Paleo Planet: Primal Foods from the Global Kitchen, with More Than 125 Recipes

By Becky Winkler

“Perfect for anyone who loves world flavors. [The] recipes are simple, yet exciting, and fun—you won’t get bored . . . with so many mouth-watering choices.” —Diana Rodgers, author of Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go

Becky Winkler’s Paleo Planet is the first cookbook to take the paleo diet for a global spin, with recipes that represent the cuisines of East, South, and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and of course the US. In 125 recipes, she proves just how creative and wide-ranging the tastes in paleo cooking can be. With the chicken chapter alone, Becky demonstrates this breadth and depth of flavors with Yu Hsiang Chicken and Eggplant, Indochinese Chile Chicken, Roast Chicken with Za’atar and Yogurt Sauce, Chiles Rellenos with Pepita-Avocado Crema, and Chicken Meatballs with Garlic-Kale Marinara. Beyond these and other main courses featuring meat and fish, there are chapters devoted to vibrantly flavored appetizers, soups, sides, and desserts.

With a color photo accompanying every recipe, Paleo Planet is a beautiful book for all cooks, especially those who are looking to eat for better overall health. above all, for followers of the paleo diet, it takes this style of cooking in exciting and brand new directions, transforming paleo into a truly global cuisine.

“This is the paleo cookbook adventurous eaters have been waiting for!” —Melissa Joulwan, author of Well Fed and Well Fed 2

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Nov 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781558328549

Book preview

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Table of Contents

Title Page

Table of Contents

Frontispiece

Copyright

Dedication

Introduction

A Paleo Pantry

SPICE BLENDS, PANTRY STAPLES, AND SAUCES

Za’atar

Garam Masala

Creole Seasoning

Dukkah

Date Syrup

Ghee

Niter Kibbeh (Spiced Ghee)

Almond Milk

Almond Butter

Cashew Cream

Romesco Sauce

Ancho Chile Salsa

Salsa Verde

Sherry Vinaigrette

Slow-Cooker Caramelized Onions

Treenut Sauce

Onion Chutney

Tamarind Chutney

Mint Chutney

APPETIZERS, SOUPS, SALADS, AND SNACKS

Garlicky Shrimp (Gambas al Ajillo)

Rosemary & Black Pepper-Roasted Almonds

Tortilla Española

Tostones with Guasacaca

Tahini-Glazed Chicken Wings

Malaysian Beef Satay with Quick-Pickled Cucumber

Prosciutto & Papaya with Spiced Balsamic Glaze

Butternut Squash Soup with Fried Garlic & Chile Oil

Cauliflower & Mushroom Soup with Gomasio

Sweet Potato & Roasted Garlic Soup with Garam Masala

Grapefruit & Avocado Salad

Kale Salad with Satsuma-Ginger Vinaigrette

Skillet Cornbread

Creole Maple Pumpkin Seeds

POULTRY

Cashew Chicken with Asparagus & Shiitake Mushrooms

Chicken & Cantaloupe Stir-Fry

Yu Hsiang Chicken & Eggplant

Indochinese Chile Chicken

Pineapple Fried Cauliflower Rice

Spicy Pecan Chicken

Pollo al Horno Porteño

Chicken, Prosciutto, & Sage Roulades

Roast Chicken with Za’atar & Yogurt Sauce

Peruvian Roast Chicken

Chicken Meatballs with Garlic-Kale Marinara

Braised Chicken with Leeks & Scallions

Coconut Tamarind Curry

Ají de Gallina

Oyakodon (Chicken & Egg Donburi)

Double Salsa Slow-Cooker Chicken

Chiles Rellenos with Pepita-Avocado Crema

Drumsticks with Mole Poblano

Chicken Tagine with Potatoes & Quick-Preserved Lemon

Dovi (Chicken & Almond Butter Stew)

Spiced Turkey Drumsticks & Gravy

BEEF, PORK, AND LAMB

Ribeye Steak with Chimichurri

Honey-Chipotle Short Ribs

Kratiem Prik Thai Short Ribs

Marinated Skirt Steak with Cilantro-Lime Ghee

Lemongrass Beef & Scallion Rolls

Milanesa

Korean Beef with Cucumber & Shiitake Mushrooms

Bi Bim Bánh Bowl

Lega Tibs

Moussaka

Australian Burgers

Swedish Meatballs

Moroccan Beef with Apricots & Dates

Kaddo Bourani

Shepherd’s Pie with Rutabaga

Pan-Seared Pork Chops with Cumin & Salsa Verde

Date-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Pork & Sweet Basil Stir-Fry

