Paleo Roasted Mushroom Salad w Dijon Dressing

If you aren't big into salads, I apologize. I always get a bit obsessed with them this time of year, so I'm bound to be sharing quite a few.

This one is a hearty vegetarian dish; the mushrooms add meatiness but you could certainly add some protein if desired. Likewise, you can fiddle with the components. I liked the way the creamy avocado contrasted with the crunch of the nuts and bite of the red onion.

Paleo Roasted Mushroom Salad with Dijon Dressing

2 cups salad greens
1 avocado, diced
1/2 cup chopped red onion
small handful raw slivered almonds
1 cup blanched green beans
3 roasted portabello mushrooms (see below)

mushrooms:
2 tbs. apple cider vinegar
2 tbs. coconut aminos
2 minced garlic cloves
salt & pepper

dressing:
1 tbs. raw honey
2 tbs. dijon mustard
2 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 minced garlic clove (or garlic powder, to taste)
salt & pepper

Marinate the mushrooms in the vinegar, coconut aminos and garlic for 20 minutes. After marinating, place mushrooms and the marinade in a baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 30 minutes.

Flip the mushrooms and bake uncovered for 10 minutes.

While mushrooms are baking, whisk dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.

Mix salad ingredients. Top with mushrooms and drizzle with dressing.

Seared Scallops over Bacon & Spinach Salad

Do you ever crave something, even if it's not in season or the ingredients are harder to come by? I've been wanting sea scallops for ages, but have been dissuaded by their high price at the store. The caveman is a seafood broker, so I'm aware that there's an international scallop shortage driving up the prices.

The craving got the better of me, though, when I saw a pack of sea scallops at Trader Joe's for about $16. They looked pretty good, and I thought I'd give them a whirl in one of my favorite easy salads.

I'm sharing because this is a really tasty one! I love the way the curry plays off the tart apples and sweet and tangy dressing. I would have to say, though, that sadly the scallops didn't have much flavor. My craving is still going strong! I need to get myself to a good seafood restaurant, I think...

Seared Scallops over Bacon & Spinach Salad 
adapted from Cooking Light

1 cup unsweetened apple cider
1.5 tsp. palm sugar
4 slices nitrite-free bacon
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 tbs. cider vinegar
3/4 tsp. salt, divided
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced Granny Smith apple (about 1)
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
1/4 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
20 sea scallops (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 tsp. olive oil

Combine cider and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 9 minutes). Remove from heat.

Cook bacon in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 1 teaspoon drippings in pan; set bacon aside. Add chopped shallots to drippings in pan; sauté 1 minute. Remove pan from heat; stir in cider mixture, cider vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and black pepper.

Crumble reserved bacon. Combine bacon, Granny Smith apple, onion, and spinach in a large bowl.

Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, curry powder, and red pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle salt mixture evenly over both sides of scallops. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add scallops to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done.

Drizzle cider mixture over spinach mixture; toss gently to coat. Place about 2 1/2 cups salad mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 5 scallops.

Paleo Roasted Root Vegetable & Arugula Salad

I am completely obsessed with Graze Delivered, described in the company's words as "a weekly farm-to-fridge online delivery service which brings fresh, wholesome and sustainably produced foods directly from Vermont's family farms to your front door."

I haven't talked it up on my blog because sadly they only deliver to certain areas (namely parts of CT and NY... if you are within their delivery range, contact me as I can refer you and hook you up with a free box of veggies!). In my three weeks of trying out the service what has impressed me the most is the organic produce and meat.

Their organic arugula is the best I've ever tasted: perfectly peppery and crisp. I share this with you not to inspire envy, but to explain why you might just see arugula popping up in a lot of my recipes! I whipped up this salad using the green as well as some chopped root vegetables (parsnips, squash, sweet potato and carrots) I also ordered from Graze.

You could use spinach here, and could certainly vary the vegetables. I finished mine off with some crispy prosciutto, but bacon would serve a similar purpose. The addition of the apple cider to the veggies was a whim: I had purchased some for a salad dressing I'm making tonight. I was very pleased with how it enhanced the natural sweetness of the vegetables.

