Chicken Tikka Masala

From Chicken Tikka Masala

Enjoy this recipe, because I'm going to try and cut down the dairy for a while. I feel like I've gotten a little out of control with the dairy lately and need to get it in check. This will be the last cowjuice hurrah for a while. This recipe makes some compromises adding up to about 10 grams of sugar being spread across 5 servings. That's 2 grams of sugar per serving, so be warned if you are sticking to a strickly paleo diet. There is also a lot of dairy in this recipe, but man, I just really wanted some Indian food, so I went with it.

Here is what you'll need: Yogurt, cumin, paprika, a clove of garlic, cilantro, 1 cup of cream, 1 can of tomato sauce, a jalapeno, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and chicken thighs. I lost my receipt from the groceries, so no price breakdown today. Sorry everybody.

You'll need to marinate the chicken for a day to make it taste correctly, so make sure you plan this meal in advance. Combine the ingredients listed below the picture into a container and make sure as much of the chicken is covered in the marinade as possible.

From Chicken Tikka Masala

1 cup of yogurt, 1 tbs of lemon juice, 2 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of cinnamon, 2 tsp cayenne, 2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tbs of ginger. Keep that covered for a day before moving on to the next step.

Place your marinated chicken on a broiler pan covered with foil. Trust me, use the foil. The marinade will carmelize and be a huge pain to clean if you don't. Put the chicken in the broiler for about 20 minutes, flipping them at the 10 minute mark.

From Chicken Tikka Masala

While that cooks, melt 1 tbs of in a large pan and sautee 1 clove of grated garlic and a chopped jalapeno (I kept the seeds in for heat) for a minute. When the garlic looks clear, add the tomato sauce, 1 cup of cream, 2 tsp of paprika, and 2 tsp of cumin and mix it together until it is one uniform consistency.

From Chicken Tikka Masala

By the time that's done your chicken should be about done. If not, turn the heat off of the sauce so it doesn't burn. Whenever your chicken is finished, cut it into bite size pieces and toss it in the sauce.

From Chicken Tikka Masala

From Chicken Tikka Masala

Let that simmer for a few minutes and then plate it up! This recipe is about 75% truly paleo, but man is it good. It's better than an all out cheat, so if you're into Indian food, give it a shot. Also, this dish is great with my cilantro chutney.

From Chicken Tikka Masala

Thai Soup: Tom Yung Goong

My fiance and I were fortunate enough to get to travel all around the world teaching English for a year. One of the countries we went to was Thailand and while there, I fell in love with a soup called "tom yung goong."

From Tom Yung Goon

It's a hearty coconut based curry soup. Don't leave yet! I don't usually care for coconut. I don't like pina coladas and I hate Mounds, but I love this soup. After a few weeks on a paleo plan, I realized that this soup was completely paleo from beginning to end, so I taught myself how to make it. This is a more involved recipe and takes a little time, making it a perfect weekend project.

Here is what I used:

From Tom Yung Goon

Let's start at 6:00: Cocounut milk (1.09), 1 chicken bouillon cube (0.10), 1 lb of chicken breast (2.99), 10 sprigs of cilantro (0.10), 3 limes, 1 yellow onion (0.60), 1/8 cup of tumeric (0.05), 2 tbs fish sauce (0.10), 1 tbs sesame oil (0.05), lemon grass (0.99), 1/2 a package of button mushrooms(1.15), cauliflower (1.39), and 2 jalapenos (0.17). not pictured: 1 tbs of coconut oil (0.15)

That's a total of 8.93 and I got 4 servings from this batch, so that's a total of about 2.23 per bowl.

This recipe seems really complicated, but it's really just a matter of getting everything in the picture above mixed in a pot and letting it boil for about an hour, so don't be intimidated!

The first thing you'll need to do is chop up the onions. Start simmering those with 1 tbs of coconut oil in a large pot.

From Tom Yung Goon

From Tom Yung Goon

While those sweat, deseed one jalapeno and half of the other. Leave the seeds in half of a jalapeno for some heat. If you don't like spicy food, get rid of all the seeds. Chop those and add them to the pot. Next, chop and add the mushrooms. Finally, throw a tbs of sesame oil on all of that and stir it up. As these release their water, they'll create a little stock for our soup.

From Tom Yung Goon

Next, roughly chop up the cauliflower and add that to the pot. Mix up your pot to make sure there is a little oil on most of the veggies so they don't burn. Make sure the heat is on low.

From Tom Yung Goon

Mix 1 cup of hot water with the chicken bouillon and add that to the pot.

