This week's ethnic paleo dinner party was based around Southern cuisine. Well kinda. Once we started looking up various southern recipes we discovered we weren't all that into greasy fried vegetables and meat dripping with a messy overpowering sauce. So we healthified it! That could be a verb, right?
Not Your Average BBQ Ribs
2 racks pork ribs
2 cups applesauce
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp paprika
2 tbsp celery salt
2 tbsp freshly ground pepper
1-2 tbsp hot chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Combine all ingredients (except the meat, oil and vinegar) in a bowl. Slowly add the oil until completely mixed, then slowly add the vinegar.
The consistency will be more of a paste then sauce. Rub this all over the racks of ribs, leaving about a third for re-rubbing later on. Place ribs in a shallow baking pan and cover with tin foil. Cook in oven at 250 for about 4 hours. Remove from oven, spoon the rest of the BBQ sauce on ribs and throw on your barbecue to grill the outsides. Serve!
Cajun Pulled Chicken
I made a healthy dose of the cajun seasoning and stored it for easy seasoning in the future
3-4 chicken breasts (you could use thighs too)
1 cup chicken broth
ground salt and pepper
4 tbsp cajun seasoning:
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp dried thyme
Season the chicken with the cajun mixture and rub into the meat well, flip and repeat on other side. Place into baking dish, pour broth into the dish. Cover with foil or a well fitting lid and place into oven at 250 for about 2.5 hours depending on size of meat.
Remove, uncover and let cool until it's not too hot to handle. Using a fork (or fingers) "pull" chicken apart into strips, put back into the dish, cover and back in the oven (turned off or to very low) to keep warm.
Fried Asparagus
1/4 cup butter (you can use coconut or olive oil)
2 tbsp olive oil (omit if you used oil instead of butter)
1 tsp coarse salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb fresh asparagus, trimmed
Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook garlic for a while, but do not brown. Add asparagus, and cook for 10 minutes, turning to insure the asparagus are cooked evenly. Remove from pan and serve.
Steamed Rutabaga
better than any potato I've ever had!
2-3 lbs rutabaga
olive oil
salt and pepper
parsley, chopped
Peel and cut rutabaga into desired sized pieces for eating. Use your choice of steaming for 25 minutes, covering the pot with a lid. Drain any water and place pieces into a serving bowl, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley.
Southern Pecan and Apple Salad
1 cup pecan halves
3 tsp orange zest
juice of 1 orange
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and ground pepper
2 medium red or green apples, cored and sliced thinly
2 heads Belgian endive, separated into leaves
2 cups mixed greens (like arugula and radicchio)
In a large salad bowl, combine orange zest, juice, mustard, vinegar and oil, taste and make sure you have a good balance between oil and vinegar and adjust accordingly adding salt and pepper to taste. Add apples, greens and half the pecans to the dressing and toss gently with your hands. Add remaining pecans on top and serve.
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| We kept the pecans on the side. |
As I've mentioned before, we have a pair of lovely friends that we do this paleo night with. They are awesome and wonderful and moving away and leaving me. So sad about this. Anyways, Tiffany is an amazing american tribal style belly dancer and creator of beautiful handmade silk, lace and recycled sari flowers. Please check out her work
HERE.
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