Recipe: Grandma's Tortilla de Espinaca (spinach pie/omelet thingamajig)

So I'm pretty sure this is not actually a pie, but we call it a pie in Spanish and we eat it as a side dish, aka "not breakfast". You'll have to bear with me being a transplanted Argentine and play along with my misnaming of spinach concoctions and misuse of words like "concoction".  This is something grandma used to whip up in like 10 minutes.  It takes me longer because I'm not as awesome as she is and there's a part of me that's convinced she owned a magical kitchen oven, since my exact replicas of her creations are usually nothing like hers.  I think I got the hang of this one though.  I like to think that grandma was a slow cook in her 30s, too, but we all know better.  Let's face it - the woman probably came out of the womb holding a skillet and a spatula.  

What you'll need: 

• 2 tbsp of olive oil 
• 5 - 6 oz bag of spinach.
• 1/2 yellow onion (chopped small)
• 1/2 red pepper   (chopped small) 
• 1 tsp almond meal 
• 1 egg
• pepper and salt to taste
• Optional - Parmesan cheese to taste. 

Steam spinach for a couple of minutes and drain as much of the water from it as you can.  Chop spinach.  Beat egg and add spinach and other ingredients.  Mix well.  

On a small, non-stick skillet, heat up the olive oil over medium heat.  Add mix.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until the bottom of your omelet pie thingamajig is a light golden brown.  

Using a plate (or another trick you may know) flip the omelet over and return to pan to cook bottom.  Cook for about another five minutes or until the egg in the mix seems thoroughly cooked.  Buen provecho! 

Recipe: Paleo Oven-Crisped Pork Chops

Last November, I started eating Paleo. So what does that mean? The Paleo diet, also referred to as the caveman or primal diet, consists of fresh meats (preferably organic, grass-fed animals), fresh organic produce, nuts and lots of chocolate. This, accompanied by exercising in short intense bursts, mimics the diet and lifestyle of our paleolithic ancestors. It's a fun way to exercise. I like to pretend I'm walking through the forest picking berries, minding my own business when suddenly, "DINOSAUR!" So then I run like hell until I can barely breathe. Which, lucky for me, is exactly the same amount of time that it takes to lose a dinosaur. But I digress.

For the last 11 months, I've not always successfully avoided processed foods, grains, gluten, dairy products, and cheese fries. I had also given up on one of my favorite recipes, oven-crisped pork chops. The recipe required flour and cornmeal - both mortal enemies of the protohuman. A couple of nights ago I decided it was time to club this recipe over the head and Paleonize it! I cut down on the amount of butter, replaced the flour and cornmeal with almond meal et voilà!

It was so delicious I decided it needed to be shared. If you like spicy, you will love this recipe. It definitely has a kick, but I promise it won't feel like you swallowed the sun or anything of the sort. Bon appétit!


Ingredients

4 tbsp of organic butter

1 cup almond meal

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

1 egg white

6-8 pork chops


Instructions

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Coat the bottom of a baking sheet with butter. 
2. Combine almond meal, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt in in a bowl and mix well until it's a light brown color. 
3. Beat egg white in a shallow bowl. Dip pork chops in egg white mixture. 
4. Coat pork chops with almond meal mix. 
5. Melt remaining butter. Drizzle evenly over pork chops. 
6. Bake for about 30 minutes, turning halfway.