Great news! Our friends over at PaleoHacks sent us their cookbooks, Paleo Eats and Paleo Sweets and we thought it would be fun to share a whole meal with you guys!
Okay, okay, if we’re being completely honest here, we couldn’t choose just one recipe to share with you. You should have see us going back and forth looking at all the recipes in these cookbooks trying to decide what to share with you.
These are the winners of the epic paleo food battle to the fork. What do you think?
Sweet Potatoes and Pears Stewed in Ghee, Cloves and Bay Leaf
4 cups chopped sweet potatoes
2 medium sweet potatoes,
sliced in half, then in long strips,
like the pears (3 cups)
2 pears, sliced lengthwise to
maintain shape (2 cups)
1 yellow onion, julienned (1 cup)
2 T ghee
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
2 t salt
1⁄2 cup chicken stock or broth
3 T chopped fresh parsley
Slice all the vegetables, then add half the ghee to a large sauté pan on medium heat. After 3 minutes of heating add onions and a pinch of salt and stir. Cook for 5-7 minutes, until softened, then add pears and another pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes then add sweet potatoes, cloves, bay leaf and chicken stock. Cook, stirring occasionally, on medium-high for 12 minutes, season to taste and toss parsley to finish. Remove clove and bay leaf!
Pan Roasted Wild Halibut, Fennel Salad and Parsnips
HALIBUT
4 (6) oz pieces halibut (Get the square shaped pieces, not the long thin ones. They’re very hard to work with and cook unevenly.)
2 T avocado oil
Make sure you have a large, seasoned cast iron on hand and begin to warm it over medium-high heat. Have halibut out at room temperature for 20 minutes before cooking. Add oil to pan, when it simmers, pat halibut dry at the last minute, season with salt and then place into pan immediately. Hold the halibut down with the back of your fingers for a count of 15 Mississippi. Then move on to the next piece, starting at 12 o’clock on the pan and finishing at the 9 o’clock position.
Cook for a total of 4-5 minutes, then when golden brown and naturally releasing from pan (don’t force it!), flip and cook for 3 minutes on the other side. Keep the heat up the whole time. Make sure you have everything ready before you start, you don’t want to walk away and have this undoubtedly expensive fish go to waste. Let rest for 2 minutes on a paper towel and serve.
FENNEL SALAD
2 bulbs fennel with stalks and fronds removed
1 small yellow onion (3⁄4 cup)
1 Meyer lemon
5 T extra virgin olive oil (the good stuff makes a difference)
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
Remove bottom fifth of fennel bulb, the base root part. Stand up bulb on flat surface you’ve just made and slice thinly from top to bottom. This will make very pretty full pieces of the bulb. Julienne an onion, toss with fennel, Meyer lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper.
Let sit for 30 minutes in the refrigerator then add olive oil. Combine and serve.
PARSNIPS
1.5 lbs parsnips
3⁄4 cup roasted chicken stock
1⁄2 T avocado oil
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
Preheat the oven to 375 ̊F.
Peel all parsnips, half can be medium diced (1/2 inch) and tossed in the avocado oil with half the salt and pepper. Place these parsnips on a sheet pan and put in the oven to roast for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir them once, about halfway through.
Rough chop the other half of the parsnips and put in a pot with chicken stock and enough water to cover. Boil until fork-tender, drain, season, smash, toss with roasted parsnips.
Mexican Hot Chocolate Brownies
1 cup coconut sugar
1 cup almond flour
2 tsp cinnamon, plus extra for dusting
1⁄4 tsp cayenne pepper
1⁄2 tsp ancho chili powder
1⁄4 tsp nutmeg
1⁄4 tsp ground coffee or espresso
1⁄3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
4 oz baker’s chocolate
1⁄2 cup cacao nibs, divided
Preheat oven to 350F.
Spread the cacao nibs in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 7-10 minutes, until the oils are released (you can tell when this happens because the nibs get shiny). Remove the toasted cacao nibs from the oven and set aside to cool.
Line an 8x8x2-inch baking dish with parchment paper and set aside.
In a small saucepan, heat the coconut oil and baker’s chocolate over low heat until melted. When the chocolate and oil are melted. Remove the pan from heat and set aside.
In a medium bowl combine the almond flour and coconut sugar and mix to incorporate.
Add the melted chocolate and oil and mix.
Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to completely combine. Fold in 1⁄3 cup of the toasted cacao nibs.
Scoop the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread to fit the dish. Sprinkle the remaining cacao nibs over the batter in an even layer.
Bake the brownies for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out mostly clean.
Can you clarify what exactly is meant by ‘baker’s chocolate’? When I go to the store, I can buy bittersweet, semi-sweet, unsweetened, or sweet chocolate squares.
Whatever you’d like, Amanda! Probably the darker the better for more antioxidants 😉 Depends on what kind of flavor you would personally prefer.