Paleo Honey-Glazed Beef and Zoodle Soup, Chinese-Style

THIS is one recipe you’re going to want to cook when you’ve only got 15 minutes to get dinner on the table.

Or when you want to curl up on the chair in a blanket while the rain’s hammering down outside.

Because this is sweet, comforting Chinese-style soup. And it’s paleo.

The beef is from a company called Farmer’s Choice, who specialise in free-range meats. It was, honestly – sweet, tender and richly-flavoured. Gorgeous.

This hot, anise-scented soup is packed with veggies – courgettes (zucchini), carrots, spring onions – as well as ginger and garlic. There’s nutritious, healing bone broth in there and then the beef, which is stir-fried and then caramelised in a little honey.

Some people don’t like to add the sesame seeds as they’re thought to contain high levels of omega-6 oils. Leave them out if you prefer, but they do provide a toasty, nutty crunch to the whole dish. I hope you like it.

Paleo Honey-Glazed Beef and Zoodle Soup, Chinese-Style
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tsp sesame seeds
350g beef stir-fry strips
quarter teaspoon Chinese Five Spice
2 tsp coconut oil
2 spring onions, trimmed and sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled 
1cm thick slice of fresh ginger, peeled
1 carrot, peeled, trimmed and cut into sticks
2 chestnut mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
500ml bone broth or beef stock
1 courgette, trimmed and sliced into thin strips using a vegetable peeler (if the slices are thick, cut them in half again lengthways)
pinch of salt
1-2 teaspoons of runny honey

Method
First, gently heat the sesame seeds in a dry non-stick pan until slightly golden. Keep an eye on them, they can burn quickly. Tip them out onto a saucer and wipe the pan with a piece of kitchen paper. 

Sprinkle a good pinch of the Chinese Five Spice over the beef strips and put to one side for a couple of minutes. 

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat 1 tsp of the coconut oil and fry the white parts of the spring onions, carrot and mushrooms. Finely grate the ginger and garlic directly into the saucepan and stir, until everything is sizzling and fragrant. Immediately pour in the broth or stock and bring to a simmer. Drop in the courgette strips, add the rest of the Five Spice and a pinch of salt, and leave everything to cook slowly, until piping hot. 

To cook the beef, add the remaining teaspoon of the coconut oil to the pan you toasted the sesame seeds in. Over a medium/high heat, drop in the beef and stir-fry until browned – this will only take a minute or two. You might need to do this in batches so the meat browns and doesn’t steam. Once you have all the beef in the pan, and it’s browned on the outside and tender on the inside, drizzle over the honey. Allow to bubble up for a second or two and then turn off the heat. 

To serve, lift the veggies out of the soup with tongs and divide between warmed bowls. Pour over the broth and then top with the glazed beef, the reserved green slices of spring onion and a sprinkling of the toasted sesame seeds. Eat hot. 

Alterations for the Autoimmune Protocol: If you’re on strict AIP, you’ll need to avoid the Five Spice which contains some questionable spices that are initially eliminated. Instead, just add a little more ginger or garlic depending on your flavour preferences. You’ll also need to skip the sesame seeds, but trust me, it’s still great without them. 

I received a contribution towards the ingredients for this recipe, from Farmer’s Choice, who also provided the meat. And pretty gorgeous it was, too. Do go and check out their website. 

Scallops with Bacon, Courgetti and Lime

You say zoodles, I say courgetti….

Yeah, it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as the song, to be honest.

But this tastes lovely.

And it’s ready in about 5-10 minutes.

I was watching in on a convo on Twitter at #paleohour* and everyone was talking about what they call courgette (or zucchini) noodles/veggie pasta. Some call it ‘zoodles’ (zucchini noodles), others courgetti (courgette spaghetti) – while sweet potato versions can be ‘swoodles’ (sweet potato noodles). Whatever you call it all, it’s a great alternative to pasta. 

And scallops. They’re really good for you, according to The Paleo Mom (aka Sarah Ballantyne). She says, that if you’re on a healing diet, you should eat more seafood, because it’s rich in anti-inflammatory fats that our body needs. I never ate much seafood before, but as I find, it’s all too easy to end up on a paleo diet with lots of meat. So I started eating a lot more fish and seafood and then meat about 3-4 meals per week (red meat just 2-3) and I feel much better for it. 

One of the great things about this dish is that it takes just a few minutes to cook. I’ve been having it for lunch – and one day, when I had a few scallops leftover, raw in the pack, I had it for breakfast. Salty bacon, creamy mildly sweet scallops, peppery watercress and soft courgette noodles. Sorry, courgetti.

