Lately I have been doing some research on the Paleo diet and lifestyle. I try to maintain a healthy lifestyle most of the time and I am always interested in new research and ideas on the subjects of nutrition and diet. Since Paleo seems to be more than a fad, I thought it might be worth learning about. I find the idea that we shouldn’t eat things just because our ancestors didn’t eat them 10,000 years ago less than a convincing argument, but there seems to be another side of Paleo that is routed in science.

I have yet to make up my mind if I am going to try Paleo out, but it has gotten me to explore some paleo-friendly recipes. One of the ideas I came across (after the world famous cauliflower pizza crust) was an alternative piecrust for quiche. Of course the easiest way to cut the carbs from your quiche is to skip the curst, but I always find that leaves me a bit hungry. So, a sweet potato crust is the perfect solution.

I will warn you that this recipe does take some time because the sweet potatoes have to be drained of their excess water. But if you don’t mind the extra effort it makes a great crust! 

Recipe adapted from Two of a Kind Cooks

Kale & Cauliflower Quiche with a Sweet Potato Crust
Makes 1 9” quiche

Ingredients:

Crust:

3 c. peeled and grated sweet potatoes

1 tsp. sea salt

3 tbsp. whole wheat flour

1 egg

¼ tsp. black pepper

Filling:

½ head of cauliflower

2 tbs. olive oil

Salt & pepper to taste

3 c. torn kale leaves (no stems)

½ c. full fat plain yogurt

3 eggs

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp. ground Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. fresh thyme, minced

1 tsp. sea salt

2 ½ -3 ounces goat cheese

Directions:

Crust:

1.     Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and grease a 9” spring form pan.*

2.     Place the grated sweet potato in a cone shaped strainer over a bowl and sprinkle with the salt. Let them sit for about 10 minutes.**

3.     Now use the pestle to press the water out of the sweet potato. This will take some time and hard work, but try to get as much of the water out as possible.

4.     In a medium bowl whisk the egg.

5.     Add the sweet potato to the bowl with the egg and mix together.

6.     Add the flour and pepper and mix thoroughly.

7.     Press the mixture into the greased pan along the bottom and sides.

8.     Pre-bake the crust for 20-25 minutes.

Notes:

*I used a spring form pan because I was worried the sweet potato crust would stick badly. It ended up pulling away from the sides of the pan when I pre-baked it and was easy to remove from the pan.

**Straining the water from the sweet potato is much easier if you have a cone shaped strainer with a pestle. If you do not use a colander and a potato masher to do the same thing.

Filling:

1.     Cut the cauliflower into bite size flowerets and place in a roasting pan.

2.     Add olive oil, salt, and pepper and toss.

3.     Bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Then set aside.

4.     Steam the kale and set aside.

5.     In a large bowl whisk the eggs and add the garlic, mustard, thyme, and salt.

6.     Stir in the kale and cauliflower.

7.     Spoon the mixture into the crust.

8.     Crumble the goat cheese and sprinkle on the top.

9.     Bake the whole thing for 40 minutes or until the middle is done.

I can’t claim to have made a large survey of the world’s fish tacos, but on the occasions that I have had them I have quite enjoyed them. There is something about tacos and especially fish tacos that feels summery to me. Maybe it is the fresh toppings and the tang of limejuice or the fact that you eat them with your hands, but to me they are a perfect laid back Summer time meal.

As the weather started to warm here in DC, I found myself craving some fish tacos and wondering why I had never tried to make them myself. With that in mind I did a little research and came up with a recipe I wanted to use. I got my inspiration and the spice blend for the fish from Host the Toast.

These are easy and fun to make and you could alter the toppings to your taste. I love the red cabbage on them, but lettuce would work as well. These photos show a avocado cilantro sauce, but I have since served them with guacamole, which I like better.

