Cracker Jack Hack
So here's a perfect summer hack for that nostalgic baseball stadium staple, Cracker Jacks. The real thing is verboten: corn, peanuts, molasses, and corn syrup, but this easy substitute tastes great, doesn't need a recipe, and is actually good for you (in small portions).
Paleonola Granola (available from Whole Foods or on line from Thrive Market, www.thrivemarket.com). My favorite flavor is Pina Colada, but Maple Pancake is good, too (or Original or Apple, or Chocolate, which would add a whole other dimension)
Extra virgin olive oil
Coarse sea salt
Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the granola (you want just enough to make the salt adhere to the granola, but not enough to make it greasy), sprinkle on a little sea salt, mix, bake on a baking sheet for two or three minutes, cool, and it's ready to munch. Of course, you can also whip up a batch of your favorite Paleo granola recipe and proceed from there).
Krispy Kremes (Not)
Makes 6 donuts
So, when I embarked on my Paleo junk food quest, Krispy Kremes were at the top of my list. Thank goodness I was unable to recreate my nemesis. What you have below, is a recipe for a perfectly good donut, one which Henry, my resident donut maven, says is better than Dunkin' Donuts. I ate one, and it was pretty good, but since it was not Krispy Kreme, I didn't have another. That's o.k...Henry ate the rest.
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 tsp arrowroot powder or tapioca flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of sea salt
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 large eggs
2 tsp ghee (clarified butter), melted
3 TBS coconut sugar
1/2 cup canned, full-fat coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
Coconut oil for greasing donut pan
Glaze
1/4 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp arrowroot powder
Pinch of sea salt
1 TBS (or more) canned coconut milk
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease donut pan with coconut oil.
2. Whisk dry ingredients, then stir in the rest of the ingredients.
3. Pour into a six donut mold pan and bake for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4. Cool on wire rack before glazing.
For glaze
1. Put coconut sugar and arrowroot in a high-speed blender and blend for a few seconds to make powdered sugar.
2. Add a small pinch of salt and enough coconut milk to make a syrupy glaze.
3. Drizzle over cooled donuts
(Note: Because coconut sugar is brown, this glaze comes out looking a little like chocolate. The donut photo was taken pre-glaze).
Serves two
There is a little lunch place in Portland, Maine, called Duck Fat because they fry their potatoes in (duh!) duck fat. I think that they serve the best, the very best fries ever. While white potatoes aren't Paleo, sweet potatoes are. And if you make the following recipe with Japanese sweet potatoes, which are white and not quite as sweet as the orange ones, it's pretty darn close to the real thing. The duck fat makes all the difference.
1 large Japanese or regular sweet potato
2 TBs duck fat, melted (if you can't get this locally, you can order on-line from Epic Provisions, www.epicbar.com, or from Thrive Market (www.thrivemarket.com)
2 TBS arrowroot powder
Pinch of sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, optional
1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
2. Peel and slice sweet potato as you would for hand-cut French fries.
3. Toss slices in melted duck fat, then in arrowroot powder,and sprinkle with salt, and pepper, if using.
4. Bake on baking sheet for about 20 minutes, turning halfway through, until fries are nicely browned.
Paleo Doritos
Even if you're not following a Paleo diet, the list of ingredients in real Doritos might inspire you to try this healthy version, to wit: corn, vegetable oil, cheddar cheese, maltodextrin, wheat flour, whey, monosodium glutamate, buttermilk solids, Romano cheese, whey protein concentrate, onion powder, partially hydrogenated soybean and cottonseed oil, corn flour, disodium phosphate, lactose, natural and artificial flavor, dextrose, tomato powder, spices, lactic acid, artificial color (3 of them!), citric acid, sugar, garlic powder, red and green bell pepper powder, sodium caseinate, disodium inosinate ( which spellcheck just tried to change to insinuate), disodium guanylate, nonfat milk solids, whey protein isolate, and corn syrup solids.
Whew! Better living through chemistry? I think not.
That list just makes me want to rush into my garden and eat raw kale!
1 1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup golden flaxseed meal
2 egg whites
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 tsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix all ingredients in a food processor until a ball of dough forms.
3. Separate dough into two halves.
4. Place each piece of dough between two pieces of parchment paper.
5. With a rolling pin, roll each piece 1/8 of an inch or thinner ( the thinner, the crispier)
6. Remove top pieces of parchment paper and transfer the dough on the bottom sheets of paper to a baking sheet.
7. Cut into triangular wedges.
8. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until starting to brown. Cool.