Breakfast

  • Fried/poached eggs with ham + spinach
  • Or Baked sweet potato slices topped with mashed avocado, tomatoes and ham
  • Fruit: Orange or apple

Lunch

  • Frittata or courgette, bacon & tomato slice with paleo coleslaw + salad
  • Or baked sweet potato with grated carrot/celeriac/paleo coleslaw + salad + avocado or tuna + paleo mayo

Dinner

  • Main: Steak (use recipe provided week one) with parsnip chips and a big green or tomato salad.
  • Pudding: Fresh pineapple

*If you want to eat out this evening see our Paleo Eating Out Guide

 

DUCK CONFIT PREPARATION

If you are going to have duck confit tomorrow then prepare the duck legs today and leave in the fridge overnight (24-48 hours)

 

Baked sweet potato slices topped with mashed avocado, tomatoes and ham – 25 minutes to prepare

Ingredients:

  • 1 sweet potato
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 avocado
  • Optional: lime/lemon juice, chilli flakes, spring onion to flavour the avocado
  • 2 tomatoes
  • Optional: Ham or Parma ham
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

  1. Chop the sweet potato into thin slices and place on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and then bake in a preheated oven (180 degrees/gas 4/350F) for 15-20 minutes. Check them to make sure they don’t burn.
  2. While the potatoes are baking, mash an avocado. You could add lime/lemon juice, chilli flakes or chopped spring onion to the avocado.
  3. Chop the tomatoes.
  4. Once the sweet potato is cooked, top the slices with the mashed avocado, chopped tomatoes and some ham/Parma ham. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. For a vegetarian breakfast skip the ham.

Serving suggestion: serve with a big handful of watercress dressed with lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

Sweet potato slices are also really nice topped with spinach and poached eggs.

 

Courgette, Bacon and Tomato Slice – lasts for 3 days in the fridge

This ‘slice’ is essentially a frittata with the addition of a little flour, which has been baked in the oven to give a compact, sliceable shape. The flour is optional, as the dish will set perfectly well without it, but it does act as a carrier for the baking powder, which is there to add a little air to the finished dish, creating a less dense product. If you would prefer to omit the flour, also remove the baking powder from the recipe.

The slice can be cooled and refrigerated, and will keep for up to 3 days. It is delicious as part of a picnic or packed lunch.

Serves: 4 to 6

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 35 – 40 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 x standard 500g (approx. loaf tin
  • 1 x sheet baking parchment
  • 10g butter (for greasing)
  • 3 large courgettes, roughly grated
  • 250g smoked streaky bacon, cut into small strips
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 large, ripe tomatoes, beef tomatoes are good
  • 1 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped, or 1tsp dried thyme
  • 8 free-range eggs, beaten
  • Olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 25g coconut flour
  • 2 tsp. baking powder

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Grease the loaf tin with a little butter and line its base with greased baking parchment.
  2. Gently fry the onion, garlic, and bacon in a little olive oil until the onion becomes translucent and the bacon begins to crisp a little. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
  3. Once cooled, add the grated courgette, thyme, eggs, and – if using – the flour and baking powder.
  4. Season well with salt and pepper, and fold everything together to combine.
  5. Cover the bottom of the baking tin with a layer of sliced tomato. Spoon half of the courgette mixture over the top, and then add another layer of sliced tomato. Spoon the remaining courgette mixture into the tin, and top with a final layer of sliced tomato.
  6. Place in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the tip of a knife can be pushed into the centre of the mixture and remain clean when removed.
  7. Allow to sit for five minutes before turning out and slicing. Serve with a fresh green salad.


Paleo Crunchy Coleslaw – lasts 3-4 days in the fridge (without the mayonnaise dressing)

Ingredients:

Use varying amounts of cabbage and carrot depending on how much you would like to make.

  • Chopped red cabbage (strips)
  • Chopped white cabbage (strips)
  • Carrot grated
  • One white onion
(or 3 salad/spring onions
for a milder taste)
  • Salt & pepper
  • Olive oil mayonnaise – see recipe in “Preparation Recipes”

Method:

  1. Mix all the vegetables together in a large bowl.
  2. Add the salt, pepper and the desired amount of mayonnaise and mix thoroughly.
  3. To keep for 3-4 days DO NOT DRESS the vegetables with mayonnaise, until you want to eat the coleslaw (or the night before). This will prevent the vegetables from going soggy.

 

Nigella’s Steak Slice with Lemon and Thyme

Serves 2

Ingredients:

  • 2 x 2.5 cm thick grass-fed steak
  • 5 stalks thyme
  • 2 cloves garlic (bruised)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • Salt & pepper Method
  • Once the steak is cooked, place it in the dish of marinade for 4 minutes a side, (keep covered with a double layer of foil and a tea towel to keep it warm) before removing it to a board and slicing thinly on the diagonal.
  • Turn the steaks over at half-time – the cooked side will look crisp and crusty.
  • For a fillet steak 1½ inches (4 cm) thick, give it 5 minutes on each side for medium; 1 minute less each side for rare; and 1 minute more for well done. Timings will vary because the thickness of steaks differs, so you need to test.
  • For a steak 1 inch (2.5 cm) thick, allow 1½-2 minutes on each side for rare; 3 minutes on each side for medium; and about 4 minutes on each side for well done.
  • Use a tablespoon to press gently on the surface of the steak, so that as much as possible is kept in contact with the heat of the pan.
  • It is important to have the pan as hot as you dare, so it has to be one with a thick, solid base. Place the pan over direct heat turned to high and let the pan become very hot before you add just the smallest amount of oil or fat – about 1 teaspoon. Let this become shimmering hot. Add the steak.
  • The very best way to cook steaks is in a frying pan. Season the steak on both sides with freshly milled black pepper but no salt yet, as this encourages the juices to come out.
  • Place the thyme leaves, garlic, oil, lemon zest and juice, and salt and pepper in a wide, shallow dish.
  • Instead of marinating the meat before cooking, you marinate it after; it really does keep it extraordinarily tender. Please feel free to play around with the herbs, such as oregano rather than thyme.

Duck Confit Preparation – 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 duck legs
  • 8 sage leaves
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 2 jars of duck or goose fat (you will need this tomorrow)

Method

  1. Finely chop the sage leaves, then pound them with the salt using a pestle and mortar.
  2. Rub the mixture all over and into the skin of the duck legs and put the duck legs, skin-side up, on a plate and leave, uncovered, in the fridge for 24-48 hours (this draws the moisture to ensure a crispy skin when cooked).