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coconut seafood soup fish_paleo_recipe_diet

Recipe: coconut seafood soup

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This delicious Thai inspired seafood soup is best made right before you serve it. If you want it a little hotter, increase the amount of chilli you add (or if you're extra daring, don't remove the seeds!)

Recipe: coconut seafood soup
Recipe type: Soups
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Ingredients
  • 250g Halibut (or other white fish fillets), de-boned and roughly shopped
  • 750ml water
  • 1 can coconut milk (see my guide to selecting a good one here)
  • 1 brown onion, diced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon grass, chopped
  • 1 fresh chilli, deseeded and chopped finely
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • Half a small Chinese cabbage, shredded
  • 3 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped
Instructions
  1. Throw all the ingredients in a pan over a medium heat
  2. Bring to the boil, the reduce to a simmer
  3. Stir occasionally and continue to simmer for 10-15 minutes
  4. Depending on your preferred texture, remove from the heat and blitz in a blender until smooth
  5. Serve and enjoy!

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Any leftovers can be frozen in small batches immediately, ready to reheat for a quick and easy lunch another time.

Recipe: Paleo Chicken Schnitzel

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Chicken Schnitzel is pretty much the national dish of Australia (perhaps after pie?), which is funny, because if you ask for chicken schnitzel in the UK people think you’ve come straight from the 1970’s.

The only problem with chicken schnitzel is the ingredients. This is what’s in a fairly standard one I saw in the supermarket:

Chicken (52%), Water, Buckwheat Flour, Wheat Flour, Thickener (1404, 415, 1442), Salt, Dehydrated Vegetables (Onion, Garlic), Herbs (Parsley, Rosemary, Thyme, Sage), Spices (Pepper), Wheat Gluten, Yeast, Egg Albumen, Sugar, Colours (150a, 100, 160c, 160b), Dextrose (Tapioca, Maize), Mineral Salts (450, 500), Canola Oil, Cottonseed Oil, Soy Protein, Thickener (1404), Yeast, Vinegar, Iodised Salt, Soy Flour, Emulsifiers (411, 481, 472E), Vitamin (Thiamin, Folate), Vegetable Gum (412), Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein, Wheat Cereal, Flavour Enhancer (635)

Quite alarming when the chicken element in your chicken is barely 50%, don’t you think? Also “chicken” doesn’t really tell you too much, I think we can assume if it doesn’t say free-range, it’s almost certainly not the type of chicken I’d choose to buy. So you know what this means? Yes – it means a paleo chicken schnitzel recipe is called for!

Recipe: Paleo Chicken Schnitzel
Recipe type: Poultry
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Ingredients
  • 2 free-range chicken breasts
  • 1 cup tapioca flour
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup almond meal
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ¾ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ tsp ground coriander
  • ¼ tsp ground cumin
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 230C (450F) if you’re going to oven bake rather than fry
  2. Slice the chicken in half width-ways, creating two thin pieces and pound with a rolling pin (or, if you have a better equipped kitchen than me, a meat tenderiser) until it’s super thin. If you don’t want raw chicken flying around your kitchen, you can wrap it in gladwrap/ cling film for this step. You can keep whole and have proper schnitzels, or slice into strips like I did.
  3. Put the Tapioca flour (or you can use arrowroot flour if you don’t have tapioca) in a bowl, and the egg in a separate bowl. Tip – fill up the Tapioca bowl as you use it to avoid waste.
  4. In another bowl, mic together the almond meal, coconut flour, seasoning and herbs/ spices. I tend to do this in small batches too, to avoid being left with an eggy mess of excess crumb mixture I’ll have to throw away.
  5. Now for the fun part. Dip the chicken pieces in each bowl, turn by turn: start with the tapioca layer, then the egg layer and end with the crumb mixture. Maybe it’s just me, but I find this turns into a huge mess, so small batches of the dry bowls will help here.
  6. You now have a choice and whilst most people will choose to fry, I find I get far better results oven baking. The crumb is evenly golden with the inside cooked but tender. But give both a try and see what works for you.
  7. If you’re oven baking, arrange on a baking tray and cook for about 20 minutes. I always cut into the chicken in a couple of the thickest places to ensure there are no pink bits left. If you’re going to fry about 8-10 minutes in a hot pan in some coconut oil should do the trick – just make sure you turn them a couple of times.

