recipe roundup Archives - A Calculated Whisk

Top 17 Paleo Recipes of 2017

January 2, 2018 By Becky Leave a Comment

Top 17 Paleo Recipes of 2017 | acalculatedwhisk.com

In case you missed them, here are my 17 most popular paleo recipes of 2017 based on number of views! Hope you give some of these a try in the new year.

Happy 2018! What are you up to this month? Are you setting resolutions? Starting a Whole30? I’m not doing either one of those this year, but I am setting some goals, including business goals for the year and personal goals to exercise more, eat things that make me feel great, and make taking care of myself a priority. I’ve done or attempted a Whole30 every January for the past few years and learned a lot from each one, and now I feel ready to take what I’ve learned and outline my own eating intentions based on how I know I react to various foods. If you’re doing a Whole30, though, I have plenty of delicious recipes to share with you–check out the Whole30 section of my recipe index (it’s right at the top!), two of my favorite roundups, 16 Whole30 Sheet Pan Dinners and 40 Whole30 Instant Pot Recipes, and my Whole30 recipes Pinterest board. I’ve also noted which recipes below from this past year are Whole30-compliant.

Interested in checking out the hit parades from previous years? Here they are: Top 16 Paleo Recipes of 2016 | Top 15 Paleo Recipes of 2015 (all Whole30-compliant) | Top 14 Paleo Recipes of 2014 | Top 13 Paleo Recipes of 2013

32 Paleo Comfort Food Recipes for Winter

December 11, 2017 By Becky 26 Comments

This collection of paleo comfort food recipes will keep you warm and nourished all winter long!

Looking for more delicious paleo recipes? Check out my roundups of Whole30 Instant Pot recipes and Whole30 sheet pan dinners.

Raise your hand if you could use some comfort food right about now! Between the cold weather and the seemingly incessant parade of Christmas treats, I’ve been craving healthy, hearty, hot dinners. In case you have been, too, I put together this collection of my very best and favorite paleo comfort food recipes.

Between all the cookies and the shopping and whatever else you’re up to, I hope you can find time to share some of these dishes with your family (or just make them for yourself!). Many of these recipes are great to make ahead and/or Whole30 compliant, so I’ve noted details like that below. Which one will you try first?

Here’s to a healthy and happy holiday season filled with plenty of satisfying meals!

15 Naturally-Sweetened Cocktails for Summer Celebrations

May 21, 2017 By Becky 18 Comments

These 15 delicious drinks are made without refined sugar to help keep your summertime soirées a little healthier without missing out on any of the fun. If you have favorite naturally-sweetened cocktails for summer, I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Watermelon Gin Cooler from A Calculated Whisk: This refreshing drink is made with honey-basil simple syrup and botanical gin.

Grilled Mango Habanero Margaritas from Wicked Spatula: This sweet & spicy cocktail is sweetened with honey. Grilling the mango adds a little bit of smoky flavor!

22 Grain-Free Treats for Valentine’s Day

February 3, 2017 By Becky 12 Comments

22 Grain-free Treats for Valentine's Day

This roundup of grain-free treats for Valentine’s Day has something for everyone, from chocolate lovers to fruit fans to caramel enthusiasts.

Valentine’s Day (or Valentime’s Day, as my students always called it–this makes sense because it happens at a specific time every year!) is right around the corner. Whether or not you’re into the whole idea of a romantic holiday, it never hurts to make a special treat for yourself or someone you love, right?

Here’s a roundup of 22 grain-free treats for Valentine’s Day that anyone would be thrilled to receive. We’ve got chocolate desserts, fruit desserts, a few with both chocolate and fruit, and a bit of caramel–a little something for everyone. I’ve marked the ones that are vegan, dairy free, egg free, and nut free in case you’re looking for those.

This post was hard for me to put together because I’m still in the midst of a Whole30, but Ben graciously agreed that we can push Valentine’s Day back and celebrate when I’m finished. When February 24th rolls around, you can bet we’ll be indulging in at least one of these grain-free desserts!

