Paleo recipe dinner On the Side Broccoli with Garlic, Chilli and Cashews-min

Recipe: On the Side Broccoli with Garlic, Chilli and Cashews

As the name suggests, this super quick and healthy broccoli makes a great side dish to just about anything. It's even great to have as a mid afternoon pick me up or an evening snack  – so make sure you make plenty!

If you haven’t used it before, coconut aminos is a great paleo alternative to soy sauce, and for that reason I’ve included it in this recipe to give a real depth of flavour.

Broccoli Ingredients:

  • 500g broccoli
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 handful cashews
  • Juice of a lime
  • A splash of coconut aminos

Broccoli How To:

1)     In a frying pan, add the garlic, chilli and olive oil and bring to a medium heat. Fry until golden and slightly soft, taking care not to burn,

2)     Cut the broccoli into medium sized florets. Add to the pan along with the cashews, and coat well with the chilli and garlic oil.

3)     Add your coconut aminos, stir, then simmer for 3 – 4 minutes. Finally, add a squeeze of lime, stir again, then serve.

Paleo recipe dinner On the Side Broccoli with Garlic, Chilli and Cashews-min

North African Carrot Slaw recipe paleo primal carrots-min

Recipe: North African Carrot Slaw

Wonderfully Moroccan, this carrot based ‘slaw’ is fruity and gently spiced, and teams up perfectly with some chicken wings or drumsticks.

North African Carrot Slaw Ingredients:

  • 5 carrots, grated
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1tbsp sesame seeds
  • 3 tbsp sultanas
  • 2 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp coriander, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp mint, finely chopped
  • 1 stick of celery, finely chopped
  • 2tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice

North African Carrot Slaw How To:

Leave the sultanas to soak for 5 minutes in hot water whilst preparing the rest of the veg.

Mix all ingredients together, dress with the olive oil and lemon, and season to taste with a little salt and pepper.

North African Carrot Slaw recipe paleo primal carrots-min

Paleo recipe Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Carrots and Fresh Thyme-min

Recipe: Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Carrots and Fresh Thyme

Sweet potatoes are a great side dish for a Paleo dinner. Bright orange and packed with vitamins A, B and C, don’t be surprised if you’re wearing sunglasses indoors and singing the alphabet whilst tucking into these!

Roasted Sweet Potato Ingredients:

  • 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into wedges
  • 6 carrots, peeled and chopped
  • Olive oil
  • High grade maple syrup
  • 2 cloves
  • A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Roasted Sweet Potato How To:

1)     Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F / Gas mark 4

2)     Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and carrots. Transfer to a roasting dish. Drizzle over a little olive oil and maple syrup in equal parts, giving the vegetables a light coating.

3)     Throw in the cloves and fresh thyme. Toss the vegetables, then roast for around 40 minutes until well cooked.

Paleo recipe Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Carrots and Fresh Thyme-min

Recipe Lemony Broccoli paleo network-min

Recipe: Lemony Broccoli

If you're trying to get more greens into your diet (and you should be!) you might as well make sure they taste amazing. I have a lot of broccoli and find it can get a bit samey, so I came up with this recipe to give it a bit of a kick. You can give it an even bigger kick by increasing the amount of chilli you add!

Recipe Lemony Broccoli paleo network-min

Recipe: Lemony Broccoli
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Sides
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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This is a great side dish to make an ingredient that's often not popular, the star of the show!
Ingredients
  • A clove of garlic
  • Pinch sea salt
  • 1½ tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ teaspoons freshly diced chilli (increase for more of a kick!)
  • 1 lemon, juice & zest
  • 150ml (5 floz) hot water
  • 1 handful fresh broccoli
  • Pinch flaked almonds
Instructions
  1. Peel & grind up the garlic and salt using a food processor (or pestle & mortar). Add in a dash of the olive oil and stir the mixture.
  2. Transfer the mixture to a pan and add in the rest of the olive oil and the chilli. Heat over a medium heat and stir until it starts to simmer. Add in the lemon juice and water as necessary to stop it sticking to the pan. Keep the mixture warm over a medium heat.
  3. Steam the broccoli for three minutes until tender.
  4. Dry fry the almonds in a pan until they turn golden.
  5. Combine the broccoli, sauce & lemon zest and top with the almonds.
  6. Serve and enjoy!
Paleo network recipe spicy stuffed aubergine eggplant Indian shells skins

Recipe: Spicy Stuffed Aubergine

These stuffed aubergine halves are a great meat-free option

recipe kale soup paleo diet greens veg superfood

Recipe: kale soup

Kale is one of the best leafy greens out there, packed with nutrition and flavour. In fact, here are 12 reasons why you should get more kale in your diet. I tend to buy a lot of it when it’s in season (and cheap!) and once I’ve made kale chips, green smoothies and kale salad, it’s time to move on to soup.

Recipe: Kale Soup
Recipe type: Soups
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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Ingredients
  • Dash extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 onions, finely diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme (or a sprig, if using fresh)
  • 1 litre chicken stock (find out how to make it here)
  • 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and finely diced
  • 400g fresh kale
  • Sea salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. In a large pan, add the olive oil and onions and over a medium heat, fry for a few minutes until the onions start to soften.
  2. Before the onions start to colour, add in the garlic and thyme and stir on the heat for 1 - 2 minutes.
  3. Slowly pour the chicken stock into the pan and add in the diced sweet potatoes.
  4. Bring the pan to the boil, then reduce and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, or until the sweet potato is starting to come apart.
  5. Add in the fresh kale and cook for 3-4 minutes, until the kale is cooked and soft.
  6. Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender or food processer and blitz until the mixture is smooth throughout. You may need to do this in multiple batches depending on how powerful your blender is.
  7. Return to the pan over the heat.
  8. Season as required, then serve.

