EatPood

Food 911

In the fall, I started reading Nom Nom Paleo - a great Paleo resource. Nom Nom* is married to FitBomb. They’re a crossfitting, paleo-eating power couple. I especially like Nom Nom because she makes me laugh; she cusses like a sailor; and oh yeah – the food.

There are often references to "Emergency Protein" on Nom Nom Paleo. I’ve discerned that this isn’t a specific dish. It’s just a batch of yummy stuff Nom Nom keeps around so she and her family don’t eat a bunch of crap.

Today I’m giving you my take on Emergency Protein. Use it in stuffed peppers. Create a spaghetti squash casserole. Serve it over mashed cauliflower.  Eat it as is from a bowl (which I happen to be doing right now). My kids like it. Cliff likes it. I like it. The dog likes it. You get the picture.

Versatile Protein
2# grass fed ground beef
2T olive oil
4 carrots, diced small
4 stalks celery diced small
1 yellow onion, diced small
4 garlic cloves, minced
1, 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
2T tomato paste
1T herbes de provence
1/2 C chopped kalamata olives
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Saute the carrots, celery and onion until they begin to soften.

Add the ground beef to the pan. While you brown the beef, break it up with a wooden spoon. Next add the garlic and the herbs. Mix well and cook for about 1 minute.

Make a well in the middle of the meat mixture, and add the tomato paste. Let it heat a little bit, and then mix it into the meat. Add the diced tomatoes and the olives. Mix well.

Lastly, add the vinegar, salt and pepper and stir.

*Girlfriend doesn’t disclose her name on the blog although Fit Bomb refers to her as M. I’m sure I could have figured out her name with my dogged Googling skills, but I decided that it really was none of my business. 

The Soup

I’m calling this "the soup" (or "the" soup) because it doesn’t have another name. Maybe one of you can come up with some clever moniker.  We will submit it to Sarah Fragoso at Everyday Paleo.  Of course, she'll love our inventive brilliance, and so she'll invite us to visit her in Chico.  We'll become BFFs and co-author several bestselling books.  It's going to be fabulous.  I can't wait.  Get to work already!

Back on earth... I like this recipe because I have these ingredients on hand pretty much all the time. I changed the recipe a little bit here and there. I’ve found it to be forgiving in that you can sub in different ingredients. The first time I made this I used Italian sausage and green beans. Then another time I didn’t have green beans so I used broccoli. Then, yet another time, I used chorizo.  It always works out.

Insert Fitting Name Here

2T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1# grass fed ground beef
1# pork sausage
2t garlic powder
2t dried basil
1T oregano
1t sea salt
3 dashes cayenne pepper
4 carrots, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
2 big handfuls green beans, cut into 1" pieces
4C chicken broth
1, 15 oz. can diced tomatoes

Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, and sauté until transparent. Add beef and sausage. Brown meat while breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon.

When the meat is brown, add the carrots and celery, and sauté for 5-7 minutes. Stir in the garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and cayenne pepper.

Add the chicken broth and diced tomatoes. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Then add the green beans, and simmer about 15 minutes more until the beans are tender.

Looking ahead toward Christmas

Before turning to food, let's just gush about the owners of our box for a minute, okay?  They are so amazing!  The new space is absolutely fantastic.  I'm in awe of their ability to make things happen, and I'm so grateful to know each and every one of them.  Thank you ladies, and Sr.

I wrote this blog entry about two weeks ago, but I didn't get it posted.  You see, I wanted to post some other things first and save this one for next week.  That didn't happen.  In any event, don't let me forget to tell you about:

"The" Soup:

Emergency Protein:

Gluten Free Pineapple Upside-Down Cake:

Pressure Cooker Coq au Vin:

Christmas Cookies, Anyone?

Finally, before we get to the actual post...  A couple of people have asked whether I found any paleo-ish Christmas cookie recipes.  I've been snooping around, and I found several I'd like to try.  If you'd like to come over and do some experimental baking with me, post a comment.  I'll get in touch and organize a time that works best for everyone. 

The Recipe

With all that out of the way, here we go with the food and photos:

Right now, this very minute as I type my missive to you, I have a stew in the oven. This is the 3rd time I’ve made it. You cannot believe how easy and delicious it is. Plus, it has a certain I don’t know what (je ne sais quoi if you're fancy) but I’m calling it: Homey Elegance. I’m in love!

I made this dish for superfriends, the Paula Pauls, and also for some non-CrossFitting girlfriends. The girlfriends asked for the recipe so I’ll take that as an endorsement! I think this would make a lovely rustic-style Christmas dinner. The stew comes together very quickly, and then you put it the oven and walk away for a few hours. That’s my kind of cooking, friends.