Pork Adobo with Pineapple

Slow-Cooker Carnitas Lettuce Wraps with Pineapple-Avocado Salsa

Citrus-Braised Lamb Shanks with Winter Vegetables

Lamb Meatballs with Saffron Sauce

SEAFOOD

Lemongrass Shrimp with Cucumber Vermicelli

Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles

Shrimp Pad See Ew

Shrimp & Eggplant Curry

Teriyaki Scallops

Seared Scallops with Lime & Sautéed Spinach

Crab Cakes with Gomasio

Seared Calamari with Capers

Pan-Seared Salmon with Dukkah

Broiled Salmon with Ginger-Orange Sauce

Sole Meunière

Monkfish with Lemongrass-Scallion Sauce

Lemon-Marinated Swordfish with Romesco Sauce

VEGETABLES

Steamed Artichokes with Basil Vinaigrette

Roasted Asparagus with Gremolata

Crunchy Quick-Pickled Beets

Orange-Glazed Brussels Sprouts

Cauliflower Rice

Ethiopian Collard Greens

Colcannon

Mushroom Saag

Bhindi Masala

Ginger-Lime Parsnip Puree

Aromatic Spaghetti Squash

Caramelized Shallots

Curried Roasted Squash & Brussels Sprouts

Smoky Sweet Potato Latkes

Salt & Pepper Roasted Radishes

BREAKFAST AND BRUNCH

German Apple Pancake

Papaya Pecan Muffins

Mini Quiches with Mushroom Duxelles & Baby Broccoli

Spinach & Bacon Soufflé

Creole Hash & Eggs

Huevos Divorciados with Sweet Potato Hash

Pesto Baked Eggs with Avocado Hollandaise

Five-Spice Breakfast Sausage

Shakshuka with Greens

Squash Noodles with Everything Pesto & Fried Eggs

DESSERTS

Vanilla-Cardamom Berries

Pico de Gallo de Frutas

Malagasy Banana Fritters

Choco-Ginger Truffles

Mocha Panna Cotta

Green Tea Ice Cream

Pistachio Kulfi

Millionaire’s Shortbread

Salted Almond Macaroons

Gingerbread Blondies

Fyrstekake

Mexican Brownies

Raspberry-Lime Clafoutis

Lemon Olive Oil Cake

Black Forest Cake

Lemon Curd

Whipped Coconut Cream

Acknowledgments

Measurement Equivalents

Nut-Free Recipes

Egg-Free Recipes

Index

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The Harvard Common Press

www.harvardcommonpress.com

Text and photographs copyright © 2015 by Becky Winkler

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Winkler, Becky.

Paleo planet : primal foods from the global kitchen, with more than 125

recipes / Becky Winkler.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-55832-853-2 (acid-free paper)

1. High-protein diet--Recipes. 2. Low-carbohydrate diet--Recipes 3. Prehistoric peoples--Nutrition. I. Title.

RM237.65.W56 2015

641.5'6383--dc23

2015018098

Special bulk-order discounts are available on this and other Harvard Common Press books. Companies and organizations may purchase books for premiums or resale, or may arrange a custom edition, by contacting the Marketing Director at the web address above.

Author photograph by Benjamin Hall

eISBN 978-1-55832-854-9

v1.0915

For my mother, Sarah Jane Penn, and my fiancé, Benjamin Hall, for their love, endless support, and taste testing

Introduction

As a kid, I was one of the world’s pickiest eaters. I begged for macaroni and cheese, chomped on chicken fingers, gobbled down grilled cheese, and stubbornly refused almost everything else. The only vegetable I deigned to eat was broccoli—but it had to have cheese melted on top. I detested anything with tomatoes in it (raw, cooked, even ketchup—it was all off-limits), and I was so difficult at restaurants that my mom would bribe me to take just three bites of something new.

Needless to say, those days are gone, and today I will try almost anything. Discovering foods from other cultures never fails to make my day, and figuring out how to make a paleo version of a new dish at home is guaranteed to make my week. The one aspect of my attitude toward food that has remained unchanged since childhood is my steadfast determination to seek out food that I love, and to turn down everything else. Food has always really mattered to me, and although my criteria for choosing what I eat have changed drastically, I’ve always held on to my passion for eating delicious things that make me feed good. When I developed the recipes for this book, I was constantly looking for new ways to combine familiar ingredients with innovative or unfamiliar cooking methods, and found classic dishes from cuisines all around the world that could benefit from a paleo makeover. I’ve never eaten as well and with as much variety as I did during the year I wrote this book, and I hope you’ll feel the same way after cooking from it.

You may be wondering if you have to be fiercely devoted to a paleo lifestyle to benefit from this book, and the answer is no. The recipes in this book will help anyone enjoy delicious and varied meals at home.

