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Recipe: spinach & walnut beef rotolo

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Whether you like to call them Rotolo or simply beef rolls, these are always a hit. They look great and are perfect for entertaining, as they can be made a few hours in advance. If you do make them in advance, just hold off the slicing, and do that right before you serve. For a bit of colour variety try using some brightly coloured capsicum (bell peppers) in place of the spinach. Make sure you tie the string up tightly to make sure you don’t lose the stuffing.

Recipe: spinach & walnut beef rotolo
 
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Recipe type: Beef
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
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Ingredients
  • 1 bunch of spinach (silverbeet or English)
  • dash of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium brown onion, finely diced
  • Handful of walnuts, chopped,
  • 50g anchovies, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
  • 1.5kg of topside beef
Instructions
  1. Steam the spinach until tender, then as much as possible squeeze out the excess liquid using a cheesecloth or clean tea towel, then dice the spinach as finely as possible.
  2. In a pan, heat the olive oil, and then fry the onion until soft.
  3. Throw in the walnuts, anchovies and fresh herbs and cook for another minute or two, making sure to keep stirring.
  4. Stir in the spinach and allow the mixture to cool.
  5. Using a rolling pin, pound the steaks to make them as thin as possible.
  6. Pour the spinach mixture over the steaks and spread it over evenly.
  7. Next, roll up the steaks tightly, trying not to let too much of the spinach mixture squeeze out.
  8. Use string to tightly tie the rolls up.
  9. Barbecue with the lid down until tender and remember to remove the string before serving!

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Paleo Network Recipe SPINACH, MACKEREL RED CAPSICUM FRITTATA-min

Recipe: Spinach, Mackerel and Red Capsicum Frittata

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Eggs really do make the best breakfasts, but sometimes it’s all too easy to get stuck in a rut by cooking them the same way every morning. Mix things up by giving this frittata a try – it's quick, nutrient dense and super tasty. A perfect way to start your day; with a delicious combination of protein, healthy fats and brightly coloured vegetables!

I’ve used baby leaf spinach in this recipe because I love its mild, creamy flavour – but any kind of spinach will do. I’ve also gone for smoked mackerel, but fresh would be equally delicious if you’re not in a rush.

Paleo Network Recipe SPINACH, MACKEREL RED CAPSICUM FRITTATA-min

Red Capsisum Frittata Ingredients:

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tsp coconut oil
  • ½ red pepper, deseeded and diced
  • 1 handful baby leaf spinach
  • 1 fillet (roughly 80g) smoked mackerel
  • Salt and pepper

 Red Capsisum Frittata How To:

1)    Beat the eggs in a large bowl and set aside. Preheat your grill to high.

2)    Heat the coconut oil to a medium heat in a heavy based frying pan. Throw in the diced red pepper and fry for a minute or two until softened. Add the spinach to the pan and cook for 30 seconds – just enough to wilt it – before transferring the contents of the pan into the bowl of beaten eggs. Mix well, before flaking in the Mackerel and adding a little seasoning.

3)    Return the pan to a high heat, then add the frittata mixture. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes on one side, before checking the bottom with a spatula to make sure it’s a good colour underneath.

4)    Now is the crucial part to gain that fluffy ‘soufflé’ like texture that is so important in a good frittata. Place the whole pan under the grill for a couple of minutes, so that it starts to rise. When it stops bubbling and is well risen, turn off the grill, remove the pan and fold over the frittata. The result? The crispest yet fluffiest omelette you will ever have eaten.

Secret Green Smoothie vitamin c paleo diet recipe primal juice juicing-min

Recipe: Vitamin C Secret Green Smoothie

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Not only is this delicious smoothie bursting with over 100% of your daily requirement of vitamin C – you’d never know it was hiding a bunch of greens in there too! When I made it, it came out a wonderful deep red, thanks to just a touch of beetroot and a dash of pomegranate juice. A great way to load up on greens without drinking something, well, green! This is very low sugar for a smoothie as well, as it’s a good balance between fruit and veg.

Green Smoothie Ingredients:

  • 200ml water
  • 50ml pomegranate or acai juice
  • 1 large handful fresh spinach
  • 1 handful fresh blueberries
  • ½ cucumber, peeled and chopped
  • ½ orange, peeled
  • ½ raw beetroot, peeled and chopped

Green Smoothie How To:

1) Whizz together all ingredients in a high powered blender. Serve over a touch of crushed ice
2) Enjoy!

