KrisNeely, Author at Ant & Anise • Page 11 of 15

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 21

This challenge is a funny thing. For the past 3 weeks I seem to swing between two feelings: One is being energized and quite optimistic about finding a new way of eating, which might turn out to be better for me. (Is it a pathway to get off the daily Synthroid pill? Perhaps.) I really like the discovery of new ways to use ingredients that I never would have thought (like almonds as flour, cauliflower as rice), so there’s a certain adventurousness that I’m enjoying.

The other is spending a fair amount of time being frustrated about what’s allowed and what’s not. I like food a lot, obviously. But thinking about this Paleo diet almost constantly, how to make it interesting, working it into our daily lives without it being too much of a jolt, has been consuming way too much of my mental energy these days. Thinking about it is almost more challenging than actually doing it. Strange, hey?

(And, of course, there’s the still-unsuccessful quest for a decent Paleo bread. One that I can eat as toast, for breakfast. I thought I was losing my bread craving, and maybe after 30 days it will be curbed at least a little, but every so often it bubbles up and sends me on a new search for Paleo bread recipes.)

I’m thankful for the few times that I am able to eat out successfully, meaning I can order something that doesn’t need a lot of special instructions. Hold the bun! Can I get that wrapped in lettuce? Like you might expect, breakfast and brunch are a good time to eat out for Paleos, simply because eggs play a starring role. This Californian omelette from Milestones, with bacon, avocado salsa, diced tomatoes and cheddar, was a good example of a restaurant meal that didn’t need any strange requests, aside from skipping the toast. All I had to do was refrain from eating the potatoes. Whew.

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 20

On days like this when so much is going on, like, for instance, working and battling with contractors, I wish that the Paleo way of eating didn’t still consume so much of my mental energy. (Sigh.)

One thing that’s been bugging me is that I haven’t really kept track of grocery receipts so far. There is a lot of talk on Paleo sites and blogs about how expensive it is to maintain this diet, where so much meat (preferably grass-fed, organic) and fresh produce (again, preferably organic) are involved.

I think it is a more expensive way to eat. I don’t have any hard evidence, really, more of a gut feel. But a couple of things stand out.

First, I am going to the store more often to pick up fresh ingredients, usually meat, eggs or fruit. (Thank goodness for the CSA or I’d be shopping for vegetables too.)

Also, we are not eating nearly the number of stir-frys and pastas for dinner that we used to. These are the kind of dinners where rice or noodles provide at least half (if not more) of the meal, with just a little meat and vegetables to round things out. They’re reliable, fast, and easy since we’ve made them so often. When you get home from the office at 6:30 or 7:00, they’re usually what we end up making. Oh right, aside from ordering pizza. Okay, I admit it.

So no, not very scientific observations here. And while we’re not eating rack of lamb every night, I’m curious about ways to make the Paleo diet less expensive. There are loads of resources on the web and, as you might expect, some are better than others. Here are three good ones I found so far:

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 19

I had been puzzling over what to do with the kohlrabi we got in our CSA box from Cropthorne Farm, and I finally figured it out. Little things like this make me happy. And having a weekly basket of fresh vegetables, which I don’t have to shop for, to get through the remainder of the Paleo diet challenge? Quite happy about that, too.

Kohlrabi isn’t something I would rush over and pick up at the store, ever. Which is why I applaud the CSA for bringing it to my attention. Well, now I do. In the last few days, I may have cursed once or twice thinking what am I supposed to do with this?

But, deep down, I believe it’s important to stretch your culinary boundaries and always keep trying new tastes. And so my search for a good recipe was on.

Roasting or steaming it didn’t seem too inspiring, especially considering the warmer weather lately. Slicing and eating it raw (with a dip) had some promise, but that would mean making a dip, an extra step that I didn’t need. When I stumbled upon a recipe for kohlrabi slaw that reminded me of a spicy Thai green papaya salad, I thought perfect.

And it was pretty close to perfect. It made very good use of the kohlrabi and it resulted in a very Paleo-friendly dish without me thinking about the Paleo part too much. Cool.

Spicy Kohlrabi Slaw

Yield: 3 cups

Inspired by a recipe at Knit York City. This has a nice spicy kick from the chili garlic sauce, and paired well with grilled chicken and asparagus.

Ingredients

2 medium kohlrabi, julienned
2 tart apples, julienned
3/4 cup carrots, shredded
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 green onion, finely chopped
juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons sriracha or Asian chili-garlic sauce

Instructions

Using a food processor or mandoline, shred or julienne the kohlrabi and apples, then shred the carrots. Place the shredded vegetables in a medium bowl, add the cilantro and green onion, and mix well to combine.
In a small bowl, combine the lime juice, fish sauce, honey and garlic chili sauce together. Mix well, then pour over the vegetables and toss to coat.
Taste and adjust for seasoning -- you might like it a little saltier (add fish sauce), more tangy (add lime juice), sweeter (add honey) or spicier (add chili garlic sauce). Or you may like it just as it is.

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 18

Some skepticism is definitely lurking in the back of my mind about the benefits of the Paleo diet. I’ve been doing this for over two weeks now, and I haven’t noticed much difference in how I feel. Not much at all.

Like I mentioned a few days ago, when I was exactly two weeks into the challenge, there have been a few changes. The main one — by far — is that I’m not hungry between meals. Otherwise, I feel about the same. Maybe slightly healthier, maybe. That could be from all the salads I’m eating, along with the absence of any bread.