I tweaked a recipe I found on Jamie Oliver's website to make it paleo friendly. Here it is…

Jools’s Favourite Beef Stew

For the stew:
olive oil
a knob of butter (my interpretation = 2T)
1 onion, peeled and chopped
a handful of fresh sage leaves
2 lbs beef stew meat cut into 2-inch pieces
cut into 2 inch pieces
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
coconut flour, to dust the beef
2 parsnips, peeled and quartered
4 carrots, peeled and halved
1 butternut squash, halved, deseeded and roughly diced
optional: a handful of Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and halved
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1¹⁄₄ cups beef, chicken or vegetable stock

For the gremolata:
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
a handful of rosemary, leaves picked
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Put a little oil and your knob of butter into an oven safe pot with lid. Add your onion and all the sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes.

Season the coconut flour with salt and pepper, and toss the meat in the seasoned coconut flour.

Add the meat to the pan with all the vegetables, the tomato paste, wine and stock, and gently stir together. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and just a little salt.  At this point, I also add another knob of butter.  What can I say?  Butter is good.

Bring to a boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the meat is tender.
This usually takes only 2 hours with the stew meat I get from Swift Level Farm - the meat is already cut into pieces, a real time saver. Jamie Oliver’s original recipe states that this could take 3 hours, sometimes 4 – it depends on what cut of meat you’re using and how fresh it is. The only way to test is to mash up a piece of meat and if it falls apart easily it’s ready. Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 225°F and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat.

To make the gremolata, in a small bowl mix together the lemon zest, chopped rosemary and finely chopped garlic.

Ladle the stew into bowls and then sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon of gremolata onto each serving.

To see the original version of this recipe, click here.

 

Meatza

I finally made meatza. I followed the recipe on The Clothes Make the Girl (more or less). However, I made my own pizza sauce, and I used a mixture of Italian sausage and grass fed ground beef from Swift Level Farm. I used my beloved cast iron skillet rather than a pie dish. Because my skillet is larger than a standard pie dish, I used an extra pound of meat.

Click the link above, and see the recipe on the aforementioned website. I don’t feel like retyping it because I’m not sure anyone even reads EatPood anymore.  Uh-huh. I'm feeling insecure today.

Here are the photos. You can check out the toppings I used. I had some leftover grilled onions and zucchini so I threw them on along with roasted red peppers from a jar, sliced Kalamata olives and steamed broccoli. Yum!

 
 
 

 

Taste of Chicagoland

Let’s talk about me. Shall we? You know by now that I’m not from WV as I talk about that incessantly. I’m from Indiana, but more specifically, I grew up in a place called “The Region.”* Here’s a photo of my homeland:

 
I just love a decaying industrial complex - don't you?

In the Region, we have an inferiority complex about our place in Chicagoland, and we eat Italian beef sandwiches. We build these sandwiches on a nice roll from beef, giardiniera and sauce. Paleo diet be danged, if you haven’t eaten one of these sandwiches, you should.

 
You also should eat a real Chicago hot dog and some Chicago style pizza. And you should always root for the Cubbies and NOT the White Sox, but I digress…

Here is an easy Paleo take on Italian beef. It tastes like home. I didn’t get a photo, but I served it over some shredded red cabbage, topped it with slices of avocado, and ate a beautiful, peak-summer tomato along with it.

Italian Beef
3.5 # rump roast
½ of a 25.5 oz jar of mild pepperoncini, plus half of the juice from the jar
About ½ C chicken broth
½ bottle of beer
2T dried oregano
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper

Remove the string from the roast. Put the roast in your crock pot. Pour in the chicken broth, beer, and pepper juice.

 
Sprinkle the roast with oregano and sea salt and black pepper to taste. Add the peppers.

 
Cook in the crock pot on low for 8 hours. I don’t recommend cooking it much longer. If you cook the roast overnight, remove it from the crock pot in the morning, and transfer it to another container. Store it in the fridge until you’re ready to reheat it. Otherwise, the meat will get too mushy.

You can shred the meat with a fork. It’s a beautiful thing! 

  
Next time, I’ll try it with giardiniera.

*The Region, or Calument Region, sits on the south shore of Lake Michigan, just east of Chicago, straddling the border between Illinois and northern Indiana.

Pood Food - Get Some!

Are you ready for the next EatPood Food Contest? You could win 2 pounds of grass fed ground beef from Swift Level Farm in Lewisburg, WV.  Here's a photo of Swift Level steers chilling out at the farm.  For real!

 
Swift Level steers are Greenbrier County Angus raised on lush native bluegrass pastures without grain, stress, hormones, pesticides or herbicides. They live in a quiet, free pasture environment where they can roam freely with their pasture buddies. The steers are allowed to mature at their own rate and not pushed to finish at a specific time so each individual has his own growth cycle.

So ... we know this meat comes from happy cows! If you want to get more scientific about why it’s good to eat grass fed beef, click here.

