A Calculated Whisk

Creative paleo and gluten-free recipes

  • Home
  • About Me
    • Photography Portfolio
  • Cookbook
  • Recipe Index
  • Paleo
    • Paleo Eating
    • A Paleo Pantry
  • Blogging
You are here: Home / Archives for recipe / appetizer

Cherry Pico de Gallo

July 2, 2019 By Becky 4 Comments

Cherry pico de gallo

This cherry pico de gallo is an easy, sweet twist on your favorite fresh salsa. It’s great with chips or on top of grilled meats!

Cherry season! It’s my favorite time of the year. This is your moment to make this simple cherry pico de gallo, which goes well with pretty much everything and will disappear faster than anything else at your Fourth of July cookout.

Read More…

Filed Under: #30MinuteMondays, appetizer, gluten free, paleo, recipe, vegan, vegetarian, whole30 Tagged With: cherries, dairy free, grain free, no-cook, salsa, summer

Building an Easy Winter Cheeseboard + Beaujolais Wine

December 10, 2018 By Becky Leave a Comment

This post is sponsored by Discover Beaujolais.

An Easy Winter Cheeseboard + Beaujolais Wine

This easy winter cheeseboard paired with Beaujolais wine makes holiday entertaining a snap. Plus, there’s a recipe for a five-minute pomegranate chèvre cheeseball!

Want to know the secret to super easy holiday entertaining that looks and tastes fancy and will impress all your guests? Here its is: wine and an epic cheeseboard. This is so simple to put together, but everyone loves it. Best of all, there’s no cooking required! I’ve teamed up with Discover Beaujolais to bring you this easy winter cheeseboard that pairs perfectly with their Moulin-à-Vent red wine.

Beaujolais is a region of France north of Lyon that produces red and white wines as well as rosé. The soil there has pink granite in it with streaks of manganese, which gives the grapes and thus the wine a special flavor. I would love to go see this gorgeous region for myself, but for now, I’ll be imagining it while I snack on this cheeseboard and sip on glass of Moulin-à-Vent red.

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, gluten free, recipe Tagged With: cheese, Christmas, goat cheese, holiday, New Year's, party, pomegranate, wine, winter

Baba Ganoush with Spiced Lamb & Mint

July 16, 2018 By Becky 8 Comments

Baba Ganoush with Spiced Lamb & Mint

Turn silky smooth eggplant dip into a meal by adding a pile of fragrant meat on top! This baba ganoush with spiced lamb & mint will quickly become a summer favorite.

In case you missed my subtle Instagram announcements, I’m pregnant! For a few more hours, you can catch a glimpse of the growing bump in my stories. We’re expecting a baby girl right around Christmas, and both Ben and I are so excited.

This pregnancy is part of the reason I’ve been posting so infrequently the last few months. Even before I realized I was pregnant, I was hit with terrible exhaustion that lasted all of the first trimester and a few weeks into the second. Now, at 17 weeks, I finally feel like some of my energy has returned within the last four or five days.

It’s funny because I fully expected to have morning sickness, but didn’t at all–I got off scot-free with no nausea–but was completely unprepared for how tired I’d be. I’ve never experienced exhaustion anything like it in my whole life! No matter how much I slept, I’d wake up still tired, and only become less energetic over the course of the day.

I’ve never been a napper unless I’m really sick, but these past few months, I have napped like a champion. On days spent at home, I could nap from about 2-5, and still go to bed again around 10 pm and sleep through until 7 or 8.

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, dinner, gluten free, paleo, recipe, whole30 Tagged With: dairy free, dip, eggplant, grain free, lamb, Middle Eastern, summer

Dairy-Free Slow-Cooker Spinach & Artichoke Dip

January 26, 2018 By Becky 12 Comments

This post is sponsored by Cost Plus World Market.

Dairy-Free Slow-Cooker Spinach & Artichoke Dip

 This dairy-free slow-cooker spinach and artichoke dip is a snap to make and perfect to snack on while watching the big game. It’s also totally acceptable and delicious as a lunch!

