Delicious, nutrition-packed dinners are the best. And don't you just love it when the earth does most of the work for you? Grab a few pounds of ripe tomatoes and you're halfway there with this recipe

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, or get your instapot out. I highly highly recommend pan roasting your tomatoes, but I get that you're busy, and the instapot will cook them faster.
2. Cut up your tomatoes. If you're using a larger beefsteak type tomato, you'll probably wanted to cut the cores out of the fruit. Chop and smash the garlic cloves.
3. Put the tomatoes and garlic on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.
4. Roast the tomatoes in the oven for 35 minutes, then flip on the broiler and stick them under it for 5 minutes.

9. Get your immersion blender out and blend everything together. If you don't have one of these handy gadgets, you can also use a food processor (you may have to work in batches), or blender. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!

How did you make this recipe yours? More basil for an earthier flavor? Extra coconut milk for a richer creaminess? Leave me a comment below!

Yeah, I said that.

But the tasty guiltlessly paleo version of my very non-paleo love, street corn, has me just about delirious. (Hey, I'm a midwest girl, I'm allowed to be this excited about corn..and its substitutes)

And get this-I made traditional street corn and the paleo version and took them both to a friend's for a cookout/side-by-side taste test, and my non-paleo friends loved both. 

Most importantly, I love the paleo version and so will you!

10. Sprinkle the paprika over the top and you're all set-Delicious Mexican Street Corn made paleo!

This amount will easily serve 6 as a side, but I bet it'll be gone fast. Enjoy, you deserve it!

It may be later in summer, but don't you dare use the F word just yet

I mean fall.

I love fall but I'm not ready yet! I need more moments in blue Wisconsin lakes and hot summer evenings with cold basil lemonade. 

So I'm combining fresh and tangy flavors to savor more sweet summer. Join me!

Ingredients:
-1-2 lbs humanely raised and processed chicken thighs
-3/4 Cup almond flour
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3/4 teaspoon pepper
-4 Tablespoons nutritional yeast, divided in half
-1 1/2 Tablespoons olive or coconut oil
-1/4 Cup white wine, lemon sparkling water, a teensy bit of white wine vinegar, or something in this general neighborhood
-1 lemon
-2/3 Cup vegetable stock
-2 Tablespoons of capers or sun-dried tomatoes

What did you think? What else are you hoping to feel and experience this summer? Leave me a comment and let me know!

A perfect way to grab great nutrition any morning of the year

Ah, steel cut oats. So much fiber, so much nutritional value, so many centuries gone by waiting for them to cook...

Next time, let your fridge do the work for you while you're dreaming sweet dreams of your next personal record. Combine a handful of ingredients, stir, and get ready for a great breakfast or take along snack packed with nutrition.

Ingredients for 4 servings:
4 pint jars, smallish pyrex/tupperware/ziploc containers, gelato containers, or whatever you have lying around, plus their lids
4 cups coconut or almond milk
4 scoops protein powder
1 cup steel cut oats, uncooked
1 cup fixings such as pomegranate seeds, goji berries, slivered almonds, etc. Be creative as the sky is the limit and you can tack on even more nutrition. I use powdered peanut butter in mine.

Directions:

2. Add your ingredients in ascending order from most to least amounts, so 1/4 cup oats per jar, then a scoop of protein powder, and so on

6. Screw the lids on and pop them in the fridge. The next morning - voila - steel cut oats ready to eat and ready to fuel you for a great day

What did you put in your oats? How did you like them? Leave a comment with your thoughts and enjoy your day!

These paleo babies are called Turnt Turkey Tacos and are simply delicious.
Good luck with portion control on this one 

Right up front I need to give boku credit to my friend and fellow athlete Steph Lauer for turning me on to this recipe. She was inspired by content on the Barbell Shrugged podcast and passed it along to us at the gym, now I'm passing it along to you, it's a wonderful phone tree of delicious nutrition.

This dish can be for anything: tacos, scooped onto sweet potato chips or fresh zucchini slices, over a bed of spinach, spread over scrambled eggs, or just to scarf a few spoonfuls when you wake up starving at 2am (no judging).

I know you will love this easy and delicious dish as much as we do! Enjoy! 

Ingredients:
3lbs lean ground sustainably raised turkey (at least 90% lean is good, but you do you)
​2 Tbsp olive oil or avocado oil, divided
2 packets taco seasoning (McCormick now makes gluten free taco seasoning, who would have thought?)
1 7.5 oz bottle of Taco Bell Taco Sauce (get as spicy as you want)
1 16 oz jar of Pace Picante chunky salsa (again as spicy as you want)
**Do note that the sauce will simmer a while and while that's great for bringing flavors together, it can also dampen down the spice factor. Keep that in mind as you're selecting the heat factor in your sauce and salsa; you may want to go one level hotter to compensate.

