Nom Nom Paleo
Month
Contrary to popular belief, eating Paleo doesn’t mean your plate is piled high with red meat and bacon. It may have been true for me when I first started eating this waaaay back in 2010—because as a semi-vegetarian indoctrinated in the low-fat, high-carb mantra of the 90s, it’d been a long time since I’d eaten a nice, fatty piece of animal protein, and I was making up for lost meat. But these days, my typical plate consists mostly of vegetables, along with a palm-sized portion of high quality protein. No matter what our dietary stripe, I think we can all agree that eating more vegetables is a good thing.
My friend Tess Masters, who just happens to be a smart, sassy vegan (yes, I’m friends with vegans!), recently released her latest cookbook, The Perfect Blend, and it’s packed with delicious gluten-free and vegan recipes you can blitz up in your blender or food processor. As you’d expected, this cookbook includes some smoothie recipes, but the concoctions that really piqued my interest were the creamy dairy-free dips and sauces. Case in point: I’ve been making the Sweet Potato and Cashew Dip non-stop for the past few weeks. This creamy, savory, and tangy curry-infused dip is so lip-smackingly delicious that I got my non-Paleo pals and mom(!) addicted as well. If you struggle with eating your vegetables, just dunk them in this dip. You’ll be hooked, too!
For the timing challenged: The two rate-limiting steps in this recipe are roasting the sweet potato (which takes 45 minutes to an hour) and soaking the cashews (Tess recommends soaking the cup of raw cashews in 2 cups of warm water mixed with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice for 2 to 4 hours).
To speed things up:
Ready to blitz your way to happiness?
A few days ago, I received this email from one of my Nomsters:
Hi Michelle!
I’ve been following your site for about a year, and slowly delving into this new Paleo lifestyle.
We’re immersing ourselves in eating healthy, but I’m having significant issues in one area. Even Google is not my friend for ideas…
We own a construction company, and my husband’s office is his truck, going from job site to job site. Normally, his eating habits are unhealthy because he grabs a bite when and where he can. He really wants to eat well and make significant life changes so we can make it to a ripe old age.
What can I pack him for lunch (and breakfast and snacks)? His day begins at about 5 am and lasts until 3 pm. I need to be able to plan accordingly and pack him hearty meals so he’s not tempted to hit a burger/taco stand.
He has a diverse appetite and eats pretty much anything. I just can’t figure it out. What should I pack that will last the day and will be able to taste good without being able to be heated? And hopefully it’s something he can eat while driving too, if necessary.
Any help you can offer a girl?
Thank you!
EM
Great question! Although I’ve posted about packing Paleo lunches in the past (and have generally recommended packing leftovers!), I know that many of us have to eat our midday meals on the go. Some of us aren’t able to heat up our lunches—let alone scrounge up a clean fork.
In fact, as the sole graveyard-shift pharmacist on duty at my local hospital for many years, I often had no choice but to scarf down cold meals whenever I had a spare moment. So over time, I developed a bunch of portable lunches that taste great cold. (For food safety, I do recommend keeping these items in insulated thermal food containers, freezable lunch bags, or mini coolers with ice packs.) Supplement these finger foods with some nuts, trail mix, jerky, cold cuts, and/or fruit, and you’ll be well-nourished and satisfied, even if you’re on the run. (Need tips on surviving the nightshift? Read this post.)
Scan through my site’s Recipe Index (or go through my iPhone/iPad app or cookbook), and you’ll find tons of portable, Whole30-friendly dishes to pack for work or school. But if you’re feeling overwhelmed, start with this list:
Feeling a little stir-crazy because you’re trapped indoors due to the winter apocalypse? Or are you frustrated that you can’t find nourishing Whole30 eats when you’re dining out? Before you fall face-first into a pizza, simmer a big pot of soup!
Soup is the ultimate one-bowl meal, and my Instagram followers can attest to the fact that it’s one of my go-to weeknight family meals—regardless of the season. Unless I’m following a particular recipe, I tailor the contents of my soup to what we like to eat or whatever I have sitting in the fridge. Soup is the best clean-out-your-fridge meal ’cause almost everything tastes great simmered in a savory broth. That said, it’s always important to start with a good broth base—but you can easily and cheaply make that at home, too.
Folks are always asking me where to find “good bones” to make bone broth. I like to buy bone-in cuts of meat (e.g., chicken thighs, whole chickens, bone-in pork shoulder roasts, oxtails) and stockpile the bones in a freezer bag until I have enough to make a pot of soup. Also, whenever I see high-quality bones for sale at the store, I scoop ’em up and stash ’em in my chest freezer. Often, I’ll make broth with a combination of raw and cooked bones because that’s what I happen to have on hand.
By the way, I don’t normally combine bones from different animals (like beef bones and pork bones)—with one exception: I mix chicken and pork bones because the resulting savory broth reminds me of the soups my mom used to make when I was growing up.
The key to a delicious and gelatin-packed broth (one that turns into meaty Jell-O in the fridge) is to combine meaty bones (flavor!) with joint bones (collagen!). If your broth doesn’t gel in the fridge, try adding a couple of chicken feet, oxtails, or a pork knuckle to ensure adequate collagen next time. To amp up the umami in my broths, I also toss in a couple of dried shiitake mushrooms and a splash of fish sauce. I used to add vinegar to my broth, too, but not anymore: I don’t think it improves the nutrition dramatically and I don’t like sour broth. But hey: You do you.
Ready to get your soup on?
Happy New Year! Are you committing to a January Whole30 but not sure where to start? Don’t worry—I’ve got you covered, my loyal Nomster! After a month of eating not-so-healthy holiday treats, many of us are looking to hit the dietary reset button to start the New Year off with a bang. January’s the perfect time to remind ourselves of how nourishing food can positively affect our health and wellness, so let’s get started TODAY.
Longtime readers know that I’ve completed several Whole30 protocols in years past—and that I do my best to eat mindfully throughout the year. Many of you have successfully completed a Whole30, too. If that’s you, welcome back!
But for those of you who are new to Paleo, here’s a quick intro: the Whole30 is a tried-and-true 30-day dietary reset that eliminates all the foods that could potentially mess you up big time. (Yes, “mess you up big time” is the scientific term.) Over the past few years, “Paleo” has come to mean a lot of different things, but consistent with my personal definition, the Whole30 is all about making sure you’re eating real food that’s more healthful than harmful.
What exactly is the Whole30? In a nutshell, for 30 days, you commit to cutting out the bad-for-you stuff, and eating whole, nutrient-dense foods instead. It may take you a couple of weeks to adjust, but by Day 30, you’ll feel like a brand new person—and you’ll have a much better understanding of how different foods affect your well-being. After your Whole30, you’ll be able to systematically reintroduce foods back into your diet to see how they make you feel, which’ll help you develop your own nutritional blueprint going forward. A Whole30 will help you figure out which foods will help make you the best version of yourself.
Winter doldrums sapping your cooking mojo? Get your groove back with this simple, hearty, and Whole30-friendly stew. If you’ve got an Instant Pot (or any other pressure cooker), this comforting beef stew can be ready in about an hour, and you only have to futz with it for about 15 minutes at the start. Plus, there’s nothing weird in it—unless you think of fish sauce as “weird,” and you shouldn’t. If you’re gonna cook along with me, fish sauce is something you should always have stocked in your pantry.
Use this recipe as a foundational beef stew. You can throw it together with pantry basics and tough ’n cheap beef cuts like chuck roast, boneless short ribs, and brisket. This dish tastes even better the next day, so if you like to plan ahead, make it up to four days in advance and keep it in your fridge. You can freeze it for later, too. When you’re ready to reheat it, you can add extra vegetables to make it a complete meal.
Ready to pressure-cook your way to a pot of happiness?
Wanna know my latest trick to get my kids to eat more vegetables? I transform sweet potatoes into “swoodles” with a spiralizer, roast them, and toss ’em with crispy bacon bits. Yes, I know adding bacon is cheating; after all, smoky, salty porky bits make everything taste better. But even without them, the crunchy combination of roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions—finished off with a shower of fresh herbs and a splash of lime juice—will win over your pickiest eaters. And I’m not just talking about children. Even my finicky father happily tucked into a plate of swoodles thinking this was some sort of newfangled noodle dish.
A few tips before we dig in:
Let’s spiralize some vegetables!
Looking to get more fish in your family’s belly but freaked out about how to cook it properly? Well, I’ve got a fool-proof and tasty recipe for you. Even picky little Ollie is full of praise for this quick dish (“it tastes like lasagna fish!”) and scarfs it down without (an excessive number of) complaints.
This dish is on constant rotation in our house because it utilizes a few ingredients I already have stocked in my kitchen: defrosted fish fillets from my freezer and store-bought Paleo-friendly sauces in my fridge or pantry. (Of course, the dish will only taste as good as your sauce, so pick a delicious one with high-quality ingredients.) Plus, I only dirty one pot, and the fish is ready in just 15 minutes. Especially for those of you who feel like you cooked and ate too much over the holidays, this simple, healthy weeknight dish will get you back on the straight and narrow.