You’ll likely find that your energy level and overall health improve just by eating home-cooked, grain-free, dairy-free meals even three or four nights a week. And with more than 125 recipes in this book inspired by ingredients and cooking techniques from around the globe, I promise you won’t be bored.

If you’re a paleo maven who’s been cooking without grains, dairy, and refined sugar for years, this book is ideal for you, too! These recipes will help you expand your cooking repertoire to include ingredients, flavor combinations, and cooking techniques you may have never tried before, and will ensure you don’t get stuck in a rut of cooking the same few recipes over and over.

So, if food matters to you, dive in! Cook from these pages and prove to yourself and everyone you feed that food can be delicious, exciting, and exotic without refined sugar, grains, or dairy.

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WHAT IS PALEO?

The paleo diet is designed to generally mimic the diet our ancestors ate. The idea is that eating what we evolved eating keeps us healthy and keeps our digestive system in good working order. Many people today, including me, have found that switching to a paleo diet, even just 80 percent of the time, helps them lose weight, have more energy, sleep better, and feel happier.

Grains, dairy products other than ghee, refined sugars, and legumes (including all beans, soy, and peanuts) are off-limits on a paleo diet. Don’t worry, though, because you can have all the meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds in the world!

I first started eating paleo because of my food blog, A Calculated Whisk. Within two months of developing traditional recipes for my site, I had gained almost 20 pounds! I figured there had to be a way to lose the weight and keep it off while still publishing a food blog, so I gave paleo a try. I lost those 20 pounds—plus a few extra—and I’ve been able to keep the weight off while still cooking and eating amazing food. My favorite part of the paleo diet is that it focuses on using high-quality ingredients rather than on limiting the quantity of food you eat. Now I am able to make a huge variety of tasty dishes and eat until I’m pleasantly full, while still maintaining a healthy weight.

FOOD ALLERGIES AND SENSITIVITIES

Many people turn to the paleo diet to help them figure out their food allergies and sensitivities or to avoid foods they know they can’t tolerate. In order to make this book user-friendly for everyone, no matter their dietary restrictions, I created lists of recipes that are free of common allergens, organized by chapter. All the recipes in this book are designed to be gluten-, grain-, soy-, and peanut-free, but be sure to carefully check the ingredients labels on all foods you buy at the store if you’re allergic to something. If you have a dairy allergy, you may want to avoid ghee (use coconut oil or olive oil instead). If you’re lactose intolerant, like me, it’s likely that you’ll still be able to enjoy ghee, since the lactose is removed during the clarifying process. Aside from ghee, all recipes in this book are dairy-free.

You can find a list of nut-free recipes on [>] and a list of egg-free recipes on [>].

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A Paleo Pantry

If you stock your pantry well, you’ll have the basic ingredients necessary to make a wide variety of paleo meals and treats right at your fingertips. Nothing beats the urge to order takeout like having all the components of a healthy gourmet meal already in your kitchen! You can find most of these ingredients at Whole Foods Market or any large, well-stocked supermarkets, and they are widely available online.

POULTRY, MEAT, FISH, AND EGGS

When it comes to poultry and meat, local, organic, and grass-fed or pastured is best. A meat CSA or your local farmers’ market can be a great way to get the protein you need while supporting farms near you. Check out eatwild.com to find great sources of sustainable meat, poultry, and eggs in your area. When buying fish and shellfish, consider the environmental practices involved in the fishing or harvesting process. Visit seafoodwatch.org to search for sustainable seafood.

I save chicken bones to make homemade stock (see how I do it on [>]). When I need stock for a recipe and don’t have any homemade on hand, I buy organic, low-sodium chicken stock and check the labels carefully for undesired additives like sugar or potato starch. My favorite store-bought stock is Pacific Organic Chicken Bone Broth.

When buying eggs, I look for local, free-range, organic eggs. If I have to choose between organic and free-range, I usually choose free-range. Organic standards for eggs specify only that the hens are fed organic feed; they don’t stipulate anything about their living conditions or the outdoor access they have. If possible, try to buy eggs from hens fed a soy-free diet, such as Grass-Fed Traditions Organic Cage-Free and Soy-Free eggs. I use large eggs for all the recipes in this book. If you would like to use a different size, especially for baking, search for a conversion chart online to make sure you use the right amount.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

Organic, locally grown fruits and vegetables are best, but conventional produce is much better than no produce at all! The Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists (find them at ewg.org/foodnews) can help you prioritize which fruits and vegetables you need to buy organic and which are probably okay to buy conventional.

