Paleo Mayo-Free Chicken Salad

The kids and I are lucky to live across our town park, which features a lake, playgrounds, pool, playing courts and beautiful trails. We love to have a picnic over there on the last nights of school, and tonight the weather will be absolutely perfect for the event.

I usually make some sort of salad with lots of components that we can all pick at, and this one couldn't be easier or tastier! Almond butter makes a rather unconventional binder for chicken salad, but by including sweet elements like dried cranberries and apple it really works. I included walnuts and celery for crunch.

We enjoyed our salad wrapped in iceberg lettuce leaves. My kids usually have trouble eating lettuce wraps, as everything falls out. Added bonus? The stickiness of the honey and nut butter actually helped hold everything together and make them easier to eat!

The amounts are mostly approximate, as it really depends on your preference. If you don't do nuts, you can always use sunflower seed butter.

 Paleo Mayo-Free Chicken Salad

1 cup chopped chicken
1/4 green apple, chopped small
large handful blueberries
small handful chopped raw walnuts
3 chopped celery stalks
1 tbs. dried, juice-sweetened cranberries
2 tsp honey
3 tbs. raw almond butter
salt, to taste
Romaine lettuce leaves, for serving

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Wrap in lettuce leaves for serving.

Summer Shrimp Salad

I adapted today's dinner salad from a recipe in the most recent issue of Cooking Light. I was smitten by the sound of the Shrimp, Chorizo and Corn Salad right off the bat, particularly the use of both lemon zest and juice to dress it.

You could easily omit the corn here, but I will admit to a soft spot for the grain. Every summer I still indulge in a little organic corn on the cob, and it tasted beautiful here. A worthy substitute or addition would be some diced avocado.

Summer Shrimp Salad
adapted from Cooking Light

1 lb. large shrimp, peeled
2 cups fresh corn kernels (optional)
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1-2 tbs. sriracha sauce
3 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
2 oz. thinly sliced Spanish chorizo sausage
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, divide
1 pint yellow & red grape tomatoes, halved and divided
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
zest and juice of 1 small lemon

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup chopped basil and half of the tomatoes (both red and yellow); toss shrimp mixture gently to combine.

Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add shrimp mixture to pan, and cook for 4 minutes or until shrimp turn pink, stirring frequently.

Place about 1 1/2 cups shrimp mixture in each of 4 shallow bowls, and sprinkle each serving with 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind, 1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice, 6 tomato halves, and 1 tbs. chopped basil.

Paleo Pesto Meatballs

Just as the caveman requests shepherd's pie all year long, my daughter has a weakness for meatballs with "red sauce." I had some nice basil on hand, so decided to put a new twist on her favorite by incorporating pesto into the meat. You could use any pesto you choose and likewise any protein (I went with bison).

I used a combination of almond meal and flax seed for binding; I imagine you could use all of either one, but I thought the mixture worked really well. Serve these up with homemade or jarred sauce and you are good to go!

Paleo Pesto Meatballs

1 lb. ground protein of choice
1 large chopped shallot
2 egg whites (you can use 1 egg - I happened to have whites on hand after making custard)
1/2 cup homemade paleo pesto
3 tbs. ground flax
3 tbs. almond meal
salt, pepper & garlic powder to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Place a cooling rack on top of a baking sheet coated with tinfoil. Hand mix all ingredients until well combined. Form into meatballs and place on cooling rack. Bake for 30 minutes or until no longer pink.

I also usually put my meatballs in a pot on the stove with the sauce, and allow them to heat up together for a minute or two. If you want to simmer them in the sauce longer, simply reduce the amount of baking time in the oven.

Grain-Free Strawberry Pie

I promise, I made bison chili for dinner last night, and had a big salmon salad the night before. I'm not all about the treats, but we went strawberry picking yesterday (and I wanted to make a special something for the caveman to honor Father's Day today).

This one was actually a little outside my comfort zone. I was all set to make strawberry shortcakes, or perhaps muffins. My daughter requested pie, which is not really my thing, paleo or not. It's not a dessert I was ever smitten with myself, and I'm just not a crust maker.

I'm happy to say, though, I think I came through in the end. I used the coconut flour pie crust from The Coconut Mama, a savory variation of which I had used to make last week's quiche. For the filling I kept things pretty simple (just berries, lemon and a combination of maple syrup and honey. The finishing touch? Homemade coconut whipped cream.

This dessert was devoured by all, and I'm happy I was able to make something the brood doesn't often get to enjoy. It used up a heck of a lot of strawberries, so this is definitely something to make if you've either gone picking yourself or can get them at a good price.

Paleo Strawberry Pie

crust:
(adapted from Coconut Mama):

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup coconut flour
2 tbs. raw honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl beat coconut oil, eggs, honey and salt together with a fork. Then add coconut flour. Stir until dough holds together.

Gather the dough into a ball, then pat into a 9″ greased  pie pan. Prick the dough with a fork. Bake for 9 minutes. Let cool.

filling:
7 cups strawberries (hulled and halved), divided
3 tbs. maple syrup
2 tbs. raw honey
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 tbs. arrowroot powder

Heat 1.5 cups strawberries, sweetener and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, reduce and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Stir in arrowroot for thickness, and remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly.

