Jambalaya

1-2 chicken breasts, sliced

1 pkg chicken sausage*

1 med onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

olive oil

8 oz (1 cup) tomato sauce

20 oz (2.5 cup) chicken broth

1/4 tsp thyme

1 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

*we like sun-dried tomato chicken sausage, but you could use any pre-cooked sausage

Saute onion and bell pepper in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and saute 1 min. Add chicken; cook until done. Add sausage; brown for 1 min. Stir in tomato sauce, chicken broth, and spices. Cover and cook on low 15-30 minutes. Serve with rice.

Harira

Harira is a chicken stew from Morocco, made with chickpeas and lentils. This is a simplified version of a recipe from Food Network.  It's not pure paleo with the lentils and chickpeas, but it's a yummy thing to eat when the budget needs a break.  This soup may very well be my favorite thing to eat. 

leftover cooked chicken

1/4 cup mirepoix
2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cinnamon

28 oz diced tomatoes with juices

48 oz chicken stock

1/4 lb dried lentils

1 can chickpeas, drained

rice, cooked

Combine thawed mirepoix with spices and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes. Stir in chicken stock and lentils. Bring to boil. reduce heat, cover, and simmer for a minimum of 1 hour. (I've also place this in the oven to simmer at 220 for several hours).  Add cooked chicken and chickpeas. Serve over rice.

If you don't have leftover cooked chicken:
Season chicken breasts/thighs/tenders/etc with salt and pepper. Saute in coconut oil for 2-3 min per side, until browned. Remove from pan.  Proceed with rest of soup; nestle chicken back in cooking liquid when ready to simmer for 1 hour.  Shred before serving.

Beef Roast or Stew

1 roast, whole or cut into cubes

1 cup beef broth (or other liquid)

salt

pepper

garlic powder
onion powder

1 T coconut oil

Season meat liberally with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Brown in coconut oil in dutch oven on stove top.  Add broth and any veggies. Cover with tight-fitting lid. Bake at 250 for 8 hours.

Add onions, carrots, or potatoes if you wish.

My new favorite stew recipe, from Emeril:
Substitute arrowroot for white flour.
Emeril's Beef Stew

Braised Chicken & Mushrooms

4 chicken breasts

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

16 oz mushrooms

4 cloves garlic

4 oz white wine OR lemon juice (about 2 lemons)*

8 oz chicken broth OR 2 Tbsp butter*

Salt and pepper chicken. Heat oil and butter in pan until lightly browned. Saute chicken 2-3 min on each side or until browned. Set aside. Add mushrooms and garlic to pan; sprinkle with salt. Cook, covered, on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove lid and cook on high 4-5 minutes, until liquid is gone. Add white wine/lemon juice; cook on high 1 minute. Add chicken broth/butter and stir in. Return chicken to pot; cover and cook on low 15 minutes.

*lemon juice plus butter will make a very flavorful lemon butter sauce;

*white wine plus chicken broth will make a subtle, thinner sauce

Here is a similar recipe from Martha using lemons and butter:
Sauteed Chicken With Mushrooms

Emeril's Southwest Seasoning

2 T chili powder

2 T paprika

1 T coriander

1 T garlic powder

1 T salt

1 T oregano

2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Adjust the cayenne to make it more or less spicy to your taste. At this level, my kids will eat it.

Taco Salad

2 lb ground beef

2 T Southwest Seasoning

lettuce

tortilla chips

cheddar cheese, grated

salsa

sour cream

guacamole

Saute ground beef until done. Add Southwest Seasoning and 1 cup water; simmer on low until absorbed. Serve with lettuce, chips, etc.

PALEO: omit chips. use cheese and sour cream sparingly.

Meatloaf

2 lb ground beef

1/4 cup mirepoix

1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

4 T potato starch
2 eggs
4 slices bacon*

Cook bacon.  My favorite method is to place it in a glass pie plate, cover with parchment paper, and microwave on high 4 minutes (1 min per slice).  Save bacon grease.

Preheat oven to 375.  Mix mirepoix, salt, Worcestershire, potato starch, and eggs in a bowl.  Whisk until thoroughly combined (no lumps of potato starch).  Add ground beef, crumbling it in with your fingers.  Chop bacon and add.  Pour in reserved bacon grease.  Stir with a fork to combine, but don't over-mix.

Shape into a long loaf in the middle of a casserole dish.  Pour a little water in each side to prevent grease from being baked on.

Bake for 1.5 hours.

If you like meatloaf topped with sauce, here is a sauce;  not paleo unless you use natural ketchup!
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 Tbsp maple syrup

*Bacon is optional.  Even if you don't use it, if you have some bacon grease pour a little in.

Mirepoix

I make a batch of mirepoix all at once, and freeze in small amounts for later use. Some things I use mirepoix in are soup, meatloaf, and spaghetti sauce, to name a few.

The ratio is 2:1:1 for onion: carrot: celery. Such as:

2 lb onions

1 lb carrots
1 lb celery

Something to saute in:
butter (if you tolerate dairy - 1 stick)
OR
coconut oil (6 Tbsp)

I use 4 medium yellow onions, a 1 lb bag of carrots, and a 1 lb bag of celery. Chop very fine, using a food processor or other food chopper;  I use the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchen-Aid.  Saute the vegetables in butter/oil.   Let cool, then divide the batch into small ziploc bags, seal them, and place them all in a large ziploc for freezing.  (I usually put 1/4 cup in each bag).

Roast Chicken

1 whole chicken, ~4 lb

1 onion, wedged

4 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp paprika

Mix spices and salt together. Place 1/4 of spice mix in chicken cavity; then place half of onion edges in. Repeat with 1/4 spice mix and other half of onion. Rub the other 1/2 of spice mix all over chicken. Place in pan and bake on 375 for 1.5 hrs (4 lb) or 1.75 hrs (4.5 lb). Let rest 30 min, then carve.