Scallops with Bacon, Courgetti and Lime

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 rasher of smoked, streaky bacon

1 tsp coconut oil (I use flavourless coconut oil but any coconut oil would be fine – you just might get a faint coconut flavour but that’s never a bad thing)

5-6 scallops, out of their shell (roe removed)

1 courgette (zucchini), trimmed at the top and bottom and then peeled into strips lengthways using a vegetable peeler (to make courgetti, you see)

1 handful watercress, roughly chopped

Half a lime, cut into wedges, to serve

Method

First, chop the bacon and heat gently in a fairly large, dry frying pan. When it’s turned golden and starting to crispen up, lift it out and put it on a plate, to one side. Next, add the coconut oil (if you have plenty of fat left in the pan from the bacon you won’t need to) and drop in the scallops. Fry until golden and just cooked through – on a medium heat, this will take just a couple of minutes per side. You’ll see them start to ‘split’ and contract a little as they cook. They should be cooked through and white, but still soft in the centre, not tough and rubbery. 

Once the scallops are ready, drop in the courgette strips and toss everything together – the courgette strips should soften in a few seconds. Throw in the reserved cooked bacon and the watercress and toss everything together until softened. 

Tip everything out onto a plate and serve straight away, with the lime juice squeezed over. 

*#paleohour happens on Twitter between 8pm-9pm on Tuesday evenings (UK time) where us UK-based paleo bloggers all get together to have a paleo-based natter. Come along, just search for the #paleohour hashtag. 

This recipe has been entered into Phoenix Helix’s Recipe Roundtable – a link event that aims to inspire those on the autoimmune protocol with new recipe ideas… 

Baked Sweet Potato Topped with Caramelised Apples and Honey

Picture it. It’s Sunday evening. You’ve probably had a huge lunch, and you don’t feel like eating something too big at the moment. If you had one, you’d just hack a slice off a big cake and settle down in front of the telly with that. But then cake isn’t very healthy. 

Hmmm…. 

This. THIS is healthy. 

Caramelised apple slices, warm cinnamon, honey and the soft, sweet flesh of the sweet potato all combine here to give you THE TASTE OF AUTUMN.  I love it. And although the sweet potato takes about 40 minutes to cook, you’ll only actually be required for 5 minutes of it. Brilliant, yes? 

Baked Sweet Potato Topped with Caramelised Apples and Honey
Serves 1. 

Ingredients
1 small-medium sized sweet potato
1 tsp coconut oil
1 eating apple, sliced but not peeled
a pinch of cinnamon
2 tsp honey

Method
Preheat your oven to gas mark 7/220ºC/425ºF and line a baking sheet with foil. 

Wash the sweet potato and pierce it all over with a sharp knife. 

Place on the tray and bake for 40 minutes. 

Check the sweet potato – it should be crisp-skinned but tender in the centre. Now, get on with the apple topping. Heat the coconut oil in a small frying pan and drop in the apple slices. Drizzle in 1 tsp of the honey and turn the heat up, stirring, so that the apple starts to turn golden. Add a dash of cinnamon as you go. Once the apple is soft and golden, remove from the heat. 

Cut the sweet potato and pile the apple slices up on top. Finish with a drizzle of honey if you like, and eat hot, preferably in a bowl, with a spoon. 

FODMAP note: I realise this recipe is a bit of a FODMAP nightmare, with almost all the ingredients potential triggers. However, you could use a small sweet potato and try it with pear slices instead and maple syrup, which all rate lower on the scale and are less likely to be triggers. 

Why We Need Education About Psoriasis

So there I was, scrolling through Twitter, when I saw this:

Psoriasis is not Ebola and joking about ether isn’t funny when the person you are attacking is a nice guy. pic.twitter.com/eUVr43bjC6
— Shane (@Loftedpanda) October 1, 2014

Obviously, it generated quite a response, with people shaming the coffee shop he’d been in…

Congratulations to a local @Starbucks for kicking out @Loftedpanda who has PSORIASIS because people thought it was Ebola. Idiots.
— Misty (@poppumped) October 1, 2014

So let’s look at this for a minute. 

First off, there’s no video available of this event – the only evidence that this happened is from this tweet. I’ve done some digging around and the coffee shop in question haven’t issued any comments about the incident (that I can find) and there’s been no news coverage of it. But, for the sake of this post, we’ll assume that it did happen. Because I generally find, that apart from those of us who suffer from it, not that many people seem to be very clued up about the disease anyway. 

