Day Twenty-Seven: Wilted Kale Salad

Keeping with the salad theme I changed my mind at the last second as I was about to make some more kale chips. Remembering a delicious meal I'd had once at my grandparents', I pulled out my recipe book to finally make Wilted Kale Salad!

The dressing is another I can add to my slowly growing list, and its packed with good fats. With a 1/4 avocado, black pepper, garlic powder, olive oil a tiny bit of soy sauce and a little lemon juice (one wedge's worth should do it!), I just mixed it all up with a fork!

To wilt kale, first you have to take the stems out. Once it is in bite sized pieces in a bowl, add a little bit of water and a little sea salt. Then basically just squeeze it and mash it up with your hands until it goes an even darker green and begins to look wet all over, spinach-like sort of.
I combined this kale with my dressing, before topping it with cucumber, chickpeas, pumpkin seeeds, mushroom and red onion. This was a great salad, if maybe a little sour. I think this was a combination of too much lemon juice and my not being very used to using salt, but next time I'll tame it down on both counts!

A great lunchtime fix! Probably not great for leftovers, though perhaps once everything sets it might gain a little more subtlety that would add even more layers!

Some might be asking where the protein component is here, but rest assured I paired it with some leftover chili and felt plenty full and recharged!

Adios for now!

Day Twenty-Six: Asian Salad with Rainbow Trout

So pulling out another one of my fish fillets, this time trout again, but a different variety, I decided I needed to add another dressing to my repetoire. With a little research I came up with one that combined the nutty and salty flavors often found in asian cuisine.

With almond butter, ginger, olive oil, water and some soy sauce I whipped it all together for a nice touch.
As a base, I used some spinach, avocado, cucumber, chickpeas, red onion and mushrooms. On the trout I rubbed some ginger and black pepper, before tossing it in a pan with a little soy sauce and some garlic. I used the last of my cherry tomatoes, pan searing them for ultimate flavor.

cooking up the trout and tomatoes!

Then I assembled the healthy and filling salad!

Day Twenty-One: Pork Spare Ribs

So yesterday was a leftovers buffet, with some ham, fruit and vegetables thrown in as a light snack!

I worked most of the day, basically grazing on the good stuff, like nuts and salad!

sauce simmering!

Today however I worked out for the first time in too long, following my friend to his boxing gym for a class that (literally) kicked my ass! With all the skipping rope, punching bags and learning basic combinations I'm WIPED! and my arms feel like lead!

In need of some new dishes, I picked up some pork ribs at the store on my way home, searched my fridge for marinade components and started cookin'!

Boiling the ribs seemed the fastest way to get what I wanted, so I started them off for about 45 minutes while I sauteed some onions and garlic with paprika, soy sauce, black pepper, chili flakes and just a titch of cinnamon. Then, transferring my ribs to a baking dish, I covered them in my sauce and with the oven at 325 and the aluminium foil on tight, I sat back to wait!

Ready to go in the oven!

These were great! The cinnamon was a little interesting, but it was such a small amount that it worked out well! A small salad sealed the deal.

Mmmmm, the crispy top on these ribs was awesome, and they literally fell right off the bone!

I've been researching good ways to work out that wont take too long (think around an hour) and wondered if anyone has some good suggestions that wouldn't really require a gym and that might be a little more fun than weights (not that those aren't great... really).

As dessert I had a chocolate, Yep surprise! there are still quite a few left! They're still great and still frozen, if you haven't made these yet, what are you waiting for!?

Tonight for dinner I ate out at the new Gordon Ramsay restaurant for a friend's birthday and as usual, Paleo options were prettttty slim. The ribs was amazing though (I scraped a lot of the sauce off), and the salad was full of candied pecas, shaved anise, dill and dried acorn squash. I declined the creamy dressing though and took just olive oil.

Tomorrow will most likely be a leftover day, but maybe I'll find time to cook a lil something! I'm getting all my finances in order. Now that I've cleaned up my eating, lets see if I can find a few dollars here and there to finally go organic!

Day Seventeen: Almond Pancakes and Trouty Goodness

This morning I woke up well before my alarm, and taking this as a sign that I was meant to devise a breakfast that consisted of more than leftovers and fruit, I began searching for a Paleo Pancake recipe!

Pancake Batter.

Luckily enough, I found one that was perfect for my needs: Almond Pancackes! The only rough patch was my distinct lack of applesauce. Adding a little cinnamon to the recipe, I whipped together two eggs, some vanilla and about a cup and a half of almond meal (my supply is dwindling quickly!), while I microwaved a peeled an cored apple in a covered dish with water for 3-4 minutes. Then, without even mashing them at all, I transfered the now soft apple bits into my batter, and ran the beaters a little while longer to get a smooth(ish) consistency!

