My Accidental Paleo Stir Fry

I had quite an eventful weekend in San Francisco for the Outside Lands festival (which was epic!), but returned home to an empty refrigerator. So Tuesday, still completely exhausted from our non-stop four days of fun, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work to throw together an easy stir fry. I had my heart set on a pad-thai-like dish with spaghetti squash, shrimp and veggies. I got home, threw the squash into the oven to roast while I started prepping veggies, and only upon pulling the squash out of the oven did I realize that in my brain-dead state I grabbed a butternut squash at the  store. Don’t you just hate when that happens?! So there I was fantasizing about Thai noodles with no noodles. Alas, it was getting late and I was getting hungry so I begrudgingly diced up the squash and threw it into the skillet with the rest of my ingredients. As it turns out, it was happened to be a very tasty stir fry! Generally I opt for the sweet butternut for my favorite rustic Fall dishes, but it went surprisingly well with my Thai inspired creation. Try it out for a new, yet quick, weeknight meal. First I ate the veggies with sautéed shrimp, and then as leftovers I piled them onto a portion of quinoa. Get creative with it!

Paleo Squash & Broccoli Stir-Fry (Difficulty-Easy; Serves 4)

For the Sauce:

• 1/3 c gluten-free soy sauce or liquid aminos
• juice from 1 lime
• 3 Tbsp organic rice vinegar
• 2 Tbsp raw honey
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp sriracha, or more to taste
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• coarse sea salt

For the Stir-Fry:

• 2 Tbsp organic virgin coconut oil
• 3 organic scallions, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb organic broccoli, florets and stems diced
• 1 medium butternut squash
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 c shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 c organic basil leaves
• chopped almonds and sesame seeds for topping

 Make the Sauce: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Season with salt and sriracha or red chili flakes to taste. I put a lot of sriracha in mine as I LOVE spice!

Make the Stir-Fry:  Heat the oven to 400°F. Place the squash onto a baking sheet and roast whole for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add the scallions and cook until slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli florets and stems and mushrooms and cook until slightly tender, about 5 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook an additional 1-2 minutes. Make a well in the center of the veggies and add the coconut to toast. Pour half of the sauce into the veggies and allow to cook down, about 2 minutes.

Once the squash is roasted and slightly cooled, peel and dice and add into the hot skillet with the remaining sauce and torn basil leaves to finish cooking a few more minutes. Remove from the heat and serve with quinoa, shrimp, or chicken, or your protein of choice. Garnish with sesame seeds and chopped almonds for a little crunch.

Paleo Picadillo Lettuce Wraps

I can’t think of any food that screams childhood more than Sloppy Joe’s–okay maybe, Macaroni and Cheese, or better yet, both of these together! But my favorite adult version of sloppy joes is the Latin style Picadillo, which is typically served as filling for tacos or on a sandwich in Latin cultures. But who needs tacos or bread when you can wrap it in lettuce?!  This is a great meal to make in a pinch and will only take you about 30 minutes, fifteen of which you can leave this delicious medley of flavors sitting on the stove to simmer. Picadillo is generally made with ground beef but I opted for ground turkey since my local store always stocks the organic version.

Picadillo Lettuce Wraps (Adapted from Food Network Magazine) (Diffculty-Easy, Serves 4)

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 8 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1 1/4 lbs free-range organic ground turkey
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 oz organic tomato paste
• 1/3 c dried cranberries
• 1/2 c chopped pimiento-stuffed olives, plus 2 Tbsp olive juice
• 2 heads organic romaine hearts organic iceberg
• Sliced avocado, for garnish (optional)

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until slightly soft, about 2 minutes. Add the bay leaves, cumin, chili powder and allspice; toast 1 to 2 minutes to bring out the flavors and fragrance of the spices. Add the turkey, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Cook about 5 minutes, breaking up the meat.

Add the tomato paste and stir until brick red, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 2 cups water, the dried cranberries, olives and olive juice. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook over medium heat until thickened, about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring, 3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve turkey mixture over rinsed and dried leaves of romaine or iceberg lettuce. Garnish with sliced avocado, if desired.

