Love at first sight! That’s what it was when I laid my eyes on this recipe just a few brief days ago in Thee Finnish Food Blog, Pastanjauhantaa. The recipe originated from a Finnish glossy food magazine Glorian Ruoka and included a whole HALF a decilitre of sugar. A genuine paleo monkey such as myself of course arrogantly sweeps away even the thought of adding sugar in food and so I just skipped that one ingredient, whistling like Piglet. Still, the result blew me away. As well as the rest of the eaters. Oh yes, this one’s a keeper.

Indeed it’s not the best quality paleo salad there is since it includes a whole lotta mayo but you gotta get your omega 6s somewhere to balance the omega 3s from all the grass-fed beef and wild-caught salmon  (or the lemon tasting bottle, to tell the truth). You are welcome to prepare your own mayo (I can has mayo!) but I just went with a store-bought this time.

Mayo Monster (aka broccoli salad)

• 1 kg broccoli
• 4 shallots or a generous bunch of spring onion/a junk of red onion/whatever onion you like
• 2 dl (0,8 cups) cashews
• 300 g bacon

Tear the broccoli florets in a bowl and chop the onion(s) along them. Roast cashews on a hot pan, set aside. Leave the bacon until later. Prepare the sauce.

Sauce

• 2,5 dl (1 cup) mayonese
• 2 Tbs raw apple cider vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Mix the sauce and blend it among broccoli and onion. Let the salad sit in the fridge for about two hours. When it’s time to serve the course, bake bacon until crispy and cut it in pieces. Spread cashews and bacon bits over the salad and dig in! …it’ll be gone before you have time to say HOLY CATS!

Doesn’t that sound romantic? Like a movie that sadly was never made. Luckily it’s easy to shoot this one home. I’m talking about the intelligent, articulate and witty Nora Gedgaudas‘ Nut Truffles from her book Primal Body, Primal Mind which I recommend EVERYONE to read. Working on getting it translated in Finnish as well.

Here’s the very basic recipe which you can then tune up by adding cocoa powder, seeds, coconut oil, coconut flour,  stevia, bee pollen, cocoa nibs… You know, whatever “floats your boat”. Cinnamon maybe?

Nut Butter Truffles

• 230 g nut butter (not cashew or peanut, for example almond will do and it’s easy to make yourself out of Brazilian nuts, that’s what I did, just blend the nuts until they form a moist butter)
• 1 cup (2,4 dl) of nuts (I used pecans and almonds)
• 0,5 cups (1,2 dl) shredded coconut
• 0,5 Tbs vanilla extract
• 115 g (organic) butter
• good quality salt

Prepare the nut butter if you’re not buying it ready made. Chop nuts in a blender until preferred chunkiness, don’t turn them into flour. Mix everything and spice it up with vanilla and some salt. At least I find Finnish organic butter to be too low in salt to make these delish. Form some sort of balls or just use a ice cube mold like I did. Spoon the mixture into the mold and refrigerate at least an hour. And action! Works as a snack, dessert or an add in at the breakfast. THANKS, Nora! For everything.

I know, I know, this looks all but inviting being a shapeless colorless mush but as you may imagine if you’ve read Monkeyfood for awhile, it’s of course - AWESOME! Even better than the previous paleo pudding in my opinion. And the best thing is that NOW is the season to eat this. Finnish strawberries, some fair trade bananas and freshly yielded coconut milk. Those cows really know how to make things nutty! ;-D

Coconuts about Strawberries (sweet paleo pudding)

• 3 bananas
• 500 g strawberries
• 1,5 dl (half a cup) coconut milk
• (cinnamon, vanilla)

Smash the bananas with a fork so that they form a nice childish puré. Clean the strawberries and cut them in slices. Add to the banana mixture and mix. Add a generous splash of coconut milk and mix again, check the taste. Season with cinnamon and vanilla if you like, works without seasoning as well!

Pesto. That’s one thing you wouldn’t want to miss out because of a (healthy) diet. And luckily, you don’t have to! Just omit the pasta.

[Nigella would be poetic in her words about this gleaming green pesto.]

Paleo Pesto

• a bunch of fresh basilicum (may as well use the thai version, hint of aniseed in the taste)
• (at least) 3 Tbsps pine nuts
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast (for the cheesy taste!)
• loads of good quality organic extra virgin olive oil
• salt

Rip off the leaves from the poor basilicum like a decent gatherer and stuff them into blender. Add pine nuts, garlic, salt and olive oil. Let blend and add olive oil until the consistency is creamy and soluble enough. You may also want to add some pine nuts, trust your taste. Nutritional yeast isn’t gonna ruin your batch by it’s absence, but I sincerely recommend it: the nutty, cheesy, salty taste really makes up for parmiggiano in other foods as well.

