Paleo Power Bowls: 100 Easy, Nutrient-Dense, Anti-Inflammatory Meals

By Julia Mueller

Eat your way to health with a packed, wholesome, customizable paleo bowl.
Quick, healthful, and comfortingly delicious, the bowl food trend is the busy person’s answer to jump-starting the ultimate paleo lifestyle! Build your own bowl with unprocessed, anti-inflammatory whole foods and nourish your body with one hundred gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free bowl recipes for a hearty breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
A tremendous holistic resource, Paleo Power Bowls, filled with more than 100 gorgeous photos, is not only an essential guide to the paleo diet. It also promotes the concept of food as medicine and personalized nutrition—customizing what foods work for you based on your personal nutritional needs and gut biome. Mueller shows how to build a well-balanced bowl tailored to specific diets and restrictions, whether it is AIP, low-FODMAP, Whole30, vegetarian, or vegan. If you suffer from autoimmune disease or allergies, the book includes instructions for a thirty-day elimination diet.
Paleo Power Bowls also features one-pot, slow cooker, and thirty-minute meals—including sides, condiments, and desserts—that can be assembled any night of the week. Learn to prepare:

Spaghetti Squash with Broccoli & Pumpkin Seed Pesto

Fluffy Poppy Seed Pancakes with Caramelized Figs

All-the-Good-Veggies Detox Salad with Lemon-Parsley Dressing

Chicken Tikka Masala with Cauliflower Rice

Quick-and-Easy Turkey Meatballs with Zoodles

Pumpkin Spice Chia Seed Pudding

And more!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Release date: Jan 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781510735798

Julia Mueller

Julia Mueller is the author of Delicious Probiotic Drinks and Let Them Eat Kale! She writes the food blog TheRoastedRoot.com, where she posts nutrient-dense gluten-free recipes centered around whole foods. She is a freelance recipe developer, food photographer, and a lover of nature. Passionate about nutrition and committed to the concept that mealtime should be easy, Julia engineers her recipes to be quick, simple, and delicious. Julia is a Lake Tahoe native living in Reno, Nevada.

Book preview

Acknowledgments

A huge thank-you to my blog following on The Roasted Root (www.theroastedroot.net) for your love and support throughout both my blog and cookbook journey—this book is for you and because of you. Many thanks to Jen Schmidt for capturing my smile and to Paul Yoo for hand-crafting so many of the bowls pictured in this book. Thank you so much to my recipe testers—you are true badasses. Finally, thank you to friends and family for catching my teardrops, for lifting me up, and for your unconditional love and support.

Copyright © 2019 by Julia Mueller

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [e-mail].

Skyhorse® and Skyhorse Publishing® are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.®, a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Photography by Julia Mueller

Cover design by Mona Lin

Cover photo credit: Julia Mueller

Print ISBN: 978-1-5107-3578-1

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-5107-3579-8

Printed in China

This book is dedicated to GJD.

You are forever and always my pocket fuzz.

Table of Contents

Introduction

How to Use these Recipes

Chapter 1: Breakfast Bowls

Chapter 2: Dinner Bowls

Chapter 3: Salad Bowls

Chapter 4: Soup, Stew, Chili

Chapter 5: Dessert Bowls

Chapter 6: Sides, Bases, and Extras

Chapter 7: Sauces, Dressings, Condiments, and Spreads

Conversion Tables

Index

Introduction

Well, hello there! If you’ve picked up this book, you’re likely looking for nutrient-rich recipes or you’re interested in making some lifestyle changes. What you’ll find here is one hundred recipes for nourishing, whole-food meals that are swaddled up in a big bowl of bliss. The recipes in this book are paleo, which means they are gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar–free, and they contain no legumes or alcohol.

If you’re like me, you’ve probably given up on fad diets. You refuse to tyrannize yourself with overly restrictive eating rules, and you’re not about to self-identify with the newest health movement. Like me, you may face challenges with troubled digestive or immune systems or have a medical condition that requires extra self-care; or you are looking for a sustainable lifestyle that will allow you to love your holy temple and feel amazing. You can read my full story on my blog The Roasted Root (www.theroastedroot.net).

Paleo Power Bowls is designed to set you free, make your body feel incredible, and ideally serve as a resource for alleviating any illness you may be facing. It is not in any way meant to make you feel trapped in a life of restriction. This book is intended to be a convenient resource for expanding your world of easy healthy-eating options.

MY HISTORY WITH GUT AILMENTS

Like so many people from my generation, I was raised on a heavily processed diet, rich in refined wheat flour and sugar. Typical dinners in my house were spaghetti with a side of canned green beans or canned corn, fish sticks, or fried chicken and mashed potatoes. There was an emphasis on starches and breads, and my vegetable intake was minimal and consisted of canned rather than fresh food. I was sent to school with packaged sugary treats alongside my white bread sandwiches and juice boxes.

