Ham Wrapped Asparagus

I loved those little baby dill pickles wrapped with cream cheese in corned beef appetizers, but dairy is off the table, and it's really surprising how many "trusted" brands of pickles actually add dyes to their pickles! I'm running low on homemade pickles, so this is a fun party-snack alternative I made this morning:

 
Ham Wrapped Asparagus

Nitrate-free honey deli ham (I used Hormel brand)
Ripe avocado
Farmhouse Culture's Garlic Dill Pickle Sauerkraut
Asparagus (I used purple asparagus), cut into 2" lengths

Slice the deli ham lengthways.  Spread on a little avocado and sprinkle with a wee bit of sauerkraut.  Place the asparagus on top and wrap them up.  Use a toothpick if necessary to hold them closed.

It doesn't matter which color/variety of asparagus you use as long as they are fairly thick stalks.  I used purple asparagus; it has a nuttier flavor. 

 

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Pink Deviled Eggs and Beet Red, Cabbage, & Kale Coleslaw

Deviled eggs don't have to be the same old thing time and time again.  Have a little food fun!  I saw a photo online of deviled eggs that had been dyed pink with beet juice, and the filling made green with avocado.  Yep, had to try that one!

For the first attempt, I only had pre-cooked pink beets on hand, so I chopped them into small pieces and covered the (hard cooked, peeled) egg with beet pieces.  After a couple hours, I had very pretty pink-speckled eggs!  The downside to using beet juice for dye is that it starts turning brownish after awhile, so these are not something you can make up ahead of time and expect them to stay looking pretty.  Make them and then serve them right away.

 

After the beets, I tried sliced raw red cabbage and also some blueberries.  I thought the blueberries made the eggs look a bit weird but the red cabbage had a nice blue effect:

So, onto Pink Deviled Eggs!  In case you were wondering, the flavor of beets does not stay in the egg; you can dye the eggs without worry they'll taste like beets.

First, hard cook the eggs any way you like - I like to bake mine.  Let them cool, then peel. In order to attempt to prevent the eventual browning the beet dye does (and hoping for a cool mixed color look, which didn't work) I placed the cooled, peeled eggs into a gallon size bag with both pre-cooked, chopped pink beets and thinly sliced raw red cabbage and let it all marinate for 24 hours in the fridge, moving the eggs around in the veggies every few hours to thoroughly coat.

The result?  Very nicely dark-ish pink eggs!

The bright yellow of the yolks makes a striking contrast and is quite pretty the way it is, but I wanted a green colored mixture.  Instead of using mayo & mustard for the filling, I used 2 avocadoes, lemon juice, white wine vinegar, garlic granules, sea salt, and a very tiny bit of pepper, all mashed together until the mixture was fairly smooth.  (I meant to put a little mustard in there, but I forgot.  It was good anyway!) Scooped it back into the egg whites (pinks?), sprinkled on some fresh chives, and here they are - deviled eggs (nightshade free, at that!) - perfect for a fun spring or summer dish!

As a side note, mixing the red cabbage in with the beets did have an effect on the color: instead of turning brownish, the eggs whites turned a more pinky-lavender color after a few hours.  Definitely better than brown!

So, since I'm not the type of person to waste food - what do you do with the leftover beets & red cabbage?  Add some kale and coleslaw vinaigrette (page 5 of Cavemom's Cooking), and you've got another tasty salad to add to the table!

Happy Spring!

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Banana Pancakes - Sneak in some veggies!

These banana pancakes are ridiculously easy to make with just a few ingredients.  You won't really even need to measure anything!  The only things you really need are bananas, eggs, a pinch of salt, a little coconut oil for fat, and enough almond or coconut flour (or whatever your preference) to make a thick batter.  I use one egg and about 1/8 tsp salt per banana, so 2 bananas = 2 eggs and 1/4 tsp salt, etc.  For coconut oil I use about 1 Tbsp per banana, but really, I just pour some in.

Then it's time to get creative in adding veggies!  For today's batch, I used kale and collard greens, but I've also used spinach and other leafy greens - just whatever is on hand.  Chopped the "green stuff" fine, and the amount is largely up to you. 

To sum up today's breakfast:

3 ripe bananas, mashed
3 eggs
3/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp coconut oil, just melted
almond flour - enough to make a thick batter
finely chopped green stuff

a nice thick batter

Then I melt a little coconut oil on the griddle and cook low and slow.  Typically banana pancakes are crumbly and hard to flip on the griddle - but  you can get around that by covering the griddle with a pan lid - a 12" skillet lid fits nicely over a standard-size griddle. Cooking the pancakes under a lid - still low and slow - makes them flip almost as easy as traditional pancakes!  You will still want them to be smaller - about 4" around or so.






