What are your plans for Valentine’s Day? Are you making a dessert (paleo or otherwise)? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

Without further ado, here are 22 grain-free, paleo-friendly treats for your Valentine’s Day cooking pleasure!

Grain-free Chocolate Treats for Valentine’s Day

22 Grain-free Treats for Valentine's Day

Mocha Ricotta Pie with Strawberries: Possibly my favorite dessert of all time. The intriguing flavor of this pie is reminiscent of a great cannoli and will have everyone coming back for seconds and thirds.

16 Whole30 Sheet Pan Dinners

January 20, 2017 By Becky 44 Comments

Who doesn’t love the idea of roasting up a whole nutritious meal on one sheet pan? These Whole30 sheet pan dinners will keep you well fed all month long while minimizing prep time and cleanup.

I know many of you are in the midst of a January Whole30, and you may be reaching that point during the month when dinner inspiration starts to be harder and harder to come by. I’m a little behind because I’m starting my Whole30 next week, but I’ve been spending a lot of time finding and developing easy paleo recipes to make this challenge a breeze for everyone.

Today I’m sharing this roundup of Whole30 sheet pan dinners. These meals are easy to make in the oven with just one sheet pan. It’s so satisfying (and beautiful!) to have an entire nutritious meal laid out on one big pan. If you haven’t jumped on the sheet pan dinner train yet, get excited. You’re going to love it!

In case you missed it, last week I shared a roundup of 40 Whole30 Instant Pot recipes. You might also like to check out my top 15 Whole30 recipes of 2015 and this roundup of 30 Whole30 recipes. And last but not least, my cookbook Paleo Planet has over 80 Whole30-compliant recipes (plus a chapter of treats for when your month is over!).

Do you have a favorite Whole30 sheet pan dinner that I missed? Let me know in the comments!

Whole30 Sheet Pan Seafood Recipes

Roasted Shrimp & Asparagus with Green Goddess Dressing from A Calculated Whisk

40 Whole30 Instant Pot Recipes

January 11, 2017 By Becky 8 Comments

Move over, slow cooker–you’ve been replaced! This roundup of Whole30 Instant Pot recipes will help you save tons of time and eat ridiculously well while meeting your nutritional goals.

Looking for more Whole30 recipes? Check out these 16 Whole30 Sheet Pan Dinners. Also, there are over 80 Whole30-compliant recipes in my cookbook, Paleo Planet!

If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet, you are missing out! This electronic pressure cooker has quickly become my number one kitchen gadget because it saves me so much time without sacrificing any flavor. I have this model, which is just $99 right now, but there’s also a new bluetooth version that looks pretty amazing.

With the Instant Pot, recipes that take all day in a slow cooker are done in just an hour or two, which is perfect for people like me who don’t excel at planning ahead. It also has a sauté feature, so you can brown meats right in the pot before pressure cooking.

And if you enjoy being able to have dinner simmering away slowly all day while you’re at work, worry not–in addition to high and low pressure settings, the Instant Pot also has slow cooker settings.

It’s perfect for making rice, too, so you can basically replace your crockpot and your rice cooker with this one miracle appliance. It’s also a great steamer, and has settings for pasteurizing milk and making yogurt (I have yet to use those, but I like knowing they’re there).

If you’re doing a January Whole30, these Instant Pot recipes will save you from food boredom while also saving you tons of time. Even if you’re not doing a Whole30, these healthful, real-food recipes are perfect for feeding you and your family any night of the week.

Looking for even more Whole30 Instant Pot recipes? Find ten more right here!

Whole30 Instant Pot Chicken Recipes:

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup from Real Simple Good

Cheesy Chicken & Green Zoodles from The Castaway Kitchen

Pressure Cooker Lemongrass & Coconut Chicken from Nom Nom Paleo

Top 16 Paleo Recipes of 2016

December 29, 2016 By Becky 2 Comments

Top 16 Paleo Recipes of 2016

As the year comes to an end, I like to take a look back and see which recipes were the biggest hits with you all throughout the year. Luckily, the ones that make the cut are usually favorites of mine, too! I hope you pin at least a few of these to try during 2017.