Paleo Roasted Root Vegetable & Arugula Salad

dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. raw honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of red pepper flakes

salad:
5 cups arugula
2 cups chopped root vegetables
2 tbs. unsweetened apple cider
salt & pepper
1 tbs. olive or melted coconut oil
2-3 thin slices of prosciutto
1/2 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 425. Toss root vegetables with cider and olive or coconut oil. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 15 minutes, or until just starting to brown.

While vegetables are roasting, combine all dressing ingredients in a blender and process until smooth.

Cook prosciutto in a skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove and crumble. Lower heat and toast almonds in same skillet.

Once vegetables are done, toss them in a large bowl with the arugula and dressing. Scatter almonds and prosciutto bits over the top.

Paleo Moo Shu Wraps (Recipe Revisit)

Thank goodness I pulled this one out of the archive: the original post as not my prettiest! I also tried my hand out at some coconut flour and egg white tortillas, which enabled me to serve the pork as it's traditionally done. You could also accomplish the same with romaine or iceberg lettuce leaves.

When I've made this pork in the past I've used bagged broccoli slaw for the vegetables. This time I was lucky enough to have some Asian slaw of carrots, cabbage and peppers. You can honestly use whatever veggies you like, but it does work best if they are shredded or chopped thinly.

Paleo Moo Shu Wraps

1 tbs. olive or coconut oil
2 tsp. coconut aminos
1 lb. pork tenderloin, fat trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
6-8 oz. bagged broccoli slaw or other shredded/chopped vegetables
4 chopped scallions
1 cup hoisin sauce (see below)
minced cilantro and lime juice, for garnish (optional)
one batch coconut flour tortilla (see below) OR lettuce leaves, for wrapping

Heat oil in a large skillet or wok. Add 1 tsp. soy sauce and pork, cooking until brown. Add remaining 1 tsp. of soy along with the broccoli slaw and scallions. Cook for 3 minutes and then add sauce, stirring to combine. Cook for one minute more and remove from heat.

Hoisin Sauce

5 tbs. coconut aminos
3 tbs. raw & creamy almond butter
1.5 tsp. raw honey
2 tsp. sesame oil
2 cloves minced garlic
black pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, blending with a whisk.

Coconut Flour Tortillas

6 egg whites
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. each salt & pepper
coconut oil, for cooking

Combine all ingredients in a blender or with an electric mixer until coconut flour is evenly dispersed. Allow to sit for a few minutes.

Heat a skillet on medium and add a smidge of coconut oil. Pour about 1/4 cup of the batter onto the pan, moving the pan around to allow it to spread into a large circle.

Put over heat and cook for about a minute. Flip and cook for a minute on the other side, then remove to a paper towel. Make your remaining tortillas in the same manner, re-greasing the skillet as necessary with coconut oil.

Against All Grain's Macadamia Waffles

I don't know if any other mothers made their own Mother's Day breakfasts, but I'm a single mom with young ones, and frankly it was just easier to take the reins myself. My brood did help a bit with setting the table and clean up, so no complaints from me!

I had been eager to try Against All Grain's Macadamia Waffles for some time. I love all of Danielle's recipes that I've tried, and I couldn't be a bigger macadamia fan. I'm sharing the recipe because it's received a lot of love and glowing reviews on the AAG site, but I must confess I wasn't blown away with my own results.

While they were easy to make and tasted wonderful, my waffles never crisped up. I did start out cooking them on the iron's lowest setting (as Danielle suggests), but then even tried to raise the temp a bit to yield crisper results. Sadly I just got browner waffles, but they were still a bit soft. I think you can tell from my photos they are sagging a bit! ;)


Perhaps it's the fault of my waffle iron, which I've owned for many years now. The presence of melted coconut oil in the batter should help with the texture, so I'd be curious to hear feedback if anyone else has made these (or if you do in the future).

If you click through to the original recipe, Danielle serves hers topped with a homemade fruit syrup. I just used a little butter and cinnamon to finish mine off, while my kids dipped theirs in a little maple syrup. The fruit syrup looks delicious though, so I'd recommend giving it a try!

