As we move into autumn with colder weather and shorter days, it's natural that we start thinking about comfort food. Certainly our hunter-gatherer ancestors would have been working on building up fat stores to see them through the cold of winter and the inevitable scarcity of food so we're hard-wired to want to eat more. The problem today of course is that we don't need to fatten up for the winter – our food supplies are not likely to go into hibernation or to disappear until the spring so that hard-wiring can lead us to put on unwanted kilos over the winter and find us in despair when the summer finally comes round again.
Traditionally, autumn recipes are heavy in carbs – think hearty stews with dumplings, mounds of creamy mashed potatoes, or sticky sugar-laden puddings all designed to keep out the winter cold but guaranteed to add unwanted fat – unless you really are thinking of hibernating of course.
These recipes are Primal-aligned – protein, good fats and relatively low-carb – but still comforting and cosy for those cold autumnal days; most are adaptable to be vegetarian if you wish.
Eating well and looking after yourself will help you ward off the usual coughs and colds of winter and see you arrive in the spring healthy, glowing and ready for summer
Chilli with Greek Yoghurt, Salsa and Coriander
Chilli is an excellent comfort food – hot, spicy, flavoursome and just right for a cold autumn evening. The red kidney beans do have carbs but they are also a source of protein and resistant starch (the stuff your gut biome loves but which can also have interesting wind effects!) and chilli wouldn't be chilli without them.
You can use any kind of mince for the chilli – beef is traditional but I often use turkey mince. To make it vegetarian, you could use a good quality vegetarian mince but you will need more fat to replace the fat in the meat – add extra olive oil or butter to get the unctuousness of a good chilli.
I like to serve the chilli with salsa and Greek yoghurt – I love the coolness contrasting with the spiciness of the chilli. I rarely want anything else to go with this but you could serve keto flatbread instead of rice.
Ingredients
450g quality mince
1 medium sized onion, peeled and sliced
1 big clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
½ green pepper, chopped
1-3 red chillies – depending on how hot you like it- finely chopped -
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
100ml good quality stock
75ml red wine (optional) – mine tends not to make it into the chilli :)
A couple of good shakes of chipotle chilli Tabasco (optional)
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander
2-3 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp almond or coconut flour
150g red kidney beans, soaked and cooked; or 1 tin red kidney beans
Salt and black pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a large pan and add the cumin seeds.
When the oil is hot, add the onion, garlic, pepper and chillies and cook gently for about 8 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Add the ground coriander and cook for another minute.
Add the mince and cook until it is beginning to colour, stirring to make sure it's all covered in the savoury mixture
Add the almond or coconut flour and stir in, then add the tomatoes, stock, wine, Tabasco (if using) and bring to a simmer, stirring to mix everything together.
Add the red kidney beans, stir and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes or until the chilli is thick and rich. If you want it even richer, or if you're using a vegetarian mince, add a knob of butter and stir in about 5 minutes before serving.
Season to taste serve with Greek yoghurt and salsa
For the salsa
½ tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp tomato puree
½ small red onion, finely chopped
A good handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 tblsp lime juice
A good shake of Tabasco
½ tsp sea salt
pinch of sugar
Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
Taste to check the seasoning then leave to stand for about 30 minutes so the flavours can blend.
Vegetable Soup with Toasted Seed Croutons
Soup is a wonderful comfort food – imagine a warm kitchen and a pot of rich, flavoursome soup after a walk in the cold – it doesn't get much better.
The good thing about this soup is that there's no definitive recipe – you can just use whatever vegetables you have hanging around and it's a good way to use up those vegetables that are perhaps a bit past their best. Another really good thing about soup is that unlike other liquid foods, it fills you up and keeps you filled up so it's satisfying too.
I used a small amount of potato in this recipe – it adds that extra bit of thickness which is desirable in a winter soup but doesn't add too many carbs. I don't peel the potato as most of the goodness is in the skin – just clean it and remove any 'eyes'.
