This is the Paleo version of Bolognese, using spaghetti squash. We had this last night for dinner and it was really good. Personally I prefer it over real pasta.

Ingredients (for 4, 15 gr of carbs per portion)
* 1 lb (450gr) beef or veal minced meat
* 1 small spaghetti squash
* 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1 TBspoon chopped parsley
* 1 clove of garlic, minced
* 4 button mushrooms, chopped
* 1 TBspoon coconut oil
* 2 TBspoons olive oil
* 1/3 bell pepper, chopped
* 1 cup of bone marrow broth, or water
* Salt & pepper to taste

Execution
1. Preheat oven at 400 F (200 C). On a cookie sheet lay some parchment paper. Cut the spaghetti squash in two length-wise with a sharp knife. Using a spoon remove all the seeds found in the squash, and discard them. Using your finger, apply the olive oil everywhere on the inside of the two pieces of squash. Place face-down on the cookie sheet, poke some holes using the knife (so the squash can “breathe”), and bake for 30-40 minutes, until soft.
2. In the meantime, prepare the bolognese meat sauce. In a cooking pan, under medium heat, cook the chopped onion with the coconut oil for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the minced meat, and cook for another 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the garlic, mushrooms, parsley, bell pepper, salt & pepper. Cook for 4-5 minutes, continuing to stirring occasionally.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, and bone broth or water. Stir, and cover. When all the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is thick, it’s ready.
6. After the spaghetti squash is still warm but not too hot to handle, use a fork to “scratch” in it, and remove the spaghetti threads from it. Discard the hard skin. Serve topped with the meat sauce and optionally, grated parmesan.

These breakfast muffins are the latest craze in the Paleo community. Reddit’s r/Paleo is full of pictures lately with people experimenting with these! The idea is that you can make muffins ahead of time, refrigerate them, and then you microwave some of them for a few seconds in the morning, for breakfast.

Ingredients (makes 12, 3 gr of carbs each)
* 6 eggs
* 4 slices of bacon, or 2 sausage links
* 1 TBspoon Parmesan or 1/4 cup coconut milk (optional)
* 2 green onions
* 1 tspoon butter
* Salt & pepper to taste
* 3/4 cup (overall) of broccoli, bell peppers, mushrooms, spinach, zucchini… Use whatever fast-cooking veggie you need to get rid of from your fridge

Execution
1. In a big bowl whisk well the eggs, with the optional Parmesan or coconut milk. Then sprinkle salt & pepper to your taste.
2. Either in a food processor, or with a sharp knife, cut the bacon (or sausage links), green onions and vegetables in small pieces. Preheat oven at 350 F (180 C).
3. Place the chopped ingredients in a frying pan and fry in medium heat for 5-8 minutes (until the bacon is done), while stirring often.
4. Take the butter in your fingers and grease well the muffin holders in the tray.
5. Pour the fried ingredients in the egg bowl and mix well. Then, using a ladle, pour the mixture into the muffin holders.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the holders immediately and let cool. Then refrigerate for up to 3-4 days, and each morning microwave for 15 to 30 secs (depending on the microwave unit) the quantity you need for breakfast.

Today was my JBQ‘s birthday, so I made him a Paleo birthday cake (recipe, I substituted maple syrup with honey). It was the first such cake I had since I went Paleo, and the first one I ever made. I usually cook food pretty well, but I’m not great with desserts. This one turned out good, although we think the cake dough needed more honey.

Happy Birthday sweetie!

Last night I also made some almond-flax crackers. My JBQ, as a real French-man, he loves his cheese, so as we’re gluten-free in this house now, I’m making Paleo cheese crackers once a week. I added sesame seeds, finely chopped thyme & sage, oregano, and 1 TBspoon of olive oil to the base recipe. These came out great!

We had this Paleo-friendly salad for lunch today. JBQ said that he hadn’t had this dish for many years (he used to have it in France), so I decided to try it out as our main dish (we had thinly-sliced smoked duck breast as an appetizer). It all came out really good.

