TAILGATE – PALEO STYLE

Football season and tailgating usually go right along with chicken wings, pizza, beer, chips and many more non-paleo items. But it doesn’t have to! Don’t let football season be your excuse for losing sight of your nutrition goals. You can enjoy delicious tailgate food that is paleo-friendly.

Last night we celebrated the SEC Championship with a feast of hamburgers topped with carmelized onions and paleo ketchup and flax seed chips with guacamole and pico de gallo. It was delicious and we didn’t wake up with a carb hangover this morning.

Here are the recipes:

Hamburgers with caramelized onions & paleo ketchup:

2 lbs ground beef

celtic sea salt & black pepper

garlic powder

small onion, very finely chopped

1 can of crushed tomatoes or fire roasted tomatoes

4 tbsp tomato paste

celtic sea salt

1 tsp honey (optional)

1 large onion

Combine ground beef with salt, pepper, garlic powder and chopped onion. Make sure to go light on the salt. Divide into 8 portions and form into patties. Grill to desired temperature.

While burgers are cooking, combine crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, salt & honey (honey not recommended if you are trying to lose weight) and slowly heat until warm. Remove from heat and let cool.

Also while burgers are cooking, heat EVOO in a skillet over medium heat. Slice onion and saute in pan slowly until  soft & golden brown. (Do not add salt as this will make the onions sweat instead of caramelizing).

Guacamole:

2 ripe avocados

juice from 1/2 a lime

garlic powder

celtic sea salt & pepper

1-2 tbsp of pico de gallo (from recipe below)

Mash avocados and combine with other ingredients. Serve with flax seed chips or with sliced veggies (cucumbers, carrots, bell pepper) or just eat right off the spoon!

Pico de gallo:

3 vine-ripe tomatoes

half of a jalapeno (membrane & seeds removed), finely chopped

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

chopped cilantro (to your taste)

celtic sea salt & pepper

juice from 1/2 a lime (or to taste)

Chop tomatoes finely and combine with all other ingredients.

Flax seed chips:

1 cup flax seeds

1 tbps EVOO

any seasonings you like (we like garlic powder, cayenne pepper & ancho chili powder)

Soak 1 cup of flax seeds in a large bowl of water for 6 hours. (you need more water than you think. The flax seeds will soak up a lot. You can always drain any excess after 6 hours). Drain Flax seeds, combine with desired seasoning & EVOO and blend in a blender or food processor until smooth.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and smooth flax mixture onto parchment (you want to spread the mixture even and thin). There are two ways to bake these.

The ultimate is to bake overnight on your ovens lowest setting (ours is 170 degrees). In the morning, take them out, flip over and bake on that side for an additional 20 minutes.

The other method (if you need them sooner) is to bake at 200 for 5 hours. Then flip and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

Once they cool a little you can break them up into chips.