Paleo Roasted Red Pepper and Cashew Dip

This is a recipe I modified from the whole foods website, and it definitely has a distinctive nutty flavor.  I served this with beet chips, but it would be good with veggies or as a dipping sauce for fish and chicken.  It only takes a few minutes, and you could really go crazy on the modifications.  Switch out the herbs, bump up the tahini, add a different citrus?

1 1/2 cups raw cashews
2 garlic cloves
Juice and zest from 1/2 lemon
1 cup  fresh basil leaves
4 tablespoons tahini

3 Roasted red bell pepper

Cashew prep:

Place cashews in a medium bowl, cover with cold water, and allow to soak for 4 hours. Drain

To roast peppers:

Place pepper directly over your gas range, allowing each side to blister.  Place in a large glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Allow to cool, then peel the skins off. Remove seeds and stem and roughly chop. (You can also do this in the oven)

Put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth.

Paleo Coconut Comfort Stew

While fall is officially upon us, we are certainly lacking the cool temperatures.  I wanted to make a hearty stew, but it was so hot here I switched it up to something a little bit lighter that would still satisfy my craving for fall and big bowl of comforting stew.  

There's nothing better on a chilly day than having something simmering on the stove, filling your house with amazing smells for hours in anticipation of those delicious bites, but when it's hot the last thing I want to do is make the temperature in my shoe box of a house rise even a few degrees.  This dish actually cooks pretty quickly, which will minimize the impact on your thermostat.

1 small onion, diced

1 large shallot, diced

2 tbs fresh ginger, peeled and diced

1 garlic head, chopped

Zest from 1 lime

1 red bell pepper, chopped

2 large chicken breasts, diced

1 can coconut milk

10 oz chicken broth

2 kaffir lime leaves*

juice from 1 lime

Spicy sausage (I used about 6 oz of andouille), chopped in rounds

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tsp turmeric

5 green onions, chopped

In a large pot add some butter or coconut oil and saute the onion, shallot, ginger, garlic, lime zest and bell pepper until fragrant.  Add chicken and brown.  Throw in the coconut milk, chicken broth, kaffir lime leaves and lime juice, and simmer until chicken is almost done.  Throw in the sausage, shrimp, turmeric and green onions and cook about another 5 minutes. Shrimp will just start to turn pink.   Serve with a little spritz of lime and few extra green onions.  You can also give it a squirt of rooster sauce to bring the heat up. 

*Kaffir lime leaves can be found at spice shops and specialty grocery stores, but if you can't find them, just double the lime juice/zest

Paleo Slow Roasted Tomatoes

With tomato season coming to an end, this is something to do with all those extra lbs of red deliciousness before they start to turn.  You can use these roasted tomatoes as snacks, on salads, as a condiment...just about anything.  Roasting them makes them super sweet (think sundried tomatoes without being super dry).  

2+ lbs tomatoes, halved

olive oil

salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 3225.  Place tomato halves in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Drizzle a teeny tiny amount of olive oil over the top of each one and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  If you're using cherry tomatoes they'll be done in about 3 hours.  The larger the tomato, the longer they'll take to cook.  They should look a little shriveled but still juicy. 

You can store extras in a jar in olive oil. 

Paleo Swedish Meatballs

Ah meatballs....so delicate, so time consuming, so delicious.   Normally when I decide to make meatballs,  I add a ton of fresh herbs and spices, so they're colorful and flavor packed.  Swedish meatballs have a much milder flavor, and are delicious with ligonberry jam (or any other fruit for that matter, I had some currant on hand).

I adapted this recipe from this month's Bon Appetite magazine, and while you can eat these twice as fast as you can prepare them, you can still be transported to Ikea (er, Scandanavia) for a savory little treat.

1 cup almond meal

2 1/3 c chicken stock

butter

1 onion, diced

2 thick sliced bacon

1 lb grass fed ground beef

1 lb ground pork

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp freshly ground nutmeg

1 tbs arrowroot

Mix almond flour and 1/3 c stock in a large bowl and set aside.  In a very large skillet or dutch oven melt a little butter and saute the onions.  Remove those and add to the almond meal, then cook bacon in the same pan.  Remove bacon, drain and crumble into the onions and almond meal. Add beef, pork, eggs, salt, pepper, allspice and nutmeg to the bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands.  Roll into small balls. 

Melt a tbs or so of butter in the pan, and brown all sides of the meatballs (you might have to do a couple batches).  After you've browned them all, add the arrowroot to the pan and whisk until it forms a paste.  Add the remaining stock, scraping up all the good bits on the bottom of the pan, and bring to a simmer.

Return the meatballs to the pan and cook another 5-6 minutes (depending on the size of your meatballs). If you like a thicker gravy, remove the meatballs and let the sauce reduce for another 4-6 minutes.