Leek And Sweet Potato Soup by Paleo Diet Lifestyle

Eating (and most importantly preparing) soup is therapeutic.  It takes time to prepare, because you have to chop up a variety of ingredients. The flavors bubble and simmer as they slowly blend together. Even using a spoon to slowly stir your meal is rhythmic and relaxing in itself. 

As a kid, eating soup meant savoring a bowl of Chickarina or Lipton Noodle Soup. Nutrition aside, there is something to be said for a dish that warms you from the inside out. Now that I am older, I have a desire to cook soups that are a little more nutritious. I made a fantastic Turkey soup on Thanksgiving with our leftovers, thanks to this recipe. I even attempted bone broth soup (which was a total failure).

I just purchased leeks at Wegmans, and when I Googled "Leeks and Paleo" I came across this recipe from Sebastien at Paleo Diet Lifestyle. My experience with his recipes has been nothing short of stellar. His recipes are great because of their simplicity, but also because the ingredients always compliment each other well (see here where I reviewed his eBook). So, I was excited to try out one of his soup recipes.

The Good

• Great use of leeks
• Nice consistency with the sweet potatoes
• Filling

The Bad

• Bland - needed a little kick
• Lacking in protein

Overall - 3/5 Stars

Not his best recipe, but one that can be modified to justify cooking it again. The flavors blended well together, but overall it was a bit bland. I modified it by chopping up about a half pound of bacon and tossing the bite sized pieces in. I also added a little bit of chipotle chili pepper. With those two ingredients this soup really packs some flavor.

Seriously Tasty Meatloaf by Health-Bent

In spite of Meatless Mondays, I have for you a recipe that is full of meat. In fact, it contains ground pork, ground beef, and most importantly bacon. Now, I've never been a huge meatloaf fan, but since it's my dad's favorite dish I decided to give this paleo equivalent from Health-bent a try.

The Recipe

The Good
Seriously tasty (the title doesn't lie)
Seriously juicy

The Bad
Bacon wasn't crispy

Overall - 3/5
This is a solid recipe. I opted for jarred sauce to save time, and in total, it took a little over an hour to cook. The best part about this recipe is how juicy it stayed (even for a couple days after in the fridge). I definitely slathered it with ketchup, but this was a mighty fine meal. I gave it three stars because it didn't blow me away (perhaps because I never used to like meatloaf). However, my dad, a longtime meatloaf lover, was very pleased. If nothing else, I like this recipe because it breaks the boundaries a little with what we consider to be meatloaf. Using bacon on top, and then broiling it - genius! I'd like to use that idea for other recipes.

One complaint (and per usual this could be my fault) is that the bacon on top wasn't crispy. It was cooked, but almost soggy as if it had been cooked in the microwave. Perhaps I didn't leave the broiler on long enough, but I would have loved for the bacon to be crispy. That would have given it a contrast to the tender meatloaf below.

Review of Mark Sisson's Bison Chili

It's Game Time
Every winter, recipes for chili litter the internet. Teasing and taunting people to choose themas the recipe for a holiday or Super Bowl party. Chili is a crowd favorite, because it's so easy, and it's usually pretty cheap. The latest recipe taunting me was from Mark Sisson's “The Primal Blueprint Cookbook” and was simply named “Bison Chili”.

Mark runs a wildly popular blog about primal eating (similar to paleo), and this book was made from the contributions of his devoted readers. With food all-stars like bison, cocoa powder, and everyone’s favorite - bacon, I had high expectations for the recipe. I didn't mind the hour that it took to prepare. Nor did I mind the hour it simmered in the crockpot, because I thought it would be worth the wait. 

Missing the Mark 
This recipe let me down on multiple fronts: the carrots were still crunchy, the consistency was watery, and somehow the bacon was underwhelming. - I could hardly taste it. It smelled like a dish caught between a stew and a chili. Unable to choose a side it didn’t satisfy either craving. Also, the proportions were uneven for my taste. A surplus of meat overwhelmed the other ingredients. The carrots were sparse and overshadowed by mountains of ground bison; it was a vegetarian’s nightmare.

The worst part was not the disproportion of meat but was the combination of spices. In the cook book, he describes this chili as "not very spicy” – which is true. Although, bland is a more accurate adjective. The spices did not complement each other well. Paprika is a favorite spice of mine, and a trusty companion for chili, but the rest of the spices do nothing for the dish. Most of all, I am disappointed in the cocoa powder. It adds nothing to the complexity of the dish except a bitter after taste.

Cognitive Dissonance 
Don't get me wrong, I'll finish the 3lbs of chili that this recipe made, but I will not make it again. There are too many other good chili recipes to try. Even ones that aren't quite “paleo” can be altered. It's as simple as subtracting the beans from most recipes.

Did I choose the wrong cookbook this Christmas? I figured this book would keep my diet in check, but, I didn't want to sacrifice taste. Maybe I would be better off finding more recognized recipes and substituting. Maybe those physicians had it right when they chose this book as one of the worst cookbooks of 2010.

There are Always Alternatives
This was the first recipe I tried of his, so I can't be too harsh. After all, this blogger really seemed to like it, as did the reviewers on Amazon. Perhaps, there are other redeeming recipes in his book. I'll give it another shot, but this was not a good first impression. If that was my introduction to a paleo/primal meal, I would never be going back for seconds.

For a quick and tasty chili alternative try this one from allrecipes.com it uses salsa as the tomato base, which is genius, so you don't have to chop a ton of vegetables. It’s simple, cheap, and delicious.