Quick Berry Cereal

A really quick dish that tastes like oatmeal with berries! Many variations are possible; use your imagination.

Time: 3-4 min

Ingredients:
. 1 cup blackberries, blueberries, or raspber¬ries
. 1/4 cup ground almonds
. 2 tbsp freshly ground flaxseeds (optional)

Heat the berries with a bit of water, then add the ground nuts and/or ground flaxseed. Mix with a spoon, adding water to adjust the consistency. I often top the cereal with walnuts, and occasionally I add some egg white protein powder.

2-3 blocks carbs (depends on which type of berries you use)





Scandanavian Red Cabbage

I grew up in a town that was home to many Scandinavian immigrants. While visit¬ing my parents in my hometown recently, they drug me out to the annual Scandina¬vian Festival. While sampling the buffet at the festival and doing my best to make wise choices, I discovered this gem. I was sure it contained some non-paleo ingredients, but hoped that it could be adapted. After dig¬ging up a few recipes in an old book my mother had, I came up with a paleo-friendly version. This makes a great side dish, or you can even use it as a dessert.

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:
. 9 cups of shredded red cabbage
. 3 tbsp olive oil
. 1/2 apple
. 2 tbsp lemon juice
. 1/4 cup dried currants
. 1/2 cup water
. Pepper

Remove the tough outer leaves of the cab¬bage, then shred around 9 cups. Place the cabbage, water, lemon juice, and olive oil into a pot. Simmer covered for around 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally, and add water if needed. Grate half an apple, then add the apple, currants, and pepper. Continue sim¬mering for 30 more minutes, then serve. This is also very good served cold.

Makes 4 servings at: 2 blocks carb, 7 blocks fat


Apple Cinnamon Paleo Pancakes

I think that I used to live for breakfast with pancakes. I gave them up several years ago, but now I’ve found a way to make them that turn out every bit as good as the ones that I used to love. These pancakes make a great part of a 5X fat meal.

Time: 20 min.

Ingredients:
. Coconut butter
. 1 egg
. 1/4 cup of ground walnuts or almonds
. 1/4 cup coconut milk
. 1/2 small apple, or 1/4 large apple
. 1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon
. 1/2 cup blueberries

Coat an oven safe skillet with coconut but¬ter. Grind the nuts in a coffee grinder or food processor, or do as I do and just buy the pre-ground nut meal packets at Trader Joe’s. Place all of the ingredients except the blue¬berries in a blender and mix well. Pour the mixture evenly into the skillet, then place it into an oven preheated to 425 degrees. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Do not turn the pancake. Remove from the oven carefully, and serve topped with the blueberries. I like to heat the blueberries a bit first. Enjoy!

Zone Blocks: 2 Carb blocks, 1 Protein block, 16 1/2 Fat blocks

Editors Note: A non-stick pan is crucial for this one to come out in one piece. If aesthetics are not important the pancake is easily removed piecemeal.





Zucchini Stuffed Peppers

Ever on the look-out for portable foods and good deals, we present this month some of the hottest items in the market, whether su¬per or farmers. Peppers tend to be pricey, as much as $6.99 per pound at certain times of the year, and while zucchini and squash in general are always reasonable, you can find both peppers and zucch’s at near giveaway prices in the coming weeks. Neighbors may also be unloading giant zucchini and squash they allowed to remain too long on the vine. The big question: what to do with the stuff?

Here’s an idea: This dish involves browning some form of ground meat. I actually prefer turkey for this as it has a milder flavor than beef but either meat will work well. We will build this assuming a 4 block Zone meal; simply adjust proportions for your needs. Grate 2 cups of zucchini and add to a pan on medium heat with olive oil. You may add 2-3 cloves of crushed gar¬lic, and • tsp of black pepper if you desire. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then add 4 oz of ground turkey or beef. Cook uncovered stirring oc¬casionally for about 15min or until the mixture releases no more water. Scoop the zucchini/meat mixture into a pepper that has been prepared in one of two ways:

. The top and seeds removed. This is fairly portable and can be eaten “in hand” once the mixture cools.
. Open faced with the pepper cut lengthwise down the middle.

One large pepper will typically accommo¬date the recipe as described above. One may choose small to medium peppers to accom¬modate 2-3 block recipes.