Directions:
1. Grab a large frying pan, put 1tbsp olive oil in it, and get it heating

3. Now let's turn to the delicious sauce. In a large saucepan or pot (the meat will be added to this, so be sure to give yourself room), combine the salsa and taco sauce and bring to a bubbly simmer

4. When the first batch of turkey is mostly cooked through, add it, oil and all, to the sauce and continue to let simmer
5. Add the other tbsp of oil to the frying pan and repeat the same process with the second batch of turkey, adding the other taco seasoning packet and letting cook
6. Add this batch of turkey to the sauce, mixing thoroughly 
7. Let it simmer a few more minutes and you're all set. Eat up!

What did you scoop this delicious turkey onto? What did you scoop it with? Leave a comment so we can all see the many great ways to enjoy this yummy dish

Do I even need a subheadline here? You know you're making it, I know I'm making it. Cheers to drinking delicious caffeinated beverages and owning life today

Coffee! Pumpkin Spice! Paleo! Yes to all of the things! It's almost Halloween and in honor of the sweet treat holiday (armed with the yummy flavors in this recipe it'll be easier to pass on those), and cooler, crisper air, I am sharing this great little recipe that will warm you up and keep you going hard on all eight cylinders. What's that you say? The expression is all six cylinders? You need two more, pour yourself another cup.

Makes, like, a bunch of servings. You don't have to share, though.

Ingredients:
1 16 oz can pumpkin (make sure it's pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling is delicious, but full of sugar)
3 cups cold coconut milk from a carton, not canned
2 tsps pumpkin pie spice plus 1 teaspoon cinnamon
---or---
2 tsps cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cloves
​12 oz hot freshly brewed fairly traded coffee 

Directions:
1. Get your coffee brewing so it's ready by the time your wonderful pumpkin spice concoction is complete

6. Scoop 1/2-3/4 cup of your pumpkin spice mixture into your mug and stir it in. VOila!

Great tasting seasonal coffee with all real ingredients and you get a little fiber and nutritional value from the pumpkin. Heck of a way to start off a chilly fall morning or crank it up at work after a noon workout. Cheers to a great beverage and to all the things coffee helps you get done!

This dish is sooooooooo good. There's just no other way to say it. Granted, I notched 11 reps at 70% of my 1 rep max bench press today and I'm excited and happy but also pretty tired out, so maybe I'm not doing the good with the words and them coming together creatively. This dish is good. That's what I've got. It's creamy and flavorful and light enough to help you feel good but sticks to your ribs just enough to hit the spot after a hard workout or on a crisp evening.

Ingredients:
1.5-2lbs chicken thighs or breasts, free range/humanely raised for preference
1.5 cups sun dried tomatoes
1.5 cups basil, any variety 
1 yellow or white onion, minced small
1 can of full fat coconut milk
1 cup of chicken broth (chicken stock is fine, and chicken bone broth is amazing)
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 heaping teaspoon black pepper
3 cloves of garlic, smashed
1.5 Tbsp Italian Seasoning, a combo of whatever you've got on hand in the thyme, oregano, basil family of seasonings

Directions:
​1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

4. While the chicken is going, get your delicious sauce together. In a different pan, combine a tablespoon of olive oil and your chopped onion over medium heat and saute the onion for about 2 minutes

6. Pour half of the sauce in the bottom of a rectangular baking dish and add the chicken to the top of it

7. Dowse the chicken with the remaining half of the sauce making sure to splash some sauce everywhere on the chicken. Add the torn basil leaves over the top

8. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Devour. Serve this alongside some hearty salad greens or over some spinach noodles

What did you think? Amazing, right? This is one of those dishes which you can hardly believe is paleo, it's so rich and flavorful. How did it work for you? Things you would add or change? Which fall tv show are you most looking forward to coming back? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear from you

After competing in my last CrossFit competition of the season this past Saturday I have felt like eating everything. I have been hungry just about every minute since the end of the last WOD. Tonight I picked a stick-to-your-ribs recipe probably more common for fall or winter but certainly a delicious and nutrient-dense recipe for anytime of the year.

This recipe serves 4

Ingredients:
4 large sweet potatoes
8 large eggs, cage free and farm fresh for preference
1 medium onion, white, yellow, or red
4 large cloves of garlic
​6 oz cooked bacon, prosciutto, pancetta, or ham

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

3. While the potatoes are cooking, cook your bacon if you're using it and then set it aside on some paper towels on a plate to cool enough to be handled. If you're using a cured meat such as porsciutto or pancetta, skip this step. I went with the time honored tradition of choosing what was least expensive in the store, which interestingly turned out to be pancetta

4. Another task to complete while the potatoes are cooking in sauteing the onions and garlic. Put a tablespoon of olive, grapeseed, or the non-vegetable oil of your choice in a medium sized frying pan. Smash the garlic, dice the onion, and saute until onion is anywhere between al dente and translucent, depending on how you like your veggies cooked. Once they're cooked, remove from heat and set aside for a minute

11. Bake at 400 for 20-22 minutes, until eggs are set. We did ours to about over easy stage doneness because we feel farm fresh egg yolk should be a food group in its own right.