With that done, I heated my pan with some olive oil, and grabbed my frozen strawberries, slicing them for optimal distribution on my batter. The pancakes filled the whole pan, so basically I just divided the recipe and found myself with one big plate and one leftover for another morning.

Almond Pancake with Cinnamon, Cocoa and Coconut

These were EXCELLENT! Practically like I remember pancakes but less sweet and more dense. As a topping, finding myself out of both maple syrup and honey (this was pretty much deliberate, as I didn't want the temptation of reaching for one or both in a craving moment!) I sprinkled cinnamon, cocoa powder and some raw coconut flakes ontop! Combined with the strawberries and the apple already in the pancake, my breakfast powerhouse was complete! Mmmmm!

Veggies and Fish working up!

For dinner I decided to get some of those great fatty acids, and pulled my steelhead trout fillet out of the fridge. I used another great Livestrong recipe (tweaked of course): Pan Fried Trout with Tomatoe Basil Sauce. Oiling my pan I threw in some chopped red pepper (about 1/2 of one), garlic, shallots, sliced cherry tomatoes and mushrooms. Then I seasoned it up with black pepper, sea salt and some garlic, before putting about a tablespoon of all natural pesto down and a splash of white wine vinegar. Then in went my fillet, and I let the pan start cooking.

When the trout was cooked through and the veggies were soft, I assembled a few lettuce leaves and transfered it to a plate! Very quick, easy and flavourful!

Day Sixteen: Mexican Taco Salad

So in order to help me keep track of my diet more efficiently, I've set up an account at the Livestrong website, which gives an approximate count on the calories contained in most food! I was a little surprised to find out how many are in an avocado... but that's besides the point! I was ambushed by my roommate today who demanded to know how I'd shrunk so much lately! I feel much better, I've found that I actually feel good about eating instead of feeling guilty, and that my clothes fit a little looser. I bet if I was smart(er) and cut out the booze as well, I'd see a radically different body in less than a month... alas, the bar scene is a bitch.

Today I made Taco Salad, keeping with the ethnic theme started yesterday. Now anyone who has been to a mexican restaurant can tell you, this usually is served in a charming little corn chip bowl, which is probably the best part of the whole dish. That bowl however, is usually deep fried and often made with gluten. I made my version sans adorable food bowl, but it was nonetheless very good!

Again using the Livestrong website, which has a fantastic collection of Paleo recipes, as well as their nutritional information alongside! I decided to whip up some of the Chorizo Shrimp Sautee, and use it as the protein in my salad! Easy enough to make I combined tomatoes, onion, shallots, mushrooms, half a red pepper and two uncased chorizo sausages with some frozen salad shrimp and garlic! In the meantime I assembled my lettuce and avocado, no dressing required as the fats and liquid from the stirfry are more than adequate!

Chorizo Shrimp "Taco" Salad with tomatoes and avocado

I also had to replenish my baba ganouj supply after polishing off the last bath with my remaining raw veggies. New dip to go along with the haul I got from the store the other day!

The seafood component has been pretty weak the past few days, I think tomorrow I'll grab one of the exotic type fish fillets I snatched up! Perhaps try a Mediteranean dish, eh?

Day Ten: Super Salads and Chicken Fingers

Hello all!
So after my boring leftovers day yesterday, I resolved to try and spice things up again! When I was back in Ottawa, I made it a priority to pick up some almond meal as I have seen this all over the internet with regards to Paleo recipes, and was anxious to use it in my cooking.

Lunch however was an entirely different animal, even though it didn't contain any (haha, I know, terrible pun...)! At a local vegan and organic restaurant I ordered the most paleo-friendly thing on the menu: the Three-Salad Plate. It consisted of carrot and raisin salad, house salad and quinoa tabouleh. Although quinoa is actually not a grain, but more of a seed, it still sort of falls into that non-paleo grouping that needs to be consumed only in moderation (or not at all according to some camps), it is an excellent replacement for couscous, which contains gluten, making it the lesser of two evils. I was actually pretty full afterwards, even though I did not have any protein...

Carrot and Raisin Salad, Quinoa Tabouleh, and House Salad

For dinner I pulled out the almond meal and got my chef on: Almond Flour Chicken Fingers! First I sliced two chicken breasts into about half-inch thick strips and threw together a spice rub made of pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano, garlic powder and chives. Taking my now zesty pieces, I whipped up two eggs and placed my almond flour on a plate.

Chicken and spices, beaten egg and almond flour.

Instead of the 1/2 cup of flour the recipe called for, I ended up using at least a whole additional cup, although this may have been my dredging technique more than anything else...

Crisping up!