And it really is that easy - with ripe bananas, you won't need to add any form of sweetener, and they are tasty enough by themselves I don't top them with anything. :)

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Paleo Crab Bisque

I went to the grocery store today just to get chicken, honest!  Among many other foodstuffs, I came home with a pound of on-holiday-sale Alaskan King Crab legs.  I usually just steam them and either eat the meat plain, or dunk in melted coconut oil with a little salt and garlic.  Tonight, though, trying out bisque sounded like a good idea.  I've never made bisque, let alone eaten it, at least not that I can remember.  But I understand the basis of it - making a white sauce, then adding the veg/meat/herbs.

Now, you can't very well make a white sauce out of almond flour - it won't thicken up like a wheat-flour-based sauce does, so this is where arrowroot comes in handy.  In this recipe, the amounts used, like most of my cooking, are largely up to you.  The amount of chicken stock, coconut milk, and crab is what I had on hand. If you have runnier coconut milk, you can adjust the coconut milk/water ratio.

The "butter" I used was simply a little bit of red palm oil mixed with unrefined coconut oil and a bit of sea salt.  Gives it a nice yellow color and slightly buttery flavor.

Paleo Crab Bisque
3 Tbsp paleo "butter"
5 - 6 Tbsp almond flour
3 c water
3/4 c chicken stock
1/2 c really thick coconut milk
1 tsp lemon juice
3 oz French-type goat cheese
1lb crab legs: remove meat and mince or at least chop fairly small
1 small onion, chopped fairly small
Fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
4 Tbsp arrowroot
2 tsp cold water
Sea Salt
Pepper

Melt the "butter" in a saucepan over low heat.  When melted, add the almond flour and stir until completely absorbed.  Add the water and stir until smooth.  Add the rest except the arrowroot and cold water.  When the goat cheese is fully dispersed, put the arrowroot in a little jar and add the cold water.  Close the jar lid tightly and shake to incorporate.  When thoroughly mixed, slowly add the arrowroot/water mix to the bisque while constantly stirring to get the desired thickness.  Top with a bit of freshly ground pepper.

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Zoatmeal: Perfect Paleo Oatmeal

Chilly mornings are upon us again and I find myself wishing for a warm, sticky bowl of oatmeal.  A few weeks ago I came across a recipe for paleo oatmeal that involved cauliflower and eggs.  It was good, but to me, it just didn't have the same qualities as traditional oatmeal.  I could still faintly taste the cauliflower, and the eggs made it creamy, but it was custard-like creamy - not the smooth sticky quality traditional oatmeal has.

As I thought about how to re-create oatmeal, my zucchini pile in the kitchen was steadily growing.   I'm always up for new ways to use zucchini, since it's so plentiful at this time of year! I thought, why not using the same recipe except use zucchini instead of cauliflower?  Then of course, while making it, decided to do things a bit differently and Zoatmeal was born.

This recipe is incredibly simple, and involves 3 main ingredients:  zucchini, coconut milk, and a pinch of salt.  It involves more utensils than dumping oatmeal and water into a pan, but it takes about the same amount of time to cook. Extra items: a food processer and a fork. 



Zoatmeal topped with honey, coconut milk, blueberries, and a crabapple sauce.

Zoatmeal

• 1 very small zucchini, or half a medium zucchini, peeled
• full fat coconut milk, about half the amount of the zucchini
• pinch of salt
• arrowroot for thickening

Optional:

• cinnamon
• honey
• additional coconut milk

Peel the zucchini and chop into small pieces.  If it's a larger zucchini, remove any large seeds.  Process the chopped zucchini in a food processor until very finely minced.  Add that to a pan with the coconut milk.  Ideally you want the ratio to be 2 parts zucchini to 1 part coconut milk, but I don't measure, I just eyeball it.  Add a pinch of salt, then cover and simmer.  The cover is there for 2 reasons: this will bubble and splatter - and it helps the zucchini cook faster.  I like to add about a teaspoon of cinnamon in there, not only because I love cinnamon, but it gives the Zoatmeal the traditional light brown color.

When the zucchini is tender, begin to sprinkle arrowroot into the Zoatmeal and quickly stir it in with a fork.  Just do a little bit of arrowroot at a time - it doesn't take a whole lot and you can easily over-thicken it.  The arrowroot gives the Zoatmeal the smooth stickiness that oatmeal has.

