Lately I’ve been interested in the Paleolithic diet, or Paleo diet for
short. It’s basically the “original”
human diet, or the caveman diet, Stone Age diet, whatever you want to call
it. It comes from the Paleolithic era,
which is a span of about 2.5 million years that ended about 10,000 years ago at
the beginning of agriculture. What did
we eat before baked bread or elbow macaroni or hot dogs and hamburgers and
french fries? What did the human race
use to fuel their bodies to evolve or develop into what we are today? Whatever nature provided, of course - meat
from the animals, fish from the seas and rivers, vegetables from the land,
fruits from the trees, berries from the bushes, nuts and seeds and roots all
that good stuff! This diet gained
popularity in the mid 1970s by Walter Voegtlin, a gastroenterologist. It’s based on the idea that the human
digestive system is designed to eat what’s been available to us since the dawn
of time, which is why we are seeing so many diet-related problems, disorders,
and diseases today – all the processed junk, the additives and preservatives,
the artificial coloring and flavoring, the added hormones, steroids, and
antibiotics to our meat and dairy, etc. – it’s in practically everything we
eat. I personally feel like this is the
leading cause in the majority of our health problems today. I’ve read a lot of articles that I feel
confirm my suspicions, too, but at the same time I feel it just makes sense –
if it’s not food, don’t eat it! And expanding
on the Paleo diet, I’m adding to that statement – if it isn’t available to us
through nature, are we meant to eat it?
Now, I’m not a religious person, but I do believe in a Maker, a
Creator, whatever you want to call it, but since most of you call it God, we’ll
use that. So if God put us on this
planet to thrive as a race, don’t you think He/She/It would have made available
to us everything we need to stay nourished and grow and procreate? As a side note, I also believe that God made
available through nature everything we need to keep us well in case we get
sick, but I’ll expand on that in a future topic!
Everything we need to thrive is right here for us! It has been all along. To ME, it makes sense not to tamper with a
perfect design. But unfortunately, we
humans felt the need to tamper with it, and in so doing created bread, pasta,
pastries, and all kinds of other yummy things that have been known to lead to
several, if not many, health problems.
But the biggest problem is: IT’S YUMMY!!
Most people don’t WANT to forego all the modern pleasures of culinary
evolution, myself included… But as you know, I tried it for a month or so, and
I felt SO good (not to mention thinner!!), and each time I ate bread or pasta
or things high in sugar after that, I didn’t feel so good… So now that I know this about my body, and
everything else I’ve learned about how the digestive system works and handles
these “unnatural” modern foods, I’m determined to try to stay with that
lifestyle.
As you may remember, I already found a wonderful substitute for pasta
in the spaghetti squash, but that’s pretty simple and basic. Well today you’ll be happy to hear I found a
substitute for pizza.
Yes, pizza. Well, the crust
anyway, since the toppings aren’t really bad for you since they mostly consist
of meat and veggies (just be careful with the cheese, that’s where you can find
those added hormones and junk!). It’s
crazy, I didn’t think it would work, but I found this exact same recipe in
several different locations, and all the reviews were going on and on about how
it really tastes like pizza, and people were even fooling their kids! What’s even crazier is that the main
ingredient is CAULIFLOWER!
Say what??
Not kidding. I had to try
this. And so I did. Twice.
Holy crap, it’s almost too good to be true… Every bite I took I thought, “Is this really
happening? I’m eating pizza, that tastes
every bit like pizza, but doesn’t have a single bit of bread in it at
all…” My senses were so confused… my
house smelled like a pizzeria as the crust baked, my eyes saw a crust with
pizza toppings on it, my mouth tasted something that sure seemed like pizza,
and my stomach got nervous – “Is this going to weigh me down?” it
wondered. “Is this going to make me have
to work too hard?” My hips were getting
nervous too… But no, it’s a vegetable,
not bread! :D Relax, hips and stomach! Just enjoy!
Oh, and it gets better. This is
easy too! The only time consuming part
is grating the cauliflower. The rest is
pie!
Here’s how it’s done:
2 cups grated or chopped, aka “riced”, cauliflower (about ½ head) (can
be done in a food processor as well)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup mozzarella cheese
¼ tsp caraway seeds
½ tsp fennel seeds
1-2 tsp oregano
1-2 tsp basil
 |
| The crust, fresh out of the oven! |
Microwave or saute the grated cauliflower for 8 minutes to soften it
up. Mix in the beaten egg, cheese, and
spices and stir until a “dough” forms.
Press out into a thin layer onto a pizza stone or a baking sheet that’s
either greased or lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 400°F for 25-30 minutes until golden, crispy, and cooked through
the middle. Let cool completely, then
add toppings. Side note: the more
toppings you add, the more likely you’ll have to eat your slice of pizza with a
fork – the crust doesn’t hold up well to too much weight. Still tastes good though! Broil for about 5 minutes until toppings are
heated through, and enjoy!
No big deal if you don’t have caraway or fennel, but if you do, I’m
pretty sure that’s what made my house smell like a pizzeria as the crust was
baking. Yummy!
 |
| Hawaiian style! My favorite! |
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