My foray into the Paleo-way

I have no trouble understanding the appeal of the Paleo Diet. The diet allows you to eat plenty of meat, fat, veggies, legumes and fermented foods and drink coffee laced with butter and coconut oil (surprisingly delicious). Going Paleo also means giving up grains (our bodies aren’t “hardwired” to digest them, proponents say), processed and refined foods (that’s anything made from white flour or sugar), plus dairy—which is why I won’t be jumping on the Paleo bandwagon anytime soon.
But while I love wine, cheese and chocolate too much to follow this diet full-time, I’m curious enough about it to try cooking a meal or two, especially when the recipes look as tasty as the ones in The Paleo Chef do. The cookbook’s author, Chris Evans, is a chef, health coach and the host of The Moveable Feast on PBS. His recipes are hearty and flavorful. Many of them feature Asian spices, so I decided to go with an Asian-themed meal for my brood—Japanese Crispy Chicken and Turkey and Shiitake Lettuce Cups.

Both recipes were easy to follow but took a long time to prep. A lot of the ingredients had to be washed and chopped—and there were a lot of ingredients. If you don’t have a well-stocked pantry, you’ll have a long shopping list, and might have to take an additional run to a grocery or health food store that stocks less widely available ingredients like wheat-free tamari (a gluten-free substitute for soy sauce), almond meal and tapioca starch (to sub for the flour for the fried chicken).

The Japanese Crispy Chicken went over well with my kids—even my picky ten year old cleaned his plate—and the lettuce cups tasted fresh and light. The combination of coconut oil, cilantro, ginger and fish sauce will always call to mind a trip we took to Thailand and the great food we sampled there. I wanted a bit more spice in my cups, so next time I make this recipe—in the summer, for an alfresco dinner upstate with friends—I’ll add extra ginger and red chili.

I wasn’t done with The Paleo Chef yet: The next night, at the behest of my husband, I made Nasi Goreng, which means fried Rice in Balinese. Evans’s version uses cauliflower instead of rice, but I didn’t do that for the sake of time. Once again, the ingredient list was long and the prep time considerable. There’s chicken, shrimp, bacon, coconut oil, tamarind pulp, fish sauce and wheat-free tamari, plus lots of fresh vegetables and aromatics and a whole fried egg atop each serving. I won’t lie; it was a lot of work. But at the end, when my husband turned to me and told me it was the best thing I’d made since he didn’t know when, I knew my efforts had been worthwhile.

This is not a beginner’s cookbook, and the jury is still out on whether the Paleo diet is as healthy as its advocates claim, but the recipes in this book are delicious. That, at least, is not up for debate.

Turkey & Shiitake Lettuce Cups

 

SERVES 4

• 1 tbsp coconut oil, ghee, or duck fat
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 4 shallots, chopped
• 2 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/3 lb (600 g) ground turkey 4 oz (120 g) shiitake mushrooms, chopped
• 2 tbsp wheat-free tamari or coconut aminos
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, plus more to serve
• 1 tsp raw honey (optional)
• 1 (8 oz/225 g) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 fresh red chiles, seeded and chopped
• 3 1/2 oz (100 g) bean sprouts 8 iceberg lettuce leaves, washed and dried
• Fresh cilantro leaves, torn, to serve
• Lime wedges, to serve

Heat a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, add the coconut oil and swirl around the wok. Add the garlic, shallots, and ginger and cook for 1 minute. Add the turkey and mushrooms and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and browned. Add the tamari, fish sauce, and honey, if using, and toss to mix. Then add the water chestnuts, green onions, and chiles and keep stirring until the mixture is well combined. Cook until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, mix in the bean sprouts, and check for seasoning, adding more fish sauce or sea salt if needed.
To serve, place the lettuce cups on a serving platter or four plates. Top each with some of the turkey mixture, and garnish with cilantro leaves and lime wedges.

Japanese Crispy Chicken with Miso Mayonnaise

SERVES 4

• miso mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) mayonnaise (page 203)
• 1 tsp white miso paste
• 1 tbsp bonito flakes, crushed in your hands to form a powder marinade & chicken
• 1 tsp peeled and grated fresh ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp white wine
• 3 tbsp wheat-free tamari or coconut aminos
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 3/4 lb (800 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces
• 3/4 cup (75 g) almond meal
• 3/4 cup (90 g) tapioca starch
• Coconut oil, for frying to serve
• Fresh baby shiso leaves
• Black and white sesame seeds, toasted
• Ichimi togarashi (Japanese ground red chile; optional)

To make the miso mayonnaise, combine the mayonnaise, miso, and bonito powder and mix until blended. Set aside.
To make the seasoning marinade, combine the ginger, garlic, egg yolk, wine, tamari, sesame oil, 1 tsp sea salt, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Add the chicken, turning the pieces until well coated. Marinate in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes.
In a shallow bowl, mix together the almond meal and tapioca starch. Lift the chicken out of the marinade and coat the chicken with the almond meal mixture, shaking off any excess.
Fill a wok or saucepan halfway with coconut oil and heat over medium heat to reach 340°F (170°C). Add one piece of chicken to the oil to test; it should bubble right away. Deep-fry the chicken in batches until golden brown, crispy and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Place on paper towels to drain the excess oil. Season with salt and pepper.
To serve, thread the chicken pieces onto eight skewers. Garnish with the shiso leaves, sesame seeds, and ichimi togarashi. Pass the mayonnaise alongside.

Nasi Goreng

SERVES 4

• 4 tbsp coconut oil
• 14 oz (400 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1/2-inch (2 cm) pieces
• 5 oz (150 g) sliced bacon, thinly sliced crosswise
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
• 1 celery stalk, trimmed and finely diced
• 1 fresh red chile, seeded and finely chopped
• 5 oz (150 g) cooked, peeled bay shrimp
• 1/2 cup (50 g) finely shredded Chinese cabbage
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 3 cups (600 g) Cauliflower Rice (page 61)
• 1 cup (120 g) bean sprouts 2 green onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp fried shallots (page 207)
• 4 tbsp wheat-free tamari or coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp tamarind pulp
• 4 eggs
• Bird chiles, thinly sliced
• Lime wedges

Place a large wok over medium heat, add 2 tbsp of the coconut oil, and heat until just smoking. Add half the chicken and stir-fry until brown and just cooked through, 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, then stir-fry the remaining chicken and trasfer to the bowl. Add the bacon to the wok and stir-fry until it becomes golden and crispy, 2 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the chicken and set aside.
Add 1 tbsp coconut oil to the wok and heat over medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and stir-fry until shallots are soft, 1 minute. Add the carrot, celery, and red chile and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
Return the cooked chicken and bacon to the wok, add the shrimp and cabbage, and stir-fry until the cabbage wilts, 3 minutes. Stir in the shrimp paste, then add the cauliflower rice, bean sprouts, green onions, 1 tbsp of the fried shallots, the tamari, fish sauce, and tamarind pulp. Stir-fry until heated through, 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and cover with foil to keep warm.
Heat the remaining 1 tbsp coconut oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot, crack the eggs into the pan and cook, uncovered, until the whites set and the yolks are almost set (for a soft yolk), 2 minutes, or until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate.
Spoon the nasi goreng into four shallow serving bowls. Top each with a fried egg and sprinkle over the remaining 1 tbsp fried shallots. Serve, accompanied by chile slices and lime wedges.
Reprinted with permission from The Paleo Chef by Pete Evans, copyright © 2014. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc.

Photography © 2014 by Mark Roper