Ingredients (for 2, 10gr of carbs per person)
* 10-12 large shrimp
* 1/2 of a cucumber
* 1/2 of a pomelo or a whole grapefruit
* 2-3 TBspoons of fresh chopped basil
* 2 heaping TBspoons of mayonnaise
* 1-2 TBspoons of lime or lemon juice (optional)
* Freshly cracked black pepper
* Salt to taste

Execution
1. Boil your shrimp in some boiling water for a few minutes. When done, put them in a colander and let lots of cold water run through them. Remove their shell and their vein on the back of their body. If you are using fresh, de-shelled and already-cooked shrimp, omit this step.
2. Place the citrus on a steady surface and hold it from the top. Using a big knife cut the outer part of your citrus fruit from top to bottom, all around it (it’s ok if a bit of the fruit goes to waste using this method). Then cut it in the middle (height-wise), and remove the skin from each segment. Place the main fruit (without any skin) on a big salad bowl, in chunks.
3. Peel the cucumber, cut it in two length-wise, and then two more times (so you get 4 long segments). Run the knife through each of these segments to remove some of the seeds (you can eat these while you’re preparing the salad…). Slice the cucumber segments in 1/3″ slices.
4. Add the cooled shrimp in the salad bowl, the cucumber, and the chopped basil. Crack some black pepper, and add some salt. Taste a small bit of the citrus fruit. If the fruit is bitter, then you don’t need to add the lime juice. But if your fruit is rather sweet, then squeeze some lime or lemon juice (1 or 2 TBspoons depending on the sweetness of the main citrus).
5. Add the mayo (home-made is best, but if you must buy it, strive to find a full-fat one without additives that is made with real eggs and olive oil), and carefully mix everything well using a spoon. Add more mayo if required. Serve immediately and enjoy!

If there’s one recipe that will make you love kohlrabi (γογγύλι), it’s this one. Who needs white potatoes when you have such sweet and soft kohlrabi? Personally, I absolutely loved this Paleo dish! Its secret is in the bone broth.

Ingredients (for 3-4)
* 1 lb (450 gr) duck or chicken gizzards
* 1/3 stick of butter or duck fat
* 1 Tbspoon of coconut oil
* 2 cups of bone broth
* 3 medium kohlrabi bulbs
* 1 medium carrot
* 1 pinch of thyme or oregano
* 1 Tbspoon of lemon juice
* Salt & pepper to taste

Execution
1. Wash the gizzards with lots of water. Cut them in smaller pieces. Place them in a deep cooking pot, along the butter and coconut oil. Stir a few times, and brown them for a few minutes under medium heat.
2. Add the bone broth, salt & pepper, and simmer in low heat for about an hour or so.
3. Peel the kohlrabi, wash it, and cut it in 1-inch pieces. Wash the carrot, cut it in half length-wise, and then slice it.
4. Add them in the cooking pot, sprinkle the thyme/oregano, and stir. If at this point more liquid is required, add some water. Cook for 30 minutes in low heat.
5. When the liquid has evaporated, you’re left with a somewhat thick sauce, and the kohlrabi is soft, the dish is ready. Turn off the heat, add the lemon juice, stir. Serve hot.

I made this Paleo-modified shepherd’s pie dish (aka cottage pie) for our Sunday lunch, and my husband remarked about how good it was. Here’s how I made it:

Ingredients (for 4)
* 1 lb (450 gr) sheep or beef minced meat
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 2 Tbspoons chopped parsley
* 1 clove of garlic, chopped
* 1 small carrot, diced
* 3 medium roma tomatoes, skinned, diced
* 1 cup of bone broth
* 1 large-ish head of cauliflower (preferably the yellow kind)
* 1 Tbspoon of butter
* 2 Tbspoons of coconut milk
* 1 Tbspoon of coconut or olive oil
* 3-4 slices of provolone cheese (optional)
* 1/3 cup of frozen green peas (optional)
* Salt & pepper

Execution
1. Cut the cauliflower in smaller florets, wash it, and boil it for 15 minutes in hot boiling water. Strain it, set aside.
2. While the cauliflower is cooking, warm out the coconut oil in a cooking pan under medium heat, and then add the chopped onion. After the onion has browned a bit, add the minced meat, and keep stirring with a wooden spoon until the meat has started brown itself too.
3. Add the chopped parsley & garlic, diced carrot & tomatoes, salt and pepper, stir well. If you allow green peas in your diet, add them now too (some consider them Paleo, others don’t). Then add the bone broth, and continue cooking until all the liquid has evaporated. Pre-heat the oven to 400 F (200 C).
4. Put the cauliflower in a food processor, add the butter & coconut milk, and some pepper. Blend until smooth.
5. Use a 10″ diagonal, deep baking dish, and spread the minced meat mixture on it, leveling it well using the wooden spoon. Wash the wooden spoon, and use it again to evenly spread the cauliflower mash on top of the meat.
6. Spread the provolone cheese slices on top of the cauliflower (optional), and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until it has started to brown. Eat warm. Dish freezes well too.

