Review and Recipe from The Paleo Approach Cookbook!

Review and Recipe from The Paleo Approach Cookbook!

Knowing all too well the challenges of grain-free cooking and baking, I couldn’t imagine the difficulties of cooking and baking without nuts or eggs. Yet, Sarah Ballantyne, in her new cookbook, The Paleo Approach Cookbook accomplishes just that with delicious and nourishing selections. This book is beyond grain-free with recipes that are both inventive and thoroughly inviting!

In this book there are over 200 delicious recipes that follow the Paleo Auto Immune Protocol (AIP). This means that the recipes do not have any nuts, seeds, eggs, nightshade vegetables and spices, dairy, grains, legumes, additives or processed sugar and vegetable oils.

However, this is much more than just a recipe book . There is a chapter outlining how to completely change your kitchen, pantry and even thought processes, in order to be successful on this diet. There are also meal plans, shopping lists and indications for which recipes are following the FODMAP diet.

Additionally, there is a chapter on kitchen staples that any Paleo eater should have on hand, as well as tips for reading labels, a recipe index, tear-out guides and my favorite, the Yes-No-Maybe Guide of foods that are great for you, not good and that may be OK for some people on this diet.

The book also explains many basic cooking tips and even the language in recipes, so any beginner can read through the book and be successful right away. The book is encyclopedic, just like The Paleo Approach with many inserts, tips and general knowledge made easy.

Best of all, the recipes are nutritious, budget friendly, and well explained with an emphasis on nutrient dense, quality foods – all within the confines of the Paleo AIP protocol. Quite an accomplishment!

Beyond all the real food recipes in this book are also some snacks and treats that anyone will enjoy! Take these Plantain and Apple Fritters that I just made – they were devoured before I could say The Paleo Approach Cookbook is awesome!

Ingredients

• 2 ripe plantains, peeled (ripe plantains should be covered in black spots, if not almost completely black – the blacker the peel, the better!)
• 1 small apple, peeled, cored and grated (organic apples)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (where to buy)

Equipment

Instructions

1. Mash the plantains in a bowl with a fork or use a mini processor (that is what I used) – leave some lumps as they taste better that way
2. Place in a mixing bowl
3. Add the grated apple and cinnamon and mix well
4. Heat the large fry pan to medium heat and add the coconut oil
5. Drop large spoonfuls of the batter and flatten with the back of the spoon – about 2 to 3 inches in diameter should give 6 around the side and one in the middle – any larger and they will be tricky to flip – you may have to cook the fritters in batches
6. Cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom
7. Add more coconut oil if the fritters absorb it (you will probably have to) – if they are browning too fast, turn down the heat
8. Carefully flip the fritters and cook for 7 to 8 minutes on the other side — adding coconut oil when needed
9. Enjoy!

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 20 – 40 minutes

Yield: 12 – 14 small pancakes

My Tip: Keep the fritters small for ease in flipping, cook on medium to low and keep adding coconut oil to keep them bathed in it or they will stick.

The verdict for these fritters: DELICIOUS! I was wondering how well they would hold together, but they are perfect! According to Sarah, they also freeze well, but my batch didn’t hang around long enough to try that! They remind me of my Banana Pancakes, but those are made with eggs. For someone who cannot have eggs, this is a great alternative.

I loved Sarah’s book The Paleo Approach for it’s comprehensive discussions about many important aspects of the Paleo AIP. If you are suffering with an autoimmune disorder, you really should have this book on hand as a reference. It is full of cutting edge, science based information that you can go back and refer to when you have a question. You can read my review of The Paleo Approach here.

This recipe is reprinted from The Paleo Approach Cookbook with permission from the publisher.

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of The Paleo Approach Cookbook to review with no obligation. I truly love the book and wanted to share that with my readers.

Original article and pictures take realfoodforager.com site