I have been wanting to make a nice stew for a while now, but stews usually cook for a long time and need some thinking ahead to have the food ready at the right time. Also, now that summer is on the horizon, my objective is to spend the least amount of time in the kitchen. Despite this, I did commit myself to creating a stew that was simple and easy to prepare. It was a success! What I loved most about...
I used to find the process of roasting meat very intimidating. Why? Because I always feared overcooking it, and when I did, it was very dry and difficult to eat. However, I have since come up with a recipe that keeps the roast very moist, and best of all, it is super simple. There is very little preparation involved, and you will most likely have all the ingredients handy.
You’ll want to make sure...
I am hosting a friend of mine for lunch and I am truly dreading her reaction to what I have chosen to make. I know I should not make the premature assumption that she is going to refuse to eat it; however, she has to be the pickiest eater around. That being said, I must offer her up some credit, as I know she is desperately trying to expand her palate. But back to my main concern…What do I make?
As...
It has been a rainy day, the type that makes you want to curl up on the couch and watch a movie, or hide behind a good read, while indulging in some delicious comfort food. Today I was inspired to come up with a dish that would satisfy these cravings.
Stew is for sure in my top comfort foods. The only thing that truly discourages me from making it more often than I do is the time it takes to cook. In an...
As summer quickly approaches I get the urge to spend more and more time in the great outdoors. Unfortunately, this results in me spending less time in the kitchen; however, there are plenty of recipes available that can be thrown together in no time and still be thoroughly enjoyable.
I tried out this Spicy Scallop Salad the other night and it was amazing. It can be difficult to try and make a meal out of...
Just in time for St-Patrick’s day, here is a simple and traditional Irish soup, one which calls for nothing less than lamb kidneys. Lamb and mutton are very popular in Ireland and the landscape there is ideal for lambs and muttons to graze on luscious green pastures. Mutton is somewhat less popular outside of Ireland, but has a great, stronger tasting, meat.
Organs have all the praise in the paleo...
Chicken tikka masala is a curry made with roasted chicken and a red or orange sauce. This recipe differs from the traditional tikka masala in its use of a paste made with fresh cilantro and mint for a green chicken masala. Similarly to the traditional tikka masala though, the combination of Indian spices give a nice and spicy taste to this dish, something not too much unlike other curries.
It should not...
Snacking is an area where many people struggle when it comes to staying in a Paleo and healthy territory. At first glance, it might seem like the choices are quite limited and that snacking is less than ideal altogether.
While very different than most snacks-in-a-box popular on the SAD (Standard American Diet), it only takes a little imagination and willingness to try out new things to discover a whole...
Many fruits blend very well with the flavors of pork. Apples are often coupled with pork, but other fruits can do a great job too, as the nectarines do in this recipe.
I encourage you to try out variations of this recipe with different fruits. Grapes and berries are two examples that come to mind.
It turns out that nectarines are probably one of the healthiest fruits out there. First off, like other...
Soup is always welcomed, especially in the cold winter time when the extra heat from a hot soup can be very comforting. It’s a great way to consume healthy amounts of delicious and nutritious homemade stock. It’s also a good way to use all kinds of vegetables scraps from your refrigerator in need of a vocation, especially with a puréed soup where nobody will ever notice your clever use of...
Kale is a green leafy vegetable belonging to the cruciferous family, the same family as cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli. It has a cult-like status among many vegetarians and vegans and is often seen as the cornerstone of their nutrition. We know better of course and while we can appreciate the nutritious value of kale, we know very well that it’s not the holy grail either.
Like many...
Pulled pork is a favorite in many dinners across America and consists of a slow cooked pork shoulder or butt roast with the tender cooked meat pulled apart in shreds. Both pork shoulder or butt roasts are usually very cheap cuts of meat and are a great way to enjoy delicious meat when on a budget.
The pork cut used to prepare pulled pork is often marinated and cooked with a flavorful combination of...
Bacon has developed a cult-like following around the low-carb and Paleo diet circles where it’s not rare to see people wearing t-shirts affirming their love for bacon.
It’s also the ultimate white-trash American iconic food, but has this weird ability of being enjoyed equally by the rich and the poor. It’s the perfect poor man’s breakfast, but fancy restaurants now serve bacon...
The term curry can be a bit misleading because it includes so many different types of dishes from India or south Asia and it could mean almost anything since the word curry basically means “stew”. We usually recognize them from the use of coconut milk as well as an elaborate blend of spices that are typically used in Indian cooking. Coriander, turmeric, cumin, nutmeg, cinnamon, fennel...
This is a simple and tasty chicken recipe where the chicken is rubbed in a wonderful blend of savory spices and then topped with a sauce of fresh parsley and mint. The main spice being used here is smoked paprika, which is a spice made from dried bell peppers that gives color and taste to dishes.
The refreshing sauce here is great to cut through the heat and pungency of the spicy and helps create a great...
