Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

The Portobello mushroom is a large, dark brown mushroom that has a rich flavor and meaty texture. Be sure to keep your unwashed portobello mushrooms refrigerated in a paper bag to maintain their freshness. Portobello mushrooms are a low-fat food -- one cup contains just 0.3 g total fat. It also contains nearly 2 g of protein and 1 g of fiber per one-cup serving.

1/4 cup olive oil
3 tbsp chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserve for other use. Place caps on a plate with the gills up. In a small bowl, combine the oil, onion, garlic and Worcestershire sauce.  Pour mixture evenly over the mushroom caps and let stand for 1 hour. Grill over hot grill for 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Grilled Radicchio and Zucchini Salad

Radicchio is a leaf chicory, sometimes known as Italian chicory. It is grown as a leaf vegetable which usually has white-veined red leaves. It has a bitter and spicy taste, which mellows when it is grilled or roasted. 

This is a simple salad that can be paired with any grilled meat!

1 head of radicchio
4 mini zucchinis
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 - 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar 
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Preheat your grill. Chop your radicchio into quarters and slice the zucchinis in half length wise. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and fresh black pepper. Grill on medium heat until tender with grill marks (about 5 - 7 minutes). Once tender remove from the grill. Chop into bite size pieces and place in bowl. Drizzle with a good quality balsamic vinegar and top with chopped fresh cilantro. The grilling cuts down the bitterness of the radicchio and when paired with balsamic vinegar it tastes great.

Grilled Pork Side Ribs

I was once asked by someone: If you could only eat meat from one animal for the rest of your life, which animal would you pick? Without hesitation I said: the pig! First of all: pig = bacon. Need I give you any more reasons. If so, check out this awesome pork side ribs recipe!

2 rack of pork side ribs
1/4 cup Ultimate Spice Blend

Sauce
4 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp honey


To begin with we need to prep the ribs. On the concave surface of all ribs is a thin, translucent membrane. This membrane is tough and will prevent any flavouring to get to the rib meat, and so should be removed. To remove the membrane: Insert a metal spoon handle under the membrane at one end of the rib rack and detach a corner. Then grab the detached flap and gently tear it away from the ribs. It should come off in one clean pull.

Cover the ribs on both sides with the Ultimate Spice blend and gently rub into the ribs.

Now, many people have their own way of cooking ribs. Some people will say you need to boil them first, then finished them on the barbecue. Others will say you need to bake them in the oven and then put them on the barbecue.  I am sure these methods result in very tender ribs but honestly I did not have an hour and a half to cook these. So, I turned on my barbecue and threw the ribs on. After about ten minutes I turned them over and cooked for another 10 minutes. While they were cooking I combined the sauce ingredients. I then turned the barbecue down to mediumish, basted the ribs and cooked them for an additional 15 minutes, basting ever 5 minutes.

And that's all I did! They were moist and tasty! I had no complaints.

The Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies (Cheat Day)

These are simply the best chocolate chip cookies ever!

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour 
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
½  tsp salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts. Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans. Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges are nicely browned.

Grilled Pork Souvlaki

The warm prairie summer was definitely in the air today and as such my BBQ was screaming for some attention. So I hauled my propane tank to gas station and filled it up and set to some grilling. This is a fresh summer recipe!

Marinade
1.5 lbs boneless pork tenderloin, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves, minced
1 tsp lemon zest
4 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste

Skewers
1 bell pepper
1 red onion


Whisk together all the ingredients for the pork marinade. Pour it into a gallon ziploc bag along with the pork chunks. Marinate at least 4 hours but preferably overnight or up to 24 hours.

Preheat the barbecue. Thread the pork chunks onto skewers, shaking off excess marinade alternating with pieces of bell pepper and red onion. Grill on medium heat until nicely charred and cooked through (10 to 15 minutes). 

Can be served with grilled zucchini, Greek salad or grilled vegetables. 

Cobb Salad

Salad
1/2 container mixed greens
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I just bought a roast chicken from the grocery store)
2 large avocados- sliced
1 package grape tomatoes
10 slices bacon- crumbled
4 hard-boiled eggs- sliced
raw almonds (can sub any type of nuts basically)
4 green onions, chopped


Dressing
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 egg
2 cloves fresh garlic
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/3 cup coconut milk
fresh ground pepper- to taste
dash of cayenne pepper

Begin by hard-boiling eggs and setting them aside. Check out the post on Easy to Peel Hard Boiled Eggs. Then, place strips of bacon in frying pan or on a baking sheet and cook until crispy.

