29 - 31 ~ Replacing Food Fave's

ok... so I'm not going to lie to you... when I saw the paleo food list I was devastated!
Don't worry I was only mildly devastated and for two reasons only... number 1... no chick peas and number 2.. no rice... two of my favourite foods in the whole world, rice and hummus!!

For this reason I decided to try and find some recipes that used alternatives for these two much loved foods of mine.
You'll be happy to know that in my travels I came along many recipes replicating these two foods but most of all when I tried one of the hummus recipes, it was actually surprisingly good! ...Bonus!
So never fear, I have taken the guess work and searching out of it for you and combined a few recipes on this page that will inspire your creativity in replacing your favourite foods. Yay!

Cauliflower ~ The super all rounder!

Cauliflower seems to be the paleo all rounder... meaning it's versatility will astound you!
It can be used to create many versatile dishes as a base or even just a side... and fortunately hummus is one of them!
The first time I tried hummus I wasn't quite sure of all the flavours, despite this though, I attempted the recipe at home one day and fell in love with it! It soon became a regular snack in our house and one which both my kids loved!
How could I tell them we couldn't eat it anymore because it was made with chick peas (that are bad for you)???
So I went searching high and low for a solution... I thought to myself  'it mustn't be that hard to make hummus with something other than chick peas.. right'?
And the answer was cauliflower (although there are also many other recipes online using eggplant and zucchini), I used cauliflower and my daughter tried it and it was a raging success!
Personally I can't even tell the difference between it and the original hummus made from chick peas, (except for the fibre content if you know what I mean)...hrrm.

The second dish that really inspired me was cauliflower rice and I would have made this too had I not used all my cauli for hummus... (what can I say, I got a little excited)...
This would be great with an Indian curry and that is exactly what I plan to do as soon as I've done my weekly shopping.

Cauliflower Hummus 

Ingredient levels for hummus I believe are all a matter of personal preference as long as you stick to some ground rule basics.
I like mine spicy where as my partner always makes his with a little more subtlety.
Generally speaking though you will need;
1 cauliflower head cored and cut into florets
Juice of 1 fresh lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup Tahini, (sesame seed paste available in the health food section of Coles or health food store/Asian grocer)
3 cloves of garlic (give or take)
1 tsp paprika

 Method:

The method for making paleo hummus varies form recipe to recipe but I much like the one I found this morning, roasted cauliflower hummus. I used a much more basic (and probably less flavour-some) recipe.
First I boiled the florets til soft, (next time I will steam them or use the above recipe), then I allowed them to cool somewhat. I then  placed them in a food processor with the remaining ingredients and bzzzzz bzzzzz bzzzzzzz and viola! Make sure all the ingredients have combined to make a smooth paste then taste and balance according to personal preference.

Serving suggestion;



Some more food for thought...

Veggie kebab skewers on the bbq

Barbequed apple and pork rissoles

Pork spare ribs for breakfast

Crumbed fish for dinner

 Pancakes with orange syrup and fresh strawberries

Can't wait to go shopping on Friday!! It's usually by this time at the end of the fortnight supplies and creativity start to diminish ever so slightly and then I'm pepped up again by the love of new ingredients to cook with!!

Love.Eat.Paleo