Paleo Smoothies

Smoothies have been my morning savior on this diet.  I've always had trouble with breakfast.  I think I may have a negative association with meals in the early morning, due to growing up with chronic morning stomach aches.  These smoothies have allowed me to get the necessary calorie and vitamin intake to start my day, without slowing me down and making me sleepy - like Carnation Instant Breakfast or Pillsbury Toaster Strudel used to do.  These smoothies (especially the all-fruit ones) are a great snack or post-workout carb load when you need a quick and easy meal replacement.

I must express the importance of personal preference as far as measurements go.  Maybe you like your smoothies slushy with ice; maybe you prefer a chunkier blend so that you can chew on tasty whole bits of fruit.  While I prefer my fruit smoothies with a base of berries, you may prefer oranges, peaches, kiwi, mangoes, spinach**, kale, or any number of whole fruits and vegetables available in your local produce section.*

*Although I would advise having SOME berries in your daily diet; they're good for you!

Breakfast Berry Smoothie

1/3 cup full-fat coconut milk (NOT Light - in this case, you WANT the calories since this drink is taking the place of a meal)
1 1/2 cups berries (I usually do 1 cup thawed Nature's Three Berries and 4 strawberries)
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 banana
2 heaping spoonfuls of almond butter
1 Omega-3 free-range egg, raw (if you cannot bring yourself to consume a raw egg, use one serving's worth or less of protein powder)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

 pre-blend

Primal Chocolate Smoothie

3 tbsp hemp protein powder
4 tbsp 100% cocoa powder
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp raw honey
1/3 cup full-fat coconut milk
1/4 cup water (or homemade almond milk)
4 strawberries

Pina Colada Smoothie

1/2 cup pineapple
1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 Omega-3 free-range egg, raw
1/4 cup 100% pineapple juice
1/4 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 heaping tbsp almond butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 strawberries
1 banana

EDIT: Since the original post, I've been trying out some new ingredient combinations. The following smoothie recipe is my new go-to every morning.  I've upped the protein content since I've been exercising more frequently.

**Spinach and Strawberry Smoothie
2 cups spinach
1 banana
8 frozen strawberries
1 spoonful cocoa powder
1 spoonful almond butter
2/3 cup coconut milk (or half of an avocado)
a splash of vanilla extract
a dash of cinnamon
2 Omega-3 free-range eggs
1 tablespoon chia seeds
coconut water/water (if consistency is too thick)

Happy blending!

Bison Chili

This is my most popular primal recipe.  It's actually the recipe I suggest people make if they're even considering going Paleo.  I came across it at the Paleo Plan.  It's super easy and absolutely delicious (even without those old chili stand-bys - beans).  You can make this chili in any big pot but I always like to make my chilis (yes, I have more than one) in a cast-iron dutch oven.  And don't be turned off by the bison.  It tastes just like beef and ground bison is available at most standard grocery stores these days (for example, most Ralph's carry 1 lb. packages of Great Range Ground Bison).  This recipe can very easily be doubled (so you can freeze some leftovers); you'll just need a bigger pot.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
2 lbs. ground bison
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp thyme
12 oz. salsa
8 oz. diced tomatoes
7 oz. mild green chiles
2 tsp sea salt

1. Add the coconut oil to a large pot/dutch oven over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onions, celery and garlic and saute until onions are translucent (about 5 minutes)
3. Add the ground bison, along with the cumin, thyme, and chili powder.  Mix the ingredients in the pot with a spatula or wooden spoon, breaking up the ground bison so that all of it has a chance to brown.
4. Once all of the bison is browned, add salsa, diced tomatoes, green chiles and sea salt.  Stir to combine.
5. Simmer, covered, for one hour.

My favorite accompaniment to this chili (or any chili, really) is my bacon and rosemary cauliflower mash.  I particularly like this recipe because it's very hard to screw up.  One time I didn't have enough green chiles so I just added more salsa and it tasted pretty much exactly the same.  Enjoy!

Primal Breakfast Casserole

On weekdays, I don't have enough time in the morning to cook myself breakfast.  So normally, I make a smoothie and drink it at the office.  But I found this great breakfast casserole recipe on Mark's Daily Apple and I couldn't wait to try it.  Since starting this diet, I'm always on the lookout for new vegetables/protein sources to cook with.  This recipe heavily features turnips and I'd never eaten a turnip so I was definitely intrigued.

I must sound like a broken record at this point, but this recipe is really easy to follow (and made even easier if you have the right equipment).

Special equipment recommended:
Food processor with grating blade attachment (but a cheese grater will also work)

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground breakfast sausage (check the ingredients!)**
6 turnips, peeled and grated (the turnips I bought were huge so I think I only needed 3 of them - you're basically looking for enough turnip to almost fill a 13x9 baking dish so I would recommend putting each batch of grated turnip in the 13x9 dish and stop grating when you're 2/3-3/4 full)
8 eggs, beaten
6 scallions, chopped
*8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
*6 pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped

*This was not in the original recipe; I added it.
**I highly recommend using chorizo.  I tried it in this recipe for the first time recently and it completely improved the overall bland flavor profile.  I don't even need to add Cholula anymore.

