Cauliflower Couscous!

So after experimenting with cauliflower 'rice' I decided it actually tasted a lot more like couscous...which led me to this recipe!

This is the first inventive paleo recipe I have actually put into practise since getting back to uni..my house mates were quite disgusted at the thought of a blended cauliflower and told me to just stick some rice on but I must say they were all plesantly surprised...you never know, we could be the first fully paleo student household by the end of the year!

Ingredients
1 cauliflower
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 onion
1 courgette
1 fresh chili 
2 chicken breasts
Garlic - I prefer to use Gourmet Garden garlic, ready pressed, in a tube, saves time and smelly hands!
salt and pepper to season
Olives

1) Cut the courgette, peppers and half the onion up into roastable chunks! Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and maybe some dried herbs too and pop in the oven for about 30 mins.
2) Dice the other half of the onion and the chili, removing the seeds first, and cut the chicken into chunks.
3) Fry the onion and garlic and chili in a pan for a few minutes in oil with salt and pepper to season.
4) Now add the chicken and more salt and pepper if needed.
5) Cut the cauliflower up into big chunks then place in a food processor and process until a powdery texture - a bit like couscous.
6) When the chicken is almost cooked through add the cauliflower and cook for about 3-5 mins until all heated through. At the last minute stir in the roasted veg.
7) Serve with some olives on top!

Chocolate Orange Bars

This is a recipe I found on www.crossfittameside.com - I forwarded it to my Mum before I tried it and when I visited her at the weekend she had made a batch and I cannot describe how amazing they are! Chocolate orange eat your heart out! They are totally paleo friendly...but you won't believe it!

Ingredients

200g Dates
200g Cashew Nuts
50g Sultanas
20g Cocoa Powder (Green & Blacks Organic Cocoa Powder is nice)
Zest of 1 orange

1) Whizz up the cashew nuts in a food processor until finely chopped.
2) Add all the other ingredients and whizz again until they are all blended and sticking together.
3) Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and roll using a rolling pin or just your hands until flat then cut into bars.

This is Mum's effort, not mine, so might have to take back what I said about her cooking skills earlier..!

Squash chips

Here is an easy recipe which is a great alternative to chips!

These are home grown squashes which we had loads of so it was good to find something that we wanted to eat lots of. I'm not entirely sure what variety of squash they were  - they looked like butternut squashes but weren't quite as sweet - but this would work really well with butternut squash and maybe some cumin seeds too!

Ingredients

1 squash
Olive oil
Schwartz minced garlic - this is another great Schwartz spice - it is basically just dried garlic but works really well with this
Salt and Pepper

1) Peel the squash and cut it into chips - thin or chunky depending how you like them!
2) Drizzle with olive oil and then season with salt, pepper and minced garlic
3) Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes till nice and crispy!

Not the best picture in the world! These would be great with a nice homemade paleo friendly mayo!

Turkey Aubergine Bake

This was a bit of a mishmash of things that were left in the fridge - but it worked out very nicely indeed! I probably would have done this with chicken but it was actually really nice with turkey and it stayed much more tender than chicken ever seems to do with this much cooking!

Ingredients

Turkey breast
1 onion diced
1 red pepper diced
1 green pepper diced
2 cloves of garlic
1 tin tomatoes
1 large aubergine
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to season
1 teaspoon of paprika
Black olives

1) Slice the aubergine into circles, season with salt and pepper and add a bit of oil and bake for about 10 minutes to soften them up.
2) Heat the olive oil in a pan then crush the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds to release the flavour but not enough to brown it.
3) Add the onion and cook till soft.
4) Now add the peppers and add salt and pepper and paprika. Cook for a few more minutes until soft.
5) Add the turkey and cook for about 1 min until it is white but not cooked all the way through. This way the turkey will be more tender.
6) Add the tin tomatoes and black olives, bring to the boil then simmer with the lid off until the sauce has reduced and is a bit thicker.
7) Line a shallow oven proof dish with the aubergines then top with the sauce and bake for about 10-15 minutes.

Roasted Pilau Cauliflower

I have recently discovered a great Schwartz seasoning - Pilau Rice seasoning.

With the Thai Red Beef Curry what I did was roasted some cauliflower using this and it was delicious - unfortunately no photos of the end results as it was far too delicious and we were far too keen to tuck in - but give it a go yourselves!

Roasted Pilau Cauliflower

1 cauliflower
Sesame Oil
Schwartz Pilau Rice Seasoning

1) Cut the cauliflower up into good size pieces
2) Boil or steam for about 3-4 mins until tender but not too soft.
3) Place on a baking tray and sprinkle with pilau seasoning and sesame oil to stop it burning too much.
4) bake for about 15-20 mins until nice and brown.

I think this would also work really well as a seasoning for cauliflower rice - a really easy recipe to make and a great substitute for rice - personally I think it takes a bit more like couscous but either way it's great for making you feel like you're getting a bit of carbs..but in a healthy way!

Cauliflower Rice

1 Cauliflower
Olive oil
Schwartz Pilau Rice seasoning

1) Cut the head of the cauliflower up into chunks then place in a food processor until very small.
2) Not fry the cauliflower for a few minutes in oil, adding the pilau rice seasoning until warm but still a bit crunchy.

Thai Beef and Mango Curry

This is a recipe which I developed from Nigella Lawson's Red Prawn and Mango curry recipe...in fact the only thing the two recipes really have in common now is that they are thai curries with mango...but credit where credit is due!

Ingredients -

Sesame oil

Thai red curry paste (I'm quite proud to say I made my own using a delia recipe - it's a bit of a faff to make but it makes a lot and you can freeze it for future use..and it was delicious!)
Beef - any cut your desire!
Tinned bamboo shoots
1 tin coconut milk
250 ml chicken stock
1 mango diced


1) Heat two tablespoons of red thai curry paste in sesame oil for about 1 min to let all the flavours out.

2) Add your beef and cook for about 1 min until all the beef is coated in the paste.

3) Now add the stock, bamboo shoots and coconut milk and bring to the boil then simmer on a low heat with the lid off for about 20 mins until the curry becomes thicker.

4) If your mango is nice and ripe add it at the very end and bring the curry back up to the boil for about 1 minute. If it is not so ripe then add it with the bamboo shoots, stock and coconut milk.

This recipe is really delicious and very easy and the best bit is you can substitute or add any ingredients you like! The orginal recipe was lovely too and definitely worth checking out.

I would recommend serving this with cauliflower rice or pilau roasted cauliflower - recipes for those to follow!

The beginning...

I am a bit of a new comer to this Paleo thing but nonetheless I am already hooked! 

Inspired by a girl at my gym who was looking fantastic she let me into her little secret...at first I thought it sounded far too difficult - not to mention boring - but my Mum and I eventually talked each other into it and I haven't looked back since!

After only a few weeks I have begun to develop a small but deliciously formed repertoire of paleo friendly recipes developed from other paleo bloggers, my old favourite meals with paleo twists and other simply from what is left in the fridge.

As I am now heading back to Uni and leaving my domestically challenged mother to fend for herself I'm hoping to encourage her from a far...and keep up my motivation for making delicious paleo meals with my paleo buddy not so close at hand!