What about snacks? This is perhaps our most frequent question… and it is a bugger. Snacks tend to imply shelf life, portability, ease of both storage and consumption, and, if at all possible, high marks for YUM factor. It is little wonder that Zone bars and simi¬lar items hold a prevalent place for busy people. Unfortunately, quality DOES count, especially over the long haul, so reasonable alternatives to soy nuggets wrapped in sugar seem prudent.

Performance snacking has one real prob¬lem: Protein. Fruit will cover the carbs, nuts fill in the fat blocks, but how does one take chicken breast to the beach or munch it in the car without wearing most of it? Then there is that issue of spoilage. I have only had food poisoning once after eating at a well known steak house in San Luis Obispo with the Glassmans (thanks again guys!), but once was plenty good for me. This month we have snack options that are nutrient dense, tasty and Paleo friendly.

In addition to snacks, we present to you this month some ideas for enjoying the beauty, flavor, nutrition and fun of summer dining. Each season has its own unique offerings and summer plays host to a stunning pro¬fusion of fruits and vegetables. Break out of the supermarket rut and find your local farmers market. This will put the best pro¬duce available on your plate while putting money in the pockets of local family owned farms.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm
http://www.farmersonlinemarket.com/farmersmarketdays.php
http://www.farmersonlinemarket.com/farmersmarketdays.php


Jerky

Every culture on earth appears to have a dried meat recipe. From the Inuit of the Arctic to the Ache of Peru to the !Kung of Africa, lean meats have been dried for later use. The economics of food procurement for our ancestors necessitated the sharing of food for a variety of reasons, in¬cluding social bonding (you may be feeding your neighbor today, but they may very well be feed¬ing you tomorrow) and the efficient distribution of resources. It was far better to share food and ensure that none went bad than to allow excessive stockpiling and eventual spoilage. Dried meat fit into this scenario beautifully as it allowed for easy sharing and distribution while extending the ben¬efits of a successful hunt for weeks or even months depending upon the drying methods and relative moisture of the air.

Fast forward to today. Every convenience store and supermarket offers some form of dried meat. In a pinch, this may be a good option, but mod¬ern “meat products” have some characteristics that are at odds with health, performance and longev¬ity: high fructose corn syrup, wheat-infused soy sauce, and far too much salt. These items cause problems with insulin levels, can cause GI irrita¬tion and dramatically increase the net renal acid load. These additives do however increase flavor options and, in the case of salt, decrease the rate of spoilage. What to do? We are presenting a recipe that allows you to alter the ingredients as neces¬sary while keeping flavor, nutritional value and food safety in mind.

We recommend buying a food dehydrator as they easier to monitor than the oven method.

Meat selection is all-important. You want very lean meat with little or no visible fat. London broil and rump roast are excellent cuts to use. These leaner cuts can be a bit tough for standard meat dishes, but they make excellent jerky and tend to be the best bargains for the price conscious mod¬ern forager. A great time saving technique is to ask the butcher to cut the meat into 1/8”-1/4” strips. If you tell them you are making jerky, and they know what they are doing, they will cut the meat against the grain, which makes for a tender final product. Even the larger supermarkets will do this for you if you ask. If you cannot get the meat cut for you, freeze the meat partially and then cut into strips. This will simplify your task of keeping the strips thin and consistent. Once the meat is in strips trim away any visible fat. Time to marinate!

As mentioned previously, most commercial variet¬ies of jerky contain soy sauce, added salt and other questionable items. You can add them to this mari¬nade if you like as we are offering a salt free alter¬native. In addition to flavoring, the marinade helps to kill or slow the growth of potentially pathogenic organisms. All those who dislike food poisoning raise their hands… OK, great, let’s move on. The base of our marinade is lemon juice. This will im¬part a tangy flavor to the jerky and the low pH will curtail bacterial growth AND tenderize the meat. Holy multi-tasking marinade, Batman!

A potential marinade for 1lb. (400g) meat:
. 4 tbsp lemon/lime juice
. Minced garlic
. Minced ginger
. Hot pepper
. Black pepper

This recipe is purposefully vague; experiment and use flavors you like.