First I took my spiced chicken and rolled it in the flour, then dipped it lightly in the egg and dredged it back through the almond meal before setting it aside. This is key to keeping everything sticking together, and the fingers need to sit for at least 5 minutes to gel. I heated about 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and began frying up half the chicken. It took 3-4 minutes per side, and then I transfered it over to a paper towel-covered plate to drain.
The few crispy almond pieces that fell off were to die for, and though this took a lot of oil and the almonds themselves are pretty high in fat, its all "good" fats. I am planning on doing some research on alternative cooking oils that might be better for me, seeing as I now find myself using so much more than I'm used to what with the new diet!

I stacked the remaining fingers onto a plate as I searched for the best way to reheat them once I had my fill. These were SO delicious! Next time in order to cut down on the almond meal used and the fat component, I might just coat the entire fillet to add character to the dish rather than have it be such an integral part. But this is an excellent treat that I'll definately make again!

Ready for eating!

Day Seven: Paleo Beverages and Inside-Out Wraps

I woke up this morning still feeling full of sushi... mmmm!
Along with my egg muffin, I felt myself wishing I had some kind of juice to go with breakfast. Then, I spotted my collection of teas in the pantry: why not combine my organic Countess of Seville tea (a really delicious orange inspired green tea from Davids Tea), with a little lemon juice, and some ice? My own, paleo-friendly juice! After boiling water and using my handy tea infuser ball, I left it to sit and cool for an hour. Then, I transfered it to a pitcher with ice, the juice of a whole lemon and voila! Really tasty and refreshing!

Lettuce, Babaganouj and Mustard in Ham

For lunch, I grabbed my nitrate and preservative free blackforest ham from the package (president's choice baby!), and some sassy baby greens, including rockette, spinach and arugula. I assembled the lettuce, some babaganouj, and some brown mustard inside the cold cut, and rolled it as if it were a wrap (or in light of yesterday... a sushi roll!). These were really light and crunchy due to the filler, and I barely felt like I was missing out on a bread component at all!

Rolled up and ready for eating!

As dinner, I went simple as I was pressed for time. Two hard boiled eggs, some cherry tomatoes, red onion and sliced red peppers tossed with the same baby greens used in my inside-out wraps made for a great, filling meal to get me through the night at work in the bar!

Day Five: Egg Muffins and Chicken Drumsticks

So the party yesterday was quite the success, all went well and I managed to find amongst the other contributions things I could eat as there were a wide variety of salads and suchlike. The only thing I technically should have avoided that I ate was a small amount of quinoa in some tabouleh and chickpeas/beans in the various hummus contributions that were trotted out. Another possible cheat (though this didnt technically isn't considered "unpaleo") was some mexican mole, a cocoa based chicken sauce that I ate, which is still dairy, starch, processed sugar and gluten free. The thing I really wish I could've tried was my friend Rachelle's "Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes". Now for those of you who don't work in bars/spend all your time in one, an Irish Car Bomb is when you take a half pint of Guinness beer, and drop in a shot of Baileys mixed with Jameson Irish Whisky, and then proceed to chug the whole concoction before it curdles. Not really the most appealing thing for me, as it has both dairy and gluten in it, and it just sounds un-fun. However, these cupcakes had Guinness in the batter, and Baileys in the icing, which made for what seemed to be a freaking delicious combination!

Today I thought I'd try my hand at something that might qualify as real people's breakfast food! I'm making Egg Muffins with Zucchini, Mushrooms, and Shallots. The recipe I adapted this from was using spinach rather than shallots, but I do love some onion in there! I obviously omitted the cheese as well, as it doesn't follow my guidelines.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes

After deseeding and dicing up the zucchini, chopping the mushrooms and shallots and shredding some fresh basil, I placed an equal amount into my greased muffin tin. Then I added some black pepper, sea salt and paprika to 6 eggs, and about 2 tbsp of water and whisked it all up! Then I poured it almost to the very top into the tins and to my dismay, had undercalculated somewhere, leaving me with about 5 empty cups! I redistributed the veggies as best I could and whipped up another 2 eggs which ended up doing for 3 of them, and resolved that I would only have 10 muffins.

Just out of the oven!

After the timer went off, (the muffins rose really far out of the tray!) I sought out my one remaining chorizo sausage, and cutting it into coins, I fryed it up with some onion as my accompaniement while the pan cooled. These weren't my absolute favorite Paleo dish, but they did turn out pretty well considering!

Now, according to the initial recipe, these keep very well and can even be frozen! So I popped 7 into a bag and into my freezer, keeping out two as a quick snack option. I'm crossing my fingers that they are indeed good cold as the site says!

Egg Muffin surrounded by Chorizo rounds, fried onions and some leafy greens! Yum!

For dinner I went a more traditional route, with a central meat component and sides all 'round! Having defrosted some drumsticks, I removed the skin and whipped up a spice rub that was sure to be a winner. Armed with red pepper flakes, mustard, olive oil, sea salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, ginger and vanilla (yes, vanilla, just the smallest amount makes all the difference), I rubbed down my drumsticks and placed them in about half an inch of water in a 9"x11" dish.

