Paleo Cookbook For Dummies (72 page)

If you're looking for a fantastic dinner, try some outrageously delicious, award-winning
Chocolate Chili
. Maybe you want to be adventurous and try some
Thai Green Curry Chicken
. How about some
Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
for breakfast or some
Tandoori Chicken Thighs
for lunch? Or head to
www.dummies.com/extras/paleocookbook
for more great recipes, including Chicken Wings with Pineapple and Poblanos and Oven-Braised Mexican Beef.

Shopping for Top-Quality Meats

Health is contagious. The healthier the food, the more health it brings to your body. Of course, the opposite is true as well. You may have heard some of the debate over grass-fed and grain-fed meats; the animals' diet is one factor that makes a big difference in the meat you eat. One of the biggest differences between grass-fed and grain-fed animals is the overall fat content. Take beef, for example. Grass-fed beef is lower in total fat and omega-6 fatty acids. The opposite is true of grain-fed animals. A healthy diet has an omega-6 fatty acid to omega-3 fatty acid ratio of about 4:1. The ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s in grass-fed animals is about 3:1. Grain-fed beef ratios exceed 20:1 omega-6s to omega-3s.

When you're deciding where to spend your money at the grocery store, keep the following facts in mind to help you make the best choice in regard to meat quality:

Animals that are pasture raised and forage on the natural diet of grass have less stress and live healthier lives. There's little or no need to treat them with antibiotics or drugs.

Grass-fed meat is a great source of
conjugated linoleic acid
(CLA), which is a good component in fat found primarily in the meat and dairy products from
ruminant
(cud-chewing) animals. It reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes and boosts immunity. Grain-fed animals tend to be lower in CLA than their grass-eating relatives.

Grass-fed meat is higher in B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, and potassium than meat from grain-fed animals.

Meat from grass-fed cattle typically has a much lower risk of E. coli because the cows are cleaner at the time of slaughter and are typically processed by a skilled local butcher or farmer who ensures the meat doesn't come in contact with feces.

Grass-fed beef has ten times the amount of vitamin A and three times more vitamin E than grain-fed beef. It's also safe from mad cow disease (MCD).

Pasture-raised, locally sourced poultry is the cleanest source of chicken and turkey you can purchase. The birds are able to roam freely in their environment, where they eat bugs, nutritious grasses, and other plants that are a part of their natural diet. Organic, free-range poultry is also a good choice. Birds consume organic feed and have access to the outdoors. They are not given antibiotics unless they are ill.

If you're going to eat pork, make sure it comes from an organic, pasture-raised source. Otherwise, it's just too unhealthy; you're simply better off choosing another protein source. When selecting deli meats, make sure they're organic, gluten-free, and nitrite-free.

Winter Squash and Sausage Hash

Prep time:
15 min •
Cook time:
25 min •
Yield:
2 servings

Ingredients

2 cups
¹
⁄
₂
-inch-diced winter squash

1 cup diced mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, crushed

¹
⁄
₂
pound spicy sausage (no-sugar added), casing removed and meat diced into 1-inch cubes

1 tablespoon coconut oil

4 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh parsley for garnish

Directions

1
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2
In a medium bowl, toss the squash, mushrooms, garlic, and sausage together.

3
Spread the vegetable mixture into a baking dish, making sure not to overcrowd, and bake for 25 minutes or until the veggies are tender and the sausage is browned.

4
While the veggie mixture is baking, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Starting with half the oil and adding more as needed, fry the eggs, two at a time, to your desired doneness.

5
Remove the vegetable mixture from the oven and top with the fried eggs. Garnish with parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

Per serving:
Calories 476 (From Fat 272); Fat 30g (Saturated 13g); Cholesterol 455mg; Sodium 1,167mg; Carbohydrate 18g (Dietary Fiber 4g); Protein 35g.

Recipe courtesy Arsy Vartanian, author of Rubies & Radishes (
www.rubiesandradishes.com
)

This recipe has been vetted by the team at Whole9 (
http://whole9life.com
) and is considered acceptable for a cleansing 30-day Paleo launch.

Sausage and Spinach Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Prep time:
10 min •
Cook time:
30 min •
Yield:
4 servings

Ingredients

4 large cap portobello mushrooms

¹
⁄
₄
cup plus 2 tablespoons melted ghee, divided

Kosher salt

Pepper

¹
⁄
₂
a small onion, minced

1 pound bulk sausage (no-sugar-added)

2 cups marinara sauce

1 large egg, lightly beaten

10 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry

1 tablespoon coconut flour

Directions

1
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with the rack in the center of the oven. Place a foil-lined baking sheet in the oven.

2
Wipe the tops of the mushrooms with a damp cloth and scoop out the gills and stems with a spoon. Use a sharp paring knife to cut a shallow
X
on the top of each mushroom cap.

3
Brush the mushrooms all over with
¹
⁄
₄
cup of the ghee and season with salt and pepper.

4
Place the mushrooms on the hot baking sheet, top side down. Bake for 10 minutes; flip the mushrooms over and bake for another 10 minutes.

5
Remove the tray from the oven and let the mushrooms cool to room temperature. Increase the oven temperature to broil.

6
While the mushrooms are roasting, heat the remaining ghee in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onions with salt and pepper until they're soft and translucent.

7
Add the sausage to the skillet, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook the meat until it's no longer pink. Drain all the fat and remove the filling to a medium bowl; let it cool to room temperature.

8
Warm the marinara sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. When the sausage filling is cool, add the egg, spinach, and coconut flour and pinch of salt and pepper. Mix to combine.