From Tom Yung Goon

(You probably didn't need a picture of that....oh well)

As that comes to a boil, fry up your chicken breast and set it aside to rest.

From Tom Yung Goon

Next, we need to get some flavor from the lemon grass. If you can find fresh lemon grass, just cut it, bruise it (crush it), and add it to the pot. It isn't edible, so make sure you pull it out before serving. If, like me, you have a hard time finding fresh lemon grass, you'll need to buy it dried. I like to boil it in water for a couple minutes to release the flavor. I use an emptied tea bag so I don't have to look for 100 pieces of dried lemon grass in the soup. I used the same pan as the chicken, hence the chicken bits in the water.

From Tom Yung Goon

From Tom Yung Goon

From Tom Yung Goon

Once the water turns yellow, dump all of it into your pot.

Now, stir in a can of cocounut milk and 2 tbs of fish sauce (yes I know it stinks, but it adds necessary flavor). Next, add 1/8 of a cup of tumeric in small amounts, stirring it in as you go so it doesn't clump up. Tumeric will stain anything it touches, so be careful. If you aren't careful, you'll look like you washed your hands with French's mustard.

From Tom Yung Goon

Finally, zest the 3 limes into the soup and mix in the cilantro.

From Tom Yung Goon

It will be about an hour before it's ready. It needs to boil on low heat until the cauliflower is tender. While this batch was boiling, I found a tomato that was about to go bad, so I added that to the mix. I like to make soups towards the end of the week to help use up ingredients that may go bad.

It's been an hour. Here is what your finished product will look like.

From Tom Yung Goon

**When serving, stir in the juice of half of a lime and some fresh cilantro. This last step is the most important as it makes the soup taste fresh and cuts through all of that coconut fat.

This recipe is also made with seafood, so feel free to experiment and get back to me with the results!

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Lime Steak Fajita Wraps, Pico de Gallo, and Guacamole

Here is tonight's dinner:

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Hungry? Thought so. Here's what you need:

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Starting at 9 o'clock: 1/2 a red onion (0.30), 8 sprigs of cilantro (0.08), 3 tomatoes (1.81), 1 jalapeño (0.09), 2 limes (0.50), 2 cloves of garlic (0.05), an avocado (0.79), a head of Boston lettuce (0.79), and 2 lbs of skirt steak (7.70) - Total costs and per serving costs are at the end

There is some logic to the order of doing things here, so follow me on this. We'll start with the pico de gallo since it gains flavor as it sits. Pico is a really basic chop and mix recipe. First, slice the tomatoes and squeeze out the seeds and juicy center. Once the juice is gone, chop them up.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Now chop the jalapeño (seed it - check the chili post for how to do this), onions, and cilantro. Use all of the cilantro. The stems have a ton of flavor that most people miss out on. You just need to chop it up well.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Don't mix them yet, just let them sit in a container layered. Next, grate the garlic on top and add a pinch of salt. Here's what you should have:

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Throw your steak on the grill at this point. We had our butcher tenderize the meat twice. It can be tough if you don't. Marinating is also an option - try Mexican beer, squeezed lime juice, squeezed orange juice, chili powder, and cumin. We did that a long time ago and got good results. This time we were in too much of a rush. Make sure your grill is nice and hot so that you can get a nice sear on the meat.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Sprinkle on salt, pepper, and some garlic powder if you like those flavors. While the meat cooks, take your head of Boston lettuce and peel back each layer. Each head of lettuce should yield about a dozen usable wraps. I use Boston lettuce instead of iceberg because it works so much better for wraps. Iceberg tends to tear and retain too much water. Rinse those off and set them aside.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

At this point the steak should be ready to flip and then pull off the grill. Set the steak aside and let it rest for a few minutes. It's important to not cut the meat right away. Cutting too soon lets out all the moisture and the meat will be dry and tough.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Grab your limes and start grating/zesting them.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Only remove the green layer of skin. The white part is too bitter. The two limes should give you a nice line of shavings that would make Tony Montana proud.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Slice the meat and sprinkle the zest on top.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

Roll the limes around on the counter applying firm pressure until they're soft then cut them in half. Rolling them around bursts all of the juice pockets in the lime and helps get more juice out of each piece of fruit. Squeeze the juice into your pico de gallo mix and stir.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

The beauty of making pico de gallo is that you're only an avocado away from having guacamole. Take a little less than half of the pico and mash it in with an avocado.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

I looks ugly but tastes so good. All that's left to do is plate it all up. Start with a leaf of boston lettuce, add some meat, and top it off with the pico.