Pour into a serving bowl and top with whatever you like to top oatmeal with!  I like additional coconut milk, honey, and some fruit.  In the photo above, I made a crabapple sauce from crabapples off my tree.  Same recipe as my Spiced Cranberry Sauce in Cavemom's Cooking, except I used crabapples in place of the cranberries.

Delicious!  Now if your neighbors try to pawn off their excess zucchini on you, take it and make yourself a wonderfully warm, creamy, satisfying breakfast! :)
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Editing to add, this recipe re-heats wonderfully!  Don't be afraid to make a large amount and have leftovers! :)

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Pork Rinds: an alternative to breading

I first tried pork rinds when I was pregnant with Kaiden, looking for additional protein sources/snacks.  I wasn't paleo back then, but I did avoid HFCS and white bread.  Or at least I tried to!  After his pregnancy, I forgot about them.  Completely.  Until a couple weeks ago - that's 5 1/2 years with no pork rinds!

I've come to the realization that I need to do low-carb paleo.  Medium/high carb was working when Kaiden was less mobile, meaning I either carried him everywhere or pushed a heavy stroller.  With lots and lots of kid gear.  It was a workout!  Then when he started walking (finally, really walking, not just a few steps here and there), it meant less exercise for me, as we walked a lot slower, and couldn't go very far before he'd want to stop.  And slowly, my weight's been creeping back up - so now I'm not a happy camper!  I've been looking for a low-carb snack, since now nuts, dried fruit, and dried veggie chips are out.  (And I've got to stop the late-night snacking!!)  I was wandering the snack aisles in the grocery store to see if they had anything that wasn't either vegetable or wheat based . . . and there they were: pork rinds.  And pork cracklings! 

Pork rinds are sort of like Funyuns: light, crispy, crunchy, and salty but with less bold flavor.  Pork cracklings are pork rinds with some (dried) skin and fat attached.  No carbs, just protein and fat (and salt!).  It says on the package they are good for snacking and cooking.  I know they're good for snacking, but was wondering about the cooking part - how on earth someone would use them for cooking . . . until tonight, I made oven-baked chicken drumsticks.  The nut-based flours mixed with milk & egg always came out a little soggy, no matter how I did it.  Then the thought occurred to me . . . why not crush up some pork rinds and dust the drumsticks with it?  I didn't use any egg or additional oil - I just added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and sesame seeds (because my husband likes sesame seeds on roasted chicken) to the crushed pork rinds and rolled/dipped/dusted the drumsticks in the mixture.  Baked at 350F for 1 hour - and they were perfect!

I wish I had a picture for you . . .  but we ate most of them. :)  Maybe next time!

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Zucchini anyone?

I don't know if it's the lack of bees or what, but the only thing really producing in my garden this year is the zucchini.  The rest of the squash, cukes, and miscellaneous plants just aren't doing too much.  Some of the plants are huge, with tons of flowers but little to no fruit, and some of the plants are still really small with little to no fruit.  I didn't plant by moon phases this year, seeing as the last couple years I didn't see much of any difference.

So, what to do with all that zucchini?

One of my favorite ways to cook zucchini is grilling them!  Oh YUM!! Super easy - slice them length-wise so they are about 1/4" thick. Coat them in oil and your favorite seasonings (Italian dressing works too!) and grill until there's grill marks, then flip 'em and keep grilling until there's grill marks on that side too.  They should be limp when done, and oh-so-tasty! Great with grilled meats, or by themselves for a light lunch.

Some news!  I just got in the 2nd edition print run of Cavemom's Cooking!!  I changed it up just a little - instead of a 5x7 print with a covered binding, I went with 5.5" x 8.5", spiral bound.  Loving the new look!!  There's just a couple left of the originals - once those are gone, I'll post the 2nd edition for sale.  I'm about 1/2 way thru creating recipes for Cavemom's Cooking Volume 2 (still need a good title instead of just "Volume 2") - I have a great idea for the cover photo for that one!

Last for tonight: an idea's been brewing in my  head:  I don't feel the urge to eat bread anymore, but someone close was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease, and is having a hard time giving up bread.  I have no idea if this will work; I have yet to see a recipe for such, but pre-paleo I used to make a tasty beer bread recipe from scratch (using something other than beer, of course!).  Hoping to be able to successfully modify that one.  I've seen lots of recipes using baking soda and vinegar, so that's always an option . . . I have all the ingredients necessary, I just need to be brave enough to give it a go, and be willing to toss if it's terrible!! :)

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