Paleo recipes needed!

[Peelee]

So after seeing TheThan's thread on vegetarian dishes, I realized how I was ignoring a possible great source of knowledge and help.

Anyway. For medical reasons I won't go into, my family doctor has advised my wife and me to go on a paleo diet. We don't need to stick to absolute paleo, in the sense of "nothing that didn't exist in the paleolithic era" (which is good, because I think that is a stupid diet idea), but we need no grains (not no gluten - no grains. so most gluten-free stuff that is rice-based is still out), as the most important thing. Nothing processed, and ideally no dairy (due to a lactose intolerance issue). Potatoes are iffy, but I think we can lean more on the "ok" side. Meat is still perfectly fine, since a lot of protein is good. My wife is half-Asian, so we can't cut out rice entirely - she gets really antsy when she goes too long without rice - so I'm trying to not cheat so much on other dishes.

We've picked up several paleo cookbooks, but around 90% of the recipes boil down to either "you should buy these ridiculous ingredients you'll only use for this dish," "we are clearly assuming that you are a one-at-work, one-at-home household, and thus time, preparation, and cleaning are of no concern," or simply "crap that we're just throwing out there because it looks good, and will taste like garbage, but we need to pad this book out to justify the cost." Or any mix-and-match of those.

The things I'm looking for are taste, ease of making, time to cook/prepare, and cost, but honestly, I'll sacrifice a lot for taste, so long as it's not ridiculous, PaleoCookBook-style recipes. I realize I'm asking a lot, so thanks in advance to anyone willing to help!

EDIT:

List of requirements:

No grains whatsoever (we do cheat on this with rice, because again, my wife is half-Korean; she can't live without rice).
Low carbs is ideal; there may be an issue with insulin resistance, which is worsened by carbs.
No nuts or seeds. Apparently this is because of Omega 6 fats being very bad (and nuts and seeds being very high in Omega 6, it seems), while Omega 3 supplements are glorious to reduce the Omega 6:Omega 3 ratio, so seafood is a great choice. Which is perfect, since I could easily live on a diet of nothing but seafood for the rest of my life.
Potatoes are borderline. Sweet potatoes are better, I think. My wife loves her potatoes, though, so we still use these occasionally.
Ideally little to no dairy. Not so much for the underlying condition as it is my wife is lactose intolerant (pretty common in Asians and half-Asians, it seems)


I think we may be set on dinners, so now I'm looking for lunch ideas (we work at the same place; it's a medical store, so kind of both retail and office type environment. Usually means we need either quick lunches or prepared lunches the night before. Right now I think prosciutto and fruit is a great consistent lunch idea, but variety will not be shot down here.

Lastly, I said at some point downthread that beans were off the table. Apparently it was either beans or nuts, we couldn't remember which, and this pretty clinches it in the nuts side, so beans are back on the table, so to speak.

[LaZodiac]

My advice for this diet is to find a second opinion from a different doctor, and then eat like a regular human being, keeping in mind your dietary needs.

Nothing around in the Paleolithic era exists now. Not in the form it did back then anyway. Don't take this diet.

Like, I don't know what your medical issues are, and I don't need to. But you do know them, and know what you can and cannot eat. So do that. Remember to eat proper portions for things, and remember to exercise if that's required for your health issues. You don't need to follow a fad diet, especially this one. But still ask another doctor, always get a professional opinion, specifically from a nutrition majored one.

[Ifni]

While a second opinion isn't a bad idea before making major dietary changes, I don't think asking for recipes with no grains, no processed foods, and no dairy is an unreasonable request. (It's hard for me personally to answer, because I'm vegetarian and I love my grains, but I don't think it's unreasonable.)

I mean, I can suggest things like moo shu veggies (http://chinese.food.com/recipe/moo-shu-vegetables-137090) (sans pancakes), french onion kale soup (http://sarahlipoff.com/2012/03/11/french-onion-kale-soup/) (won't be quite as good without the cheese, but kale + caramelized onions + the other flavors in that soup work pretty fantastically together anyway), various lentil/chickpea recipes if pulses don't count as grains for the purposes of your diet (I don't know the answer to this one, clarify?), tom kha gai soup (http://tasty-yummies.com/2012/05/02/tom-kha-gai-soup-thai-coconut-soup-gluten-free-dairy-free-wvegan-options/), etcetera... but the fact that none of my go-to recipes include meat probably means I'm missing out on a lot of good options for your specified restrictions.

[golentan]

I... Assuming this is something like my friend who has celiac and dairy allergy?

Lazodiac, a lot of the time when people say paleo they don't mean the actual paleo diet, they just mean stripping out grains and dairy and excessively processed foods, because a lot of stuff can trigger allergies and be hidden in processed foods whether or not it appears to be safe. So no, Peelee's family should probably follow the advice of their doctor.

So, how about we talk good things that you can still enjoy! If potatoes are iffy but okay sometimes, I highly recommend marinated grilled potatoes as a special treat. Chop some potatoes into one inch cubes, soak them in a spice blend with olive oil and a touch of vinegar (I like balsamic, but I don't know what's a problem for you) and let sit overnight. Next day, you can grill them, include them as part of a kebab with peppers and meat (meat can go in the same marinade depending), whatever.

Homemade soup is good. Beef Stock and onions as a primary duo, then you can go in and fill it up with any sort of vegetables, beans, lentils (if they're safe for you), whatever...

Stuffed apricots. Stuffed whatevers, really... Halve an apricot and pit it, and depending on whether you're looking for a dessert or a savory course you can cook it in honey or vinegar on low heat in a pan (don't let the fruit start breaking down) and fill it with chopped nuts (you can reuse honey for this) or ground spiced lamb.

Plantain. You can do a lot with plantain, including drying and grinding them to make dough, then making empanadas with that with assorted fillings...

Ceviche, if you like fish. Take some high quality fish, tomatoes, Avocado, onions, celery, peppers, parsley, cilantro, and lime juice. Chop everything fairly small, toss it together with the lime juice, the acid will "cook" the fish... Has to be fresh, very fresh, but...

[LaZodiac]

I... Assuming this is something like my friend who has celiac and dairy allergy?