Fish Tacos
Serves 2, 3 tacos per person

Ingredients:

Fish

12 oz cod

¾ tsp smoked paprika (don’t substitute with plain paprika)

2 cloves garlic crushed

½ tsp dried oregano

¼ tsp cumin

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp honey

1/8  tsp cayenne

1 tbsp olive oil


Cabbage Slaw

1/3 of small head of red cabbage

¼ c. fresh cilantro chopped

Juice of ½ a lime


Avocado Cilantro Sauce

¼ c. full fat plain yogurt

½ avocado, pitted and skinned

1/8 c. chopped cilantro

Juice of ½ a lime

Salt to taste


Guacamole *not pictured

1 avocado, pitted and skinned

1 tbsp finely diced red onion

1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro leaves

Juice of ½ a lime

Salt to taste


Tacos

6-8 yellow corn soft taco shells

Directions:

Fish

1.     Mix all ingredients expect the fish in a small bowl.
2.     Make sure the cod is not holding excess water. Use paper towels to press the water out if necessary.
3.     Rub the spice mixture evenly into the cod on both sides.
4.     Heat a large cast-iron pan and thinly cover the bottom with olive oil.
5.     Add the fish and brown on both sides. About 4-5 minutes per side depending on how thick your pieces are.
6.     Remove fish from the pan and set aside.

Cabbage Slaw

1.     Slice the cabbage thinly, so that you have ribbons of it.
2.     Roughly chop the cilantro (leaves only).
3.     Juice the lime.
4.     Combine the cabbage, cilantro, and lime juice in a bowl and toss.

Avocado Cilantro Sauce

1.     Add all ingredients to a food processor and run until well blended.

Guacamole

1.     Mash the avocado.
2.     Mix in the other ingredients.


Tacos

1.     Heat the taco shells in a medium frying pan.
2.     Add a generous bite of fish and slaw and sauce or guacamole as desired.

I hope you guys enjoy this fun and easy summer meal. It is great for entertaining since tacos can be made to individual tastes. Feel free to let me know how your's turn out in the comments and don't forget to save the recipe on pinterest for later and share on facebook.
Thanks!
Kaarin

I came up with this dish because I wanted something light and filling, but was tired of my standard recipes. When working with black beans I often gravitate towards the obvious, Mexican inspired flavors. So, this time I decided to be a bit more adventurous. There was a butternut squash I had bought on a whim that had not found its place in the weekly menu yet. I don’t usually think of black beans and butternut squash as going together, but they both pair well with spices like cumin, coriander, and turmeric. After making the decision to use the squash the trick was how to bring in the raw salad element I wanted. A big bed of spinach sounded good, but my regular salad add-ins like pepper and tomato did not. That let to the idea of doing a creamy avocado dressing on the spinach and it ended up being the key to pulling the whole dish together.

This dish is pretty simple to make and most of the cook time is hands off making it ideal for a weeknight.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Spiced Black Bean Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Black beans:

1 c. dry black beans (pre-soak them in salt water overnight)

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp coriander

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

pinch cayenne

Butternut Squash:

1 large butternut squash

2 tbs olive oil

½ tsp cumin

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp turmeric

¼ tsp coriander

pinch cayenne

Salad:

6 loose cups raw spinach

1 avocado

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tbs olive oil

1-2 tbs water

1/4  cumin

salt & pepper to taste

very small pinch cayenne

Directions:

Black beans:

1.     Place the pre-soaked beans in a medium boiler and just cover with water.

2.     Add all the spices and mix in.

3.     Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer and cover.

4.     Cook for 40 minutes to 1 hour or until beans are tender and water is evaporated.

Butternut Squash:

1.     Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2.     Peel the squash and cut it into ½ and inch cubes.

3.     Place in a large glass baking pan.

4.     Add the olive oil and toss until all the pieces are evenly coated.

5.     Sprinkle in all the spices and toss to coat.

6.     Place in the oven for 40 minutes or until a fork pierces the pieces easily. Do not over cook the squash or it with fall apart.

7.     Lay the squash aside to cool. It is best added to the salad slightly warm.

Salad:

1.     Remove the skin and seed from the avocado and mash it completely.

2.     Add the olive oil and lemon juice and stir with a fork.

3.     Add the spices and mix.

4.     Add half the water and mix it. If it is too thick add more water.

5.     Place the spinach in a large salad bowl and add the dressing to it. Mix until the spinach is evenly coated.

6.     Divide the spinach among 4 bowls.

7.     Add the desiered amount of beans and squash to each bowl and serve. 

For a healthy vegan dessert this pie is deceptively sweet and rich, which means that a whole week after Easter we still have half a pie left! This is not to suggest that it isn’t amazing, but it must be eaten in tiny portions (or you will regret it).