In the meantime, prepare and chop all other ingredients and veggies. When ready, arrange all ingredients decoratively on a large platter (line or quadrant formation). Garnish with raw almonds and green onions.

To prepare the dressing, combine all the above ingredients and mix together with a hand immersion blender or food processor (again I used my wonderful magic bullet - I love that thing!). Drizzle dressing on top of salad and serve!

I took this to yet another potluck (I go to a lot of potlucks) and it was gobbled right up!

Recipe from PALEOdISH

Water, Water Everywhere

This article is from Living Super Human

Water is often the most overlooked part of the Paleo Diet. It’s actually the most overlooked part of any diet. The prescription to DRINK MORE WATER can be found in pretty much every diet out there.  

Water and oxygen are vital to our health.  Our life on earth revolves around these simple elements.  I’m as guilty as the next person for letting these things become a small side note of my health.   

By focusing on drinking more water and taking the time to breathe deeply, I’ve uncovered some really amazing health benefits.  My energy and mood feel amazing, and I feel like my body and mind are balanced and clear.

Too many people think about walking the desert for days without water when they think dehydration.  They don’t realize that many of us go through our whole day dehydrated and lacking our full energy potential.

The Paleo Diet has changed the way I eat, but as importantly, it has changed the way I drink. I’ve allowed water to become the magical health tool it is.

1. It Fuels Your Energy.

• Start everyday with a glass of water. Immediately upon waking up, drink some water to get your system going. Many people rely on energy drinks or coffee in the morning. They don’t realize that a big part of what their body is craving is simply the water from that drink of choice.

2. It Kills Your Cravings

• Most food cravings are actually water cravings is disguise. We think we are hungry but our bodies are truly just thirsty. That’s it. We've become a culture of snacking with a billion different snack choices out there for us. 
• Our bodies often just need a glass of water to do the trick. It is easy to confuse the need for water for a need for snacks, especially when we have made the snack a habit of ours, a poor habit as its most likely a soda or candy that “rewards” you after a hard half-day’s work. 

3. It Hydrates, Unlike Other Drinks

• Has your throat ever felt like the Sahara desert upon waking from a long night of drinking? I know the feeling all too well and will chug bottle after bottle of water in order to recover. This also helps fight hangovers (more below). The reason why our bodies can feel like crap after drinking beer or soda or any other sugar laden drinks, is because these drinks actually work to dehydrate you. You heard that right, a drink made of liquids can actually work towards dehydrating your body.

4. It Cleans Your System

• It amazes me how when people catch a sickness or bug, they completely forget the magical powers of water. They make the poor decision of turning to bread or continuing to eat dairy with expectations of recovering. Next time you are sick and have to stay home from work, make drinking water your job. Drinking water will speed up recovery time and help flush your system of the toxins that are plaguing you. 

5. It Helps You Avoid Injury

• A dehydrated muscle is more prone to injury and inflammation. Our bodies are made up of mostly muscles and our muscles are made up of mostly water. They work best when they are “well-oiled”. Drink as much water as your workout allows. You can drink a lot more water in a low heart rate, heavy lifting session as opposed to an interval jogging/sprinting.  I promise you can lift more if you are drinking more water, it goes beyond a placebo effect.  

6. It Assists Food Breakdown Instead of Hindering It

• The coach in me wants to tell you to drink water with every single meal, regardless of where you eat it. There is no healthier drink choice during a meal than a glass of water. Period.

7. It Can Help You Take Down Stomachaches and Headaches

• We often confuse causation and correlation. Dehydration is not the cause of all headaches or stomachaches. They often happen together, but we fail to even realize the strong relationship between them.

8. It Gives You OOH-AAH Skin!

• Want the skin you see on celebrities you see on magazine covers (minus the massive airbrushing)? It starts with keeping your skin properly hydrated. There are many commercial products out there claiming to nourish skin and “wash away” wrinkles, but no skin product is more effective than water. Water keeps skin hydrated from the inside out. It also helps you prevent acne and wrinkles. And it costs a whole lot less than those fancy butters and creams.

What’s ENOUGH Water?
The right amount of water you should be drinking in a day ultimately depends on how active you are. The key to getting enough water is drinking it when you are NOT thirsty. Don’t wait until hunger or thirst strikes. Keep a water bottle with you at all times and keep it flowing throughout your body all day long. You will notice a significant increase in energy and you will feel better.