Lazodiac, a lot of the time when people say paleo they don't mean the actual paleo diet, they just mean stripping out grains and dairy and excessively processed foods, because a lot of stuff can trigger allergies and be hidden in processed foods whether or not it appears to be safe. So no, Peelee's family should probably follow the advice of their doctor.

Sorry, just trying to make sure the person isn't getting into this awful, awful thing with poor intentions! I'm sure there's a valid reason and I'll leave it up to you guys to give actual advice, I'm just throwing in my two cents.

[golentan]

Sorry, just trying to make sure the person isn't getting into this awful, awful thing with poor intentions! I'm sure there's a valid reason and I'll leave it up to you guys to give actual advice, I'm just throwing in my two cents.

Right, but as mentioned I have a friend with an ACTUAL gluten allergy. He's as mad as anyone about the trendy gluten-free weekend warriors, with the exception that as long as they're assertive about it he gets additional food choices so long as they don't wind up convincing cooks that "they're just faaaking..." and start sneaking gluten into his diet.

At one point, he was given the non-gluten free variant by mistake, though whether mistake or not I don't know. The restaurant certainly didn't tell us, we had to go by symptoms. He also had forgotten his emergency medicine. The rush to the hospital was... tense.

If this is anything like that? Cooking special foods for him is worth it, but it does require throwing out the routine and starting from new assumptions.

[LaZodiac]

Right, but as mentioned I have a friend with an ACTUAL gluten allergy. He's as mad as anyone about the trendy gluten-free weekend warriors, with the exception that as long as they're assertive about it he gets additional food choices so long as they don't wind up convincing cooks that "they're just faaaking..." and start sneaking gluten into his diet.

At one point, he was given the non-gluten free variant by mistake, though whether mistake or not I don't know. The restaurant certainly didn't tell us, we had to go by symptoms. He also had forgotten his emergency medicine. The rush to the hospital was... tense.

If this is anything like that? Cooking special foods for him is worth it, but it does require throwing out the routine and starting from new assumptions.

Well yeah obviously, I'm just saying to be careful since I know some doctors have incentives to push the whole "weekend warrior" thing you mentioned.

Basically what I'm saying, Peelee is that I hope this entire situation won't be negative for you. Good luck! Trust Golentan, this one is smart at food.

[Crow]

Sorry, just trying to make sure the person isn't getting into this awful, awful thing with poor intentions! I'm sure there's a valid reason and I'll leave it up to you guys to give actual advice, I'm just throwing in my two cents.

Paleo is fine. It's when people go low-carb paleo that it becomes a problem; or when they go "fast food paleo".

Regarding the first, paleo is not meant to be low carbs. You are just supposed to get them from different sources than most people do.

Regarding the second, it happens when people Atkins-ize everything because they think they know what paleo is, but really don't. Taking the bun off a big mac and calling it paleo.

There are other ways to mess it up, but those are the most common. I might be wrong, but as someone who has worked with athletes (real sports, not crossfit) at many levels, it sounds like you either haven't tried it, or did it completely wrong. Done properly, that diet can turned an athlete whose diet wasn't so good before into an absolute machine.

*disclaimer: experience mostly comes from athletes. Some skinny and out of shape, some fat and out of shape, and some in great shape already. All were used to physical activity however. I have seen good results with paleo on non-athletes, but have not been the trainer who administered the diet to those individuals.

edit: If you want some easy recipes I can give you some but it will be a few days for me to find them and then have time to write them up.

[factotum]

You should probably note the advice that was given by someone in TheThan's thread--namely, you don't have to follow the recipe exactly. If you can find a more common substitute for one of the ingredients that still fulfils the "no grain or lactose" criteria then use it. Might need some experimentation to get it exactly right, but that's why you're cooking this stuff yourself rather than just microwaving ready meals!

[shawnhcorey]

Back then, people ate what foods they could find. It was rare that they had a choice.

But that being said, the most common food was above-ground and leafy vegetables. These were the one easily spotted and harvested.

High-carb foods would only be available at certain times of the year. In a temperate climate, they would be available from early fall to early winter because it would take the planets all summer to store the food.

A paleo-diet would consist of a lot of above-ground and leafy vegetables and seasonal foods.

[thorgrim29]

So, Peelee, seems you're using Paleo as a shorthand for "no grains, no dairy", correct? In that case I won't bother with that label (and you really shouldn't have used it, that was a rookie mistake :smallwink:)

Now personally I love my grains (too much really) so I'm not sure how much I can help you but I have some ideas.

- Can you eats beans? Because a good chili is fairly easy to make and can be both vegetarian or omnivorous (typically you replace beef with squash, probably other ways). Of course, lacking corn chips will hurt a bit
- To vary, learn how to make a good tartar/cevice/gravlax/etc...
- Look at middle eastern cuisine, you'll have to take out the rice and pita sure, but you'll be left with lots of flavorful grilled meats with various veggies and hummus. Though a lot of it relies on yogurt marinade, might be a problem for you.
- If you like grilling, buy yourself a Caribbean recipe book
- Asparagus is much better grilled with a bit of oil rather than boiled, not sure if that helps
- Soup is your friend

Also, no beer? That's a bummer.

[shawnhcorey]

Also, no beer? That's a bummer.

But there's wine. :smallwink:

[Peelee]

My advice for this diet is to find a second opinion from a different doctor, and then eat like a regular human being, keeping in mind your dietary needs.
My wife is an RN. She works out well as a built-in second opinion generator. We've also done some research on the disease, and the diet is well-recommended for it (in addition to medication, of course). Also, the diet is really only for one of us, but ya know, the whole "married" thing means it's effectively for the both of us.

