For a long time, I’ve had the goal of writing a cookbook. One of my most relaxing and indulgent activities is to lie on the floor in the living room at home, surrounded by my favourite cookbooks. For me, it’s not even about cooking out of them.
I love all the beautiful images, creative recipe methods and I better yet, the challenge of making delicious and nutrient dense alternatives without the “fluffy” and “filler” ingredients like flour, sugars and grains. It’s always so rewarding to make a “paleo” dinner for guests and friends without them even knowing!
As I started experimenting more and more with my food and reducing the amount of toxins, sugar, dairy and grains that I was consuming, I kept needing to alter dishes and classic family favourites.
If my partner Tim and I felt like lasagna, I’d get creative with thin pumpkin or eggplant sheets instead of pasta, and started collecting a range of appliances like zucchini-noodle makers and food processors! Cooking “primal” became a creative outlet for me, a constant trial-and-error approach to creating nourishing, tasty and clean meals. With a collection of these kitchen-experiments, I knew one day that I’d love to publish them in a book that celebrated cleaner options, beautiful images and easy-to-follow recipes. After all, if I can make these recipes work, anyone can!
Paleo came about after some inspiring chats with my friend Rachel from Two Loves Studio, who is both incredibly talented and one of my very favourite food photographers. We were hoping to collaborate on a cookbook project, right before I was contacted by Wilkinson Publishing to write about the trending topic – The Paleo Diet.
The planets aligned, and we found ourselves working overtime to write content, cook meals, clean, style, photograph and EAT!
Paleo: The Real Food Diet to Reset Your Life is a bookazine, which means it’s basically a book combined with a magazine! This means it’s affordable, purse-sized and available for a limited time (so you better get in quick!). Paleo is jam-packed with high quality information about the Paleo Diet, including information about reducing inflammation, where to shop and how to tailor your diet to suit your goals. The remainder of the book is 55 refined-sugar, grain and dairy-free recipes that are super easy to make and beautifully photographed by Rachel.
Paleo is now available at news agencies, bookstores and online. You can purchase a copy from Primal Junction here:
About Rachel of Two Loves Studio:
Rachel Jane is a self-taught food photographer and stylist based in Melbourne. As the creator of her beloved blog, Two Loves Studio, she shares her evolving journey into the world of food photography. She is passionate about shooting food portraiture that highlights the simplicity and beauty of real food. Her styling focuses on the shapes and textures of the dishes components, which allows us to connect with the dish and evokes our love affair with food. Follow her on Instagram @rjcam or her website.
Lizzy has also kindly shared with us one of her favourite, simple, go-to recipes for a cool spring evening!
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Spicy Coconut and Pumpkin Soup
(serves 6)
Ingredients:
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 1 fresh red chilli (or 1 tsp chilli flakes)
- 1 cm (1 tbsp) fresh ginger, finely grated
- 1 tbsp Ras El Hanout (Moroccan spice blend)
- 1 (7g) clove garlic
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 4 cups (900g/2Ib) pumpkin, skin removed and flesh chopped
- 4 cups (1 litre) vegetable stock
- 1/2 can (200 mL) coconut cream (optional)
- 4-6 kaffir lime leaves, de-stemmed and thinly sliced
Method:
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, fry the onion, chilli, ginger, lime leaves, Moroccan spices and garlic in the coconut oil for 2 minutes or until onion is soft.
- Add the pumpkin and stir through for 1 minute
- Add the vegetable stock and bring to the boil.
- Reduce to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until pumpkin is soft.
- Once cooled a little, pulse the soup with a hand-stick mixer or in batches in a blender until smooth and creamy.
- Return the soup to the pot, add the coconut cream (optional) and stir through until just mixed.
- Serve topped with chilli flakes and kaffir lime leaves.
If you prefer a lighter soup, omit the coconut cream.