As a matter of fact, it’s so simple that I’m a little sheepish about posting a step-by-step recipe. I used store-bought sauce, and my only flourish was to add a sprinkle of fresh herbs at the end, so this is barely a recipe at all. In fact, when I texted my pal Diana Rodgers about posting this recipe on my blog, her reply was this: “LOL. Put fish in Rao’s sauce and turn stove on? I’m on to you. #faker.”
Guilty as charged. I’ve always been about finding and sharing shortcuts to deliciousness, so call me a faker if you want, but I like to think of myself as a lazy genius. (I’m modest, too.)
Here’s how to make this fab fish recipe…
Caught off guard by the holiday season? Believe it or not, it’s already time to get gifty again! But don’t fret: armed with my holiday gift guide, you’ll find stuff that fits both your budget and your pals’ tastes—that is, if they like the exact same things I do. As in years past, I’ve compiled a few things that have delighted me this year. (If you’re curious, you can also check out my previous gift guides for 2013, 2014, and 2015, too—virtually all of my previously recommended items still spark joy in my house!)
Except for some of the Paleo cookbooks on this year’s list (which I received from publishers as review copies), I personally bought every single item on my list after doing exhaustive research. After all, if it’s not something worth spending my own money on, I shouldn’t be recommending it. (Full disclosure: Although I’m not paid to endorse any of the stuff in this gift guide, if you follow my affiliate links to purchase them, I do get a small percentage as a commission without costing you an extra penny.)
Ready to lighten your wallet?
For Kitchen Gadget Enthusiasts:
Instant Pot IP-DUO60: This kitchen tool has been on my holiday gift guide for three years in a row ’cause more than any other appliance, it’s the item I gift to loved ones. I know I sound like a broken record, but the Instant Pot will change your life and streamline the process of getting tasty hot food in your craw. There’s a new 8-quart version available, but my favorite is the 7-in-1, 6-quart version. (Psst: i you already have an Instant Pot but are intimidated by it, take it out of the box and use it! I’ve got a ton of step-by-step recipes on my site that will show you the light.)
ThermoPop: I’m partial to the Thermapen because it truly is the most accurate and quickest reading meat thermometer in the world, but it costs close to $100. Luckily, the Thermapen’s mom and dad just popped out a more affordable younger sibling, the ThermoPop! This lollipop-lookalike is rated #1 by Cook’s Illustrated and Serious Eats, so you don’t need to worry about whether it works as well as its older brother/sister. And as I’ve said before, if you’re gonna cook meat or fish properly, you gotta invest in a great thermometer, so get one here.
The Inspiralizer and Oxo Spiralizer: You know all those zany vegetable noodles you’ve seen on Pinterest? You can easily make them at home with a spiralizer. There are tons of options on the market, and I’ve owned four different brands myself. Today, I still own two veggie spiralizers because I’m torn between two models: The Inspiralizer and Oxo’s new spiralizer.
The Inspiralizer is an awesome tool created by Ali Maffucci, the spiralizing queen behind Inspiralized. If she’s gonna invent a spiralizer, you know it’s gotta be one of the best. I love that the blades are attached to the gadget, and you just twist the dial to change it. Plus, you can spiralize thinner vegetables because the central coring blade that keeps them in place has a narrower diameter than other spiralizers. The one drawback is that you can’t plop the Inspiralizer in the dishwasher.
The other spiralizer I recommend is the brand new one released by Oxo. I love that it’s super easy to clean—everything is dishwasher safe—and it has a giant suction cup on the bottom that keeps it in place.
You can’t go wrong with either version if you’re looking to get some more fun-shaped vegetables in your life. (If you want a cheaper hand-held version, this Oxo spiralizer is pretty cool, too, and would make a great stocking stuffer!)
Oxo Cold Brew Maker: Do you really need a gadget to make cold brew when you can use a French press or just a mason jar and a filter? Maybe not, but recently, I’ve been making a weekly batch of super strong, non-acidic cold brew in this nifty contraption. Plus, it looks cool and makes a great gift for your cold brew loving coffee snob friends.
For Your Fancy Salt-Loving Pals:
No matter what your dietary stripe, all of us can agree that fancy salts are a fab hostess gift. (Unless you’re low sodium, of course.) I’ve tried many brands of salt blends over the years but the ones I gift the most are as follows:
Jacobsen Salt Co. Gift Set: I’m obsessed with the plain and infused salts from this Oregon-based company. The sampler is a great way for people to try out all the different flavors.
Omnivore Salt: The Original and Limone are the perfect seasoning blends when I’ve got some plain protein or veggies that need a flavor boost.
Primal Palate Organic Spices: Bill and Hayley have created my favorite seasoning salts on the market. The 3-pack Signature Blends is the best way to add some spice to your meals.
My Magic Mushroom Powder: If you want to get all crafty, make my Magic Mushroom Powder and package it into cute jars for your umami-loving friends. I’ve got all the instructions (and even printable labels!) here.
For Cookbook Lovers:
A bunch of Paleo OGs released follow-up cookbooks or updated editions to their seminal tomes this year:
Mark Sisson’s The New Primal Blueprint: The original Primal Blueprint was one of the first books I read when I transmogrified into a grokky Paleo eater back in 2010. I love Mark’s no-nonsense writing and inspiring testimonials, and his new edition is packed with updated information.
Diane Sanfilippo’s Practical Paleo, Second Edition: This hefty reference is one of my favorite Paleo books of all time, and I recommend it to all Paleo newbies. The second edition has more than 50 new recipes, new meal plans, and new photos. If you’re a visual learner, Diane’s clean intuitive design and infographics will delight you.
Melissa Joulwan’s Well Fed Weeknights: My kitchen soul sister has a brand new cookbook that will have you getting food on the table every night in 45 minutes or less and without sacrificing your time, energy, or taste. Almost all of them are Whole30-compliant to boot!
Melissa Hartwig’s Food Freedom Forever & Whole30 Cookbook: Years ago, this lady changed my life and my relationship with food, and I will be forever grateful. Food Freedom Forever is a fantastic follow-up for anyone who has done a Whole30 and wants to figure out how to reasonably navigate the rest of his or her eating life without going bananas. If you’re doing a Whole30 in 2017, The Whole30 Cookbook will be your lifesaver. It’s packed with 150 compliant recipes (and you might even spy a few of mine in there)!
Danielle Walker’s Celebrations: I love Danielle’s beautiful new cookbook because her grain-free celebratory recipes are spot-on (as always!) and will satisfy any craving. Don’t you want Danielle holding your hand through the madness of holiday cooking?
Simone Miller’s Paleo Soups and Stews: ’Tis the season to simmer a pot of bubbling soup or stew, and Simone is the perfect person to show you how to do it. I love that her cookbook is also filled with a whole chapter on grain-free accompaniments that many Paleo eaters miss, like grain-free biscuits, rolls, and noodles.
Fed & Fit and Lexi’s Clean Kitchen: Have you checked out the debut cookbooks from these two super talented and charming bloggers, Cassy Joy Garcia and Alexis Kornblum? I love following Cassy and Lexi on their respective blogs and on social media, and their new cookbooks are just as fun as their personalities!
UPDATE: Our second cookbook, Ready or Not, won’t be out until August 2017, but you can read the deets and preorder it here for next X-mas!
Non-Paleo Cookbooks That Inspire Me:
Julia Turshen’s Small Victories: Absolutely everything in Julia’s cookbook is crave-worthy and delicious. I love how she builds up an inexperienced cook’s confidence by teaching him or her to make simple, big-flavor dishes that work the very first time.
Cook’s Science by Cook’s Illustrated: Three cheers for food science! This giant tome is crammed with geeky tips and tricks to ensure the perfect dish arrives on the dinner table. It’ll appeal to all the food nerds in your life who always starts their sentences with WHY.
Food52 A New Way to Dinner: A Playbook of Recipes and Strategies for the Week Ahead: This beautifully designed cookbook gives clueless cooks the tools to get home-cooked meals on the table on a daily basis. Although the recipes aren’t all Paleo, you’ll still get lots of good ideas on how to meal plan for the week ahead by cooking a bunch of flexible, foundational stuff on the weekend.
For Your Pals Who Need Help Folks with Meal-Planning:
Real Plans: Know someone who loves the idea of meal planning, but wants it 100% customizable to his/her dietary preferences? Give ’em a subscription to Real Plans, the coolest online meal planner on the planet. Read about why I partnered with the team behind Real Plans and why I love them so much here. If you want to give a subscription to a pal, just provide a gift email and message when you get to the checkout screen. Real Plans will send an order confirmation to your email and login instructions to the person receiving your gift!
For the Special Introvert in Your Life:
Bose QuietComfort 35 Headphones: These wireless, noise reduction headphones were an indulgent gift to myself for my birthday. As an introvert who needs to get work done in public places, these portable over-ear headphones are my lifeline. They’re always packed in my backpack because I feel lost without them.
