Monday, February 20, 2012

Paleo Diet Beginning - Recipes

My husband is worried that he is going to become fat. He looks at his father and older brothers and wants to move away from where the road took them. Ellie is also very conscious of what she eats. They have decided that we will embark on trying out the Paleo diet. It is essentially a diet that does not include carbs, dairy, beans, grains or sugar. The two of them decided to follow the 30 day diet as prescribed in the book about the diet.

Here's what we had for our meals yesterday and today. So far everything was tasty:

Dinner on Saturday was Salmon with Pecans, Roasted Green Beans, a bit of apple and a side salad.

Sunday:
Breakfast 2-4 eggs, almonds and a small piece of fruit and/or berries;
Lunch - Chicken Fajita Salad.
Dinner: Rotisserie Chicken, Roasted Broccoli with olive oil and garlic, side salad.
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Grilled Salmon with Pecans and Rosemary
From: The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf
(1 serving)

Coconut oil (to oil the pan)
1# Salmon
2 tsp Pecans, chopped
2 tsp Rosemary
Sea Salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place foil on a baking sheet, add a bit of coconut oil to help reduce how much the fish sticks to the foil. Place salmon, skin down, on the pan.
Sprinkle on the pecans, rosemary and salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes, being sure that it is cooked well and flakes easily with a fork.

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Roasted Green Beans

1# Green Beans, cleaned with the ends removed
1 TB Olive Oil
1 tea Thyme

Coat the beans with the olive oil and thyme. Place on a foil covered pan and roast for 20 minutes in an oven heated to 350 degrees.

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Chicken Fajita Salad

1 TB Olive Oil
3/4 cup Onions, sliced
1# Chicken, boneless, skinless and cut into strips
1/2 tea. Cumin
2 tea. Oregano
1 cup Bell Pepper, diced
1-2 Tomatoes, diced
1 Avocado, diced
Red Leaf Lettuce, cleaned

Add the olive oil to a hot skillet. Saute the onions until soft. Add in the chicken, spices and peppers. stirring often to distribute the spices and even out the cooking.
While that is cooking, place the red leaf lettuce, tomatoes and avocado in a bowl, toss. Top with the chicken and veggie mix. (If this is being packed for lunch, be sure to place the chicken and veggie mix in its own container, while the salad part has its own container, too.)

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Parmesan Baked Eggs

Parmesan Baked Eggs
via: Pinch of Yum

1/2 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon oil
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
6 eggs
1 tablespoon heavy cream
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a small saucepan, heat butter and oil. Add shallot and saute until soft and fragrant, 3-5 minutes. Add herbs and salt; remove from heat and stir to combine. The mixture should be somewhat coarse and just a little buttery.
Preheat the oven to 375. Place a small pat of butter (about 1 teaspoon) in the bottom of each of 3 ramekins. Place in oven until butter is melted.
Remove ramekins from oven, add 1 teaspoon of cream to each, and crack 2 eggs into each ramekin without breaking the yolk. Sprinkle the herb mixture over the top of each ramekin and return to the oven. Bake for about 7 minutes.
Turn up the heat to the broil setting and let the eggs broil for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from oven when egg whites are just set and yolks are still soft. Let stand for 3-5 minutes before serving. Season with salt and pepper.

Notes
Author's notes - I found the timing of this to be really important – down to the minute. The eggs might look like they aren’t done if they are runny on top, but that can just be the cream rising to the top of the ramekin. If you cook these too long, the yolks get hard and they aren’t as good. (I think my eggs might have benefited for about another minute in the oven.)

Also, if you want the cheese to be melted on top, add the cheese before putting the ramekins in the oven. I didn’t do this because it made it trickier to see if the eggs were done or not.