Almond Crusted Salmon

1/2 Cup almond meal
1/4 tsp coriander
1/8 tsp cumin
4 salmon fillets
2 tsp lemon juice
Sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 500F. Combine the first 3 ingredients in a shallow dish.

Brush or spritz the salmon with the lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Coat each fillet generously in the almond meal mixture. Place skin side down on an oiled (or buttered) broiled pan. Sprinkle any remaining almond meal on the top of the fish and pat gently to make it stick.

Bake at 500F for 15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve with lemon wedges and the Hazelnut Mushroom Asparagus from the previous post!

Asparagus with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts

2 TB Red Wine Vinegar

1 TB Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 tsp Sea Salt

Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1 pound fresh asparagus

1 TB butter

1 LB (about 6 cups) mushrooms

1/2 Cup Green Onions, sliced

2 TB Hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped

Combine vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Cook the asparagus in boiling water for just a few minutes until they are edible, but crisp. Drain and plunge directly into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain again

Heat the butter in a pan on medium high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until they are softened and the liquid evaporates. Add green onions, saute 1 minute. Add the asparagus, and cook another 3 mins. Remove from the heat then add the vinegar mixture. Sprinkle with the toasted hazelnuts.

This would also be excellent with green beans, but those are a legume and not a vegetable so it would be less "paleo".

Pork Chops with Butternut Squash and Apple Compote

1.5 Cups Unsweetened Apple Juice

1 TB Honey Mustard

1 TB Pure Maple Syrup

1 TB Cider Vinegar

Salt and Pepper

4 Bone-In Pork Chops

2 TB butter

1 large leek or medium onion

1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and grated

2 unpeeled red apple, thinly sliced

Whisk together the apple juice, honey mustard, maple syrup, cider vinegar, and salt and pepper. Set aside.

Sprinkle the pork chops with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat 1 TB of the butter (or coconut oil) in a skillet on medium heat. Fry the chops for 4-5 min on each side or until the juices run clear and the insides are only slightly pink. Set aside and keep warm.

In the same skillet, melt the other 1 TB of butter. Saute leek/onion and squash for 2 minutes (until softened). Add sliced apples and the apple juice mixture. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 5 minutes or until apples are softened (not mushy!). Return pork and accumulated juices to the pan and bring sauce back to a boil then remove from heat immediately. Serve pork heaped with a couple of generous spoonfuls of sauce and a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

Laura's Turkey Marinara

From awesome CrossFitter/Paleo Princess Laura: "I have been making this dish lately. It is just something I kind of made up. I don't know if you will like it. But it is quick, easy and packed full of vegetables :)"

1 package of ground turkey
1 zuchinni
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
1 yellow onion
4-5 tomatoes
1 small can of tomato paste (preferably organic)
2-3 tsp pepper
4-5 cloves of crushed garlic
frank's red hot (as much as you like. I usually use about 1-2 tsp)

So I cut up all of the veggies and onion (in bite size pieces). Then fry up the ground turkey in either a pan on the stove or in a wok. Once the turkey is cooked, then add the onion and the garlic. Cook and continue stiring for about 5 minutes. Then add the peppers, zuchinni, and tomatoes. Cook for about 5 minutes or so. Then add the can of tomato paste. Sometimes you have to add a small amount of water (not even a 1/4 cup) just so the mixture does not burn to the bottom of the pan. Then add the pepper and the frank's red hot. Cook for about 15-20 minutes on low (just let it simmer). Make sure it does not burn. Tomato can burn very easily!!!! I serve it with cut up veggies, or just by itself. Mmmmmm I like it.

Primal Stuffing

I saw this on the CrossFit Saskatoon blog and I am shamelessly stealing and re-posting it here :-)

Sausage and Apple Stuffing
10 slices bacon (6 oz), diced
2 pounds pork sausage meat
2 large onions, chopped
8 oz. medium mushrooms, sliced (about 2 cups)
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 tsp dried sage leaves, crumbled
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound tart apples, cored and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 cup chopped fresh parsley

Cook bacon until it begins to brown. Crumble sausage meat in same pan and cook till done. Add onions, mushrooms and celery, cooking until onions and mushrooms are wilted. Stir in sage, thyme, salt and pepper, then the apples. Remove from heat, add parsley.

I will do my best to talk my mama into stuffing our turkey with this tomorrow. Updates to follow... Happy Turkey Day!

Paleo Made Simple From Mama L

Here comes a variety of paleo food ideas with simple, delicious ingredients courtesy of David's mom, Leslie. Pictures and all! Thanks mama L for sharing your recipes!

Walnut Chicken Skewers
Slice up chicken, crush walnuts. Wet chicken with something you like (beer, oil, water). Dip in the crushed walnuts. Make a yummy sauce. Bring to potluck - instant popularity!

Roasted tomatoes
Delicious way to serve tomatoes, cooking sweetens them right up: cut tomatoes, coat with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, roast at 250 for 4 hours.

Roast chicken
Get a good hutterite chicken. Sprinkle with coarse salt and peppercorns. Roast. Enjoy and then make soup!

Breakie
Gotta love it when, for the entire summer, every carton of hutterite eggs have double yolks...served with fried green tomato salsa.

Canning Galore

20lbs of peaches, pears, plums, tomatoes and apples turned into... ...a winter stock of local produce! Just add a touch of sugar and lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove! The salsa is great!

Coconut Pancakes and Waffles

I found this video on Mark's Daily Apple. It was a user submission for a recipe contest held during a month-long primal challenge in September. It looks fabulous!

Fabulous Onion Bread

You may have heard me talk about this one before and anyone who's tried it raves about its awesome deliciousness. Seriously, this recipe is not a lame substitution for bread, but a gourmet variety, worlds above in terms of heartiness and flavor. BUT... and there is a but... it is really finicky and labor intensive to make, which is why I've been putting off posting the recipe. The original inspiration for this came from a raw food vegan cookbook (yes, I own one of those!) and was meant to be entirely dehydrated, taking upwards of 24 hours. I'm not opposed to cooking my food, plus my dehydrator doesn't have the nifty trays you would need to make items like this, or fruit leathers, or other paste-like treats. So I've been experimenting with different methods every time David talks me into dedicating an afternoon and sacrificing my eyeballs to make this. Here's the best I've come up with thus far, but I'm sure there will be updates to this one over time.

Ingredients
4 large sweet onions
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup flax seeds
1/2 cup organic tamari soya sauce
2/3 cup olive oil

Directions
1) Grind the sunflower seeds in a food processor. Buy pre-ground flax seeds if possible, but if not blend those babies up too!

2) Get read to weep! Peel and roughly chop the onions. Puree them in the food processor then transfer to a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Squish out as much of the liquid as possible. It burns! It burns! Perhaps I need these?

3) Combine the ground seeds with the onion mush and add the tamari and the olive oil. Mix well!

4) Spread the mixture onto a large cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Aim for a thin layer, about 1/4" thick. Bake at 350 for 60 min or until the top is browned. This picture was for a double batch.

5) Allow the bread to cool, then slice into squares and gently transfer to a food dehydrator. Dehydrate on low to medium heat for 6-ish hours.

Now you're ready to enjoy the best sandwich you'll ever have in your life.