Don’t throw out those old cookbooks!

• Tweet
• Sumo

• Tweet

Going Paleo doesn’t mean you have to throw away your old cook books!

We’ve always been fans of Jamie Oliver; his show, the work he is doing to clean up school lunch programs and bring back real food, his work to train disadvantaged youth to become chefs and, of course, his cooking. My favorite cook book of his is the original Naked Chef cook book, first published in 1999(ok, I admit it, he had me at Naked). A number of our favorite dishes come from or are inspired by that book. Although the book does not have anything to do with a Paleo lifestyle or dietary principles, having been written well before the Paleo movement really got started (there are recipes for bread, pasta, risotto, etc.), many of the recipes fit quite well with the Paleo lifestyle. His philosophy of stripped down, easy to cook meals with real, fresh and local ingredients is consistent with the principles of a Paleo diet.

Take the following recipe as an example, “Seared Encrusted Tuna Steak with Fresh Coriander and Basil.”

The ingredients are simple: red chilli, coriander seeds, garlic, fresh basil and cilantro, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper for the rub, and fresh tuna. Jamie recommends that you serve it with a salad and boiled potatoes, but we chose to just serve it on a bed of mixed greens with a lemon juice and olive oil dressing (also from the book). The choice of adding in potatoes as a “safe starch” is up to you. Depending on the portion size it makes a wonderful first course or summer lunch.

The only cookbooks I have thrown away are some really old “low fat” cookbooks. Where’s the fun (and taste) in low fat? I have a bit of a cookbook obsession and feel that more is better. I feel the same way about dogs and can’t hold back from petting them, even when they are attached by a leash to a random stranger. So, if I ever come to your house for dinner, you don’t need to count your silver for fear of theft, but you might want to count your cookbooks and hide your pets.

 

 

Print this post...