From Lime skirt steak, pico, and guac

The total cost of this meal was 12.11. My fiancé and I ate half of it for dinner, meaning we could get 4 meals out of it. My MENSA level math skills tell me that averages out to 3.03 per meal.

Grok Go Get Groceries

Let me start off this post by divulging that I was an accounting major for four years before making the switch to sports medicine. Organization of numbers and data is kind of in my blood, so the prospect of figuring out precise costs of meals excites me. Maybe I should change the name of the blog to Paleonerd.

Yesterday, I put up a post talking about the true cost of going paleo. After a storm washed out some baseball games I was working at, I got a chance to go grocery shopping a day early. This is probably the most excited I've been to go grocery shopping EVER. I was so excited to start putting real dollar amounts on the meals I'm making.

I do a vast majority of my shopping at Caputo's. I believe that it's a Chicagoland only grocer, but any checking around on Yelp will tell you all about the unbelievable produce they get and more importantly, the low prices they charge. The butcher at Caputo's is great as well, but you have to take advantage of specials and surplus sales. For the most part, you'll have to get most of your meat at farmer's markets, private suppliers, or online. I'll pick up meat at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods on occasion as well, but to be honest, ALWAYS getting grass fed meat can be tough. Sometimes you'll just have to offset poorer quality meat with some extra veggies and omega 3 in your diet. Always take advantage of sales on grass fed beef and freeze it for use later.

Get an idea of what you want to make for the week and by all means, make a list and stick to it! I usually prepare 3 specific meals a week and fill in all of my other meals with leftovers, eggs, and salmon steaks.

With money on my mind, I looked in the fridge before leaving and noticed that we had a tomato and a couple onions about to go bad. As opposed to throwing food and money away, I would much rather make something and at least squeeze out a couple meals (sorry if that phrase sounds gross). Onions and tomato make the base of a good chili and since I already have some ground beef and canned tomatoes on hand, I decide to add some peppers, mushrooms, and seasoning to the list to help salvage my produce.

2 hours and $76.94 later, I'm back home and ravenous for some chili. I'm not going to pretend that I'm the first person to come up with the idea of paleo chili. In fact, I bet the first paleo cookbook started with a steak recipe on page 1 and a chili recipe on page 2. Let's get into the real cost of a pot of paleo chili.

From Paleo Chili

Here's what you need to start:

From Paleo Chili

Starting at 12 o'clock going clockwise: 2 cans of sliced tomatoes (1.09 each), 1/2 package of button mushrooms (1.15),1 pound of ground beef (5.99), 2 jalapenos (0.17), chili seasoning (1.29), 4 cloves of garlic (0.10), 1/2 a yellow onion (0.30), 1/2 a red onion (0.30), and a roma tomato (0.40)

OK, that's a total of $11.88. Over half of that cost is the meat, so you can see how much taking advantage of savings on quality meat can save you. The next question is "How many meals can I get for that $11.88?" You'll have to wait until after I give you my super quick synopsis of how to make chili. As most of you reading this have made chili before and I'd hate to insult your intelligence, feel free to skip to the end for the per meal total.

To make chili:

Begin by browning the ground beef in a pan. When you can see a little grease coming off the meat, add chopped onions.

From Paleo Chili

Next, chop up your jalapeños (remove the seeds) and add those. Here's a video showing you how to de-seed a jalapeño.

From Paleo Chili

That lady isn't joking about washing your hands after handling a jalapeno. They say you should hum happy birthday to yourself while washing your hands to get rid of the capsaicin (a powerful anti-inflammatory), but I say you should hum Freebird just to be safe. Let the meat, onions, and peppers cook while you quarter the mushrooms. This time allows the water to escape the veggies, helping to make a flavorful base for the chili.

From Paleo Chili

Once those are cut up and the beef looks brown, add everything else (the spice mix, the tomato, the two cans of sliced tomatoes, and the mushrooms).

From Paleo Chili

Once that starts to boil, turn the heat down as low as you can and let that go for about 10 minutes. Stir it a couple of times so that nothing sticks to the bottom. Feel free to eat it whenever your patience is up!

From Paleo Chili

That's pretty paleo. Let's kick it down a notch:

From Paleo Chili

BAM! Labna is a dairy product with 1/2 a gram of sugar per tablespoon. I find that one tablespoon takes chili to the next level. This is one of those small compromises I make to keep myself happy. Give it a shot, I think you'll like it.

After eating a bowl, I measured out 3 more full bowls of chili from the pot. That makes 4 total bowls (those accounting skills really come in handy) at $2.97 per meal. I'll admit that chili is just cheap by nature, but still, $3 isn't too bad for a meal.