Okay, Nomsters—that’s it for this year! Remember: it’s the thought that matters most over the holidays, so prioritize spending time, not money, with your pals. But a cool gift doesn’t hurt!
Yearning for comfort in a bowl? This one-pot, umami-packed soup fits the bill and it can be in your mouth in about 30 minutes. It’s inspired by one of my mom’s recipes, and my kids can vouch for the fact that she’s the best cook on the planet. (They remind me of this constantly.) Night after night for years on end, after long days of number-crunching at the office, my mother cooked amazing family-style Cantonese suppers. Each meal was capped off with a huge bowl of savory soup—a different one every night.
Although my mom didn’t know the word “umami” back then, she was already demonstrating its power in all her dishes. As a kitchen ninja, she knew that by combining umami-packed ingredients, she’d end up with a final product that’s exponentially more delicious than the sum of its parts. It’s no wonder that one of my favorite of her soups featured pork ribs, Napa cabbage, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, potatoes, and broth—all ingredients that pop with umami. Try this recipe, and you’ll be astonished at how these simple ingredients come together to make an amazingly flavorful soup.
Because I’m way lazier than my mom, I recreated her soup as a hearty one-pot meal packed with meat and veggies. This mama ain’t got time to do more dishes on a busy weeknight. To cut down your hands-on cooking time even more, I’ve even included instructions for how to make this recipe in an electric pressure cooker.
Ready to get your soup on?
I love making soup in my pressure cooker. Without too much fuss, I can get a comforting meal on the table—and better yet, clean-up is a breeze. This cold-weather recipe for a spiced broccoli soup is a riff on a classic stovetop version on my site and in our first cookbook, but made even easier in an electric pressure cooker.
Weeknight “garbage soup” is on regular rotation at Nom Nom Paleo World Headquarters: I pull out whatever vegetables are left in my crisper and toss them in a pot with some prepared broth. This formula works with just about anything, but if you happen to scrounge up some broccoli florets and leeks in the fridge, you must make this blitzed cream of broccoli soup tonight.
Serves 6
Ingredients
I recently reached out to my good friend, Melissa Joulwan, to ask if I could share a sneak peek of one of the simple, flavor-packed recipes from her upcoming cookbook, Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less. Mel graciously agreed to reveal the recipe for her Paleo-fied Dan Dan Noodles (one of my faves from the book!) AND a bunch of tips and tricks for getting tasty weeknight meals on the table pronto.
Longtime Nomsters know that Mel is one of my favorite humans on the planet. When I first started eating Paleo back in 2010, her blog (formerly known as The Clothes Make The Girl) was a daily must-read for me; I loved catching up with Melicious, a former roller girl who crushed equally on Jane Eyre and Social D, threw heavy weights around the gym, and also happened to be a Paleo culinary wizard. As an ardent fangirl, I was nervous to finally meet her IRL at the inaugural Ancestral Health Symposium back in 2011, but she was a sweetheart. We instantly clicked, and we’ve been great pals every since. Over the years, I’ve been excited about every single one of her cookbook releases, and can’t wait for her latest collection, Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less, to hit the shelves. Just like the first two cookbooks in the Well Fed series, Well Fed and Well Fed 2 (read my review and a history of our friendship here), this one packs in as many delicious recipes and kitchen shortcuts as possible. So without further ado, I’m gonna turn it over to Mel!
Michelle and I have been friends for years—since before either of us had become cookbook authors—and we were drawn together by two things: (1) our shared love of eating food that’s so delicious you want to smash in your own face with joy, and (2) cursing. Michelle stole my heart when I realized she has tremendously good taste and can cuss like a sailor. But I promise my guest appearance here today will be free of questionable language, and I’m going to share a recipe with you that’s crazy-delicious, super-fast to make, and sure to please you and your family, no matter how picky some of those picky-pants might be.
If you’ve read my site or cooked from my previous cookbooks Well Fed and Well Fed 2, you know I’m a passionate advocate for what I call the Weekly Cookup: a batch cooking session once a week to stock your fridge so you can turn those cooked ingredients into meals before anyone gets too hangry. (You can learn more about this approach here.)
I still think that’s a great idea, and I know a lot of you do, too. But I’ve also heard concerns like these a lot:
“I don’t have time this week to do a big Weekly Cookup. Am I totally screwed?”
“I want to eat paleo, but going to multiple grocery stores wears me out. I just want to make recipes with stuff I can find at my regular store.”
“I just want to cook a dinner that makes everyone happy. If my kids and my husband eat it—and ask for seconds—I’m all good.”
“I get bored eating the same thing over and over, and my family HATES leftovers. I need recipes that taste good and can be made fast.”
Everyday challenges like those were the motivation for my new cookbook Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less. The recipes are inspired by food trucks, takeout favorites, and delicious things I’ve eaten on my travels, and all of them are made with ingredients you can buy at your neighborhood grocery store. Best of all, 100 of the 128 recipes can be cooked in about half an hour.
I learned a lot about how to cook quickly while I developed the recipes for this book, and I hope these tips will help you and your family eat the food you love every day—without feeling like you’ve become a full-time short-order cook. And at the end, I’ve shared a recipe from the book so you can try out your new tricks.
Don’t be fooled by their looks: these glam “Lazy Devils” are a cinch to throw together on the fly—especially if you hard “boil” your eggs in an Instant Pot, one of my all-time favorite electric appliances.
Hard boiled eggs are the epitome of emergency protein. I always try to stock a bunch in my fridge so I can pop one in my mouth if I’m too busy to cook a proper meal. Lately, I’ve been cooking them in my Instant Pot, because it’s effortless and fool-proof. In about 20 minutes from start to finish, I can get perfectly peelable hard cooked eggs. I’m going to show you the way I like ’em cooked, but if you have a stovetop pressure cooker or are super-particular about the exact doneness of your hard cooked eggs, you can follow these detailed instructions by my pal, Laura Pazzaglia. (No pressure cooker? Check out this post about how to cook them the old fashioned way.)
If you haven’t yet noticed my use of quotation marks around the word “boiled” in the title of this post, please note that these eggs are actually steamed in a pressure cooker and not boiled—but my instructions will yield hard cooked eggs all the same. With this method, I’ve found that a silicone steamer is a game changer ’cause it keeps the eggs from cracking during the cooking process and you won’t burn your hands when you take the eggs out of the Instant Pot!
Then, once you’ve got easy-to-peel hard cooked eggs in the fridge, you can whip together a batch of Lazy Devils. I introduced these dainty appetizers in our first cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Food For Humans, and they’re my secret weapon for potlucks, unexpected company, or weekday snacks. I’ve listed some of my favorite variations below, but feel free to let your tastes dictate your toppings!
Ready to stock your fridge with a bunch of hard cooked eggs and Lazy Devils?
When I was growing up, one of my mom’s weeknight dinner standards was a Cantonese steamed chicken dish with sliced shiitake mushrooms, ginger, and scallions. The combination of these umami-packed ingredients yielded a dish that tasted exponentially better than the individual parts—umami synergy in action!
Recently, my picky younger son, Ollie, declared that his grandmother’s cooking is far superior to mine (“no offense, mom, but poh-poh’s a better cook than you because she cooks with Chinese flavors—you’re number two”). I tell him that I agree with him 100 percent, but not to tell my mom. (I like to needle my mom, just like Ollie likes to needle me.) Ollie did throw me a bone, though: “I love your Cracklin’ Chicken, mom. I just wish you’d make it with Chinese flavors.”
Ollie never makes any special requests for recipes, so I decided that this was a challenge worth taking. Taking inspiration from both my mom’s Cantonese chicken dish and my friend Simone Miller’s Pan-Roasted Chicken with Bacon and Apples, I created this simple yet flavor-packed chicken dish with ingredients that remind me of my childhood. And did I mention that the chicken skin gets super crispy (like Cracklin’ Chicken!), the juicy meat is infused with tons of flavor, and you only dirty one pot?
I have a feeling this is gonna be your new favorite weeknight Whole30-friendly chicken dish…
Ch-ch-ch-chia! Oh, come on: I know I’m not the only child of the 80s who wanted my own ’fro-rocking pottery animal. But who knew that the seeds that grew into the fuzzy green pelt on your favorite clay animal figurines would morph into popular media’s latest anointed super food?
Personally, I’m not convinced that chia seeds are a miraculously nutrient-dense food (you can read what these smart folks have to say about them here and here), but I do like that I can make a simple, thick pudding with no work. Plus, each serving packs a ton of fiber. (Yeah, I’m on old lady who loves my fiber. Yay! Fiber!)
I prefer using the whole seeds in my pudding ’cause the process is simple, and I like the resulting texture and flavor. I’ve tried blended the seeds with the flavored coconut milk to get a smoother pudding, but it yielded a gooey texture and extra bitterness from the pulverized seeds.