The idea of running a restaurant has been in my mind for years and years. Of course, these days these thoughts surround the Paleo diet and its foods. There is only a single Paleo restaurant in the whole world so far (in Germany), while at the same time the Bay Area is full of Paleo dieters. There’s definitely some business opportunity here…

Well, these are the dishes I’d feature in that imaginary Paleo restaurant, trying to cater primarily to Paleo & Primal diets, and secondarily to gluten-free, Atkins, SCD, or other low-carb or ketogenic diets. All foods would be cooked with virgin coconut oil, olive oil when indicated, while the sea salt used would have added iodine in it. Local plant produce, pastured meat, wild-caught fish would be used. All dairy is optional, lactose-free, and mostly goat-based (except grass-fed butter, and lactose-free sour cream which would be cow-based). Wherever sweetening is required, raw & unfiltered local honey is used.

Appetizers
- A grass-fed beef marrow bone, served hot with salted radishes
- Garlic & herb-roasted chicken wings
- Kale chips (oven roasted with olive oil, salt)
- Guacamole, served with endive leaves
- Mixed greens salad with bacon, apple, walnuts, olive oil vinaigrette
- Three separate tapenade: Olive, eggplant, and red pepper, served with almond-flax crackers
- Home-made honey/tamari-cured beef jerky
- Chicken liver pate with almond-flax crackers
- Fried minty meatballs, served with green olives

Main Courses
- Greek Moussaka (lasagna-style) dish (optionally topped w/ cheese)
- Zucchini-based carbonara/alfredo “pasta” with eggs, cream, and your choice of bacon, chicken, or shellfish
- Fried white fish with boiled amaranth greens and lemon, olive oil
- Beef meat or beef tongue in multi-veggie stew, cooked in beef bone broth
- Shepherd’s lamb pie with sweet potato and cauliflower mash (optionally topped w/ cheese) (choice of side dish)
- Herb-roasted game (duck, goose, rabbit, turkey, ostrich, deer pieces) (choice of side dish)
- Grilled pork ribs and half a heart, roasted (choice of side dish)
- Tuna or salmon steaks, grilled or fried (choice of side dish)
- Meat & veggie loaf, with home-made ketchup (choice of side dish)
- Beef steak, grilled (choice of side dish)
- Beef liver, grilled (choice of side dish)
- Kokoretsi (all parts of goat’s offal, including lungs, spleen, intestines) (choice of side dish)
- Patsas (goat or sheep tripe avgolemono soup)

Sides
- Cauliflower-based colcannon
- Steamed broccoli & fried mushrooms
- Roasted squash with honey & apple cider vinegar-caramelized onions
- Celeriac, kohlrabi, cabbage and carrot coleslaw in home-made olive-oil mayo
- Root chips mix: sweet potatoes, beets, turnips, rutabaga, carrots, parsnips, sunchokes, fried in beef tallow, with herbs. Served with home-made ketchup, or Dijon mustard.
- Home-made live sauerkraut
- Sea vegetables medley
- Mache, purslane, cress, with avocado, tomato and cucumber slices in French vinaigrette
- Crust-free Greek spinach pie with spinach, beet greens, Swiss chard, leeks, turnip greens, etc.
- Soup of the day (various)

Desserts
- Almond/coconut flour and honey cookies (plain, nuts, chocolate)
- Almond/coconut flour with honey, fruits, cream-frosted muffins (for birthdays)
- Home-made SCD probiotic lactose-free goat yoghurt, served with nuts & seeds, berries, and live local honey
- Coconut milk “breakfast bowl“, served with nuts & seeds, berries, and live local honey
- Coconut and berries ice cream
- Paleo waffles, served with berries, and honey-based syrup
- Home-made chocolate bar with nuts, lightly sweetened with honey, coconut flakes
- Fruit salad of the season
- Fruit of the season sorbet (sweetened with live, local honey)

Drinks
- Coconut milk, with optional honey
- Fruit smoothie of the season
- Kombucha green tea (decaf available)
- Herbal tea (chamomile, or Greek Mountain Tea)
- Sugar-free (dry), local wines
- Evian mineral water

Today I went to the dentist for teeth cleaning and one filling. Now that I’m on this Primal diet (Paleo + selected dairy), I’m hoping to not ever have to visit a dentist again. The interesting thing is that about 2 hours after returning from the dentist I had a very weird urge to eat dairy. I eat lactose-free probiotic goat yoghurt and goat lactose-free hard cheese occasionally, and I supplement with calcium, but this urge was different. It wasn’t a craving per se, it was a need. My husband theorized that my teeth endured severe stress today because of the dentistry, and they depleted the calcium reserves in my body.

