Not Exactly Paleo, but still tasty lunch Salad!

Good change-up for a lunch salad. Purchase a rotisserie chicken from the market - ask for one with no seasoning, if you ask they should be able to make you one (you might have to pre-order it, but that's still easier, and less time-consuming than doing it yourself). Cut that bird up and out some of the meat over salad greens. Then top with a few chopped cashews (I know, NOT paleo...but good Omega ratio). Toss in a few orange slices and top with ginger olive oil (olive oil mixed with dry ginger).

Easy. Enjoy!

S, S, S: Salmon, Soup, and Salad

Grilled Salmon: I seasoned mine with a dash of sea salt, ground black pepper, and a homemade apricot marinade that includes chopped dried apricots, coconut oil, herbs and spices (aromatic ones). Grill 6-8 minutes per side, basting with marinade on each flip. But, try not to flip too often or it will break apart very easily.

Word's Best Broccoli Soup: I changed this one up a bit... I used a recipe for "The World's Best Broccoli" to make the base. Place broccoli florets, chopped garlic and some olive oil on a cookie sheet and roast for 15 minutes at 425, or until the tips of the broccoli turn slightly brown. While that's cooking saute chopped onions and another chopped garlic clove in a soup pot with some oil. Add the broccoli to the soup pot and add 1-2 cups of stock made from chicken or beef. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Then blend the mixture until smooth and add back into the soup pot and allow to simmer on low until you eat. Now if you want this soup to really kick ass add some bacon to the onion and garlic saute, or you could even add a ham hock and pieces of ham to make this soup a main dish with meat.

Salad: greens + avocado + onions and an olive oil-coconut milk dressing.

Enjoy!

Salads for anytime of day...

Salad is a great way to get some vege, not to mention a ton of vitamins and minerals into your diet.

Try mixing it up and add various items to spice up your typical dinner salad...

Pomegranate Barbecue Pork Chops w/ Grilled Veggies and a Pear and Raw Goat Cheese Salad to start

Starter: Pear and Raw Goat Cheese Salad w/ Lime Pecan Vinaigrette

Salad is easy: just toss some sliced red pear and some chunks of your favorite raw goat's milk cheese on a bed of greens. For the dressing soak finely chopped pecans in a mixture of olive oil and and a dash of coconut milk. Add about 2 teaspoons (+/-) of lime zest and the juice of one half of a fresh lime. Then add some of your favorite herbs and spices for flavoring: think aromatic like basil, cumin, and/or oregano. And don't forget to taste and experiment...

Main dish: Pomegranate barbecue pork chops with grilled veggies.

Marinate the pork chops in a mixture of coconut milk (1-2 Tbs) ,  dry mustard(1/2-1 tsp), dijon mustard (a few spoonfuls), Worcestshire sauce (a couple of good splashes from the bottle), fresh ground pepper, herbs of your choosing (but think cumin and good aromatic spices like that, again experiment, that's what I did), and pomegranate seeds from 1/4 pomegranate. Grill on medium heat 4-5 minutes per side (depending on thickness of the chops (middle should be in the 140-160 degrees area depending on how you like your pork). Make sure to add some additional seeds once you flip the chops so that the juices leak out and caramelize on the chops. Serve topped with seeds from the other 1/4 pomegranate (save the other half for a snack at lunch tomorrow!) For the veggies just cut up stuff you like, add sea salt, fresh ground pepper and some cayenne spicyness and toss in a grill tray. Cook for about 15 minutes stirring at 3-5 minute intervals. Try not to overcook the veggies: they should be firm to a fork, not mushy!

Enjoy!

Walnut Buttered Chicken with Broccoli

Broccoli: Steam it.

Chicken: pan fry it in a touch of oil (your choice but if you use Olive oil use a lower heat so it does not turn rancid) Just cook it enough so it's 85-90% cooked through then transfer to another dish and cover tightly with foil.

Walnut Butter: After you remove the chicken add 4-5 tablespoons of butter to the skillet with about 1/3-1/2 cup chopped walnuts. Cook until brown and the foam stops forming. Then stir in 2 chopped garlic cloves, a few fork fulls of drained capers, and a good squeeze of a quarter of a lemon. Stir for about 30-45 seconds. Stir in parsley flakes/finely chopped parsley and add salt and pepper to taste (but be careful tasting it because it'll be hot as all get out!

Serve: spoon the walnut butter over the chicken and serve with a slice of lemon.

Enjoy!

Pesto Chicken and Steamed Broccoli

Talk about EASY! Well, actually Austen made this one, she's fantastic: tending to the baby and making me dinner. I've pretty much got it made, eh!?

Seriously however, this one is pretty easy. I think a monkey could be trained to steam broccoli. For the chicken simply saute a few chicken breast tenders in some butter, add pesto (either homemade or jarred), then near the end Austen likes to toss in a few chick peas and sun-dried tomatoes (yeah, I know, not technically Paleo, but unprocessed and they do not affect us negatively and add a lot of flavor). In place of chick peas add: nothing. In place of sun-dried tomatoes either add regular sliced tomatoes or nothing. Just Pesto chicken is good enough on it's own!

We served this little ditty up with a huge dinner salad of mixed greens, carrots, etc.

Enjoy!

Paleo Beef and Root Vegetable Stew

Brown some good lean beef cubes. You can either buy cubed stew beef or cut a nicer piece into cubes for the stew. Brown the meat with finally chopped garlic and onion and other seasoning that you like. I used ground black pepper, garlic powder, and a touch of cumin. Once mostly browned on all sides place in slow cooker. Then add chopped vege: parsnips, mushrooms, carrots, onions, celery, etc. Add 2 cups of beef broth and 1/2 cup red wine. Allow to cook on low for about 6-8 hours.

I had mine with a side of steamed spinach, which I eventually just mixed into the stew and it was awesome!

Enjoy!

PS: makes great leftovers for lunch too!