I cannot claim this creative recipe as my own it is from Oh She Glows and you should check out her original post for its beautiful photos. This was my second time making the pie and I use her recipe with only one alteration: I leave out the ground flax because I think the taste is better without it.

Chocolate Coconut Pie

Vegan, grain-free, processed sugar free

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 ¼ c. pitted dates*

1 ¼ c. coconut

2 ½ tbs. raw cocoa

1 tbs. coconut oil

¼ tsp. salt

Filling:

1 c. coconut milk (full fat)

300 g. chocolate

3-4 tbs. maple syrup/honey*

1 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt

*soak ahead of time if they are firm.

* depending on how sweet the chocolate you are using is. If you use an unsweetened baking chocolate you will need all 4 table spoons, but if you use a baking bar or chips that are semi-sweet then you will want less or none at all.

Directions:

1.     Toast the coconut. This is not essential, but it only takes 7-10 minutes at 350 and adds to the texture.

2.     Line the 9-inch pie plate with saran-wrap. You absolutely want to do this. The second time I decided I would just grease the pie plate and I spent a long time carefully chiseling each piece of pie out.

3.     A food processor is the best way to prepare the crust, but if you don’t have one it is possible to do it without one. If you are not using a food processor you should definitely soak the dates. If you have an emersion blender that can be used to pulverize the dates, this is what I did the first time I made it.

4.     Start the crust by putting the dates either in a food processor or using an emersion blender or blender to pulverize them.

5.     Then continue to add the ingredients to the dates in order until they are all combined. If you are using a food processor do they whole crust in it. If you used a blender or emersion blender I would mix the other ingredients in by hand.

6.     Now the crust should be in a ball feeling sticky but pliable. Place the ball in the middle of the pie plate and begin flattening it out. Be careful to press the dough out evenly in all directions, so that you don’t end up with too much on one side. Set the crust aside.

7.     To prepare the filling begin by melting the chocolate in a double broiler or over low heat with consistent stirring. Once it is smooth let it cool to room temperature.

8.     Combine the melted chocolate and the coconut milk and whisk until smooth.

9.     Whisk in the sweetener, vanilla, and salt.

10. Spoon the filling into the pie crust and carefully set it in the freezer to harden. There might be a bit more filling than fits into the crust. Both time I put the extra in a ramekin and froze it as well.

I hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as we have. Let me know if you make it and what you think of the results!

I call this dish eggplant bolognese, but it is not actually an exact replica of a traditional bolognese replacing the ground beef with eggplant. I concocted the recipe over time based on which flavors I prefer, but eggplant bolognese seemed the most appropriate name for this saucy, tomato filled, eggplant dish.

This dish has been a staple for us for a few years now and gets rave reviews from Andrey and other family members. However, while we were in Russia it was quite difficult to find eggplant, so it was somewhat absent from our table. Now that we are back and eggplant is easy to find I am excited to make it more often again.

It is a pretty straightforward recipe, but it takes a little time to cook everything down and meld the flavors. My favorite way to make it is on a relaxed weekend night with a glass of wine in my hand, but it will taste great any day of the week.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant

1 large yellow onion

4 cloves garlic

1 can (15oz) tomato sauce

1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes

2 tbs dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

½ tsp ground cinnamon

dash of chili pepper

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

olive oil to cook the onions in

Directions:

1. Begin by slicing the eggplant in half lengthwise and salting the inside. Leave it on a plate while you do the next few steps.

2. Diced the onion and crush the garlic.

3. Heat the olive oil in a large and deep saucepan. First add the onion and cook it, stirring occasionally until it is translucent. Reduce the heat to medium-low, then add the garlic and stir.

4. Once the garlic and onion are cooked add all of the spices except salt.

5. Turn the heat down to low, pour in the tomato sauce, and cover the pan.

6. Return to the eggplant and pour off any water that has collected on the top then gently squeeze it to remove excess water. Chop the eggplant into bite size pieces.