Then I popped them in the oven at about 375 for 15 minutes a side, flipping them over once. Now these would be absolutely killer, and probably crispy if you did them on the BBQ, but unfortunately I don't have that luxury, and the water is needed to keep them tender and keep your dish from blackening.

While they cooked, I threw together a side salad with a dressing of olive oil and fresh garlic combined with cucumbers, avocado and cherry tomatoes. A dollop of the now ubiquitous babaganouj sealed the plate and when the chicken was ready I dug right in! I have to say, they turned out beautifully, just the right amount of spice to keep things interesting, and really juicy. Plus, who doesn't like to eat things with their hands right?
All in all a delicous Paleo day!

Day One: Here We Go Folks... Tuna Salad, Ginger Salmon, and Fresh Fruits

Here goes nothing! This harebrained idea was born out of boredom, as I sat on my couch contemplating how to get back into a decent shape after my 3 week long trip in Europe. Throughout this particular vacation, although prior I had cut out starch, refined sugar, dairy and of course the ever-evil gluten, poor planning and a desire to taste the cuisine of real Spain led me down the path of potatoes, rice, and oily dried meats... mmmmmmm!
Coming back to Montreal, I had already resolved to make it a priority to eat clean again, meaning no refined sugar (or really sugar of any kind, including maple syrup, agave and honey), no dairy products (sadly this encompasses my favorite, goat products...), and no starches, which is also to say no grains, even the gluten-free ones.
Hoooooly is this going to be an adjustment! The ultimate question came to mind: how will I stick to this after 3 weeks of salty chips, sugary travel candy, and delicious oil and rice laden paella? Why, start a blog of course! Who better to keep me accountable than the world wide net.

So here it is, post one!

Breakfast (or rather, lunch... it was after 12) consisted of a lovely can of tuna, mixed with some brown mustard, shallots, and pepper and uppended unceremoniously on a bed of greens, sliced cucumber and yummy cherry tomatoes! The dressing may have been a bit of a cheat, as I added just a little (gluten-free) soy sauce to some more mustard, ginger (dried not fresh... I know) and a titch of olive oil. I know I've got to be careful with the tuna intake, as mercury levels are extremely high, and most likely rising as we poison what little is left of the fish stock in the oceans, but I figured once every few weeks shouldn't push me over the edge! As a consolation prize to not being able to have the leftover pizza my roommate left in the fridge instead of salad, I had a fresh Ontario peach, which was admittedly delicious!

A few hours later as a brief snack I grabbed an apple and sprinkled some cinnamon on the slices for some extra zing!

Dinner took longer to prepare, but was really awesome, and comes from a recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl, a really great blog full of delicious looking healthy ideas that I am certain will pop up here more than a few times. You can find the untweaked version here: Morrocan Grilled Salmon.

My version, being a poor Uni student with no grill, involved broiling the salmon for about 5 minutes each side on a baking sheet in my oven, but it still turned out wicked delicious!
        Taking my huge piece of defrosted salmon out of the fridge, I realized that this was going to be perfect for lunch or dinner tomorrow as well! I seasoned the slab with some olive oil, ginger, cumin, pepper, sea salt (just a tad) and some red pepper flakes, and left it to soak in a little for about 30 minutes. I'm sure you could skip this step, but I was really excited to try the recipe, so I started the dish just a little too early... and then realized I didn't want to eat dinner at 3:30 this afternoon!
         As an accompaniment I chose a variety of colourful vegetables that I had procured from the Atwater Market, a great spot that furnishes locals with produce from around the area, which while not always organic, has the advantage of being outside of the supermarket! I picked shallots, 1/2 an orange pepper, and a yellow zucchini as the companions to my Atlantic salmon fillet:

Sliced and Diced Veggies!

I placed these bad boys right next to my seasoned fillet on a sheet of parchement paper (I despise scraping things off of baking sheets... bleagh), and after sprinkling a little pepper on top, I popped the whole thing into the oven and proceeded to forget all about it for about 5 minutes:

Then I flipped the fillet over, took the now loosened skin off and shoved the vegetables around a little, and let it go for another 4-5 minutes. Then I threw together a few green leaves, some cherry tomatoes, and crumbled pecans, topped with a little balsamic and olive oil as a finisher to my meal, and compiled my plate!

I ended up eating barely half of the fillet, but it will be a great addition to a salad tomorrow for dinner, which I have to eat at work!

I'll probably snack on a few strawberries (from Quebec!) or another peach before I'm done for the night, but all in all a pretty good start to my challenge! Getting lots of those good Omega fatty acids for the brain so I'll be a genius at school this semester!