primal cavewife

I bought the Chef Avenue 3 in 1 Slicer over the weekend from CNR and was super excited to use it this week because I can finally make my boyfriend spaghetti bolognaise! I knew that being gluten intolerant, spagbol was something he hadn't had in years, so I decided to make him this delicious surprise. I don't love spagbol that much, but I LOVED THIS! HE loved this, which really says a lot. His only complaint was that the zoodles were too long... yes... I have a newborn toothless child at home. But that can easily be fixed by cutting the noodles up.

Since we usually cook a lot to last us several meals over the week, this recipe serves at least 6. But you can easily adjust the ingredients... or just cook a big pot and bring it for lunch the next day!

Ingredients:
2 onions, diced
5 garlic cloves, minced
1.5kg beef mince
1 cup water
2 carrots, cubed
5 tomatoes, chopped
2 cups mushroom, chopped
2 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp basil
2 tbsp chives
2 tbsp thyme
5 tbsp tomato paste/5 tbsp tomato sauce, optional
grated cheese, optional
salt
pepper
4 zucchini, julienne

• Melt butter on medium heat in a pot. Add the onion and garlic and fry until cooked.
• Add the beef mince and a cup of water and heat until mince is browned.
• Add the carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms and let it simmer.
• Add the herbs, salt and pepper and simmer for about 30-45 minutes.
• In the meantime, place the zucchini noodles on a paper towel in a bowl and add salt. This is to draw the water out of the zucchini. Dab as much water as you can with a fresh paper towel.
• On a frying pan, heat the zoodles up for a couple minutes and plate it.
• Add the tomato paste/sauce in the mince mix and simmer for a couple minutes.
• Serve the zoodles with the sauce and a handful of grated cheese.

I've always wondered how people made zoodles. It always seemed like a lot of work. Then I found this machine. I've read about it on Paleo facebook groups which said that they were sold at farmer's markets. I never got around to going to that particular farmer's market. But then we went to CNR Kitchen in Northbridge...

My friend's looking for a paleo café to sell her paleo desserts, so we've been scouting around together. Solomon's in Highgate was our first destination. Then CNR over the weekend. The minute I saw that they were selling these at CNR, I knew I had to get them. At $35 for one, I knew this is one of the machines I would get a lot out of.

Tried it last night... made spaghetti bolognaise, and it is currently my favourite gadget I have in the kitchen. It's so simple, so compact, so neat. Now I can make all the noodles in the world out of whatever I can get my hands on!

• Cut up the vegetables in chunks and boil the sweet potatoes in boiling water for 10 minutes. If you eat the broccoli stems like we do, I would suggest boiling that along with the sweet potatoes to soften it before you stick it in the oven.
• Place all the vegetables in your oven dish.
• In a saucepan, melt butter and then add corn flour. Mix well.
• Add the milk and cream in the butter mix over medium heat stirring constantly.
• When the sauce is thickening, add in grated cheese, salt and pepper, nutmeg and herbs.
• Once the sauce has thickened, pour it over vegetables in the baking dish and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
• If you like more cheese, sprinkle more grated cheese on top after 30 minutes and bake for another 10 minutes.
 

This the first Paleo dish I actively looked up to make for my boyfriend. It looks a little sloppy but it is so good. Especially if you love zucchinis, and bacon, and carbonara… Being a big fan of zucchinis, I chose this recipe out of all the many other recipes from his ebook. It was easy and did not require many ingredients, and most importantly, the ingredients were really accessible. My boyfriend likes zucchini more because of this dish as well!

Ingredients:
4 zucchinis, sliced (I used a slicer because it’s easy and they are sliced evenly and not too thick)
bacon, cubed (amount depends on how much you love meat)
1 egg
1/4 cup cream
1/4 cup coconut cream

• Fry the zucchinis in a frying pan in olive oil for about 2-3 minutes until just cooked so that they are not too soft. It may be easier to cook in batches.
• Set zucchinis aside. Fry the bacon in the frying pan until browned. Beat the egg, cream and coconut cream together and pour it in with the bacon making sure the egg does not scramble.
• Place the zucchini in the frying pan with the sauce and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I love zucchinis. Back in Canberra we used to grow them in the backyard and they would grow so big, bigger than the size of my arm and they are very easy to grow as well. This recipe is one of our favourites. Mine because of the zucchini and my boyfriend’s because of the amount of meat in it. Perfect for dinner for the both of us!

Ingredients:
4 medium zucchinis
300g mince, beef/lamb
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 can coconut cream
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp garam masala
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne, depending on how spicy you like it
1/2 tsp cumin

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
• Cut zucchini in halves lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and set aside. The shell should be about 1/4 inch thick.
• Sprinkle the zucchini shells with salt and pepper and microwave, covered, for 3 minutes. Set aside.
• Chop the zucchini innards.
• Heat the oil over medium/high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent. Add the mince and cook until browned. Drain the fat.
• Add the zucchini innards and sauté for a minute, until it just starts to soften.
• Stir in the curry, garam masala, cayenne, and cumin.
• Pour in the coconut cream, bring to boil, then lower to simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is thickened and creamy.
• Spoon the mince mix into the zucchini shells, ensuring not to add too much liquid.
• Bake for 10-15minutes.