Category Archives: Recipes

Paleo Thai Larb

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Today for dinner we adapted a recipe from “Glorious One-Pot Meals” called Thai Larb. For those of you that don’t know, Larb is a meal that is considered the national dish of Laos, as well as being a staple in parts of Thailand. I had never heard of this before, but rest assured the paleofication of this meal was simple. It makes an affordable, filling and healthy meal, and for the most part it’s pretty simple to make. So let’s get down to business and take a look at the recipe and instructions.

  • Cooking fat (coconut oil is probably the best option for Thai food) – subbed in for Canola Oil Spray (or as I like to call it, the devil)
  • 1 head of cauliflower, grated – subbed in for 1 cup Jasmine rice
  • 1 lime, zested
  • 1 lemon, zested
  • 1/2 c lime juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar (dunno if this is considered ‘paleo’ or not, but no sleep lost over this)
  • 1.5 tbsp honey – subbed in for brown sugar
  • 1 tsp minced jalapeno
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 scallions (green onions), chopped
  • 1 bell pepper (orange or red)
  • 1/4 c chopped fresh mint
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1/4 head of chopped green cabbage
  • 1 c. snow peas

Make this in a cast iron skillet. Grease well with cooking fat.

Add a layer of riced cauliflower, spread evenly.

Add all ingredients except meat, mint, cabbage, and snow peas. Add meat to ensure it ends up crumbled. Add mint.

Arrange clumps of meat mixture over the cauliflower. Do not pack together – mixture should be loose.

Add a thick layer of cabbage and top with snow peas.

Cover and bake for 45 minutes @ 450 degrees. Serve hot.

And it’s some good stuff. Make a lot, because you’ll want to go back for more.

A little rooster sauce adds a nice kick, too.

Enjoy!

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Paleo Broccoli and Zucchini Slaw

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Unfortunately, I have no pictures of this one, as it’s all. completely. gone. But it is pretty darn easy to make, delicious, and filling.

Step One: Make some paleo mayonaise. You’ll use about half of this for the recipe as dictated below.

Once you’ve done this (easily the ‘hardest’ part of this recipe) the rest is simple. Continue reading →

Paleo Chicken and Vegetable Soup

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Tonight, we at casa del Primalfringe were contemplating what we were going to have for dinner. We had chicken, vegetables, and spices ready to go. rummaging through the freezer, I found some chicken (or possibly turkey – hard to say) stock we had previously cooked up and frozen. Considering today was about 20 degrees cooler than yesterday, soup seemed like a good choice. With that, we were off to the races.

Continue reading →

Coconut milk ‘iced cream’ in five minutes!?!

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Strawberries!

Even we of the primal-set aren’t so austere that we don’t enjoy a good dessert every now and again. This one is easy, delicious, and makes a delicious iced cream substitute. (In fact, this recipe might even be considered… vegan!) Basically, it’s an easy iced cream analog that takes almost no time to make up and is tasty, wonderful, and about as simple as you can get. Without further ado, here is the LONG list of ingredients:

  • 1 14 oz can of Coconut milk
  • 14oz of FROZEN fruit (we generally use berries, but you could theoretically use any fruits – besides, berries are more primal-friendly, right?;)
  • 3 tablespoons of honey (or to taste. I think that 3 tablespoons isn’t too sweet, but less wouldn’t have been horrible, either).

That’s it. Now for the instructions…

  1. Scoop the coconut milk into a food processor, and blend until no longer lumpy.
  2. Throw in your frozen berries.
  3. Add your honey.
  4. Blend until everything is smooth and the consistency of iced cream.

And that’s it! It’ll be soft, but it’s ready to eat right now. If you want, you can drop it into a bowl and throw it in the fridge to set up further. I’m not sure on how long it will keep in the freezer, but it won’t last long!

Other thoughts I’ve had regarding this treat:

  • Blend then freeze (in an ice cube tray) a can worth of coconut milk. Prepare as above, substituting the frozen coconut milk for the fruit. Add in vanilla to taste.
  • Follow the above steps, but add dark chocolate instead.

Good luck, and remember: it’s about having fun and getting in the kitchen and trying things out!

Enjoy!

Still life - Flowers, iced cream, chocolate and rabbit

Beef and squash soup – a tasty adventure

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1.5# beef (we used tenderloin, but any can be used) cubed.

1 whole large butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 large onion, chopped

2 cups chopped celery

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp dried parsley flakes

3/4 tsp rosemary

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2 cups mushrooms, quartered

8 cups Beef base/broth – just enough to cover the vegetables

2 tbsp butter or other saturated fat cooking oil

 

In a large pot, saute the vegetables  in the butter, being sure to add in the herbs and spices (reserve the bay leaf for later) until just beginning to soften.

In a separate skillet, brown the beef cubes.

When the vegetables are ready to go, add the beef base/broth to the pot and bring to a simmer.

Add the bay leaf.

When the beef has browned, add it to the soup pot.

Continue to let simmer until vegetables reach desired tenderness (they should be easily pierced with a fork).

Salt and pepper to taste throughout the cooking process.

 

Enjoy! It’s a great soup, and quite simple, too. The butternut squash and cloves give it a sweeter character, but it adds to the whole of the soup, offering up a nice counterpoint to the richness of the beef.

Primal chili – chili on the fringe

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mmmm... chili

Just wanted to relay a recipe I made up this evening for primal chili. Being well aware of what goes into a conventional chili, I was able to cobble this – dare I say amazing? – chili recipe together. Overall, it’s pretty simple, and probably serves four or five. It’s hearty and delicious and has a nice beefy flavor. In order to go full primal/paleo, you should probably omit the red wine, but I certainly didn’t lose any sleep over having it in there, and the flavor speaks for itself.

Without any further ado, here we go!

  • 1 large yellow onion, chopped
  • 7 stalks of celery, diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely diced
  • 2 lbs grass fed ground beef
  • 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup red table wine
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 tbsp cumin
  • 3 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 tsp fresh minced oregano
  • 1 tbsp irish butter

Sarah and I do the majority of our cooking in cast iron, so I threw the butter, onion, celery and garlic into a large cast iron skillet, careful to keep the heat low to keep oxidization down. On top of that, add the cinnamon. Cook these until tender – about 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, brown the 2 lbs of ground beef (again, I used another cast iron skillet).

When the onions and celery are looking pretty close to translucent, clear a space out in the middle of the skillet and throw in the mushrooms and oregano. If needed, add a little more butter to help the mushrooms cook more thoroughly.  This should only take about 5 minutes until the mushrooms are tender. Add the wine to the onions, celery and mushrooms. It should sizzle and deglaze the skillet, as well as add a nice color to the onion and celery. Transfer this mixture into a good sized pot so we can finish the chili.

Next, add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes to the pot, followed by the salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin. Stir until everything is thoroughly coated in tomatoes and tomato sauce. Finally, add the ground beef to the rest of the chili. Bring to a simmer and it’s ready to go! We added cubed avocado to ours, as well as a little cottage cheese for the little barbarian. If you want it a little spicier, add cayenne pepper (not more chili powder). 1/8th of a teaspoon goes a long way, so be gentle.

I hope you enjoy it. If you try it, let me know what you think. The red wine really works to intensify the beefy flavor of the beef, and adds a nice level of body to the pot of chili in general.

Bon apetit!