Cavemen Gourmet

Happy New Year Cavemen Gourmet fans! Hope you all enjoyed the holiday season – it always goes by too fast doesn’t it?!  This year my resolution is to cook (and post) more.

Last week, I made acorn squash for the first time and my husband and I are now big fans. They are easy to cook and sweet (but not too sweet like sweet potatoes or butternut squash can be at times) and have such a nice flavor you wonder if they are paleo! The great thing is they have a decent amount of protein per serving as well as Vitamin B6, C and E!  I’ll definitely be using this more as a potato/starch replacement.  Who doesn’t like sweet goodness? Speaking of awesome goodness, I may be in a Chris Cornell phase…

Ingredients
Serves 4-5

3 acorn squash, medium sized
1lb ground beef
1 large sweet onion, minced
1 tablespoon garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper

Directions
Cut your squash in half and take out the seeds. Then place on a roasting pan and bake at 375 degrees for 60 minutes or until tender.

While the squash is baking – saute the onions and ground beef on medium heat with the other dry ingredients until browned.  Once the squash is ready, stuff the squash with the beef filling and bake for another 15 minutes.  Serve and enjoy!

This is a simple recipe and can be made even more simple if you want to cut out the baking time. You can microwave the squash (roughly 10-15 minutes ). The difference is baking will allow the squash to carmelize but if you don’t mind the slightly dryer taste of squash in the microwave – go for it!  The next time I do this dish, I may add sliced mushrooms and/or tomatoes. I’m starting to drool thinking about the options…

I haven’t posted in awhile. I’ll get better – it’s been hard when the Summer has been so consuming in a good way. Who doesn’t want to be outside with the sunshine and playing all of the time? One thing that I love doing in the summer time is grilling. Nothing beats natural meats and veggies with some good ol’ sunshine.  Ok fine, maybe some Rock and Roll playing in the background. (Warning to CG fans: I might be in my John Bonham phase right now…) 

Ingredients
Makes 5-6 servings
1 1/2 pounds of lamb cubes
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
1/2 teaspoon of thyme
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh parsley
2 large red peppers, cut into 1/2 inch squares
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered

Directions
Combine olive oil, lemon juice, salt, onion powder, thyme, paprika and garlic in a baking dish. Add the lamb cubes, cover and refrigerate overnight.

If you’re using wooden skewers – soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. This will prevent them from burning on the grill.  Drain your marinade from the lamb and start building your kabobs. Try peppers, onions, mushrooms, eggplant – whatever you want!  We chose onions and red peppers for this grilling session.

Once your grill is ready, place skewers on grill (or you can do in grill pan). I like my lamb medium rare so this would be just 4-5 minutes on high heat (about 125 degrees for medium rare, 130 degrees for medium, etc).  Once the lamb is cooked to the level you desire, sprinkle the fresh chopped parsley on top.

That’s it! Serve and Enjoy!

I loved stuffed bell peppers. It’s one of my favorite dishes and my mother in law made some a couple of weeks ago which gave me an idea of making a paleo version.  I modified her recipe by taking out the rice and it ended up being terrific.   My husband raved about it and said it was one of the best things to come out of our kitchen.  But I should caveat that with the fact that he says that with a lot of my dishes, so much so that he is starting to remind me of Ina Garten’s husband, Jeff, who takes a bite from one of Ina’s dishes at the end of a Barefoot Contessa show and always acts like he just took a bite out of heaven.  But I’ll take a thumbs up any day.

Ingredients
Makes 4-6 servings
5 bell peppers of your choice (I love all but green)
1lb ground beef
1 large sweet onion, diced
8oz sliced and diced mushrooms
3 medium tomatoes, diced
3oz tomato paste
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon Sriracha (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut the top of each bell pepper about one inch from the top and remove seeds in the center.  Add the bell peppers in a boiling pot of water for 4-5 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside to cool.

In a large pan on medium heat, saute your chopped onions and mushrooms for roughly 5 minutes until browned.  Add ground beef and stir until lightly browned, not fully cooked.  Reduce heat to low and then add the minced garlic, tomato paste and diced tomatoes and stir thoroughly.

In a medium sized baking dish, line up your peppers so they are standing upright. Fill in your bell peppers with the meat and vegetable mixture.  Add 1/3 cup of water to the bottom of your baking dish.  Place in oven and bake for 35-40 minutes (or even longer depending on how tender you like your bell peppers).  You can serve immediately (but these are my favorite as leftovers). Enjoy!

Holy moly – where does the time go. It’s already the end of February and I realized that I haven’t posted in weeks. Our food challenge is over and it was an amazing success. Of the 34 people who participated in it, the group lost over 100 pounds collectively in just 45 days! All from changing the way they ate! It was an incredible achievement and we were so proud of everyone. Nearly everyone will continue some form of paleo after the food challenge and have incorporated a significant amount of vegetables in their diet which is wonderful. One of the recipes that helped get us through the challenge was this one. Spaghetti squash is a wonderful substitute for pasta and incredibly easy to make.

