Dragon Fruit Salad

January 23, 2012

Yinh Side dishes, Snacks 1 Comment

Chúc mừng năm mới! Gung Hay Fat Choy!  Or in other words – Happy New Year!! I might have already wished Cavemen Gourmet fans a happy new year but today is the start of the New Year for those following the lunar calendar. It is the Year of the Dragon, arguably the most auspicious sign in the zodiac! I thought it would be appropriate to include a simple and healthy fruit salad, with the key ingredient appropriately named Dragon Fruit.

A few of you might have seen this in the supermarket and wondered what the heck it was. Don’t be scared – although it is an odd fluorescent fuchsia color with bizarre green leaves poking out,  dragon fruit is really easy to eat and quite delicious.   It will remind you of a kiwi in terms of texture, but not taste as it does not have the extreme tartness.  Dragon fruit is really nutritious for you – they are high in antioxidants, a good source of Vitamin C, and are rich in minerals, especially calcium and phosphorus.  Hope the Dragon is good to you this year!

Ingredients
(Serves 2)
1 Dragon Fruit
8 cherries
1/2 tablespoon chopped mint leaves

Directions
Cut the Dragon Fruit lengthwise in half.  Scoop out the fruit into a medium sized bowl. (To make it pretty – you can create a tic tac toe pattern with the fruit before scooping out with a spoon to create the square shapes).

Next, de-seed your cherries and slice them into quarters. Last, mix your cherries and chopped mint with the dragon fruit. Mix thoroughly and place in fruit bowl. Alternatively, you can re-use the Dragon Fruit shell as a decorative piece.

Chill in refrigerator for 15-20 minutes (best served chilled). Serve and Enjoy! Easy Breezy just like the Dragon would have wanted…

 

Chocolate Covered Nuts with Sea Salt

October 30, 2011

Yinh Desserts, Side dishes, Snacks 1 Comment

Happy Halloween to my favorite cavemen!  Recently, my husband was craving something sweet and specifically – chocolate.  I didn’t have much time (or ingredients) but whipped up this really tasty paleo candy to satisfy his cravings.  It’s one of the most simple recipes ever! I’ll probably make a better batch and be more creative this winter once the weather gets worse, but this was a fun experiment that turned out really well.  I wouldn’t necessarily give this to the neighborhood kids on Halloween night, but it’s good for the primal trick or treaters!

Ingredients
3.5 oz Unsweetened Dark Chocolate
1 cup orange juice
2/3 cup honey
Course Sea Salt
5oz Nuts of your choice

Directions
In a small sauce pan, heat the orange juice on medium heat. As it starts to simmer, reduce heat to low and add the chocolate. It should take a few minutes for the chocolate to completely melt, but once it has, slowly pour in the honey while stirring the melted chocolate.

Once the honey, chocolate and orange juice are mixed thoroughly, give it a taste. (My husband has been paleo for a year and a half so I knew this combination would be good for him because he hasn’t had sweet things outside of fruit in a really long time! For others, it may still be too bitter and you can add more honey or orange juice here.)  Now the fun part!

Take the nuts of your choice (I used pecans and cashews because that’s all we had at home but next time will add macadamia nuts and almonds) and drop them in the chocolate.  Mix the nuts around until they are fully coated and then scoop each one out with a fork and place on parchment paper.  Sprinkle a tiny bit of sea salt on each nut – trust me it’s worth it. The salt is the best thing about this recipe and adds a surprising and savory aspect to make it feel like you’re eating real (paleo) candy!

Put in the refrigerator and let cool. Once the chocolate has hardened a bit in the refrigerator – gobble them up! Hope you enjoy this treat for Halloween.

 

 

 

Cucumber, Turkey and Avocado Roll

September 15, 2011

Yinh Appetizers, Side dishes, Snacks 8 Comments

Greetings from London! I have been traveling a bit and am reminded daily of how hard it is to eat well while on the road. This easy recipe is a great snack for any roadtrips or flights (especially with those dreadful airline meals!).  As simple as this recipe is, you’ll love the amazing combination of texture and taste!

Ingredients
Serves 2
2 cucumbers
8oz sliced turkey breast
2 ripe avocado

Directions
First, peel your cucumbers. I like a tiny bit of skin on mine for the added texture but you can do however you prefer. Then cut your cucumber in half (not lengthwise!).  Next, with a sharp paring knife, make an initial indentation lengthwise and start cutting the core of the cucumber out, creating a hollow log shape out of the cucumber.