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Do you have a gluten-free paleo version of this recipe that you use? I'd love to hear your secret ingredients!

Recipe homemade coconut yoghurt paleo network-min

Recipe: Homemade Coconut Yogurt

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I think I've finally perfected my coconut yoghurt recipe – well, to be honest I actually bought a thermometer (mine is similar to this one). I tried to wing it without one, but really, if you want to do this properly, you've got to get the temperatures right.

Recipe Coconut Yoghurt Easy Probiotic Natural Homemade Paleo Network-min

Firstly, why coconut yogurt?

Well, if you haven't already tried it, it's so delicious! But so expensive to buy. I've found one really good brand, CoYo in some health food shops, but it's never going to be more than a very occasional treat.

The thing with coconut yoghurt is that it's great if you don't tolerate dairy well, given that it's made with coconut milk rather than dairy. It's also a great way to get some probiotics into your diet and of course, coconut is a great source of fat.

I love this yogurt on it's own, but it's great with fruit, or frozen as a paleo desert! It would be great with a paleo no-oatmeal for breakfast too.

So here's how I make it (trust me, it's easier than it looks)…

Recipe Coconut Yoghurt Probiotic Natural Homemade Paleo Network-min

Recipe: Homemade Coconut Yogurt
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This coconut yogurt make take a little time to prepare and wait for - but it's easy and oh so worth it!
Ingredients
  • 6 cups coconut milk (see my instructions to make this yourself)
  • 1 medium can of coconut milk
  • half a vanilla bean pod
  • 3 tablespoons of natural gelatin
  • a live yoghurt culture
  • You'll need:
  • glass mason jars with air tight lids
  • a candy thermometer
  • a whisk
Instructions
  1. Make the coconut milk the night before, following the instructions in my recipe
  2. The next day put the coconut milk in a pan, adding in the vanilla pod. This is where the temperature becomes crucial. Put in your thermometer and don’t take your eyes off until it hits 82 degrees C (180 degrees F). You’ll need to whisk the mixture constantly during the 15 minutes or so it takes to get to this temperature: burning and sticking to the pan does not make a good coconut yogurt!
  3. Once you reach 82C (180F) take the pan straight off the heat and alow it to cool naturally. But keep monitoring the temperature – you’re aiming for it to cool to 38C (100F).
  4. Preheat your oven to the lowest temperature and keep an eye on it – once it’s reached this temperature, turn it off.
  5. Once you hit 38C (100F) remove the vanilla pod, as it’s now served its purpose. Pour a big size dollop of the mixture into a bowl and add in your culture, whisk it in thoroughly until it’s completely mixed in. Now, add this bowl back into the main coconut mixture, and thoroughly mix in with your whisk.
  6. Mix the gelatin into the coconut mixture and keep whisking until you’re sure it’s totally dissolved and mixed through.
  7. Spoon the mixture into your air-tight jars or bottles and put them in your (now turned off) warm oven.
  8. Leave the jars in your oven overnight, to let the culture do their work. The following morning, put the jars in the fridge to allow them to thicken up (the gelatin will help make this happen)
  9. If you want to add a sweetener like honey, mix it in at this stage. Otherwise, all to sit in the fridge for about 4 hours.
  10. Serve and enjoy!

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recipe paleo coconut milk make your own homemade-min (1)

Recipe: DIY Coconut Milk

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I've written a lot before about some of the dodgy coconut milk on the shelves of your local health food store. You really have to check the ingredients carefully, it's near impossible to find one without the mysterious “guar gum”, not to mention stabilizers, emulsifiers and a host of chemicals I'd rather not consume. If you want to learn more about some of the dodgy ingredients, you'll need to read this.