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Saute sausage until almost cooked through; set aside.  Cook bacon and chop.
3. Saute mushrooms (I'd say this is optional; I didn't saute mine prior to cooking and they tasted fine)
4. Stir together cooked sausage with all other ingredients and pour into a 13x9 baking dish (this is a lot of ingredients to deal with, so I would recommend using a really big bowl)
5. Bake for 45 minutes, uncovered.
6. Cover with foil, bake 25 minutes more.
7. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the taste of this dish.  It was filling but refreshing at the same time, thanks to the slight bite of the turnip.  I got into the habit of adding a splash of Cholula to each slice I prepared for myself each morning (I'd bring it to work and heat it up in the toaster oven).  I am still perfecting this recipe.  I've been having trouble with a rather unpleasant burnt crust along the sides and bottom of the pan.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm using a glass rather than opaque casserole dish or if I'm not greasing the pan heavily enough prior to pouring the ingredients in.  Either way, at least the middle is still delicious.  Happy cooking!

Primal Blueprint Law #3: Move Frequently at a Slow Pace

What I love best about the Primal Blueprint is that it extends far beyond just diet and gives you 10 rules that, if followed, will lead to a happier, healthier life.  The third rule is one that I've taken to heart; by paying attention to how much I move around on a day-to-day basis, I am continually coming up with new and subtle ways to increase my mobility throughout the day.  First, I bought a pair of Vibram FiveFingers that mimic the feeling of being barefoot.  And I can tell you from experience that just the normal amount of walking I do on a weekday becomes quite a workout when wearing these shoes.  The next thing I did was start paying attention to situations where I could be walking more.  I started parking at the back of the parking lot at the grocery store.  I take the stairs instead of the escalator/elevator whenever possible.  I put myself in the mindset that cleaning the house won't only get the house clean, but will count towards my daily allotment of low-level aerobic activity (i.e. walking a lot) for the day.  I recently came across this great article on Lifehacker that espouses the dangers of sitting for several hours a day and offers easy solutions for counteracting the problems created by too much sitting.

Some highlights:

Right after you sit down, the electrical activity in your muscles slows down and your calorie-burning rate drops to one calorie per minute.  This is about a third of what it does if you're walking.

Studies in women suggest you can lose up to 1% of bones mass a year by sitting for over six hours a day.

 Happily, you only need to do two things to counter the effects of sitting all day:

1. Remember to stand once an hour.
2. Get about 30 minutes of activity per day

It's not as difficult as you may think to walk more in your day-to-day life, it just takes a little more self-awareness.

Here's a great article from Mark Sisson about the benefits of going barefoot.

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Don't let it's simplicity fool you; this salad is mind-blowingly good.  I found it at Stacey's Paleo Kitchen.  I first made it on Christmas Day 2011 and it was a HUGE hit with the family (even the kids!).  I usually halve the recipe if I'm making it for just myself.

4 cups baby spinach
6 strawberries, thinly sliced
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced (the onion is pretty strong - you may want to put in slightly less)
1/2 cup pecans (or any other nut), roughly chopped

DRESSING:
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp dijon mustard
sea salt and pepper, to taste

I feel kind of silly giving directions on how to make a salad, but here goes:
1. Combine all salad ingredients
2. Whisk together dressing ingredients; pour over salad
3. Toss well, making sure all leaves get some of the dressing - there is just enough dressing to coat this amount of salad.  There should not be any dressing left at the bottom of the bowl.
4. DEVOUR! Om nom nom

If you are pre-making the salad for later, put the onion, strawberries and pecans at the bottom of your tupperware and put the spinach leaves on top.  Pre-mix the dressing and store in a separate container until you are ready to eat the salad.

Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro Pesto

This was my first time cooking pork tenderloin.  And the first time I made this, I made it with pork chops because Whole Foods was out of tenderloin.  The pork chops were okay but the tenderloin is definitely better (more tender, duh!)  And as delicious as the marinade sounds, it's the cilantro pesto that's really the wow factor in this recipe.  And as usual, the recipe is very easy to follow.  I got this one from the Primal Blueprint Reader-Created Cookbook (you have to subscribe to Mark Sisson's enewsletter in order to get this - totally worth it, in my humble opinion).

I only took pictures of the pork chop version

Special equipment needed:

mini food processor

2 lbs. pork tenderloin

MARINADE

4 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp sesame oil

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

CILANTRO PESTO

1 bunch cilantro leaves (I used all of the cilantro in my garden for this)

2 large garlic cloves

1-inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced thin

1 tbsp fish sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1/4 cup almond butter

1 tsp honey

1/2 - 1 cup coconut milk

sea salt (I forgot to add this and didn't miss it at all)

1. Slice loin into 1-inch thickness and place in gallon ziploc bag

2. Mix together marinade ingredients; pour into ziploc

3. Push all excess air out of the bag and seal it; move marinade around to make sure all pieces are covered; put bag in large bowl and refrigerate overnight (move marinade around at the halfway point - or whenever you think of it)

4. Take bag out of fridge about half an hour before cooking; heat fat (I use 2 tbsp coconut oil) in a large skillet over medium-high heat

5. Sear tenderloin slices, turning once (cook in batches if needed - don't overcrowd the pan)

6. Keep cooked pork warm in 250 degree oven, covered in foil, while you make the pesto

7. Add all pesto ingredients (except coconut milk) into mini food processor and process until everything is fully incorporated.

8. With processor running, pour in coconut milk (I didn't need more than 1/2 cup)

I can't seem to stop taking pictures of this broccoli dish - it's just so photogenic!

For serving, I simply poured the pesto onto the pork and served it with an awesome veggie side, like Roasted Cashew-Covered Broccoli.  I found that the pesto made more than needed for the 2 lbs. of tenderloin I cooked, but I guess it depends on how much you put on each piece of pork.  The pesto kept well for about a week and while it did firm up in the fridge, it liquified quickly once it made contact with the re-heated pork.

Enjoy!