But I have yet to experience any dramatic improvements by eating this way. And I’m started to get a little impatient. I mean, there’s so many blogs touting the amazing results people get by eating this way, like the 12 pages of success stories on Mark’s Daily Apple, for example.

Is this because I need to give it more time? (Patience isn’t always one of my strong suits.)

Is this because I haven’t been strict enough with my plan for the diet, since I’m allowing coffee cream, wine and chocolate in with all the meat and vegetables?

Or is it because the Paleo diet isn’t the amazing cure-all that so many make it out to be?

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 17

Exciting news! I’ve found a Paleo bread that is quite acceptable.

It is a flatbread, though. I have yet to crack the code on Paleo sandwich bread (or a baguette of sorts), except maybe in my dreams. (Sigh.)

So far, I’ve experimented with a couple recipes to work some bread-like food into the challenge, but success has eluded me. The muffins and banana bread both passed through my taste and texture hoops, but the plainer bread I tried, in the hopes of making some toast for breakfast some day, didn’t come close to making it through any kind of hoop at all. Not even off the ground.

I’m starting to think that, perhaps, the key to enjoying any kind of Paleo bread is expectation management. Yep. Like several things in life, lower those expectations a notch or two and you might be pleasantly surprised by how you feel.

That’s exactly what happened with the eggplant-based flatbread I made. Eggplant as a bread, really? Dead simple to make and, even better, I wasn’t even expecting to like it but I did. Much better than I thought I would. It definitely has an eggplant-y flavor, but the texture is chewy and has a graininess that reminds me of a hearty multigrain bread, albeit on the very, very thin side.

No, it’s not what I would pair with peanut butter for breakfast, but it did toast up relatively well to have with a nibble of cheese. It also made a softer, more substantial base for a smoked salmon and cream cheese appetizer that I usually make with puff pastry.

Eggplant Flatbread

Adapted from Make It Paleo by Bill Staley and Haley Mason, where they use it as a base for pizza.

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons) grain-free 'flour' substitute (flax seed meal, almond meal, coconut flour) - use all of one type or mix it up to equal 10 tablespoons
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Cut 2 sheets of parchment paper to fit your pan.
Peel the eggplant and grate. (I used my food processor with the shredding blade.) Transfer the eggplant to a fine mesh strainer and, over the sink, squeeze the eggplant into a ball to drain the liquid out. Transfer the eggplant to a medium sized bowl.
Add the grain-free 'flour' to the bowl and mix to combine. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer the batter to the baking sheet lined with 1 sheet of the parchment, and flatten out with a spatula or your hands until it’s about 1/8” thick.
Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Here's where it gets a little tricky: Brush some olive oil on the flatbread, and then place the second piece of parchment over it. Nest a baking sheet (bottom side down) right on top of the parchment, then carefully flip the whole thing over. Slide the flatbread back onto the original baking sheet. Slowly peel back the parchment paper on the top of the eggplant (what used to be the bottom), and brush the top lightly with a little more olive oil.
Bake for another 15 minutes or until slightly brown around the edges. Remove from oven, cool and slice.

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 16

With a number of foods verboten in the 30-day challenge, I’ve found it’s been helpful to think less about what I can’t eat (I bet I know something that starts with “b”…) and shift my thoughts towards all the things that are included.

It’s a good thing that I like vegetables, a lot.

In particular, it’s a good thing I like salads, since the challenge has given me a renewed respect for salad. That’s right, respect for salad. It’s so often relegated to the ‘sides’ category, kind of like it’s comic relief from the main event on the plate. But salads are really fantastic in their own right, especially this time of year when the sun peeks out, and stays, a little longer. And of course, for Paleos, when there’s a sizable amount of protein included.

I particularly like them right now because it doesn’t take a lot of effort to make a great salad, so they’re helping take down the what-am-I-going-to-make-for-dinner anxiety a few notches.

And really, isn’t simpler better when it comes to great salads? Like arugula with just shaved Parmegiano-Reggiano and cracked pepper. Thick spinach leaves with sliced mushrooms and hard-boiled eggs. Ripe tomato slices with only fresh mozzarella and a chiffonade of basil. Grilled bell peppers and zucchini rounds, on their own, served warm or cold. Add some grilled chicken, salmon, beef or prawns and all the Paleo converts would be most pleased.

I’m feeling most calm now, thinking about the simplicity of salads. Maybe I’m getting the hang of this Paleo thing after all.

My Basic Vinaigrette

Yield: 1/4 cup

This vinaigrette is why you never need to buy bottled salad dressing. Homemade vinaigrette is SO much better than what you can get out of a bottle, and the ingredients are all natural. Plus it takes less than 5 minutes to put together. The key is to use fresh, good quality ingredients.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon grainy Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (see note)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, parsley or tarragon, finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

In a small bowl, combine the mustard and vinegar.
Add a little salt and pepper, then whisk in the olive oil with small fork. Taste and adjust for seasonings. If the vinaigrette is too tangy for your liking, whisk in a little bit more olive oil.
When you're happy with the seasoning, stir in the fresh herbs and toss over your favorite greens. Keep any extra vinaigrette covered in the fridge for up to a week.

Notes

Use a different acid (vinegar, citrus juice) depending on the type of salad you're serving: A balsamic vinegar gives a heartier vinaigrette, which pairs very well with a grilled steak salad. Fresh lime, lemon, orange or grapefruit juice are lighter and give a tropical vibe to seafood or chicken salads.

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days