Flank Steak and Edamame

Nothing like a good steak. Flank steak is one of my favorite meals, warm or cold. I don't usually care for leftover meat, but this is great! Great cold or on a salad the next day. If there are any leftovers! It pairs well with red wine or beer.

Flank steak is an extremely lean meat. I marinate my steak overnight in a ziplock bag. If you don't have the time, chef Paula Dean, says that 24 hours of marinating in the fridge = 1 hour marinating at room temp. I've tried it multiple times and it works great! Let it marinate for 1 hour at room temp (non frozen meat). The more time you can let it marinate, the better.

I love eating whole edamame with coarse salt. It's really sexy food! You eat it with your hands and scrape the shell across your bottom teeth to extract the bean. Scraping the coarse salt from the surface of the edamame adds just the right amount of sumthing-sumthing. I love the flavor and texture. Edamame is fun food! My 3 year old daughter even likes! As for it being Paleo - I'm not sure. Technically it is a legume. I think the most pertinent fact of eating paleolithically is that the food was something a caveman would have had access to. I think soybeans are a modern crop. But let's face it, we're in modern times. The real point is to eat real food! I know I wouldn't eat bugs or other nastiness a starving caveman might have consumed. So I looked up the Glycemic Index of Edamame and it is very low. This is good for keeping blood sugar hence insulin levels in balance. So I deem it Paleo friendly! Cue the music! And don't forget - it's super sexay (yeah, I know, I'm talking about food - I love food).

Wondering what the heck that thing is next to the raw cut of meat? It is not an ancient radius bone or crude pipe. LOL. It's fresh horseradish. I experimented by adding some fresh Horseradish to the meat marinade to give it a spicy kick. I tasted the marinade before using, and it was spicy! I was excited to see how it would work! The grilled meat did not taste spicy or horseradish-y at all. In fact I think it lent a sweeter taste to the marinade. So skip it. It's kinda of an exotic ingredient anyway (hard to find).

Most important thing, enjoy cooking, enjoy eating and live well!

Flank Steak Marinade

1/3 C. Olive oil
3 TBL White vinegar
3 TBL Lemon Juice (bottled stuff is OK)
3 TBL Soy Sauce
2 TBL Worcestershire Sauce
1 1/2 TBL fresh Parsley (or 2 tsp dried)
1 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
2 tsp dry mustard (don't skip this)
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Mix all ingredients in a mixing cup. Put meat in ziplock bag and pour marinade over meat. Distribute around meat. Marinate 24 hours in fridge or 1 hour at room temp.

Sear on grill on both sides - 3 minutes. Cook on low-med heat until done (7-10 min). Take off heat at 140 degrees (130 if you want RARE). Let REST for 5 minutes. Cut meat as thin as possible at a 45 degree angle (see photo). ENJOY!

Two Good Reasons to Eat In - Paleo inspired!

Eating in is so much more easy than going out and more affordable and tasty. Here are two good reasons:

I made pot roast again. It was a precooked one for $11 from Costco. Morton's of Omaha, USDA Choice! It is really fabulous. It comes in a plastic bag and you heat it up by boiling it in hot water or the microwave. So while I was boiling...;-) I chopped up some fresh beets and carrots. I tossed them generously in Garlic infused olive oil, kosher salt, Italian seasoning and lots of cracked black pepper. 425 degrees for 30 minutes and you are good to go. So delicious!

A friend of mine told me today that fresh beets and goat cheese were made for each other. In tasting the raw root veges I got inspired with a raw vegetable/salad idea. I'll be making it as soon as I get more fresh beets! They taste like earth! Stay tuned for more healthy paleo-inspired eats!

One of my all time favs is below. It consists of beef tenderloin, salt pepper, sweet potato and heat. Oh and some good Pinot Noir. Not too shabby for a Monday night dinner. The plate looks unfinished and meager without a salad but this post is about the food, not the photo of the food!

I bought the peeled beef tenderloin from Costco and it's great! I cut 10 substantial steaks from the $50 piece of meat. I've used their unpeeled ($4/lb less expensive) tenderloin and you truly lose a lot of meat skinning the sinew, fat and connective tissue off of it. So I was happy that they sell a tenderloin ready to cut into steaks or cook in one piece. I highly recommend it. It's an easy, fancy, delicious paleo meal. Throw the left over steak on a salad the next day. Or make an extra steak specifically for that reason!

Sausage Pumpkin Soup - Paleo Style

With Thanksgiving arriving next week, I thought I'd share a wonderful soup recipe designed for paleo-eaters out there. It's not strict paleo in that there is more animal fat involved than usual. This soup can be made and stored in the fridge for up to a week. Experiment with the spiciness. Be careful not to make it too bright by adding more ginger than needed. You can omit it altogether if you don't care for the taste. You'll find it has plenty of stick-to-your-ribs heartiness. Heat up the soup and pour into a to-go cup for a wonderful AM breakfast while you commute to work or run the kids to school.

You can use any breakfast sausage you like - pork, turkey, chicken, etc. I like the pork variety. I've used Jimmy Dean brand and Aldi, Puritan's Pride- Sage brand. (Sage is the spice that makes turkey stuffing taste like stuffing). Use can use fresh spices in the soup also. But take note that it will change the coloring. You'll have a brown/green soup. If you're cool with that go for it and add a 50% more fresh spices than dried amounts.
































Sausage Pumpkin Soup

1 16oz package of breakfast sausage (not cased, the kind packed in a plastic tube)
1 15 oz can of solid pack pumpkin (NOT Pumpkin pie mix)
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 c. of coconut milk
1 large onion - chopped
1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp paprika (use spicy if you have it)
1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper
black pepper to taste
Olive oil
Pat of butter

• In a large sauce pot heat olive oil and sautee onions until translucent. Remove to a bowl.
• In same pot, add sausage and cook until browned.
• Add all the spices
  
• Return onions to pot along with the can of pumpkin and stir well
• Add 4 cups of chicken broth and stir well
• Get a handheld blender and puree the entire soup. You can use the blender. Be careful not to seal the blender cap firmly. The hot air will make it explode and make a big mess. If using a blender, return soup to pot when done with puree
  
• Add 1/2 cup of coconut milk (I used light from Trader Joes)
  
• Add a pat of butter and mix in with a spoon. This will make more velvety.
• Taste and add black pepper.
  

Serve or store. Allow to cool before you place in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Failed Paleo pancakes

How hard could it be? Pancakes are pancakes, right? Sure but not all
flours are created equally. But my failure is your success.

I used coconut flour, which is gluten-free. It absorbs liquid quite
egregiously. I added a 1/3 cup! I had thick paste. I thinned it out
with water and liquid egg white. After many instances of watering it
down and cooking I made the "big pancake". Looks good but is a bit
eggy. I'll add 100 percent maple syrup and I'm sure it will be fine.
I'm eating it regardless- coconut flour is expensive and hard to
find! Here's my new coconut flour pancake recipe

2 eggs
1/4 c milk or cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbl coconut flour (yes not much)

Mix wet ingredients into dry
Cook in skillet on med heat
Serve

If you have any recipes using coconut flour that are worth making send
it over!