Mix pesto with veggies, meat or just eat it with a spoon! Goes with nearly everything and suits the non-paleo friends as well.

I understand that it might be a tad tricky to try separate the really good recipes from the really, really good ones here in Monkeyfood because I praise almost everything I ever make Still, I’m gonna praise these ones as well: these superduper nuts that would give even the almighty Super Goof unseen powers! …and while he’s not here, me.

Supernuts

• variety of nuts you prefer (macadamias, cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, pecans, walnuts, pistachios… )
• organic coconut oil
• quality salt

Roast nuts on a medium hot, dry pan. You may want to chop some of the bigger nuts in smaller pieces such as the Brazil nuts. Let roast while constantly mixing them around to avoid burning and let them get a bit color. Add a generous amount (start with a tablespoon, add if necessary) of coconut oil on to the pan and let melt, let roast and mix into the nuts. Turn off the heat and add salt. Move into a jar or a dish and let cool… Dig in! Works as a snack, dessert or a cheer-you-up! Bloody desirable.

I’m re-posting in English this magnificent Lime Key Bar recipe, that I’ve been utilizing for several times now. It’s easy to make, keeps well in the freezer, works on the sweet tooth and is so so good for us! It also suits people that are sensitive to the caffeine in raw chocolate and helps fill in the chocolaty gap… <3

I’ve made this using some agave nectar before but this time I went totally paleo. Up to you how sweet your tooth requires, might take awhile to get accustomed to the bitter yet rich taste. You may also use cane sugar, syrap, artificial sweetener, your call.

Lime Key Bars (two freezer containers, can be cut into 10-18 pieces)

• 1 cup (2,4 dl) juice from fresh limes (or other citrus fruit)
• 0,5 cups (1,2 dl) organic virgin coconut oil
• 0,5 cups (1,2 dl) agave nectar (OR I used 10 drops of Vanilla Stevia and 1 tsp lucuma powder)
• 4 cups (vajaa litra, n. 500 g) cashews
• 0,5 tsp (Himalayan) salt
• 0,25-0,5 cups (0,5-1,2 dl) water IF necessary

First ground the cashew into flour in the blender. Add lime juice (heavy job squeezing it out!), mix. Melt coconut oil and add it together with agave (if using) and salt. Add a little water if the consistency is too heavy. Taste to adjust the sweetness and salt. Pour into silicon or plastic containers or muffin tins or whatever and freeze at least 4 hours. Cut into pieces if you made them big or grab one smaller and have a taste! Be careful not to break your teeth… Especially the sweet one.

INDEED I’m gonna lure you into trying this by posting this thing OVER and OVER again! Just with a little bit of twist, now and then. I ain’t gonna stop until you’ve ALL tried it and loved it!

Berry Crumble

• blueberries
• raspberries
• apple
• lemon juice
• cardamom

Grease the pie tin, spread berries on it evenly and chop the apple to go with them. Season with lemon juice and cardamom.

Crumble

• virgin coconut oil
• coconut flakes
• salt (the ESSENTIAL ingredient to go with the coconut oil)
• mulberries, gojis, seeds

Crush dried berries and seeds, mix with other ingredients. Melt. Our over berries and apple. Bake in 220 for about 30 to 40 minutes. Let it cool. Then eat it before any other FOOL! It’s sooo good. Nobody needs pies when you have THIS.

(Convinced already?)

To make sure you realise how bloody brilliant this is, I’m gonna post this again just after a couple of days of the premiére. This was the third time I made this within… Well, some days. Not many. It’s hilariously delish. Also easy.

Monkey Crumble

• apples
• lemon juice
• cinnamon

Oil a pie dish and cube the apples, place in the dish. Season with lemon juice and a hefty amount of cinnamon. Prepare topping.

Topping

• virgin coconut oil
• good quality salt
• organic coconut flakes (totally different from the markets’ coconut sh*t, available in Ekolo)
• nuts/seeds
• gojis, mulberries

Crush the nuts, seeds, berries –> melt in a bowl with coconut oil, salt. Pour over apples. Bake in approx. 220 degrees for about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool. Let go!