So whilst you can find the odd brand without all of the added nasties, it's surprisingly easy to make your own coconut milk. You just need a bit of time!

Recipe Coconut Milk Easy DIY Natural Homemade Paleo Network-min (1)

Recipe: DIY Coconut Milk
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This simple recipe makes about 4 cups of coconut milk, just scale as required. Whilst it's easy to make, it does need some time - so ideally make it the day before you're going to need it.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup coconut flakes
  • 4 cups distilled water
Instructions
  1. Soak the coconut flakes for about four hours in the water.
  2. Once the flakes have gone mushy in the water, put in your blender, and blend for a few minutes until it's a nice evenly mixed in texture.
  3. You'll then need to strain the mixture. I like to do this through a cheesecloth as it's much easier on the washing-up than using a sieve!
  4. Store in an airtight container in the fridge and use within three days or so.
  5. Oh - and the contents of the cheesecloth? Don't waste it! You can use the leftover coconut pulp in your paleo baking!

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Recipe paleo Slow Cooker Chicken Coconut Veggie Stew-min

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Coconut Veggie Stew

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Despite having bought a far too small slow cooker (seriously, why make enough for one meal, when for the same effort you could have enough for several freezer meals?), I've recently been using my slow cooker a lot more. I love being able to put in a bit of effort in the morning, then coming home to smell a delicious dinner ready and waiting. I've found with this one it’s best to wait until right at the end of cooking to add in the coconut cream, but even so, it’s still next to no effort to have a nutritious dinner cook itself for you!

Serves 4 (but if your slow cooker is big enough make as much as you can and save the extras for later!)

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken Coconut Veggie Stew
 
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Recipe type: Dinner
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Ingredients
  • 3 organic free range chicken breasts, cut into strips
  • 2 parsnips, diced
  • 500g (1 lb) celeriac, peeled and diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 30ml (2 tablespoons) olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 30ml (2 tablespoons) minced fresh ginger
  • 15ml (1 tablespoon) curry paste*
  • 5ml (1 teaspoon) ground turmeric
  • 5ml (1 teaspoon) ground chilli
  • Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
  • 300ml (1/2 pint) chicken stock
  • 200ml (7 floz) coconut cream
  • Chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a pan and cook the chicken until brown and cooked through.
  2. Put the parsnips, celeriac and carrots in the slow cooker
  3. Meanwhile, add the onion, garlic and ginger to the pan, and cook for a further five minutes, stirring until they soften.
  4. Into the pan, stir in the paste, turmeric, chilli and seasoning.
  5. Add the stock to the pan, and bring it to the boil, stiring occasionally.
  6. Transfer the contents of the pan into the slow cooker, and with the lid on, cook on a low heat for 6-8 hours.
  7. In the last hour add in the coconut cream to add the creaminess to the dish
  8. Just before serving, add the coriander garnish.
  9. *This is so easy to make instead of buying – I’ll type up my recipe and link to it – watch this space!

Recipe paleo Slow Cooker Chicken Coconut Veggie Stew-min

Paleo bliss bombs fat 4 ingredients recipe-min

Recipe: 4 Ingredient Paleo Bliss Bombs

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I had a friend coming round yesterday and wanted to make a paleo treat – only problem was I didn't have many ingredients. I've made these paleo treats before, but have always used lots of different ingredients. These came out great – sometimes it's best to keep things simple!

Paleo bliss bombs fat 4 ingredients recipe-min

Recipe: 4 Ingredient Paleo Bliss Bombs
 
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Ingredients
  • Medjool dates (I used about 7)
  • Fresh strawberries (I used 5 as that was all I had!)
  • Almond meal (about 40g)
  • Shredded coconut (a handful)
Instructions
  1. Remove the stones from the dates and de-hull the strawberries.
  2. Put the dates and strawberries into a food processor or blender and whizz them until the form a paste. Add the almond meal and mix again.
  3. Remove the mixture and use your hands to roll into equal size balls.
  4. I rolled some in the shredded coconut and left some coconut-less.

