Italian Stuffed Peppers

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Looks good, right? Here's what you need:

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• 3 Bell Peppers cut in half
• 1 lb of grass fed beef
• 6 cloves of minced garlic
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 8 oz of baby bella mushrooms
• paprika
• Italian seasoning
• Red pepper flakes
• Mozzarella cheese
• 4 slices of slightly overdone bacon (for crumbling at least that's what I told myself after burning it)

When buying your bell peppers, look for peppers with large flat sides. This will keep them from rolling around and spilling out their contents. Cut the peppers in half and pull the seeds out. Try and keep the stem intact. It isn't edible, but it helps to keep the juices from the filling from spilling. You'll want to rinse them and let them dry over a towel for a few minutes.

Think of the filling as a really chunky spaghetti sauce. Start by browning the beef and sauteeing the mushrooms. Use whatever fat you want for sauteeing. I just used the bacon grease and some of the fat that rendered off of the beef.

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The beef should brown just about the same time that the mushrooms are done. Add the tomatoes, garlic, crumbled bacon, and spices into a large pan or wok and stir. I rarely measure in the kitchen, so here is how much of each spice I used.

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From Stuffed Peppers

From Stuffed Peppers

Let that simmer for about 2 minutes. After that, I drained some of the liquid off to avoid making a stew. Finally, fill the peppers with the beef mixture, cover them with cheese, and throw them in the broiler for about 2-3 minutes.

From Stuffed Peppers

From Stuffed Peppers

Keep a close eye on the broiler. You don't want these guys to burn after all your hard work! I rotated my peppers halfway through since my broiler doesn't broil very evenly. I really enjoy the taste of a nearly raw pepper with that delicious, juicy filling inside. The crunch of the peppers is a nice addition to a pretty crunchless primal cuisine.

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Chicken Tikka Masala

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Paleo Paella

Paella (pie-Ay-ya) is an old Spanish dish that my fiance and I were lucky enough to try while in Barcelona. This picture is from our trip when we tried some squid ink paella.

From Barcelona

I've never actually made regular paella let alone paleo paella, but it seemed like it could be done. It was either going to turn out to be a complete failure or a success, and I'm happy to tell you that it wasn't an epic paleo-fail. This recipe takes a little under an hour, so it's not fast, but it can be done on a weeknight.

Here is what you need:

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Starting at the mussels at the bottom: 1 lb of mussels (4.99), 1 orange ancient pepper(0.25), 1 red ancient pepper(0.25), 4 cloves of garlic (0.08), one can of diced tomatoes (1.59), cauliflower (2.34), parsley (0.05), 1 yellow onion (1.00), 1 lemon (0.25), paprika, 2-3 lbs of chicken thighs (3.24), 8 large shrimp (4.99), and (not pictured) a hot sausage (2.16)- we used a hot Italian sausage (salamini) our deli guy recommended. That's a total of 21.19, or roughly 4-5 dollars per serving. This is one of the pricier meals I've made, but it is worth it, I promise.

I prepped all the veggies and meat before starting to cook. It makes life a lot easier and I don't feel as rushed as I cook. You'll need to grate the cauliflower, grate the garlic as well as chop the onions, pepper, and sausage. This is also a good time to clean off the mussels. Just put them in a strainer and run your fingers over the shells, removing anything you can. If any of the mussels are open and don't close if you tap them on the counter, throw them away. They're dead.

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Use the larger holes on your grater.

From Paella

From Paella

Cut the sausage into half circles.

Once all the chopping and cleaning is done, start by frying the chicken thighs in some olive oil. Make sure the oil is nice and hot so that you get a good sear on the chicken.

From Paella

From Paella

When the chicken has a good sear on each side (about 6 minutes on the first side and only about 4 on the second), set the chicken aside. Use the oil and chicken fat to fry up the onions, sausage, and peppers.

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When the veggies are golden brown add the garlic. Make sure to keep stirring when the garlic is in the pan. You don't want the garlic to sit around a have a chance to burn. Garlic gets really bitter when it burns.

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Stir for about 2 minutes, then you'll add the chicken back in along with the tomatoes and a handful of paprika.

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Stir in the paprika and bring that up to a boil. Once it starts to bubble, add a lid and put bring heat down to about half. As that simmers, start heating up some olive oil in another pan. When that is hot, add the grated cauliflower. It will take a while for the cauliflower to turn brown which is fine because the paella needs to simmer for a while. Keep stirring and just don't let the cauliflower burn. Eventually it will turn brown.

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When it is brown, add 100 ml of chicken stock and wait for it to evaporate. When it does, your cauliflower is done. Just set it aside.

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It should take about 20 minutes for the cauliflower to be ready, so it's the perfect timing to get back to the paella. It can't really simmer too long with the lid on, so don't get stressed if it's taking your cauliflower longer to cook or if you have to do it in batches.

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Now is the time to add the mussels. This is the perfect time to double check for dead guys. They'll be the ones that are open and won't close when you tap them on the counter. Throw them away.

From Paella

From Paella

Add the mussels to the mix and put the lid back on. The mussels will open up in about 2 minutes. At this point, add the shrimp and wait another 2 minutes.

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Remove the lid and that's it! You've just made paella. Don't you feel classy? Not yet? Ok, add some parsley and lemon then, Mr. Belivedere. Now you're first class all the way.

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Cajun Salmon

Good news! Salmon is super fast to cook and doesn't really need a whole lot of work to be delicious. I usually just cook salmon with a small pad of butter and a bunch of garlic. Today I tried something a little more involved to help shake up my routine a little bit.

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Here is what you need:

From Cajun Salmon

Back Row: Chili powder (called an audible and didn't use it), Garlic Powder (0.05), Paprika (0.05), Cayenne Pepper (0.05), Black Pepper, an 8 oz salmon steak (2.02), and a pad of butter (0.10). That's a total of 2.27 for the protein portion of the meal.

Begin by melting the butter over low heat.

From Cajun Salmon

Add the salmon steak and move the heat up just a little to medium-low. You don't want to burn the ingredients as this will make them bitter. You also don't want to risk oxidizing any good fats that are present.

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Here is a picture of my opinion of medium-low heat:

From Cajun Salmon

Lay down a liberal amount of paprika. Paprika adds a smoky flavor, but isn't particularly strong. This layer will form a delicious crust once we flip the salmon and fry it in the butter.

From Cajun Salmon

Put some cayenne pepper in one palm and sprinkle two pinches evenly over the salmon. You'll need about a tenth of what I actually poured into my palm in this picture.

From Cajun Salmon

Finally, cover the paprika and cayenne with garlic powder. After about 3 minutes, it will be time to flip the salmon.

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When you flip the salmon, give it the same seasoning on the opposite side. After 3 minutes, flip it back to help form a seasoning crust on the other side.

Remove the salmon when you're happy with the Cajun crust and finish it off by pouring the butter and fish oil that was released over the top. There is a lot of flavor in there. You can add some black pepper at this point if you want.

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It should look something like this.

From Cajun Salmon

I like to eat my salmon with a wedge of fresh lime to squeeze on top. A lot more people prefer lemon, but the citric acid from either fruit will help cut through the fat and give the fish a whole new dimension of flavor. My side dish was collards with bacon, but I wasn't happy with how they turned out, so I'm going to tweak the recipe and get back to all of you on that one.

The total cooking time is about 10 minutes, so this is a standby for me when I'm in a rush. I suggest buying a bunch of salmon steaks in bulk and freezing them as they thaw quite well without any serious drawbacks.