Paleo re-evolution

Here's an article I recently wrote for Impact Magazine. For the complete article and more recipes pick up your copy at any of these places. Hop back to the Paleolithic Stone Age and you’ll find that great-great-great-grandpa Grug was hunting and foraging for local, seasonal and organic food. Since agriculture only became part of our existence 10,000 years ago the food we now produce and consume has been evolving at a faster pace than human evolution can keep up with. This food cannot be processed efficiently so we are not functioning properly. It’s not biologically appropriate to be snarffling all this nouveau cuisine. The Paleolithic Diet, or Paleo, originated as a diet for athletes, offering peak performance through even energy access, reduced inflammation and faster recovery. It has gained traction through the growing legions of Crossfit athletes who strive for ‘constantly varied, high- intensity, functional movement’. “It’s about getting leaner, meaner and more importantly healthier.” touts Crossfit Ramsay coach Ken Andrukow. His gym conducts 90-day Paleo Challenges to keep his athletes motivated and to help introduce new athletes to the diet. Andrukow offers recipe ideas, shopping guides, fitness tests and a body assessment to monitor results of the challenge. Andrukow admits “it takes guts to question the status quo and ask ‘Is there a better way?’”. The Paleo principle is simple, eat the types of food we evolved for 2 million years to eat and avoid most of the stuff we started eating 10,000 years ago. Paleo concentrates on three big food groups to avoid: grains, dairy and legumes. Say goodbye to grains like rice, wheat, corn and other refined starches. Dump out the dairy like skim milk, yogurt and cheese. Let go of the legumes like lentils, soy, beans and peanuts. These foods cause inflammation of the gut and digestive system, which limit your cells from absorbing essential nutrients. Grains especially cause havoc on your glycemic levels, resulting in uneven energy and superfluous fat storage. So what’s left to eat? Free-range meats, wild fish, seasonal vegetables, fresh herbs,  spices, seeds and nuts. But it doesn’t mean you can’t be a little more evolved than our foraging ancestors. Like all lovers of good food and grandpa Grug you can start foraging the markets for local, seasonal and organic food. Some ingredients are not as black and white as say, the all-zebra diet. There are exceptions to the rules. Reading the Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf will sort out all the finer details and offer better understanding of the science. With so many people out there eating Paleo, there are a growing number of recipe resources available to athletes looking for healthy and satisfyingly familiar foods that will help you perform optimally in a mammoth fur gonch.

Mammotherd’s pie

With any dietary adjustments, it’s the nostalgia of familiar comfort foods that will drag you back to your old ways of eating. Make this when you need a big batch of food for the week, when you need to feed people who don’t know what Paleo is or when you have a mammoth-sized appetite. It’s actually better than a classic Shepherd’s pie with more tasty flavours and the comforting warm-blanket mashed topper to make you feel all warm and wooly inside.

serves 10

INGREDIENTS 500g ground lamb, beef, mammoth or any ground meat 2 onions, finely minced 2 ribs of celery, finely minced 1 butternut squash, peeled and grated or minced 1 Tbsp Worcestershire 2 Tbsp tomato paste 1 glass red wine 250 ml vegetable stock ¼ cup fresh chopped assorted herbs (rosemary, mint, thyme, oregano) zest of 1 lemon or orange mashed topper 2 head of cauliflower, quartered 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered olive oil and salt

PROCEDURE

Get two large pots on the stove. Fill one with water and bring it to a boil for the mash. When the water comes to a boil drop in the peeled sweet potatoes and the cauliflower. Boil on a gentle simmer for 30 minutes or until the potatoes are nice and tender. When the veg are tender remove from the water and leave them to release steam for 10 minutes out of the water. To mash the cauliflower you can just use a potato masher. For a smooth topper transfer the cauliflower and sweet potato to a food processor and blitz until very smooth. You may need to do this in batches. Set aside in a bowl and adjust seasoning with salt to taste. In the other pot brown the lamb over medium high heat. Toss in the grated squash, onions and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, Worcestershire, red wine and stock. Taste it and add salt as needed. Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. Bring the whole thing to a simmer. At the last minute, stir in the herbs and citrus (zest and juice) and pour the whole mess into an oven safe baking dish. Spoon the mash onto the meaty filling and smooth out the top until evenly distributed. Use a fork to make lines and ridges that can get crispy on top. Drizzle the top with oil and sprinkle on some salt. Blap the whole thing into the oven and bake until the veg are nice and golden and crispy on top. When the mammotherd’s pie is done let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving. To freeze, divide into small plastic containers and freeze in small packs. Mammoth freezes really well for defrosting and eating later. Here are some Paleo resources that will help you get started and keep going.

robbwolf.com

everydaypaleo.com

marksdailyapple.com

nomnompaleo.com

paleofood.com