For this recipe, feel free to add more or less honey to your taste. I like just a smidge of sweetness because I typically eat my pudding with fresh fruit, so for me, a single tablespoon of honey is perfect. (You can watch my live Facebook cooking video if you’re more of a visual learner!)
Ready to make the easiest pudding imaginable AND get a free bag of chia seeds?
Many of you who follow me on Instagram know that last winter, we bought a house in Portland, and since then, we’ve been splitting our time between Oregon and the San Francisco Bay Area. For the past few years, our family’s been gradually eating our way through this beautiful city (which is one of the reasons we decided to set down roots in Portland), but now that we’ve established an outpost here, our pace has picked up. With the exception of Henry (who’s stuck telecommuting out of our home office), we’ve been out and about all summer long, exploring the nooks and crannies of our neighborhood, taking long hikes around town (and in the woods), and trekking all over in search of good eats (and the occasional Pokemon). The only problem? When I get home, I’m sweaty and tired, and in no mood to cook.
Thankfully, I’ve got an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker. With this indispensable appliance, I can throw in a bunch of seasonal ingredients and presto change-o!: a flavor-packed dinner is ready in no time at all, and my kitchen stays cool. Case in point: Pressure Cooker Summer Italian Chicken—a new recipe I’ve been testing. It’s a quick blast of summer, with juicy cherry tomatoes, fragrant fresh herbs, and buttery, briny green olives.
As always, I highly recommend that you use chicken thighs instead of boneless, skinless chicken breasts because they won’t dry out as easily. Plus, chicken thighs simply taste better (see Exhibit A: Cracklin’ Chicken). If you’re going to use bone-in chicken thighs, remove the skins before cooking and increase the cooking time to 15 minutes under high pressure.
I know you’re hot and tired, but peel yourself off the couch (you’re leaving unsightly sweat stains on it anyway) and go throw some ingredients in the pressure cooker!
Contrary to popular belief, most of my best friends IRL aren’t Paleo eaters. But who cares? I hang with a gal pal posse that meets for regularly scheduled meals and coffee dates to escape for an hour or two from our hectic schedules. These ladies help keep me sane, especially when I’ve been cooped up at home, cranking away on all things Nom Nom Paleo. Besides making me laugh every time we gab, my friends also keep me grounded in what “normal” folks want to eat. They’ve made clear that my Paleo-fied chocolate cake (a recipe that I’m testing for cookbook #2) passes their scrutiny, but they’re totally not onboard with my offal-filled delights. Despite our dietary differences, though, we do agree that all recipes should be family-friendly, easy yet flavor-packed, and filled with protein and veggies. If the dish can be made ahead, freezable, and portable, all the better.
Today, I’m dedicating this recipe to my gluten-lovin’ buddy and fellow posse member, Maria, who was thisclose to moving away with her family to the East Coast this summer. Luckily, fate intervened, and our “talking club” is intact for the foreseeable future. Inspired by a recent conversation about ground turkey—Maria’s favorite protein—I experimented in the kitchen with different vegetable and spice combinations to come up with the perfect savory bite. If you’re not a ground turkey super-fan like Maria, feel free to substitute ground chicken, pork, beef, bison, or lamb. (Heck, you can even throw in some ground hearts, too, if you’re feeling extra Paleo.) The tangy and sweet dipping sauce makes the turkey bites taste even better, but make sure you find a jam that’s sweetened with only fruit and isn’t packed with other crazy ingredients.
(If you want to watch a replay of me cooking these live in my kitchen, check out this Facebook video.)
Now, who’s ready to make these savory turkey “cookies”?
Balls. Balls, I tell you. BALLS.
Liar Balls, to be precise.
Those of you who have thumbed all the way to page 252 of our first cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Food For Humans, may remember our Liar Bars. These bars are my affectionate riff on a certain addictive brand-name snack bar that starts with the letter “L” and made with dates and nuts. My boys constantly remind me that although my tropical version is delicious, it’s still a knock-off. “Yours aren’t Lara Bars, Mommy. They’re Liar Bars.”
Sigh.
Liar Bars are insanely easy to make, but over the years, I’ve gotten even lazier. These days, I don’t even bother forming the no-cook dough into bars; instead, I just roll the sticky mixture into little orbs, and coat them in toasted, unsweetened shredded coconut.
I recently showed folks how to transform the bars into balls in this Facebook Live video—now, by popular request, I’m posting the recipe in full. Are you ready for it?
If you’ve been following me on Snapchat (my username is michitam over there!), you’ve noticed that I’ve been on a parchment packet kick lately, throwing together different proteins, vegetables, and sauces in a tidy paper package, which I then toss into the oven. I don’t normally have a game plan when I assemble these pouches. Instead, I just figure out what’s in my fridge and pantry, and use whatever’s available. By dinnertime, everyone gets an individual bundle filled with saucy meat and veggies that can be served over cauliflower rice, roasted veggies, or white rice (yes, we eat white rice occasionally without any issues). These parchment packets are easy to make, and the kids enjoy opening up a new “gift” every night.
Wanna make like Santa Claus at suppertime?
Sometimes, when you’ve got a good thing, you just have to show your gratitude for it. That’s how I feel about my chef sister Fiona’s zingy, herby green marinade—a recipe I originally shared here years ago. It’s a downright magical marinade that transforms chicken, pork, shrimp, and veggies into umami-packed meals in a jiffy.
I recently shared how to make Fiona’s phenomenal green marinade on Facebook Live, and I also demonstrated how to freeze extra marinade in these nifty silicone ice cube molds. That way, you can pop out a portioned cube of marinade anytime you’re making a desperation meal—something that happens in our house more often than I care to admit.
Recently, I’ve been using Fiona’s marinade to flavor fish and veggie parchment packets. In 30 minutes flat, this herby, healthy dinner’s on the table, and I’m looking like a kitchen hero.
Want to make some together?
If you’re looking for a Memorial Day grilled dish that will satisfy the pickiest carnivore in your house, this is it: Smashed Steak Skewers with Cherry Barbecue Sauce.
Psst! It’s Whole30-friendly, too!
Looking for more recipes? Head on over to my Recipe Index! You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my Webby Award-Winning iPhone® and iPad® app, and in my New York Times-bestselling cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel 2013).
Cherries are my spirit fruit. I frantically hoard ’em when they make their fleeting appearance at the local farmers’ market each early summer. These plump, ripe drupes are my secret kitchen hack, adding a triple punch of sweetness, tartness, and crimson brightness to any recipe—even savory ones. In fact, one of my favorite cherry-full recipes is Cherry Chicken, a fab Whole30-friendly recipe we created years ago for our Webby Award-winning app.
(Speaking of our app, if you find that it’s acting temperamental after updating to the latest version of Apple’s iOS, we’re so sorry! Our developers are working on resolving the issue, but until then, a quick fix is to delete the app completely off your device and download it again from the App Store. The download will be free as long as you’re using the original Apple ID. Thanks for hanging in there with us!)
I’m not gonna lie: your kitchen’s gonna look like a crime scene if you prepare this recipe with a sack o’ fresh cherries and a pitter. The red splatter gets everywhere, people—so make sure you line your counters with paper towels or a big plastic tarp like the guy in Dexter. (Yeah, you can make this chicken dinner without the mess by using frozen pitted cherries. But where’s the fun in that?)
You can either blitz the cherry sauce ahead of time and refrigerate the marinating chicken, or make it just before dinner—it’ll taste great regardless. However, I wouldn’t marinate the chicken for longer than a day ’cause the acidity will break down the texture of the chicken.
Watch me cook this in my home kitchen by clicking here!
**Please note that this chicken marinade will not result in a sticky-sweet saucy dish. The cherries lend a subtly sweet flavor that balances the savory notes. If you’re looking for a sticky-sweet chicken dish, make Orange Sriracha Chicken or Julie Bauer’s Sticky Sesame Teriyaki Chicken Wings. These two dishes aren’t Whole30-friendly, though!**
Ready to make a cherry chicken jubilee?
Many years ago, Henry came up with a quick and easy savory coconut pancake recipe. Feeling competitive inspired, I decided to come up with my own version stuffed with veggies and meat. When my husband tried one of my portable eggy pucks, he exclaimed that they tasted like Egg Foo Young.
I knew that Melissa Joulwan’s awesome site featured a great recipe for Paleo Egg Foo Young, but to be perfectly honest, I didn’t really know what egg foo young was actually supposed to taste like. After all, I grew up with the understanding that no self-respecting Chinese person ever orders this dish at an authentic Chinese restaurant.
Henry, on the other hand, grew up in the kitchen of his parents’ Chinese restaurant in the 1970s, which served up all the Westernized dishes that many Americans know so well: pot stickers, chow mein, deep-fried wontons, sweet-and-sour pork. To him, egg foo young was just a childhood favorite.
I didn’t encounter egg foo young until after I met Henry in college, and he took me to visit his family’s restaurant. But as soon as I took my first bite of these savory egg patties, I knew I had to have the recipe.
