Quick Shrimp

I've been cooking for 20 years.   Yet I still find there are things that chefs write off as "simple - everyone knows how to do this!" But I don't.  Cooking yummy, tender, perfect boiled shrimp was one of those things.  Every time I would make shrimp, they were either under-cooked, over-cooked, watery, or tough.  What is this thing that "everyone knows how to do!" but I don't?  After much trial and error, I finally found my perfect (simple!) and foolproof way to make quick shrimp.  These are great for a salad at lunch, or a quick snack for the kids.

1/2 lb frozen shrimp (shells off, tails on, deveined - I get mine at Costco)
1 Tbsp salt

Place frozen shrimp in heat-safe bowl in sink (I use a round, glass corning-ware bowl).  Cover with 1 Tbsp salt and cold water (about 6 cups).  Let sit 30 minutes to thaw and brine. (Make sure this is only 30 minutes - too long and the shrimp will be salty).

Heat 6 cups water to boiling (I use an electric kettle).  Drain shrimp, place back in bowl.  Pour boiling water over shrimp.  Let sit until pink, about 5 minutes. (Longer is ok, if you are temporarily distracted.)  Drain. De-tail.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.  You can throw these in a pan with butter for a quick saute to brown, or eat as is.

Meal Plan - Lunch Template

Lunch 1 (Monday - Tuesday)
Quick Protein to go with a Green Salad
-hamburger patties
-sliced roast beef / philly style
-diced deli meat
-bacon
-baked chicken breasts
-broiled chicken patties
-quick shrimp
-cocktail shrimp

Salad, Tomatoes, Pickles, Sauerkraut (Bubbies)

I usually just put a little homemade mayo on (between 1-3 tsp) and forego the dressing.

-example meals:
BLT Salad
Romaine Lettuce, Quick Shrimp, Spicy Kraut Slaw

Lunch 2 (Wednesday-Thursday)
Quick Protein to make a Mayo- or Oil-Based Meat Salad
-asian chicken salad
-middle eastern chicken salad
-waldorf chicken salad
-curry chicken salad (basic chicken salad with 1 tsp curry, or something more fancy)
-tuna salad
-salmon salad
-shrimp salad

-use raw veggies to dip into salad, or eat on the side

Raw Veggies (carrots, cucumber, celery)

Lunch 3 (Friday)
On The Go (no refrigeration or microwave available)
-deli meat rollups (with butter and pepperoni)
-Snack Sticks
-carrots/apples
-almond butter dip (sweet or spicy)
-trail mix (coconut chips/flakes + beef jerky + dried fruit)

Lunch 4 (Saturday - Sunday)
Leftovers and/or Soups
-creamy chicken crockpot soup
-curry soup
-harira

BLT Salad

2-3 slices bacon
1 (1 oz) slice deli turkey, cut up with scissors
3 cups lettuce
2 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 Tbsp mayo (or bacon mayo)
salt to taste

Cook bacon as desired. (I microwave it in a pie plate, covered with parchment paper for 3 minutes, or 1 minute per slice).  Cool and crumble.  Mix salad.

Plantain Crusted Chicken Strips (Paleo Chicken Nuggets)

If you need paleo chicken nuggets (with no almond or coconut products), here you go.  Original recipe from Health-Bent using the same technique for making fish sticks.

1 lb chicken cutlets
1 small bag (4 oz?) plantain chips
mix of butter and olive oil
salt
garlic powder
onion powder

Slice cutlets into strips.  Crush chips into crumbs using (1) food processor or (2) ziploc bag + wooden mallet + small child.  Toss chicken strips with crumbs until coated.*

Heat butter and oil (about 1 Tbsp each) in skillet.  Brown strips on one side; flip.  Brown on other side. Reduce heat and let sit until cooked through, a few minutes.  Drain on paper towels.  While still hot, sprinkle with salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.   Add a little extra olive oil to the pan for repeat batches.

When you are done, you will have some plantain crumbs stuck in the pan.  If you want something really yummy, cut up leftover potatoes and cook them in the pan, scraping up the crunchy plantain bits to mix in.  

*My crumbs stick to the chicken ok, but not great.  If you want to make this harder, feel free to dry your chicken and coat with egg wash before dipping in crumbs.  I'm all about creating less dirty dishes, so this is good enough for us.

BBQ Sauce

Original recipe from Health-Bent, where it is called "Almost Paleo BBQ Sauce."  Some borderline ingredients, but still light years better than a store bought sauce.  I prefer the taste of the dry mustard powder over the prepared mustard used in the original.

1 cup brewed coffee
1/4 cup molasses
2 Tbsp dry mustard powder
1/4 cup tamari soy sauce
1 T worcestershire sauce
1 T sriracha hot sauce
1/2 cup tomato ketchup

Mix together to use as a sauce in BBQ Chicken.   If you want a second batch to use on the side, heat in a saucepan until warmed and blended.

Banana Bread Paleo Pancakes

I was searching for this recipe the other day, and couldn't believe I hadn't added it here yet!  If you have seen searching for yummy paleo pancakes, look no further.  I think I went through about 15 iterations of pancakes before I found these.  Even in paleo cookbooks that I loved, the pancake recipes were horrible.  Dry, crumbly, disintegrating on the griddle, hockey pucks, tasteless, you name it.   The only caveat is that these really do taste like banana bread.

2 large eggs
1/2 banana, mashed
1/2 cup coconut milk
1-1/2 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 cups almond flour
1-1/2 tsp arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 T ground flax seed
coconut oil

Preheat griddle* on medium heat.

Mix all dry ingredients together.  Stir in coconut milk, vanilla, and mashed banana.  Beat eggs and stir in until well-combined.