If I'd had the ingredients, I would have put a raspberry or nut in the centre and perhaps mixed some cacao powder in with the mixture.

Do you have a recipe for something similar to these bliss bombs? What do you use in yours?

paleo-diet-bliss-bombs-recipe-min

Spicy Tilapia Fishcakes with a Crispy Coconut Coating paleo recipe dinner lunch-min

Recipe: Spicy Tilapia Fishcakes with a Crispy Coconut Coating

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Have you tried Tilapia? I’ll admit, I don’t have good memories of fishcakes. Growing up, when someone said fishcake I would think of a soggy, batter coated starch ball with a slightly past its best fishy flavour. After eating clean for so long, I can’t imagine ever going near one of those again, but I thought it would be a great idea to recreate them into something much more appetising.

I was thrilled with how these turned out; the tilapia is mild flavoured and works extremely well with the sweet potato and chilli. The coating turns crispy and golden rather than soggy, whilst the inside remains fluffy. Try them – this is what fish cakes should taste like!

Recipe: Spicy Tilapia Fishcakes with a Crispy Coconut Coating
 
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Recipe type: Dinner
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Ingredients
  • 500g tilapia fillets
  • Half can coconut milk
  • 500g sweet potatoes, diced
  • Zest 1 lime
  • 2 red chilli peppers, deseeded and finely chopped
  • Chunk fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
  • 4 spring onions, finely chopped
  • Sea salt and black pepper
  • 2 large eggs
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 1 tbsp coconut flour
  • Coconut oil
Instructions
  1. Submerge the tilapia fillets in a saucepan with the coconut milk and just enough additional water to cover them. Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes so that the fish is just cooked.
  2. Steam the sweet potatoes for 7 or 8 minutes, until soft. Mash in a bowl, before stirring in the chilli, ginger and spring onions. Add the fish and the coconut milk, before mashing again and seasoning to taste.
  3. Beat the two eggs together in a shallow dish. In a separate bowl, combine the ground almonds, desiccated coconut and coconut flour. You should now have three dishes arranged side by side – the mashed fishcake contents, the beaten eggs, and the coating.
  4. Roll the fishcake mixture into balls in your palm. One by one, coat lightly with the beaten egg, before rolling them in the almond and coconut mixture. Set aside.
  5. When ready to cook, heat a little coconut oil in a large, heavy based pan. Carefully place the fishcakes into the pan, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes each side until crisp and golden.

Spicy Tilapia Fishcakes with a Crispy Coconut Coating paleo recipe dinner lunch-min

Recipe paleo Cardamom and Coconut Roasted Vegetables-min

Recipe: Cardamom and Coconut Roasted Vegetables

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I love filling my plate with a big pile of roasted veggies for dinner. I make them the star of the show, with a side of animal protein and whatever greens I have lying around. I eat roasted vegetables at least 4 times per week, so I have to keep coming up with ways to make them interesting. This recipe is definitely one of my favourites – I love the delicate warmth of the cardamom and how it works so well with the crispy, slightly sweet coconut. I used some of my favourite veggies for roasting here; parsnips, swede and Jerusalem artichokes – but feel free to change up this recipe to suit whatever you have available.

Recipe: Cardamom and Coconut Roasted Vegetables
 
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Ingredients
  • • 2 medium parsnips
  • • 1 medium swede
  • • 3 / 4 Jerusalem artichokes
  • • 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
  • • 1 tsp honey, melted
  • • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • • Saltand Pepper
  • • ½ cup unsweetened desiccated coconut
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F. Peel and dice the vegetables before scattering in a large roasting tin.
  2. Combine the melted coconut oil and honey. Drizzle half of this mixture over the vegetables, setting the other half to one side. Season the vegetables with the cardamom and a generous amount of salt and pepper, before placing on the top shelf of the oven and leaving to roast for 30 minutes. Toss at least once during this time.
  3. Remove the vegetables from the oven before turning the temperature up to 200C / 400F. Coat in the remaining coconut oil and honey, before scattering over the desiccated coconut, ensuring the vegetables are evenly coated. Return to the oven and roast for a further 10 minutes, until golden and crisp.