(By the way, eagle-eyed readers will note that I edited this recipe to reflect the latest version from our cookbook. The recipe I originally posted here back in 2011 was a bit different. If that’s the version you crave, just use 2 teaspoons of Penzeys Sunny Paris seasoning in place of the scallions and cilantro.)
Here’s a video of me making Egg Foo Young-ish with Chef Pete Evans in my home kitchen. Looks good, huh?
Ready for the updated recipe?
If you already own our cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Food For Humans, or our app, Nom Nom Paleo, you’ve already got the recipe for this chilly, crowd-pleasing treat. But it occurred to me last week that this recipe has never appeared on our blog. So this weekend, I whipped up a batch that Henry (and his eight-year-old assistant photographer, Lil-O) shot for the blog, and now everyone on the interwebs can make this dairy-free, refined sugar-free, ice-cream-maker-free dessert at home. (You can watch a video of me making this on Facebook Live in my home kitchen here.)
Ready to wow your friends and family?
Serves 4
Ingredients
In anticipation of the double-whammy of Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s Day, I present to you this super easy Mexican-inspired chicken taco recipe. Busy mamas will appreciate that this dump-it-in-and-forget-it recipe tastes exponentially better than the effort expended. Better yet, it’s so simple that your kitchen-challenged partner or kids can make it for you while you relax in front of the boob tube. Personally, I don’t always have the desire or energy to cook dinner, and my favorite meal is the one someone else cooks for me. Might as well make dinner prep easy on everyone, and just throw everything into an Instant Pot!
I’ve included directions for using either boneless and skinless breasts or thighs. I’m a thigh girl myself, but I tested and photographed this pressure cooker recipe using breasts—one of my least favorite cuts—because I know that many of you prefer it to chicken thighs. (See how much I love you guys? You’re welcome, chicken breast lovers!) I still recommend using chicken thighs in this recipe ’cause breasts can easily overcook in a pressure cooker if you don’t remove the chicken right away.
You can watch me demo how to make this dish on Facebook Live by clicking here.
Final note before we get started: my kiddos love using Siete Foods’ grain-free tortillas to wrap their tacos, but feel free to substitute lettuce leaves if you’re going old-skool Paleo or low-carb. You can also enjoy the savory chicken in omelets, or topped on salad greens. Olé!
Serves 6
Ingredients
Sometimes, my favorite “new” recipes are just mash-ups of old standbys. It’s kind of like when you look in your closet and suddenly realize that you can pair a favorite cardigan with a treasured skirt for a chic #OOTD. (To be honest, I have no idea what this is like in real life ’cause I only wear sweats and threadbare 20-year-old T-shirts from Gap Outlet, but you catch my drift.)
Along these lines, one of my fab new/old pairings is Fried Green Plantains with Mango + Avocado Salsa. I wish I could say I came up with this recipe revamp, but it was actually suggested to me when I was planning the menu for my Fresh Starts Chef Event dinner. I loved the idea so much that I’m gonna take all the credit for it.
Even though these recipes are already separately listed in my Recipe Index, I think it’s mean of me to make you click back and forth between two of my old posts, so I reshot ’em and smooshed both recipes together into one post. I’ve also added tips on how I like to slice mangos and juice limes like a boss. Time to level up your snacks, Nomsters!
Are you wondering what to make for dinner tonight? Spatchcock a whole chicken and slap on a Orange Dijon marinade! While you’re at it, broil a tray of asparagus and saute a skillet of simple cauliflower fried rice (made even easier if you start with frozen cauliflower rice).
Hey, it’s what I made for dinner the other night on Facebook Live. Check it out below or click here:
Any requests for future Facebook Live broadcasts?
Hey, everyone! Earlier this year, I participated in the IHH-UCSF Symposium on The Paleo Approach. It was an honor speaking at my alma mater about all things umami and listening to the other eye-opening talks by folks I respect and admire. And now, all the talks are now available for free(!), and you can watch my presentation, “The Art of Science of the 5th Taste: Umami” below:
If you want to catch the other presentations by Robb Wolf, Dr. Akil Palanisamy, Chris Kresser, Dr. Justin Sonnenburg, Dr. Chris Masterjohn, and Dr. Stephan Guyenet, check out this link here. (I loved Dr. Sonnenburg’s microbiome talk. In fact, I’ve gifted his and his wife’s book, The Good Gut, to many of my friends and family.)
Happy learning!
Lil-O, my picky younger son, recently anointed me with a lofty title: “The Queen of Being Good at Chicken.” When I asked him why he felt I deserved such an honorific, he shrugged and told me that he loves my chicken dishes (like Cracklin’ Chicken, Damn Fine Chicken, and Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken). Of course, he was quick to add a caveat: “No offense, mom, but Po-Po’s cooking is still a little better.” No offense taken—I’m fine with taking second place to my mom.
I’m not sure I’m the queen of anything, but we certainly do love roasted chicken here at Nom Nom Paleo World Headquarters as evidenced by all the poultry dishes in my Recipe Index. To keep my boys happy, I’m always trying to come up with flavor-packed chicken recipes that deliver the most bang for the buck. After a recent meal at a local French bistro, I was reminded that Dijon-style mustard makes for a fantastic marinade base for chicken. But can a restaurant-quality mustard-marinaded chicken be made simply, and at home? How minimalist could I make the recipe?
After some experimentation, I came up with this 5-ingredient (not including salt) marinade, and it’s pretty much the bee’s knees. And after trying a bite, Lil-O confirmed that my new chicken-cooking royalty status remains safe. “For now,” he added ominously.
Are you neglecting your own needs ’cause you’re always looking after someone else’s—say, your sniffly kids or a needy partner? Take a breather! Seriously: it’s time you treated yourself to a dead-simple, colorful, and super satisfying meal that you can get from fridge to mouth in 10 minutes or less. Use the extra time you save to flop on the couch and watch a trashy episode of your favorite Real Housewives franchise. (Me? I like to savor my zoodle bowl with the ladies from Hotlanta.)
Psst! Here’s a video of me making this easy-peasy recipe on Facebook Live!
Serves 1
Ingredients
Dressing:
Salad:
What?!? A cookie recipe on my site? Don’t worry—I promise this isn’t an early April Fool’s joke.
Longtime readers know that they won’t find many Paleo desserts on my blog or in my cookbook or app. It’s not that I don’t enjoy the occasional sweet treat; I’m an admitted recovering sugar addict, after all. I’m just not a baker. I don’t have the patience or talent for it, and it’s probably for the best. I’d much rather tweak a cauliflower recipe over and over again than try to figure out how to make the perfect Paleo pastry—especially ’cause I’d be tempted to eat up all of my failed baking experiments. That’s also why whenever I bake, I rely on experts who have perfected the craft, so that I’m guaranteed a satisfying treat on the first try.
One of those experts is Elizabeth Barbone. She’s a bona fide gluten-free baking authority: a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America with a degree in baking and pastry arts, the author of multiple cookbooks, and prolific blogger.
I met Elizabeth years ago when we both attended a food blogger conference at Disney World. One morning, we ended up in the same ferry heading to the Magic Kingdom; as our boat chugged across the water, we chatted about our respective blogs. As soon as she told me she was a gluten-free baker, I asked if she’d ever dabbled in grain-free treats given the growing demand for them. Elizabeth told me that she hadn’t, but her interest was piqued. According to Elizabeth, our casual conversation on that fateful morning sparked the idea for her new cookbook, World’s Easiest Paleo Baking.
I was lucky enough to receive a preview copy of Elizabeth’s cookbook, and was instantly hooked by the straightforward, crave-worthy recipes. The recipes are simple yet precise, covering everything from Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake to fresh pasta dough. As the kids and I flipped through the pages, the very first recipe that leaped off the page was Elizabeth’s “The World’s Easiest Cookies.” With a name like that, how could I resist?
With Elizabeth’s permission, I’ve posted her easy-peasy cookie recipe below for you lucky ducks. Her cookies are fantastic as-is, but if you want to dress ’em up a bit, you can dip the bottoms in melted chocolate.
Because chocolate.
As I mentioned before, I’m on a mission to convert some of my most popular slow cooker recipes into pressure cooker ones—mostly ’cause the Instant Pot rocks my socks off. Yeah—I know I sound like a broken record, but an electric pressure cooker really is a joy-sparking, life-changing, time-saving kitchen appliance. I’m not the only one who thinks so; many of you have also jumped on the pressure cooker bandwagon, and asked me to make more recipes for the Instant Pot. There’s nothing like peer pressure to keep me motivated, so without further ado, here’s a revamp of my classic recipe for Slow Cooker Thai Yellow Curry with Beef Brisket!
Did I mention that this recipe works with whatever Paleo-friendly curry paste you have on hand? Just read the labels carefully to make sure there aren’t any weird preservatives or sugar. These are two commercially available Paleo-friendly curry pastes I picked up at my local Asian supermarket and they’re just as tasty as Thai yellow curry paste:
Ready or not, here’s the recipe!