I... Assuming this is something like my friend who has celiac and dairy allergy?
Eh, kind of, but not really. Celiac disease would actually be kind of preferable; it's not gluten, but grains in general we have to watch out for. Which means gluten-free flour doesn't work, since it's almost always rice-based (yes, I realize the hypocrisy in not liking rice-based alternative foods while also not quite shunning rice itself). And yeah, a mild lactose intolerance issue; even without that, though, dairy isn't really recommended for the medical dietary restrictions we have

So, Peelee, seems you're using Paleo as a shorthand for "no grains, no dairy", correct? In that case I won't bother with that label (and you really shouldn't have used it, that was a rookie mistake :smallwink:)

a lot of the time when people say paleo they don't mean the actual paleo diet, they just mean stripping out grains and dairy and excessively processed foods, because a lot of stuff can trigger allergies and be hidden in processed foods whether or not it appears to be safe.

Yes, this exactly. I say "paleo" because that's pretty much easier than saying detailing the specifics and ending with, "effectively paleo, but with minor differences."

Can you eats beans? Because a good chili is fairly easy to make and can be both vegetarian or omnivorous (typically you replace beef with squash, probably other ways). Of course, lacking corn chips will hurt a bit
- To vary, learn how to make a good tartar/cevice/gravlax/etc...
- Look at middle eastern cuisine, you'll have to take out the rice and pita sure, but you'll be left with lots of flavorful grilled meats with various veggies and hummus. Though a lot of it relies on yogurt marinade, might be a problem for you.
- If you like grilling, buy yourself a Caribbean recipe book
- Asparagus is much better grilled with a bit of oil rather than boiled, not sure if that helps
- Soup is your friend

Also, no beer? That's a bummer.
GREAT question on the beans! Because that's a no. We do make chili (and turkey chili, because it's damn tasty) sometimes, and that's a great idea to step up on.

Also, we barely ever drink alcohol, so the beer thing doesn't faze me in the least. Now, if coke was knocked down from my drinking list, I'd be in a bad state, I can tell you.

If you want some easy recipes I can give you some but it will be a few days for me to find them and then have time to write them up.
Woot! I don't mind waiting. Thanks!

You should probably note the advice that was given by someone in TheThan's thread--namely, you don't have to follow the recipe exactly. If you can find a more common substitute for one of the ingredients that still fulfils the "no grain or lactose" criteria then use it. Might need some experimentation to get it exactly right, but that's why you're cooking this stuff yourself rather than just microwaving ready meals!

I'm also following his thread, because why not? But yeah, when cooking, I almost always alter recipes in some way. You bake by recipe, but you cook to taste.

Also, once again, thanks to everyone for the advice! This is already pretty helpful stuff.

[Icewraith]

Basically pick two veggies and a protein and go from there. Broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, Brussels sprouts, green beans... it's all good. Most vegetables are usually steamed (broccoli is super easy to steam even in the microwave, you can buy it whole, slice off the good stuff, wrap it in a paper towel, drizzle some water over the paper towel, and steam it in the microwave for about three minutes), but broccoli is excellent baked and drizzled in olive oil, zucchini (and asparagus) is great when grilled, and Brussels sprouts can be absolutely amazing when sautéed (and horrific when overcooked). Spinach is great as a salad base (or as a painless additive to smoothies if you have a quality blender) but personally I can't stand it cooked (you can disguise a very large amount of it in meat-based sauces, but those are usually served with the pasta you won't be having). Kale is super-healthy but the taste is usually overpowering. It's best added in small quantities to other dishes.

Note that steamed/boiled asparagus can be super tasty as long as you don't cook it for very long- 5-7 minutes tops depending on your stove (similar to al dente pasta), and only enough water to mostly cover the asparagus (don't use a giant pasta pot or anything). Don't forget the salt, and don't even boil the water before adding the asparagus. Just cut off the tough inedible end (1/2 to 1/3 of the asparagus, do it while it's still bundled so it's easy) wash the rest, drop it in a normal frying/sautee pan big enough to hold the asparagus, cover it with water, and leave it on the stove on high for a few minutes.

Starch wise your go-tos will probably be sweet potatoes and carrots. (I guess you can't give up rice) Possibly peas, I don't remember if they're in the "starch that everyone thinks is a vegetable because it's green" category. If corn counts as a grain a lot of gluten free stuff still won't be safe for you. Ditto with oats.

Depending on where you are, almond milk may be not too much more expensive than milk to be an economically acceptable substitute. If you're trying to lose weight it's also very low in calories compared to milk. If you're trying to maintain or gain weight and dairy isn't an issue then break with paleo here and accept no substitutes for whole milk. Do you have dairy issues in general or lactose issues? Goat cheese in small quantities is great if you're just trying to avoid lactose. (If you're trying to lose weight dairy is usually very calorie-rich, so mostly avoid)

In terms of fruit, if you can get it semi-reasonably, fresh pineapple (buy it whole and slice it yourself instead of buying it pre-sliced and marinated in corn syrup) is great for snacks and pairs well with most proteins. Once you learn to slice it. preparing one takes just a couple minutes and it will keep for several days in a closed container in the fridge. Nuts are another good option as long as you're not allergic.

When it comes to cooking healthy, the main thing is to have a plan. You probably don't have time to make a gourmet meal every night, but you CAN buy spinach and cook and chop enough chicken breast for several days of lunch salads in a row. You can grill extra steaks for tomorrow night, bake extra sweet potatoes, etc. If you buy a squeeze bottle you can make a simple vinaigrette from scratch and have it be ready to go all week or just drizzle olive oil, balsalmic vinegar, and some pepper over your salad if you're going to eat it soon-ish and you're in a rush. As long as you're ok with eating the same or very similar things several days in a row, cooking enough for two or three of the same meal doesn't take much more time than cooking one meal for tonight. You just need to have the stuff already ready to go. Additionally if you wash and chop most fruit (especially strawberries) when you get home it won't have sprouted mold the next day and you'll eat it before it goes bad (unless you buy an entire flat of strawberries or something). If you can manage a bi-weekly trip to the grocery store your goal is to buy enough fresh produce to last you until your next trip and no more than an extra day or so in case you get delayed.

Also I hate to break it to you, but if you're trying to cut out processed foods and unnecessary sugars, coke (and other sodas in general) should be the first thing to go. And it will suck because you're probably already addicted to all the sugar and caffeine in there. It's entirely possible that even the suggestion of giving up coke will provoke a strong emotional reaction. You may have certain fond memories or traditions, such as attending sporting events or picnics on hot days, with drinking a cool refreshing soda.

