I tend to like slow cooker food best in fall and winter – because it is warming and hearty. It’s also a great way to save time in the kitchen. Here’s a paleo slow cooker cookbook I wrote I think you’ll like…
Category Archives: Whole30
Clam Chowder (Paleo-Style)
by Clam chowder….what can I say? It’s a family favorite, but with my Celiac disease and dairy allergy, I’ve had to make it over in a way that works for my diet. This version is made with anti-inflammatory ingredients, and it’s lowish in carbs and paleo, so it’s perfect for people with all sorts of inflammatory autoimmune conditions, like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
- 6 slices pepper bacon, cut into pieces
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 8 cups bone broth
- 2 (6-ounce) cans clams, undrained
- 1 celery root (celeriac), peeled and cut into half-inch cubes
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Pinch red pepper flakes (or to taste – I like mine a bit on the spicy side)
- 3 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds
- In a large pot, cook the pepper bacon on medium-high until it is browned. Remove the bacon from the fat in the pot with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
- To the fat in the pan, add the fennel, celery, onion, and carrot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to brown, five to seven minutes.
- Add the bone broth, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with the side of a spoon.
- Add the clams, celery root, thyme, tarragon, pepper, salt, and pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer. Reduce to medium-low and cook until the celery root is tender, about 10 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the arrowroot powder and water. Pour it into the soup in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Simmer, stirring, until the chowder thickens slightly, about three minutes more.
- Stir in the reserve bacon and the fennel fronds.
photo credit: Pike Place Chowder via photopin (license)
Patty Melt Soup
by I used to love patty melts. In fact, it was one of my favorite things to order when we went out to dinner at a greasy spoon. Celiac disease (and a low-carb paleo diet) put the patty melt out of reach for me, but I know I could find a way to get all the same flavors without it having to be a greasy burger.
Whenever I’m trying to recreate flavor profiles of a favorite dish I can no longer have, my first stop is soup. I figure you can recreate almost any flavor in a soup. In this case, it worked. Patty melt cravings satisfied in a delicious, low-carb, paleo way.
Patty Melt Soup
- 4 slices bacon, cut into pieces
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground caraway seed (use a spice grinder if you can’t find it ground)
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 8 cups beef bone broth
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional)
- In a large pot, brown the bacon on medium high. Remove the bacon from the fat with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
- In the same pot, cook the ground beef, crumbling it with a spoon, until it is browned, about five minutes. Remove it from the fat with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
- Reduce the heat to low. Add the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are browned and caramelized, 20 to 30 minutes.
- Add the garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the beef broth, caraway, and mustard powder, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot with the side of a spoon. Return the ground beef and bacon to the pot. Turn the heat to medium.
- Bring the pot to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for ten minutes.
- If you’d like a little cheesy flavor with the soup, stir in the nutritional yeast.
If you like more veggies in your soup, add some sliced carrots, zucchini, or any other vegetables you enjoy. Cabbage is also a tasty addition.
Lemon and Artichoke Shrimp Scampi
This meal came together within 15 minutes, and it’s really tasty. It’s also low-carb and paleo.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil or your favorite paleo-friendly fat
- 4 ounces pancetta, diced
- 1 shallot, diced
- 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
- 8 garlic cloves, minced
- Juice and zest of one lemon
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1/4 cup dry white wine
- 2 zucchini, spiralized into noodles or cut into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
- Sea salt and fresh-cracked black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup Italian parsley, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup basil, finely chopped
- In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil on medium-high until it shimmers.
- Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, three to five minutes.
- Add the shallot and artichoke hearts. Cook, stirring occasionally, for four minutes.
- Add six of the minced garlic cloves and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the lemon juice, shrimp, white wine, and zucchini. Cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp is pink, about four minutes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- In a small bowl, mix the remaining 2 minced garlic cloves, the parsley, the basil, and the lemon zest.
- Stir into the shrimp mixture just before serving.
photo credit: Healthy Zucchini Noodles with Prawns via photopin (license)
Spicy Asian Chopped Chicken Salad
by Karen Frazier
This is a tasty, simple throw together meal when you have leftover chicken, or when you have cold rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. It takes minutes to prepare, but it is satisfying and flavorful.
Spicy Asian Chopped Chicken Salad
- 1 pound cooked chicken meat, chopped
- 1 head green cabbage, julienned
- 2 carrots, grated
- 1 cucumber, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon Chinese hot mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger root
- 1 tablespoon Sriracha (or to taste for Whole30, use 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes)
- Juice of one lime (or juice of half an orange)
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons chopped nuts or sesame seeds (optional)
- In a large bowl, combine the chicken, cabbage, carrots, cucumber, celery, and cilantro. Toss to mix.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the Chinese hot mustard powder, grated ginger root, Sriracha, lime juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Toss the vinaigrette with the salad and serve immediately.
- Garnish with the chopped nuts or sesame seeds.
