Paleo Courgette and Avocado Houmous

I used to be a houmous junkie. Just couldn't get enough of it. Since turning to the paleo way of eating - 80% of the time - I have seriously cut down and have only had it a few times since Christmas. I do miss it and so this is how this little gem of a recipe came to be born. It satisfies the cravings for the real thing without laving me bloated and without a 'heavy' feeling. This is quite garlic-y so if you don't like a strong garlic taste, just use half the amount. I used half lemon and half lime juice but you could just use all lemon if you prefer. Try adding coriander for an added note of flavour. It goes very well with a toasted piece of my caveman bread or some vegetable batons.,,,and a glass of bubbles.

You will need:

a food processor with blade attachment 

1 medium courgette - about 200g peeled and chopped

1 small OR half of a medium avocado

2 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

juice of 1 lemon

juice of 1 1/2 limes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup tahini

salt and pepper to taste

paprika to serve

pumpkin seeds to serve

extra oil to serve

Place the juice of the lemons and limes - should make about 1/4 cup - into the whizzer along with the tahini. Blend for about 30 seconds until smooth. 

Add in the chopped courgette, avocado, oil, cumin, garlic and salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. You may need to stop and scrape the sides then blend again. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.

Pour into a bowl and garnish with paprika, pumpkin seeds and a little more olive oil. Cover and place in the fridge for an hour until ready to serve. This will keep for a couple of days if kept covered and refrigerated. 

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

For me, cooking is a release, it is my own sanctuary and a little bit of daily therapy. There are days when I cannot wait to get home and start cooking, even if it is just a poached egg. I have had a pretty busy week at work and had a soup (this soup) lined up to cook on Wednesday. I got home too late and so had a quick supper of avocado on my caveman bread, rocket salad with tahini and lime dressing and some smoked salmon. Pretty tasty but not quite what I had been looking forward to. The same happened on Thursday, so I finally made this delicious and wholesome soup on Friday. I so enjoyed the process and soon the stress and troubles of the week flowed out of me. It was like having a massage. My muscles released, my brow smoothed again. Does anyone else get this kind of feeling from cooking, or am I just a tiny bit crazy? 

Anyway, angst removed and feathers smoothed I dived into this glorious bowl of nourishing and tasty soup. I added a little honey to the roasting of the squash but you don't have to if you don't want to. It does had a richness to the final taste and the amount is not a lot. This serves 2 as a main course or 4 smaller portions. Serve with a slice or two of thinly sliced and toasted Caveman bread.

You will need:

1 large butternut squash or 2 small, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped into discs

600-700 ml good vegetable or chicken stock

1 heaped tsp smoked paprika

1 large red onion, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and diced

300g leeks, top and tailed and chopped into semi-circles

1-2 tsp organic runny honey

300ml coconut milk

juice of half a lime

salt

pepper

olive oil/coconut oil

pumpkin seeds to garnish

Re-heat your oven to 190 degrees C and put your prepared squash onto a tray with a generous glug of olive oil, then drizzle over the honey and salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes, shaking them up halfway through.

Whilst the squash is roasting, prepare all the other vegetables. Fry off the onions and garlic until soft and browning, add the carrots and leeks and fry off until the leeks soften. Add the paprika and stir so all the vegetables are covered. Add the hot stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Add in your squash, lime juice and another twist of pepper. Pour into a blender and blend until smooth. Put back into a clean pot over a medium heat and stir in the coconut milk. Warm through for a minute or so and serve immediately. Garnish with some pumpkin seeds or a little swirl of coconut milk. You can keep this in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze on the day of making for up to 3 months. 

Hot Chocolate Chia

Oh my goodness it has been ever so chilly in Devon the last few weeks. And I ran out of oil so I've had no heating....brrrrr. I woke up the other day in a room which read 5 degrees on the thermostat and just couldn't bring myself to have a cold chia pudding for breakfast. This little recipe is the same base as my Breakfast Chia Pudding but hot and chocolatey! Even better! Try adding cinnamon and ginger for a spiced version.

You will need:

1 large jar

At least 6 hours!

5 tbsp chia seeds

half a banana 

1 tbsp almond butter

300 ml almond milk

1-2 tsp date syrup

2 handfuls raspberries

flaked almonds

cocoa nibs

The night before, place your banana, 1 handful of raspberries, almond butter, almond milk and date syrup into a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Pour into the jar and stir in your chia seeds. I usually let it settle for an hour or 2 then give it a quick stir before going to bed. 

