Category Archives: Paleo

Paleo Asian Broccoli Slaw Salad

Posted in Paleo, Recipe by

The Bay Area is currently experiencing a heat wave and I’m absolutely loving it. With temperatures in the 80s it has felt like Summer and the other day I even got a sunburn after sitting outside having coffee with a friend. (Although, I’m not sure if that says more about the heat or for the fact that I’m incredibly pale these days. Clearly I need to re-read my post on sun care and avoiding getting burnt!) As the days are warmer and the nights stay light longer, the last thing I want to do is stand in a hot kitchen which means that something quick to put together and cold is the perfect solution. The other night I created this Paleo Broccoli Slaw salad and it was incredibly delicious! If you are new to broccoli slaw, it is a great alternative to traditional coleslaw as it shares the same crunchy taste but has more health benefits! I know that this is definitely going to be a summer staple at my house and it also would be fantastic to take to a party as it will travel well. Of course, you can add chicken (or tofu if vegetarian and not paleo) to this but I like it as is!

Paleo Asian Broccoli Slaw Salad

Paleo Asian Broccoli Slaw Salad

Salad Ingredients:

  • 1 bag of Broccoli Slaw (approx. 12 oz)
  • 2 cups chopped Snow Peas (Snap Peas will also work)
  • 1 Cucumber, de-seeded and chopped
  • 3 Carrots, chopped
  • 3 Green Onions, chopped
  • 1/2 Bunch Cilantro, chopped, putting 2 T. aside
  • 1/2 C. Almonds, chopped
  • 2 T. Sesame Seeds

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 1/4 C. Olive Oil
  • 1/8 C. Coconut Aminos (or GF Tamari if not strict paleo)
  • 1/8 C. Tahini
  • 1/8 C. Unseasoned Rice Vinegar
  • 1/2 T. Toasted Sesame Oil
  • 1/2 T. Minced Fresh Ginger
  • 1 Garlic Clove, Minced
  • 1 T. Sriracha (or to taste)
  • Half of Fresh Lime, juiced

Note: I like my salads lightly dressed so I used only 1/4 cup of dressing and had some leftover but people who enjoy more dressing may want their salad coated more thoroughly. 

Directions: 

1. Chop cucumber, carrot, snow peas, green onions, cilantro and almonds.

2. Combine the above, except for the almonds, with the broccoli slaw mixture in a large bowl.

3. Add all dressing ingredients, except for the olive oil, to blender or food processor and blend until combined.

4. On a slow speed, combine olive oil into mixture.

5. Pour salad dressing on salad and toss thoroughly, coating mixture.

6. Add almonds, sesame seeds and garnish with cilantro. Enjoy!

Question:

What’s your favorite warm-weather recipe?

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Paleo Chicken Zoodle Soup

Posted in Cooking, Paleo, Recipe by

At the end of December, I caught the cold that was going around. I wasn’t the only one though, as almost every single member of my family and all my friends were down with it as well. When I was sick, the one thing that I was craving was soup. There’s something about a hot soup that just makes any cold or cough a little bit better. I’ll admit that I’m a big soup fan year-round and am constantly making soups to have on hand. While I often opt for pureed vegetable soups, when I was sick I was craving chicken noodle soup. Not only is it proven to make colds better but it’s a classic. Of course, being gluten-free makes things a little difficult as I couldn’t run to Whole Foods to pick some up, and the canned gluten-free stuff just isn’t very good. So I decided to make my favorite recipe for chicken zoodle soup, using spiralized zucchini as the noodles. It’s one that I’ve perfected over the years and thought it was finally time to share it with you. I promise that you won’t miss the wheat noodles and even my Grandma, who’s often dubious of gluten-free/paleo foods, loves it! The best part is that the recipe only takes around 30 minutes so you won’t have to be sniffling and stirring at the same time.

Paleo Chicken Zoodle Soup GGGF

Paleo Chicken Zoodle Soup

Gluten-free, dairy-free, grain-free

Ingredients

  • 1 Large Yellow Onion, chopped
  • 10 Small Carrots, chopped (approx. 3 cups)
  • 3 Stalks Celery, finely chopped (approx. 1 cup)
  • 7 Small (Or 4 Large) Zucchini, spiralized
  • 3 Cloves Garlic, minced
  • 2 Chicken Breasts, shredded
  • 8 Cups Vegetable or Chicken Broth
  • 1/2 T + 1 t. Dried Oregano
  • 1/2 T + 1 t. Dried Basil
  • 1 t. Dried Thyme
  • 1 1/2 t. Sea Salt
  • 1 t. Pepper
  • 1 T. Olive Oil

Directions

  1. Chop both ends from a zucchini and spiralize, using the blade with the small triangle holes. Continue until you have spiralized all your zucchini and set aside.
  2. Chop onion, celery and carrots and mince garlic and set aside.
  3. Heat 1 T. olive oil on high heat in stock pot.
  4. Add onions and sauté until they become slightly golden and soft.
  5. Add 3 cloves minced garlic and sauté together for 1 minute.
  6. On medium heat, add carrots, celery and vegetable broth. Heat together for 5 minutes.
  7. Add your zucchini noodles to your pot on medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, stirring to combine every 5 minutes which will get easier as your noodles cook down.*
  8. Add in chicken and spices and let cook together for 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

*When you first put the zucchini noodles into the soup it will look like you have way too much. Don’t worry though because as zucchini are 95% water, they reduce in size dramatically and will become soft and easy to eat in the soup.

Paleo Chicken Zoodle Soup Close-Up GGGF

Question:

-What do you crave when you have a cold/flu?