Ingredients
1 spaghetti squash
1 pound ground beef
1 large onion – chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 15 oz can of organic tomato sauce
1/4 cup fresh parsley – chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper

Directions
Cut your squash in half lengthwise. (Note – you can cut it in half the other way but I like my squash to have longer strands so that I think I’m getting a ‘noodle’. I know – we all know it’s not pasta but I can pretend can’t I?)  Be careful to have a firm grip on your squash – cutting these guys can be a bit dangerous. Once you’ve halved the squash, you can either bake it in the oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or microwave it. I personally microwave mine because it’s easier and faster for me You can microwave for 7-8 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes.

To make the bolognese sauce, you can follow my recipe below that I posted before with my Spaghetti Bolognese with Kelp Noodles recipe.  But feel free to do any type of sauce with the spaghetti squash. It will absorb any flavor you want.

Once your squash has cooled, take a fork and simply just fork out the squash noodles. Just be mindful to separate and take out the seeds and the seed strands.  It’s incredibly fast and easy. These ‘noodles’ taste great and are so easy to make. They have a high water content so keep that in mind when you add sauces.  Once you have finished your bolognese sauce, just add on top of these noodles. Serve and enjoy!

Day 6 of the food challenge and so far so good. I am absolutely amazed at how well everyone in our group is doing and how creative some of the recipes are!  Paleo dishes can be delicious I tell you!  Here is my version of stuffed cabbage. It’s not the prettiest dish but it’s one of the tastiest. I thought about doing this after making my beef and eggplant lasagna because I loved the meat sauce so much from that recipe. You’ll notice it’s very similar but I took out the dairy/cheese portion and wanted to add another vegetable. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
1 head cabbage
1 large eggplant, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices
4oz sliced mushrooms
1.5 pound lean ground beef
2 small onions, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 tablespoon parsley
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 egg
olive oil
salt & pepper

Directions
In a large heated pan, add some olive oil and sauté the sliced eggplant on high heat. Stir frequently for 5-7 minutes until eggplant is nice and soft/mushy consistency. Halfway through cooking the eggplant, add in your sliced mushrooms. Stir frequently.

Once your mushrooms have browned and your eggplant has softened dramatically, add a tablespoon of olive oil and add the ground beef, salt and pepper to taste, onions, and garlic. After the beef is browned, sprinkle in the cinnamon, nutmeg and herbs. Pour in the tomato sauce and wine, and mix well. Add in beaten egg and stir until thoroughly mixed. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

While the beef is simmering, get a large pot of hot water and boil on the stovetop.  With your cabbage, remove about 15 large leaves from the cabbage (make sure to cut off the very thick part of each leaf that is closest to the center of the cabbage – I find that part does not soften and will not be as tasty).  Add your whole cabbage leaves in the hot water for 3-4 minutes to wilt the leaves. You need them wilted so that they wrap around the meat mixture well.

Get ready to roll your sleeves up because this part gets a little messy! Take your softened cabbage leave and spoon in your beef mixture. In a medium sized cabbage leaf – I normally put about 2-3 tablespoons in the center, then fold the left and right sides of the cabbage in, then start the roll from the bottom all the way to the top. Try to roll as tightly as possible to keep the meat contained – but not too tight that you tear the cabbage leaf.  In a large sauté pan, carefully place the stuffed cabbage so that the opening of the cabbage faces the bottom. I find this helps keep the cabbage shape together and less stuffing falls out.

Repeat for your remaining cabbage leaves. You should have about a fair amount of the meat mixture left over which is perfect. Once all of your stuffed cabbage is placed in the sauté pan compactly next to one another, pour the remaining meat sauce mixture on top of the stuff cabbage.

Cover and cook on low for 15 more minutes. Best served immediately. Hope you enjoy!

One of my favorite Greek dishes is Moussaka. I can eat it every day of the week and still not get sick of it.  To make a paleo version, I took out the potatoes and replaced them with mushrooms. I also took out the flour in the top bechamel layer.  It doesn’t taste exactly like Moussaka but it does serve as an awesome paleo meat lasagna. This recipe also includes cheese because I’m a lacto-paleo cavewoman. I love cheese way too much to take it out of my diet.  My husband is 100%  paleo now and I’ve made a version of this without cheese that was really delicious. To each caveman their own I say!

Ingredients
3 eggplants, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices
8oz sliced mushrooms
1.5 pound lean ground beef
2 onions, chopped
14 oz grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/2 tablespoon parsley
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1/2 cup red wine
1 egg
olive oil
salt & pepper

For the faux ‘bechamel’ sauce on top
2 ounces freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In a large skillet on high heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil and add the ground beef, salt and pepper to taste, onions, and garlic. After the beef is browned, sprinkle in the cinnamon, nutmeg and herbs. Pour in the tomato sauce and wine, and mix well. Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, set aside in a large bowl to let the meat cool a bit. After 10-15 minutes stir in a beaten egg (I find this makes the lasagna less liquid-y).