Secondly, there’s quite a bit of panic about Ebola at the moment. It’s a scary illness, I get that. Psoriasis, on the other hand, is more annoying than it is scary. But then people don’t know much about psoriasis, even though it already affects millions of people around the world. 

But I think it’s not quite fair to launch attacks at multi-millionaire global organisations, or their employees. The real problem here is that a lot of people know NOTHING about what psoriasis is, or even what it looks like. 

We psoriasis sufferers probably haven’t helped matters. We try and hide our red, scaly patches with clothes or makeup. If someone asks us what it is, we might shuffle and say ‘Oh, it’s just dandruff’ because we don’t want to get into a long conversation about autoimmune diseases. 

So here goes. 

Psoriasis is not catching. You can’t get it from skin to skin contact with someone who has flaky psoriasis patches. And you don’t get it ON PURPOSE. The patches of red, scaly skin are a symptom of something underlying – that’s not really on the skin at all – but indicate some sort of problem with the immune system. They can be brought on by stress, illness or injury. There’s evidence that it might even be passed on through our genes. Bottom line is – it’s not your fault.

I’ve seen people politely but clearly back away from me, because I’ve had psoriasis. Children are more honest – they just ask you outright why you have sugar in your hair, usually on a crowded bus or train. Hairdressers would part my hair and make a face to themselves, or to colleagues, as they saw the inflamed and often bloody patches on my scalp. I can SEE you in the mirror, I wanted to say. But never did.

There are emotional problems, too. Psoriasis sufferers are thought to be more likely to suffer with depression and anxiety. The Psoriasis Association reported that 10% of sufferers had considered suicide and 1 in 5 of people with the disease feel “stigmatised” by their condition. This all isn’t helped by behaviour that’s described in the tweet above – being refused service, while people run away screaming. Yeah, that’s going to do a lot for your self-confidence. 

So I made this little picture. Share it if you like. In a snapshot, it sums up some of the main points about psoriasis, and reminds us to be mindful if we come across others who have it. 

I’m sure the hairdressers I’d been to didn’t really want to hurt my feelings – they probably just thought: “What the HECK is THAT in her hair??”. And the people that are linked to this tweet – if they’d known it was psoriasis and not contagious – and certainly nothing to do with Ebola – I expect they wouldn’t have behaved that way and just written “Shane” on a paper cup and served the next person in the queue, instead. 

Do you have any experience with psoriasis? What do you think could be done to raise awareness of psoriasis? 

Halloween Gooey Brain Cupcakes

Mwah ha ha ha haaaa…….

Yep, Halloween’s on its way and look what I’ve got for you… 

Gooey Brain Cupcakes. 

Genius, right? 

It occurred to me one day that walnut halves look a lot like brains – and would look a lot more like them if they were covered in white chocolate. 

You just prepare your cupcakes and cut out a circle of ready-rolled fondant icing – you could use black if you wanted to – and put them to one side. Then, take 12 walnut halves, one for each cake, and dip them in melted white chocolate. Put them on a sheet of greaseproof paper to dry off and set. Meanwhile, top each circle of fondant onto your cooled cake, using a smear of jam if you like. Once the chocolate on the walnut halves is set, (about half an hour to an hour, depending on how hot or cold your room temperature is) you just blob a little raspberry or strawberry jam onto the fondant-topped cupcake and push a white chocolate-coated walnut half on top. 

Gooey brain cupcakes. 

What are you all cooking up for Halloween? 

13 Easy Family Dinners

Family meals. 

I know what you’re thinking. 

You want something that’s not too fussy or complicated to make, that the kids will actually eat and that hopefully has some kinds of vitamins and other good things in it, too. 

I got ya. 

I’ve rounded up some of my favourite and most popular recipes that would make brilliant family dinners. Some cook in the time it takes to watch an after-school episode of The Amazing World of Gumball (I know you do), while others might take as long as five or six hours, but the actual work YOU have to do (rubbing some spices into a joint of meat) might be seconds. 

There are vegetarian and gluten-free recipes here too, as well as conventional ones, to help cater for all dietary needs. 
I hope you find these useful, let me know if you make any of them. 
Laters!

