Tag: primal

Oven-Baked Beer-Brined Pork Ribs

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Ribs are a summertime staple at our house, and I’d reckon yours. Standing outside in the warmth of the summer sun (perhaps drink in hand), the smell of charcoal and simmering ribs on the grill is as strong in my mind on a December morning as it is in the peak of July. If grilling isn’t a strong suit of yours, or you’re hoping to enjoy ribs even in the cold, this week’s recipe is right up your alley.

Making ribs in the oven is a great adventure—you get the benefit of setting a consistent temperature and your whole house smells like heaven! These ribs are no exception. One way to combat ribs drying out (on the grill or in the oven) is to brine them. Brine can be as simple and straightforward as salted water, or you can add some great flavors to the meat. Tenting or wrapping your ribs in foil is also an effective tool. For these, we did both, because who doesn’t love juicy ribs?

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Green Bean Casserole

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Green bean casserole is a holiday tradition. When we went paleo, it fell off the list for a couple of reasons. It wasn’t the main attraction on our table growing up, nor was Heather jumping to figure out how to recreate it without all of the pre-made, preservative-laden ingredients (I’m looking at you condensed soup). This year, however, I wanted to make it happen. Using a homemade cream soup as a base, we crafted a paleo green bean casserole.

One thing to note is that we made our cream of celery soup with homemade pork stock—it was what we had in the refrigerator. Its savory, gelatinous consistency took everything to a new level. If you are looking for a go-to resource for making stock at home, this guide from Real Everything is the answer.

The one thing we didn’t add to the mix was the French’s Crispy Fried Onions. These aren’t a must-have for us, but if you’d really like to give them a try, we made fried onions for our Western Meatloaf. An extra step, but if you’ve got to have them, go for it! Just add them to the top of the casserole for the final 10 minutes of baking.

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Thanksgiving Leftovers Turkey Pho

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It’s the week after Thanksgiving, and we find ourselves with a refrigerator bursting at the seams, as we often do. This year was unique because we spent the whole weekend fighting and slowly recovering from a fairly nasty head cold. We were in and out of fever, but more importantly congested and exhausted for almost a full week.

To try and combat feeling run down, Heather was really hankering for pho. This Vietnamese soup has a reputation for having healing powers (for illness as well as hangover), and is something I’ve never actually experienced at a restaurant. We decided to create our own version of the show Chopped, and make pho with the leftovers in the house and our pantry. We didn’t even go out to find noodles or a noodle replacement, and instead added extra bean sprouts. Feel free to add your favorite noodle of choice.

We made our turkey broth with the carcass of the turkey, 2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar, a bay leaf, and 1/2 tsp of sea salt. We put the carcass in a stock pot and covered with water and boiled for 16 hours. If this is too much time, or you no longer have your bird, feel free to buy stock from the store—just be sure to read the label!

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Easy Pesto Egg Bake

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If you’re like us, you’ll have a full house this Thanksgiving for the holidays. This means you need more food for each meal of the day—breakfast, lunch, dinner (and snacks). Most days I don’t eat breakfast, so Heather makes something for herself. With at least two more people in the house, we love having options for bigger and easier breakfast meals.

This pesto egg bake is one of the easiest things we’ve ever put together, and it’s awesomely tasty. Regardless of whether you use a pre-made pesto, or make one of your own (we have a few!), you’ll be ready to go in no time.

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Lamb Jalfrezi

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Jalfrezi is an Indian dish that can range from mildly spicy to eye-watering. After not being able to tolerate spicy foods growing up, I trained myself to eat very spicy foods. That said, this recipe has nice heat without causing tears or needing a tissue. If lamb isn’t available, substituting some chuck roast would also work well.

We used our handy tagine for this recipe, but it will cook just as well in a crock pot. Enjoy with cauliflower rice, a cool cucumber salad, or on its own!

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