Easy Fresh Salsa

A Primal diet isn't really about eating like a caveman; it's about avoiding chemicals, sugars and grains (mostly) while focussing on fresh foods that are as organic and natural as you can manage. A lot of familiar foods can be fit into this formula. Salsa can be used as a garnish for meats, and ingredient for omelets and scrambles, even as a salad dressing. Useful stuff! This is my recipe for an easy fresh salsa, and I doubt that it is unique; the basic ingredients are pretty simple after all.

3 medium Tomatos
1 large Jalapeno pepper
3 large Green Onions
1/2 Walla Walla Sweet Onion
1/4 cup Vinegar
1 TBS Lime juice

Slice and dice tomatoes. Slice Jalapeno Pepper in half, remove and discard seeds, then slice and dice.  Split the whites of the Green Onions, then chop them fine. Include the greens, too! Peel WallaWalla Sweet Onion, cut in half and dice 1/2- save the other half for later. Combine ingredients in a bowl, add Vinegar and Lime Juice. Mix well.

You can of course serve this salsa immediately, but I find it's better to refrigerate it overnight to let the acids break it down slightly and combine the flavors. This is a good 'base' recipe, and you can do all sorts of things with it. Add more, less or different hot peppers. Try Red Onion instead of a Sweet Onion. Add some Bell Pepper, or Tomatillos. Change the proportions to taste. Whatever you like, really; there's not a lot in the way of rules.

So, how's the diet going? Well, we're still eating down the 'bad' foods; we wound up having Pasta this week because it was easy and we needed to get rid of it. Still, Linda says that I am losing weight, and I had to tighten my belt so it seems to be working. Unfortunately I'm still pegging the scale at 310lbs. It's not a fast diet, but frankly that's probably better anyway; lose the weight gradually as I get back in the habit of eating well. I have a routine Doctor's appointment tomorrow, so there will be a weigh-in there and I'll get an idea of where I am at.

Savory Beef Soup with Mushrooms, Onions and Bok Choy

We don't really eat like cavemen, and not everything needs to be fried. This is a delicious, hearty beef soup full of good things. Takes a total of about 1 hour to 1-1/4 hours to prepare, but most of that is simmering time. Great as a starter, but hearty enough to be a dinner.

1-1/2 pounds boneless Chuck Steak
1 Visalia Sweet Onion (or Walla Walla Sweet)
3 Scallions
1/2 lb. Sliced Mushrooms
2 Shanghai Bok Choy cabbages.
1 Quart Natural 100% Beef Stock
3 TBS Lard or Bacon fat
1 Tsp. Black Pepper
1 TBS Garlic powder
3 TBS Lee and Perrin's
1TBS Salt

Grease a large, deep skillet with the Lard. Cube beef into pieces 3/4" to 1" square. Place Beef in pan, dust with Black Pepper and Garlic Powder, add Lee and Perrin's. Brown over medium heat, stirring regularly.

Peel and cut Sweet Onion into quarters, then slice thin (1/8-1/4".) Chop Green Onions into small sections. Cut greens from the Bok Choy, cut them in half and set aside. Cut white parts into bit-sized pieces.

When Beef is browned remove from pan. Add Sweet Onion, Green Onion, Mushrooms the Bok Choy whites. Simmer until Sweet Onions begin turning translucent.

Add Salt, browned Beef and Beef Stock to pan. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for forty to fifty minutes until beef is tender. Uncover, add Bok Choy greens and simmer another five minutes. Serve with salt and pepper to taste. Serves 4-6

The Budget Caveman

OK, it would undoubtedly be best to eat all-organic, all natural products. It would be great to establish links to your local farmers and meat producers, craft cheesemakers etc. But there's a problem- that gets bloody expensive. Too expensive for most of use living in urban areas. So what's a caveman to do?