Marinate meat in the above sauce for at least 1 hour. Drain in a colander and place on dehydrator trays. Do not overlap the meat and turn once while drying. Dry at 145 degrees for 8-10 hours. If one is using an oven, hang the meat on oven racks with no overlapping. Try to distribute the meat as evenly as possible and place any noticeably larger pieces near the heat source. Turn the oven on to its low¬est setting with the door propped open 3-4”. This allows for an internal environment fairly similar to that of the dehydrator: 140-160*F and constant air circulation. The jerky is ready when it bends like a willow without breaking. Keep in mind that drying times vary widely depending upon ambient moisture, thickness of the meat, etc. Keep track of both your methods and results to modify future batches. Store in the refrigerator. If you are figur¬ing out Zone blocks, jerky is about four times as nutrient dense as meat, so a quarter ounce is ap¬proximately 1 block of protein.


Pemmican

With a good amount of jerky on hand, the opportunity for pemmican has arrived. Pem¬mican is the original power bar and consist¬ed of rendered fat, ground dried meat, nuts, seeds and dried berries. Choking back bile at the thought of a fat bar? Don’t! Pemmican prepared with coconut oil is surprisingly light and the wily addition of nuts, seeds and a bit of dried fruit make pemmican a contender against any mass-produced snack food.

Start with dried meat that is ground fine¬ly. A food processor works great for this, although I have used a blender. A good amount of dried meat to start with is one half pound (200g). This is a good time to consider what type of container to use. A muffin pan works pretty well, especially if you are tracking Zone blocks. A small glass pie dish works also. Once the meat has been ground, you will need to add this to either the muffin pan or pie dish. Keep the amount of meat consistent if you are using the muf¬fin pan. You can now add nuts, seeds and a very small amount of dried fruit. Dried rai¬sins, cranberries and blue berries work great for this but remember dried fruit is a highly concentrated carb source and can be easily over done. Wilderness Family Naturals is a great resource for freeze dried fruit.

So you now have meat, nuts and a bit of fruit, all you need is some coconut oil to hold things together. You can find good quality coconut oil online or at better health food stores and co-ops.

A note on coconut since we have a couple of coconut containing recipes this month: Some people like Prof. Loren Cordain feel that coconut has a profile of saturated fats that COULD be problematic with regards to LDL cholesterol levels. The people selling coconut oil paint a picture of nearly super¬natural powers from our hairy and well-pro¬tected friend. So, what’s the deal? I think the LDL/saturated fat issue is of particular importance if one is facing a hyperinsulin¬emic state. Epidemiological studies of cul¬tures with high coconut and palm oil con¬sumption show remarkable cardiovascular health until refined carbs hit the scene. If one is active and eating Paleo/Zone diet there should be no problem, but I do want to make it clear this is a complex question with many variables and no easy definitive answer.

You will now melt the coconut oil and pour it over the meat/nuts/fruit just covering the dry ingredients. Allow the pemmican to cool in the fridge. If you are using the muf¬fin pan method the pemmican wafers will come out easily and can be individually stored in wax paper or in mass using a jar or other glass container. If you are using the pie pan method you can cut the pemmican into pie wedges and store as described above.

Zone blocks: This can be a bit of a challenge! One lb. (440 g) of raw meat makes ~4oz. (110g) of jerky and both are equivilent to 16 blocks of protein. In the recipe provided we have ~32 blocks of protein. If we divided that even¬ly into 8 portions with the muffin pan that would be 4 blocks of protein per muffin. It is fairly easy to add 4 blocks of dried fruit per muffin but one must pay attention to the amount of nuts added to each muffin and coconut oil weighs in at 1 fat block per 1/3 tsp. If one is at 5x on fat blocks that means about 1 1/2 Tbs. of coconut oil per muffin and that may not be enough to make the pem¬mican stick together. I have experimented with this a lot and found it difficult to keep the fat blocks within 5x. Maybe you will have better luck!


Pomi Really Quick Ceviche

It’s Italian for Tomato! (OK, it’s really “pomodoro,” but Pomi is easier to say)

We wanted to run recipes with Pomi for our premiere issue, but the Pomi supply was dicey due to a strike of Italian tomato pick¬ers (so said the Trader Joe’s guy), so we had to wait until the sup¬ply looked stable. We bought two cases on our last TJ foray just to make sure our own supply was secure, and it looks like all is well in Italia now, so we intro¬duce to you Pomi, the best little tomato product in the world.

