Grain-free Carrot Muffins

I don't eat a lot of paleo baked goods - but for whatever reason this one has made it into my repeat repertoire. This is a recipe from my neighbor that I adapted just slightly - these muffins are just plain delicious; they are moist and dense, and are perfect with some morning tea.




Grain-Free Carrot Muffins makes 12
2 eggs, separated
1 more egg
1/4 c softened butter or ghee
1/4 cup thick coconut milk/cream
1/4 c honey (or less, or sub stevia)
2 1/2 c almond meal
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
2 tsp lemon zest
1-2 c grated carrots
1/4 c raisins
1/4+ c walnuts
1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff. Add egg and yolks, ghee, honey, almond meal, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. Mix together. Add carrots, nuts, raisins and coconut.
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes. These are good warm out of the oven, or chilled. I kept the extras in the fridge in a covered container, and they easily last 1-2 weeks.

Carrot-Sweet Potato Cakes (and hollandaise)

All the rain this spring created some beautiful, large carrots. I've been sort of holding back on picking them since the zucchini and green beans are first in order, but I picked a few this weekend to make these. I've made these latke-like cakes a few times over the past several months - but this was my first time making them with garden carrots. Yum! I decided to go all out and make hollandaise sauce too for a proper paleo eggs benedict. It turns out hollandaise isn't as hard to make as I imagined. I also didn't really realize that hollandaise is really just like a butter or ghee mayo, but with egg yolks instead of egg.

The original recipe for these fritters is spiced more sweet than savory, with cinnamon and ginger and nutmeg. I go more savory and just use salt and pepper for flavor because I find they make really good burger buns, or as a platform for an egg - they are sort of bread-like with the sweetness from the carrot/sweet potato. These cakes are similar to the root veggie latkes I posted some while back, but these don't include onions and are a little egg-ier. I find these ones simpler, and the extra eggs lend to a more bun/bread-like experience.

Carrot-Sweet Potato Cakes (makes 8 cakes)
1 cup sweet potato, shredded
2 cup carrots, shredded
4 teaspoons coconut flour
4 eggs
coconut oil for cooking
salt to taste at end

1. Mix shredded carrots and sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Add coconut flour and stir to coat the shreds evenly.
2. Beat eggs together and pour over carrot/sweet potatoes. Mix thoroughly. The mixture will be quite wet and shrink a bit.
3. Heat coconut oil in cast iron skillet or griddle on medium heat. When the oil is hot, spoon out (or use your fingers like I do), a heaping 1/4 cup's worth of "batter." Cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned and a bit crispy. As the cakes are cooking, sprinkle some salt on each one. (You could add salt to the mix too, but I find this causes the cakes to get more wet - better to salt at the end.)
4. These are ready to eat right off the griddle, or you can keep them in a warm oven if you are using them for burger buns or eggs benedict. I've had them at room temp too and they are still good.

For paleo eggs benedict top these cakes with some bacon, egg, and hollandaise sauce (see below). Yum.

Hollandaise (makes about 1 1/2 cups)
*This is how I made mine and it was delicious. There are lots of recipes out there with varying amounts of butter and egg yolk, but this one worked for me. It helps to have a cooking companion to help pour while you whisk.
2 sticks butter (lightly salted or unsalted)
3 T water
3 egg yolks
2 T fresh lemon juice
Warm water