To enter, post a comment answering this question:

Since starting CrossFit, have you made an effort to buy more locally grown and/or hormone/chemical free foods? Why or why not?

All comments must be submitted by 5 pm on Saturday, April 9. We will select the winner randomly and notify you on Sunday, April 10. The winner must be a member of a CrossFit gym (and local enough to pick up the prize at CFWV or from me). Good luck!!!

Many thanks to Tootie Jones at Swift Level Farm for donating our prize booty.

Here’s yet another yummy recipe from Everyday Paleo. Hey – it calls for grass fed ground beef. How serendipitous!

Puerto Rican Beef
2 lb grass fed ground beef
1 bunch kale chopped (or 2 bunches if you really like kale)
2 white onions sliced
1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
1 cup pimento stuffed green olives (slice them in half if they’re big)
3 T olive oil
1 T ground cumin
2 t ground coriander
1 T turmeric powder
2 T dried oregano
Pinch of saffron threads (optional) (I didn’t use the saffron because my kids don’t like the flavor)
Handful of dried currants
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

 
In a large skillet brown the ground beef. Add the bell peppers, onions, and olive oil, and sauté until the onions and peppers are tender. Add all of the spices and mix well. Add the kale, green olives and currants, and continue cooking stirring often until the kale is tender (about 4-5 minutes).  You can cover the pan with a lid to help the kale wilt more quickly.

On Everyday Paleo, Sarah served her beef over mashed sweet potatoes. I made a pan of sweet potato fries and served them on the side. Also, I added a handful of dried currants to the pan to make this dish more like Picadillo.

 

Sorry I only got this half-posted yesterday!  While we are lucky enough to have power, we do not have internet service restored yet. 

If you're enough lucky to be Irish, you're lucky enough!

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. I’ve been lacking creativity AND also a little bit of my joie de blog AND also I recently made some unblogworthy meals. AND… I was trying to come up with some clever sort of St. Patrick’s Day recipe, but I didn’t get there. Last night I made this dish which is an adaptation of a dish that originated in the British Isles. I say that’s close enough so here we go…

Cottage Pie
Topping:
1 large bag frozen cauliflower florets, defrosted
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
salt & pepper to taste
paprika for garnish

Meat Filling:
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 cup chopped onion (about 1/2 of a large onion)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef or lamb
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 cup beef or chicken broth
1 teaspoon coconut aminos
2 teaspoons fresh chopped rosemary (1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon fresh chopped thyme leaves (1/2 teaspoon dried)
1 egg white

Make the topping. Place the coconut milk and cauliflower in the bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth. Melt the coconut oil on the stove or in the microwave and add to the cauliflower, along with salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Make the Filling. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the coconut oil. When it's hot, add the carrots and onions, reduce heat to medium-low and cover; allow the vegetables to get soft but not brown. This takes about 5 minutes.

 
Add the garlic to the pan and stir about a minute. Add the ground meat and break up with a wooden spoon, until it's cooked through and brown, about 5-10 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, broth, coconut aminos, and herbs.

 
Stir to combine, then bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes or so.

 
Set the pan aside and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes. Lightly scramble the egg white and blend into the meat mixture.

Assemble the pie. Spread the meat mixture evenly in a medium-sized baking dish, about 2-quarts. Spread the cauliflower mixture on top of the meat with a spatula.

 
With the tines of a fork, lightly create some texture on top. Sprinkle lightly with paprika.

 
Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 25 minutes or just until the top begins to brown. Remove to a cooling rack for 5-10 minutes before serving.

I added two huge handfuls of raw baby spinach to the filling at the end of cooking. That is why you see green stuff in my filling.

Recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl, a Whole9 envoy.

Sláinte!

 
 

Drumroll, please...

Have you been waiting with baited breath to see what the big news is here at EatPood? Well, I’m proud to announce that Sandy Creek Farms in Ravenswood, WV is partnering up with us to get some good, healthy food in your bellies!

The folks at Sandy Creek will give away a pound of their delicious, house-made Italian sausage to a lucky EatPood reader. You must be member of a CrossFit affiliate and be available to pick up the meat from me or at CrossFit WV.  Other than that, all you have to is answer this question in the comments below:

Since starting the Paleo challenge this year, what new foods have you tried and been surprised to discover that you like? Post your answers in the comments below. The contest will close at 5 pm on Saturday, March 5. The winner will be chosen randomly.  Good luck everyone!

Bolognese
½ cups Olive Oil
3 cups Grated Carrots
1 whole Large Red Onion, Diced
1 pound Grass Fed Ground Beef
1 pound Sandy Creek Italian Sausage, removed from casings
2 Tablespoons Dried Oregano
2 Tablespoons Dried Basil Flakes
1 can (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
5 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 cup (to 2 Cups) Red Wine
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire
2 cans (28 Ounce) Crushed Tomatoes
1 cup Coconut Milk
Salt And Pepper, to taste
Fresh Parmesan Cheese

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add grated carrots and onions, and cook for a few minutes. Make a well in the center of the mixture, and then add in the ground beef and sausage. Cook for a few minutes, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks. As the meat browns, stir it into the carrot mixture.  You may need to drain a little fat.