Recipe paleo Cardamom and Coconut Roasted Vegetables-min

http://paleo.com.au/recipe-raw-sweet-potato-carob-brownies/

Recipe: Raw Sweet Potato and Carob Brownies

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I’ve fallen a little bit in love with carob recently. It’s a richer, less sweet alternative to chocolate, and it makes wonderfully intense brownies and ‘hot chocolates.’ I’ve adapted my go to raw chocolate brownie recipe to include carob instead of cocoa, but the secret ingredient in these is the sweet potato. Not only does it bind the brownies together effortlessly, it brings the sugar content right down as it is a direct alternative to honey or extra dates. Whip up a batch of these in 10 minutes and munch on them throughout the rest of the week!

Recipe: Raw Sweet Potato and Carob Brownies
 
Author: 
Recipe type: Desserts
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Ingredients
  • • 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
  • • ½ cup walnuts
  • • ½ cup pecans
  • • ½ cup unsweetened, shredded coconut
  • • 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
  • • ½ cup dates, soaked for 30 minutes and drained
  • • ½ cup carob (or ¼ cup carob, and a ¼ cup + 2tbsp cocoa for less intense brownies)
  • • Pinch sea salt
  • • Dash of vanilla extract
  • • Dark chocolate chips / cacao nibs / goji berries (optional)
Instructions
  1. Line a square cake tin with a little parchment paper and set aside.
  2. Steam the diced sweet potato for around 10 minutes until soft. Set aside to cool.
  3. In your food processor, blitz the walnuts, pecans and coconut until crumbly. Add the coconut oil, dates and sweet potato, and process again until a sticky dough is formed.
  4. Add the carob, sea salt and vanilla before whizzing together again. For a bit of extra texture, stir in (but don’t process) some dark chocolate chips, cacao nibs or goji berries. Spread the brownie mix evenly throughout the cake tin, before leaving to set in the freezer for around an hour. Store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

paleo primal recipe Raw Sweet Potato and Carob Brownies sweet treat-min

Paleo recipe Creamy Coconut Slow Cooker Beef dinner crockpot-min

Recipe: Creamy Coconut Slow Cooker Beef

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Curries made in the slow cooker are one of my favourite things to make – not only are they much less hassle than a regular curry that requires constant babysitting, the extended cooking time allows the flavours to really develop. Beef is a great meat to use in the slow cooker, especially the cheap cuts like shin or chuck, as you can guarantee melt in the mouth consistency every time. This recipe is indulgently creamy with just the right amount of spice.

 Slow Cooker Beef Ingredients:

  • 200g block creamed coconut
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 large onion, finely sliced
  • 2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander
  • ½ tbsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 500g diced beef, suitable for slow roasting (I used the shin – cheap and oh so tender when cooked slowly!)

 Slow Cooker Beef How To:

1)    Gently melt the creamed coconut in a pan with approximately 200ml of warm water. Stir, and add more water to generate your desired consistency.

2)    Heat the coconut oil in a large, heavy based pan to a medium heat. Add the onion and soften for 5 minutes, before bringing the heat down low and adding the chilli, garlic and ginger. Fry gently for a further 5 minutes, stirring to ensure it doesn't burn.

3)    Add the spices to the pan and fry for another two or three minutes, before adding the diced beef to the pan. Toss well to coat it in the spices and lightly brown the meat on all sides.

Add the coconut milk and stir well. Now transfer the whole contents of the pan to your slow cooker, and let it cook on a low heat for around 8 hours (or until you run out of willpower!). Serve over a big heap of cauliflower rice.

Paleo recipe Creamy Coconut Slow Cooker Beef dinner crockpot-min