What I Made Wednesday

Posted in Celiac, Cooking, Dairy-Free, Food, Gluten-Free, Paleo, What I Made Wednesday by

Instead of doing one of the popular What I Ate Wednesday posts, I thought I’d show you some of the things I have made recently! I usually only post about recipes that I create but I cook a lot of recipes from other gluten-free bloggers. So today I’m featuring photos of my creations, a little about why the particular recipe rocks and a link to the recipe in the title! One thing they all hold in common though, is that they are all delicious and are great recipes for people who think eating Paleo means you can’t have yummy food. Spoiler alert: You can. For even more recipe ideas, be sure to follow me on Pinterest! 

Flourless Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

This is one of my favorite muffin recipes because the ingredients are super simple and ones that I always have on hand. It’s a quick and easy recipe that also happens to be delicious. I like to keep my muffins in the refrigerator and they are perfect for that pre-meal snack when you are starving but making something else, or a snack any time of day. I follow the recipe exactly but find that they take about 15 minutes in my oven, rather than the 10 the recipe suggests.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins GGGF

Paleo Pad Thai

This is a recipe that I have made numerous times now, including this weekend as my brother requested it for his birthday dinner. It really is that good. If you are new to spiralized noodles, or paleo cooking in general, this recipe is a game changer. With the tahini and almond butter in the sauce, it’s also super filling which isn’t always the case in paleo, vegetarian recipes. Another great thing is that you can prep the recipe in advance and then when guests come, or you get home from work, throw it all together on the stove and have dinner ready in 10 minutes.

Paleo Pad Thai GGGF

Paleo Nut-Free Chocolate “Peanut Butter” Cookies

Taylor makes amazing desserts and these cookies are no exception. Her original recipe calls for Sunbutter making them a great nut-free dessert, but because I can have nuts, I substitute either almond or cashew butter. I’ve always loved chocolate cookies, but there is something about the texture of these cookies that makes them unique. Even people who claim not to like chocolate cookies (I don’t understand them, but they exist) happen to love these little pillows of deliciousness.

Double Chocolate Cookies GGGF

Questions:

-What’s one of your favorite recipes right now?

-Would you like to see this as a new GGGF series?

Paleo Mexican Chicken Zucchini Boats

Posted in Celiac, Cooking, Dairy-Free, Food, Gluten-Free, Health, Paleo, Recipe by

One thing about living with food allergies is that sometimes they can seem to cut off access to various types of cuisines. For example, since finding out I had a severe corn allergy over a year ago, Mexican food has pretty much been off the table. Living in CA, I’ve always had excellent Mexican food options and especially when I lived in LA. One of my favorite food memories is senior year of college when my best friend Krae and I would meet at our favorite place, La Sirena Grill in El Segundo for endless chips and salsa, margaritas, the perfect burrito and girl talk. (If you find yourself in LA, I seriously recommend that place… it’s pretty much amazing and I would love to live vicariously through all of you!) But between the celiac and the corn allergy, Mexican food has kind of felt off-limits. One day, I decided to change that. After all, who says you need corn or a tortilla to have a fabulous Mexican meal? These zucchini boats are full of Mexican flavor and are gluten-free, corn-free, dairy-free, paleo and totally delicious!

Mexican Zucchini Boats GGGF

Ingredients

  • 5 Small-Medium Zucchini
  • 1 Yellow Onion
  • 1 Green Pepper
  • 1/4 C. Chopped Green Onion
  • 2 Garlic Cloves, Minced
  • 1/4 C. Cilantro, Chopped
  • 1/4 C. Salsa
  • 1 Package Frontera GF Key-Lime Cilantro Skillet Sauce*
  • 2 Chicken Breast Cutlets (About 1 Lb)
  • 1/2 t. Oregano
  • 1 t. Cumin
  • Olive Oil Spray

* 1 cup of any salsa will work, this skillet sauce is my favorite one though!

Directions

  1. Spray bottom of crockpot with any nonstick spray (helps immensely in the clean-up process) and put 1/4 of salsa on bottom of crockpot. Layer chicken cutlets in, adding salsa between them and on top. Don’t worry too much about the layering process here as all will combine when you shred. Place on High and cook for 3 hours.
  2. When chicken is cooked, shred with forks and set aside.
  3. Cut ends off zucchini and cut in half lengthwise. Hollow out inside of zucchini. People commonly use a melon ball scoop for this, but I used an apple corer and it worked like a dream, was fast and easy and ensured smooth boats! Set aside insides of zucchini that have been scooped out.
  4. Heat 4 Cups of Water in a bowl and drop zucchini boats in for 1 minute. You could do this with a pot of boiling water on the stove, but I just poured hot water into a bowl and it was so easy. Remove boats and set aside.
  5. Chop zucchini, onion and green pepper into fairy small pieces and set aside.
  6. Chop fresh cilantro until you have about 1/4 cup.
  7. Heat a large saucepan on the stove and 1 T. of olive oil. Add chipped onion and stir for about 3 minutes until they start to become translucent. Add garlic and cook for a minute more.
  8. Next, add green pepper, chopped zucchini and cilantro along with cumin and oregano. (If you want to up the spice factor, you could also add chili powder but my salsa had enough heat.) Cook for about 5 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste.
  9. Add shredded chicken to mixture and stir to combine, cook on low to let flavors combine for a few minutes.
  10. Now it’s time to stuff the zucchini boats! First, spread 1/4 of salsa on the bottom of 9×12 pan.
  11. Use a spoon to fill the boats with the mixture until they are smooth and flat. Then, overstuff them by using rounded spoonfuls to pack on mixture. Carefully set in pan.
  12. Cover pan with foil and bake in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes and garnish with chopped green onions.

Question:

What’s your favorite Mexican dish?