But if your or your partner's concerns have anything to do with losing weight, avoiding processed foods, cutting out unnecessary sugars, or reducing the amount of chemicals introduced into your body- get rid of soda. Completely. Don't have it "just this once" or as a reward for good behavior or even because your plans fell through and you're having to get fast food so you might as well get a soda. Get water. Every soda machine has a little tab that you can push (usually on the lemonade dispenser) and get straight water- best to let it run for half a second to let any lingering lemonade taste run out before actually filling your cup. If you're in the US, restaurants are required to give you a water cup for free if you're ordering food from them. The cup will usually be smaller than the normal drink cups and clear, but it's free (actually the smaller size has the very minor additional upside of making you take multiple trips and getting you to move a bit more and burn a small amount of additional calories). Alternatively if you want a larger cup just order a drink and fill it with water anyways. You're not really paying for what you're filling it with (which is dirt cheap no matter what and refills are usually free), you're paying for the larger cup.

[Peelee]

If corn counts as a grain a lot of gluten free stuff still won't be safe for you. Ditto with oats.

They do indeed. Also, you are a plethora of goodness. Thank you, sir!

My wife loves asparagus, actually, so by now I've had it so much that even I kinda like it. I've even fancified it by making hollandaise sauce to dribble on it, which is great; I just need to make hollandaise better (which is totally copacetic with our diet! Because as much as my wife can't go without rice, I love my eggs benedict even more, health be damned). Also boiled asparagus in 80% orange juice, 10% lemon juice, 10% lime juice one time. Same as normal boiled asparagus, in a pan with the liquid just covering for 5-7 minutes, and HOLY CRAP it was amazing. I highly recommend anyone who likes asparagus to try that out, it's delightful.

[BWR]

1. find deer or moose
2. kill deer or moose
3. bleed, skin and butcher deer or moose
4. add fire to meat of deer or moose
5. eat charred meat of deer or moose

(reindeer is a good replacement for either)

[BannedInSchool]

I'd assume insects are "paleo"-like as well. Monkeys eat insects. :smallsmile:

[Peelee]

Right, but as mentioned I have a friend with an ACTUAL gluten allergy. He's as mad as anyone about the trendy gluten-free weekend warriors, with the exception that as long as they're assertive about it he gets additional food choices so long as they don't wind up convincing cooks that "they're just faaaking..." and start sneaking gluten into his diet.

At one point, he was given the non-gluten free variant by mistake, though whether mistake or not I don't know. The restaurant certainly didn't tell us, we had to go by symptoms. He also had forgotten his emergency medicine. The rush to the hospital was... tense.

If this is anything like that? Cooking special foods for him is worth it, but it does require throwing out the routine and starting from new assumptions.

I somehow missed this. No, it is most definitely not an allergy or anything (and now I feel bad about saying I'd almost prefer it to be Celiac, because it'd be easier). It's just a condition my wife has that requires some lifestyle changes and constant medication. If we go out and have a giant bowl of wheat, beans, and milk, there'll be no hospitalization issues, and we don't need any restaurants to scrub and clean their utensils or anything. If she eats processed food or grainy foods for like 3 days in a row, she'll start feeling it, but with all the hassle, it's not nearly as bad as your friend has it if there's a slip-up.

Also, BWR, you win the thread.

[sktarq]

Okay-firstly realize that if this is going to be a lifetime change that a few good investments (in. Time as much as $$) will be worth it. Also buying in bulk will also probably be something you want to get into early.

Equipment: restaurant and microwave food will be hard to find that will meet your needs so you will be doing a lot of home cooking so things that make that easier in general will be of greater help to you-but three tools come to mind as especially useful to you.
1: A good food processor for working various tubers, veggies, nuts, beans etc. Will open up your choices in many ways-puree of cauliflower or homemade humus are easy with the right tool.
2: a dehydrator. Good for making snacks which will probably be one of the hardest parts of your diet to keep up. Not critical but also useful for bulk buys that you can't eat that much of fresh. Good for more than fruit too. Many veggies work fine (throw evil look at kale chips for their horrible fanclub more than anything they did)
3: a mortar and pestle. Makes life so much easier for dealing with so many small things-cut out much of knife work of things like garlic, herbs, etc. Basically a food processor for amounts less than your fist-I recommend a heavier solid one as they are easier to work than the tripod ones (less sliding as lateral forces are common) and recommend stone over ceramic (so that vertical thumping/mashing doesn't break it).

So first major food catagory you'll have to get to know and love: the tubers. More than just potatoes and carrots there are your yams, celery root, lotus root (from Asian markets mostly visually interesting and tasty), parsnips, turnips, and a variety of beets. Allot of these have stronger flavors than potatoes - many have a bit of tang that can be used to liven up a meal. Or like beets produce deep earthyness that can contrast to your lighter brighter greens while replacing the carbs in your low grain diet. Also toss them in a drawer in your fridge and they last week's many of them. Also if fresh don't ignore the greens you get with them-many sauté nicely with a bit of oil, salt, etc (but I do recommend them as part of a medley)

Legumes
Your beans, chickpeas, peas, lentils, and other pulses. Chopped up or pureed they can be used like potatoes and or beds for meat/fish. They make easy soups and if you get them dried keep for extended periods. I can actually be worth heading to a local health food shop tto pick out a small amount of a large variety of these (places where you can scoop you own are best)-just enough for one or two meals (also best when your cooking is more limitted for easy comparison) so you can find ones you like. Then to get around Whole food/health food store prices buy the types you like in bulk. This is also help with having to go to the store every day.

Oil-good cooking oil is going to replace butter a lot in your new diet. Buy in bulk (gallon+ jugs are often available) and then have a water/ squeeze bottle that you refill for everyday work.

Veggie tricks-learn to love your oven for easy work. Apples with miri, vinegar, spices or wrap up a cauliflower head in foil with a tbsp of apple cider vinegar, a drizzle of oil, and a pinch of salt and clove. Cook until soft-open away from you. Use two forks for romantic pair bonding. Artichokes can be treated similarly.
Wilting leafy veg in the pan you just cooked your meat in is another help-while the meat is resting a 30 second saute will take the edge off of bitter leafy veg and it will also absorb meaty tastes like if you had deglazed the pan.

