Pea-can? Pa-cahn? D-licious. Here’s a recipe for nut butter with a nice twist on what you can find commercially available. And what to do with it..besides inhaling it out of the jar with a spoon? We’ve got you covered there as well. Ants on a Leaf…a fall flavored rendition of your favorite marching insect snack.

Ingredients

• ½ c raw almonds
• 1 ½ C raw pecans
• 2 pitted dates (we used medjool)
• 2 t salt
• ½ orange, zested
• ¼ c almond oil (might take a little more)
• a few tart apples, my favorite is Pink Lady
• dried cranberries or dark chocolate chips

Method

Place the almond and pecans on a baking sheet. Roast on 300ºF for 10-15 minutes, until pecans have darkened and the almonds begin to crack a little. Let the nuts cool. Add the nuts to the food processor, along with the dates, orange zest, salt and almond oil. Blend until smooth. You may have to take off the food processor lid and scrape the sides a few times to incorporate all the nuts.

If your butter looks a little crumbly, add more oil, a little at a time, until it comes together. Once the butter begins to reach a smooth consistency, just let the food processor run a wee bit longer, until it’s as smooth as you’d like it.

Ants on a Leaf

Slice your apples and smear  on the butter, or for a more portable way of consumption: fill a sandwich/snack bag with the butter. Cut off the tip of the bag and squeeze the butter onto your apples as you see fit. Sprinkle the dried cranberries and/or chocolate chips so that they stick on the butter.

Double baked equals double delicious. Sweet, spicy, salty and creamy all mixed up in one convenient, nutritional powerhouse. We are at a crossroads about dairy. We understand hard-core Paleo says “NO DAIRY”. Mark Sisson,  Kurt Harris, and many, many others have pointed out conflicting arguments about dairy. Some say, “Yes.” Some say, “Yes, but..”, and some say “No.”  It’s up to you. So, we’re eating it today, but have included a tasty alternative for those who just say no to dairy.

Ingredients

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 8 oz. mascarpone cheese* (or cream cheese or coconut milk)
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo (NOT 1 can) + 2 T adobo sauce from the can
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 T maple syrup + extra for drizzling on top

Method

Preheat your oven to 350ºF.

Split the sweet potatoes in 1/2, lengthwise, and coat with a bit of oil. Bake until they’re tender, depending on how big they are, about 25 minutes.

Once the potatoes are done and have cooled enough so you can handle them, scoop out their insides and place them into a mixing bowl, along with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well to combine. Place the mixture back into each of the potato halves and bake for 20 minutes. Put the oven on broil and caramelize the tops of the sweet potatoes until a nice brown-like crust forms on top–about 5 minutes, keep your eye on them.

Drizzle the tops with a bit of maple syrup and serve hot.

*Mascarpone is an Italian triple cream (40% fat) cultured cheese, similar to, but not quite like American cream cheese. It’s pretty freakin’ awesome. If you eat dairy, you must try it.

“Oh dear Lord, not another Paleo chili recipe!” I know. You’ve seen tens if not hundreds of chili recipes and you’ve probably eaten it that many times too. You’re probably sick of it. But, please, let us explain…

Making this spice mixture yourself is the key to the unique flavor of this chili. No chili seasoning packets allowed beyond this point! We took our chili “base” and pumped it up with some fresh pumpkin (canned would work beautifully, as well). Then for le pièce de résistance, we conjured up the avocado cream–it’s like guacamole, but not, all at the same time. It’s an unexpected, quirky, refreshing boost of flavor that kicks the chili up a level.

Ingredients

For the Chili

2 lbs ground beef
1 large yellow onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 sugar pumpkin, diced (about 3 cups) or 1 ½ c canned pumpkin
1 (28 oz) can diced, fire roasted tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (7 oz) can diced, roasted green chilies
1 c chicken or beef stock
FOC (fat of choice)
S&P

Chili Spice Mixture

2 T chili powder
2 T cumin
1 T paprika
2 t salt
2 t coriander
2 t cinnamon
2 t cocoa powder
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t cayenne

Orange, Coriander Avocado Cream

2 avocados
zest of 1 orange
juice of 2 oranges
1 t coriander
1/2 t salt

Method

For the Chili

Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat with a tablespoon of your F.O.C. Add the beef and let it brown. Try not to stir it too much until you get some color on one side but make sure you break up the pieces. This should take 5-8 minutes.

While you’re browning your beef make your spice mixture. In a medium bowl, mix up all the spices.

We like to brown the beef first so we can use the fat that renders out to cook the vegetables. So, using a slotted spoon remove the beef and place in the spice mixture bowl…leaving the fat in the pot. Add your diced onion and garlic. Let those two saute for a few minutes (3-4) stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened. Add your diced pumpkin.

