Paleo Banana Muffins

As a hardcore foodie I've always been pretty dubious of diets, how can food possibly taste good when  you're not allowed to eat all the things (sugar, fat etc) that make something delicious? This year, in an attempt to shed some kgs and improve my overall wellbeing, I've been drawing inspiration from both the 'clean' and Paleo ways of eating to help me create healthy but still tasty meals. Hopefully I can post up some more of my recipes when I have a spare moment but in the meantime you can check out my Instagram @Little_Tuckerbox to see what I've been up to. 

These muffins take all of 30 minutes to make from start to finish and are sugar and gluten free. If you prefer a slightly sweeter muffin you can add some sugar of your choice. I made half of this batch with organic coconut sugar which is a low GI and far healthier alternative to cane sugar, it has a pleasant toffee taste and smell, similar to brown sugar and goes perfectly with banana. You could also replace the butter with an equal amount of coconut oil to make the recipe dairy free. 

Adapted from Gabby's Gluten-Free Paleo Banana Almond Muffins

2 cups almond meal

3 very ripe bananas mashed 

4 eggs

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tbs almond butter

1/3 cup butter

1/2 tsp Himalayan salt 

3 tbs coconut sugar (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (Celsius) 

2. Whisk eggs and mix in banana, spices, salt, baking powder, pecans, butters and sugar (if you're using it). Combine with a spoon then fold in almond meal. 

3. Divide into muffin tin (should make around 12 medium sized muffins) and cook for around 20 minutes or until firm and golden. 

Homemade Curry Pastes

I've been getting a few requests over on Instagram for my curry paste recipes.....so here they are! Thai curries are awesome because not only are they easy to make they can be adapted to paleo/vegetarian/vegan with just a few quick tweaks. 

Making your own pastes from scratch is really easy, all you need is a decent food processor and it's just a matter of chucking everything in and giving it a good wizz. The best thing is you know exactly what's in it! No weird additives! In fact the trickiest thing is finding all the spices needed, but I've found most of them are available in the supermarket. More obscure things like galangal powder or shrimp paste can be found at the Asian grocer. Don't let the smell of the shrimp paste put you off, it adds an incredible depth of flavour to the curry! 

Green Curry Paste
1 green chilli (or 2 depending on how much heat you like, remove the pith and seeds if you prefer a mild curry)
1/2 tsp black peppercorns crushed
1 medium brown onion chopped
2 medium garlic cloves crushed
2 heaped tbs fresh coriander (1 of stalk, 1 of leaves)
1 tsp chopped lemon rind
1 stick lemongrass stalk roughly chopped
1 kafir lime leaf thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp galangal (Laos) powder
1/2 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 cube palm sugar crushed (paleo: substitute with coconut sugar)
1/4 cup oil (paleo: substitute the oil with a little water and then fry the paste off in coconut oil)
 

Red Curry Paste 
2 long red chillis 
1 medium red onion chopped
2 medium garlic cloves crushed
2 heaped tbs fresh coriander (1 of stalk, 1 of leaves)
1 tsp chopped lemon rind
1 stick lemongrass stalk roughly chopped
1 kafir lime leaf thinly sliced 1 tsp salt
2 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp galangal (laos) powder
1/2 tsp shrimp paste
1 tsp tumeric powder
1 cube palm sugar crushed
1/4 cup oil 

These recipes will make enough for a curry to serve 4. 

To make the curry.....

Fry off paste in a wok or heavy based saucepan on high heat until fragrant.

Add around 800g of whatever thinly sliced meat/tofu/vegetables you fancy and combine with paste.

Add a large tin of coconut milk. Turn heat down to med-low. Give it a stir every now and again until just meat/veggies are just tender, don't cover saucepan as coconut milk will separate. Add lemon juice and fish sauce to taste and a little extra palm sugar if needed. The key to a good Thai curry is a balance of sweet, salty and sour. Sprinkle on a bit of chopped fresh coriander to make it look pretty and you're done!

Note: The red curry paste is amazing with duck! Fry off the paste with a few star anise pods and add coconut milk, lemon and fish sauce as above then add sliced, cooked duck breast and fresh lychees at the end. Amazing!

Green Chicken Curry

 

Red Duck and Lychee Curry

 

Slow Cooker Pulled Chicken Tacos

I have a love/hate relationship with my slow cooker. There have been some hits and some glorious misses! I'm a kitchen control freak (you should see my face when my husband wants to have a go at stirring!) so putting all my trust in an appliance to cook my food properly takes some getting used to. 

I'm not a big fan of pan fried chicken thighs so that's how this recipe came to be. 'Pulled' is basically meat cooked until it is so soft and tender that you can just shred (pull) it apart rather than cutting. You could apply this idea to many secondary cuts of meat. Lamb shoulder marinated in Moroccan spices would work a treat and pulled pork is very popular too. I love making this on a day I know will be busy. You put on the chicken in the morning then just before dinner it's a simple case of making the guacamole and warming the tortillas. Easy peasy. 

 Here is what you will need.....

