Last night I cleaned out the fridge. It’s the kind of job you do when you know you have to. Well, it’s probably better to do it before then, but, like haircuts, I always wait until that if-I-don’t-do-it-now-we’ll-all-die moment. Thankfully, its done for another undisclosed length of time and, as usual, I ended up with a few forgotten ingredients that ended up in the must-cook-now category which meant egg muffins this morning. These Paleo treats come out great with old ingredients but would be just as delicious I’m sure with nice, fresh new ones!

• Ingredients
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup diced, cooked meat (cubed ham, chopped bacon, or even leftover chicken ;o), for example)
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup minced scallion
• optional: 1/2 cup other veggies found in archeological fridge dig (spinach, cauliflower, cooked kale)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• fresh ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, whisk eggs until smooth. Add rest of ingredients and mix well. Generously grease about 8 to 10 standard muffin cups. Pour egg mixture into the prepared cups, filling them just about to the rim. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until they pass the toothpick test. Store leftovers in the fridge. But not for tooooo long.

When I was a kid, exotic cuisine was any divergence from the handful of things we ate day in and day out, week in and week out for – gulp – years! The most exciting thing for me about college was the cafeteria. So many new experiences: green beans that weren’t canned, salad that wasn’t iceberg, anything with hot sauce. A lot of credit goes to my family now, though, who go shopping with me each week at the Berkeley Bowl and get just as excited over a new pokey alien space craft looking piece of fruit as I do. This week, I sent them home with a pound of bok choy and my favorite recipe for this awesome veggie:

• Ingredients
• 1 to 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• just a little over 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pound small, whole baby bok choy; or one pound regular bok choy quartered lengthwise then cut horizontally into bite-size pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional: 1/4 cup chopped, roasted cashews

Heat oils in a large skillet or wok over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute (don’t let it burn). Raise temperature to medium-high and toss in the bok choy, stir frying until the leafy parts of the leaves turn bright green and the stalks become slightly translucent, about 4 or 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste, top with cashews if desired, and serve.

I made homemade almond-hazelnut butter today while going outside every 5 minutes to check on Venus crossing the Sun as the NASA website said it would do. I’m sure it did, but I didn’t see it with my hi-tech shoe-box viewer. Sad because the Venus/Sun crossing won’t repeat until I’m a hundred and fifty five meaning low odds it’ll happen again in my lifetime. But making homemade nut butter again definitely will! Just a handful of nuts in a food processor yields a delicious, creamy spread so good that it makes up for just about any celestial disappointments. Any nut or combination will do; here’s what I tried that came out great:

• Ingredients
• 2 1/2 cups almonds
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts
• 1/4 cup flax meal
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Toast nuts in oven. You can do it nice and slow, but my husband was heating up the pizza stone at 500° so I just popped them in for 5 minutes. Place toasted nuts and rest of ingredients in a food processor. Process for a minute or two then stop to scrape sides of processor bowl. Repeat scraping and/or stirring every couple minutes. Mixture will go from a meal texture to a thick ball of paste to eventually a lovely creamy nut butter rivaling anything Whole Foods sells in a jar. You’ll know when it’s done but have faith until you get there. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes of total processing time, but I gave the machine  a few nice long rests so as not to overheat it. When done, transfer to a jar with tight-fitting lid and store in the fridge. You can also play with adding unsweetened cocoa and chopped dried cherries (add cocoa at start, cherries at the end) for a sweet snack spread. Or toss in some cocoa nibs at the end to give it a little crunch. Be creative, have fun, and enjoy!

Raw radishes, like Madonna, are usually something people either love or hate. But cooking them removes their bite, brings out a lovely unique flavor, and is worth a try even if they don’t usually get you into the grove (so dating myself with that song). Seriously, even if you keep radishes at restraining order distance, this recipe will surprise you. And if you love them, be prepared to enjoy a side of them you’ve never seen before.

• Ingredients:
• 2 bunches radishes, washed, trimmed and quartered
• 1 Tbsp butter or ghee
• 1 bunch or 1 6 ounce package fresh spinach, washed and loosely chopped
• 1 to 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt & pepper to taste

Gently melt butter or ghee at low a heat in a cast-iron pan. After butter melts, raise heat to medium-high and toss in radishes. Sprinkle with salt as desired. Sauté stirring until translucent and tender-crisp, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from pan and place in a large serving bowl. Reduce head to medium low. Add a tsp or two of olive oil and toss in the minced garlic. Stir until aromatic, about one minute, but don’t allow to brown. Add in spinach a few handfuls at a time until all fits in pan.  Toss spinach with the garlic and oil adding salt and pepper as desired. Raise heat to medium, cover pan and cook spinach for 2 minutes. Afterwards, remove cover, turn heat to high and cook spinach while stirring it for another minute. Add to cooked radishes, toss all together and serve hot. Yum!