If you have any leftover bacon fat, it makes a fabulous base for the soup.
This soup is really quick and easy to make so you can have a luscious bowl of soup in about an hour.
Ingredients
1 leek, trimmed, washed and chopped – use the green bits as well as the white
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 stick celery, chopped
2 medium-sized carrots, chopped
1 medium-sized potato, chopped
I pepper – red or green, chopped
2 bay leaves
100g frozen peas
1l good quality stock – I use vegetable or chicken stock
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
Sea salt and black pepper
2 tblsps olive oil, bacon fat or butter
Heat the oil or fat in a large saucepan and add all the vegetables except the peas. Stir well then cover and sauté very gently for about 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft but not browned.
Add the stock, seasoning, bay leaves and peas and bring to a gentle simmer for about 20 minutes.
Stir in the parsley
Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaves. Use a stick blender to blend it until it s smooth and creamy.
Serve with toasted seed croutons and keto bread rolls
Keto Bread Rolls
As I wrote in my last blog, bread can be a real stumbling block for many people wanting to do Primal or people who can't eat bread for any reason. These bread rolls are gluten-free and grain-free and really do fill that gap. They're delicious as a lunch with a filling of your choice or to serve with vegetable soup.
This isn't my recipe. It comes from an excellent website https://www.dietdoctor.com/ which has all kinds of tips, advice and recipes for low-carb living and eating.
I have only recently discovered this recipe and I have been experimenting with it to get the best results. Here are my tips:
The psyllium husk is essential! Without it the bread just doesn't work. You can get psyllium husk and psyllium husk powder online
The water must be boiling – this helps to activate the psyllium husk
The recipe calls for 3 egg whites but my chickens lay big eggs so I only used 2
I added about ¼ tsp yeast extract to the boiling water to get the requisite yeasty flavour but it's not essential
Cooking time is a bit of an experiment – these rolls need to be cooked for quite a long time and the first time my oven was too hot so the outsides were browned before the middles were properly cooked. Keep checking and turn the oven down if it looks like they're cooking too quickly
Ingredients
160g almond flour
5 tblsps psyllium husk or psyllium husk powder
2-3 egg whites – you can use the left-over yolks to make my 5-minute mayo
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps apple cider vinegar
300mls boiling water (with ¼ tsp yeast extract (optional)
Sesame seeds or poppy seeds for the tops (optional)
Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper and heat the oven to 180 deg C
Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together
Add the boiling water and yeast extract (if using) and beat thoroughly for about 30 seconds – it will go from a liquid mess to a dough with a similar texture to playdough.
Wet your hands to prevent sticking and form the dough into 6-8 rolls. Place on the baking sheet so they're not touching. Sprinkle with seeds if using
Bake for about 50 – 60 minutes until browned and risen but check after about 40 minutes and turn the oven down if they're getting too brown.
Cheese and Onion Flan with Nut Crust
If you like quiche, eliminating grains might seem that this is one thing you don't want to lose. My husband loves quiche and would be sorry not to have it from time to time so this recipe is an excellent substitute; the base made with nuts works really well and can be used for all kinds of flans. As with all these recipes, you can add whatever you fancy for the filling – here I used just onions in a yoghurt and egg custard but you could add mushrooms, bacon, ham, leeks, smoked salmon... whatever you've got or whatever you fancy.
Ingredients
For the base
125g almonds
125g cheddar-type cheese
30g butter, cold from the fridge
Chilli power
Seasoning
For the filling
500g onions, finely chopped
300ml Greek yoghurt
3 eggs
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tsp French mustard
2 tsps lemon juice
Finely chopped parsley
sea salt and black pepper
To make the base, grease a flan dish well with butter and heat the oven to 200 deg C
In a food processor, grind the almonds until they are like breadcrumbs then add the cheese, butter, chilli powder and seasoning and process until it comes together in a crumbly dough.
Tip the mixture into the flan dish and press to form the base – much as you would to do a biscuit base.