Avogolemono Soup with Herbed Lamb Meatballs
I’m on a soup roll. I’m making it about once a week right now because it keeps and freezes well, and because soup is tasty. This week, I decided to try my own take on an avgolemono (egg and lemon) soup made fragrant with garlic and herbed lamb meatballs. It was fully experimental, but incredibly delicious, and the house smelled fantastic! This is a simple soup that came together very quickly. It took me less than an hour to make. For fun, I used purple carrots in it, which added some nice color. I think next time, I may stir in about two cups of baby spinach after I add the lemon and eggs, because spinach goes so nicely with both lamb and lemon. The heat of the soup will wilt and cook the spinach almost instantly.
Avgolemono Soup with Herbed Lamb Meatballs
- 15 garlic cloves, divided
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh marjoram
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh rosemary
- 2-3 tablespoons fresh oregano
- 1 teaspoon sea salt or Himalayan pink salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds ground lamb
- 2 tablespoons duck fat (or your favorite fat, such as olive oil)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 8 cups homemade chicken bone broth (or store bought chicken broth)
- Juice of 2 to 3 lemons
- 6 eggs
- Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
- In a food processor, pulse together ten of the garlic cloves with the marjoram, rosemary, oregano, salt, and pepper until finely chopped. If you don’t have a food processor, just chop the herbs and garlic finely and then mix with the salt and pepper.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the chopped garlic/herb mixture with the ground lamb. Roll into one-inch meatballs and set aside. I use my stand mixer for this, because my hands get so cold when I mix the meat by hand.
- In a large pot, heat the duck fat or olive oil on medium-high until it shimmers. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft, about five minutes.
- Chop the remaining five garlic cloves and stir them into the onions. Cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, stirring occasionally.
- Drop in the meatballs. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meatballs are cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- Turn the heat off under the soup. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and the lemons. Working about a tablespoon at a time, whisk about 1/4 cup of the hot broth into the egg and lemon mixture to temper the eggs so they don’t cook when you add them to the soup. Then, in a thin stream stir the egg mixture into the soup. If adding spinach, stir it in after you’ve stirred in the egg and lemon mixture.
- Taste and season with additional salt and pepper as needed.
Spicy Asian Meatball and Vegetable Soup
If you’re a regular reader of my blog, then you may have noticed that I make a lot of soup. It’s because I love soup. I make some type of soup at least once a week. You can load soups with healthy bone broth, veggies, meats, herbs, and spices and never have the same meal twice. Well, actually – I usually have the same meal twice with leftovers for the freezer, but that’s because I follow the cook once eat twice (or more) philosophy. That means I always make an extra big batch of soup because I just know some is destined for the freezer. Of course, that also means I have a slow cooker full of broth simmering on the counter several days per week, as well. Because if you’re going to make the most flavorful soup, you definitely need homemade bone broth
or stock.
While I used homemade duck stock for the soup and ground duck for the meatballs, feel free to replace those ingredients with chicken stock and ground pork if you wish.
Spicy Asian Meatball and Vegetable Soup
- 3 bunches green onions, chopped, divided
- 1 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems removed but reserved, caps sliced
- 10 garlic cloves, chopped, divided
- 1 bunch chopped fresh cilantro, divided
- 2 teaspoons grated gingerroot, divided
- 2 teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon Chinese dry mustard powder
- 2 pounds ground duck (or ground pork)
- 1/2 teaspoon expeller pressed sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Boat fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons homemade sriracha, divided (or 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes)
- 2 tablespoons of duck fat (or another paleo-friendly fat)
- 6-8 cups homemade duck stock (or chicken stock)
- 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 6 bunches of baby bok choy, chopped
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a chopping blade, add one bunch of the green onions, the shiitake mushroom stems (save the caps), 5 cloves of the garlic, half of the cilantro, 1 teaspoon of the gingerroot, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and the mustard powder. Pulse for 10 one-second pulses, or until everything is extremely well chopped.
- In a medium bowl, combine the ground duck, the sesame oil, the fish sauce, and one tablespoon of the sriracha with the contents of the food processor. Mix with your hands until well-combined. Form into one-inch meatballs and set aside.
- In a large pot, heat the duck fat on medium-high until it shimmers. Add the remaining two bunches of chopped green onions and one teaspoon of grated gingerroot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft, four to five minutes.
- Add the remaining five cloves of chopped garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Add the duck stock, the pepper, the remaining sriracha, the carrots, and the sliced shiitake mushroom caps to the pot. Bring it to a boil.
- Drop the meatballs into the boiling soup and return the pot to a boil. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.
- Add the bok choy and the remaining cilantro to the pot. Turn of the heat. Allow the soup to sit for five minutes before serving.
Italian Meatball Veggie Soup
I love soup! It’s delicious, you can load it with veggies, and it’s quick and easy to prepare. We’ve got some big-time meat eaters in our family, so I especially like making soup with meatballs in it to make a really meaty soup. Tonight is the first time I’ve made this soup, but it was really tasty.