[Icewraith]

I don't know what's up with the dehydrator or mortar and pestle. As long as you're not allergic to nuts, nuts and fruit are great snacks.

The mortar and pestle.... I rarely see used. If you've got a good cheese grater it usually has a set of very small holes you can use for zesting, or you can get a zester which is probably the special purpose cooking utensil I end up cleaning the most. If you're big on doing dry rubs for roasts or do open pit barbecue I can see the need, but in terms of flavor-

salt
pepper
onions
garlic
ginger
cilantro
limes
lemons
vinegar
bell peppers
other peppers/chillis



None of these require a mortar and pestle and all get used a lot more often (full disclosure, we do have one I just don't see it get used that often). Keep some curry powder, oregano... maybe some cardamom? on hand in terms of dry spices. Rosemary is a fast-growing bush that is very difficult to kill even if you've got a black thumb and is much better added fresh. There's probably some other stuff I'm forgetting.

It's easier to prep garlic with a knife since you have to get the skin off anyways, and it's just like peeling a small oddly-shaped onion that doesn't make you cry. You can also crush OR slice garlic which adds a different flavor.

Oh yes, if you're going to be cooking a lot, keep your knives sharp. If you don't have quality kitchen knives, consider springing for some. Dull knives are extremely dangerous.

You don't need a ton of fancy knives, you mostly need one or two really good all-purpose knives and then a couple smaller knives for dealing with small things. If you buy a set it'll usually come with a bread knife you're never going to use while you're on this diet and a boning knife that you'll try to use like a normal chef's or santoku when your good kitchen knife is dirty and then hurt yourself. However, actually having the knife block is still nice. Your main kitchen knife doesn't need to be heavy per se or even particularly large, but you don't want it to feel light and you want a certain sense of weight and solidity to help chop things safely.

I will however concur with the food processor. It is a lot less of a big deal if you're not a hummus person. If you live in an area that doesn't regularly get good fresh produce the dehydrator et. al. might become a lot more important. By the time you've found the right blade and got the thing out and assembled you can usually have already sliced most of the zucchini you were going to make, also food processors can't cut vegetables into spears, which you can bake as an analogue for French fries if you start missing fast food.

Oh, have a number of cutting boards, at least four, on hand. Get plastic, not wood, and ideally the boards should be thick enough to hold their shape. It helps to have boards of various sizes. Going paleo you'll be chopping a lot of veggies and slicing/trimming a lot of meat, and you really don't want anything else to contact a surface you've had raw meat on (this is also why you don't use wood).

Just remember that your plate should be full of VEGGIES and meat and starch instead of MEAT and STARCH and sometimes veggies.

Edit: It's nice to have a bottle of good cooking oil on hand (or a jar of coconut oil) and then a jug of something like canola for frying or other applications where using the good stuff would be wasted.

[thorgrim29]

This might be of use (actually, the whole site, they have some pretty cool articles about a ton of cooking styles): http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2015/09/gluten-free-fried-chicken-japanese-ideas-in-food-recipe.html

[Telonius]

My family has been on the "Specific Carbohydrate Diet" for a while now. It has a lot in common with paleo, but isn't exactly the same. My wife, mother-in-law, and daughter are all gluten sensitive and lactose intolerant; I'm the only one in the house who can eat regular bread (lucky me). I'll see if I can come up with a few recipes for you.

One off the top of my head: Stuffed zucchini. Cook up some ground beef, hollow out a zucchini, put the meat in, top with either tomato sauce or grated parmasean (hard cheeses like parmasean tend to be better than soft cheeses like cheddar; but you can leave it out altogether if you need). Bake it in the oven until the zucchini is cooked.

Most yogurt you buy in the store has only been fermented for 4 hours. We've been using a yogurt maker and fermenting ours for 24. Very good stuff; just make sure you add some honey, because that stuff can be tart.

EDIT: For "bread" ... almond flour is a thing, as long as you're not allergic. We've had some real success with almond flour muffins. Garbanzo beans can also make a great substitute in cakes; I've had a garbanzo bean chocolate cake that was completely indistinguishable from a wheat cake.

[Peelee]

We have some coconut flour that seems promising, but we have yet to put it to use. I was thinking could make some bread, slice some meat, and make us sammiches for lunch so we could at least appear to be normal humans and not frou-frou fancy-ass diet people, but breadmakers are stupidly expensive.

I'm willing to use it in anything that calls for standard flour, of course, but as for muffins.... you'll have to pry the Sam's Club blueberry muffins from my cold, dead hands.

[factotum]

but breadmakers are stupidly expensive.


Bread *pans* to put in an oven are cheap, though, and I bet you already have one of the latter... :smalltongue:

[Zrak]

I do a lot of baking with unusual flours. One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of them have a pretty strong flavor. Coconut flour isn't the strongest by any means (that distinction belongs to peanut flour), but it's still often noticeable. Obviously, that's not a problem in general, since coconut is delicious, but it might not be your first choice for, say, focaccia. The second thing to keep in mind is that baking is chemistry, and things like moisture, acidity, and fat content all matter. The two most common problems you'll run into if you don't pay attention to these things are your breads/whatever failing to rise properly or turning out too dry. The easiest way to prevent this, or at least minimize it, is to just google the kind of flour you're using and see how it differs from the kind the recipe says to use, and alter something else accordingly. You don't have to do anything remotely scientific, and I never do, it's just helpful to have some loose guidelines when you wing it.

Is there a more clear breakdown on what specific properties lead to a food being forbidden? Rather than go food-by-food to ask if something arguably grain-esque that's not exactly a grain is okay, it might be easier just to know to avoid anything with X amount of Y, or from the Z family, and so on. If that's more complex than you're trying to get into here, or just more closely related to saying what's actually wrong than you're comfortable with, no worries. I just thought it might help us give more relevant suggestions.