1. Melt butter (or ghee) in a small saucepan. Simmer on low heat.
2. Create a double boiler using a small pot with water in it, and a larger metal mixing bowl on top. You want rounded edges in the metal mixing bowl since you are going to be whisking and you don't want egg caught somewhere. Heat water in the pot to boiling. When it is near boiling, put your egg yolks and water in the large mixing bowl (off of the steaming pot) and whisk together for 30 seconds until frothy.
3. When water in pot is boiling, put mixing bowl on top (this is your double boiler) and continue whisking. It will take a minute or two for the bowl to heat, and what you are going for is a very subtle cooking of the egg and water. This will take another minute or two (so 3-4 minutes total), and you are looking for the egg yolks to become pale and creamy. They will leave a trail, or tracks, behind them that hold for a few seconds. As soon as this happens, remove the eggs from the double boiler and turn the heat off under the pot. Whisk the eggs another 30 seconds or so to cool them a bit.
4. Slowly pour in the warm butter as you continue whisking (still off the double boiler). This will take several minutes - you are adding the butter slowly because you don't want to "break" the emulsification. Once the butter is added, add your lemon juice. I like a lemony hollandaise, so kept adding it until it tasted right to me. 1-3 T should be good. Also add salt to taste if you used unsalted butter.
5. You can rest your sauce on the double boiler pot until you are ready to serve - don't turn the heat on, it will be warm enough there to hold it. Mine sat at least 15 minutes - I'm sure it can sit longer if you whisk it occasionally.
6. If your hollandaise is too thick: I like a slightly thinner sauce. If yours is thicker than you like, whisk in warm water (again a little at a time) before serving (I just used the warm water from the double boiler pot). I added 2-3 T worth until it was the consistency I like.

This recipe makes plenty to serve 4 (8 carrot-sweet potato cakes and 8 eggs); I had extra left over. And I have been eating it up! It was delicious spread on left over chicken breast and to dip my carrot sticks in. You can also gently reheat this - again in a double boiler - to bring back to the warm, pourable texture. Cold it is more like a thick mayo, or a very soft and creamy butter.

Carrot-Sweet Potato cake as a burger "bun" with mayo.

Fennel Meatball Zucchini Pasta

Travel lunch: zoodles, sauce, and meatballs!

The zucchini is taking over! I've been rotating zucchini, green beans, and cucumbers among the three meals of the day all week - they are prolifically abundant in my garden. Mostly I've been eating the very basic sauteed zucchini (with onions, or bacon, or plain), but I am also eating a fair amount of "zoodles." This recipe also utilizes some garden tomatoes (those are slower in my garden, so I used up some of last year's frozen ones) in the sauce. The fennel in the meatballs was nice with the fresh basil. I actually ate these meatballs with both pesto sauce, and this simple tomato-basil one. Both were delicious.

Fennel meatballs
1 lb beef or venison
1/2 small onion, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
freshly ground pepper
1 egg
1 T coconut flour

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix ingredients together and form into 1" balls. Place on a rimmed cookie sheet or cake pan in a single layer and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
3. Serve over zucchini noodles with pesto or tomato basil sauce.

Tomato-Basil Sauce
1/2 small onion, diced
1 T fat (lard, ghee, coconut oil)
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
1/2 tsp salt, more to taste
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
big handful fresh basil, chopped

1.  Heat fat in a heavy saucepan. Saute onions until translucent, then add tomatoes. Simmer for 5-10 minutes to cook down.
2. Add remaining sauce ingredients, and adjust seasonings to taste. Continue to simmer another 5-10 minutes until desired thickness. 

Lemon chia seed pudding

My Charming Companion has been doing lots of blood sugar experimentation of late - he is being vigilant about keeping his blood sugar in check to prevent any possible blood sugar-related health issues. I read one of the books he has about diabetes - it's by this guy who has type 1 diabetes who was an engineer, and later become a doctor just so he could share what he has learned about diabetes and be taken seriously. His information is counter to general diabetic practice - but basically he has found a way for diabetics to live healthy lives. He also purports that diabetes (or what western medicine calls "pre-diabetic") is actually the cause of death for many people, not heart disease or whatever comes after. He says blood sugar issues are the reason, and he has basically found a way to keep blood sugar spikes from happening in diabetics. And it is of course all diet, and self awareness about what particular foods spike a person's particular blood sugar. Which means lots and lots of checking on a glucometer.