As my body started yelling at me to be more mindful, I distinctly remember requesting our household switch to whole wheat bread. I even began making salads regularly at a young age. I instigated the change of replacing sugar-added yogurt with organic plain yogurt. I followed my intuition and began making my own meals in high school with my then very limited skills. My parents did their best to feed our family of six and had no way of knowing that my diet was affecting my health and setting the stage for bigger issues as an adult.

I have a long history of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Throughout my childhood and into my early twenties, I was constipated. Basically, I never pooed. Okay, not never, but it was a very rare occasion. Because no one talked about poo when I was young, I assumed 200 percent that it was normal, just as I assumed everyone felt nausea and stomach pains after every meal.

As a result of chronic constipation, I was also depressed throughout my teenage years. As it turns out, irritable bowel syndrome and depression are strongly interlinked. Your vagus nerve runs from your abdomen to your brain stem, sending signals from your gastrointestinal (GI) tract regarding its state of affairs. When your digestive system is wonky, so is your brain . . . and so many other systems in your body. Not only does your gut health affect your mood, skin, energy level, libido, and overall immune system, but ancillary organs that aid with digestion, like your liver and gallbladder, can also be overly taxed when you have a bowel disease, chronic inflammation, bacterial overgrowth, or troubled digestion.

In addition, hormone imbalances can arise in conjunction with a troubled gut, as poor elimination (lack of regular bowel movements) results in estrogen being reabsorbed by your body, and the bacteria that isn’t being eliminated continues to grow, causing or exacerbating bacterial overgrowth or gut dysbiosis. When your body is chronically stressed, your cortisol levels can remain high, making proper balance of estrogen and progesterone in women particularly difficult.

For me, the cause of chronic gut issues beginning in early childhood was the lack of nutrients I was getting as well as the inflammatory (processed) foods I was eating, which then caused constipation and later hormonal imbalance. It wasn’t until I began eating paleo that I experienced a change. After reading countless articles and books like The Good Gut and Healthy Gut, Healthy You, it became apparent why everything in my body was finally working together.

MY PERSONAL PALEO AND LOW-FODMAP JOURNEY

I started eating a paleolithic diet over eight years ago in 2010 out of sheer curiosity. After having previously consumed a heavily processed diet, I thought it would be a good idea to do a system cleanout. What started as a thirty-day cleanse turned into a lifestyle.

When I went paleo at age twenty-four, I noticed a huge difference in the way my digestive system operated (and how I felt). I began having regular bowel movements; I had a much higher level of energy and stronger workouts; my stubborn acne cleared up for good; my brain fog disappeared and my mind became sharper; my hormones were balanced; and my mood shifted in a big way. Because I felt so many benefits from the way I was eating, I kept at it. I ate a strict paleo diet for almost two years, then began adding back foods I felt I could tolerate. This process took a great deal of time, but it inevitably brought me to where I am today.

Currently, I eat a low-FODMAP paleolithic diet plus a few additional foods, like the occasional slice of cheese, shot (or three) of tequila, bar of chocolate, and black beans. If you aren’t familiar with the term and concept of low-FODMAP, let us unpack that.

Along my paleo journey, I began noticing which foods triggered my IBS symptoms and digestive discomfort, which manifest as gas, bloating, and constipation, as well as which foods make me experience low energy, acne breakouts, and mood shifts. My biggest non-paleo trigger foods are wheat, wine, chickpeas, and cane sugar. However, I also noticed that I was sensitive to more than just your typical food allergens; in fact, some of my trigger foods are typically considered healthy and are paleo-approved, such as onions, garlic, bananas, cauliflower, albacore, crab, fennel, nightshades, and honey.

After much research and a lot of gas, I realized that I’m sensitive to foods high in FODMAPs, which are, simply put, short-chain carbohydrates (and sugar alcohols) that are found in whole foods and are poorly absorbed in the intestine. Specifically, they are Fermentable Oligosaccharides (fructans and galactooligosaccharides, which are prebiotics), Disaccharides (lactose), Monosaccharides (fructose), and Polyols (sugar alcohols such as xylitol and erythritol).

Many non-paleo foods contain FODMAPs, which is one of the reasons why people with digestive issues find a lot of comfort in the paleo diet that restricts those ingredients. But for some people who are extra sensitive, like me, take caution to customize your diet and eliminate, or at least limit, paleo-approved foods that are also high in FODMAPs.

Examples of high-FODMAP foods:

Very commonly consumed foods that are high in FODMAPs are onions, garlic, wheat, unaged dairy, beans, high-sugar fruit such as apples and peaches, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, and more.

For a complete list of foods that are high FODMAP and low-FODMAP, visit IBS Diets: www.ibsdiets.org/fodmap-diet/fodmap-food-list.