This is gonna be the first post written in English in Monkeyfood’s history, and it might also be the last. Just felt like it’s time for something new. So ’cause  don’t want to end Monkey at least just yet, let’s go INTERNATIONAL!! Yeah baby.

We’re gonna start this fresh Londonian era with some paleo recipes since we’re going strictly paleo in the Monkeycave before our trip to Thailand next month. These treats were prepared yesterday and boy were they tasty! So, if you wanna join us for the adventure to the Unknown, please, follow me.

Smoked Salmon Paleo Pie

• 300-400 g (warm) smoked salmon
• approx. 3 dl coconut milk
• 2 organic eggs
• 1 organic broccoli
• a hefty amount of mushrooms (suppilovahvero)
• a few sundried tomatoes
• curry, chili, salt

Chop the broccoli into an oven pot (pardon my English, don’t know all the correct terms for all this food preparing dish), add bite sized salmon and mushrooms. Mix in a different bowl coconut milk, eggs, chopped tomatoes and season with curry, a bit chili and some salt if needed. Pour over fish and mix, bake in the oven (200-250 degrees) maybe 30-40 minutes. Enjoy with fresh veggies or just as it is. Sure ain’t beautiful, but who is?

Would you like a little dessert… ? (Smack the Pony!)

Monkeycave’s Apple Crumble (for two)

• 3 organic apples
• lemon juice
• cinnamon
• about 1 Tbsp virgin coconut oil
• salt
• nuts, seeds, goji&mulberries
• lucuma powder

Oil oven tray or a pie dish. Cube apples, season with cinnamon and lemon juice. Melt in a different bowl the coconut oil and add some lucuma for sweetness and some salt, the latter is essential! Coconut oil and salt together create the purrrfect paleo butter, so very very delicious, it’s almost magic. Chop some nuts, seeds and berries and add to mixture. Taste and spread over the apple cubes. Bake in a 200 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes, let cool. Dassit, supagood!

(No picture ’cause it was all eaten before the flash went on. That’s how BRILLIANT it is.)

Olen aina lämmennyt italialaisille mantelikekseille, cantuccineille, niiden uniikin olemuksensa vuoksi; rapeus, julmasti halkaistut pähkinät ja mantelinmakuinen makeus tuottavat keksejä, jotka ovat kauniita katsella ja kastella kahviin tai jälkiruokaviiniin. Vasta viime tiistaina sain itsestäni aikaiseksi ihan eks temporee tehdä paluun juurilleni ihanaan Italiaan. Ja kuinka kornia, tarjoilin niitä ainutkertaisen ranskalaisessa ympäristössä. Katselimme nimittäin Paul Bocusén hurmaavia (etenkin musiikki!) ruoanlaittovideoita vuodelta 1983. NYT ymmärrän, mistä ystäväni Villen (ennenkin esiintynyt MOnkeyfoodissa, mm. muistetaan uskomattomasta munakoisolasagnesta) kokkauspieteetti on kotoisin. LAPSUUDESTA!

Inspiraatiolle on kuitenkin hankala laittaa hanttiin ja kaivoin ohjeen esiin. Bella Vanilla tarjoili vakuuttavan shöyn ja koska kaapissa oli muniakin vain yksi, valitsin sen. Hiukan muokaten, tässä se on.

Mantelicantuccini cocojyväjauhosta (n. 15 kpl)

• 1 luomumuna
• 100 g sokeria
• 0,5 tl vaniljauutetta tai vaniljasokeria
• 1-2 rkl Amarettoa eli mantelilikööriä
• 115 g kokojyvävehnäjauhoa
• 0,5 tl leivinjauhetta
• reilu ripaus suolaa
• 100 g manteleita

Kuumenna uuni 180 asteiseksi. Vatkaa sokeri ja huoneenlämpöinen muna tukevasti vaahdoksi. Lisää vanilja ja likööri, sekoita. Sekoita jauho, leivinjauhe ja suola toisessa astiassa ja kääntele sekaan vaahtoon. Lisää mantelit. Muotoile leivinpaperoidulle pellille sopiva pötkylä ja nuketa 25 minuuttia. Ota pötky ulos ja pätki ohuehkoiksi suorakaiteiksi. Käännnö kaiteet kyljilleen ja paahda jälleen 10 minuuttia. Käännä sitten möllit toiselle kyljelleen ja paista vielä, viisi minuuttiakin voi riittää. Anna jäähtyä mikäli maltat. Syö.

Disclaimer: jos olet heikkohampainen, kastele keksi kunnolla kahviin ennen kuin yrität sen kimppuun.