Secret Green Smoothie vitamin c paleo diet recipe primal juice juicing-min

Clean and Green Vegetable Juice smoothie healthy paleo recipe primal-min

Recipe: Clean and Green Vegetable Juice

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No matter how healthy a lifestyle we may lead, sometimes every day pressures can catch up on us and leave us feeling a little run down. Get yourself back on track with this vibrant, nutrient dense green vegetable juice.

I invested in a juicer about two years ago, and its one of the best purchases I have ever made for my kitchen. If you don’t have one, try whizzing this up in a high powered blender. You’ll get a little froth on top, but the health benefits will all be there.

Green Vegetable Juice Ingredient:

(enough for 2 large glasses)

  • 2 cucumbers
  • 4 tightly packed cups of spinach
  • 10 kale leaves
  • 4 inch piece of ginger
  • Juice 2 lemons

Green Vegetable Juice How To:

Juice all the ingredients on full power, bar the lemon.

When done, stir in the lemon juice and serve immediately!

Clean and Green Vegetable Juice smoothie healthy paleo recipe primal-min

Paleo Diet Recipe Primal Spinach Courgette Salad Orange Sesame Dressing-min

Recipe: Spinach and Courgette Salad with Orange and Sesame Dressing

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Fresh, green salad combined with an incredibly delicious dressing. Perfect for al fresco eating with some barbequed protein.

Spinach and Courgette Salad Ingredients:

  • 3 courgettes, thinly sliced
  • 4 large handfuls fresh spinach
  • 12 sundried tomatoes, halved
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
  • Handful of pine nuts
  • For the dressing:
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 tbsp tahini paste
  • Juice of ½ orange
  • 1tsp honey
  • 2tbsp olive oil
  • Sea salt and black pepper

Spinach and Courgette Salad How To:

Heat a little oil in a pan to a medium heat. Add the sliced courgettes and peppers a little at a time so they are not too bunched up. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes each with a little sea salt, ensuring they are nicely chargrilled.

In a large salad bowl, toss together the spinach and sundried tomatoes. Add the courgettes and peppers, then toss again. Scatter the pine nuts on top.

To make the dressing, whizz together all the ingredients bar the olive oil to make a thick liquid. Gradually add the oil, stirring as you go, until you reach the desired texture.

Drizzle the dressing generously over the salad, toss and serve.

Paleo Diet Recipe Primal Spinach Courgette Salad Orange Sesame Dressing-min

Paleo green smoothie recipe juice diet-min

Recipe: Green Smoothie

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Now we’re coming into summer, it’s a great time to enjoy an ice cold Paleo Smoothie. Instead of relying on fruit, it’s far better to make green smoothies using vegetables.

Almond butter and coconut milk are great ways to add in some good fat.

Paleo green smoothie recipe juice diet-min

Recipe: Green Smoothie
Recipe type: Drinks
Prep time: 
Total time: 
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A delicious way of getting some sneaky green goodness into your diet
Ingredients
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 8 frozen strawberries
  • 30g (2 tablespoons) almond butter
  • 250ml (1 cup) coconut milk
  • 250g (2 cups) spinach
Instructions
  1. Freeze a (peeled) banana and some strawberries overnight in the freezer.
  2. Put the bananas, strawberries, almond butter and coconut milk in the blender.
  3. Fill the rest of the blender with spinach (kale would also work well, if you can get hold of it!)
  4. Blend, and enjoy!

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Do you often make smoothies? What are your favourite ingredients? Share in the comments below.

primal smoothies paleo diet recipe juice juicing-min

Primal Smoothies

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I've started to have smoothies some mornings when I'm in a particular rush, since they are so quick to make and can be packed with nutritionally dense Paleo foods.  I'm also going to start making up a smoothie to take to the gym with me – that way I'll be able to have something in the post work-out window – I often miss this valuable time, in my return from the gym.

Smoothie-Ingredients-primal-min

Today I tried a smoothie from Primal Toad's Toadally Primal Smoothies ebook, the “Clumsy Popeye”. I thought this one would be a good choice after an early morning gym session, as it is packed with antioxidants – and protein in the form of protein powder.

clumsy-popeye-primal_smoothie-min

I put water, frozen blueberries, cashew butter, Chocolate Primal Fuel, spinach coconut milk & ice in my blender for a few minutes – and then served, with some shredded coconut on top.  It doesn't get much easier than that!  I thought the spinach taste might not be to my liking, but the main tastes were the chocolate, coconut and cashews – I really enjoyed it and will definitely be making this one again.  There's a whole section on green smoothies, which I'm keen to try – it seems like a good way to get in lots of good nutrients.