Next, core and slice your avocado in quarters.  Once that is done – simple layer the turkey in the cucumber and place the avocado in the turkey. Voila! You have yourself a fresh, paleo snack that’s refreshing and delicious! Feel free to add some basil or other herbs to add more flavors. I keep this simple because my husband loves the basic saltiness of the turkey next to the crunchy cucumber and the creamy avocado.

Cheerio!

Pear Coconut Cobbler with Walnuts

June 20, 2011

Yinh Desserts, Snacks 2 Comments

This dish is very simple to make but great for that sweet tooth fix that my husband craves. Feel free to add raisins or apples or anything else to it. Most likely I’ll make several versions of this to see what works best but for now – I’ll keep it simple!

Ingredients
Makes 3-4 servings
3 pears, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons coconut flour
1 tablespoon shredded coconut
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, mix your sliced pears, coconut flour, shredded coconut, cinnamon and almond extract together. Then, in a separate small bowl, mix the honey and chopped walnuts together. 

In a medium sized baking dish, spray the bottom of the dish with your favorite cooking spray (sometimes I brush with a bit of walnut oil instead).  Add the pears to the dish and sprinkle the walnut honey mixture on top.

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  You can serve hot or cold! Enjoy!

Mango Kiwi Fruit Salad

May 31, 2011

Yinh Desserts, Side dishes, Snacks 2 Comments

Happy One Year Anniversary to Cavemen Gourmet! Thank you for all of the support and positive comments. Hopefully I can make more time this year to post more delicious paleo recipes!

I recently came back from London on a work trip and was inspired to make this dish. After a heavy meal I had at a work dinner, I decided to get something light for dessert and opted for a mango kiwi tart. I was amazed that it was just a bowl of the fruits mixed up and surprised that the simplicity of the two could be so delicious.  Although it’s technically just fruit salad, this dish is an amazing combination of flavors and textures.  You can easily make this dish by sloppily chopping up kiwi and mango in 2 seconds. But something about dicing it ever so finely into tiny squares and the combination of sweet and sour makes this a perfect dessert ‘pudding’. The marriage of kiwi and mango flavors is surprisingly balanced and also provides a pudding-like texture after you mix the two thoroughly. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as I do!

 

Ingredients
Makes 3-4 servings
6 kiwis
2 mangoes

Directions
Peel both fruit with a sharp paring knife.  Cut each fruit into small cubes (think the size of tomatoes in salsa). Mix thoroughly and put in refrigerator before serving. Best served chilled….enjoy the taste of summer!

Note: this is also delicious if you add some coconut flakes or chips.  Reminds me of a tropical vacation!

Banana Nut Mini Muffins

April 3, 2011

Yinh Breakfast, Side dishes, Snacks Leave a comment

The other day I was making my paleo blueberry muffins as a dessert for my husband. I didn’t bother looking at my recipe and just decided to wing it and bake from memory. Bad idea bears.  I ended up accidentally using 1 tablespoon of salt versus the teaspoon that the recipe required. Suffice today I made salt muffins with a side of blueberries.  But the good news was I quickly made another batch of muffins so I didn’t feel like a huge culinary disaster.  This recipe uses no salt because of the self-induced trauma I went through…

Ingredients
Makes 24 mini muffins
1/2 cup coconut flour
6 eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
2/3 cup crushed walnuts (optional)
2 bananas
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together with  a whisk – do not add the bananas until you have a smooth batter. Once your mixture is creamy smooth without any lumps, add in your diced bananas and slowly mix.

Pour the batter into muffin tins (I only have mini-muffin pans but use whatever you want!). Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  My husband liked this better than the banana nut bread I made awhile back. I think it’s because of the bite size nature of these mini muffins. Great for a light snack between meals or a dessert.  Enjoy!

Roasted Nut Mix

March 22, 2011

Yinh Side dishes, Snacks 1 Comment

Forget Chex Mix. This Paleo nut mix was a great addition to a superbowl party we had awhile back.  I made this in large batches because it holds well and serves great for on-the-road snacks when you’re in need of a tasty snack but are sick of plain nuts. Because sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. But feel free to use any nuts you have – I did a blend of nuts and seeds which were quite tasty.