Bake for about 10 minutes until the base is golden brown.
For the filling, fry the onions gently in the olive oil until they are soft but not browned. Meanwhile, beat together the yoghurt, eggs, mustard, lemon juice and seasoning then stir in the parsley.
When the onions are ready, stir them into the yoghurt mixture and pour into the flan base.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 180 Deg C, or until the filling is set.
Serve hot or cold with salad or buttered vegetables
Pakora with Yoghurt and Mint Dip
Pakora make a lovely low carb snack or an addition to a Primal curry meal. Pakora are made with gram flour – also known as chickpea flour or besan flour – so are grain and gluten-free.
I made these with just onions but you could use broccoli or cauliflower as well.
The yoghurt dip adds that extra zing and they're so tasty you might struggle not to eat them all in one go.
Ingredients
225g gram flour
2 tsp cumin seeds or ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp turmeric
2 red chillies, finely chopped, or 1 tsp chilli powder
2cm fresh ginger, grated, or 1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sea salt
Cold water
2 large onions, very finely sliced
A good handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
Light olive oil – enough to fill a deep pan or wok about 1/3 full, or you could use a deep fat fryer
Mix the dry ingredients and the spices together and add enough cold water to make a thick batter. You can check the seasoning at this point and add more if necessary.
Stir in the onions and coriander until the onions are well coated with the batter.
Heat the oil in the wok or deep pan and drop spoonfuls of the mixture into the hot oil. Allow them to fry for about 2 minutes until they start to turn golden brown then flip them over and fry for another 1-2 minutes.
Drain on kitchen paper and serve with the yoghurt and mint dip.
Yoghurt and Mint Dip
250ml Greek yoghurt
2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 red chilli finely chopped
½ tsp ground coriander
Salt
A good couple of handfuls of fresh mint, finely chopped
Mix all the ingredients together and check the seasoning.
Leave to stand for about 30 minutes to let the flavours mingle
Steamed Mussels in White Wine and Garlic
Mussels are a real Primal food. There is little doubt that our hunter-gatherer ancestors living close to the sea would have gathered and eaten all kinds of fish and shellfish. Mussels are also amazingly nutritious – they are a good source of protein, low carb and low fat; in addition, they are an excellent source of a range of vitamins and minerals including vitamins B12, A and C as well as selenium, potassium and Omega 3. They are also very cheap so you can rustle up a great meal cheaply and very quickly.
The saying goes that you should only eat shellfish when there's an 'R' in the month so autumn is a perfect time to try these – they're tender and delicious and you end up with a beautiful broth that tastes of the sea.
On a note of caution, unless you know what you're doing (in which case I guess you don't need this recipe) get your mussels from a reputable source rather than gathering your own as non-farmed mussels can carry diseases, depending on where they have been living.
Ingredients – for two people
1 net (about 1kg) fresh live mussels
4 tblsp olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 good tsp French mustard
2 bay leaves
100ml white wine or cider
1 lemon cut into quarters
Black pepper
2 tblsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
First clean the mussels – under cold running water, clean the mussels and remove any barnacles or bits of the rope the mussels were attached to. Discard any mussels that are broken or that don't close when tapped with a knife. Leave to drain.
In a very large pan ( I use a stainless steel marmite) heat the olive oil and add the onions, garlic, mustard, bay leaves and black pepper. Fry gently until the onion is soft.
Add the wine or cider and bring to a simmer for about 1 minute then tip in the mussels, 2 of the lemon quarters and the parsley.
Put the lid on the pan and give it a good shake then cook, covered for about 3-4 minutes.
Give it another good shake and cook for 1-2 minutes more. Discard any mussels that haven't opened during cooking.
Serve the mussels in wide bowls with the remaining lemon quarters. Scoop out the pinky flesh with a fork then enjoy the rich salty broth.
If you want something to soak up those delicious juices, you could serve with some keto bread.
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