There are other ways to mess it up, but those are the most common. I might be wrong, but as someone who has worked with athletes (real sports, not crossfit) at many levels, it sounds like you either haven't tried it, or did it completely wrong. Done properly, that diet can turned an athlete whose diet wasn't so good before into an absolute machine.

Just about any other diet "done properly" can do the same thing; the whole idea of a diet is to tell you how to do it properly. The problem with paleo, like most fad diets, is that it is only intermittently successful at telling people how to do this. If you don't understand and follow generally sound nutritional principles, you're probably going to eat just as poorly on a paleo diet as you would on a regular diet. If you do understand and follow those guidelines, the additional restrictions posed by paleo will basically be extraneous. That isn't to say you can't have a healthy diet on paleo, or even that it can't help somebody make their diet healthier. I just think the problem is that it's more marketable than it is reliable or straightforward.

[Icewraith]

I do a lot of baking with unusual flours. One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of them have a pretty strong flavor. Coconut flour isn't the strongest by any means (that distinction belongs to peanut flour), but it's still often noticeable. Obviously, that's not a problem in general, since coconut is delicious, but it might not be your first choice for, say, focaccia. The second thing to keep in mind is that baking is chemistry, and things like moisture, acidity, and fat content all matter. The two most common problems you'll run into if you don't pay attention to these things are your breads/whatever failing to rise properly or turning out too dry. The easiest way to prevent this, or at least minimize it, is to just google the kind of flour you're using and see how it differs from the kind the recipe says to use, and alter something else accordingly. You don't have to do anything remotely scientific, and I never do, it's just helpful to have some loose guidelines when you wing it.

Is there a more clear breakdown on what specific properties lead to a food being forbidden? Rather than go food-by-food to ask if something arguably grain-esque that's not exactly a grain is okay, it might be easier just to know to avoid anything with X amount of Y, or from the Z family, and so on. If that's more complex than you're trying to get into here, or just more closely related to saying what's actually wrong than you're comfortable with, no worries. I just thought it might help us give more relevant suggestions.



Just about any other diet "done properly" can do the same thing; the whole idea of a diet is to tell you how to do it properly. The problem with paleo, like most fad diets, is that it is only intermittently successful at telling people how to do this. If you don't understand and follow generally sound nutritional principles, you're probably going to eat just as poorly on a paleo diet as you would on a regular diet. If you do understand and follow those guidelines, the additional restrictions posed by paleo will basically be extraneous. That isn't to say you can't have a healthy diet on paleo, or even that it can't help somebody make their diet healthier. I just think the problem is that it's more marketable than it is reliable or straightforward.

Baking is like the opposite of paleo. Gluten free crackers, cookies, and breads either simply substitute problem ingredients at the cost of flavor and dryness or use more complex chemistries to get the taste and texture right. It's still calorie dense compared to meat, veggies, and fruit and it's still processed and has added sugar.

Veggies, meat, fruit, nuts, tubers, and keep it simple.

[Zrak]

The author mentioned wanting to make bread with coconut flour, so I gave advice about baking with unusual flours.

That said, your objections are silly. First, "processed" is moonman talk. Basically all food is processed. Did you cook your meat? Processed. Slice or rinse the vegetables? Processed. Undergoing any form of "process" doesn't magically make food less healthy. Second, being calorie dense isn't an inherently bad thing. Back when I was boxing, I literally wouldn't have had time to eat the amount of calories I needed during training without calorie dense foods. Third, the amount of sugar added to bread is negligible. Fourth, a number of the alternative flours are considerably more nutritious than typical flour, especially in terms of protein and fiber content, which you neglect entirely to mention.

[Crow]

I bake with coconut flour all the time. I don't notice any difference. It certainly doesn't taste like coconut or anything. You have to tweak some recipes though because it doesn't always work as a 1 for 1 replacement of regular flour.

As far as being able to get in shape with any diet. That is true to a point. However paleo is easier to follow than a lot of the other options. The measurement and portioning that you see with some other diets is not really neccessary, and you don't need careful oversight to ensure the client is actually getting all of the nutrients they need.

Not sure when paleo became a fad either. I've been on a modified paleo diet for about five years now, and been using it on athletes for about twice that. Easy to follow, and thus easy to maintain as a lifestyle.

[Peelee]

Is there a more clear breakdown on what specific properties lead to a food being forbidden? Rather than go food-by-food to ask if something arguably grain-esque that's not exactly a grain is okay, it might be easier just to know to avoid anything with X amount of Y, or from the Z family, and so on. If that's more complex than you're trying to get into here, or just more closely related to saying what's actually wrong than you're comfortable with, no worries. I just thought it might help us give more relevant suggestions.


That's probably the best question by far. I'll have to grab one of the books we have when we get home and get back to you on that.

[Icewraith]

The author mentioned wanting to make bread with coconut flour, so I gave advice about baking with unusual flours.

That said, your objections are silly. First, "processed" is moonman talk. Basically all food is processed. Did you cook your meat? Processed. Slice or rinse the vegetables? Processed. Undergoing any form of "process" doesn't magically make food less healthy. Second, being calorie dense isn't an inherently bad thing. Back when I was boxing, I literally wouldn't have had time to eat the amount of calories I needed during training without calorie dense foods. Third, the amount of sugar added to bread is negligible. Fourth, a number of the alternative flours are considerably more nutritious than typical flour, especially in terms of protein and fiber content, which you neglect entirely to mention.

I may have been overreacting to people trying to eat "healthier" and loading up on gluten free cookies etc. Calorie dense is great if you're an athlete- if you're trying to gain weight/muscle you basically have to cheat a little on paleo because you'll just can't eat that much at once without being sick all the time- and not great if you're trying to lose weight. If you try to go paleo or gluten free etc and just eat a bread-heavy diet made from of honey and coconut flour instead of corn syrup and grain flour, the only thing that will be losing weight is your wallet.

[Peelee]

I may have been overreacting to people trying to eat "healthier" and loading up on gluten free cookies etc. Calorie dense is great if you're an athlete- if you're trying to gain weight/muscle you basically have to cheat a little on paleo because you'll just can't eat that much at once without being sick all the time- and not great if you're trying to lose weight. If you try to go paleo or gluten free etc and just eat a bread-heavy diet made from of honey and coconut flour instead of corn syrup and grain flour, the only thing that will be losing weight is your wallet.