Of course, like the typical American-born daughter, I don’t follow all the traditions to a T—forcing my mom to harangue me about stuff I forget (or refuse) to do—but we do our best to impart the key traditions to the Double-Os: namely, the joys of family, food, and cold hard cash. (I’m kidding about that last one.)
Wanna celebrate along with us?
Ring in the Lunar New Year Party with some of our favorite Paleo-friendly Asian recipes!
Appetizers & Soups:
Howdy, Nomsters! I already announced these two events to my newsletter subscribers, but for those of you who haven’t signed up for my email mash notes, I have two awesome gigs coming up in San Francisco!
First up: I’ll be doing a panel discussion with Dr. Akil Palanisamy on the health aspects of the Paleo diet on February 10th at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center from 6:00-8:30 p.m. Dr. Palanisamy’s eye-opening new book, The Paleovedic Diet, details a customizable and actionable roadmap to optimal health that combines the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, traditional western medicine, and ancestral health. The guy’s a straight-up brainiac (he studied and trained at Harvard, UCSF, and Stanford), and he knows his stuff. I learned a ton after reading his book and implementing many of his suggestions (like cooking with more spices and meditating daily). There’ll be a reception (featuring Paleo grub!) starting at 6 p.m., and a lecture and Q & A beginning at 6:30 p.m. The doc and I will also be selling and signing our books at the event. Plus, the event is FREE! Register here and be there! (Or be square. It’s your choice.)
Then, on February 27th, I’ll be popping up at my alma mater, the University of California at San Francisco! I’ve been invited to speak at the IHH-UCSF Symposium on The Paleo Approach and Evolutionary Medicine, along with Dr. Akil Palanisamy, Chris Kresser, Robb Wolf, Dr. Chris Masterjohn, Dr. Justin Sonnenburg, and Dr. Stephan Guyenet. Pretty impressive lineup, right? Learn more about the Symposium and sign up here!
And remember: you can keep up-to-date on all my future events by signing up for my free email newsletter!
Hope to see you guys at one (or both) of these events!
Haven’t yet spotted whole roasted cauliflower on a restaurant menu? Trust me: you will soon. Gorgeously crusted on the outside, tender on the inside, this visually striking preparation of cauliflower is popular among chefs for a host of reasons: it’s budget-friendly, ridiculously simple to make, and guaranteed to impress guests either as a centerpiece or side. Even your vegetarian friends will dig it!
Personally, I like to season a whole roasted cauliflower head with just salt and olive oil so that it’s a blank slate that can be paired with my favorite sauces and herbs. With five roasted heads sitting in my fridge right now, I’m definitely going to be using a bunch of different flavor boosters, from pesto to marinara sauce.
Why so much leftover cauliflower? ’Cause this past week, I’ve been in the thick of testing this recipe. I tried a myriad of different techniques that I’d found on the web and in my cookbook collection to see which method delivered the biggest bang for the least amount of work. I used different techniques to prepare each cauliflower head—boiling the cauliflower first (too much work), roasting it in a preheated skillet with a separate pan of water in the oven (great crust, but not quite tender enough inside), and roasting it in a covered Dutch oven for the first hour (overly mushy and inconsistent browning on the outside)—until I came up with a crazy-easy method that results in a perfectly bronzed crust and tender center.
See? Testing pays off!
Ready to check out my recipe?
I’m currently on a mission to convert all my slow cooker recipes into pressure cooker ones—mostly ’cause the Instant Pot rocks my socks off. I know I sound like a broken record, but an electric pressure cooker is a life-changing kitchen appliance. Whenever I come home with no plan for supper (a regrettably frequent occurrence at Chez Nom Nom Paleo), I know I can toss a few ingredients into the Instant Pot and dinner will magically cook itself while I hang out with the kids or take a much-needed shower. In fact, I’m so enamored with pressure cooker dinners that I’ve hopped on Periscope a bunch of times to show you how I roll in my kitchen with my trusty Instant Pot. (For example, check out this video and this one. If you like the replays, follow me on the Periscope app so you can watch me cook live and ask questions!)
And now, by popular demand, I’m converting an old fave, Slow Cooker Lemongrass Coconut Chicken, into a quick and easy 30 minute meal. This Thai-inspired chicken stew is packed with my favorite flavors and it pairs perfectly with cauliflower rice and stir-fried bok choy. You’ll be amazed how just a little effort yields so much lip-smacking umami.
Find yourself craving salad in the dead of winter? Well, you’re in luck, ’cause my friends at Whole Foods Market asked me to share one of my faves. This salad’s packed with sweet apples, bitter greens, crunchy nuts, and even Porkitos. Plus, if you’ve been looking for the perfect side dish for my Cracklin’ Chicken, this is it!
First things first: Back away from the sallow, mealy tomatoes at the supermarket. Those tomatoes are anemic for a reason: THEY’RE NOT IN SEASON. Instead, pick up produce that’s at its peak deliciousness in the winter.
Second: Don’t buy into the myth that Paleo’s just about gorging on meat. You gotta get your micronutrients and fiber somewhere, so eat your veggies like your mama told you!
Serves 4
Ingredients
Dressing
This episode is all about a whirlwind trip that Henry and I took to Vietnam together with a small group of awesome chefs and food writers. We traveled to Saigon and Phú Quốc Island to learn firsthand about Vietnamese cuisine and to visit the home of Red Boat Fish Sauce, where we got an up-close look at how my favorite fish sauce is made. We’ll also talk about our year-end crushes, tips for pantry prep in the New Year, and fill you in on the newest update to our Webby Award winning app.
So if you’re sick of the cold and ready to be transported to Vietnam for a spell, stick with us for a very special Viet-nomtastic episode!
What We Ate
I’ve gushed about it before, but you know me: I love my Instant Pot. It’s a 7-in-1 countertop appliance that you can use to sauté, slow-cook, and a whole bunch of other things, but I’m especially enamored with the pressure cooker function.
When it’s dark and cold outside, I just toss ingredients into my trusty Instant Pot (including pre-made building blocks like soffritto, Magic Mushroom Powder, and bone broth), and in minutes, I’m eating hearty stews and soups. It’s magical.
Move over, kale. Here comes a more versatile, nutrient-dense, and tasty leafy green: watercress!
Seriously: did you know that this unassuming aquatic plant was recently proclaimed the new queen of the produce aisle, with a nutrient density score of 100%? My mom, for one, has long been aware of the nutritional punch that watercress delivers, because she’s been making traditional Cantonese pork sparerib and watercress soup since forever. It was one of my favorite childhood dishes.
During the month of January, I’m partnering with Whole Foods Market to develop a couple of simple and delicious recipes—so when the Whole Foods team asked me to create a comforting dish using watercress, my mom’s soup immediately came to mind. Hers is a traditional slow cooked soup, or lou fo tong (老火汤), packed with tender pork spare ribs, watercress, dried Chinese dates, shiitake mushrooms, and almonds—but patience is not one of my virtues. I was determined to make a fast and easy version.
This Watercress & Chicken Soup is a mod of my mom’s recipe that can be prepared in just minutes, and without having to make a special trip to an out-of-the-way Asian supermarket. The secret? I substitute sliced chicken thighs for the pork, and leave out items I can’t find in my neighborhood grocery. Also, because the watercress I bought at Whole Foods is so young and delicate, I decided to add it at the end so it remains a vibrant shock of green in the bowl.
I can almost see my mom shaking her head as she reads my recipe, but hey—when I’ve served this soup on a chilly weeknight, my brood has given me a collective thumbs-up. After all, there’s nothing more comforting than a steaming bowl of soup, right? So go grab the ingredients and simmer a big pot tonight!
(Pssst! You can also make this soup in an electric pressure cooker! Check out my Facebook Live video here.)
Did your holiday hangover leave you with a not-so-fresh feeling? I hear you. Even Paleo die-hards can get sidetracked during a long month of cookie parties and holiday get-togethers. We are human, after all. But the good news? We can always push our chairs away from the family feast, and bid farewell to last year’s eggnog and candy canes and chocolate yule logs. After all, January’s the perfect time to remind ourselves of how good food can positively affect our health and wellness.
So let’s leap into 2016 with a good, clean kick in the pants!
In my opinion, one of the best ways to hit the dietary re-set button—to clear away all the gunk and see with crystal-clarity how different food choices make us feel—is to do a Whole30. Longtime readers know that I’ve completed several Whole30 protocols in years past—and that I do my best to eat mindfully throughout the year. Many of you have successfully completed a Whole30, too.
But for those of you who are new to Paleo, here’s a quick intro: the Whole30 is a tried-and-true 30-day dietary reset that eliminates all the foods that could potentially mess you up big time. (Yes, that’s the scientific term.) Over the past few year, “Paleo” has come to mean a lot of different things, but consistent with my personal definition, the Whole30 is all about making sure you’re eating real food that’s more healthful than harmful.
