Food

The first thing I thought when I first started reading about Paleo food was that it was going to be bland. Everything processed had flavor, artificial flavor, but still flavor. And I worried without cheese, I’d miss creamy Alfredo sauces, cheese burgers, and fondue.

So when it comes to making even the simplest dish, I’ve made it my mission to make sure it’s flavorful. Make it something that even someone who is not eating Paleo, want to eat the meal I’ve made. For this burger, I added a few extra spices and a bit of a crunch. When you can’t have bread, you’ve got to take an extra step to make a hamburger more than a hamburger.

Paleo Lettuce Wrapped Hamburgers

Gather
1 pound of ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup of almond flour
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Black pepper, to taste
1-2 large beefsteak tomato
Head of iceberg lettuce

Heat a medium sized skillet on medium-high heat. In a large bowl, mix ground beef, egg, almond flour, and spices until combined. Create 1/2 inch thick beef patties and cook through, about 7 minutes a side, or until each side is browned and cooked through.

Slice tomato. Carefully unwrap layers of lettuce so that each piece is unbroken, you will use these as a your wrap. Place cooked hamburger in lettuce, top with tomato, and carefully wrap lettuce around burger. Enjoy.

Turns out I hate it when I don’t eat Paleo. As much as I love regular food – the bread, the butter, the desserts – I hate looking at the scale afterward. It seems that the best way to keep my weight at a manageable level is to make good eating decisions. So we’re making little changes and this recipe is one of them. Instead of dredging our chicken in flour and using butter, we made some substitutions, mainly using almond flour instead of regular flour.

Yes, almond flour is more expensive. No, you can’t really tell the difference. Yes, it’s better for you in the long run.

Breaded Paleo Buffalo Chicken

Gather
2 cups of almond flour
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened original coconut milk
3 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce

Pre-heat oven to 475 degrees.

In a small bowl combine almond flour, salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and coconut milk.

Cut chicken into small chunks or strips. Dredge chicken in wet egg mixture, then bread chicken with almond flour mix. Repeat the process so that each piece of chicken is double coated. Use tongs instead of your hands to avoid breading your fingers. Place chicken on a cookie sheet that has been lightly coated with olive oil.

Bake chicken for 8-10 minutes or until chicken begins to brown.

Turn the oven on to low broil and continue to cook the chicken for an additional 1-2 minutes or until the surface  is browned.

In a clean bowl, add hot sauce. Toss pieces of chicken in hot sauce, then serve.

The other night I came home to a cloud of smoke in the kitchen. The smoke alarm wasn’t going off, but something had clearly burned. I would have panicked, but I opened the door to find Andy standing next to the stove, spatula in hand, and a very sad look on his face. I couldn’t be mad at him, after all, there was a not quite charred plate of food waiting for me.

The real surprise was that the food was amazing. (Not burned at all, I think he just burned the seasoning in the pan.) It was probably one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time, and it wasn’t even difficult to make. Oh yeah, and it was Paleo all because Andy has used almond flour instead of regular flour. So good and honestly, I think I’m using almond flour to bread my chicken from now on. It turned out way better than when I use flour. Not sure why, but it stuck to the meat so much better.

Recommending this to everyone. It’s so good, so easy, and like I said, Paleo and Whole 30 approved.

7 Ingredient Lemon Pepper Chicken and Asparagus

Gather
1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup of almond flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
Lemon Pepper Seasoning
2 lemons, sliced
1 cup of asparagus, cleaned

Cover chicken in plastic wrap, and using a mallet, pound the chicken to about 3/4 of an inch thick. Dredge chicken in almond flour and salt to coat.

In a medium heat skillet, add olive oil and saute for 5-7 minutes on each side, turning when golden brown. Dash with lemon pepper seasoning in pan. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add lemon slices to pan and then add asparagus. Make sure lemon slices are on the bottom of the pan so they caramelize. When asparagus is done and lemons are golden brown, add chicken back into pan and allow chicken to be coated in lemon sauce.

Plate with asparagus and lemons on top of chicken. Enjoy.