While the beef is cooking, sautee your mushrooms until lightly browned (about 10 minutes) on medium heat with a little bit of olive oil. Constantly stir your mushrooms so they cook evenly.  Set aside to cool.

To make the last layer of your lasagna, melt 4 tablespoons of butter in the microwave or in a saucepan.  Add roughly 2 oz of parmesan cheese, ground nutmeg and beaten egg. Set mixture aside.

Now we’re ready to do the layering! Grease a 9×12 inch baking dish and layer the bottom of the pan with the cooked eggplant. You’ll find that the eggplant will be a bit soft and difficult to layer. But that’s ok – it’s not going to win America’s Next Top Model.  Just treat the eggplant like a lady – nice and delicate.

Then spoon in the meat mixture to completely cover the eggplant. Then add 7 oz of grated cheese and then the sautéed mushrooms. Repeat again with another layer of eggplant, meat, mushroom layers and cheese as your top layer. I was only able to do 2 layers of each with these ingredients. It seemed to work perfectly in a 9×12 pan.

Once you’re done with all of the layering, spread the béchamel sauce on top (use a spoon to evenly pour it on the lasagna).  Now you’re ready to bake! Bake in the oven for 60-70 minutes.  If you serve it immediately it will be quite liquid-y. But if you let it cool for 15-20 minutes, it should set nicely and be a bit more dry. I still have to take some paper towels to reduce the oily-top. This recipe is a lot of hard work but I promise it’s worth it. My husband absolutely loved it. Serve and enjoy!

Went to a restaurant last week and was inspired to make a paleo version of a squash pizza I had. This might have opened Pandora’s box because now I want to make 50 different versions. At least I’ll have a winter project…

Ingredients
Makes 4 servings
For the crust:
1 cup chestnut flour
1/3 almond flour
1 egg

For the toppings:
1 medium red onion
1 medium yellow onion
16oz cubed butternut squash

Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the cubed squash on an oven safe tray and add some fresh ground pepper. Bake until soft (30 minutes). Once they are tender, mash together with a fork (or masher) and set aside.

To prepare the crust – get a medium sized bowl – add your flours and egg together. Hand mix until you have a dough-like consistency.  (It will be a bit tougher/harder than your typical dough but that’s expected – you’re using nut flours!). Place the dough on a large piece of parchment paper. Get your rolling pin out and roll the dough until the crust is about 1/8″ thick. Place in oven and bake at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes.  Set aside.

While you are baking your squash (and your pizza crust for a little bit), peel and slice your onions. I like to cut my onions very thin but slice to your desired width.  Heat a large saucepan on medium heat and coat the pan with around 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Once the pan is heated – add your onions and stir frequently for 10 minutes and then lower the heat. Let cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

The onions take the longest time. But once they are ready – you’re almost set! Take your crust and spread the squash puree on top. Then add the onions. Bake in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 400 degrees. Let cool for a few minutes and then serve!!

I have a feeling I’ll be making different versions of this pizza to perfect the seasoning and flavors. Let me know of any good combos you try!

This is my go to paleo meal when I want something really filling and delicious but have very little time. Rachel Ray would be happy to know this is definitely a 30 minutes or less kind of meal. Even my non-paleo friends (Ben and Joanna – let’s call them Ben-anna) enjoyed it.  I actually like this with quartered bell peppers. You can use lettuce as the wrap as well but I really encourage you to try it with colored bell peppers. They have a great natural sweet taste, a nice crunch and a perfect way to get more veggies in without even trying!  This is one of my favorite paleo recipes and I’ve made it a dozen times but just keep forgetting to post.  Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients
Makes 4 servings
1 pound ground pork
1 pound shrimp (chopped)
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (any kind you like)
2 small limes
1 small onion (finely diced)
1/2 tablespoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon tamarind sauce (can substitute with use hoison sauce or plum sauce)
1 green onion (chopped)
pepper
1 head butter lettuce (or 6 colored bell peppers)

Directions
Heat saucepan on high with extra virgin olive oil. Once the pan is heated, add the ground pork, mushrooms and onion. Stir frequently until the ground pork is lightly brown. Then add the shrimp, ginger, garlic and onions. Stir until the shrimp is a nice pink color and fully cooked.  Add fresh ground pepper and juice 2 limes on top of the pork and shrimp.  Continue stirring the ingredients.

To serve, you can wash your lettuce leaves and/or quarter some colored bell peppers. I love love love this with bell peppers. Try it!  Once the pork and shrimp are fully cooked, add the green onions as a garnish. Serve and enjoy!