7. Add the eggplant to the pan and stir it in completely. Recover and let it cook on low for about 20 minutes.

8. Add the diced tomatoes and stir into the sauce. Let it cook for an additional 15 minutes.

9. Taste the sauce and decide if it needs additional salt.

At the end you will have a thick sauce full of eggplant. It is wonderful served over whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, or quinoa. I hope you enjoy this recipe and please let me know how your experience is in the comments!

Andrey loves Bounty Bars, a popular imported candy bar here in Russia. They are very good chocolate filled with coconut just like a Mounds Bar, but like all mass-produced candy bars their ingredients list is full of lots of things that are difficult to pronounce. We all know that candy bars do nothing good for our health, but sometimes a sweet treat is necessary. For both Andrey and I Bounty and or Mounds bars remind us of our childhood, but when we split one today we are always struck by how overly sweet they are and then by the guilt of eating something that unhealthy. 

A few weeks ago Andrey was have a Bounty craving while we were picking some things up at the local health food store. The store sells goods from a couple of locals who make natural, healthier chocolate and candies and on that day they happened to have a chocolate bar filled with coconut. It cost 4 times as much as a Bounty, but we figured it was worth a try. Unfortunately, we were very disappointed. This bar was not sweet at al, it had a sour taste, and the chocolate was waxy. This experience sent me on a researching frenzy to find a simple, healthy recipe for Bounty bars I could make at home without any fancy equipment. I found my answer on Detoxinista. The recipe is super simple, I was able to whip it up on a day I was also baking bread and making soup. Even better the finished product is delicious, just sweet enough to satisfy and full of coconut flavor!

With Valentines Day around the corner it is the perfect time to whip up a batch of these for someone special. What’s better than receiving a homemade tasty treat that is free of the chemicals and guilt that come with the store bought box of truffles?

Coconut filled Chocolates

Makes 14-16 candies

Ingredients:

1 c. coconut

4 tbs coconut oil

2 tbs maple syrup or honey

2 tbs water

½ tsp vanilla

pinch of sea salt

1 c. chocolate chips/chunks for melting

Directions:

1.     Mix the coconut with the coconut oil until it is evenly distributed.

2.     I used maple syrup if you do as well add it and the water straight to the bowl of coconut. If you use raw honey I would mix the honey and water together first to soften the honey before adding it to the coconut.

3.     Add the vanilla and salt and mix completely.

4.     Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes so that the coconut absorbs the liquid in the recipe.

5.     Now use your fingers to turn the mixture into bite size balls and place them on a plate covered in wax paper. Put the plate in the freezer for 10 or more minutes.

6.     While you are waiting melt the chocolate in a double boiler or holding a small pot with the chocolate in it over a larger pot filled with boiling water. Make sure to continuously stir the chocolate until it is melted.

7.     Now the coconut bits should be fully hardened. Once the chocolate is cool enough to handle it is time to dip the coconut bites into the melted chocolate making sure to fully cover all the coconut.

8.     Place each bite covered in chocolate back on the plate and the plate back into the freezer.

9.     The chocolates will be hard enough to handle in about 15 minutes, but the longer you give them the more solid they will become.

10. To serve them you might want to take them out of the freezer a few minutes before so they are not quite as cold, but do not leave them at room temperature for hours because they will melt. 

Russian cuisine is heavy on desserts, they have cookies, pies, and filled pastries, but for some reason no chocolate desserts. Don’t get me wrong Russians like chocolate it’s a common hostess gift and is usually put out any time you have tea at a friend’s house, but they don’t bake with it.  So, I have been seriously craving a chocolate baked good. And with Andrey’s love of cookies in mind I decided to start on a chocolate cookie recipe. After a little research and borrowing bits and pieces of other cookie recipies I came up with a double chocolate chip cookie recipe that is low on fat and sugar and free of white flour. They have a full dark chocolate taste without being overly sweet or riche. They are officially my favorite cookie!

Ingredients:

Wet:

1 egg

¼ c. + 2 tbs. applesauce

2 tbs. coconut oil

1/2c. brown sugar

Dry:

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

3 ½ tbs. cacao powder

¾  c.  whole wheat flour

¾ c. oat flour

1-2 tbs. water (depending on how dry your dough is)

100 g. chopped dark chocolate

Directions:

A bowl and electric hand beaters will work fine for this recipe, but you could also use a stand mixer.

