More Cauliflower Rice

I am having a bit of a love affair with cauliflower rice at the moment though I still think it should be called cauliflower cous cous - the consistency is much more like that.

It's surprisingly filling, goes with everything and is so versatile! From simply garlicky, to Elanas Pantry dirty rice version to today's fridge raider version ...

For my one person portion I fried some chopped garlic with a handful of fine diced butternut squash and 2 slices of snipped up turkey bacon until they were just about cooked then added a handful of pinenuts then fried for a few more minutes. I had food processed half a very small cauliflower (I usually figure about a quarter cauliflower per person) until it looked like cous cous (it just doesn't look like rice!) I added it to the pan with a splash of water and some herbs. In retrospect those herbs should have been sage & parsley so let's just pretend those are the ones I used.

I ate this with tuna steaks marinated with lemon & herb nandos spices. Yum. 

Paleo Beef & Onion Tart

I used the same pastry as for the sweet potato tarts and I really need to get some individual pie tins coz its way to delicate to transfer to a big tin! Most of the top looked like a crazy paving of repairs!

I made a simple filling with beef mince and onions (half a tin of those easy ready fried onions I must admit) flavoured with some bacon lardons (everything is better with pork) thyme, a bay leaf & some Coleman's onion gravy paste. I thickened it with some corn flour & let it simmer with some water added till it was thick & yummy. Next time I think I'll let the filling cook in the slow cooker the night before.

Once I'd put it in the pastry I cooked it at 200c for twenty minutes, with greaseproof over for the first ten minutes.

My dad gave it a big thumbs up!

Paleo Spanish Sweet Potato Tarts

This isn't a Spanish recipe; it came out of my head, but it has peppers & chorizo in it so surely that makes it Spanish?

I admittedly nicked the pastry recipe from Bruce Fifes 'cooking with coconut flour' which is an awesome book. I'm not scientific enough to invent pastry recipes!

This made ten muffin tin sized tarts well it would if I hadn't wrecked one when I burnt my hand & then dropped one when I was getting them out.

You wanna make the fillings a bit in advance to let them cool a bit.

PEPPER FILLING (goes in the bottom of the tart)
1 small red onion
1 red pepper
1 small chorizo*
Tsp chopped garlic
Over a low heat sweat the onions with a pinch of salt, adding the chorizo then the peppers & garlic. Cook them long & slow til they are soft & sticky.
*a spoonful of smoked paprika and a pinch of cayenne in the mix will make it veggie! I'm always thinking of how you'll make it @MsCurlysue!

SWEET POTATO TOPPING
3 smallish sweet potatoes
Tbsp coconut  cream
2 eggs
Tbsp chopped parsley
Tsp smoked paprika
Microwave the sweet potatoes in their skins until soft, then cut them in half & let them cool for a bit. Once they're coolish scoop out the sweet potato and put it in a food processor with the other ingredients. Blitz until its a smooth thick liquid.

COCONUT ALMOND PASTRY
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
2 eggs
1/4 cup melted coconut butter, melted
1/4 tsp salt
Mix all the ingredients except the coconut flour together well & then sift in the coconut flour & mix again. Once the dough comes together knead for a minute then put between two pieces of greaseproof paper and roll out.

PUTTING THE TARTS TO TOGETHER
Cut out discs of pastry a bit bigger than than the muffin holes & gently push them down. Divide the pepper mix between the tarts & then spoon the sweet potato mix on top. It was a tbsp & a tsp on each for me. Don't worry about getting it smooth & fully covered - it will even out during cooking. Bake at 200c for fifteen  minutes.

Paleo Meatloaf (& cauliflower rice)

PALEO MEATLOAF

Good to have something tasty, filling & paleo to do with cheap bits of meat and this is all three. Would serve six of me or three of dad (I realise this doesn't help you much!).

1/2 cup coconut flour
3 eggs
1.5 cups waitrose soffrito veg mix*
Tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Pinch thyme
Pinch marjoram

500g mince (I used half & half beef & pork)
500g carton of tomato passata

Preheat the oven to 175c and grease a loaf tin.
Mix the first section of ingredients together well in a bowl then add the mince and a cup of passata. You might need to get your hands dirty at this point, it needs to be mixed well. Tip the rest of the passata over the top & sprinkle with a bit more salt/pepper/thyme/marjoram and bake in the oven for 1 & 1/4 hours.

*it's a mixture of diced onion, carrot & celery.

CAULIFLOWER RICE

There are many recipes for this on the net & I'd suggest you google it - this "recipe" was more about what was in the fridge! It at least shows how easy it is to do though I always think the texture is more like cous cous than rice! I would normally add herbs & spices but I wanted a fairly neutral accompaniment to the meatloaf.

What was left of the soffrito mix (about 1/3 cup I reckon)
Half a cauliflower
Knob of dairy free butter
Salt

Fry the soffrito mix in some oil (I used garlic oil) until soft while blitzing the cauliflower in the food processor. From the amount I have left I'd say a 1/4 cauliflower = a portion. Once the soffrito mix is soft add the cauliflower, mix well & add the knob of "butter". Put the lid on & turn the heat down low. Cook to your taste, stir and add salt. Surprisingly filling!

Gingerbread (almost Paleo)

This is really yummy, proper old fashioned spicy treacly gingerbread. I got the recipe from Cooking with Coconut Flour which I like too much to steal from - you can get it here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/0941599639
The only thing I changed was to swap the sugar for agave (2/3 as much agave as sugar and cut the milk by 2/3). I'll be having some for breakfast with some baked figs tommorrow.