Creamy Basil Zucchini “Pasta”

I’ve made my share of spaghetti squash dishes in place of pasta which is so easy, but I had yet to do anything with zucchini since I didn’t have a spiralizer and was honestly too lazy to julienne zucchini noodles by hand. When I saw this recipe on Pinterest I decided it was time to invest in a veggie spiralizer and I am so glad I did! I bought this GEFU Spiralizer on Amazon and it is super easy to use and makes beautiful zucchini spirals. I definitely recommend it! I also recommend this creamy, raw, paleo dish to go with an Italian Summer meal. It went wonderfully with my Paleo Shrimp Scampi.

Creamy Basil Zucchini Pasta (Courtesy of Running to the Kitchen) (Difficulty-Intermediate; Serves 4)

• 4 small zucchini, ends trimmed and spiralized with a julienne peeler or spiralizer
• 1 avocado
• ½ an organic cucumber, chopped
• juice of ½ a lemon
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons almond or coconut milk
• about 8 leaves of organic basil
• salt & pepper to taste
• halved cherry tomatoes for garnish

Place zucchini spirals in a large bowl. In a mini food processor, combine the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Toss the zucchini with the avocado sauce until fully coated. Garnish with cherry tomatoes and basil leaves, season with more salt & pepper to taste.

 

Paleo Shrimp Scampi

I saw this incredibly simple paleo shrimp scampi recipe that I had to make to go along with my raw paleo creamy basil zucchini pasta dish–it just seemed like the right thing to do. This dish literally takes less than 10 minutes to throw together and is full of delicious lemony, herby white wine flavor. The best part is the obligatory glass of wine while you’re cooking. A little dash in the pan and a little dash in your glass!

Paleo Shrimp Scampi (Adapted from Naomi Siegel on Pinterest) (Difficulty-Easy; Serves 4)

• 1 lb. wild-caught shrimp, rinsed, peeled and deveined
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. organic parsley, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. almond meal
• 1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp. oregano
• 2-3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• juice from 1/2 an organic lemon
• 1/4 c. dry white wine

Rinse the shrimp and pat dry. Place olive oil in a baking dish and set oven to broil. Place the shrimp in the baking dish, season with salt and cover with fresh squeezed lemon juice and white wine.

Place the remaining ingredients in a small food processor or chopper and pulse to combine. The resulting mixture will be a little more moist if you use fresh garlic and parsley, which I did, and think is well worth taking an extra minute to distribute the seasoning over the shrimp than if you had used dried herbs. Lastly, sprinkle the mixture evenly over the shrimp and place in the oven. Broil until pink, about 3-4 minutes. Flip with a spatula and return to the oven for an additional 2-3 minutes. Serve with creamy basil zucchini pasta and generously spoon the extra sauce from the pan over the shrimp.  

Basil Lime Chicken

If you need a super quick and easy source of protein, this is your ticket (I even forgot to document the end result this was so quick)! Simply throw some chicken breast in this marinade overnight and toss it on a grill pan the next day and you’ve got a versatile stash of flavorful protein. I added it cold to an arugula salad with chipotle lime ranch dressing and it was a delicious and satisfying lunch for work! You can also eat it over quinoa and grilled veggies, on its own as a snack, or any other way you can dream up. This marinade is packed with flavor and keeps the chicken perfectly tender and juicy.

Basil Lime Chicken (Adapted from Goodness Gracious) (Difficulty-Easy; Serves 4)

• 2 lbs. organic free-range chicken breasts
• 2 organic limes, juiced and zested
• 4 organic scallions, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. chopped basil
• 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. organic mustard
• 2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsp. liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine the zest and juice of 2 limes, Olive Oil, Mustard, Worcestershire, liquid aminos or soy sauce, green onions, garlic, and  salt and pepper and mix well. Trim and cut chicken into even cutlets and place in a tupperware container. Pour marinade over the chicken and marinate for 1 hour or overnight. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and brush lightly with olive oil. Place chicken on grill and sear 3-4 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Remove from grill and let rest a few minutes before serving.