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This can be made ahead and will keep in the fridge for a day or so, ready to be reheated. Alternatively make a big batch and store individual size portions in the freezer, ready to pull out on a day you don’t feel like cooking.

Recipe Raw Zucchini Shoe-String Fries Paleo Network 680-min

Recipe: Raw Zucchini Shoe-String Fries

So I had a couple of trays free in my dehydrator, and some zucchini's that had to be used… so I came up with some zucchini fries that are a great snack, or would make a perfect side dish for dinner. I know a lot of people miss crunchy textures when they go paleo – if that's you, you'll love these!

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If you don't have a dehydrator, get one! No seriously, you can also make these in an oven on a very low heat.

Recipe: Raw Zucchini Shoe-String Fries
Recipe type: Snacks
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
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A tasty side dish, or a snack on it's own. Crunchy zucchini shoe-string fries!
Ingredients
  • 2 zucchini's
  • splash of olive oil
  • sea salt
Instructions
  1. Slice the zucchini into thin strips
  2. Toss the strips in a drop of olive oil and season
  3. Arrange on a dehydrator sheet
  4. I dehydrated for 16 hours at about 145 degrees - but check regularly!

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recipe_raw_zucchini_shoe-string_fries_paleo_network_2-min

This would be great with so many other vegetables too, carrots, parsnips even capsicum. Note by adding the oil, they won't keep for as long as if you dehydrate them on their own.

Recipe Grain-Free Crackers Potato Rosemary Dehydrator Paleo Network 2-min

Grain-Free Cracker Balls

In my experimentation to make the perfect grain-free cracker, I came up with these cracker-balls, which if I do say so myself, are delicious!

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I used white potatoes and sweet potatoes, but I think you could easily use parsnips or even pumpkin or squash. The key is in the dehydration to give the crunchy end result. If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use your oven on a low heat instead (though I've not tested this method). If you’re keen to try a dehydrator (and I highly recommend them), you can go really cheap like this one, or go all out on an Excalibur like this. There are so many ways to use them.

Grain-Free Cracker Balls
Recipe type: Snacks
Prep time: 
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These grain-free crackers use potatoes as a base ingredient and thanks to the dehydration, have that satisfying cracker-crunch!
Ingredients
  • 2 large white potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons rosemary
  • sea salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Boil the potatoes in two separate saucepans, as you would if you were making mash
  2. Drain the saucepans and add in half the oil to each
  3. Mash the potatoes and mix in the rosemary, then season.
  4. Once cool enough, roll the mixture into small balls of about 1cm diameter.
  5. Arrange the balls on dehydrator sheets alternatively and "press" them into each other, to ensure they stick together.
  6. Dehydrate at 145 degrees for about 18 hours (but this will depend on the thickness of your crackers, so please check and adjust accordingly!

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Recipe carrot citrus salad paleo network-min

Recipe: Carrot Citrus Salad

Why have a boring salad, when you can have this zingy brightly coloured salad instead? With a few oranges and lemons still left on the tree, this is a great way to enjoy them! The main ingredient is carrots, but the herbs and spices and citrus make it quite unlike any other carrot you've had before!

This is a great side dish for a summers day, or even enjoy it on top of a paleo burger.

Recipe: Carrot Citrus Salad
 
Author: 
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • 4 large carrots
  • pinch of cumin seeds
  • pinch of mustard seeds
  • pinch of cinnamon
  • splash of extra virgin olive oil
  • juice of ½ a lemon
  • juice of ½ an orange
  • small bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
  • sea salt & fresh pepper
  • pinch of orange zest
Instructions
  1. Peel and grate the carrots
  2. Heat the seeds in a pan to release the flavours, then grind them in a pestle and mortar. Add in the cinnamon and mix in with the carrots over the heat for a couple of minutes
  3. Add in the olive oil, citrus juice and coriander (cilantro) as well as the zest and mix in thoroughly.
  4. Allow the flavours to marinate for an hour before serving.

Recipe carrot citrus salad paleo network-min

Recipe foaming zucchini courgette paleo network-min

Recipe: Foaming Zucchini

Don't you just love a two ingredient recipe?! This is a great side dish if you have an abundance of zucchini, as I did. Next time you see it on special offer – buy it all! This dish is guaranteed to be a big talking point!

This is a great side dish and a really good way to get more veggies into your diet, without them being repetitive and a chore to eat. If you're going to eat more vegetables, you might as well enjoy them!

Recipe: Foaming Zucchini
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Sides
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • 3 zucchinis (courgettes)
  • 70g (3 oz) butter*
  • Yep, it really is just a two ingredient recipe!
Instructions
  1. Coarsely grate the zucchinis, discarding the ends
  2. Melt the butter slowly in a pan, then add the zucchini and put the lid on the pan.
  3. Shake the pan often to move the zucchini and prevent it from sticking
  4. After a couple of minutes, you'll have steaming zucchini and beautiful zucchini foam.
  5. Serve immediately
  6. *I used butter for this, but if you don't use dairy replace with olive oil, or for a taste sensation, try bacon grease.

Recipe foaming zucchini courgette paleo network-min