Ingredients
2 cups almonds
2 cups walnuts
1 cup pepita seeds
2/3 cup coconut shreds
2 tablespoons coconut flour
2/3 cup honey

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

On a large baking tray lined with parchment paper, mix your almonds, walnuts and seeds together with your coconut flour. Then pour the honey slowly over the nuts – you’re not going to cover all of them but that’s ok. Then use your hands to mix all of the nuts and honey together. Warning: this is a messy process!

Once you’ve mixed as thoroughly as you can, add the coconut flakes and mix around again. Some nuts and seeds will have more coconut flakes on them but that’s ok. As my husband says, it’s the element of surprise that keeps you going back to get that special extra honey and coconut cloaked nut.   This recipe inspired me to do a blend of different flavors. Next time I’ll try a spicy version!

Bake in oven for 20 minutes. You can serve immediately or wait until they cool down. Enjoy!

Blueberry muffins

March 20, 2011

Yinh Breakfast, Desserts, Snacks 10 Comments

I used to love fruit pre-paleo. It was there and nice in theory but I would always go for some candy or junk food snacks when grocery shopping to fix any sweet cravings I had. Now with a paleo household, I feel that fruit is the foundation for delicious desserts.  I buy more fruits and vegetables than ever before and am amazed at how much they change a dish instantly.  This recipe was inspired by my sister during a recent road trip to Lake Placid  (hat tip Lauren).  When my husband craves a dessert and/or snack, this is one of the easiest recipes that I whip up to give him.  It’s delicious even for non-paleo diners!! Just be careful not to eat too many, else you start looking like a blueberry…

Ingredients
Makes 36 mini muffins
1 cup coconut flour
12 eggs
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup grapeseed oil
2 cups frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together with  a whisk – do not add the blueberries until you have a smooth batter. Once your mixture is creamy smooth without any lumps, add in your blueberries and slowly mix.

Pour the batter into muffin tins (I only have mini-muffin pans but use whatever you want!). Bake in the oven for 25 minutes (my husband likes them a bit on the moist side so I take them out of the oven a little beforehand).

These are great for breakfast, dessert or just a snack. Serve and enjoy!

Kale Smoothie

January 25, 2011

Yinh Appetizers, Breakfast, Snacks 1 Comment

Day 23 of the food challenge. I think I’ve eaten enough eggs in the past 3 weeks to turn myself into a chicken. When I need a break and want a tasty snack that does not involve a hard boiled egg - this is my new favorite go-to.  My brother first told me about a kale shake months ago and I remember having reservations (or fears) that it would taste like bitter grass.  But it’s surprisingly delicious, smooth and tasty.  The only annoying thing is that you have to break out the good ol’ blender and that’s never fun to wash. But it’s such an easy way to get your greens down!  The recipe is a random assortment of ingredients - please feel free to play with the ratios of greens and fruit. It happened to be what was in our fridge when I made it.

Ingredients
Makes 2-3 servings
1 banana
5 medium kale leaves
2 clementines
8 strawberries
1 whole carrot
1/2 avocado

Directions
Put all items in a blender until desired consistency. Best served immediately. Enjoy!

Egg and Seaweed Roll

January 5, 2011

Yinh Appetizers, Breakfast, Side dishes, Snacks 6 Comments

Day 3 of paleo challenge. 

Hard boiled eggs. Gotta love ‘em! During the paleo challenge – I keep a fair amount in the fridge when I need a great, quick snack. It’s perfect for those mornings when I have no time to make an omelette or anything fancy. Here’s a nice way to sprucen up hard boiled eggs (hat tip BJ).  I used the whole seaweed paper this time but that’s just because I accidently bought the wrong seaweed. I prefer these little seaweed snacks from Sea’s Gift.  Great little snack and wraps a bite sized portion perfectly.

Ingredients
Makes 2 servings
4 hard boiled eggs
0.2 ounce Kim Nori Seaweed

Directions
In a small bowl, mash up your hard boiled eggs with a fork to a desired consistency.  Then simply take your bite sized kim nori (seaweed snack paper) and wrap around the mashed eggs. My breakfast this morning was served with a turnip latke. Delicious breakfast! Next time – I’ll try to add a nice creamy avocado to the eggs. Maybe even some bacon to make it crazy. YUMBO!

Older Entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 170 other followers