Breakfast Meatloaf (dairy-free, gluten-free, nightshade-free, paleo)
Don’t worry – I’m not suggesting you make this for breakfast unless you get up REALLY early and fancy cooking the equivalent of a roast dinner before 7am. I’ve included it here, because every child I know loves breakfast food for dinner. And this meatloaf, with its hidden egg centre and crispy bacon on the outside, tastes quite like breakfast. Serve alongside a salad or some chips or just some veggies. Or baked beans. Easy to make, and it’ll sort you out for leftovers for a few days too. 

Keema Karai – Minced Meat Curry (gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo)
Quicker to make than a spag bol, and sorts out an Indian food craving at the same time. It’ll take you less than 30 minutes to get this on the table – don’t even bother with rice – my girls like this with just some naan breads on the side. You might want to skip the green chilli topping if feeding very young kids or anyone that doesn’t like very much spice. 

Mozzarella, Ham and Basil Stuffed Focaccia (vegetarian if you leave out the ham)
OK, just think of this as a huge toasted sandwich. I took a recipe that took an hour to make and cut the time down to about 25 minutes. Just cut it into chunks and let everyone dig in. 

Turkey, Tomato and Mozzarella Gnocchi Bake
My children love anything hot, tomatoey and gooey with melted cheese. So I figure that yours might, too. This gnocchi bake takes a little more prep than some of the other recipes here, but you just fry off the mince, add the sauce, pour it over the gnocchi dropping the cheese all over and then slide into the oven to bake. Easy peasy. 

Gouda, Spinach and Garlic Quesadillas (vegetarian)
Quesadillas seem a bit like a lunch dish, but they make a cracking family dinner, too. And they take just literally a few minutes to make. You can serve them with chips or some salad if you like – and fill it with practically anything you like, as long as you add in some cheese to help it all stick together. I’ve made some lovely Brazilian Chicken quesadillas too – with chicken, avocado and mozzarella. A great idea for using up leftovers.

Thai-Inspired Turkey Meatball Curry (gluten-free, dairy-free, nightshade-free, paleo, AIP)
I like this one, because it introduces children to the flavours of Thai food – lemongrass, basil, coriander, lime, coconut – without being at all spicy. I’ve used turkey mince because it’s light, but you could also use pork or beef. 

10-Minute Buttery Mushroom Pasta  (gluten-free if using GF pasta, nightshade-free, vegetarian, can be adapted for vegans)
Dinner in 10 minutes. I kid you not. Mushrooms cooked in butter and then tossed in your choice of pasta. If you want to make this dish vegan, just use your preferred butter alternative (or just use olive oil) and use vegan cheese. 

Pulled Pork (dairy-free, gluten-free, nightshade-free, paleo, AIP)
OK, so this takes a while (6 hours) but you’re not actually doing anything with it for 5 hours and 50 minutes of that time. You can shred it and serve it as a roast, or pile it into bread rolls with coleslaw if you like. We love it as a salad with some lettuce, guacamole, salsa and maybe some white rice on the side. You can make a slow-cooker beef brisket, instead if you like (contains nightshades).

Quick and Cheap Tuna and Lemon Pasta (Gluten free if using GF pasta, dairy-free, nightshade-free)
Cook pasta. Toss with a can of drained tinned tuna and some lemon. Eat. It doesn’t get much easier than that. 

Gluten-Free Meatballs (dairy-free, nighshade-free (serve with no-mato sauce), paleo, AIP, gluten-free)
No egg, no breadcrumbs – just meat and spices. Whether you serve it with veggies, pasta or in a sub roll it’ll be a comforting dinner that you’ll make again and again. 

Crispy Grana Padano Chicken (Gluten free if using GF breadcrumbs)
You won’t buy processed chicken nuggets again once you’ve had these. Honestly. You get to choose the chicken you use (use organic or free-range if you like), and the cheesiness from the Grana Padano works so well with the crispy breadcrumbs. Make these and have dinner on the table in 15 minutes. You could use Parmesan, if you prefer, instead.

Aromatic Roast Chicken with Leeks and Lemon
OK so this is Sunday lunch. The flavours of the lemon and leek work brilliantly with the chicken, which just takes an hour and a half in the oven. And no slaving in a hot kitchen – just prep the chicken, chuck it in the oven and go and do something else until it’s cooked. 

20-Minute Macaroni Cheese (gluten-free with GF pasta, vegetarian)
And you thought mac and cheese was one of those dishes that took hours to turn all golden and bubbly in the oven. Nope. This one is an adaptation of a Jamie Oliver recipe which cleverly uses mascarpone cheese as an all-in-one mac and cheese sauce. 20 minutes. Honest. And if you fancy something meaty, I’ve made one with beef, too.

What are your favourite family meals?