Specifically—for 30 days, you commit to cutting out the bad-for-you stuff, and eating whole, nutrient-dense foods instead. It may take you a couple of weeks to adjust, but by Day 30, you’ll feel like a brand new person—and you’ll have a much better understanding of how different foods affect your well-being. After your Whole30, you’ll be able to systematically reintroduce foods back into your diet to see how they make you feel, which’ll help you develop your own nutritional blueprint. A Whole30 will help you figure out which foods will help make you the best version of yourself.
The best part? It’s just 30 days. So what have you got to lose?
Frankly, if you’re doing the Whole30 in January, the biggest challenge you’ll face this month will be boring food. But I’m here to keep that from happening! Be sure to bookmark this post, ’cause I’m about to drop a truckload of goodness that’ll not only help you survive a Whole30, but thrive on it. Ready?
January’s almost upon us! With December’s festivities out of the way, it’s time to look ahead and get a fresh start. And one of the best ways to kickstart a healthy New Year is to stock our kitchens for success!
I’ve heard from many Nomsters—especially those who are brand-new to Paleo—who’ve read my Paleo 101 overview and want to dive right in, but they don’t know how to prep for the journey. And while I’ve posted about my own home pantry before, I know mine’s got a bit more stuff than most folks need. (I tell myself it’s ’cause I develop recipes for a living now—but to be honest, it’s also because I’m a recovering hoarder.)
Ready? Let’s fill your kitchen with all the good stuff that’s going into your family’s belly!
I’ve said it before: The most sustainable, nourishing, and flavorful animal protein comes from healthy beasts that chow down on whatever nature intended them to eat. When filling up your freezer or fridge, prioritize the purchase of grass-fed (and grass-finished) beef, lamb, and goat, as well as pastured poultry/eggs and sustainable seafood. Yeah, I know—these items aren’t cheap, but I make it work by buying ground meat and lower-cost braising cuts (e.g., chicken thighs, chuck roast, brisket, Boston butt roast). Plus, I always stock up when there’s a sale.
Yo, Nom Nom Paleo iPad app users: have you updated to the latest version of the app? Did you see all the new recipes that auto-magically appeared overnight? And did you notice that—at long last—you can now download the Nom Nom Paleo app to your iPhone?
Seriously, guys: if you haven’t yet purchased our Webby Award winning app, now’s the time, ’cause for the first time since the app’s debut in 2012, it works on both iPhones and iPads. The app syncs between your devices, and is packed with nearly 150 recipes, 2,000 step-by-step photos, a Whole30-friendly month-long meal plan, a customizable shopping list, and resources galore—all for less than the cost of a fast food meal.
Worried that the iPhone’s smaller screen won’t adequately display the thousands of photos in the app? Don’t—because you can now just turn your phone sideways in the step-by-step view for embiggened images!
I bet that many of you are starting January Paleo eating challenges in just a few weeks, and having our app in your pocket will help keep you motivated and well-fed all month. There’s even a searchable category of Whole30 recipes in the app!
Still not convinced? You can read all the nitty gritty details about our app here.
Bonus: we’re now able to push new recipes directly to the app—without you having to make any in-app purchases. So keep your eyes peeled as we serve up new recipes straight to your iPhone and iPad!
P.S. Don’t forget to rate and review the app on iTunes—your feedback makes a huge difference!
P.P.S. Android: You’re next.
Looking for more recipes? Head on over to my Recipe Index! You’ll also find exclusive recipes on my app, and in my New York Times-bestselling cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel 2013).
One of the highlights from our recent trip to Vietnam was spending time with one of my culinary food idols, Andrea Nguyen. I’ve been cooking out of my treasured, well-worn copy of her cookbook, Into The Vietnamese Kitchen, for years, so when I spotted her in line when we were checking into our flight, I had a tiny panic attack. I was too nervous to approach her at SFO, but we finally chatted when we were retrieving our bags from the overhead bins at the end of our flight. (Unbeknownst to me, she’d been seated right behind us on the plane the whole time.) It took all of two minutes before I started gushing about her books and blog. Luckily for me, Andrea wasn’t put off by my scary fangirl antics, and we instantly connected over food.
During our week in Vietnam, we hung out with a bunch of cool food folks, but some of my favorite moments were shared with Andrea and her super-talented food stylist and travel companion, Karen Shinto. One example: Despite being stranded for several hours on a non-functioning fishing boat off the coast of Phu Quoc Island, we had a blast laughing, joking, and fishing with hooks attached to empty soda cans. (I promise we’ll recap our Vietnam trip in an upcoming podcast—there’s lots to discuss!) I love that Andrea’s not just THE Vietnamese food maven; she’s also forthright, bawdy, and a supportive cooking sistah. I love when people turn out to be just as cool IRL as they are in your mind.
Years ago, one of my first recipes on this blog was a “Paleo-fied” version of Andrea’s Bò Kho from her fabulous first cookbook. After our trip to Vietnam, I was inspired to cook it again—but this time, using my handy-dandy pressure cooker. I simplified the steps even further ’cause the point of cooking a dish in a pressure cooker is to make a stew in a fraction of the time. But believe me, there’s no flavor that’s been sacrificed in this hearty, umami-packed dish.
I love DIY holiday gifts. There’s something about a homemade gift from the kitchen that somehow seems more authentic and heartfelt than a purchased gift—even if it’s a store-bought item that I think kicks booty and brings joy. The problem with most homemade edible presents is that they can be crazy unhealthy or overwhelmingly difficult to make. Or both.
But what if I told you that I’ve got a super simple recipe for a holiday treat that’s at once impressive-looking AND not (too) bad for you? Introducing…Coco-Nutty Dark Bark! (You can watch me make it in my own kitchen in this Periscope video.)
First things first—let’s not kid ourselves: this tart, nutty, and bittersweet dessert ain’t Paleo or Whole30-compliant. My crunchy bark recipe doesn’t contain a lot of junk, but it shouldn’t replace the greens and protein on your plate. Okay, PSA over.
I love making Coco-Nutty Dark Bark ’cause it’s drop-dead simple and infinitely customizable. To be honest, I feel embarrassed even calling this a recipe: all you do is melt the best dark chocolate you can find, and top it with your favorite add-ins. You can change the toppings to suit your taste, though in my humble opinion, the crowning trio consists of toasted coconut flakes, tangy dried cranberries, and salty roasted macadamia nuts. I’ve even provided some fun printable labels that’ll make your packs of chocolatey goodness look legit. Of course, it goes without saying that this minimalist dessert is only going to be as good as the ingredients you choose, so don’t skimp on the chocolate, forget to toast the coconut, or buy stale nuts. Quality matters.
Ready to impress your pals?
It’s that time of year again! Yessiree—when folks freak out about finding the perfect gifts for family, coworkers, and/or pals. Good thing I’ve got you covered with this list of Nom Nom-approved gifts! Just so you know, I’ve researched, purchased, and tested out all of these items personally, and I gotta tell you—they all bring me so much joy. Because I’ve got eclectic taste, I bet you’ll find something on this list that’ll fit your budget and appeal to that special someone.
Ready to get gifty?
Gifts for Your Favorite Nomster:
In the market for a one-of-a-kind personalized Nom Nom Paleo item? My favorite local independent bookstore, Book’s Inc., has partnered with us to provide signed and personalized copies of our New York Times best-selling cookbook! I’ll even throw in a FREE pair of super-exclusive Nom Nom Paleo socks if yours is among the first 50 orders!
Here’s the thing: these cozy and cute Gumball Poodle knee high socks aren’t sold ANYWHERE, so get ’em while supplies last. Also, this offer is only for a limited time, so order by clicking on this link no later than December 11th to ensure Christmas delivery in the U.S. and Canada. Don’t forget to make sure you specify in the comment field of your order that you would like a signed copy and how you want it personalized!
Also, if you know someone who would love a Mini Michelle in his or her kitchen, be sure to order one here. (For those of you who have asked about additional kitchen accessories, Mini Michelle fits perfectly in this set from Calico Critters.)
Gifts for Your Favorite Cook:
I’m an electric kitchen appliance enthusiast, so if you know someone who loves to cook and won’t be offended if you give ’em a cooking gadget for the holidays, I’ve got lots of stuff to recommend!
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Episode 16: Camp Nerd Fitness
We’re ba-aack! In this episode, our family chats about our favorite autumn produce, my time as a headmaster at Camp Nerd Fitness, our crushes of the week, and we even answer a reader’s question about how to handle snack time at a non-Paleo preschool.
As always, you can check out these extensive show notes for details and links—so no need to take notes, my fellow nerds!
What We Ate
Lots of tasty fall produce is back in season. I’ve been making spaghetti squash lately because I discovered how easy and fast it is to do in a pressure cooker. (Don’t believe me? Check out the step-by-step recipe here.)