Once mixture is cooled, pour into a large bowl with the remaining strawberries. Put in refrigerator to chill for about an hour.

After chilling filling, pour it into pie crust. Garnish with homemade coconut whipped cream, if desired. For best results, allow assembled pie to chill for at least 1-2 hours before serving.

Paleo Fruit Custard

We are gearing up to go strawberry picking tomorrow morning, so you can expect some recipe featuring fresh berries! I wanted to test this one out with frozen ones today, as I usually wind up freezing quite a bit of our bounty.

In some ways this is a reworking of the Strawberries & Cream Cereal I posted previously. My kids didn't love the texture of the finished product, so this time I used coconut oil instead of shredded coconut. It added the necessary thickness, but also helped make it smoother and creamier. The end result was more like a custard than a hot cereal (thus the name).

Since I wanted to get this post up and running I only let my custard chill for about 2 hours before snapping the photos. It was definitely more firm on the top, so I would suggest keeping it in the fridge for even longer for the thickest results.

Paleo Fruit Custard

4 cups frozen fruit (I used one banana and a mixture of strawberries and mango)
3 tbs. no sugar-added fruit spread (you could also use raw honey to taste)
4 egg yolks
1 tbs. vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil

Combine fruit and fruit spread or honey in a sauce pot over low heat. Heat until the fruit has softened and begun to break down. Place in a blender and process until smooth. Pour back into sauce pot and place over low heat again.

Whisk egg yolks until fluffy and slowly add to fruit. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. Add vanilla extract.

Remove from heat and stir in coconut oil until it melts. Allow mixture to cool, then refrigerate to allow it to really thicken up before serving.

Paleo Shepherd's Pie Muffins

The caveman asks me to make shepherd's pie all the time. And even though I'm always soliciting his requests, I often refuse to fulfill them. I just associate the dish with colder weather, so don't feel as inclined to make it this time of year.

Last night I came up with a compromise. I had the kids, so wanted to make a meal everyone would like. I decided to make mini shepherd's pies, which pleased the shorties and kind of transformed the meal into seemingly lighter fare.

I've shared my recipe before, but will do so again. I use the base recipe from Elana's Pantry, and then came up with my own fluffy garlicky cauliflower topping, which honestly comes out tasting just like potato.

Although the meat mixture is a bit loose, the cauliflower helps the "muffins" hold their shape when you're scooping them out. I used ground turkey last night, but any ground meat would work.

Paleo Shepherd's Pie Muffins

meat: 
1 large onion, diced
1 lb. turkey or pork bacon, cut into 2 inch slices
2 cups diced carrots
2 cups diced celery
1 lb. ground meat of choice
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
½ tsp. smoked paprika
1 cup low-sodium, organic chicken broth

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 10-15 minutes, until soft. Add chopped bacon and cook until just getting crisp.

Add carrots and celery, allowing to cook in bacon fat for 10 more minutes. Add ground meat to skillet and break up with a wooden spoon. Cook until meat is just no longer pink. Season with salt, pepper and paprika.

Add chicken broth and allow mixture to cook until the broth has reduced by 60%. Scoop meat mixture into greased muffin cups.

topping: 
one large head of cauliflower, cut into florets
splash of coconut or almond milk, as needed
2 tbs. butter
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
salt, pepper & fresh ground nutmeg, to taste

Preheat oven to 375.

Boil cauliflower in a large pot until tender; drain and return to pot. Add butter and a splash of milk, then puree mixture with a stick blender. If you don't have a stick, remove mixture to a blender or food processor and run until smooth. Season to taste with garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Spread cauliflower mixture over meat in muffin cups. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

Bacon & Feta-Stuffed Chicken

Warning: dairy ahead. I found myself with some delicious raw feta from a Vermont creamery on hand, and wanted to put it to good use. My son isn't a huge fan of the rather strong taste of the feta on its own, but stuffing it into chicken (and including bacon!) made for delicious and kid-friendly results.

If you don't do dairy at all, I would probably pass on this one. Just bacon and spinach for filling would be a bit dry. So forgive me, and look forward to my next recipe ;)

While I had some homemade marinara on hand, you could easily use a paleo-compliant jarred variety. I also wrote the recipe to allow for either chicken breast or thigh, but I went with more flavorful thigh meat.

Bacon & Feta-Stuffed Chicken 

4 chicken breasts or thighs
salt & pepper
6 slices nitrite-free bacon, cooked till crisp and crumbled
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
generous handful of chopped baby spinach
1 tbs. olive oil
2 cups marinara sauce
a couple of julienned basil leaves, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350. Place chicken in between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and pound out the meat, starting in the middle working your way to the sides. Divide the chopped bacon, feta and spinach evenly between the four pieces of chicken, placing them on one side of the pounded-out meat.

Using toothpicks, pin chicken closed to keep stuffing inside. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken to pan and cook until brown on all sides. Add sauce to skillet, covering chicken.

Place in oven for 25-35 minutes, or until chicken is cooked thoroughly. Serve with basil leaves on top, if using.