Buckwheat is not wheat!

Buckwheat is a  fruit seed....

While many people think that buckwheat is a cereal grain, it is actually a fruit seed that is related to rhubarb and sorrel making it a suitable substitute for grains for people who are sensitive to wheat or other grains that contain protein glutens. Buckwheat flowers are very fragrant and are attractive to bees that use them to produce a special, strongly flavored, dark honey. 

Historically speaking, buckwheat certainly isn’t paleo. You can put lipstick on a pseudocereal, but it’s still a high-carb, high-glycemic-loading grain wannabe. It also requires significant amounts of processing (grinding, roasting, rinsing, sprouting) to become edible to humans, and the earliest known domesticated cultivation of buckwheat was in Southeast Asia, probably around 6000 BC, well after the advent of agriculture. A wild form obviously existed before, but – as with grains and legumes – not in large enough quantities for it to become a regular food source for early man.

Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dear-mark-visting-family-primal-compromises-and-grain-

alternatives/#ixzz3v4a1diBx

BUT: from Marks Daily Apple: Is there a place for buckwheat in the modern Primal diet?

If you want my strict Primal answer, then, well, no. But your question had another nuance: that you have family visiting, and that these loved ones can’t imagine eating a meal without a starchy side. So you are looking for some sort of middle ground. If you desperately need a grainish backdrop for a meat dish, I guess you could throw in a little quinoa or buckwheat.

Heartweed: Use it ocassionally, I used it to make 

Christmas cookies!  

Paleo Meat Marinates to Tenderize
Marks Daily apple

1. Cuban Mojo

This is a powerful, highly flexible marinade. It pairs well with beef, pork, chicken, and fish, but the high acidity makes it easy to over-marinate. Don’t go over an hour with this one.

Ingredients:

• Bulb (yes, bulb) of garlic, minced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• Zest from the citrus
• 2 tsp cumin

Method:

Mix it all up and cover your meat completely. Remember, don’t marinate for longer than an hour.

2. Skirt Steak Marinade

 

This recipe is adapted from an Alton Brown recipe. We love his scientific approach to cooking, but his ingredients sometimes need a Primal adjustment. This is one of those times. Oh, and any thin cut of steak will do: skirt, flap, Milanese, etc.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp salt, dissolved in two ounces water
• 4 scallions, cut in half
• 2 big cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1 tsp red chile pepper flakes/powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp honey

Method:

Mix it all up and cover your meat completely. Marinate in the fridge for an hour.

3. Balsamic Marinade

 

This works equally well for steak, pork, and chicken. Balsamic is one of the weaker vinegars, so you don’t have to fret too much over over-marinating, but given enough time it will break down and eventually toughen the meat.

Ingredients:

• A few splashes of balsamic vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Sea salt and black pepper to cover all sides
• Thyme (fresh or otherwise)

Method:

Rub the meat with all the ingredients. This is more of a wet rub, but it will impart a lot of flavor. Leave the meat in the fridge for half an hour before cooking. If you want to reach more meat faster, go ahead and add some olive oil to the mix (along with more of everything else), which will allow for a more traditional, liquid marinade.

Chicken and Shrimp Soup 
Mark Sission - Marks Daily Apple

• 1/4 cup bacon fat, lard or olive oil (hw: I like to use coconut oil) 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 2 cups cauliflower “rice” or more to taste  (for 2 cups worth take a bag of defrosted frozen cauliflower or 1/2 a head of fresh cauliflower and put in food processor or food “chopper” and process until cauliflower is the size and shape of rice)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 cups chopped chicken (For those on the go, rotisserie chicken works very well)
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 1 bag peeled and cleaned, uncooked shrimp
• 1/4 cup chopped scallions, or green onions
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

* Can sub scallops. 

Directions:

On medium heat, melt bacon fat or other fat in a large cooking pot. Add onions, yellow pepper, jalapeno, celery and carrots. Cook five minutes.

Add garlic and cook for an additional two minutes. Don’t let the garlic brown. Add tomato and the cauliflower “rice”. If you want soup that’s a little less soupy and more like meat and vegetables with a little broth, simply add a few more cups of cauliflower rice.

Add cayenne pepper, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and salt and sauté a few minutes then add chicken and cook for about five minutes, stirring frequently.

Turn down heat to low/medium.

Add chicken stock and simmer 20-30 minutes.

Add shrimp, scallions, and cilantro and simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes.