food – Page 16 – that paleo couple

Roasted Root Vegetables

January 14, 2015June 18, 2015by Brent Schrader7 Comments

Root vegetables are an amazing source of earthy flavor, but we rarely bring them home from the market. For holiday dinners this season we wanted to try something new. This recipe makes an amazing side with your favorite protein, and is just as good as cold leftovers as a snack—especially after a cold, winter run.

We’ve whipped up these roasted root vegetables three times since the holidays, and I see it becoming a fairly regular staple throughout the year. While we use carrots, red onion, beets, and parsnips in the recipe below, feel free to be creative with whatever root vegetables you have available (and let us know how it turns out!). I’ll take a mixture like this over mashed potatoes or pasta any day.

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Grandma Dean’s Oyster Stew

January 7, 2015June 18, 2015by Brent Schrader4 Comments

Oyster stew is one of the few things that I normally refused to eat growing up—until I was in college, I was confident that oysters were the last thing I should ever eat. Thankfully I’ve lost that perspective, and Heather and I go out for raw oysters fairly regularly at a local raw bar happy hour. This recipe is based off of my late Grandma Dean’s, who I remember for infamously “teaching me my first word: mine.”

Oyster stew is a big tradition in many households, and has roots in the Americas going back to the late 19th Century. Dishes like this one are especially popular for those who celebrate a meatless dinner on Christmas Eve—you may know Italian families that celebrate the Festa dei sette pesci, or Feast of the Seven Fishes. This is an amazing fresh first dish for a meatless dinner, a special occasion, or a light yet savory treat.

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Dinner Rolls

December 31, 2014June 18, 2015by Brent SchraderLeave a comment

Since choosing to live a gluten- and dairy-free lifestyle three years ago, we have generally skipped the toast, croissants, and other bread-y goods prepared by family and friends for brunches, dinners, and parties. We have ventured on a few successful baking adventures—see our Orange-Cranberry Bread, Bacon Jalapeño Bread, and Pumpkin “Cornbread.”

Still, we have shied away from rolls, donuts, and croissants until recently. A few weekends ago, I was doing some exploratory ready about egg replacement (because one of my nephews is allergic to egg, among other things) and learned that chia seed flour can mimic the stretchy consistency of glutenous dough.

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Tomato Pesto Salad

December 24, 2014June 18, 2015by Brent Schrader5 Comments

As we’ve spent almost 3 years now following a paleo diet (wow!), many of our tastes have changed. Heather is now a big fan of brussels sprouts, mustard, collared greens, and many other items she otherwise thought were off limits. For me, the greatest addition to my life has been the tomato. I thought it was the occasional obligation on a restaurant hamburger, or a small part of a salad.

Recently I came to the conclusion that I now pick up a tomato how I used to pick up an apple. This salad challenges the assumption that a salad has to be a bed of greens with some accoutrement; don’t allow your salad to be boring! This time of year, we thought the bright red and green was perfect for the holidays. We hope you have a delightful time with family and friends this week, regardless of how (or what) you decide to celebrate.

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Basler Brunsli (Chocolate-Almond Spice Cookies)

December 17, 2014June 18, 2015by Heather Schrader3 Comments

The winter holidays are here! Every one we know is decorating their houses, baking treats, and buying and wrapping gifts. The last two years, we went to Brent’s parents’ house to celebrate the season, so we didn’t decorate at all and it never really felt like holidays. But this year, we’re hosting both sets of parents. So, while we haven’t exactly finished our gift shopping or planned our Christmas dinner menu, we did put up our Christmas tree a couple weeks ago. As soon as we finished it, I got a little “warm fuzzy” in my heart.

Since that evening, I have been daydreaming of Christmas cookies from my childhood. I know, though, that most of them would leave us feeling sick. Most of them. One cookie (one out of the seemingly endless kinds of cookies we helped my grandma and mother make) is naturally gluten- and dairy-free. It’s called Basler Brunsli. Originally from 16th century Switzerland, it has long been part of the holiday tradition in Germany and Austria. The main ingredients are two of my favorite things—chocolate and almonds—and the complementing spices give it a warmth and complexity of flavor that I cannot resist. Brent said, “They taste like an Oreo and a gingerbread cookie had a baby.” Honestly, I don’t know why I hadn’t thought to make these cookies before! We hope you enjoy them as much as do.

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