Unfortunately, my next batch of goat yoghurt wasn’t ready yet, and the only commercial goat yoghurt I could find had… tapioca flour in it. Most Americans think all yoghurts are thick, while this is not the case with goat yoghurt (really Trader Joe’s? flour in the yoghurt?). Even my aunt in Greece who owns ~200 goats, has to add a bit of sheep milk in the mix in order for her home-made goat yoghurt to be less runny. But she definitely doesn’t use… flour, and if she doesn’t have sheep milk at hand, she will simply just make her yoghurt with goat milk alone. So I bought some regular goat milk (with lactose in it, no option) to appease my calcium need.

Recently I saw this amazingly-looking Paleo roasted “cereal” recipe, so I had to try something like it. Because time was of the essence, I simply did a “raw” version of it. Works just as well if you don’t have the time to bake stuff. It looked and tasted amazing. Who needs cereal grains when you can have nuts and seeds?

Ingredients (for 1)
* 1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk or unsweetened almond milk (or goat milk)
* 1 tspoon of raw & unfiltered honey (optional)
* 1 tspoon of unsalted pecan pieces
* 1 tspoon of unsalted walnut pieces
* 1 tspoon of silvered almonds
* 1 tspoon of unsalted pistachios
* 1 tspoon of unsalted raw pine nuts
* 1 tspoon of unsalted, raw sunflower/safflower seeds
* 1 tspoon of unsalted, raw pumpkin/squash/pepitas seeds
* 2 Tbspoons of frozen or fresh berry selection (e.g. blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, or other kinds etc)

Execution
1. Put all the nuts & seeds in a breakfast bowl. If using unsweetened milk, you could optionally add a teaspoon of honey and stir it well in. Add the berries and milk. If using frozen berries, wait for 2-3 minutes for them to get warmer. The berries will now release some color into the milk, making it look really interesting. Enjoy!

Variation: You can also use hot milk, and a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder! Optionally, a pinch of cinnamon too. Or, you can use a chopped banana instead of berries!

Notes:
1. If using Brazil nuts, make sure you only use 1 of them, chopped. A single Brazil nut has over 100% of the daily value for Selenium, but it also has the most phytic acid than any other nut, so you don’t want to be overdosing in any of that.

2. Macadamias are great to use in this recipe, but you’ll have to buy them chopped, or use a food processor to chop them. Same goes for hazelnuts, which in addition will have to be skinned. Might not worth the effort for a quick breakfast.

3. Do not use peanuts or cashews, they’re not nuts. Botanically, they’re beans.

I followed up tonight’s dinner with a fruit crumble dessert. The original recipe for the crumble was asking for too many unhealthy things (even if it was found in a gluten-free web site), so I had to make changes to the recipe. It came out really good and it was super-easy to make!

Ingredients (for 3)
* 1 apple
* 1 pear
* 1 peach
* 2 tspoons of cinnamon
* 1 tspoon of nutmeg
* 1 + 1.5 Tbspoons of honey
* 1/3 cup of walnuts, chopped
* 1/2 cup of almond meal
* 1/4 cup of olive oil or melted butter

Execution
1. Preheat the oven at 350 F (175 C). Peel the fruits and cut in slices. Place them in a small baking dish. Add 1 tspoon of cinnamon and 1 Tbspoon of honey. Pour the walnuts. Carefully, mix well everything using your hands.

2. On a bowl, mix well using a fork: 1.5 Tbspoons of honey, 1 tspoon of cinnamon, the nutmeg, almond meal and olive oil. I went for a batter that wasn’t too rigid nor too liquid, but if you prefer it more crumbly add more almond meal.

3. Spoon the “dough” on top of fruits. Bake for at least 45 minutes, until the fruit is soft & bubbly, and the dough is nicely browned.