WHAT IS CONSIDERED PALEO? AKA MY THOUGHTS ON RICE & POTATOES

Let’s discuss some nuances in the paleo diet. There are a few foods, which some people find to be beneficial to their lifestyle, that were not necessarily considered paleo-approved for a long time. Three of these foods are raw dairy, rice, and potatoes, and they have since been generally accepted by the paleo community.

When I first started my lifestyle, the paleo community was still very much of the mind-set that all grains, including rice, as well as white potatoes were off the table as they can cause inflammation. Over the years, the paleo community has come to embrace rice and potatoes as potentially fine for people who can tolerate them—provided they don’t cause gut issues or a drastic increase in blood sugar.

In this sense, whether rice and/or potatoes fit your lifestyle is not just a matter of opinion, but a matter of personalized nutrition. If you find your body functions famously on a paleolithic diet that includes rice and potatoes, keeping these two foods in your diet regimen can be a powerful way of increasing both the variety and palatability of your food.

If you aren’t sure whether your body tolerates rice or potatoes, here is one way you can figure it out: go on an elimination diet (p. 19). If you want to be more scientific about the process, test your blood glucose level two hours after eating either rice or potatoes in a fasted state. In his book Wired to Eat, Robb Wolf gives detailed instructions on how to do this with many forms of carbohydrates. If after testing your blood glucose you find your blood sugar hasn’t spiked and remained high after two hours, it means your insulin is responding as it should and you’re probably okay to eat it without complications.

In Paleo Power Bowls, I include rice and potatoes in my recipes. If you are particularly sensitive to them, switch them out for an ingredient that is friendlier to your body.

MY FOOD PHILOSOPHY

All this brings me to my food philosophy, which is simple: I eat what makes me feel great (a low-FODMAP paleo diet in my case) and avoid foods that make me feel subpar. While I have gotten out of the habit of romanticizing food, I still wholeheartedly believe you can consume highly enjoyable meals that both fit your palate and dietary needs.

If you follow my blog TheRoastedRoot.com, you’ll know that I take a very choose-your-own-adventure approach to cooking. I’ve learned just how important it is to personalize your own nutrition. Point blank, a diet that works well for your body may not work well for your friends and loved ones. You may process rice like a champ, while your significant other may vehemently reject it. You may see a huge spike in blood sugar when you eat oats, while your cousin can eat them every day for breakfast. The key to your diet is to discover the foods your body loves to process—and gift them to yourself. Also, know that your diet will be ever-changing rather than stagnant—what is working for you now may not always work later.

I hope this book will inspire and empower you to take the time to discover what works for you and to take ownership of that lifestyle with confidence. You’ll likely learn along the way that your health does not just depend on the food you eat; it is also interwoven in your sleep habits, exercise, relationships, and lifestyle. Food is the tip of the iceberg. At the very least, I hope this book can assist you in the food department of your own journey to sustained wellness.

Now, why the focus on food?

FOOD AS MEDICINE

What if we could treat or even cure our own ailments through food and lifestyle? As someone whose IBS symptoms are dramatically improved by food choices, exercise, and a self-care routine, I’m a big advocate for taking charge of your health in natural ways and investing in yourself rather than the medical system.

The treatment of chronic disease accounts for 99 percent of medical dollars spent in the US.i The Western medical system is set up like so: when you have an illness or disease, you see a doctor. The doctor spends 15 minutes with you, makes a diagnosis, and prescribes a medication to mask your symptoms. Best-case scenario, your symptoms are alleviated somewhat or substantially, so you assume the system works; worst-case scenario, the medication doesn’t work due to misdiagnosis, and you’re on a wild-goose chase to figure out what went wrong. You continue living with your illness—and meanwhile, you’re paying for a treatment that simply shields you from a problem that could be solved naturally.

The Standard American Diet (SAD) many of us are so familiar with is highly inflammatory, can lead to disease and chronic illness, and is generally the root cause of many physical, mental, and emotional issues we face. Some people handle the SAD like straight-up champions, while others face backlash in a slew of forms—diabetes, obesity (or trouble losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight), depression, skin issues, gut or GI disorders, behavioral issues, and more.

Western medicine treats these problems with medication—like slapping a Band-Aid on the symptom instead of discovering the root cause and fixing it naturally. The latter can be the most effective (and sometimes least costly) solution. When you approach a chronic illness from a holistic standpoint, the root cause is often what we are and are not putting into our bodies. This is not to say we should banish Western medicine altogether, but I believe that most people with health issues could benefit from digging a little deeper into what they eat.

In his book Unconventional Medicine, Chris Kresser tells a story about one of his former patients, an eight-year-old boy who had been previously diagnosed with autism. The boy, Leo, would throw uncontrollable tantrums daily and exhibited obsessive-compulsive behavior.