Who’s excited to watch some football (read: eat some snacks)? My husband is a big football fan and I love a good snack, so we are both pretty pumped. This slow-cooker spinach and artichoke dip will totally be on the menu on game day, but if you’re not a football fan, I think it’d also be a great recipe to whip up to show your valentine how much you love them.

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, gluten free, recipe, vegan, vegetarian Tagged With: artichoke, cashews, dairy free, dip, spinach, sponsored

Pinchos de Pollo from Latin American Paleo Cooking + Giveaway

September 5, 2017 By Becky 17 Comments

Pinchos de pollo from Latin American Paleo Cooking

These pinchos de pollo (Puerto Rican chicken skewers) from Latin American Paleo Cooking are a snap to make, packed with flavor, and super healthy.

So, hi! I’m back from what I think was my longest blogging hiatus ever, and I have really missed you. I have a post coming up soon with details on what I’ve been up to in case you’re interested (spoiler alert: planning our wedding and lots of freelance work!). From now on I’ll be sharing recipes more regularly again, and am really excited to get back in the game with this amazing and super simple recipe from Amanda Torres’ new cookbook, Latin American Paleo Cooking. Amanda is the brilliant recipe developer and writer behind the blog The Curious Coconut, and she wrote the cookbook with her mother in law, Milagros Torres, who grew up in Puerto Rico and has been cooking since she was ten.

Pinchos de pollo from Latin American Paleo Cooking

The book is full of tempting recipes for family dinners, party food, quick and easy meals, sides, cooking essentials like sauces, and desserts from many different Latin American countries. Since I’m trying to slim down for my wedding (it’s in less than two weeks!), I have not even looked at the dessert chapter. However, I’ve been poring over everything else and have a huge list of what I want to make. Empanadas are at the very top of my list (and the top of the cover of the book–don’t they look amazing?)!

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, dinner, paleo, recipe, whole30 Tagged With: chicken, cookbook, cookbook review, dairy free, garlic, grilling, lime

Paleo Potato Hummus with Crudités

March 20, 2017 By Becky 42 Comments

Paleo Potato Hummus with Crudités

This paleo potato hummus is smooth, flavorful, and ideal for spring get-togethers. No one will guess it’s made with potatoes! This post is sponsored by Potatoes USA.

If you’re looking for a paleo alternative to traditional hummus, I have a treat for you today! This legume-free hummus comes together in just half an hour and is made with Yukon Gold potatoes. The flavor and texture are so similar to regular hummus, though, that no one will be the wiser. Alongside a platter of vibrant crudités, this super-smooth hummus is sure to be a hit at your next party.

Paleo Potato Hummus with Crudités

I made this paleo potato hummus for a family gathering a couple of weeks ago and told everyone that it was hummus with a bit of a twist. It was quickly devoured, and no one guessed that potatoes were involved. As someone who doesn’t feel well after eating legumes like chickpeas, I’m thrilled to have discovered this crowd-pleasing, bean-free version of hummus. With olive oil drizzled on top and a sprinkle of paprika, it’s the perfect counterpart to a spread of spring’s freshest veggies.

Read More…

Filed Under: #30MinuteMondays, appetizer, gluten free, paleo, recipe, vegan, vegetarian, whole30 Tagged With: dairy free, dip, grain free, hummus, potatoes, sponsored, vegetables

Persimmon Bacon Bites with Rosemary Goat Cheese

December 16, 2016 By Becky 32 Comments

Persimmon Bacon Bites with Rosemary Goat Cheese

These persimmon bacon bites with rosemary goat cheese are the perfect festive appetizer and only require four ingredients! This post is sponsored by Cavit in partnership with Honest Cooking.