Against All Grain's Macadamia Waffles
from Against All Grain


3 eggs
1 cup raw macadamia nuts
½ cup coconut milk
3 tbs. raw honey
3 tbs. coconut oil, melted
3 tbs. + 1 tsp. coconut flour
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. salt

Add all of the ingredients to a blender, making sure to put the liquids at the bottom for easier blending.

Blend on low for 30 seconds, then increase the strength to high and continue blending until completely smooth, about another 30 seconds. If you do not have a high-speed blender, it may take a bit longer and a couple of times of pushing the batter down the side of the jar with a spatula (my Vita-mix made easy work of blending it up smoothly).

Spoon the batter into the waffle iron, filling half way full and spreading evenly over the mold.

Cook on the low setting for 45 seconds to a minute, until the steam stops rising from the machine and the waffles easily release with a fork. Keep the waffles in a warm oven while you finish the batter.

Shrimp Pad Thai w Kelp Noodles

Americanized pad thai recipes made with ketchup are *so* not authentic. And I'm sure it's no surprise that Rachael Ray's quickie version of the dish uses the condiment.

So why am I sharing it? Because sometimes I like to have a little fun cleaning up mainstream recipes. I used both organic ketchup and worcestershire (which is also gluten-free), palm sugar in the sauce and kelp noodles in lieu of rice.

I *did* use organic peanuts for the topping, as I find that pad thai really tastes best with the nut. If you're a stickler you can scatter some cashew pieces on your portion!

Rachael Ray's Easy Shrimp Pad Thai
adapted from Everyday with Rachael Ray

1/4 cup  apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup (packed) palm sugar
2 tsp. organic ketchup
2 tsp. organic & GF worcestershire sauce
3 tbs. coconut or olive oil
24 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
juice of 1/2 lemon
one package kelp noodles
4 eggs
2 cups bean sprouts (I omitted these)
1 bunch chopped green onions
3/4 cup unsalted organic peanuts, chopped
1/3 cup chopped cilantro leaves
Sriracha sauce & lime wedges, for serving

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place kelp noodles in a container filled with water and add lemon juice.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together the vinegar, fish sauce, sugar, ketchup and worcestershire until the sugar dissolves.

Once water comes to a boil, add kelp noodles and cook for 10 minutes.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tbsp. oil over high heat until shimmering. Add the shrimp and cook, turning once, until just cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate; reserve the skillet.

Add the remaining 2 tbsp. oil to the reserved skillet and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Crack in the eggs and cook until the whites are browned slightly at the edges, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a nonstick spatula, flip the eggs and break into small pieces.

Add the noodles and fish sauce mixture; toss to combine.

Add the cooked shrimp and stir until the shrimp are heated through and the noodles have absorbed some of the sauce, about 2 minutes. Add the bean sprouts (if using), green onions and peanuts; toss well. Divide the noodles among plates and top with the cilantro.

Serve with the sriracha and lime wedges.

Paleo Apple Cider Vinaigrette

yes, there's organic edamame in there... only soy I eat and quite rarely!

It's the time of year I channel my inner rabbit and start whipping up lots of salads. I love to make a big one at day's end that will yield enough leftovers for the next day's lunch. While I often just use olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to finish things off I also enjoy a proper dressing from time to time.

This one is quite nice as it has a little sweetness and zing. I adapted it from a print recipe I no longer have, which called for 1/4 cup each of white wine and apple cider vinegar. While I've used all ACV, I did find the end result was a bit too acidic for me. You can certainly experiment with the vinegar.

I served the dressing over a chopped salad with all sorts of good things in it; it pairs particularly well with nuts, chicken, pork and pears or apples.

 Paleo Apple Cider Vinaigrette

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
1-2 tbs. raw honey
1/4 tsp. each sea salt & freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tbs. chopped shallots

Combine vinegars through salt and pepper in a small bowl. Gradually pour in olive oil, stirring with a whisk to combine. Mix in shallots and taste for seasoning.