The same thing we do in most sub-optimal situations; do the best that we can. Buy organic when we can afford to, buy naturally raised and when we can't keep an eye on the ingredients list to minimize intake of things that are not food- chemicals, preservatives etc. Shop carefully and be adaptable. Substitute preparation and shopping time for money; you can often find pretty good stuff even in a mass-market supermarket if you take your time and are diligent.

When you do have to buy mass-market vegetables wash them carefully to remove any residues from production or shipping. This doesn't mean 'run them under cold water.' You can actually use very dilute soapy water, then rinse thoroughly.

There are some areas that you cannot go cheap- Lard is one of them. Commercial lard is usually vegetable-based and are not good for you. This is where you need to find a source of naturally-grown pork and arrange to get the fat and render it yourself. There really is no good substitute for 'clean' Lard.

Farmer's Markets can often provide bargains, as can 'discount' supermarkets; I recently purchased 2-1/2 pounds of Rockfish for $2.99. These were the cut-off ends of commercial fillets and were flash-frozen. Ingredients: Rockfish. So what if they are small? Cook more of them if you need to.

Pay attention, be mindful and set aside time for preparation.

Here's a recipe for breakfast:

6 eggs
1 Vidalia Sweet Onion
2 Granny Smith Apples
1 cup Shredded Cheese
Black Pepper to taste
2 TBS lard

Peel and dice onion. Peel, core and dice the apples. Melt lard in a skillet over medium heat. Cook apples and onions until onions are translucent. Scramble the eggs and add them to the mix and add a liberal amount of Black Pepper. Cook until eggs are firm, stirring constantly. Add the Shredded Cheese and stir until it's melted in. Serve Immediately. Serves 2-4

7-Bone Chuck with Yams and Baby Bok Choy

Cavemen never had it so good.

7-Bone Chuck roast (3lb.)
3 TBS crushed garlic
1 Yellow Onion
2 medium Yams

Pre-heat oven to 225 degrees.
Slice Yams into discs approx. 1/2 inch thick. Peel and slice onion into rings approx. 1/4 inch thick. Place Chuck Roast in a glass baking dish lined with foil (9x13 should do.)  Spread crushed garlic over meat, then cover liberally with rings of onion. Surround meat with Yam discs. Cover with foil and bake at 225 degrees for 3-4 hours.* Serve meat portions with onions and garlic on top.  Serves 4

*If meat is significantly more than 3 pounds increase cooking time by 30 minutes per pound over three.

1-2 lbs. Baby Bok Choy
1 tsp Garlic
3 TBS Soy sauce
2 TBS Bacon grease

Heat grease over Medium heat until liquid in a large fry pan. Add Garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, then add Bok Choy and toss well in pan.  Cook, tossing often, until leaves are wilted and stems are tender but still crunchy (4-5 minutes)then add Soy sauce and toss well over heat. Serve immediately. Serves 4+

Delicious, easy and quick to prepare. Always wash vegetables well before cooking or eating raw.
Hard to believe this is 'diet' food!

Oh, the Privations of Dieting! I Must Endeavor to Perservere...

We're still eating down the 'bad food,' foods with white starch, processed sugar and processed foods in general, but were starting to hit the diet where we can. Here's breakfast for two:

5 eggs
2 small tomatoes (or one regular)
3 scallions
2 handfuls of organic spring greens
2 TBS organic lard
1/2 Cantaloupe

Chop Scallions and tomatoes, add to five scrambled eggs in a bowl. Heat lard on medium heat until just melted, add other ingredients Once the eggs are well started add the greens and cook until greens are wilted and mx is no longer wet. Serve with salt and pepper to taste and 1/2 cantaloupe.

Add a glass of fruit juice or low-sodium V8 and you're set.

V8 is pretty good stuff, by the way. Yes, it's a processed food and has a dab of chemicals but it's pretty balanced and helps fill you up. Of course you can read the ingredients list and make your own fresh, which we'll be doing eventually. Look for that recipe in the coming weeks.