Baba Ganoush...

There is nothing better to have with a cracker than... DIPS!!!

Ingredients and pre-heat your oven 200c...

1st lot of ingredients...

1 whole large eggplant cut in half

1/2  a cluster of garlic (mine was around 7 cloves) un-peeled 

1/2 a small red onion

1 tsp cumin seeds 

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 the juice of one lemon

1 tsp Celtic sea salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

2nd lot of ingredients... 

1 pinch of Celtic sea salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp tahini 
1/2 tsp ground black pepper 
Juice of one lemon wedge

Processes...

 All ready to go in the oven

From the 1st lot of ingredients...

1. Place the eggplant, un-peeled garlic cluster, and red onion in a baking tray. 

2. Drizzle the olive oil, and lemon juice onto the veggies (mainly the eggplant) 

3. Following by sprinkling the cumin seeds, salt and cracked pepper on-top of the veggies. 

4. Place the veggies in the Oven and bake for around 40 minutes at 200 Celsius. 

They'll come out looking like this...

5. Into a medium size mixing bowl scrape the Eggplant out with a spoon. Try not to get any of the skin in the bowl.

6. Peel both the red onion, and garlic cloves, and place them also into the mixing bowl.

7. Add 2nd lot of ingredients to the mixing bowl.

Everything is now in the bowl...

 Now With your Whiz stick, blender, or a food processor mix until well combined and fluffy!

Eat with my paleo crackers, on veggie stix, in a sammie, or how ever you'd like. Just ensure to Enjoy!

Crackers...

I am "Crackers" About Crackers...

When I first started eating Paleo I had some real issues finding a quick snack. If you had somebody who knew me, and were to ask them to describe me as a food. I would say it would be a cracker. Yes, sad but true I love them. I like that you can put anything you want on them and gobble them down. So here you go. Just one of my many cracker recipes to come...

Ingredients...

2 cups Ground Almond Meal

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

2 tsp Sesame seeds

1 tsp Celtic Sea Salt

1 tsp Ground Cumin

2 Egg whites

1 tsp Sesame oil

Pre-Heated Oven to 160 Celsius

 Ingredients

Processes... 

 

 

1. Dry mix, all in a large mixing 

2. Followed by adding egg white, and sesame oil

3. Mix the wet and dry and roll into a ball 

4. Roll the Cracker dough out 

5. cut into desired shapes

6. Place crackers onto a grease oven tray

(I used a metal spatula to get the crackers off the bench)

7. I baked them for 8 minutes at 160 Celsius

(or until nicely golden)

8. Let them cool and keep in an air tight container

Now enjoy them with anything your heart desires...

Tuna Filled Cos Lettuce Cups Topped with Salsa...

 

When in need of a quick bite to eat...

Ingredients and processes...

1x Large tin of Tuna (I get mine from my local health food shop, it 

only has olive oil and tuna in it).

Cos leaves (As many as your wanting to eat, I find one head of cos fills two).

Salsa to top the cos leaves (I have a recipe listed on my blog for this under condiments)

Process...

1. Lay the Cos leaves onto your plate of choice.

2. Spoon in your tuna of choice.

3. Top with salsa

Your now ready to munch back your quick and easy meal! I eat these when I am lacking in time as I often have salsa already prepped in my fridge. Hope you enjoy!

 

Basil, Chilli, and Avocado Salsa...

Eating Paleo can sometimes get boring. So I add condiments, like Salsa's!

Ingredients and processes...

1/4 cucumber diced finley

1/2 small red capsicum

1/4 avocado diced

1 large tomato diced

2 large cloves of garlic diced finely

1 tsp fresh chilli diced finely 

8 large leaves of basil roughly chopped

1 tsp apple cider vinegar 

1 tbsp olive oil

juice from half a lemon

1/2 tsp celtic sea salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

  All prep'ed up...

Process...

Now that you have all your ingredients prepped up, chuck them all in a bowl and mix. 

Now your ready to make use of your salsa! I eat salsa on lettuce cups, on my paleo seeded bread, topped on paleo crackers (that I soon will also post about). The list goes on for salsa's uses. There is many different kinds of salsa's too, so experiment away. 

It keeps for several days and the taste gets better. Enjoy...

   

Blue Berry, Poppy Seed and Mandarin mini cakes...

These little guys are bursting full of beautiful natural flavors and "super foods".