Cover and cook about another 8-10  minutes, stirring occasionally until the pumpkin begins to get tender (check with a fork). Add the rest of ingredients and the beef/spice mixture. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer to let all the flavors “meld”.  When you’re happy with the texture, you’re done.

For the Cream

Add all ingredients to food processor and blend until smooth

* Update: we had a few requests for nutrition data on this one. I did my best to put it into a recipe calculator. I believe the data is pulled from the USDA database…would think it’s somewhat reliable but take it all with a grain of salt since it somehow thinks that this would have trans fat in it, and I really doubt that to be true. Keep in mind you would have to use the same percentage beef we used (80/20) for your numbers to work out the same. I have included an analysis of the pot of chili on its own and a nutrition label for 1 of 8 servings (404g). This does not include the avocado cream.

Chinese food, without the MSG and dog meat. Hehehe, just kidding.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite size pieces)
• 3 T fat (coconut oil works well here)
• juice of 2 oranges*
• zest from 1 orange
• 1 t fresh ginger
• 3 T coconut aminos or wheat-free soy sauce
• 1 t chili garlic sauce or sriracha
• 3 green onions, chopped

Method

In a medium size sauce pot, add the orange juice, zest, ginger, coconut aminos and chili garlic sauce or sriracha. Set over medium heat and let simmer to reduce and thicken while the chicken cooks.

In a saute pan, heat 3 T of the fat of your choice, over medium high heat. Add the chopped chicken thighs and cook until a nice brown crust has developed on the chicken pieces, about 6 minutes.

Add the chicken to the sauce pot and stir to coat with the orange sauce.

Serve topped with sliced green onions.

*Taste your oranges. If they don’t taste orange-y, then neither will this dish. Use tangerines if you gotta or add a teaspoon of sweetener until you’re satisfied with the flavor.

I have a difficult time talking myself into making ceviche at home. Even though we’re not far from the coast here in Columbia, South Carolina, it is quite difficult to source fresh, wild ceviche-makin’ seafood. Insert lightbulb overhead. Why don’t I just pre-cook some seafood like shrimp and scallops, chill it and then make the tasty “broth” to go with. Wonder if you can tell the difference, we sure couldn’t.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. wild shrimp, peeled, deveined and tail-off
• 1/2 lb. bay scallops
• 1 mango, diced
• 2 limes, juiced
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 1 orange, juiced
• 1/2 handful cilantro, chopped
• 3 green onions, chopped
• chili garlic sauce, optional
• s&p

Method

Heat about 2 quarts of water on medium until it starts to simmer–no boiling allowed! While the water is coming to temperature, make sure to have the shrimp peeled, deveined and take the tail off. Chop the shrimp and scallops into bite size pieces. Alternatively, you could use pre-cooked shrimp…it may cost more, but it will save a bit of time. Once the water is ready, add the seafood and cook until the shrimp is pale pink. This will not take long, about 5 minutes. Strain the seafood from the water.

In a bowl add the rest of the ingredients. Add the cooked seafood and let chill before serving.

We were on a mission with this recipe. A mission to make ourselves like arugula and…chicken breasts. We’ve both always thought arugula tasted like dirt and chicken breasts were more often than not– dry, rubbery and overcooked excuses for protein. Anyway…we were quite successful with this, I must say. Lots of flavor, but still light and relatively inexpensive. Why is this African you ask? Well, the dressing is a riff on Harissa, which is a Moroccan paste made of peppers, cumin, coriander, etc. It’s often found in tube form at the grocery store or of course, on Amazon.com

Ingredients

• 1 lb. chicken breasts, sliced in 1/2 width wise and pounded thin with a meat mallet
• about 3 oz. arugula*
• 1/3 c oil cured olives, pitted**
• 3 oranges supremed (keep the zest for the dressing)***

Dressing Ingredients

• 1/3 c avocado or olive oil
• 1/3 c orange juice
• 1/3 c roasted red peppers
• zest of 2 oranges
• 1 t chili garlic sauce
• 1 t each cumin, coriander, paprika
• s&p

Method

Heat some fat in a saute pan on the high side of medium-high. These chicken breasts cook wickedly fast because they’re so thin. To get a good sear, cook the chicken until it’s about 3/4s of the way there on one side. You’ll see the sides of the chicken turn from pink to white. Flip it over and sear for a quick minute–very, very short amount of time here.

For the dressing:

In a food processor or blender, blend all the ingredients until emulsified.