If you’re looking for a craveworthy appetizer to keep your family happy while you finish cooking Christmas dinner or to pass around at a New Year’s Eve party, I have totally got you covered. These persimmon bacon bites are the best app I’ve eaten in recent memory, and are super cute to boot. They pair perfectly with a chilled glass of Cavit’s crisp Pinot Grigio, and the combination is pretty much guaranteed to put even the grinchiest of grinches in the holiday spirit. When you’re snacking on fruit with bacon and herbed goat cheese and sipping on tasty Italian wine, there’s just no way not to feel festive.

Persimmon Bacon Bites with Rosemary Goat Cheese

I just discovered persimmons this year and they’ve quickly become my new favorite fruit. They taste kind of like a delicious mashup between a mango and a papaya, and I find them incredibly addictive. I used fuyu persimmons here and haven’t had a chance to try other varieties yet, so I recommend finding fuyus for this recipe. They’re the ones that are kind of squat like little pumpkins and are not pointed at the bottom.

When I’m eating a persimmon plain, I like to let it get nice and soft so the insides are custardy and smooth. However, when you’re making persimmon bacon bites, you want to choose persimmons that are still a bit firm so the slices will hold together well. Once roasted, they’ll have that smooth texture of a perfectly ripe raw persimmon with an even deeper sweet flavor. The hint of rosemary in the goat cheese makes these bites taste fresh and seasonal, and the bacon ties everything together both literally and figuratively.

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, gluten free, recipe Tagged With: bacon, Christmas, five ingredients or less, goat cheese, grain free, holiday, New Year's, persimmon, rosemary, sponsored, wine

Mini Sweet Potato Gratins

November 23, 2016 By Becky 4 Comments

This post contains affiliate links.  As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Mini Sweet Potato Gratins (Gluten free)

These mini sweet potato gratins are a perfect gluten-free and vegetarian holiday appetizer or side. They’re full of flavor thanks to a rich sweet onion cream sauce.

Happy day before Thanksgiving! I know I may be getting you these mini sweet potato gratins a bit too late for them to be part of tomorrow’s spread, but they’re delicious and fun anytime. They’d be great with Christmas dinner or as part of an appetizer table for a New Year’s party. Who doesn’t love their own little stack of sweet potatoes baked in a creamy sauce with a little cheese?

Mini Sweet Potato Gratins (Gluten free)

This gratin gets its unique flavor from a sauce made with sweet onions simmered slowly in butter, then blended with cream, sour cream, and a little bit of spice. The sauce is tossed with thinly sliced sweet potatoes, which are then stacked in muffin tins with a little bit of parmesan cheese. Everything is baked until nice and golden and bubbly, and that’s it! These take a little while and you’ll use your food processor three times if you let it do the slicing (which I highly recommend!), but they’re worth it. I may or may not have had almost half a dozen of these for lunch the other day…

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, gluten free, recipe, sides, vegetarian Tagged With: fall, grain free, gratin, onion, sweet potato, Thanksgiving, winter

Smoky Sweet Potato Latkes + Paleo Planet Giveaway

November 7, 2016 By Becky 87 Comments

Smoky Sweet Potato Latkes from Paleo Planet

Sweet, smoky, and crisp, these sweet potato latkes are really hard to beat, especially topped with cashew sour cream and applesauce.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the release of my cookbook Paleo Planet, I’m sharing one of my favorite recipes from the book–smoky sweet potato latkes–plus a giant giveaway package. If you’re interested in winning a signed copy of the book, a box of grass-fed meat from ButcherBox, and paleo-friendly baking supplies from Rodelle, scroll down to the end of the post to enter. If you already have the book, you can give away the signed copy as a gift and keep the rest of the prizes for yourself.

(If you do have the book and especially if you’ve cooked from it, would you consider leaving a candid review on Amazon? They’re so helpful to me and to potential readers. Thank you so much!)

Paleo Planet is a collection of gluten-free, grain-free recipes inspired by cuisines from all around the world, including over 125 recipes (and over 80 that are Whole30 compliant–get the full list here!). All of the recipes are dairy free with the exception of ghee, which can be swapped out if you’re avoiding it.

