Fork it Over: A Few Paleo Recipes

Though I'm not necessarily on the paleo bandwagon these days (I'm trying to give up both pasta and red meat for the duration of Lent, however, so...baby steps!) I did enjoy finding recipes that would be filling and taste good and not involve starchy carbohydrates (vs. the kind of carbs found in fruits and vegetables - those are okay under paleo rules.) I found these photos of different recipes I'd either looked up or created on my own and thought I'd share them, in case any of you are trying paleo, or just want to eat more healthfully, or are looking for something that is easy to whip up on a worknight. I think these recipes are all of those things!

But first, my non-paleo latte from Bean There welcomes you to this post.

In this post I'll be sharing:

So, hop in!

Roasted Butternut Squash (side dish)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half and scoop out gourpy insides and seeds (put aside later in case you want to cook the seeds!) Rub butter on the insides and flat cut part of the squash. Season with salt and pepper, or brown sugar, to taste. Roast in oven for about 25 minutes until the "squash flesh" is tender when poked with a fork.

(To cook seeds - place gourpy stuff in bowl of water and separate seeds from the rest of the inside flesh. Spread seeds in bake-safe dish, drizzle with olive oil and salt. Bake in 400 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until toasted.)

Turkey with Red Sauce on Spinach Bed (main dish)

Purchase 1/2lb-1lb turkey meat depending on how many servings you're making. Mix uncooked turkey meat with salt, pepper, garlic salt, and any other herbs you prefer - I used the same skillet to mix the seasonings because the raw meat would already be touching the pan, so no use in dirtying two pans. Cook meat in pan over medium-to-low heat for 10-15 minutes, until thoroughly cooked. This will be slightly different than cooking ground beef, as with ground beef the meat breaks up more easily due to the fat content. With ground turkey, the meat clumps together a bit more, so you will have to actively "chop" it up in the pan with a spatula or spoon. Add tomato sauce (homemade or bottled) and heat sauce with turkey meat. Serve over bed of freshly washed spinach leaves.

Roast Chicken with Asparagus (main dish)

(Be careful with this one because you don't want to get salmonella! Wow, that really makes you want to make this dish, doesn't it? Anyway. This one is easy, you just have to cook it long enough! See this page if you need further assistance...)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Wash your boneless, skinless, chicken breasts with water, then pat them dry with papertowels. Make sure to wash your hands after all of this and don't contaminate your counter space! Place the BSCBs in a bake-safe dish and drizzle with olive oil. Flip them a couple of times to make sure both sides are covered. Chop fresh rosemary and cover the BSCBs, adding salt and pepper until they're pretty heavily seasoned. Cook for 30-40 minutes, until the juices run clear (not pink! pink is bad!) and the BSCBs look white and opaque on the underside and browned on top. Make a small incision into the middle of one BSCB if you need to double-check (eating undercooked chicken is the worst, better to cut it in the middle than eat pink meat.)

Chop asparagus and mix with olive oil, salt, and pepper in roasting dish. Roast at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes. You can throw these in with the chicken or do them directly after while you're checking the chix. Check with a fork to make sure asparagus spears are tender.

Apple, Mushroom, Walnut and Arugula Salad (side dish)

Chop green Fuji apple and crimini (or white if you prefer, but they're less nutritious) mushrooms. Mix with freshly washed arugula leaves and chopped walnuts; dress with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. You can also mix a scoop of dijon mustard with your balsamic and EVOO to spice it up! Serve in matching green bowl when possible.

Half Grapefruit (snack)

Yeah, I'm really not going to explain this one.

...Although I will say, it's much easier to scoop out the little triangles when you slice around the circumference with a knife. You don't have to slice each triangle, although that helps if you have the patience for it!

What do you think, will you try any of these?