-workout: Green drink (smoothie made with bananas, pear, grapes, kale, and flaxseed)
Breakfast: More green drink and oatmeal with walnuts, dried fruit, and unsweetened soy milk
Lunch: Spinach salad with chickpeas, mixed raw vegetables, and olive oil vinaigrette
Snack: Natural peanut butter
Dinner: Barley pilaf with artichoke hearts
2,287 calories, 314 grams carbs, 100 grams fat, 74 grams protein
…to this “primal” menu:
Pre-workout: Banana with almond butter
Breakfast: Spinach salad with tuna, olives, sunflower seeds, mixed raw vegetables, and olive oil vinaigrette
Lunch: Hot vegetable curry topped with 2 hard boiled eggs
Snack: Walnuts
Dinner: Gazpacho with avocado and grilled chicken, mango, and jicama salad
Dessert: Blueberries with coconut milk
2,271 calories, 135 grams carbs, 147 grams fat, 137 grams protein
Same number of calories. Half the carbs. One and a half times the fats. Twice the protein. All the produce!
Since that shift, I’ve played around with the carbohydrates a bit and found that I do best on slightly more than your typical “primal” maintainance level, given my penchant for extreme(ish) fitness and extensive physical activity. I’ve leaned out, chiseled that six-pack, built and cut some serious muscle in my limbs and back, and banished the bloating and low-energy that had plagued my flegan self.
So. So long, fleganism. I loved ya, but it’s time to move on.
Needless to say, this shift from “ideal eating” (according to conventional wisdom and the vegan crowd) has caused quite a stir among my acquaintances, particularly those who shared a vegetarian bent. Several people have expressed downright alarm. Many have asked the same questions I did, questions no doubt raised by this post:
What on earth is wrong with whole grains and legumes?
Are you sure fat is healthful?
Animal products? Seriously?
So, you’re doing Atkins now? (Nope!)
What does “primal” mean?
I don’t claim to have all the answers — but I do have some, along with a lot of logic and research to back up my own, anecdotal experience. Instead of trying to regurgitate all of it here, allow me to refer those who are interested to a few resources, just for starters:
Mark’s Daily Apple (Primal nutrition and fitness)
Fitness Spotlight (Low-carb nutrition and fitness)
The Vegetarian Myth (book review by Dr. Michael Eades)
Cholesterol and Health (Fat and cholesterol research)
Food Renegade (Real food & related politics. Home of Fight Back Fridays!)
Good Calories, Bad Calories (Book regarding the science of low-carb eating by Gary Taubes)
Note: Most of the above links will take you to main pages; be sure to click around and read the sites more deeply. I’ll link directly to articles on particular topics in future posts.
And so, my friends, NightLife turns down the primal path. Shall we see where it leads?
________________________________________________
Tamara Baysinger