Rather than being embarrassed by big patches of green between my teeth after a meal, I’ve come to appreciate that it means I probably just had something healthy. While globs of wonder bread camouflage well among your pearly whites, and sugar clings invisibly, spinach, kale and collard greens are guaranteed to telegraph to the world that you eat right. So toss this earth yummy salad together and then grab a toothbrush. Or, if you’re the sort prone to making sure the neighbors have taken in the view of the ski week mud on the car before hosing it down, then go ahead and leave the evidence right between those chompers for all to see your diet rocks!

• Ingredients
• 1 bunch bright, fresh kale
• 1 Tbsp olive oil or one ripe avocado
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar or lemon or lime juice
• salt
• blueberries and blackberries
• 2 Tbsp chopped cashews (alternately, pepitas, walnuts, or almonds are good, too)

Wash kale, discard the stems and slice or tear leaves into bite-sized pieces. Place in a bowl with either the avocado or the olive oil drizzled on top. Next add the vinegar or citrus juice and sprinkle liberally with salt. Now to massage the kale. Spend about 5 minutes rolling the kale leaves vigorously between your palms as though warming your hands. The kale will become soft and the color turn a lovely deep green. You can go ahead and eat it as is at this point, store it in an airtight container in the fridge to snack on throughout the week or toss it on a plate for a quick salad. Top it with chopped cashews and a couple handfuls of blueberries and blackberries and you’ll really have something to smile about!

Do you ever come across a recipe that you find yourself making every other day? This began innocently enough as a side to grilled salmon (see Moroccon Salmon). Quickly, though, its versatility with other meats became evident. Soon I began spiraling out of control tossing it into salads as an alternative to dressing, cavalierly spooning it onto steamed kale, and yes, eventually just eating it straight from the bowl. Sad but true. Admitting I have a problem hasn’t helped. So instead, I’ll share it. But know you’ve been warned!

• Ingredients
• ripe mango (Kent variety is great if you want to avoid stringy mangoes)
• firm avocado
• 1/4 red onion
• 1 to 2 cups boiling water
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
• juice of one lime
• juice of half a lemon

Peel and dice the mango and avocado. Place in a medium bowl with chopped cilantro. Finely chop the onion. Place in a sieve. Hold over sink and slowly pour boiled water over the chopped onion. This takes the edge off of them while preserving a delightful crunch. Add to rest of ingredients in bowl along with lemon and lime juice. Mix well and chill. Serve on anything you can imagine this being good with because it is!

I always do a happy dance when I find recipes that are quick, versatile and healthy, and a balsamic reduction sauce easily hits all three. It practically makes itself, can be drizzled over fruit for a Paleo desert, brushed as a glaze prior to grilling or broiling steak, chicken or fish, and is good for you, too. Despite being high in natural sugars, vinegar – including balsamic – has been shown to increase insulin sensitivity. Use it sparingly, though, as pre-reduced it has 5 grams/Tbsp of sugar and also since a little truly goes a long way!

• Ingredients
• 1 cup authentic balsamic vinegar (and check ingredients to make sure there are no added sugars or caramel coloring)
• Fresh seasonal fruit – highly recommended are mango slices and blackberries

Pour vinegar into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer about 15 to 20 minutes or until reduced by half and beginning to thicken. Transfer to a non-plastic bowl or cup to cool. Meanwhile, place fruit in small serving bowls. Drizzle with warm or room temperature balsamic syrup. Just a few drops are plenty. Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container (plastic okay once cooled).

This recipe is a staple for me: great for sandwiches, a slice for a quick out-the-door breakfast, or drizzled with a little honey for something sweet without too much sugar. It’s totally Paleo and family-friendly, too!

• Nut Bread
• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup arrow root
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 2 Tbsp butter or ghee, gently melted
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 eggs
• 4 Tbsp water
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 Tbsp lime juice (optional: gives extra boost to the baking powder as well as a good salt substitute)
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt (use 1/2 tsp if omitting lime juice)
• 1/4 cup EACH of pepitas, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pistachios and walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl mix together almond flour, arrowroot, baking powder and salt. Lightly chop pepitas, sunflower seeds, pistachios and walnuts. Add sesame seeds to these. Set aside. Beat together eggs, water and honey. Add to flour mixture and mix well. Stir in ghee/butter, olive oil and lime juice. When all is thoroughly combined, add seeds and nuts and pour batter into a well-greased 7.5 x 3.5″ (or there abouts) small-loaf pan. Bake about 45 minutes or until bread passes the toothpick test.