Weekend Cooking: All-American Paleo Table by Caroline Potter

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When Caroline Potter was in her 20s, she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and knew she had to make major changes in her life, especially in her diet. After much research, she discovered that a grain-free paleo-style way of eating made significant improvements in her health and dependence on insulin. Encouraged by her results and what she had learned, Potter went on to earn her certification as a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner.

All-American Paleo Table combines three of Potter's passions: cooking, photography, and healthful eating. One of her goals with this cookbook was to show people that they can eat normal everyday foods and still eliminate grains from their plate. As the title implies, the recipes highlight family favorites such as chili, nachos, waffles, and burgers as well as holiday foods like turkey and stuffing.

Potter goes further than many paleo cookbooks, providing grain-free recipes for grain-heavy foods, such as tortillas, biscuits, breakfast cereals, and breaded hot dogs (similar to corn dogs). At the same time, she shares recipes for many lighter dishes, including soup, salads, and simple meats and fish.

Cooks should have no problem realizing success with All-American Paleo Table. Not only does each recipe include a gorgeous photo but most also feature tips and tricks and serving suggestions. The directions are clear and easy for any moderately experienced cook to follow.

Some things you should know:

• As you can imagine, some of the grain-free substitutions call for ingredients that might be tricky to find, but there is a resource section at the back of the book.
• If you're a vegetarian or vegan, this book is not for you. Although a good number of recipes are dairy-free, almost all include some kind of meat or animal fat or eggs.
• The recipes are arranged by occasion, which means similar dishes (say, desserts) are scattered throughout the book. Fortunately, the index looks like it was well done, and individual recipes are listed in the contents.
• All recipes measures and temperatures are given in both Imperial and metric forms.

I recommend Caroline Potter's All-American Paleo Table for people who are committed to a grain-free or gluten-free diet and, of course, for those who are following a paleo way of eating. Check out Potter's Colorful Eats blog for recipes and more information.

Thanks to Page Street Publishing for providing the photograph and recipe I'm sharing with you today. Enjoy!

Paleo Spaghetti and Meatballs
Makes 16 medium meatballs

Sauce

• 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
• ½ small sweet yellow onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp (3 g) fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 tsp (3 g) dried oregano
• ½ tsp salt
• 28 oz (794 g) crushed tomatoes
• 15 oz (425 ml) tomato sauce
• ¼ cup (60 ml) good red wine (Merlot or Cabernet is best)
• 8 fresh basil leaves, chopped

Meatballs

• 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil or bacon grease, for frying
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp (15 ml) balsamic vinegar
• 1½ tsp (8 g) salt
• 1 tsp (3 g) dried oregano
• ½ tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 lb (454 g) ground beef
• 1 lb (454 g) pork Italian sausage, casings removed
• ¾ cup (73 g) almond flour
• ½ cup (68 g) finely shredded Parmesan (optional), omit for dairy free

To make the sauce, warm a large stockpot to medium heat and all the olive oil. Saute the onion, garlic, rosemary, oregano and salt for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine and basil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, start making the meatballs. Warm a large skillet to medium heat and add the olive oil. Place the egg, balsamic vinegar, salt, oregano and pepper in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Whisk together. Add the ground beef, sausage, almond flour and Parmesan to the bowl. Use your hands to crumble and mix together the meat until incorporated.

Next, shape the meatballs into medium-size round balls. Brown the meatballs in the skillet for 8 minutes, rotating so that all sides are browned. You may need to work in batches depending on the size of your skillet.

Once your tomato sauce has simmered, use an immersion blender to carefully puree the sauce. Drop the meatballs into the sauce, place the lid back on the pot and slowly simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve over your grain-free noodle of choice.

This & That: I prefer to use spicy Italian sausage because I think it adds incredible flavor to this dish. However, if you are serving this for children or prefer something with less kick to it, use milk or sweet Italian sausage.

Published by Page Street Publishing, 2013
ISBN-13: 9781624141720
Source: Review (see review policy)
Copyright © cbl for Beth Fish Reads, all rights reserved (see review policy)