Yeah, I agree with you there; problem is, this isn't about losing weight or just randomly deciding to be healthier and picking a fad diet. It's an actual medical condition that, while not life-threatening or anything, does come coupled with symptoms that rang from "this incredibly annoying and is happening almost nonstop" to "we may not be able to do things that we very much were hoping to do in life." We're on medications for it, and the diet is supposed to help in keeping said symptoms in check. We still may not be able to live as we'd hoped, but the diet is helping. I'm just trying to find more ideas so we don't have the same dozen cookbook dishes that aren't completely ridiculous for the rest of our lives.

[Icewraith]

Yeah, I agree with you there; problem is, this isn't about losing weight or just randomly deciding to be healthier and picking a fad diet. It's an actual medical condition that, while not life-threatening or anything, does come coupled with symptoms that rang from "this incredibly annoying and is happening almost nonstop" to "we may not be able to do things that we very much were hoping to do in life." We're on medications for it, and the diet is supposed to help in keeping said symptoms in check. We still may not be able to live as we'd hoped, but the diet is helping. I'm just trying to find more ideas so we don't have the same dozen cookbook dishes that aren't completely ridiculous for the rest of our lives.

That's why I said most of the time it boils down to "protein, 2 veggies, small serving of starch" with flavorings of your choice for dinner. The paleo "recipies" that exist are ridiculous because what I said is practical and works great, but nobody's going to pay you twenty bucks to write down a book full of that. It's simple, fairly fast, easy to follow, and if you get bored with it after a while you can go for the fancy stuff. I'm pretty sure the ridiculous recipes are for people who previously enjoyed making their lasagna noodles from scratch or hand rolling their enchiladas (stuff that takes time and maybe gives you a chance to chat with relatives or family bonding experience sort of things), or people who already pay other people to cook for them and don't care how much a hassle the ingredients are to get. Or people really trying to impress a date.

The main thing is to try and only use one major method of cooking at once. So you might bake chicken breast or pork chops on top of cubed onions, sweet potatoes, and zucchini or squash and then throw in a baking sheet of broccoli lightly drizzled in olive oil (if you don't care about dairy, sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top of the broccoli otherwise salt and pepper the chicken and veggies).

If you're grilling, protein of your choice with asparagus, zucchini steaks and sweet potato or carrot "fries". Salt and pepper everything, maybe some olive oil on the veggies so they don't stick to the grill.

If you're really missing hamburgers and sandwiches you can get a lot of mileage out of a lettuce wrap. Grill some sliced red onion and pineapple and add avocado if you don't mind messy hamburgers.

To add a Baja flavor, lime juice everything, especially the protein, and finely chop a small quantity of pineapple, strawberry, red onions, cilantro, and mango and avocado (if you can get them) into a salsa with cilantro. If you layer fruit salsa and shredded cabbage on top of steak you've got everything you want in a tropical style steak taco except the shell. If you're allowed to have sriracha, soak the cabbage with it and freshly squeezed lime juice. Otherwise you can add de-seeded and otherwise safely prepared chopped/sliced Jalapeno or stronger peppers for heat. If you can stand napalm, leave the seeds etc in and no matter what you do wash your hands before touching anything else, including your face, eyes, and nose, or rushing off to the bathroom to pee. Trust me.

If you want to add garlic, and the protein and veggie combination is something you'd normally add garlic to, add garlic.

If you want Indian flavor, use a protein and 1-2 veggies and some starch and curry powder (this might be cheating) and coconut milk and anything else you need for curry and make curry. Stir fry a protein and two chopped veggies with grated/zested garlic and ginger and cubed onions and serve over a small bed of rice (since you're cheating on rice). It all boils down to protein, ideally two veggies, some starch (which can also be your rice), maybe some fruit, salt, pepper, and spices of your choice cooked via method of your choice.

Just don't do something like bake broccoli, grill steak, and sauté Brussels sprouts in olive oil (with onions) since you're running three appliances for the same length you would be running one to cook the same quantity of food. And you're vastly more likely to burn or undercook something if you've got one person running back and forth checking on three different appliances than if you've got one person checking three things on one appliance.

To change flavors on your protein, marinades. Throw your protein of choice, something tasty and mostly liquid and maybe some garlic or ginger or whatever goes with your protein and liquid (orange juice? salsa? balsalmic vinegar?) into a freezer bag the day before you plan to cook it and let it sit in the fridge.

Protein, veggies, starch, fruit?, spices, method, cook it, there's your dinner. You could probably label dice for each category and not do too bad a job coming up with recipes.

The weight gain/weight loss info is partially from my own experience, partially because you didn't rule out that it wasn't an issue originally, and partially because people are going to talk to you about your diet and because many diets are focused on weight loss it's nice to know (and know if someone who tells you you're doing it wrong or seems to be doing things wrong is maybe getting their information from a weight loss/gain focused version of paleo).

[Zrak]

Icewraith generally does about what I do. I just tend to come up with a flavor, either based on a regional cuisine or a specific spice, and cook things in things that will make them taste like that while using as few pans as possible. There are some cool little charts on sites like pinterest that help remind you what stuff tastes like and what goes well together, in terms of spices. You can also pilfer ideas like this from other recipes without having to follow the rest of it; take recipes that are too much work or don't fit in the diet and steal their flavor profile to put on ingredients you can eat and afford. For example, you can learn that butternut squash and sage go well together without having to make butternut squash ravioli in sage cream sauce.

The only really specific thing I can add is that collard greens make a nice lettuce alternative for lettuce wraps. They tend to be a little crunchier and sturdier than lettuce, and they're considerably more nutritious than a lot of lettuce varieties. That said, while I personally like the taste, some people just don't care for raw collards.


I bake with coconut flour all the time. I don't notice any difference. It certainly doesn't taste like coconut or anything. You have to tweak some recipes though because it doesn't always work as a 1 for 1 replacement of regular flour.