Use a paper towel to lightly coat griddle with coconut oil.  Ladle pancakes onto griddle. (I use a disher to simplify this).  Cook until lightly browned, then flip.  (You will know it's time to flip when the edges start to look done, and the middle is still wet but not sloshy).  Cook until done and remove.  Serve with real maple syrup.

*I use the All-Clad Nonstick Griddle.  Yes, it's nonstick.  It's the last nonstick piece of cookware in my house.  One day I'll buy a cast iron one like this, but for now it's what I have!

Spicy Kraut Slaw

I have spent the last 5 years having a love-hate relationship with sauerkraut.  I want to love it, but I hate it.  I tried making my own from scratch, but I don't need one more thing to make from scratch.  I tried Bubbies, which was definitely better than mine, but I still had to force myself to eat it.  Then one day I threw it onto a hamburger patty with some mayo and sriracha, and YUM!  I'm kind of on a jag right now, but this is my new topper for salad.  Throw some green lettuce on a plate, top with Spicy Kraut Slaw, add some protein, and voila, instant lunch.

Serves 1

Bubbies sauerkraut (about 1/2 cup scooped from jar with a fork)
Mayonnaise to taste (anywhere from 1 tsp - 1 Tbsp, depending on how much fat you want)
Sriracha Hot Sauce* to taste (I use about 1 tsp)

Mix together.  Or just pile on a plate and mix as you eat.

*Yes, I know Sriracha isn't paleo.  But it's a very tiny compromise that makes me happy.  You know what else isn't paleo?  When I'm burned out and don't feel like making mayonnaise so I eat Duke's in all its soybean oil-laden glory.  Still better for me than a drive-thru at McD's.  Live life and move on!

Curry Soup - Using Up Leftovers

This soup is a great way to use up bits and pieces of leftovers.  You can also add in rice noodles if you eat rice.  Original recipe is here.   FYI, curry paste is paleo.

1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup Thai curry paste (yellow, green or red)
4 cups chicken broth
1 can coconut milk (14 oz)

Add-ins:
-rice noodles (cook according to package and add in)
-leftover meat, chicken, or fish
-leftover veggies

Garnish:
-lemon slices and basil, if you have them

Heat coconut oil in large pot on medium heat.  Add curry paste.  Stir 1-2 minutes.  Add stock; whisk.  Turn heat to high and bring to boil.  Add coconut milk and Add-ins.  Reduce heat and simmer gently until warmed through.  Ladle into bowls and garnish if desired.

Burgers For a Crowd

In college, one of my favorite places to eat was Dirty Martin's Kum-Bak Hamburgers. (If you are in Austin, Texas, GO THERE).  There was an old diner-style counter with a man (Dirty Martin?) standing behind it flipping burgers on a hot griddle.  To this day, my favorite burger is a simple griddle-fried patty, bun or no bun. 

I've been trying to replicate Kum-Bak Burgers at home for 20 years, without success.  My burgers were always too dry, too done, too raw, or too plain.   In a pan they would never get done.  On the griddle they would be swimming in grease and steam before they browned.  Under the broiler they would ooze too much fat and flame up.

Then one day I was at a cooking demonstration where we learned a technique for making fish for a crowd.    Two steps: (1) brown the fish in a pan on both sides; (2) transfer the fish to a 200 degree oven to finish gently cooking until ready to serve.  Wait ... could I do this with burgers?   Yep.

Makes about 25 patties, 2 inches in diameter
Make a whole batch and freeze for lunches

3 lb ground beef (2 lb chuck, 1 lb leaner, like sirloin)

3 Tbsp worcestershire sauce

2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

Preheat oven to 200.

Mix meat gently with hands until seasoning is mixed through.  Use an ice cream scoop (disher) to scoop out balls of meat onto wax paper.  Place another piece of wax paper on top and press until patties are about 1/4 inch thick.

Preheat pan over medium (to medium-high; depends on stove).  Lightly grease pan with coconut oil.   Flop 4-5 patties into pan (don't crowd the pan).  Let cook 2-3 minutes, or until lightly seared.  Flip and cook on other side for 2-3 minutes.

Transfer burgers to a foil-lined baking sheet in oven (the lipped kind - no grease rollover).   Repeat with next batch of 4-5 patties.  Continue to transfer browned patties to oven.  (If you are cooking all the patties at once, pour excess fat out of the pan every batch or two.) Let bake in oven until ready to serve.  I usually let mine hang out in the oven at least 30 minutes (last night I actually grabbed a shower while they cooked).  

If you want cheese on top, pop some cheese slices on there about 5 minutes before removing from the oven.

Serve as a Burger Bar (a la Fuddruckers).  Some of our favorite toppings:
-shredded lettuce
-sliced tomatoes
-sliced onions
-ketchup
-mustard
-mayonnaise
-sriracha hot sauce
-pickles (Bubbies)
-sauerkraut (Bubbies)
-pickled jalapenos

My favorite combo: lettuce + kraut + mayo + sriracha + burger on top!

BBQ Chicken

chicken breasts or thighs (bone in would work here too)
coconut oil
1 batch BBQ Sauce

Sprinkle salt on chicken breasts.  Heat pan.  Add 1 Tbsp oil; swirl to coat.  Brown chicken on both sides (you want it just golden, but chicken will still be raw on the inside).  Pour in bbq sauce.  Turn heat to low simmer and let cook for an hour.  Remove chicken; cool and shred.  Turn heat up to reduce sauce down.  When sauce has thickened, turn off heat and add shredded chicken back in; stir to coat.

We like the sauce so much I make an extra batch to keep in the fridge.

Serve with:
pineapple
baby carrots (raw or cooked)
broccoli