Paleo Foods Archives - Page 7 of 7

A couple of summers ago a friend and I went to this restaurant down at the beach that had swinging tables and chairs. That’s right. They were like porch swings, but the table in the middle would swing along with you. Pretty sweet… I know. BUT - believe it or not that wasn’t the best part of the evening.

The plate of food that we ordered (sadly to split because we got - an also oh so delicious - appetizer) was a cajun tuna steak over a bed of rice, a spicy yet sweet tomato salsa and black beans. Let me tell you, I was excited about the swings, but the meal was the real party! Sadly the meal was on special so it wasn’t something I could go back to eat again and again. However it made a great addition to my new Tuesday posts… What I Tasted Tuesday!

I collected all the fixin’s for a meal of this sort… Some jalapeno peppers, diced up tomatoes with chili peppers, black beans, tuna and then whatever seasonings I could find in the cabinet that seemed fitting. This time I went with crushed red peppers, garlic, and cajun seasoning of course.

Many times I have tried to recreate this meal. Only a few times have I successfully delivered all the original splendor that we tasted at the swinging restaurant. Since I am trying to cut back on rice and grains I decided to skip that part this time. Instead, I made my own mix of salsa, sat it on some beans, and cooked up the tuna to an amazing reproduction of the memorable swinging-restaurant’s blackened cajun tuna. While the blend of tomatoes, hot jalapenos, and seasonings are heating up and doing their thing… I was blackening the tuna one burner over! It’s super easy (and quick depending on how you like your tuna cooked) to make this meal. I served everything hot, meaning the temperature and the seasoning. (Don’t forget the beans - toss them in the microwave for a few seconds to heat them up and put them underneath the tomatoes and tuna.) Pair it with a small side salad and you’re good to go!

Okay, so the picture below doesn’t do it justice at all. This combination is to die for! AND it’s healthy. I have made it for my mom (who doesn’t really like spicy things) and for my roommate, both of which raved over it! Next time I think I will mix it up a bit more with the tomato salsa medley…. maybe try adding other peppers and more onions.

Give it a shot and let me know what you think! Are you a fan of spicy foods or not so much?

*In terms of paleo friendly foods - most of the products I used were organic. The beans, however, are not on the preferred paleo list but I snuck them in their this time. I figured it was a bit better than a large bed of rice.

I have been meaning to start sharing some of my Paleo slash Healthy Eating meals with you but I just haven’t gotten around to it! My bad! I even designed a little plan and logo for what I was going to call “What I Tasted Tuesday!” but again, I never got around to posting it. Well, there’s no better time than the present!

This weekend Michael and I decided to celebrate Thanksgiving together since we will each spend the holiday with our separate families. We have been trying to cook as many paleo friendly meals as possibly, so I thought it would be a great idea to have a strictly paleo Thanksgiving! It was a lot of fun to try out the new recipes that we had found - some from the internet, some from cookbooks. I will say, as a huge fan of traditional, not-so-healthy-thanksgiving meals, these dishes were very delicious but some of them come in second place compared to their predecessors but only in the terms of providing that feeling that warm, cozy, comforting feeling that Thanksgiving leaves you with. If I hadn’t known it was trying to replace that old school meal, I definitely wouldn’t have felt that way though.

Here is the run down of the meal…

Rosemary Seasoned Turkey
“Green Bean Casserole”
Brocoli & Cauliflower Casserole
Crab Stuffed Mushrooms
Apple Crisp

For those of you unfamiliar with the Paleo concept, I will catch you up realllll quick. Basically, you don’t eat processed foods, all fresh and organic meats, fruits and veggies - all while watching the sugar intake and eating only good fats. Sounds simple right? It actually isn’t that difficult really. The toughest part for me is finding the time to prep foods. What I have learned to be very true is that nothing healthy comes pre-wrapped or in a box. I will admit that all fresh and organic can be hit or miss for me when it comes to the almighty dollar - so I have adapted a makeshift menu as much as I can. I buy as much fresh and organic as possible, with a few cheats here and there.

So let me walk you through our meal! I will try to tag the recipes that I used throughout this post so you can give them a shot as well!

I started prepping the green bean casserole recipe that I found at The Paleo Kitchen. Check out her page for the recipe. It was DELICIOUS! HOWEVER - it wasn’t the traditional green bean casserole you grew to love as a kid… you know, the one with the campbell’s mushroom soup and the crispy fried onion rings on top? This was fresh green beans, mushrooms, and peppers mixed with some goat cheese and seasonings. I loved it, but this was the meal I had a hard time using as a replacement to the old, unhealthy casserole. It didn’t give me that same ‘thanksgiving meal’ feeling.

Of course we needed to make some kind of appetizer! So we tried crab stuffed mushrooms that we found at the Paleo Diet Lifestyle. They were delicious! We ran into a little problem though when the oven heated up the cookie sheet, it popped a bit and the mushrooms all toppled over! They still tasted great though!

Since it was only the two of us we decided to not fix a giant turkey breast. Instead we found some fresh turkey breast cuts at Harris Teeter. With the oven being pretty busy we decided our best bet would be to wrap them in foil (along with rosemary, olive oil, a bit of salt and some pepper) and throw them on the grill! Ladies and gentlemen… let me tell you, this is THE WAY to eat turkey! It was not dried out AT ALL!

Oh - the perk of eating fresh, non-campbell’s soup green bean casserole? “Licking” the bowl of the goat cheese mixture! It’s not quite as amazing as birthday cake icing… but it’s good!

We only had one “issue” in the midst of all the cooking… with my small kitchen, there’s not all that much work space. So I often use the stove top as a spot to prep food. Yeah… I kinda forgot it was hot! Luckily I only burnt a couple fingers! Mike had some special burn bandaids in his car and took care of me - always prepared! (Below is my attempt at taking a photo of my right hand - the one that normally is used for the actually picture taking. Pretty sure the camera was upside down…)

Dessert! This was my favorite part! No added sugar… just honey! And who doesn’t love the cute little honey bear?! It had been a while since I cooked with him so he had to do a little time spinning circles in the microwave.

I LOVED this dessert! Since I am not a big pumpkin pie fan (GASP - I know, I know - how un-American of me?!) I have always been a sucker for apple pie and apple crisp. Believe it or not I actually prefer the crisp over the pie. It’s more about the apples than the crust. So I decided to rock out an AWESOME apple crisp for our pretty paleo thanksgiving! I found the recipe at The Functional Foodie and even my roommate who is not a paleo eater LOVED it! I highly recommend you give her recipe a shot! It’s simple - apples, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, pecans, and almond flour. What is almond flour you may ask? This was actually the first time I have used it. It is also pretty delicious and replaces normal flour. The catch - it’s quite costly. The bag we got cost me $13. If you know of anywhere to get this cheaper PLEASE let me know! This is what it looked like BEFORE it went into the oven:

I also busted out my festive table cloth, napkins and dishes! Couldn’t let an opportunity like this go by! It made our meal look so pretty!

Paleo is red wine friendly so of course I enjoyed a glass of Red Chariot Wine! It was all so delicious!

Oh yeah, and the dessert! I actually got so excited to eat it, that I forgot to photograph the finished product! The smell that was coming out of the oven was just too enticing to not taste it right away!

So yeah - I would say that all in all we had a pretty paleo Thanksgiving! It was as if we were pre-gaming for the real Turkey Day that is just around the corner. Hopefully I can bring a couple of these dishes for my family to enjoy as well!

Do you have any awesome, healthy dishes you think I should try next? I am hoping to try a new recipe and post it once a week. It helps keep me motivated in trying healthier food options!