Italian Meatball Veggie Soup
- 1 pound hot Italian sausage
- 1 pound ground beef
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic, divided
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoons sea salt, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
- 2 tablespoons duck fat (or another paleo-friendly fat)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 8 cups homemade beef or chicken stock
- 1 can (14 ounces) organic chopped tomatoes (undrained)
- 1 fennel bulb, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
- 1 zucchini, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 3 cups baby spinach
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- In a medium-sized bowl, combine the Italian sausage, ground beef, one tablespoon of the garlic, the Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper, mixing until well combined. Form into one-inch meatballs. Set aside.
- In a large pot, heat the duck fat over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to brown, about five minutes.
- Add the stock, the remaining one teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, tomatoes, fennel, red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, and carrots. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to a boil.
- Drop in the meatballs. Return the soup to a boil and cook until the meatballs are cooked through, 20 to 30 minutes (depending on size).
- Stir in the baby spinach and basil. Remove the soup from the heat.
photo credit: Buffalo meatball soup via photopin (license)
Asian Cucumber “Noodle” Salad
They had beautiful cucumbers at the farmers market this week, so I picked up a few. I find cucumbers really refreshing – particularly in the summer. I love their slight acidity, which adds balance to fatty or rich cuts of meat, such as pork belly. I also picked up some cilantro, red scallions, and red heirloom carrots.
I have a spiralizer that I love to use to turn veggies into noodles, so I knew immediately what I wanted to do with this combination of farmer’s market veggies. I wanted to spiralize them into cold, crunchy “noodles” and then toss them with an Asian-inspired vinaigrette.
If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can use a vegetable peeler and cut the cucumbers and carrots into long, wide strips. You can use a paring knife to cut the strips into “noodles” or you can leave them as wide strips. It’s up to you.
Cold Cucumber “Noodle” Salad
- 2 cucumbers, spiralized or cut into noodles
- 2 large carrots, spiralized or cut into noodles
- 3 scallions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- Juice of one orange
- Zest of 1/2 orange
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 teaspoon sriracha (or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes for Whole30)
- 1/2 teaspoon cold pressed sesame oil
- In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers, carrots, scallions, and cilantro.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, orange juice, orange zest, sea salt, pepper, ginger, garlic, sriracha, and sesame oil.
- Toss the vinaigrette with the vegetables and serve cold.
For more spiralizer recipes, check out the Healthy Spiralizer Cookbook, which I wrote for Rockridge Press. It contains an array of veggie based “noodle” recipes using a spiralizer. I really like my Paderno World Cuisine Spiralizer, which works like a pro with many vegetables.
If you’re trying to cut down on carbs, or if you just want to find a great way of adding noodles to your diet without the gluten, a spiralizer is a wonderful choice. I like making zucchini noodles into pasta, that I can then toss with all types of Italian sauces. You can also make soups, salads, and an array of other tasty vegetable and fruit dishes.
Orange Avocado Coleslaw
by Karen Frazier
I always thought I hated coleslaw with a passion. I was only ever really exposed to it at potlucks and picnics, but one taste told me it wasn’t for me. I first got an inkling that I might enjoy coleslaw when I accidentally ate some on a weekend away at Cave B in the Columbia Gorge. I was eating lunch in the restaurant there, Tendrils, and I took a tentative bite of the slaw. It was delicious. As the chef wandered by, I asked him what was in it, and he admitted it had apples and ginger.
That’s when I started trying to make a better coleslaw – because I knew it existed. I tried it with apples and ginger. Pretty good. I tried it with jicama. Not bad. I keep tinkering with my recipe trying to give it more punch. For the most part, I’ve been a little underwhelmed. Until tonight.
Tonight I made pork belly with coleslaw, and it was delicious. In fact, I might go as far as to say the coleslaw actually stole the show for me…which is really saying something given how much I love pork belly. When I was done eating, I wasn’t hungry anymore. But if I’d wanted another bite of food, it would have been the coleslaw I nibbled.
I started with a simple organic coleslaw mix from Whole Foods, an orange, and an avocado. I like making my coleslaw dressing avocado-based instead of mayo-based because I like the vitamins, fat, fiber, and flavor I get from the avocado. It worked out swimmingly. Sadly, I didn’t measure. But I am going to try and estimate for you exactly what I did, because seriously folks. Yum!
Orange Avocado Coleslaw
- 3 or 4 garlic cloves (I dumped a bunch in and chopped them and then realized oh God! Raw garlic! So I scooped a bunch back out)
- 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
- Juice of one orange
- Zest of half an orange
- 1 teaspoon sriracha (I like the recipe from NomNom Paleo) – or 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes for Whole30
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan pink salt
- 1 package organic coleslaw mix
- In the bowl of a food processor, chop the garlic cloves, 10 one-second pulses. Scrape the cloves from the sides of the food processor back into the bowl.
- Add the avocado, orange juice, orange zest, sriracha, apple cider vinegar, cilantro, and salt. Process until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- In a large bowl, toss the coleslaw mix with the dressing.
That’s it. Simple. Basic. I’ve been making it harder than it had to be.
photo credit: Chez Olga Haitian Restaurant Eastown Lourdie Lunch January 20, 2012 7 via photopin (license)
The Modern Ancestor 