Do you often have smoothies?  Are they something you have as a meal, or as a post workout recovery drink?

primal smoothies paleo diet recipe juice juicing-min

Tri Colour Vegetable Cake paleo diet recipe veggies-min

Tri Colour Vegetable Cake Recipe

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I felt like experimenting in the kitchen earlier and came up a Recipe for these colourful vegetable cakes.  They were a great colourful addition to a steak, all be it a little unusual!  They were a bit too soft, so I think next time I'll bake them for a bit longer.

Tri Colour Vegetable Cake Recipe
Recipe type: Snacks
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
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Ingredients
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 1 cup spinach
  • 1 large red capsicum (bell pepper)
  • 3 tablespoons coconut cream (I use Ayam)
  • 2 egg yolks, beaten
  • tri_coloured_veggie_cakes_b-min
Instructions
  1. I diced the capsicum and then boiled the capsicum, spinach and carrots separately, for a few minutes.
  2. In turn I then blended each of the vegetables with a third of the eggs and a spoonful of cream.
  3. Once each vegetable was blended I then spooned them into a silicon muffin tin, layer by layer.
  4. I then cooked them at 160 degrees for about 20 minutes, until they started to brown
  5. tri_colour_vegetable_cake_paleo_diet_recipe_veggies_a-min

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I'll probably try this Recipe again, but perhaps with a few different coloured vegetables.

Have you come up with a Paleo Recipe for any interesting vegetable dishes?

Tri Colour Vegetable Cake paleo diet recipe veggies-min

Diabetic sweets fruit slim sugar free paleo diet

Diabetic Sweets

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I picked up the November issue of “Diabetic Living” magazine yesterday.  The piece below tells diabetic readers how good Fruit Slim sweets are, “sugar-free, fat-free, fibre filled”, which will “halt food cravings in their tracks”.  It then goes on to say that there is more fibre in five of these sweets, than there is in two-cups of spinach or 15 raw almonds!  This makes me slightly want to cry!

Guilt-Free-Sweets-diabetic diabetes

So, the ingredients of “Fruit Slims” are: Gum Acacia, Maltitol, Sorbitol, Xylitol, Acidifier (330), Fruit Juice Concentrate, Flavour, Vegetable Oil, Sweetener (955), Natural Colour ( Paprika), Coating Agent (901).

Sweetener (955) is sucralose.  This sweetener has been linked with liver and kidney damage.  There is also a lot of uncertainty with artificial sweeteners and some evidence to suggest that they may cause an insulin response; clearly not desirable in diabetics!  Maltitol, Sorbitol and Xylitol are all sugar alcohols, which might be classed as “sugar-free”, but are carbohydrates and do have an effect on blood sugar levels.  Fruit juice is also sugar, which clearly impacts blood sugar levels.  “Flavour” could mean anything and as for the “vegetable” oil; well, that’s certainly not Paleo!  The ingredients of these “crazy good” sweets look more like a chemistry experiment; there are no real foods in sight.

I think it’s really irresponsible to promote these as a good product to anyone, never mind diabetics.  To imply they are a better choice than almonds or spinach seems reckless.  They might have more fibre, but when eating a Paleo diet rich in vegetables, fibre won’t be an issue.  Besides, for diabetics, blood sugar is a far more pressing issue than fibre?

I've not found anything to back up the claim that these sweets will “halt food cravings in their tracks”.  In fact from what I've read, artificial sweeteners appear to have the opposite effect, increasing cravings for carbohydrates.

Compare the chemical composition of “Fruit Slims” to the “alternatives” of almonds and spinach.

Almonds provide high natural amounts of many nutrients, including manganese, vitamin E, magnesium, tryptophan, copper, vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and phosphorus.

Spinach is a fantastic source of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2 (riboflavin), calcium, potassium, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), tryptophan, vitamin E, copper, vitamin B1 (thiamine), phosphorus, zinc, omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin B3 (niacin) and selenium – and many other nutrients.

Am I missing the benefits of this swap?

Diabetic sweets fruit slim sugar free paleo diet