Serve and enjoy! This recipe takes some time so while it is great for breakfast, if you have the time and energy on a weekday morning to get this prepared and ready to go, please kindly send me some of your energy. In the meantime, keep this in mind for a weekend breakfast (you can do a good deal of the prep work ahead of time), or a yummy dinner. This recipe keeps well although you'll want to reheat in a toaster oven or conventional oven as eggs do really weird things in microwaves, for reasons which have never been properly explained to me

What did you think of this recipe? Yum city in your house too? Any tweeks you'd suggest? Leave me a comment, I'd love to hear from you

This dish is fantastic and super easy. And spicy. Oh, man. Lotta spice. Dealing with seasonal allergies? Nose stuffed up? Do yourself a favor and make this. Or just make this because it's delicious. You're golden either way.

Ingredients:
1 1/2- 2lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts
1 can crushed or diced tomatoes, mostly drained
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 cup coconut milk (from a carton, not the thick stuff from a can. That stuff is a great for a ton of recipes but not this one)
1 large onion, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 Tablespoon ginger, chopped
2 Tablespoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
6-7 cloves garlic, chopped

****As you know, part of the credo at Platonic Paleo is that I give you doable, delicious, and nutritious recipes which won't send you running to the store for odd ingredients. There are a LOT of spices and related ingredients in this one, and I don't want to stress you out. If you don't have one or two of the ingredients above, don't worry about it. The rest of the spices can shoulder the load of the great flavor of this dish. The only ingredient you absolutely need need for this one is the garam masala.

Directions:

Friends, this is a really easy recipe, direction-wise. You are going to be wowed how easy and quick it can be to create an intense and well-rounded flavor.

2. While your chicken is cooking, get your side dish started. This intensely-flavored dish should be served over something neutral. Whether you're using steamed cauliflower, lentils, or what have you, get it started now so everything will be done around the same time

3. Now get your sauce ingredients together. Chop what needs chopping, per the ingredients list. Toss the tomatoes, tomato paste, onion, salt, ginger, all the spices, and the garlic in your food processor or powerful blender

7. Scoop it over your side dish and devour. The spice and flavor here is incredible and yummy and intense. Pour yourself a glass of coconut or cashew milk to cool your mouth down as needed

How did this dish go over in your house? Were you sweating by the end of the meal from the heat of the spices? Leave me a comment with your thoughts and what you served with it, I'd love to hear from you

Zucchini is just about the most versatile food on the planet. It's good raw, cooked, eaten on its own or in a stew or casserole, and its great texture and subtle sweetness make it great for baked goods as well. 

Right now it's high zucchini season in southern Wisconsin and we're using it in all the above iterations and more. Today's task was yummy, fresh from the bakery, bread and I think you'll love the results.

Ingredients: (works perfect for doubling)
1 cup shredded zucchini, with the water pressed out of it
1/2 cup coconut flour (note: do not substitute almond flour, it really won't work)
1 ripe banana, broken into chunks or mashed with a fork
4 eggs
2 Tbsp Honey (Maple Syrup is okay, but honey works better in this recipe)
1 Heaping Tbsp Coconut Oil
3/4 tsp baking soda (baking powder also interacts great with coconut flourso feel free to play around with this)
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg or pie spice (pie spice will add more cinnamon but that's fine for this recipe)
Parchment paper or your favorite oil for greasing pans

​Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F)
2. Chop your zucchini then put it in your food processor. Chop up more than you think will yield one cup, and use the extra on some scrambled eggs or something. You can technically use a vitamix to shred veggies (and, well, anything), but you'll need to add liquid. See the many vitamix recipes and demos for more info

2 1/2. You'll need to monitor your processor and periodically turn it off, take off the lid, and poke the remaining chunks of vegetable down and into the blade with a spatula or spoon, otherwise they'll just chill atop the shreds and never get chopped up

4. Combine your dry ingredients: mix the coconut flour, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium dish and set aside

5. Back to the zucchini shreds: shredded vegetable will release a lot of water. Since you've given it a minute, the water in your shreds should have drained down, allowing you to scoop one cup of reasonably dry shreds from the top. The shreds should have a malleable but not goopy consistency, like fresh clay from art class. If they are wetter than that, set them on a couple of paper towels, wrap them up, and squeeze more moisture from them.

7. Mix the zuke into the wet ingredients, then add the mixed dry ingredients into the wet ingredients

9. Bake for 40 minutes or unil a fork or toothpick comes out clean. Different pans will require different time so with very small or very large pans, begin checking the bread at about 35 minutes