I’m excited to start cooking and eating other winter squash in the coming months—specifically kabocha and butternut squash. Henry’s delighted that persimmons are back at the farmers’ market. There are two kinds of persimmons available here, Fuyu and Hachiya, but Henry only like the Fuyu variety. Fuyu persimmons are kind of shaped like little orange pumpkins, and are best eaten when they’re crisp—they have a texture similar to apples. The kids, meanwhile, are eating lots of Asian pears and pomegranates. Here’s the Persicope video I shot where I tried to gracefully remove the seeds from a pomegranate, but ended making our kitchen look like a murder scene.
The Main Course
I never went to sleep away camp as a kid, but I totally made up for it this year by attending two camps in a matter of weeks. First, I was a happy camper at Belcampo’s Women’s Meat Camp—which you can hear all about in Episode 14—and just last month, I flew to Georgia to teach at Camp Nerd Fitness.
I was an instructor (a.k.a. a Headmaster) at the camp, which is essentially a sleepaway summer camp for self-proclaimed adult nerds. It’s an awesome bonding experience for nerds and geeks who are interested in not just sci fi and comics and video games, but also in upping the game in terms of nutrition, fitness, mindfulness, and all-around wellness.
For those of you who don’t know, Nerd Fitness is a fantastic website that was started by a guy named Steve Kamb, who calls himself the Rebel Leader of Nerd Fitness. Steve teaches fellow self-identified nerds how to level up their lives like in a video game. His site has engaging and informative articles on exercise, Paleo eating, and lifestyle. He’s always encouraging folks to stretch outside their comfort zones, and to do the things that scare them.
When I signed on to teach at Camp Nerd Fitness, all I really knew was that it was the second time it was taking place at a remote camp ground in northern Georgia. There would be 300 campers there, many of them alums of the first camp. Folks would stay in cabins and the four days would be jam-packed with different classes like meditation, weightlifting, nutrition, primal movement, and even swordplay; plus, there would be a steady stream of social activities like hiking, video game tournaments, a camp-long game of zombies vs. humans, and nightly theme parties. And did I mention that everything and everyone would be fueled with Paleo-friendly meals?
I taught four classes at camp: Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner; Viva Las Veggies; Desperation Dinners; and Paleo Out In The Wild.
All too often, I find myself scrambling at the last minute to get dinner on the table. I know that some of you can’t relate—especially those of you who subscribe to a meal planning service (like my favorite one, Real Plans—a fantastic, customizable, all-in-one meal planning tool). You’re proactive. You have your crap together. You’re cool as a cucumber.
Me? Not so much. My inherent contrariness and (ironically) my recipe testing duties get in the way of my ability to effectively plan my meals in advance. I’m also a procrastinator, which doesn’t help. When the sun goes down, I’m usually still catching up on the latest celebrity gossip on TMZ or lost in a pile of cookbooks. Sometimes, I don’t snap out of it until my kids prod me (“MOM! WHAT ARE WE EATING TONIGHT?!?”)—at which point I do what comes naturally: roast a chicken.
One of my favorite weeknight dinner hacks (literally) is to have a spatchcocked and dry brined chicken ready to go. I know what you’re thinking: SPATCHCOCK? DRY BRINE? WHAT THE %&$*! ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? Don’t be intimidated—it’s not as scary as it sounds. Plus, you can keep the prepped bird in the fridge for up to 3 days and roast it on demand. It’s comforting to know that even when I’m pressed for time, I can still get crispy skin and evenly cooked, juicy meat using the foolproof techniques I’m about to share.
Don’t forget: you can successfully spatchcock big birds (e.g., turkeys) as well. If you’re at all nervous about using this method to cook your turkey on Thanksgiving, do a test run this week on a chicken. I have a sneaking suspicion you’ll be hooked, and that it’ll be your favorite way to prepare whole birds from now on. (For those of you advanced spackcockers who are ready to level up, make my Peruvian Roast Chicken + Aji Verde Chili Sauce from our cookbook!)
Ready for the step-by-step instructions? I’ll even point you to my accompanying Periscope videos to show you how to spatchcock away!
Getting freaked out about making Thanksgiving Dinner already? Don’t worry! If you already subscribe to my email newsletter, I’ll be sending you a FREE e-book this Thursday, November 12: The Ultimate Nomtastic Paleo Thanksgiving Survival Guide!
Henry and I put this guide together as our thank-you gift to all of our loyal Nomsters. We appreciate you guys more than you know. Mwah! (That’s a kiss of appreciation, by the way.)
This special e-book contains everything you’ll need to wow your hungry friends and finicky family members: downloadable and printable checklists for your Thanksgiving shopping and cooking needs, and seven of my classic, foolproof Turkey Day recipes—complete with my trademark step-by-step photos and instructions. It’ll be like I’m holding your hand in the kitchen as you whip up your Thanksgiving feast!
And did I mention it’s free?
If you’re not a subscriber to my free email list, just sign up here! And if you already get my free email newsletter, be sure to check your inbox on November 12th.
Not interested in subscribing to my newsletter? No worries—you can get your fill of Turkey Day tips and ideas from this post. Happy cooking!
I don’t like to pick favorites, but if I had to choose one particular cuisine to eat for the rest of my life, it just might be Vietnamese. The balance of flavors, textures, and even contrasting temperatures in many of the dishes is straight-up amazing. In particular, I love the interplay of fresh herbs and seasonings that take simple proteins to the next level of flavor.
Inspired by our recent trip to Vietnam, I went in search of fresh lemongrass immediately upon returning home. This citrus-scented culinary herb stars in just about every single one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes, and it’s what makes them shine. (Well, that and fish sauce.) If you’ve never cooked with fresh lemongrass before, you owe it to yourself to try it. (You’ve got no excuse now that I’ve prepared a step-by-step tutorial on how to prepare it!)
And with fresh stalks of lemongrass in hand, I decided to create a new dish: Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken.
My first attempts (including one that I broadcast live on Periscope!) produced some tasty chicken, but there was something a little…off. Over a couple of weeks of recipe testing, I discovered that adding fresh lime juice in the marinade seemed to alter the texture of the chicken, making it too soft. Solution: just add lime zest, and squeeze the juice of the denuded lime on the thighs after they’re out of the oven! (Pro tip: If you double the recipe, you can save even more time by blitzing all of the roughly chopped marinade ingredients in a high powered blender!)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Confession: I was afraid to cook with lemongrass up until our recent trip to Vietnam. I was intimidated by this tough, lemon-scented stalk in part because one of my pals ended up in the emergency room when her knife sliced her finger instead of the stalk. But to be honest, I just didn’t know how to prepare it properly.
After visiting Vietnam and eating dish after flavorful dish perked up with this fragrant stalk, though, I decided to figure out once and for all the best ways to prepare lemongrass for different dishes. And you know what? It’s pretty simple. In this quick post, I’ll show you how to teach that stalk who’s boss. (You can also watch the quick Periscope video I shot that shows you how to do it!)
How to Stalk A Good Stalk:
Lemongrass can usually be found in the produce section of fancier grocery stores or your local garden-variety Asian supermarket. (Tip: Lemongrass is typically much cheaper and fresher at an Asian market ’cause it turns over more frequently.) These long stalks are sold in bunches or individually. Choose the ones that smell fragrant, have greenish exteriors, and are slightly pliable. Avoid the stalks that are dried out, brittle, and bruised.
Storage:
Wrap fresh lemongrass stalks in plastic wrap, and store them in the fridge for up to a few weeks. Alternatively, you can store the tightly wrapped stalks in the freezer for a few months.
I wasn’t always a fan of spaghetti squash. Years ago, whenever my Atkins-Dieting pals extolled the virtues of this low-carb pasta substitute, I rolled my eyes and continued to shovel bowl after bowl of whole wheat pasta into my gaping maw.
It wasn’t ’til I went Paleo that I finally sampled a spaghetti squash—but I undercooked it and turned my nose up at the squeaky, bland vegetable strands. But hey—I’m open-minded. I gave spaghetti squash a second chance at a swanky vegetarian restaurant, and that’s when I finally had an epiphany—this gourd’s pretty awesome if it’s properly cooked and smothered in a delicious sauce. It’s not quite a pasta substitute, but this noodle-y veggie is a fabulous vehicle for an umami-packed sauce.
Determined to find the best method to cook spaghetti squash, I tested various methods for cooking spaghetti squash—from microwaving and slow cooking to baking and pressure cooking. After cooking (and eating) my weight in spaghetti squash, I can finally tell you that pressure cooking is the best and most effective way to cook this vegetable.
(I’ve extolled the virtues of pressure cooking before, and this is just more evidence of its awesomeness. My trusty stovetop pressure cookers have been workhorses in my kitchen for some time now, but these days, I’m almost exclusively turning to my electric programmable Instant Pot. )
Can you pressure-cook spaghetti squash whole? Yes and no. Although the idea of cooking a spaghetti squash whole sounds like a fantastic shortcut for lazy cooks like me, the final texture and the extra time needed to cook a whole squash turned me off. No bueno for me, but you may find the super-fast prep time worth the mushier texture.
So, are you ready to see my favorite way to cook a spaghetti squash?