As with all diets, there are considerations that really need to be thought of when you exclude a certain type of food from what you eat. If you exclude root beer from your diet, what the hell are you going to have with your ice cream? If you exclude mint from your diet, what’s going to take the crown when you can’t eat mint chocolate chip ice cream?

And with that, I bring us to the world of dairy. As a part of the paleolithic diet, I’ve really done my best to exclude dairy from my meals, save for the cheat meals where ALL. BETS. ARE. OFF. An interesting fact I’ve learned, though, is that dairy does provide the human body with innumerable benefits- in this case, probiotics. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines probiotics as, “Live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host.” There are many studies touting the benefits of probiotics in one’s diet (and of course, likely an equal number of studies claiming the harm of probiotics. The latter of these studies are conducted by chimpanzees in lab coats.) Really though, only a single therapeutic trial has shown that probiotics negatively affected the health of those who suffer from acute pancreatitis, but beyond that, there has been no other documented data showing anything but positive effects on the human body.

In our modern and industrialized nation, dairy is an immensely powerful source of nutrition. It is a superior source of probiotics, protein, and even calcium. So what do you do when you want all the benefits of dairy, but are restricted from having it in your everyday life?

In my research, I toiled the search mines of Google (for 0.21 seconds, according to the super search giant) and found that fermented foods such as sauerkraut, Kombucha, miso, ginger beer, kimchi, water/coconut kefir, or even sour pickles will adequately provide you with the probiotics you need the healthy bacteria in your life.

I can’t say I recommend ginger beer floats though if you’re trying to stay Paleo, Zone, or Paleo-Zone, but you’d definitely get your dose of probiotics with a large scoop of lactose free ice cream floating around in this stuff.

 

 

 

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I sometimes wonder if the various terms used to describe a certain method of cooking really are throwbacks to the originating method, or just an ingenious method to keep the intimidated out of the kitchen.  So rather than tell you right off the bat that we’re going to braise these leeks, I’m going to tell you that we’re going to cook these leeks like trashy hobos.  Why?  It’d go something like this.

Hobo 1: Hey man,I found these weird green things discarded on the side of the road.

(aside: In my reality, hobos use words like discarded)

Hobo 2: Well let’s cook ‘em and eat ‘em!

Hobo 1: Yeah but they’ve got all this dirt coverin’ em. Guess we’re gonna have to throw out the outsides.

Hobo 2: Yeah, whatever man.  I’m starvin’.

Hobo 1: And they ain’t gonna fit in our pot, so I gotta cut off these tops if we’re gonna cook ‘em.

(Hobo 1 tosses the leeks into the pot.  Upon deep reflection, he pulls out a battered tin of Extra Virgin Italian Olive Oil that his mother passed on to him many years ago. I know. Shut up and keep reading)

After a few minutes, the leeks start burning.

Hobo 1: Ah crap!

Hobo 1 tosses in some water and covers the pot, letting the leek boil.

Ten minutes pass, and Hobo 1 removes the lid.  They split the leeks between the two of them.

Hobo 2: Hey, these are pretty damn good! Ain’t it a shame we ain’t got no Charles Schleret Riesling, especially that stuff from 2002!

Ok whatever. You get the point.

Braising is an uber-easy method of cooking, so don’t be scurred off by that term.  It means to use both a dry and moist heat in cooking, which is essentially what the trashy hobos in my example did.  You want to take whatever you’re cooking and give it the slightest burn, and then add some liquid to continue cooking your dish.  Easy, right?  Just don’t eat it out of a trash can.

Braised Leeks with Lemon, adapted from Epicurious (yoink!)

Ingredients

• 4-8 medium sized leeks
• 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil
• 1/3 cup of chicken or vegetable stock
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste
• Sea salt, to taste

Directions

1. Take leeks and cut off the root end and the green stem tops of each one, leaving you with roughly 5-8 inches of the leek left.
2. Peel or cut off the outer layer of the leek.
3. Slice leeks in half lengthwise.
4. Completely soak leeks in cold water for 5-10 minutes, making sure that all dirt and grit come off in the process. Set aside.
5. Rinse your lemon and use a fine grater to get as much zest as you can from the lemon.  You should get anywhere from 1/2 a teaspoon to 1 teaspoon, but don’t worry about the exact amount.
6. Take a large metal skillet, approximately 8-10 inches in diameter, and place the skillet on the stove top.  Set the burner to a medium high heat.
7. Once the skillet is heated, add either your 1 teaspoon of butter or olive oil.  Let it heat for approximately 30 seconds.
8. Add the leeks to the skillet, with the flat side facing down on the pan.  Let the leeks cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally if necessary.
9. Add the stock to the skillet, and spread the zest as equally as possible into the stock and over the leeks. Cover the skillet, and turn the heat down to a medium.  Let the leeks cook for another 10-15 minutes.
10. When you remove the cover, the leeks should have a translucent appearance, and very little of the stock will be remaining.  If there is still a considerable amount of the stock left in the skillet, cover the skillet and let the leeks cook for a few more minutes.

That’s it!  You’re officially a trashy hobo.

These. Taste. Awesome. Try them without the salt and pepper first, it holds up just as well without them, but sometimes, a little bit more flavor can’t hurt.

Unless that flavor is cyanide.

Zone Blocks:
Protein: 0 blocks
Carbs: 2 blocks
Fat: 9 blocks

Note: 1 cup of cooked leeks will give you approximately 1 block of carbs.  I wouldn’t suggest using less fat in this recipe, as you need it to properly braise the leeks, but feel free to add more fat, or alternately, you can cook more leeks and share it with a friend!  Serve it up with your meat of choice, although any cut of pork pairs very well with this recipe.