1.     Add the egg, applesauce, and coconut oil to the bowl and beat till combined.

2.     Add the sugar to the bowl and beat till smooth.

3.     Add the dry ingredients one at a time mixing as you go.

4.     If the dough is a bit dry add a tablespoon or two of water.

5.     Stir the chopped chocolate in by hand.

6.     Form the dough into balls by hand and put them on a cookie sheet. Flatten the balls into discs.

7.     Bake at 350 F for 9-10 minutes.

The base for this recipe comes from Kath Eats Real Food, a great blog that I stumbled upon a couple of years ago. I loved the recipe, healthier version of a classic baked good and tasted better than the original. But even when something is good, occasionally it is nice to change things up, so I did a little experimenting with the recipe.

Experiment number one was to add just a couple tablespoons of ground flax seed to the original recipe (minus the chocolate chunks). This came out great, but you couldn’t really taste the flax and so I felt it could be tweaked a bit more. Experiment number two was to replace a quarter of the flour with ground flax and to replace the eggs with flax eggs. If you think this was going too far, you are correct. These muffins were almost impossible to get done in the middle, although they did rise the normal amount. Once they were finally cooked they still taste pretty good, but they are very dense for muffins.  So finally, experiment number three was to replace a quarter of the flour with ground flax and keep the rest the same. These came out just the way I wanted, fluffy, but chewy, slight flax taste, but still full of banana flavor.

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F or 180 C.

2. Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. On a plate or in a small bowl mash the banana.

4. In a small bowl beat the eggs.

5. Add the mashed banana, honey, and almond milk to the eggs and mix.

6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

7. Spoon the batter into the muffin tin or individual muffins cups.

8. Bake for 28 minutes**.


Notes:
*If you are going to add chocolate chunks like Kath’s original recipe (it is amazing this way) I would recommend taking the honey down to a 1/3 cup. 
**Watch your baking time, I am currently working with an oven that looks like it is from the 50s and has the temperature settings 1, 2, 3, 4, so I can’t promise that my baking times are exact.

And of course you could always add things to the muffins like chocolate chips or nuts.

Living in America Andrey and I always tried to be conscious about what we were buying to eat and use in our home. Both because we care about what the process of growing food with pesticides or making chemical laden cleaning products does to the earth, but also because we are very concerned with health. In the past this has meant buying organic food whenever we could afford to, researching to choose companies like The Honest Co. to buy our household cleaning and bath products from. I was concerned that moving to Siberia would mean giving up on this lifestyle and Andrey did not have high hopes for finding health-food stores or environmentally conscious brands. Omsk is a mid-size city, but unlike in America it is unusual for people to have the purchasing power to worry about how their soap was made or if their apple has pesticides on it. We realized that taking the time to care about these things is a luxury that may not have made it to this part of the world yet. However, upon arriving we still decided to explore what options might be out there. 

First we found Товары Востока which translates to Goods from the East, a small store focused on new age self-development. In addition to a large book selection, and eastern and Indian objects, they have a selection of spices and plant oils. We were able to find spirulina, which was a happy surprise and coconut oil. After further exploration Andrey stumbled upon Магазин Настоящей Еды or Health Food Store. While pretty small this store has an excellent range of health foods and environmentally conscious products. They have natural soaps, toothpaste, and hair products as well as laundry detergent and dish soap. They have almost every kind of flour you could think of even some I have never seen before like pumpkin seed flour. They have seeds, nuts, grains, dried legumes, raw cacao, herbal teas, and even hemp protein. They also carry some prepared foods like honey based chocolate from a woman here in Omsk and dehydrated bars from a company in Saint Petersburg. Best of all they are soon going to carry a line of natural nut butters, so far I have found one brand of peanut butter here and it is of course not natural and has added sugar. The store is a very exciting find for us and I am so happy to know we will be able to keep at least some of our customs on this subject unaltered. 

As we move forward building a life in Omsk it will be interesting to see what else we can do to maintain the environmental standards we were so used to in the U.S. For instance there is no recycling program here, so people throw everything into the trash. And after years of careful recycling in America, it is very difficult to just throw paper boxes, plastic containers, and all the other things you know could so easily be recycled into the garbage. I guess we will have to try and think of other ways to reduce our waste production. Let me know if you have any suggestions.