Our favorite Pomi product is the marinara sauce that comes in the easy open box. The other Pomi products such as stewed tomatoes and tomato sauce are great and we highly recommend you check them out, but we think you will agree the marinara sauce is the most versatile and delicious of the Pomi products. Why is Pomi so good? In a word: quality. Excellent tomatoes and sim¬ple ingredients make the thought of compar¬ing Pomi to other sauces like a comparison of CrossFit and jazzercise… just don’t do it.

In accord with our snack issue theme we present to you the Pomi Really Quick Cevi¬che!

To a bowl add cooked seafood such as shrimp, scallops etc. Many supermarkets offer a cooked frozen mix or you can make your own. Add a bit of red onion, cilantro, and lemon juice to taste. Cover with 1 cup of chilled pomi. For a creamy consistency, blend the above recipe. If one is in a serious hurry, Trader Joes Wild Alaskan Salmon or a can of tuna will work.

This quick ceviche can be made in advance and stored in individual to-go containers.

Zone blocks: Each 1/2 cup serving of Pomi contains 1 block of carbs and 2 blocks of fat. One need only to start with the desired amount of protein and add Pomi, some additional fat blocks in the form of olive oil, and a piece of fruit to round out the carbs.

4 block meal at 5x fat:
. 4 oz seafood mix
. 2 cup pomi
. 1 tsp. lemon juice
. 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
. Seasonal fruit



Coconut Milk Ice Cream

. 1 can coconut milk
. 2 cups fresh fruit
. 1 tsp vanilla (optional)

This is an easy recipe that can be used to satisfy your hankering for a cool and refresh¬ing dessert. We especially love using fresh strawberries, blueberries and peaches.

Simply place all ingredients in a blender and puree. Pour into dessert cups (coffee cups work equally well) and put in the freezer for about 1 hour or until it has chilled to an ice cream-like consistency. Enjoy!



The Best Salsa Recipe

. 2-3 large tomatoes (or about 4-5 Roma to¬matoes)
. 1/2 red onion, diced
. 1/2 yellow onion, diced
. 3 green onions, finely chopped
. 4 cloves of garlic
. 1 can El Pato sauce (bring on The Duck!)
. Handful of cilantro, chopped

We bring this salsa to BBQ’s and din¬ner parties and it’s always a hit. We sometimes add a Serrano pepper and a jalapeno to the mix, and if you re¬ally like spicy food you may want to try that. The El Pato has a fairly good kick to it already, so when we make this to share with others, we usually leave the extra peppers out.

Chop all ingredients fairly small to ensure a good consistency. This can be done in a food processor if you have one. After chop¬ping all ingredients (mince the garlic), place in a bowl. Add the El Pato, stir, and garnish with a few extra sprigs of cilantro.

Makes about 6 cups; you may want to double the recipe if bring¬ing it to a gather¬ing.

Zone blocks: One cup of salsa is one block of carbo¬hydrate.


Summer Salads Take Off With “Rocket!”

Where greens and lettuce are concerned, arugula, or “rocket” as it is known in the UK and Australia, ranks high. It has superb flavor, with slightly peppery undertones and a hint of anise. In Italy you can order “rucola” as a pizza topping; you are served a pizza with a base of tomato sauce and cheese completely covered in greens (non Paleo of course, but illustrative of arugula’s many uses).

Everyone knows how to get creative with a salad. Start with a base of lettuce and greens and go crazy with the other ingredients. Adding nuts and seeds and fresh fruit is just the beginning. Just root around in the fridge and see what you can put together!

To prepare arugula for a salad, dunk it in a bowl of cold water, then drain. Repeat sev¬eral times until the water is clean. Then pat it dry or spin in a salad spinner.

One of a zillion tasty combinations:

. Arugula
. Red leaf lettuce
. Yellow bell pepper
. Sliced strawberries
. Chopped walnuts
. Olive oil for dressing

Look for arugula at your farmer’s market!