new year

Curried Beef Stew

We’re in the thick of stew season here in the US; this is the time of year where I like to spend my lazy weekend afternoons filling the house with the smells of simmering meat and winter vegetables. Unfortunately for stew season, but fortunately for us, our little part of Florida is still experiencing warm weather: as I type this, it’s 74F outside right now. Understandably, I’ve had a hard time getting into the winter stew spirit, as warm weather calls for warm-weather food.

So this past weekend I decided to mix both worlds, combining the comforts of cooking a stew and the flavors of an exotic dish. Today’s recipe for Curried Beef Stew doesn’t quite have a distinct origin, and its flavor is equal parts Indonesian Beef Rendang and Japanese Curry (the latter’s recipe is found in my debut cookbook, The Ancestral Table): earthy, hearty, and exceptionally rich.

In developing this dish, I wanted to appeal to many audiences. The recipe is Whole30-friendly, to be used as a resource for those who are starting their New Year off with some squeaky-clean eating. Included at the bottom of the recipe are also instructions for those of you who were recently gifted an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker, or are dusting it off after a period of neglect. Finally, I was careful to choose ingredients that are readily available at any grocery store – no need to hunt down particular items across several different markets.

Quick note as you are grocery shopping: there are two bell peppers in this recipe – one in the paste, and another in the stew itself!

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Turnip and Potato Soup

It’s a New Year, which means many folks are just starting (or restarting) a new healthy eating adventure. One of the more popular eating challenges is the Whole30 (heck, it’s the #6 book on Amazon as of this morning). It’s been a few years since I’ve done a Whole30, which is a 30-day program with explicit guidelines. It doesn’t stray far from the way I eat anyway, other than the fact that it’s more stringent on honey, alcohol, dairy, and rice than my typical diet.

One thing I remember from my last Whole30 (in 2012, if memory serves me) was that I had a hard time keeping up my carb intake – at the time, the only carb-heavy foods allowed were sweet potatoes, beets, and plantains, which grew tiresome after a month of eating them. Luckily, the folks behind Whole30 remedied that in 2014, when they added white potatoes to their list of allowed foods. Hopefully this recipe – which includes two starchy vegetables – will make this month’s Whole30 a bit easier for everyone (also, don’t forget about this guide which transforms 94% of the 250+ recipes in Paleo Takeout to be Whole3o-compliant).

The turnip is one of the first cultivated vegetables, with some records dating back 17,000 years. Turnip roots aren’t as popular in the US as their greens, which are similar to mustard greens in taste. This soup is one of my favorite ways to prepare turnips, as it accentuates the natural creaminess of the root; serve this to your guests, and they won’t believe you that it’s dairy-free. Adding potatoes to the soup adds more body and heft to the dish, warming the belly on these cold winter evenings.

Fun fact: the rutabaga, another common root vegetable, was originally a cross-cultivation of the turnip and cabbage. It is also referred to as “neep” in some countries, likely a carryover from the Old English word næp (and before that, the Latin word napus), which meant “turnip”. Rutabagas and turnips are often confused for one another, with a common misconception that rutabagas are just large turnips.

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Five Years Paleo – 10 Lessons Learned

2015 really flew by, huh? I had quite a crazy ride over this past year: I released an eBook, a New York Times-bestselling cookbook, a smartphone/tablet app, embarked on a 12-week book tour, and welcomed our second son into the world. At the same time, this little website reached over 2.5 million readers, and a Yahoo news article about my health journey went viral.

More so than in previous years, I’ve caught myself reflecting on that fateful day in December 2010, when I first stumbled upon the ideas behind the Paleo diet. A lot has changed since then, and the movement has greatly expanded from the few forums that existed when I first changed my diet and restored my health. Here are 10 ideas on food and nutrition I’d like to share.

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The Safe Starch Cookbook

UPDATE: This eBook is now available, check it out!

Hi everyone, hope you’re having a great holiday! We decided at the last minute to spend our Christmas at Disney World (one of the perks of relocating to Florida). I’m in a giving mood, and so I wanted to share some news with you folks: I’m proud to announce that I am releasing a new eBook soon, called The Safe Starch Cookbook.

Along with compiling over 60 of my favorite carb-centered recipes, I used the eBook as an opportunity to put together all of my thoughts concerning this grossly misunderstood macronutrient. I discuss the historical precedence for starch consumption, the cost-effectiveness of mindfully incorporating starches into your diet, and some ideas concerning portion sizes and food timing. Not just a big carb-fest, I designed The Safe Starch Cookbook to teach you about the judicious use of starch to increase meal satisfaction and balance macronutrients to overcome cravings.

The recipes are divided into four main categories: rice, potatoes, noodles, and other starches (starch flours and starchy vegetables). The eBook is an interactive PDF, and will work on any PC, tablet, or smart phone. I wrote and designed the whole book from scratch, and I’m really proud of it; to get an idea of the design, here is a sample recipe for Bangers and Kale Mash.

The Safe Starch Cookbook will be released through this site on February 1st, but it is available right now as part of a really cool package called The Family Resolution Revolution Bundle.

This bundle features a ton of resources to help your family kickstart their health, including cookbooks, meal plans, eGuides, and annual digital subscriptions to Paleo Magazine and Paleo Living Magazine. It also comes with over $200 in discounts for Paleo-friendly products, too. All told, the $39 bundle comes with more than $1,000 worth of content. If you’re looking to grab some great resources for the New Year (and get early access to The Safe Starch Cookbook), this is a great way to do it. The Family Resolution Revolution Bundle only runs until January 4th, so be sure to check it out!

Please note that by clicking on the above link I receive a commission of the bundle sale.

I have another project in the works, but I’m not quite ready to share it yet – but soon! For now, let me know what you think of The Safe Starch Cookbook, and enjoy this time with family and friends.