Ingredients and processes...

3 mandarins (1.5 cups mandarin paste)

2 cups of almond flour

1/2 cup organic coconut palm sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp Poppy seeds

2 tbsp Raw organic honey

2 table spoons coconut cream

5 small eggs or 4 large eggs

3/4 cup frozen blue berrys 

1 tbsp coconut flour

Firstly...

Boil your mandarins for around an hour in a medium sauce pan of water. Ensure the water is covering the mandarins. Checking on them now and then as they may need topping up with water. As the water will reduce.

Secondly

Once Mandarins are cooked and cooled Blend them (the whole mandarin skin and all) up in a food processor. If you don't own one, use your blender or a whiz stick.Your Mandarin paste is now ready it should be around 1.5 cups worth. 

Pre-heat oven to 170 Celsius...

The Dry Mix...

First In a Large mixing bowl add your dry ingredients Ground Almond, Coconut sugar, baking powder, and poopy seeds. Mix with your fingers so that they are all nicely combined.

Adding the wet mix...

Dig out a little hole in the center of you dry mix and add the eggs, honey, coconut cream and Mandarin paste. Fold the mixture until combined try and not put too much air through it.  

The Blueberry's...

In a little bowl add your frozen blueberry's, and coconut flour. Give them a good shake around and coat the berry's nicely. This will stop any bleeding from the berry's into your little mini cakes, and keep them pretty and orange. Now Fold your coated blue berry's through, but don't over mix them.

Into the Tins they go...

In your greased tins. I used a 1/2 cup measure to pour my mix into the tins. You want to fill them right to the top of the line. these cakes are meant to be very dense and moist. They wont rise much. My muffin tins aren't super small but they aren't medium also. So the amount you get may very as well as the time of baking. I got 12 mini cakes out of my mix.

 

Baking...

I added coconut flakes to the top of mine before i put them in the oven, un-toasted. Just makes them even prettier. I baked my cakes at 170 for 25 minutes. All ovens are different so around 20 minute mark just check them. You don't want to color the cakes too much. You want them to be just set and cooked through. These little cakes are packed full of flavor. They are stunning. I prefer mine served cold with a side of coconut yogurt. I even think that they taste better the next day. With a large part of the ingredient being almond them setting over night the almond and mandarin paste join as a team and bond a little better.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

 

 

Spanish chicken meatballs drenched in a smokey paprika sauce on a bed of zucchini "noodles"...

 

Ingredients and processes for "meatballs"...

500gm Chicken Mince (I minced my own from chicken thigh. I am a little scared of bought mince, but do as you please).

1 Heaped Tbsp Coconut flour

1 Heaped Tbsp Organic Smoked Paprika

1 Heaped teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 tsp Celtic sea salt

1 tsp Ground Black Pepper

1 Large Free Range Egg

3 Large Cloves of Garlic minced

1 Bunch of Basil torn (or coriander if your a hater) 

 Add all of above ingredients into a mixing bowl until well combined...

 Following by, rolling the little guys into "balls"...

Zucchini Noodles ingredients and process... 

 Five large zucchini...

Making "noodles"...

I used my nifty little veggie machine to help me make them into noodles. If you are with out, you can Julianne them into long strips, serve the meatballs with spaghetti squash instead, mashed sweet potato, and if your not paleo go with spaghetti noodles! 

Ingredients and processes for " Smokey Paprika Sauce", and cooking of Meatballs...

1 whole small brown onion diced

1whole red capsicum diced  

3 garlic cloves diced finely

1//2 of a red chili diced finely

1 Heaped table spoon of organic smoked paprika

1 tsp ground black pepper 

1 tsp Celtic sea salt 

2 Heaped table spoons of organic tomato paste

1 Tins of organic chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 cups of water (or chicken stock if you'd like)

Sauce Ingredients....

  Dice Them Up!

Process... 

1. Firstly, heat a deep pan, it should be large enough to fit your sauce and meatballs in (heat it to a medium/high Temperature). Add around 1 table spoon of olive oil and let that heat for a few seconds.  

2. Add your onion and red capsicum, let them sweat off in the pan for a few minutes. Mixing them around with a wooden spoon here and there. Next add your diced chili and garlic, and again sweat them off for a few more minutes.

3. Add the smoked paprika only long enough to coat your ingredients in your pan and toast it slightly.

The mix should now look like this...

