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The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 24

paleo diet challenge day 24 eggplant flatbread

I know every new day is a fresh start, full of promise in trying Paleo recipes and building a new repertoire. It’s exciting, right? Mostly yes, it is. But when regular life demands more of my attention, it’s great when the pressure of what to make for dinner lightens up a little.

We’re talking recipe repeats. Aside from the morning glory muffins, I haven’t had too many things that I’d want to make regularly. And while it’s interesting to keep trying new recipes every day, it’s also a little tiring. Lots to chalk up to experience, and to know what not to do next time, but so far I haven’t added many Paleo recipes to my arsenal.

One that has earned a spot is the eggplant flatbread. When I first tried it, it was as an alternative for puff pastry and, in some ways, I actually liked it better. Did I really just say that? Better than puff pastry?

I need to qualify that a little. First, I wasn’t aiming to make a Paleo puff pastry substitute. I knew it wasn’t going to be light or flaky in the least, just flat. But it surprised me by having a multigrain-like quality — dense, flavorful and chewy. That I wasn’t expecting. A most pleasant surprise, especially considering the underwhelming results I’ve had with Paleo breads.

I decided to try the flatbread as a base for pizza. It was the original use for the flatbread in Make It Paleo, plus pizza is one of those things that, when done well, I can’t seem to get enough of. Usually that means a substantial chewy crust with a few little air pockets, like what you would find at Pizzeria Barbarella and Campagnolo here in Vancouver. Or what you could get with the homemade pizza I’ve been making in the past year. I’m really missing my pizza.

The verdict? Definitely not a chewy crust with air pockets, and not something you could pick up and eat with your hands. (I’m more a knife-and-fork pizza eater anyway.) But with the roasted tomato sauce, good goat cheese and capicollo, it turned out to be a fine stand-in, when options are so limited. A keeper, as my Mom would have said.

paleo diet challenge day 24 eggplant flatbread

 

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 23

guacamole and baked yam chips

Hmmm, on the Paleo Diet Challenge Day 23, how timely: I run across an entertaining article on Scientific American’s website about why the Paleo diet doesn’t make much sense. Now you tell me.

Most of the article is about explaining how the human “gut” works and about the evolution of our digestive tract, which has evolved to eat grains, along with vegetables, fruits, nuts, and meat, and pretty much anything else we toss into it. Judging from the comments so far, he’s touched a nerve from Paleo defenders. Hmmm, I guess I can’t be sure until the challenge is over, but I think I know which camp I’ll end up in, eventually. Hint: it’s not the die-hard Paleo one.

One of the things that I am missing, more than I thought I would, is tortilla chips. Plain, salted, corn tortilla chips, preferably the blue, organic ones from Que Pasa. (Not sure why I like the blue ones so much, but they’re my favorite. Maybe because of the novelty? It’s not like there’s a lot of naturally blue foods out there.)

But since corn tortilla chips are off the menu for the next 8 days, I thought I’d try my hand at oven baked yam chips for a pre-dinner snack. Now, Paleo-friendly nuts are great, and I love them, but they’re not something I’d would want to be dipping in my guacamole.

I’ve done thicker yam fries in the oven before, and they are very, very difficult to get crispy. Almost impossible, really. I blame the high sugar content. But armed with my mandoline to make paper-thin slices, I was confident I’d end up with a crispier result.

Well? They looked very bright and pretty, and tasted great, but even though they were as thin as the mandoline could make, they weren’t nearly as crispy as I had hoped. The burnt ones were the best for crispiness, and got eaten first.

I think I’m officially starting my countdown until the end of the challenge. Crispy tortilla chips are in sight.

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 22

paleo diet challenge day 22 soda bread

It was another Paleo bread attempt today. And while it wasn’t a shout-from-the-rooftops success, it wasn’t nearly the disaster that the first one was. Perhaps I should feel comforted by that.

This time I set my sights a little lower, opting for an Irish soda bread that naturally has a denser texture than a bread you’d make for sandwiches. I have some good memories of soda bread, especially one my mom used to make from one of Anne Lindsay’s cookbooks. It makes good toast, that’s what I remember. I had my fingers crossed.

The recipe I was using calls for blanched almond flour, but all I had was almond meal (still waiting for my online delivery of blanched almond flour), so it was going to give me a denser result. And did it ever. Despite the baking soda the bread didn’t seem to rise, even a little. It stayed only a couple inches high, and reminded me of a rounded log of biscotti, ready to be cut and baked a second time in the oven.

Where I went wrong was thinking that sunflower seeds would be a nice addition, to give a welcome crunch. Big mistake. They did add a crunch, but they took on a greenish outline when baked. (Maybe they do all the time? I can’t remember the last time I made anything with sunflower seeds baked into it.) It made the bread look, well, almost a little creepy. It’s like the bread had gone moldy even before it had a chance to cool down.

Or maybe it was something that Martians would enjoy, if they were eating a Paleo diet.

It toasted up quite well, which I was most happy about. It didn’t bring all those happy Irish soda bread memories from my childhood flooding back, but it wasn’t too eggy and it didn’t crumble. If I closed my eyes and forgot about the green flecks in the bread, I enjoyed it quite well. With my morning coffee, it was almost like my breakfasts used to be.

paleo diet challenge day 22 soda bread

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Paleo Irish Soda Bread

Yield: 1 loaf

Adapted from Elana's Pantry.

Ingredients

  • 2-3/4 cups almond meal
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1-3/4 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 cup pecans or raisins (or sunflower seeds if you want a Martian vibe)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a stand mixing bowl, combine almond meal, salt, and baking soda. Add nuts or raisins and mix to combine.
  3. Add eggs, honey and vinegar to the bowl, and mix together until the dough has a uniform consistency.
  4. Place dough on a parchment- or silicon sheet-lined baking sheet. Form dough into a large, flat circle, about 8 inches around by 1-1/2 inches tall. Using a serrated knife, cut a cross about 1/2 inch deep in the top.
  5. Bake soda bread for 20-25 minutes, until it is golden brown. Remove and cool on a baking rack.

 

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 21

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

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

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.

Print
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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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