Fermentation and lacto-fermentation as been around for a very long time mainly as a means to preserve food over long periods of time when refrigeration wasn’t available. Today more and more people are rediscovering those old methods of preserving food because the taste is amazing, but also because it’s a great way to consume probiotics.
Lacto-fermented foods are fermented by lactobacillus...
Oftentimes the things we miss the most from our previous diets are not so much the bread, pastries or breakfast cereals, but rather the small and flavorful additions that we know of as condiments. I’m talking here of the most popular mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard, pickled cucumber relish, horseradish, barbecue sauce and Worcestershire sauce. I already dedicated a post on making homemade mayonnaise,...
It’s the time of the year again where families all around North-America reunite and celebrate together the autumn harvesting season with thanksgiving. If you’re receiving this year, it’s the perfect time to show your guests what the Paleo diet is all about and that healthy food is in fact also really tasty.
The stars around thanksgiving are the meat and vegetables usually seen in...
The pretty and sophisticated recipes are all fine and enjoyable, but more often than not what we really need on a day to day basis is a bunch of quick and easy recipes that we can prepare without much involvement or fancy ingredients. It surely helps to stick to the paleo diet when cooking doesn’t seem like a chore or a puzzle three times a day. You’ve got to have some time off when you...
Perhaps you’ve seen the movie, but when’s the last time you’ve actually prepared the dish? Ratatouille, also known as Ratatouille niçoise is a French vegetable stew consisting of tomatoes, eggplants, zucchinis, bell peppers, garlic and onions. Common herbs like parsley and basil are also often included and help create a rich flavor for the dish. It’s often made as a side dish and...
Halloween is at the door again and all the little monsters and witches will be heading down the streets gathering bags of sugar, on of the culprits of all modern diseases. I don’t know what strategy you’ll use with your children and whether you’ll allow all that sugar consumption as a yearly cheat or not, but there are certainly strategies to employ to feed great and healthy food to your...
This is an absolutely delicious chicken thighs recipe making the prominent use of black olives, garlic and lemon juice. The blend of those three ingredients, along with the subtle touch of the thyme, make for an excellent meal that looks very fancy and sophisticated, but that’s easy to prepare and that doesn’t require any fancy ingredients. Everything is prepared in a single pan, which makes...
Stir-fries are the cornerstone of many people following a paleo diet and are the quickest way I know to prepare a delicious, filling and nutricious meal.
You can use almost any kind of vegetable under the sun coupled with tender bite-sized pieces of meat (beef, chicken, pork, lamb…), fish (shrimps, scallops, squid,…) or even whole eggs. Then, only if you feel inclined to do so, you can go...
A great way to make an ordinary salad stand out is to use a vinaigrette that brings depth and zing. We often fall into the trap of making the same few vinaigrettes over and over again and might become tempted by the abundance of choices offered in grocery stores. We must make it a habit though to make our own dressings and vinaigrettes because the commercial ones often feature nasty ingredients like...
This simple salad is probably my favorite. There is something special about the mix of broccoli with grapes and bacon with the addition of a mayonnaise and lemon juice dressing. It’s very hearty, nutritious and a really quick meal of snack fix.
The texture of this salad is amazing: crispy bacon, crunchy almonds and juicy grapes. This recipe usually calls for raisins, but I find the grapes to give...
Pesto is a green sauce originating from northern Italy that typically calls for fresh basil and pine nuts. It can also be made with parsley in place of the basil and walnuts or cashews in place of the pine nuts. Some mint can also be added to the basil. The traditional recipe also calls for Parmesan cheese, but it honestly doesn’t lose much in term of flavor when omitting the cheese. Feel free,...
Scallop are a delicious mollusk that we tend to easily forget in our everyday cooking, yet it’s easy to prepare and delicious. They are a good source of zing, selenium, vitamin B12 and phosphorus.
This recipe only calls for the most basic of ingredients, yet will leave your taste buds very satisfied. If you don’t consume butter because of the traces of lactose and casein, consider making...
Baba-ghanoush is an Arabic dip similar to hummus. In differs in that it uses eggplants instead of chickpeas and makes it a great paleo alternative to hummus. A similar hummus recipe can also be made with cucumbers instead of eggplants or chickpeas. The basic ingredients used in traditional hummus are the same: lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, cumin and tahini.
Tahini is a sesame paste made with ground...
Beef bourguignon, or boeuf bourguignon by its French name, is a classic French beef stew made with small perl onions, mushrooms, red wine and brown beef stock. The meat slowly cooks in the red wine and take up its taste so this is one recipe where using a good quality wine is a very good idea. A burgundy is the traditional choice, but a good Beaujolais or Cotes du Rhone will do just fine.
This was...
A frittata is similar to an omelet, but is usually thicker and fluffier. It’s actually a lazy version of the traditional omelet in that you simply throw in your desired vegetables, whisk some eggs, incorporate them with the vegetables and let it cook. Because frittatas are not as thin as the traditional French omelet and are usually more bulky with vegetables, ham, bacon or sausages, they are often...
