Mediterranean Paleo Cooking is a wonderful new cookbook written by my friend Caitlin Weeks who is a Nutrition Consultant and author of the popular blog, www.GrassFedGirl.com, her husband, Nabil Boumrar, who is a phenomenal chef in San Francisco, and Diane Sanfilippo, best selling author of Practical Paleo. and author of the popular blog, www.balancedbites.com. Mediterranean Paleo contains 150 fresh, coastal recipes. There are recipes for breakfast, appetizers, soups, pizza and pasta, poultry, red meat, seafood, vegetable sides and desserts. All of the photos are incredible. Diane Sanfilippo is a master food photographer and took all of the pictures. You can get the book here.
Caitlin and I met through a mutual friend 5 years ago in San Francisco and she is the person who inspired me to start blogging and become a Nutritional Consultant.
Caitlin and Nabil met in a cafe in San Francisco and it was love at first sight and they were married a few months later. The book tells their incredible love story. Nabil is from Algeria. He comes from a large family and learned to cook from his mother, who had hundreds of mediterranean recipes that went back generations in their family. Caitlin converted these recipes so that they fit the Paleo diet principles.
The Mediterranean Lifestyle
One of the things that I really love about this book, is all the great information about the mediterranean region. It talks about the slower pace of life, the strong family connections, eating seasonally, and nose to tail eating which involves using every part of an animal.
Paleo Diet Information
For people who are beginners, there is really good information about the basics of the paleo diet. It talks about why grains and legumes are not included, using unrefined carbohydrates, high quality proteins, nuts and seeds, fermented foods, bone broth and healthy fats. It also talks about the principles of Weston A. Price, an eating plan similar to Paleo, created by Dr. Price, who traveled the world in the 1920’s and studied the eating habits of the world’s remotest and healthiest tribes. It includes a Mediterranean Paleo shopping list and recommend cooking equipment to make things easier.
Adaptions to Low Fodmap, SCD, GAPs, AIP and Low Carb Diets
Another thing I really love about this book is that Caitlin has adapted these recipes, not only to follow the Paleo diet guidelines, but also to several similar diets. Caitlin herself has suffered from food allergies, gut issues and Hashimoto’s and really wanted to make these recipes work for people with health issues. Every recipe has modifications to fit the Low Fodmap diet, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD). the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet (GAPS), the Autoimmune Paleo Diet (AIP), and lower carbohydrate diets.
The Recipes
There are so many recipes here that I am excited to try; Crab Hash with Eggs and Hollandaise Sauce, Orange Blossom Pancakes, Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghanoush), Easy Paleo Falafel, Mediterranean Paleo Pizza, Paleo Pasta, Chicken and Olive Tangine, Savory Chicken Kababs, Paleo Moussaka, Filet Mignon with Bernaise Sauce, Crispy Fried Sardines, Paleo Paella, Almond Tea Cookies and Flourless Chocolate Cake. I could go on and on, I am just so excited about this cookbook!
I always try to eat more organ meats which is sometimes hard because of the strong taste. This book has tons of recipes for them that look amazing.
At a recent book signing, Nabil said that his favorite recipe in the book is the Chicken and Olive Tangine which is on the front cover and Diane said that her favorite recipes is the Paleo Moussaka. My friend, Rachel Ball, of the beautiful and artistic paleo blog, www.grokgrub.com, told me that the Mediterranean Paleo Pizza recipe is amazing.
Where to Buy the Book
You can get the book here. I plan on getting several copies for friends and family for the holidays.
Zesty Crab Cakes with Aioli
- 1 pound cooked crab meat
- 2 tablespoons coconut flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup chopped scallions
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- fine sea salt and ground black pepper
- ¼ cup coconut oil or sustainable palm shortening
- ½ cup Aioli (see below)
- 1 cup arugala, for serving (optional) (I used lettuce)
- 2 lemons, cut into wedges for serving.
- In a large bowl, combine the crab meat, coconut flour, eggs, scallions, garlic powder, cayenne, paprika, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Use a fork to mix everything together.
- Heat avocado or coconut oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. While the oil is heating up, form the crab mixture into 3-inch patties and place them on a plate.
- To check the temperature of the oil, insert the end of a wooden spoon handle into the oil; if bubbles form around the handle, it is ready to use. Carefully place the crab cakes into the pan with a slotted spatula. Cook the crab cakes for about 3 minutes on the first side, or until golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side until slightly browned, about 3 minutes.
- Remove the cakes from the pan and put them on a serving plate. Cover the cakes with a towel to keep warm. Repeat until all the crab cakes are cooked.
- Drizzle the crab cakes with aioli and place on a small place on small beds of arugula, if using. Serve with lemon wedges.
Aioli Sauce
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 5 large egg yolks, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
- up to 2 cups extra virgin olive oil
- Put the lemon juice, garlic, egg yolks, salt and white pepper in a food processor. Pulse the ingredients for about 10 seconds.
- With the food processor running, very slowly add the olive oil in a thin, continuous stream.
- When the aioli thickens, stop adding the oil. You may have some oil left over. If the mixture becomes too thick, add a few teaspoons of water and pulse until it reaches the desired consistency.
- Keeps in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Yum!! 🙂
These look delicious! I love crabcakes!
These look delicious! The cookbook looks great too!
I have never had a crab cake before! I wish I had a safe source for crab around me…hmmm…
I’m with Renee, I wish I had a safe source for crab too, these look tasty!
I need to find a good source of crab around here. This sounds so good. (I love seafood.) 🙂
I bet this cookbook is a winner. This recipe sounds fantastic! I was just chatting with someone recently about palm oil. Do you have a recommended palm oil that is sustainable? Would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for this great review and for sharing the crab cake recipe with us!
Hi Jessica, I am not sure. I used coconut oil, but I will look into this and let you know.
I have not had a crab cake in ages, and these have my stomach grumbling! I wish I had them right now actually. I pinned this so I won’t lose it, thanks!
This recipe looks great! I, too, really appreciate her adaptations for healing diets. And her use of coconut flour instead of nut flour. Thanks for sharing the recipe and book review!
For years I didn’t like crab because of one terrible experience when I was a kid. Those kind of things really stick with ya! But recently I tried it again and surprisingly, I liked it! It’s time to try some crab recipes for sure!!! 🙂
It’s about time I make some crab cakes! I haven’t had any in so long. What a great recipe. The cookbook sounds awesome too!