Five Paleo Dinners To Cook Next Week #23

I don’t have daring tales of adventure to share because my daily routine is following a mundane, but effective, schedule. I go to bed every night at 9:00; I eat paleo food every day. In between breakfast and bed, I write, walk, meditate, and read Jane Eyre. I suspect this pattern will repeat until the end of May. It’s kind of soothing and also somewhat annoying.

Last night, we disrupted the pattern with dinner and extremely competitive rounds of Tenzi. It’s an irresistible dice game than encourages silliness and loud yelling. It’s the perfect antidote to a rough day.

And now, here’s something else to help you with a rough day: five paleo and Whole30 compliant recipes, along with a recommendation for a coco-nutty condiment and a crunchy treat.

Dinner Ideas (Whole30 compliant)

Classic Paleo Beef Stew

Cookup Tips: This tastes even better after a few days in the fridge, so you can make it up to 5 days in advance. It also freezes great, so think about a double batch.

Recommended Sides: The stew has everything you need, but if you want to add more veggies, you could throw some raw baby spinach in the bottom of the bowl, or make a crisp green salad with creamy Ranch dressing.

Egg Foo Yong

Cookup Tips: This recipe is pretty much made from leftovers, so if you cook chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp during your Cookup, you can toss it into an Egg Foo Yong patty with whatever leftover veggies you have on hand.

Recommended Sides: You can stick with the Asian theme and cook up a batch of Cauliflower Rice, or do a diner-style mash-up and make some Home Fries or Sweet Potato Fries instead. You can do prep on all the veggies for sides during a Cookup, then finish them at dinner time.

Pesto Chicken Meatballs

Cookup Tips: This also tastes even better after some time in the fridge, so you can make the whole shebang during a Cookup and eat it later in the week. It’s also great for freezing!

Recommended Sides: You can serve these on top of Zucchini Noodles—prep the zucchini in advance: julienne it, sweat it, rinse it, pat it dry, and place in fridge until you’re ready to eat— or Spaghetti Squash roasted during your Cookup.

Vietnamese Chicken Salad

Cookup Tips: You can prep all of the components in advance: poach the chicken, make the mayo, chop the veggies, mix the dressing. Then when it’s time to eat, toss it all together and enjoy!

Recommended Sides: It doesn’t need a thing… YAY!

Oven-Fried Salmon Cakes

Cookup Tips: These hold up great in the fridge and reheat (and freeze) beautifully, so they’re perfect for Cookup action. Serve them with the leftover mayo from the Vietnamese Chicken Salad, or with the Spicy Coconut Mayo below.

Recommended Sides: Veggies that can be made in the oven are nice because you’ve already got the oven going, so how about Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Rice, Sweet Potato Fries, or Mustard-Garlic Brussels Sprouts?

Condiment (Whole30 compliant)

Spicy Coconut Mayo

Cookup Tips: This is delicious on a green salad, or dabbed on top of the Salmon Cakes or Egg Foo Yong. It’s good until the expiration date on the egg you use to make your mayo.

Treat (not Whole30 compliant)

Grain-Free Green-ola

Cookup Tips: This is easy to throw together and halfway ignore while you’re going about your business with the rest of your Cookup.

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