 
Add oregano and basil, and stir to combine with the meat mixture. Make another well. Add tomato paste, and let it heat. Add garlic, and stir to combine.

Make a well in the center of the mixture, and add red wine.

 
Stir together. Add Worcestershire, and stir. Add canned tomatoes.

 
Finally, pour in coconut milk, stir, and let simmer for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours.

 
Cliff and I eat this like a big bowl of meat soup. Try serving it over some sautéed kale or chard or even shredded cabbage. I’m off cheese so I skip the parmesan. If you choose to sprinkle on the cheese, make sure it’s the good stuff!

Once in a blue moon, I let the little peeps eat this over pasta.  Please don't judge me!  See how it makes them loopy with joy?

 
 
Recipe adapated from The Pioneer Woman.

Keeping it Real

Sometimes I’m in a hurry. On Tuesday I had 30 minutes to make dinner. Luckily, that morning I put two pounds of grass fed ground beef in the fridge to defrost. Hooray for Taco Tuesday!!!

In 30 minutes I honestly made taco meat, homemade salsa and guacamole. My boy grated some extra sharp white cheddar for the Moo Paleo Peeps in the family. He also set the table and took all the cans to the recycling bin. The kitchen was a mess, but we had a yummy dinner and got where we needed to be on time!

Taco Filling

2# grass fed ground beef (85/15 or leaner)
½ of a large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans diced green chiles
3 T chile powder
1 can El Pato, Mexican Hot Style Tomato Sauce (Kroger)
Romaine lettuce leaves

Brown the meat in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is softened. Add the chiles and the chile powder. Finally, stir in the tomato sauce and cook until heated through.

 
Serve the taco filling in the lettuce leaves with salsa and guacamole.

 
Salsa

2, 15 oz cans diced tomatoes
1, 10 oz can Rotel original
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
½ C cilantro, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, roughly chopped
¼ of a large onion, chopped
¼ t cumin
¼ t Kosher or Sea Salt
Juice of ½ lime
½ t agave nectar

In a food processor, pulse the garlic and jalapeno until finely chopped. Add the tomatoes from the cans with their juices along with all remaining ingredients and pulse until salsa reaches desired consistency.

 
Guacamole

2 avocados
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ of a large onion chopped
2T cilantro chopped
Juice of ½ lime
8 dashes of Tabasco
Pinch of Kosher or Sea salt

¼ t freshly ground black pepper

Cut avocados in half. Remove the pit from each. Score the flesh of each avocado with a knife making a grid-like pattern. Scoop out the flesh and place it in a bowl. Mash the avocado with a fork. Mix in the lime juice and then the remaining ingredients.

 

Salsa recipe adapted from www.thepioneerwoman.com

Once, Twice, Three Times a Leftover

(and I Luh-uh-uhve You)

Here’s a recipe from our very own Coach Angela. We had this dish a couple of weeks ago, and the whole fam gave it the green light for a repeat appearance. This particular recipe makes a huge amount. I’d estimate about 12 servings. Make this hearty stew on a Saturday or Sunday, and you’ll have leftovers for lunch during the week.

Speaking of leftovers… try and plan for them. Whenever I make a soup or stew, I typically double the recipe so Cliff and I each get a couple of lunches out of it. Trust me – a reprise of last night’s dinner is way better than standing in front of an open fridge puzzled about what to eat or wandering around the food court trying to spy Paleolithic offerings.

Jamaican Pepper Pot
½ to 1# bacon (use your discretion), cut into small pieces
2# chuck roast, cut into 1” cubes
1 bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced (or use garlic powder if you prefer)
1t red pepper flakes
1, 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1, 28 oz can diced tomatoes (I used crushed tomatoes here because of family preferences)
1, 15 oz can Rotel tomatoes
1, 32 oz box beef broth
2 boxes frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
1 bag cut okra, thawed
1C coconut milk
Tabasco sauce to taste, say 12 dashes to start

 
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until the fat is rendered. Do not brown. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon and reserve for later.

Add the chuck to the pot in 2 batches and cook until it is browned all over. Remove the chuck to a plate. Next add the bell pepper, onion, garlic and red pepper flakes to the pot. Cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

Return the chuck to the pot with the onion mixture. Now add the tomatoes, broth and spinach. Bring the pot up to a simmer and simmer for about an hour.

While the pot simmers, sauté the okra in a small skillet with some butter. After the other ingredients have simmered for an hour, add the okra to the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes more. Then add the coconut milk and reserved bacon and simmer a few minutes more. Season with Tabasco and serve.