After trying medication, Leo’s parents noticed improvements in his behavior, but each medication came with side effects that far outweighed the benefits. They went to Chris to uncover the cause of Leo’s behavioral issues, and they discovered that Leo has an imbalanced gut microbiome, wherein he had more pathogens than beneficial bacteria; an intolerance to wheat, rice, corn, and buckwheat; and deficiencies in vitamin B12, folate, iron, and vitamin D. Leo had been eating a very nutrient-poor diet, consisting mainly of waffles, rice milk, crackers, and bread.

Within two weeks of changing Leo’s diet, his behavior improved substantially. Within six weeks, Leo’s teachers could hardly recognize him as the same child. He no longer threw tantrums, was more relaxed and less compulsive, and appeared to be a completely normal, high-functioning kid.ii

Leo’s case is just one example of how transformative diet can be. Food can either cause problems, exacerbate an underlying issue, or provide a solution. It is ultimately up to us what we choose it to be.

Here’s another example of the healing powers of an low-inflammatory diet. In a recent study by Angela Alt and Dr. Gauree Konijeti, fifteen patients with clinically active Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis underwent a staged Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) diet—a low-inflammatory and elimination diet—followed by a five-week trial period. Most of the patients were in their forties and had been diagnosed with irritable bowel disease (IBD) for over twenty years. Prior to the study, each patient was checked out endoscopically to assess their disease’s level of activity and inflammation. They were also given tissue biopsies before and after the study and were then assessed endoscopically during and after the study.

The results were alarming: 73 percent of the patients who participated achieved clinical remission (meaning their symptoms were gone and the evidence of their disease nearly disappeared) within six weeks. All patients continued AIP, and within eleven weeks, all patients saw drastic improvement in their IBD. The doctors also performed quality-of-life surveys on each patient, looking at their gut microbiome before, during, and after the study. Again, they found that each patient not only felt relief, but the clinical evidence of their disease had all but disappeared.iii

AIP is quite possibly the most effective (but also restrictive) low-inflammatory diet that focuses on nutrient-dense foods while removing grains, dairy, alcohol, legumes, and refined sugar (just like paleo). Additionally, AIP also restricts nightshades (white potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, chilies, etc.), chocolate, coffee, eggs, nuts, seeds, and nonnutritive sweeteners. Throughout this book, I provide options for making certain recipes AIP.

WHY CHOOSE A LOW-INFLAMMATORY DIET?

A low-inflammatory diet like paleo, AIP, low-FODMAP, specific-carbohydrate diet (SCD), and keto can help with many facets of wellness and medical conditions. SCD, low-FODMAP, and AIP diets have all undergone extensive research studies with the same results: patients with autoimmune disease, diabetes, and other illnesses see an incredible medical improvement and a huge boost in their quality of life when they eat well.

Here are some examples of what a low-inflammatory diet like paleo can do for the human body:

•Lower systemic inflammation

•Improve mood, energy level; lift brain fog; alleviate depression iv

•Increase sex drive v

•Increase athletic performance vi

•Boost metabolism and be an effective tool for weight maintenance or loss when used properly vii

•Improve digestive health

•Alleviate IBS, candida, leaky gut, and other gut issues viii

•Help alleviate the symptoms of IBD, such as Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis ix

•Help balance hormones and alleviate or eradicate PCOS and endometriosis symptoms, Hashimoto’s, and other thyroid or hormonal disorders x

•Help clear skin issues, including acne and eczema

•Boost your immune system and keep it functioning properly

•Help restore your gut microbiome xi

WHY IS GUT HEALTH IMPORTANT?

Seventy to 80 percent of your overall health resides in your gut.xii Having a healthy gut biome wards off illness, processes food properly, absorbs nutrients efficiently, and keeps your gut happy. That vagus nerve I previously mentioned transmits information from your abdomen to your brain about your overall well-being, which means a happy gut equates to a happy mind. A gut that is in disarray can cause a plethora of secondary issues, such as a weakened immune system, low energy, weight gain or loss, autoimmune disease, cancer, depression, anxiety, and more.

Your gut works best when you have a healthy balance of good bacteria and yeast, which can be maintained through an unprocessed whole-food diet such as paleo and introduced into your system via fermented foods or probiotic supplements. In addition, your body’s healthy bacteria functions best when it has a healthy dose of natural carbohydrates (prebiotics naturally present in vegetables and fruit) to feed on to keep the good bacteria flourishing.

That said, those who have chronic gut issues, such as IBS, candida, SIBO, or IBD, should avoid prebiotic foods and should instead focus on starving their bad gut bacteria by eating a low-carbohydrate diet.

Making gut health front and center on your journey to overall health and wellness efforts