Anyway - all this digression to say that My Charming Companion has discovered that he can't really eat many carbs in the afternoons and evenings. So there was some weekend experimentation about what to fry fish in for next month's boundary waters trip (it had been rice flour). Turns out ground up pork rinds mixed with Kraft parmesan cheese works great. (Neither product typically being in the cupboard - but both actually being free of weird added products?!) There was also some pudding experimentation to try to find something sweet to eat (and maybe sans chocolate for night-time caffeine sensitivities).

Which leads me to this post. This recipe does have some honey in it - so if you have blood sugar issues, increase the stevia and eliminate the honey, or if you don't want stevia, increase the honey. It turned out really nice and lemony and creamy. And as chia seeds are - it was super easy.

Lemon Chia Pudding
5 tablespoons chia seeds (I used white)
1 can coconut milk
1/4 c coconut water or water
2 teaspoons honey, plus 4-6 drops stevia
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
pinch salt

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl. Leave out on counter for another 5-10 minutes, stirring two more times and making sure chia seeds are not clumped up. Put in the fridge overnight, or for a couple of hours. The final product will be a little bit soupy and not totally firm. I ate mine with some toasted coconut flakes and some toasted pepitas - yum!

Paleo Granola

Peaches, granola, and coconut milk!

This summer brought my first attempt at paleo granola - I just love fresh berries or fruit with granola on top, and I hadn't had anything like in a couple of years. So when I got a bounty of juneberries from my neighbor's tree this year (she went out of town right at peak juneberry time), it inspired some granola making. I tried a few recipes, including one from the 21 Day Sugar Detox lady that was sweetened only with a not-yet-ripe banana. I liked that one, but found I preferred a moderately (as in not-very-sweet) honey-sweetened version better. The "banola" recipe was also a little chewy, and I wanted crunchier granola.

The basic concept of paleo granola is pretty simple: combine nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, some fat and sweetener and bake. Some folks use an egg or egg white to help with the crunch, and I preferred that in my two comparison recipes. The one with egg white was a little drier and more crisp in the end product, but also a little bit less clumpy. The nuts are also interchangable for whatever you have handy.

Paleo Granola
1 c. almonds
1 c. cashews
1 c. pecans
1 c. unsweetened coconut flakes
1 c. pepitas
1/2 c. sunflower seeds
1 egg white
1 T water
1/4 - 1/3 c. honey*
1/4 c. coconut oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon (opt)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 c. raisins or dried fruit

*I use 1/4 c plus 6 drops stevia

1. Put nuts and coconut flakes in food processor and pulse/process until chopped up so there are still some good size pieces - some of it will be pretty chopped, just stop before the whole thing turns to a nut flour consistency.
2. Empty nuts and coconut into large bowl, and add pepitas and sunflower seeds.
3. In smaller bowl, whisk egg white and water. Add honey/stevia, coconut oil, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. I needed to heat my honey/coconut oil so they would be liquid.
4. Stir wet ingredients into nut and seed mix and coat. It will look fairly wet and be a bit clumpy.
5. Spread granola onto a cookie sheet or baking pan. Bake at 300 degrees for about 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so. Take the granola out when the mix is nicely browned. Add your raisins and and let sit for another 15-20 minutes to cool and harden.
6. Spoon into a bowl, top with some fruit and/or coconut milk, and eat! This stores well in a sealed jar (wait til it's all the way cooled first). I had no problem storing it for a couple of weeks, and it could likely go longer.

This is the 21DSD "banola" for comparison: more clumpy, less crisp. Still delicious though.

Thai/Hmong Larb Salad

I have made this dish twice in the last few weeks because it is so great to eat with garden cucumbers and makes a really good work lunch. I used to make this salad back in my vegetarian days with mock duck (after discovering it at Chang Mai Thai restaurant), but that was years and years ago, and I had sort of forgotten about it. Then I went to the World Street Kitchen a few weeks ago and had the lemongrass meatballs wrapped in lettuce.* They triggered my memory of larb salad, which gets wrapped in lettuce or eaten with cucumbers (and rice, traditionally). I realized they are a perfect paleo food item - especially at this time of year.
*The meatballs and pickled cucumbers at WSKwere delicious, btw. I recommend them for some easy paleo eating out.)