To serve:

In a bowl, mix the dressing with the arugula, olives and orange supremes. Place the chicken on a plate and top with the salad. Why not put the chicken on top of the salad, you ask? Because you have to knife-and-fork this sucker. Why not have the chicken lying on a hard surface, like a plate, instead of on top of a bunch of lettuce? It’s much easier to gobble up this way, I promise.

*If you can’t find/don’t like arugula, ANY lettuce will work. Romaine, Mixed Greens, Spinach….

**Oil cured olives are just cured in oil (duh) as opposed to brined. Same as above–if you can’t find/don’t like oil cured olives, Kalamata (Greek) olives will substitute well

***You do not have to do this, but it sure is purrrrty and it’s a technique that looks really fancy, but is actually quite simple. This is how you supreme an orange:

Please notice the knife in Ming’s hand–it’s ceramic. I’ve heard they’re super sharp but break easily. Anybody got one of these? Also, Ming made a Paleo recipe, so write it down and make it too!

This sounds hard and daunting and complicated and messy. Looks are deceiving. I really, truly strive to cook dinner as quickly as possible while messing up as few dishes as possible. I really, really hate cleaning dishes. If you can’t find/afford/like duck, a Frenched chicken breast–a bone-in, skin-on chicken breast with the wing attached, would be an equally flavorful and very affordable substitution. We’re submitting this recipe to MarksDailyApple.com for his recipe contest. Wish us luck!

Ingredients for Roasted Veg

• a few glugs of olive oil
• 1 bunch asparagus, cut the stalks into 1/4′s
• 1 lb. various mushrooms, sliced (we used shiitake and plain ole button)
• S&P

Ingredients for Duck

• 1 T fat of your choice
• 1 lb. duck breast
• liberal amount of salt and pepper

Ingredients for Vinaigrette

• 4 tangerines, juiced
• zest of 1 tangerine
• 2 T wheat free soy sauce
• 1 T vinegar
• S&P

Method

Get your oven to 450°F.

Add a few glugs of olive oil on a baking sheet. Add the asparagus, mushrooms and S&P. Drizzle the veg with a bit more oil, toss it around with your hands and put in the oven. Roast until browned and crispy, about 3o minutes.

While the veg is roasting, add 1 T of fat to a saute pan and place on medium heat.

Take a sharp knife and score the skin of the duck at an angle, all the way from the top to the bottom. Turn the duck and score at the opposite angle. You’re just making little diamonds or squares. Why? Because it’s pretty and more importantly, it helps the skin cook faster and the end result is much crispier.

Liberally pat salt and pepper on the duck. Place the duck, skin side down into the saute pan. The goal here is to get the skin to render (get crispy) without overcooking the duck or burning the skin. Make sure your heat is around medium-low to medium. Saute, with the skin side down, for about 20 minutes. Flip the duck onto the other side and saute for approx. 10 minutes. The internal temperature should reach around 150°F for medium rare. Let the breast rest for about 7 minutes and slice as thinly as possible.

Duck releases a ton of fat. SAVE IT! If you think bacon fat is tasty, wait until you use duck fat!

To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients into a jar with a screw top lid and shake, shake, shake. Toss the dressing with the roasted veg, reserving some to spoon over the top of the duck.

Don’t be turned off because it takes a long time to cook this baby, it’s totally worth it. This recipe is great for a Saturday or Sunday when you’re home all day. You can roast a couple pork butts at one time, pull them and freeze them too. We served this over a sweet & spicy cole slaw. I’d post the recipe, but I’m still tweaking it.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs. pork butt or shoulder
• 10 cloves garlic
• 4 limes
• 4 lemons
• 2 oranges
• 1 T honey
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1 T + 1 t oregano
• S & P

Method

Set your pork on a solid surface and stab it all over. Haha, that sounds weird. What you’re doing is creating little holes all over the pork so the marinade can get inside. Once you’re done “stabbing,” push 5 garlic cloves inside a few of the holes.

In a plastic zip-top bag, squeeze 2 lemons, 2 limes and 1 orange into the bag. Throw a couple of each squeezed citrus into the bag too. Add 1 T oregano, honey, olive oil, S &P and the pork. Let it marinate in the fridge for 24 hours or so.

Turn the oven to 275°F. Place the pork on a roasting pan and stick it in the oven. Roast for about 8 hours, turning the pork over once about half way through the cooking time.

You’ll know it’s done because the pork will literally fall apart when you try and pick it up. If it’s not doing that, it’s not ready to eat.

To make the Mojo sauce: saute 5 cloves of minced garlic until golden brown. After the garlic has cooled, add it to a small bowl. Squeeze 2 limes, 2 lemons and 1 orange into the bowl. Add 1/4 c olive oil, 1 t oregano and S & P. Whisk together the ingredients.

Pull the pork, toss with the citrus Mojo sauce and serve.

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