Huh, really? I can almost always taste the coconut; even if it's not a strong flavor, I usually know it's there. I think the more other flavors you have in whatever you're making, though, the less noticeable it is. The only time it's really noticeable for me is in plainer breads, and even there it's not usually weird or objectionable.


As far as being able to get in shape with any diet. That is true to a point. However paleo is easier to follow than a lot of the other options. The measurement and portioning that you see with some other diets is not really neccessary, and you don't need careful oversight to ensure the client is actually getting all of the nutrients they need.

That all makes sense, I just think a lot of the restrictions are still unnecessary and ease of following paleo (and lots of diets like it) goes hand-in-hand with the ease of messing it up. I guess, basically, the problem I have with paleo is that you can break its rules and still eat a healthy diet and you can follow its rules without eating a remotely healthy diet. I get that they're really just easily remembered and easily followed guidelines, but the pedant in me still just can't stand stuff like that.

[Artemis97]

I stumbled over this website (http://thebigmansworld.com/) a few days ago. It's a food blog with lots of vegan and paleo recipes, and he's a real fan of no-bake quick to put together snacks too. I haven't tried any of the recipes myself, but they seem like they might fit what you're looking for. Best of luck!

[Zrak]

I think that's the recipe I used when I decided to make my own English muffins for a fancy brunch. As I recall, the vegan ones had a somewhat strange texture, but I think the "flax egg" style of vegan baking usually leads to a wonky texture. I can see why you'd have it on a health food type site, though, because flax seed. Still, the vegan ones were totally edible and the "original" style were entirely normal.

[Peelee]

That's why I said most of the time it boils down to "protein, 2 veggies, small serving of starch" with flavorings of your choice for dinner.
This is by far the most stupidly simple yet amazing plan I've heard, and may well save our future plans (if they can be saved), as far as coming up with dinners goes. Lunch is the eternal bane, but I think if we do something like fruit and prosciutto (my wife doesn't like leftovers, or eating the same thing several times a month, or the like, but I don't think she would ever get tired of eating prosciutto), so that would work out pretty well, I think. Still like to get some variety in there just in case it does become overbearing for her.


Is there a more clear breakdown on what specific properties lead to a food being forbidden? Rather than go food-by-food to ask if something arguably grain-esque that's not exactly a grain is okay, it might be easier just to know to avoid anything with X amount of Y, or from the Z family, and so on. If that's more complex than you're trying to get into here, or just more closely related to saying what's actually wrong than you're comfortable with, no worries. I just thought it might help us give more relevant suggestions.

OK, I've done some research into it.


No grains whatsoever (we do cheat on this with rice, because again, my wife is half-Korean; she can't live without rice).
Low carbs is ideal; there may be an issue with insulin resistance, which is worsened by carbs.
No nuts or seeds. Apparently this is because of Omega 6 fats being very bad (and nuts and seeds being very high in Omega 6, it seems), while Omega 3 supplements are glorious to reduce the Omega 6:Omega 3 ratio, so seafood is a great choice. Which is perfect, since I could easily live on a diet of nothing but seafood for the rest of my life.
Potatoes are borderline. Sweet potatoes are better, I think. My wife loves her potatoes, though, so we still use these occasionally.
Ideally little to no dairy. Not so much for the underlying condition as it is my wife is lactose intolerant (pretty common in Asians and half-Asians, it seems)


I said at some point upthread that beans were off the table. Apparently it was either beans or nuts, we couldn't remember which, and this pretty clinches it in the nuts side, so beans are back on the table, so to speak.
That...that looks to be about it, I think. I'ma go ahead and add these to the first post. And again, everybody helping out here, huge thanks.

[Astral Avenger]

Paleo diet sugestions:
1) Go running along the side of a highway until you find something dead on the side. Build a fire. Stab the dead thing with a spit. Roast over the fire until any bugs in the meat are dead or you run out of firewood. Eat everypart of the animal, its the only way to get a full and balanced diet.
2) Find a Raccoon. Follow it until it starts eatting something. Run up and steal what it is eatting and eat it yourself. Repeat all day.
2a) If the Raccoon isn't leading you to food, kill the raccoon and go to sugestion #1.
3) Make an atlatl and kill anything that moves and isn't part of your tribe. Go to sugestion #1. (You probably want to get a hunting license or local equivalent before you get to this point.)

(all of the above should be blue/purple/whatever color you preffer for sarcasm/humor)

The thing to remember with the "paleo diet" is that depending on where in the world you look, the diets are very different. Extremes ranged from almost entirely meat for some arctic groups to nearly no meat for others (cant remember where off the top of my head). Also, foodborne parasites and diseases, as well as starvation and malnutrition killed huge numbers of our ancestors. Humans are omnivores and good ones, we can eat just about anything and keep working as long as we net enough calories and don't poison ourselves.

[Ravens_cry]

I gave up on the idea of paleo diet actually meaning anything in regards to trying to replicate a paleolithic human diet when I saw dishes claiming to be 'paleo' that involved bananas.
Bananas! Now that's bananas!

[Mauve Shirt]

Here's (http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/recipes/poultry/bacon-wrapped-tahini-and-sun-dried-tomato-stuffed-chicken-breasts/) one I make regularly, stuffed chicken breasts with bacon, tahini and sun-dried tomatoes. I usually bake a whole thing of chicken breasts and have dinner for a week.

It's not anything about the paleolithic era. "Paleo" is a marketing term, shorthand for essentially ultra-low-glycemic, and an often-prescribed diet for extreme diabetics. If you're going to be a jerk about the marketing you should probably get your head out of a thread asking for Paleo recipes.

[Dodom]

About the potatoes issue, there are sunchokes that taste pretty close to potatoes (slightly sweeter I'd say, with a smoother texture). They look like ginger roots, and are usually found with the organic produce since they're not popular enough for mass production. They're the root of sunflowers, so they're also easy to grow if you have your own garden. The property that might interest you is that instead of starch, they have inulin, a fructose polymer humans can't digest, so you get the culinary properties of potatoes without the sugars.
The downside is that while humans can't digest inulin, bacteria can, so don't eat any large amount of it without preparing at least a dozen fart jokes for the aftermath.