chinese | The Paleo Mom

Paleo Cinnamon Buns

When I was a teenager, my Uncle Bill taught me how to make real cinnamon buns. You know, the kind with yeast-based bread? It was a revelation and became one of my favorite treats to make. One batch would make a whole delicious pan, full of thousands of gluten-filled calories. And last about an hour.
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Grug’s Barbecued Stuffed Bananas—A Recipe Inspired by The Croods

Who is Grug? He is the overprotective yet loving dad (voiced by Nicolas Cage) in the new DreamWorks Animation film, The Croods. The Croods is about a family of cavemen forced to embrace change. This movie looks like a whole lot of fun and I can’t wait to take my girls to see it (you
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Puerto Rican Plantain Lasagna (Pastelon)

Plantain lasagna? Really? Yes! And what a delicious and comforting meal! Perfect for this time of year! This is another recipe modified from one that Gloria sent me (thank you Gloria!). I made this for my mother-in-law’s birthday while she was visiting and it was a hit! My mother-in-law was amazed—mostly at how you don’t
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Perfect Paleo Pancakes

These hotcake-style pancakes were a serendipitous accident. I was working on a crepe recipe (which I will be posting soon!) and my first attempt was not crepe-like at all, but a light fluffy and delicious, if maybe a little too thin, pancake. Once my crepe recipe was perfected, my next priority became to take a
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Asian-Inspired Chicken Wings

No, this is not teriyaki. This is something so much better! The flavor combination was actually inspired by the traditional Chinese preparation of chicken or duck feet (yeah yeah, I know, but I’m not asking you to eat feet here and it really works with wings). The flavor is distinctly Asian but at the same time works really well with typical Western side dishes. We ate these wings with salad, steamed vegetables and watermelon on the side and they were delicious (they’d be great with some stir fried veggies on the side too!). The longer you marinate these wings, the better. You could get away with a few hours, but I far prefer overnight. We barbecued these wings, which is definitely my recommendation, but they could be baked in the oven too. Yields 4-5 servings.

Ingredients:

3 pounds Chicken Wings, separated
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Coconut Oil
4 cloves Fresh Garlic , chopped
1 Tbsp chopped Fresh Ginger
1 tsp Anise Seed
1 tsp Fennel Seed
½ cup Coconut Aminos (or substitute Reduced Sodium Tamari Soy Sauce)
2 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Coconut Vinegar (or substitute Apple Cider Vinegar)
1 Tbsp Fish Sauce
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

1.    Place chicken wings in a large bowl (if overly wet, pat dry with paper towel).
2.    Heat coconut oil over medium-high heat in a small saucepan. Add ginger, garlic, anise and fennel seed and cook, stirring so that it doesn’t burn, until fragrant, about 2-3 minutes.
3.    Add coconut aminos, honey, vinegar, and fish sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute.
4.    Remove from heat and add sesame oil.
5.    Pour over chicken wings, and stir to coat. Once chicken wings have cooled enough to handle, cover and place in refrigerator to marinate overnight (up to 24 hours). Stir the wings once or twice during marinating to make sure they are evenly treated. (I really like to marinate my wings in a large re-sealable bag, because I can remove the air and lay all the wings flat so they are more evenly coated with marinade. Instead of stirring, I just flip the bag over!)
6.    Drain excess marinade off wings. Barbecue wings until cooked, turning once (something like 20 minutes total depending on how hot your grill is). Alternatively, you could place the wings on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil (might want to grease first) and bake at 375F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until fully cooked (internal temperature should reach 180F).
7.    Enjoy!

Paleo Shrimp Chow Mein

April 2, 2012 in Main Dishes, Stir Fries and One-Pot Meals

I love Asian flavors and learned to cook simplified versions of my favorite dishes when I was still a teenager living at home. Some of these dishes can be fairly easily modified for a paleo diet. The trick with this paleo chow mein is to use kelp noodles instead of the usual chow mein noodles. Kelp Noodles can be easily found in any Asian grocery store but are also available online from amazon (which is where I buy mine using Subsribe & Save). They have a flavor that works brilliantly in asian dishes, hold up well to the high heat cooking, and are so fun to eat that my kids beg for chow mein just for the noodles (my husband and I think the shrimp is the real treat here, but to each his own!). They are also high in iodine, which is great for anyone dealing with thyroid issues.

Ingredients:

1 pound raw shrimp, deveined (tail on or off, it’s up to you)
3 Tbsp dry white wine
2 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil (or other good cooking fat)
1 small yellow onion
2 cups snow peas (about ¾ pound)
2 medium carrots
1 5oz can Sliced Water Chestnuts
1 5oz can Sliced Bamboo Shoots
3 large Dried Shiitake Mushrooms
1 clove garlic, finely minced
¾ cups bone broth
1 Tbsp Coconut Aminos
1 pound Kelp Noodles
1 green onion, chopped

1.    Soak dried mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes (or follow the package directions). Rinse and then slice into thin strips.
2.    Rinse and dry shrimp. Toss with wine and let sit for 15 minutes.
3.    Slice carrots into 1” rounds, flip the rounds over and then slice into 1/8” rectangles. Wash and trim stems off snow peas. Slice onion into ½” wedges. Mince garlic. Drain and rinse water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. Remove kelp noodles from package and rinse with cold water (or follow package directions).
4.    Heat a wok over medium-high heat. Add coconut oil to hot walk. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute.
5.    Add shrimp and wine to wok. Cook, stirring frequently, until shrimp are cooked (until they just turn pink). Remove shrimp from the walk (leave any juices in the wok though) and set aside.
6.    Add onion and carrot to the wok with bone broth and coconut aminos. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3-4 minutes (just giving them a head start on the other vegetables). The broth should be boiling. If not, turn up to high heat.
7.    Add the remainder of the vegetables to the wok. Cook ,stirring frequently, until the vegetables are cooked but still al dente, about 6-8 minutes.
8.    Add the shrimp (and any juices) back to the wok. Stir to combine.
9.    Push the shrimp and veggies to the side of the wok to create a little hole in the middle. Place the kelp noodles in the hole. Let them simmer in the broth for 2-3 minutes, then start stirring to break up the kelp noodles and distribute throughout the chow mein (another 1-2 minutes).
10. Garnish with chopped green onion and enjoy!