4. Now add the last of your sauce ingredient tomato paste, tinned chopped tomato, and water  (Or stock).

Your Paprika Sauce should look like this...

5. Reduce your sauce down to a simmer. Following by adding your meatballs in one at a time. Try and not have them touching one another. I dont like to cook my meat balls off before i add them to my sauce. Why would I want to get rid of all those beautiful juices etc. So I more or less poach them into my sauce. Keeping all those fresh flavors.

Meatballs swimming in the simmering paprika sauce...

6. Let them simmer away in the sauce, turning them gently every once and a while so they cook evenly they should take around 15 minutes to cook. 

7.  Meanwhile get a sauce pan big enough for your zucchini noodles to fit into, and fill it with water. Bring the water to boil. 2 minutes before your sauce is ready blanch your "noodles" in the water for only 30 seconds. You dont want them to be soggy. Then strain them in a strainer.

Noodles Blanched and Strained 

By then your meat balls should be looking like this...

Now combine the two. If your a cheese eater Parmesan would be the best. If your not like myself, I added more fresh basil (or coriander if your a hater). Now eat and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Thai basil and Prawn Paleo Pizza

 

My Kind of Pizza...

Pizza Base Ingredients and process...

Firstly pre-heat your oven to 180c, and grease a oven tray large enough for a medium size pizza to be baked on.

1 cup Almond meal

2 small garlic cloves minced 

1 tbsp of torn fresh Thai basil

1/2 tsp celtic sea salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 large free range Egg

1 tsp olive oil

Pizza Dough Ingredients

Step 1.

Add all dry ingredient (Almond meal, salt, and pepper) into a large mixing bowl. Make a well and add the wet ingredients (egg, minced garlic, olive oil and basil). Get your hand in there and really mix it up until it forms a nice ball.

Step 1.

 

Step 2.

 

This pizza dough isn't like normal pizza dough. Its a little bit softer and harder to roll out. You could sprinkle it with some coconut flour and it might stop it from sticking but this is how i did it. I rolled glad wrap out onto a bench, (cling form, plastic wrap what ever it is you want to call it). I placed the ball of pizza dough in the center. I then placed another piece of glad wrap the same size over the top and pressed them together around the pizza dough.

 

 Step 2.

Step 3.

I then Flattened it in a circular shape as much as I possibly could firstly with my hands.  I next grabbed my rolling pin and finished her off. This pizza dough is intended for rather thin style pizza. So as thin as possible for this dough.  It will keep it from going soggy.

Step 3.

 

Step 4. 

I next removed the top layer of plastic wrap from the pizza base. I followed with my hands pulling each side of plastic wrap up untill my hands were under the base. I then flipped it upside down onto the already greased pizza tray and popped her into my pre-heated oven, and baked her for around 10 minutes until golden brown. Set her aside while I continued my pizza.

 

 

 Step 4.

 Pizza Base Tomato and chili spread ingredients and processes...

1x Heaped desert spoon of Organic Tomato Paste

1x Large Clove of fresh Garlic

1/2 tsp fresh chili

5x Large Thai Basil

1 tsp of olive oil

Tomato paste Ingredients

Step 1.

Combine the above ingredients into a paste and spoon over your pizza base. Use the back of you spoon to spread it out evenly.

Step 1.

Topping Ingredients and Processes...

1 cup baby spinach

12 Medium raw peeled prawns

1/4 of a red onion

1/8 of a red capsicum

Topping Ingredients and cuts...

Step 1.

Spread the spinach first evenly over pasted pizza base. Next the red capsicums, prawns and then top with red onion. (I don't eat dairy so this counts out cheese for me, but if your a cheese eater Id go with a lite buffalo mozzarella) Pop the pizza into the oven for around 10 minutes. On fan bake at 180c all dependent on your oven. My oven must be around 35 years old, and doesn't have fan bake so i just do with out... 

Step 1.

Coconut, lemon, chili and mint "drizzle" ingredient and processes... 

1 tbsp of coconut cream

1/2 tsp finely diced chili

1/2 tsp finely minced ginger  

1 wedge of squeezed lemon juice 

1 tbsp finely chopped mint

 Ingredients of "drizzle"

In a little bowl Mix together the "drizzle". About now your pizza should be ready in the oven. Pull her out and drizzle on the "drizzle" as desired. Eat and Enjoy!!!