- 12 six inch corn tortillas
- Homemade guacamole (I used Mamasita's own recipe which you can find here)
- Sour cream

For the pulled chicken:

- 500g free range chicken thighs
- 1 medium red capsicum sliced
- 1 large red onion sliced
- 1 lime quartered 
- 1 large red chilli thinly sliced (remove pith and seeds if you want a milder flavour)
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
- 3 tbs smoked paprika (has to be smoked!)
- 1 tbs cumin
- 2 tbs toasted coriander seeds 
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander
- small bag of baby spinach

Put everything except the coriander and baby spinach into the slow cooker, squeeze the juice from limes into the pot before throwing them in. Toss until the mixture is well combined. Pop on lid and cook on slow for 6-8 hours depending on your slow cooker, the result will be a juicy, spicy delicious mess. When you can shred the chicken easily with 2 forks it is done.

Once you're satisfied the chicken is ready turn off the slow cooker, remove the lime quarters and discard then shred up the chicken. Add the baby spinach and coriander, give it a stir through then pop lid back on so the spinach can wilt while you make the guacamole and warm the tortillas. I like putting the tortillas in grill pan rather than the oven so they get a bit of char. 

Then you're ready to go. I like to eat mine like this (below) but you could assemble them any way you like.

Beware the chicken is super juicy to keep some napkins on hand. Best served with a cold beer or margarita!

Flourless Orange Cake

I'm not much of a baker. Separating eggs, making wells...there are too many steps! I prefer to throw things in a pot and hope for the best! So when I do get the rare urge to bake it's usually something pretty simple.

This recipe for Flourless Orange Cake is no exception. It has 5 ingredients and once you have cooked the oranges it takes all of 15 minutes to put together. It's a great cake to make for someone on a gluten free diet and it can also be dairy free if you grease the cake tin with oil instead of butter.

Sometimes I add some cardamom pods and orange flower water to the sugar syrup to give it a slightly Middle Eastern flavour, however the cake is so moist on it's own you could even leave the syrup out all together.

Find the recipe here:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/14822/flourless+orange+cake

Cobb Loaf Dip

Is there is a dish you love that's a little bit daggy? Prawn cocktail? Ham steaks with pineapple slices? Cobb loaf dip probably falls into that category but who cares! It's delicious, simple to make and great when you have visitors. 

I've filled this one with bacon, corn and spring onion but you could use anything that takes your fancy. 

Ingredients:

3 rashers of good quality bacon, finely diced

3 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tin of corn

1 tub of Philadelphia cream cheese

Small tub of sour cream

1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese (optional)

Salt and pepper

Fresh thyme

Hollow out the loaf and break the scooped out bread into bite sized pieces. Pop everything in a pre heated oven until nicely toasted.

Fry off bacon and when it's cooked through reduce the heat and add corn, cream cheese, grated cheese and sour cream, stir until everything is nicely combined and heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste (keeping in mind the bacon will be quite salty).

Pour dip into hollowed out bread, sprinkle on thyme and serve immediately, it's best eaten hot!

Orange Mustard Chicken with Couscous

Don't you hate when you pull something out of the freezer for dinner then draw a complete mental blank when deciding what to do with it? This happened to me the other day with some chicken fillets. After a bit of googling this is what I came up with and my was it good! Quick and simple too; the perfect weekday dinner.

You can find the recipe here: http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/food/8376096/orange-mustard-chicken-with-couscous

I used honey instead of marmalade (because really...who under the age of 65 has marmalade in their house?) and added some sunflower seeds to the couscous for extra crunch.

Moroccan Chicken Soup

I love soup! Seeing as the wintery weather is creeping in I thought it would be apt to share my favourite soup recipe. It's a Morroccan style chicken soup and is always a big hit with my family. The broth is quite delicate in flavour despite the spices and the addition of couscous makes it quite a hearty dinner on a cold night.

I like this recipe as it utilises the entire chicken (poached in water to make broth then meat shredded into soup), it's also great when you're feeling a little under the weather. It has a nice chilli hit which is bound to blow any cold out! While the prep is a little time consuming, the end result is completely worth it.

Here is what you will need....

1-2 tbsp olive oil

1 large red onion, finely diced

1 long red chilli, finely chopped (discard seeds if you like it mild)

1 heaped tbs fresh mint, finely chopped

2 tbsp paprika, you can use smoked or sweet

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp raw sugar 

1/2 cup tomato puree

150g couscous

fresh coriander finely chopped to garnish

For the broth:

1 whole chicken, I use free range. Happy chickens= better tasting soup!

1 bunch parsley stalks

1 large brown onion cut into quarters

1 whole lemon cut in half

1 cinnamon stick

1 tbs corriander seeds

 

Place all the broth ingredients in a large stock pot and add enough water to just cover chicken. Bring to the boil then lower heat and simmer until chicken is just cooked through, 45-60mins depending on the size of your chicken.

Once chicken is cooked, remove and place in a separate bowl to cool. Continue to simmer broth on low heat for 10-15 mins until it has reduced a little. Season with salt and pepper then strain broth into a large bowl/jug and discard all the other bits and pieces. Once chicken is cool shred meat into bite sized strips.

Next heat oil in the same (now empty) pot and add onions and chilli, cook over medium heat for a few minutes until they begin to colour. Then add cumin, paprika, sugar, mint and tomato puree, stir to combine and then add sieved broth back to pot. Bring to the boil then add couscous. Simmer for 10-15 minutes on low heat then add shredded chicken, check seasoning and simmer for a further 5 minutes. 

Now this is terribly unauthentic but I add a bag of baby spinach to the soup at the end along with the chicken. It adds a bit of colour and makes me feel healthy!

Serve soup in wide shallow bowls with coriander garnish.