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Cooking with fruits and vegetables that are in season can save you money and ensure that you are buying produce that’s fresh and at its peak. Going to the farmers’ market is a great way to find in-season produce. You can find a list of produce for each of the four seasons at fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org.

Since they provide the flavor base for so many dishes, I always keep plenty of garlic, onions, shallots, and fresh ginger on hand. I store garlic, onions, and shallots in paper bags with holes punched along the sides, which helps them keep for a very long time (often up to several months). I store fresh ginger in the freezer, where it will last indefinitely. When I need to use some, I peel an inch or two using a regular spoon (much easier than using a knife) and grate the peeled ginger, still frozen, using a Microplane.

I also try to have lemons and limes on hand at all times. Unless I have a plan to use them the day I buy them or the day after, I store them in the refrigerator so they’ll last longer.

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RECIPE TIP

To toast nuts or seeds on the stovetop, cook them in a dry pan over medium-low to medium heat, stirring or tossing often, until browned and fragrant. The cooking time will vary according to the size of the nuts, but they all need to be watched carefully. You can also roast nuts at 350°F on a parchment-lined baking sheet, but I prefer the stovetop method because it's easier to see the nuts and get them off the heat before they burn.

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NUTS AND SEEDS

I usually keep almonds, pecans, cashews, unhulled sesame seeds, and pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) in my pantry, and occasionally buy walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, and pine nuts for specific recipes. I store pine nuts in the refrigerator because they spoil quickly, but keep all other nuts and seeds at room temperature for up to several months.

Buy raw, unsalted nuts so you can use them raw or toast them yourself. This will also allow you to control the amount of salt used if you decide to season the nuts. I generally find that already bagged nuts are fresher and crunchier than those sold in the bulk section.

I use nuts to make several pantry staples that I then use in other recipes. Almond Milk ([>]) or pecan milk is a great substitute for cow’s milk, and Cashew Cream ([>]) or full-fat coconut milk can stand in for heavy cream. Add a little lemon or lime juice to the cashew cream to make a wonderful paleo substitute for sour cream. And try Almond Butter ([>]) or sunflower seed butter instead of peanut butter.

HEALTHY FATS FOR COOKING

Healthy fat is an important part of a paleo diet. In addition to adding flavor to your food, moderate amounts of fat are necessary for good health and even for weight loss. Avocados, nuts, seeds, meat, poultry, and fish are good sources of fat, as are the cooking fats discussed below.

My favorite paleo cooking fat is ghee. I make my own (see [>]), but you can also buy ghee online and at some grocery stores. I like Pure Indian Foods brand because it’s made from organic, grass-fed milk. Because the milk solids have been removed, ghee has a much higher smoke point than butter and is thus ideal for searing and pan-frying.

Coconut oil is another great paleo cooking fat. Always buy unrefined virgin or extra-virgin coconut oil (refined coconut oil is heated to very high temperatures and loses many of its health benefits). Unrefined coconut oil has a coconut flavor that’s noticeable but not overpowering, so keep that in mind when choosing to use it. Coconut oil has a higher smoke point than olive oil but a lower smoke point than ghee.

Extra-virgin olive oil is another paleo essential, lending wonderful savory flavor to many dishes. I even use it in dessert sometimes—check out the Lemon Olive Oil Cake on [>]. Olive oil has a relatively low smoke point, so it’s best used when cooking over low to medium heat or in things like vinaigrette that are not cooked at all.

Other oils such as avocado, macadamia, and walnut can also be used in paleo cooking, but they are expensive and sometimes hard to find, so I haven’t included them in any recipes in this book.

Canola oil, grapeseed oil, vegetable oil, and vegetable shortening are not paleo-friendly.

Coconut milk is another source of healthy fat. Always buy full-fat canned coconut milk and look for brands with as few additives as possible (many brands contain guar gum and other unnecessary ingredients, which some people are sensitive to).

BAKING INGREDIENTS

Almond flour forms the base of many of my paleo desserts. It is higher in healthy fats and protein than wheat flour, but much lower in carbohydrates. Because of this, treats made with almond flour are rich and very satisfying—you may find yourself feeling happy with a smaller serving of dessert than you would when eating gluten-laden foods. For best results, look for finely ground almond flour, such as King Arthur or Honeyville. However, since almond flour is just finely ground blanched almonds, you can easily make it yourself in a food processor (see [>]). Other flours made from ground nuts, such as hazelnut meal, may work as a substitute for almond flour, but they are usually more expensive.

Coconut flour is another ingredient often used in paleo baking. It is high in fiber and absorbs a lot of liquid, so baked goods made with coconut flour often call for a surprisingly large number of eggs.

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