Zone Blocks: As described above the recipe is 4 blocks of protein, 3 blocks of carbs (2 from the zucch’s, 1 from the pepper) and the fat content can be modified to your needs with olive oil providing 1 fat block per 1/3 tsp. One may balance the carb blocks by adding a bit of tomato sauce such as Pomi.


Hazel’s Stewed Tomatoes

Remember the first vine-ripened tomato you ever ate? You may have been fortunate to have a parent or grandparent who loved fresh tomatoes sufficiently to have a few plants growing in the back yard. My grandmother Hazel lived on about 3 acres of land when I was growing up and had a garden on 2.8 of those acres. Each spring Hazel would set about roto-tilling the expansive garden she kept, Raleigh un-filtered cigarette puffing in time to the tiller blades. The literal fruits of her efforts were squash, green beans, corn, melons, various fruits like apples, pears and plums and, of course, tomatoes. Beefsteak, heirloom, cherry… my grandmother LOVED tomatoes and, well, I do as well.

I must admit to a certain snobbishness sur¬rounding tomatoes these days. I will eat about anything put in front of me, but the flavorless, dull, pathetic excuses that pass for supermarket tomatoes are a tough sell. It is at once sad and a bit annoying but, hey, we have options! This time of year look to your farmers market more than ever. De¬pending upon your location, you may see roadside vendors selling the best toma¬toes in 12 states. Stop, buy some, eat them. When you are thinking of how to eat them, you might consider an old favorite of my grandmother’s:

Any variety of tomatoes will work but my favorite is Beefsteak. When properly rip¬ened, they have an amazing color, pungent taste and smell that seems to encapsulate all that is good about summer. Wash the toma¬toes and quarter them. Once quartered, cut off any hardened area where the stem was attached. The tomatoes can be used in quar¬ters if you are in a hurry, but I usually cut them into eighths or smaller for a consistent presentation. Place the tomatoes in a casse¬role dish, and for every 1 lb of tomatoes, add 2 tsp of balsamic vinegar (paleo purists can use lemon juice) and one Tbsp of olive oil. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight if possible to allow the tomatoes to “stew”.

That is the basic recipe, but there are some delicious additions that add variety and sophistication to the dish. Two favorites of ours are thinly sliced red onions and or fine¬ly chopped fresh basil. Simply add them to the stew. One large red onion seems to be plenty for about 2 lbs of tomatoes. Just a few sprigs of basil will add amazing flavor and a bit of accent color to the dish. For an all-inclusive Zone friendly meal, one need only to dice chicken breast and add to the stew. Tomatoes and onions are intermediate in their carb density between veggies and fruits, so it does not require a truck-load to balance blocks. Olive oil covers the fat!

Zone Blocks: tomatoes 1/2 cup per carb block, onions 1 1/2 cup per carb block, olive oil 1/3 tsp per fat block, chicken breast 1 oz per protein block.



Fruit Fries

This is a recipe we received recently from Cross¬Fit Message board Regular, Troy Archie.

Living in the Canadian Prairies, we get fruit in a small window of time by the bucket load, so instead of letting it all go to waste, we often just freeze it and then use it in fol¬lowing months (you obviously don’t have to use frozen fruit in this recipe). Lately I’ve been making a tasty dish out of this fro¬zen fruit that works great for a Paleo-Zone friendly breakfast that I call Fruit-Fries.

Heat up a little bit of olive oil in a pan, put in your (frozen) fruits, add almonds as per your zone requirements, add a generous amount of cinnamon and cover the pan with a lid (I’ve also started adding in Jamaican All-Spice, as per the Chicken Apple Hash in April’s issue with good results). Give the fry a periodic stir and let it simmer until the juices are bubbling nicely and then serve.

A few things that I have found with some experimentation: fragile fruits like raspberries and strawberries have a tendency to liquefy under heat, so if you want more of a juicy, soup-like fry that you serve in a bowl, throw in a block’s worth of them. Apples, blueberries, blackber¬ries and pears work extremely well and don’t liquefy. I usually just chop them up and have yet to grate them like the apples in the Chicken Apple Hash, which I just made yesterday and must give mad props on it.

The best thing about this is just how versa¬tile and customizable it is. Another variation I’ve played around with is using fruits like cucumbers and peppers; colored peppers taste best. I’ve used tomatoes in the past, but they have a tendency to liquefy. Throw in a bit of cinnamon and even a block of apple and you’re good to go.