I created a recipe based on a few I found online, and then "paleo-izing" them, which really just meant not using any rice flour. This recipe is also set up for what is currently in my garden...if it were green onion season, those would be in there instead of regular onions - so modify accordingly. Garlic would also be good, and is traditional - but I can't eat it so it is not in this version.

Larb Salad
1 T lard or coconut oil
1 lb ground or minced beef
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 tsp chili pepper flakes (or sliced/minced hot chili pepper)
1-2 Tbsp fish sauce, to taste
lime juice to taste (I use the juice of 1/2 a lime)
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tsp coconut aminos/tamari
1 big handful chopped cilantro
2 big handfuls chopped mint
(some minced lemongrass or kafir lime leaves are also good if you have them)

1. Heat fat in pan and add onions. Saute until beginning to become translucent, then add chili pepper and beef. Cook until meat is browned.
2. Transfer beef/onion mix to a bowl, and stir in remaining ingredients. It should be well-seasoned and richly flavored since you eat it with crisp veggies. Adjust the lime juice/fish sauce/aminos to your liking.
3. Serve with lettuce and cucumbers - you can scoop the larb up on cucumber planks, or wrap the larb in lettuce. It's delicious! And translates well at room temp for a work lunch.

Easy Zucchini Noodle Bowl

It's been 4 months since I last posted, and for some reason after breakfast today, I thought - I think I'll post this one?! So here I am.

Mayday!

Since the last posting, Mayday happened, I went to the boundary waters, attended several lovely wedding/love festivities, visited Colorado, and watched a lot of Lynx basketball! And did garden tending and cooking in there too...some of which I may post about if I get back into the swing of things on the blog.

Boulder mountains

My gardening got a late start due to the late spring and being up north, but things are looking alright as we head into fall. The cucumbers and green beans are bountiful, with zucchini and eggplant not far behind. I'm hoping the fall lasts long enough for at least a few good winter squash, but we'll see!


I made a pork roast in the crockpot yesterday, and had some leftover broth from all the juices in there. I inevitably freeze that cup of pork broth and it gets lost in my freezer, so this morning I decided to just use it right away in an easy breakfast soup: zucchini noodles (or "zoodles"), some arugula, eggs and a bit of left over pork belly. It was super delicious, and in aftermath I realized it was partly inspired by a zucchini noodle bowl recipe I saw on a blog called Studio Snacks. All of the recipes are free of major allergins (wheat, dairy, soy and grains) and Cherry (the blogger) calls them "vegatable-forward" meals, which I find charming. Many are also Cantonese recipes since she grew up in Hong Kong. It's a new fave recipe checkout spot. My version is way simplified though.

Easy zucchini noodle bowl (for one!)
1 small zucchini
handful arugula (or spinach or swiss chard)
1/2 -1c. pork or chicken bone broth
fish sauce
coconut aminos
salt
slice of pork belly (opt)
egg or two
basil, chopped (opt)

1. Make zucchini noodles via mandoline and set aside.
2. Heat broth in a pot and keep on a low simmer. Add a dash of fish sauce, aminos, and salt if your broth is unsalted.
3. Cook pork and egg! I had pork belly left overs in the fridge, so I just cut a slice and re-heated it. If yours is raw, cook your slice/s longer. I fried my egg in the same pan as the pork belly.
4. While everything is cooking, get your bowl and fill it with the raw zucchini noodles and arugula. Pour the hot broth over the top (that will wilt the veggies to a nice texture) and top with fried egg and pork belly.
5. Serve with sriracha and chopped fresh basil on top! Cut green onions or garlic scapes would also be delicious here if you've got them.