In the morning pour into a pan and heat over a low heat with the cacao powder. Keep string so that the powder is fully combined with the pudding.

Pour into a bowl - or enormous teacup like mine - and decorate the top with extra banana, the rest of the raspberries, flaked almonds and cacao nibs. This is deliciously yummy and warming. 

Raw Chocolate Spread

Happy World Nutella Day! I used to be addicted to Nutella and would have in/on almost everything before I cut out sugar and processed foods. I was reminded by the lovely Mrs P that it was National Nutella Day today and I suddenly had a craving to make my own. This recipe is a complete fluke but I am so happy it turned out well. It is not overly sweet so I would add more date syrup if you want a sweeter spread. Equally you may find that the consistency is too thick for you so add more nut milk if you need to. I roasted the nut for a richer taste and it worked very well. If you can, it's worth brushing off the skins of the hazelnuts after roasting them. This will give you a smoother consistency. I was eating the remains out of the mixer but I will be enjoying some on my Caveman Paleo Bread in the morning and on my pancakes on Shrove Tuesday! I hope your taste buds enjoy this little treat. 

You will need:

1 jam jar

50g almonds

100g hazelnuts

4 tsp date syrup 

1/3 cup nut milk (I used almond)

2 heaped tbsp raw cacao powder

Heat your oven to 180 degrees centigrade and pop the nuts on a baking sheet. Roast for 8-10 minutes and then leave out to cool completely. At this point you can brush off the hazelnut skins. 

Place your roasted hazelnuts and almonds into a blender and blend until smooth and liquid-y. This may take 2-3 minutes depending on how strong your blender is. 

Add the date syrup, nut milk and cacao powder and blend again for about 1 minute. You will want to scrap down the sides half way through to make sure it's all combined. Add your milk a little at a time until you reach the desired consistency. To make this a dip for fruit, add more almond milk to thin it out slightly. 

Pace into a jam jar or kilner and this will keep for a few weeks - but no double dipping of spoons! 

Sweet potato and chicken curry

My boyfriend is an amazing cook. He creates these incredible meals with scraps and not much more but they always come out tasting insanely good. He has a gift. Sadly he is away travelling for work a lot so I have taken to trying to recreate his dishes with a Paleo twist. The following is his original recipe but with some additions and maybe one ingredient which some Paleo purists will disagree with. The humble pea. When I originally transferred to eating the Paleo way, I thought all legumes were off limits. I accepted this and carried on cooking without out them. Quite by accident I came across several articles which said that peas could be enjoyed as part of a Paleo diet, so long as you didn't make them a staple. They have much less of the nasty phytates and the lecithins aren't as toxic or as numerous as with other legumes. I read a piece in the Paleo Magazine which helped to make things slightly clearer. It seems if they are fresh and not dried and you eat them occasionally then they are ok. Phew, justification over, let's get back to the serious matter of cooking. You'll need a good spice selection but a pestle and mortar is not obligatory! 

Serves 2 very hungry/greedy people or 4 normal ones!

You will need:

4 - 6 chicken things, preferable free range/organic, take the skin off

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1 inch chunks

Plenty of fresh coriander

500 ml of good chicken stock (you may need a little more to add in the cooking process)

2 large white onions

2-3 garlic cloves

1/3 cup coconut milk

1 tsp coconut oil

1 cup fresh peas

pinch sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

5 cardamom pods

few sprigs of thyme

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cumin seed

1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp fenugreek 

1/2 tsp coriander seed

1/2 tsp ginger

Pop all the spices and the thyme into a pestle and mortar (or small bowl and handle of wooden spoon) and mix them up. Gently and only slightly crush the cardamom pods.

Gently melt the coconut oil over a medium heat in a deep pan. Brown the chicken thighs on both sides. Add the spices, thyme, salt and pepper and stir so that the mix covers the meat. Continue cooking for 1 minute. Take a moment to enjoy the aromas being released. Add the onions and garlic and fry off until the onions begin to soften. 

Add the sweet potatoes and the stock, bring to the boil then turn down and simmer for about 40 minutes (you may need to add a little more stock depending of how thick you want it to be) until the potatoes can be squashed against the side of the pan. Add the peas and a handful of freshly chopped coriander and stir through. Finally add your coconut milk and simmer gently for 30 seconds. 

Serve in bowls with a little extra coriander sprinkled on top. A delicious and nutritious dish that is packed full of flavour and goodness. Enjoy!