Going Paleo for Ecotrain QOTW Challenge...

@eco-alex figured it's been a long time since we've had a cooking challenge, so for this week's QOTW we will be cooking something Paleo - details here.

@eco-alex had described Paleo for us - here is a part:

Briefly the aim of a paleo diet is to return to a way of eating that's more like what early humans ate. The diet's reasoning is that the human body is genetically mismatched to the modern diet that emerged with farming practices — an idea known as the discordance hypothesis

A Paleo diet eliminates most carbs, grains, dairy, and sometimes meat poultry and fish.

Since I have gone to a ketogenic diet, which is a low carb, high fat diet which also eliminates grains, (read a previous post I did on Keto here and here), I am going to use Keto friendly recipes with a slight modification.

This time of year when it is colder outside (I live in the northern hemisphere) I make a lot of soups. A great base for my soup, plus something that can stand on it's own, is bone broth, full of nutrients, especially when you use the marrow bones.

Bone Broth

Ingredients
4 lbs beef bones (preferably marrow or joint bones)
12 cups water
2 T apple cider vinegar

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 °F
Roast bones for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through. Use an aluminum foil lined baking sheet or pan for ease of clean up.
Once roasted, place bones in a large stockpot and cover with water or a large slow cooker works great too. Add the apple cider vinegar and allow to sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
In the stock pot bring to a rolling boil and then lower to a simmer. Slow cooker set on low for the greatest number of hours you have on your appliance or you can do liike me and let it simmer on the wood heater.
You can skim off any foamy stuff that may develop during the first 2 to 3 hours of cooking.
Simmer for 48 hours.

Variations:
If using chicken bones you only need to simmer for 24 hours.
If you are making fish broth it only needs to simmer for 8 hours.

After this amount of cooking time, cool down your broth slightly and strain.

Store in air tight jars in fridge if you will be using it immediately or you can freeze or can it until ready to use.

My favorite way to enjoy this broth is as a mug of bone broth latte. Just add some garlic powder, ground ginger, cayenne pepper, salt and froth your broth in a blender on high (you can use thin slices of fresh garlic and ginger root in place of the powders.) Sometimes I like to add some green onions and soaked kelp pieces to it also.

Bone Broth is great added to chili ( I use just french green garden beans not kidney beans so it is safe for Keto or Paleo) and if there is just a bit of chili left (not enough for a meal) I like to make chili soup by adding bone broth to the left over chili.

Another thing we have lots of, in the fall, is cabbages.

The bone broth is lovely in a cabbage soup. I like to add some of my dried nettles in this soup for extra nutrients.

Cabbage Soup

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion diced
1 clove garlic minced
1 head cabbage chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
Handful of chopped nettle leave (optional)
1/4 cup soaked kelp pieces (optional)
4 cups bone broth
water as needed to cover the cabbage or desired strength
Salt and pepper to taste
I use garlic and herb Mrs. Dash for seasoning and some folks like to add some ground cumin.
Some folks like to add a can of tomatoes to this and some chili peppers too. This would be good if you were not using the ground beef to give it extra flavoring. Sliced carrots can be added too.

Directions
In large dutch oven saute onions in olive oil and cook until translucent. I add some herb and garlic Mrs. Dash to the onions cooking.
Add and brown ground beef over medium heat. Or saute onions and brown ground beef in frying pan and add to stock pot.
Now add garlic, cabbage, bone broth, and diced tomatoes & green chilies, carrots and cumin if using. Also add your water to what ever amount necessary to give the flavor and desired thickness.
Mix ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat until it is just simmering. Cover and simmer for 30 - 45 minutes.

Another favorite recipe of mine using my cabbages is - cabbage apple celery salad (I don't add the apples with the Keto diet but it is fine for Paleo) with my homemade tahini mayo dressing! This is particularly attractive looking with the purple cabbage or a combination of the two!

Cabbage Apple Celery Salad

Ingredients:
1/2 medium green cabbage , thinly sliced
1/2 medium red cabbage , thinly sliced
1 unpeeled apple cut into small chunks
3 stalks of celery sliced
1 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped
1 Tblsp Dulse Flakes (optional)

Tahini Mayo Dressing

1/2 cup tahini (or I make my own by grinding sesame seeds in a coffee grinder until they become like a paste)
1 c coconut oil melted
1/4 cup of lemon juice (or juice of 2 - 3 fresh lemons)
1/8 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp of Dijon mustard
4 - 6 drops liquid stevia
Seasoning (I like Braggs 24 herbs mix)

Mix together well and drizzle over the mixed ingredients for the cabbage salad. Keep it in a sealed jar in the fridge. When ready to use it again place it in a hot water bath to melt the coconut oil and liquefy it.
Enjoy!

Not wanting the Vegans to feel left out with the broth I have a wonderful Vegetable Stock that I had posted for a previous challenge but I will post it again or an alternative Vegan Broth I posted here

Healing Vegetable Stock

Ingredients:
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 leek, trimmed, washed, cubed
2 tbsp olive oil
8 cups water
Half green cabbage quartered
1 stalk celery coarsely chopped
1 carrot coarsely chopped
1 whole dried cayenne pepper
1 cup coarsely chopped broccoli stems
1 bay leaf
5 whole allspice berries
5 pepper corns
1 bunch fresh thyme, alfalfa
2 sprigs fresh sage
3 astragalus, if available
1- 2 inch pieces ginger, ginseng, burdock, dandelion root

Directions:
On a backing sheet toss onion, garlic and leek with olive oil. Roast 30 to 40 minutes at 400 degrees F, stirring once until browned.
Note: The other vegetables can also be roasted for a richer flavor if you have time. Otherwise just saute the onions, garlic and leeks in the stockpot first then add the rest of the ingredients. If roasting bring the water to a boil in the stock pot then add the rest of the ingredients and reduce to a simmer.
Simmer for 45 to 90 minutes, strain the vegetables and discard or I like to take out everything and leave the cabbage, leek, celery and carrots for a hearty soup. For this I place the spices and roots in a cheesecloth bag for easy removal plus I tie my bunches of thyme and alfalfa together.

Images were taken with my Canon PowerShot A495

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