The book includes a full chapter of sauces, spice blends, and pantry staples you can make at home, from za’atar to spiced ghee to almond milk, to ensure your paleo meals are extra delicious, along with three chapters of main dishes (poultry, beef, pork, & lamb, and seafood). These include paleo versions of well-known favorites like moussaka, pad see ew, and chiles rellenos plus dishes that may be new to you, like kaddo bourani, an irresistible Afghan pumpkin dish, and ají de gallina, a Peruvian chicken dish cooked with ají amarillo chile paste. The cookbook also includes a chapter for appetizers, soups, salads, and snacks, a chapter of vegetable sides, and of course a dessert chapter.

Paleo Planet by Becky Winkler

I’m so excited to be partnering with ButcherBox and Rodelle to bring you a prize package full of wholesome ingredients that you can use to make recipes from Paleo Planet as well as anything else you’re whipping up this season. Rodelle is providing their high-quality vanilla beans, vanilla extract, and baking cocoa, which can be used in a myriad of desserts from the book, from Black Forest Cake to Millionaire’s Shortbread to Mexican Brownies.

ButcherBox is providing a box of their 100% grass-fed meat, conveniently packaged in individual servings and shipped straight to your door on dry ice. Their meat is my go-to for all the carnivorous recipes in my book, from Milanesa to Australian Burgers to Honey Chipotle Short Ribs.

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, breakfast, gluten free, paleo, recipe, sides, vegetarian, whole30 Tagged With: grain free, Paleo Planet, sweet potato

Patatas Bravas

June 27, 2016 By Becky 8 Comments

Patatas Bravas (Paleo, Whole30)

This version of patatas bravas features potatoes roasted in duck fat until they’re super crispy, then topped with spicy brava sauce and creamy, garlicky allioli.

I’ve been on a quest for months to make truly crispy roasted potatoes. They’re more elusive than you might expect. Simply roasting potatoes in a hot oven for a long time may give you some crunch around the edges, but the interior of the potato isn’t satisfactory. I need the insides of the potatoes to be tender and fluffy with no hint of dryness. And I’m not after just crunchy corners–I’m in need of some solid, wrap-around, all-encompassing crunch.

My quest finally came to a delicious end when I discovered this recipe for roasted duck fat potatoes on The Domestic Man. I bought myself a jar of Epic Cage-Free Duck Fat from Thrive Market and got roasting. The recipe requires you to parboil the potatoes, drain them, rinse them until they’re cool, and pat them dry. Then you heat the duck fat on the sheet pan in the oven before adding the potatoes, so they sizzle when they go on. After that, they roast for about an hour.

Patatas Bravas

The results are just perfect, but it’s not exactly a quick recipe. You can’t really get around the lengthy roasting time, but I’ve discovered you can microwave the potatoes with a bit of water for five minutes instead of waiting for a pot of water to boil. Somehow, eliminating the stovetop step makes all the difference for me, and I’ve now moved these potatoes from a weekend treat to a valued member of my weeknight arsenal. (Of course, if you don’t have a microwave or don’t want to use one, you can just follow Russ’ original instructions here.)

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, gluten free, paleo, recipe, sides, whole30 Tagged With: grain free, potatoes, Spanish, tapas

Samosa Bites with Paleo Raita

January 27, 2016 By Becky 2 Comments

Samosa Bites with Paleo Raita | acalculatedwhisk.com

This post is sponsored by the U.S. Potato Board in collaboration with Honest Cooking.

These samosa bites showcase the best part of the classic Indian appetizer—the perfectly spiced potato filling! They’re baked, not fried, and are served with a cooling cucumber raita. 

I love Indian food, and am a huge fan of going to Indian buffets for lunch. I actually find it pretty easy to follow a primal diet there–I avoid the breads, of course, but many of the curries, chutneys, and tandoori meats are fine. Indian food uses so many great spices and flavor-packed vegetables like ginger, garlic, and chiles that I never feel like I’m missing out on anything.

