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Furious Furikake Chilli Beef Hash paleo recipe-min

Recipe: Furious Furikake Chilli Beef Hash

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Furikake. If you’ve never tried it before, now is the time to get this Unami boosting Japanese condiment in your life. It’s made with a base of black sesame seeds and seaweed, and some versions include ground fish and / or chilli. Some cheaper versions also include a few more untoward ingredients, so make sure you check the label.

The recipe itself is the perfect option for those evenings when you have a million and one other things to do and hardly any time to spend in the kitchen – hence the ‘furious’ title. Thanks to the furikake, the flavour:time ratio is sky high. Take it from pan to plate in 10 minutes, relax and chow down. Furiously.

Recipe: Furious Furikake Chilli Beef Hash
 
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Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 white onion, sliced finely
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 3cm fresh ginger, finely chopped
  • 1 green chilli, deseeded and chopped
  • 400g grass fed ground beef
  • 1 tbsp black pepper
  • 2 medium courgettes
  • 1 large sweet potato, precooked
  • Large handful fresh coriander
  • Juice half a lime
  • 1 tsp fish sauce
  • 4 tbsp furikake
Instructions
  1. Heat the coconut oil in your largest frying pan. Add the onions and cook for 2 or 3 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli, and fry for a further couple of minutes.
  2. Add the ground beef to the pan, season with the pepper and mix well. Grate the courgette, and peel and mash the sweet potato, before adding them both to the mix. Cook for around 3 minutes, until the sweet potato is reheated and the beef cooked through.
  3. Add a generous amount of coriander to the pan, along with the lime juice and fish sauce. Stir well, before serving on a bed of spinach and sprinkling with a large helping of furikake.

 

Furious Furikake Chilli Beef Hash paleo recipe-min

Paleo iodine wraps nori-min

Paleo Iodine Wraps

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Since my new supply of himalayan salt arrived with a big warning on the outside “this does not contain iodine”, I've been craving salty foods.  I'm sure this is psychosomatic, but it has lead to quite a lot of reading about iodine deficiency in the last week.

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It does appear to be quite possible to become deficient in iodine when eliminating regular iodised salt and conventionally raised animal products.  Apparently they started adding iodine to salt many years ago – and to animal feed, as many people were deficient in the mineral.  Iodine plays a crucial role in thyroid function and is an essential mineral.  I had quite extensive blood work a couple of months ago but for some reason, despite my thyroid function being tested, iodine levels were not part of the tests.  I will get my levels checked out, but in the meantime, I need to make sure I get enough iodine, be it from my diet, or supplements.  Kelp Supplements seem to be quite popular, so perhaps they will be a good choice?

Wild caught fish is a good source of iodine, but I don't incorporate this in my diet regularly – this is probably something I need to change.  Seaweed is supposed to be an excellent source of iodine, so to that end, I created “Paleo Iodine Wraps” for dinner this evening, using Nori sheets.

The wraps were going to contain beef, but I actually found some fresh turkey today – and it was on sale, so I had to buy it (I've got no idea why it's so hard to find turkey in Australia – it's got such a fantastic nutritional profile!).  As you might have noticed I'm quite keen on putting fruit in with savoury dishes, so thought I'd experiment with some apricot to go with the turkey and seaweed flavours.  I'm really enjoying coconut aminos at the moment, so I used it to marinate the turkey and beef in.

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Ingredients

Fresh Turkey
Thinly Sliced Beef
Onion
Capsicum (bell pepper)
Zucchini
Mushrooms
Tomato
Lettuce
Avocado
Nori Sheets
Coconut Oil
Coconut Aminos
Coriander (Cilanto)
Himalayan Sea Salt
 

Method

I cut the turkey and beef into thin strips and let them marinate in the coconut aminos for a few minutes, whilst I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

I cut the onion, capsicum, zucchini, mushrooms and apricots into strips and then stir fried the meat in the coconut aminos and a spoonful of coconut oil.

Once the meat browned off I set it aside, and stir fried the vegetables and apricots in the same oil.  I added the salt and some coriander to this and kept the vegetables on the heat for a few minutes.

Whilst the vegetables finished cooking, I cut the lettuce, tomatoes and avocados into strips, since these did not require cooking.

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When the vegetables were ready, I assembled all of the ingredients on one edge of the nori sheets, and rolled them until they resembled (paleo!) sushi rolls.

I was pleased with this impromptu dinner and will add it to my list of good foods to make for on the go!  I think these would store fine in the fridge overnight, so would be another good option for work lunches – or even as a grab and go breakfast.  I really liked the contrast of the seaweed taste with the sweetness of the apricot.  I think next time I'll use fish instead of turkey and beef to full embrace a sea theme for this dish – and to get in a bit more iodine!

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I've not checked yet, but hopefully if I incorporate Nori a few times a week, I won't have to worry about iodine deficiency.

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on Iodine intake and deficiency, is this something you actively address in your diet?

Paleo iodine wraps nori-min

Paleo seaweed-min

Seaweed

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I love looking around my local Asian supermarket.  I found a whole section of seaweed and seaweed related products (though the products seem to contain lots of ingredients that are far removed from Paleo).  Seaweed is something I've never had at home before – and certainly haven’t cooked with – and I'm curious to try.

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Seaweed is supposed to be a great source of iodine that is otherwise hard to obtain through diet, but which plays a crucial role in the thyroid.  It contains lots of different health promoting minerals.

I've been looking into what I can do with different types of Seaweed.  Apparently dulse granules can be sprinkled on many foods and nori can be used to make paleo wraps!  Kelp is supposed to be good as a snack on its own.

Next time I venture near the Asian grocery store, I'm definitely going to buy some!

Have you incorporated Seaweed into your diet?  What is a good type and dish to start experimenting with?  I’d be very interested to hear your seaweed comments, below!

Paleo seaweed-min