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Paleo Thick Scalloped Sweet Potatoes
“My dream is to become a farmer. Just a Bohemian guy pulling up his own sweet potatoes for dinner.” ~ Lenny Kravitz
I’ve never dreamed of becoming a farmer, but I have often wanted to live in the countryside. There’s something alluring about being surrounded by nature and having space all around you.
So far, the closest I’ve come to living in the countryside was when I stayed near a forest with a lake during a stint at the Max Planck Institute in Stuttgart, Germany. I only ever walked through the forest twice during my entire stay!
I guess I’m just a city girl (who has never ever dug up her own sweet potatoes for dinner, although I hope to do so one day!).
Paleo Tomato and Egg Scramble
“Your Mum is an Awful Cook!”
Ok, my aunt didn’t literally say those words, but she did give me a very funny look when I told her how much I love my mum’s cooking. My aunt then proceeded to tell me how my mum couldn’t cook anything when she was growing up (she was the youngest of 4 kids) but that she was great at dressmaking.
Somehow, I think 30 years of cooking three meals a day for my dad daily changed things.
This post is coming a bit late for Mother’s Day, but I have to say that I LOVE MY MUM’s COOKING.
Why Sear Meat Before Cooking?
Am I lazy? Or, am I just “efficient”?
I’ve always hated doing anything that I didn’t feel was essential. In school, I wanted to do only the coursework that would most easily allow me to pass the exam. And now, when I cook, I just want the fastest and easiest way to get the tastiest food!
If you’re feeling generous, you might say I’m “results-oriented” or “efficient,” but really it’s pure laziness!
So here is what my laziness has to do with today’s article. If you’ve done much cooking, you’ve probably heard that you should sear meat before putting it into a stew. My reaction:
What? Why? It’s just going to get cooked in the stew – why do I need to waste my time searing it first?!?
Which all brings us to this question: Do you really need to sear the meat first?
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Paleo Green Beans and Apples – Curry Stir Fry
Castor Beans will Kill Ya, But Green Beans will Bring You Health
I was wasting my breath explaining to a skeptic that beans aren’t considered Paleo because they’re not all that healthy for you (high concentrations of Galactans, lectins, phytates, etc.).
“It’s why all traditional cultures soaked beans prior to cooking them,” I struggled to explain.
A raised eye-brow and a questioning look was all I got in response.
“Like castor beans; they’ll kill you if you eat them raw!” I triumphantly exclaimed.
Ginger and Garlic Bok Choy Stir-Fry
“You can die from eating too much Bok Choy!”
All my Asian friends were shocked when I told them that. After all, it’s a common vegetable consumed by millions of Asians constantly. The idea that such an innocent and delicious vegetable could cause you to die was probably as shocking as an Asian being Paleo and refusing to eat rice!
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Paleo Beef Curry
“My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people.”
~Orson Welles
This is one of my favorite quotes, and I decided to follow the good doctor’s advice by having an intimate dinner for four – yep, there were really three other people there!
Paleo Coconut Tuna Fish Cakes Recipe [Keto, Grain-Free, Nut-Free]
“Only in New York City would you walk past a man on a unicycle without turning your head.”
New York has been my “home” for the past five and a half years. If you’ve never visited, then let me tell you that there are all sorts of things you will see in this city that just doesn’t happen elsewhere. From semi-naked guitarists in Times Square to Gossip Girls filming on Columbia campus to rats running through subway.
Those were things I used to find exciting slash seriously gross about NYC, but I’ve now realized that I don’t even turn my head to look. I’ve finally become a New Yorker!
I was actually on my way to pick up groceries to make these coconut tuna fish cakes when I walked by a unicyclist meandering down a residential street. Even though I was looking straight ahead at him, it never registered in my head that this was something odd. After all, what’s odd about a unicyclist when two men will fight in daylight over a parking spot (note all the pedestrians walking by in the background not seeing a thing).
I guess this was a long way to say that it’s time I left New York. There are many reasons why I’ve decided to leave in a few months, and this was just one of them. But regardless of where I am, the recipes shall continue!
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Paleo Blogs
There are soooo many Paleo blogs out there – check out the video for Paleo Living’s top 5 Paleo blogs, and then check out my gigantic list of Paleo blogs and websites here. Please let me know what I missed!
Chocolate Chia Pudding
Chia has become known as a “superfoods” in recent times, and it is pretty spectacular as a food! There are all sorts of health benefits from reducing arthritis to promoting gut health, but what I like the most about chia seeds is the fact that they puff up so much! Check out the photos below to see their amazing transformation!
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Salted Duck Eggs Recipe
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then keep reading, because these are delicious!
What are salted duck eggs?
The photo above shows my own homemade salted duck eggs, but you can actually buy them from some Chinese grocery stores too. It’s duck eggs aged in brine, which makes the yolks turn oily, slightly salty, and amazingly delicious! And it’s really easy to make at home as I’ll explain.
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Paleo Mexican Tacos
I feel like I’ve been on a Mexican kick since those fish tacos I cooked for Cinco de Mayo! So here’s another Mexican dish – beef tacos. You can eat them with lettuce wraps or they’re great to gobble down with a spoon!
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Recipe from Elana’s Pantry – Upside-Down Apple Tartlets
Here’s another delightful recipe from Elana’s Pantry. Her latest book is available for pre-order now – Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry at Amazon.com.
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Recipe from Elana’s Pantry – Breakfast Sausage
Elana’s Pantry was actually one of the first Paleo blogs I recall reading. Elana Amsterdam already has several cookbooks under her belt, and she’s coming out with a new one (Paleo Cooking from Elana’s Pantry, which you can pre-order from Amazon) on June 18th!
And here’s one of the recipes from that cookbook (another one will be coming later this week):
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Curry Coconut Creamed Kale (Dairy Free)
This is like the popular creamed spinach recipes (except it uses kale rather than spinach and coconut cream rather than heavy cream)! It’s a great side dish – I served it with some pan-fried tilapia.
Paleo Mu Shu Pork
Mu shu pork (also known as moo shu, moo shi, or mu xu) is a traditional northern Chinese dish typically served with little pancakes (especially in American-Chinese restaurants).
The traditional dish typically has wood ear mushrooms, eggs, some form of meat, bamboo shoots and day lily buds. The wood ear mushrooms and the day lily buds were a bit too hard for me to go and find (i.e., they weren’t in my local grocery store), and so I used shiitake mushrooms and napa cabbage as substitutes. Instead of the pancakes, I used lettuce leaves, although honestly, the dish tastes pretty damn good just by itself!