Samosas, though, have always been a sticking point. The potato filling is so delicious, especially with some raita on top, but I’ve never been a fan of the heavy, gluten-laden, deep-fried wrappers. Since it’s a little bit uncouth and definitely not in the spirit of paleo to go to a buffet and unwrap a samosa and eat only the insides, I decided to take matters into my own kitchen.

Samosa Bites with Paleo Raita | acalculatedwhisk.com

Potatoes are a nutrient-dense food and a great source of healthy carbohydrates since they’re naturally gluten free. They have more potassium than bananas, and a serving of potatoes also gives you almost half of the Vitamin C you need for the day (for more info, check out the Potato Board’s nutritional facts page here). Most people now consider potatoes an integral part of a paleo diet, and as of July of 2014, they’re even Whole30 compliant! (You should have seen how happy I was the day that change was announced. There may or may not have been some dancing involved.)

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, gluten free, paleo, recipe, restaurants, vegetarian, whole30 Tagged With: cucumber, dip, Indian, potatoes, sponsored

Bacon-Wrapped Potato Wedges

September 28, 2015 By Becky 39 Comments

Bacon-Wrapped Potato Wedges | acalculatedwhisk.com

You only need two ingredients to make these bacon-wrapped potato wedges, and they’re perfect paleo football food!

It’s football season! Are you into it? I have no idea what’s going on, but my fiancé Ben is a big Broncos fan and is also in a fantasy football league. It’s my job to complain about how much the TV is on and to make delicious snacks, like these bacon-wrapped potato wedges.

We moved this past weekend–we’d been staying with Ben’s sister and her family, and now we’re renting a little guest house from some friends of ours while we look for a house to buy. The guest house is just two rooms plus a bathroom, but it’s really cute. The kitchen and living area are in one room, but it’s a pretty good size and I’m really happy with the kitchen area. Unfortunately, the TV is right nearby, so I have to listen to football while I cook.

Bacon-Wrapped Potato Wedges | acalculatedwhisk.com

Since things have been pretty hectic with our move from Boston to Chattanooga last month and our mini move into the guest house more recently, I’ve been on the lookout for easy recipes. I was assigned Rebekah’s blog, Making Miracles, for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, and found so many great possibilities in her recipe index. Her blog is full of fast, easy, family-friendly recipes, and I highly recommend you check it out!

I was planning to make her baked paleo chicken tenders, since I loved chicken fingers as a kid and haven’t yet tried making a paleo version. In fact, I’m still planning to make them–I have all the ingredients and everything–but once I saw these bacon-wrapped potato wedges, they jumped to the top of my list. I had to have them right away.

Read More…

Filed Under: appetizer, gluten free, paleo, recipe, sides, uncategorized Tagged With: bacon, grain free, potatoes, secret recipe club, snack

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • Next Page »

Hi, I’m Becky!

Welcome to A Calculated Whisk, where I share creative paleo and gluten-free recipes. Learn more about me here.

Connect with ACW on social media:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Looking for something?

Subscribe via email and get a free e-book!

Instant Pot Recipes

Instant Pot Colcannon

Instant Pot Colcannon

Instant Pot Balsamic Short Ribs

Instant Pot Tomato Sauce (made with fresh tomatoes)

Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu

Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu

In a hurry? Try these 30-minute recipes:

Berry Peachy Kale Salad with Candied Pecans

Summer Kale Salad with Peaches and Candied Pecans

Instant Pot Potato Leek Soup with Cauliflower

Roasted Shrimp and Asparagus with Green Goddess Dressing (Paleo, Whole30)

Roasted Shrimp and Asparagus with Green Goddess Dressing

Paleo Potato Hummus with Crudités

my healthy aperture gallery
rodelle brand ambassador

Privacy Policy

All text and photographs (c) Rebecca Winkler 2013-2020 unless otherwise noted.

Copyright 2013-2020 Rebecca Winkler · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Genesis Framework · Powered by Wordpress