Paleo

Ok, I went a little bit more artistic with these images… I thought the contrast of the small plate presenting a soup could be interesting and leave me a fun canvas to add my topping (here I choose a coriander and yellow hot pepper chutney with a crispy nori sheet). I love the art of Food styling. It’s an art that I do not master yet but every photo shoots is a fun challenge and now that I’m also getting better with all of my camera options, I try to let myself go a little bit more and experiment with bolder presentation for my recipes.

I think I’ve also seen that style on another food blog that I enjoy where the cook often present his soups in a plate with barely any soup in it but with fun topping that makes the whole thing enjoyable for the eyes. This is my first attempt at it and it didn’t come out too bad don’t you think? I would LOVE to have your feedback on this one, this is really far fetch for me but if you guys like it, I might feel a little less bad to experiment with more daring styles for the upcoming recipes.

So this is the Paleo Hubbard Squash soup that I served last week end to my friend who has the digestive condition. The more I keep reading on the caveman diet, the more I like it. Obviously I would never be able to follow it closely in my everyday life but I enjoy the fact that it makes me experiment more with coconut products like dried coconut flakes and coconut water. The mix of the squash with the coconut milk and water really what makes this soup delicious and I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as I did 🙂

PS: Feel free to modify this recipe and use any of your favorite winter squashes! I’m pretty sure that it would be amazing as well 🙂

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I could never be 100% paleo. Pretty much like I couldn’t be 100% vegetarian or vegan. I’m just one of those people who strongly believe that almost everything can be good in moderation unless there is some sort of medical condition going on. Since food is part of the simple pleasures of life, I don’t like to have constraints when it comes to be creative in my kitchen. Some days I’ll be vegan or vegetarian. Others, I’ll jump on a big juicy steak with baked and stuffed potatoes.

Every meals or snacks will be influenced by my mood and I will always follow these simple life’s food rules:

1- Try to eat a little bit of (almost) everything in moderation.

2- Try to always eat more vegetables, fruits, mushrooms than meat.

3- Prior fish to red meat. Choose tofu, tempeh and seitan over fish and meat.

4- Eat food that are alive, like kimchi, miso, tempeh, sprouts etc…

5- Drink lots of teas, everyday.

6- Make sure that in those daily teas there is at least 1 matcha tea and 1 mushroom infusion.

7- Stay Active, work out.

8- Everything is always better homemade, so make it!

Beside that I’m pretty loose. Eat what your heart desire, try to always choose a healthy, non fatty alternative to your munchies and push your boundaries, get out of your comfort zone to discover new tastes and textures. Don’t close your mind to other culinary cultures and jump in.

Although I do not like to have constraints when it comes to my personal foodie life, it’s still fun and challenging to create recipes that are following a certain regiment. Have you heard of the Paleo or Caveman diet? Here’s a little Wiki article if you are curious to learn about what it mean to be 100% Paleo.

The basics you need to remember; Dairy Free – Grain Free – Gluten Free and Legumes Free. All potatoes are a big no no but you can still eat some sweet potatoes sporadically. All soy products are off limits but miso is accepted because the fermentation will make the soy beans easier to digest. Flours made of Coconut and Almonds are your best friends, coconut oil and olive oil should be your preferred fat.

A good friend of mine have a condition that could be helped by becoming Paleo but I really don’t see him being able and/or wanting to follow all these rules. Just because I knew he was coming to dinner last Saturday, I decided to create an entire Paleo menu from scratch and today I’m presenting you the decadent dessert I made. Seriously, this is by far one of my favorite desserts ever. Paleo or not, I’ll be making another batch of these very soon and I know that you might just become addicted if you dare trying it.

For the people who likes very chewy, almost gooey brownies, these are for you! The soft texture of the carob brownie and the crunch of the nutty topping is really making these little bites fun to eat. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I’m enjoying eating it. …right now, as I’m writing

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Paleo Hubbard Squash Soup

Chewy, Decadent Paleo Brownies with Nutty Topping.