16. Picadillo with Plantains (Whole30): This delicious meal is from Melissa Joulwan’s new cookbook, Well Fed Weeknights. The avocado rose is optional but highly recommended (and much easier than you’d think!).

Top 16 Paleo Recipes of 2016: Picadillo with Plantains

15. Maple Balsamic Chicken & Bacon Skewers: These are everything in the summer, but you can make them in the broiler when the weather outside is frightful! I don’t think I’ll ever make kebabs without a bacon weave again.

20 Unique Gluten-free Thanksgiving Desserts

November 17, 2016 By Becky 2 Comments

20 Unique Gluten-free Thanksgiving Desserts

It’s time to think outside the pie! Here are 20 deliciously unique gluten-free Thanksgiving desserts that are may not be traditional, but are still packed with seasonal ingredients. If you’re tasked with bringing a dessert to Thanksgiving this year, why not surprise everyone with something new they likely haven’t tried before? Especially if others have the old classics covered, these offbeat gluten-free treats will be a refreshing contrast. We’ve got pumpkins, cranberries, apples, pears, and more. Which one appeals to you most?

Pumpkin Creme Brulee Pie Bars may be my single most-dreamt-of dessert. They’re like pumpkin pie and creme brulee put together with a little chocolate in the crust for good measure.

Baked Pumpkin Custards with Maple Mascarpone Whipped Cream: These are super easy and you can make them ahead of time–what’s not to love about that?

Pumpkin Caramel Cheesecake Pie: Is your oven kinda busy? No worries, because this stunner requires no baking or cooking. Also, pumpkin and caramel make an unbeatable combination!

Pear Galettes with Pistachio Frangipane: Pears are the unsung heroes of fall baking. They’re almost like custard once cooked, with a texture far superior to that of apples in my opinion. You have to try them in these galettes!

70 Grain-free Vegetarian Recipes

April 8, 2016 By Becky 11 Comments

Looking for grain-free vegetarian recipes? I’ve got you covered with this roundup of 70 creative recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, main dishes, sides, breakfasts, and snacks that are free of meat and grains.

I often hear from readers who are looking for paleo vegetarian recipes or even paleo vegan recipes. I’m not a vegetarian myself, but I am on a constant quest to eat a larger quantity and variety of vegetables and other plant-based foods and I aim to please all my readers.

I had a wonderful time scouring the web to find 70 of the most delicious-looking recipes that are free of both meat and grains. Thirty of them turned out to be grain-free vegan recipes and 34 of them are Whole30 compliant, so there’s something for just about everyone here.

Two years ago I did a roundup of 25 grain-free vegetarian recipes, but there’s been so much great new content coming out since then that I thought I’d do an updated post. I asked my favorite bloggers to share links to their best meatless, grainless dishes and was blown away by the response. I initially planned to include just 25 recipes again, but everything looked so good that the number crept up to 50 and then to 70.

I hope you’ll explore this list even if you’re a meat-eater like me, because these dishes are craveworthy regardless of your dietary restrictions. And if you are a carnivore, you could always pair one of these with a meat-centric recipe to round things out (a few of my favorites that are begging to share the plate with some veggies are slow-cooker short ribs, cilantro lime chicken, and sizzling garlic shrimp).

Do you follow a grain-free vegetarian or paleo vegetarian diet? I’d be curious to hear about it in the comments section. And if you have favorite grain-free vegetarian recipes you’d like to share, leave a comment with some links so the rest of us can check them out!

Top 15 Paleo Recipes of 2015 (Whole30)

January 1, 2016 By Becky 10 Comments

Here’s a roundup of the top 15 paleo recipes published on A Calculated Whisk in 2015 that are also Whole30-compliant.

Happy New Year! I hope your 2016 is full of happiness, love, and plenty of food that’s fun, gorgeous, and good for you.

Do you set New Year’s resolutions? I don’t always, but this year I have a big, simple one: to take better care of myself. There are so many things I want and love to do, but I can’t do any of them well if I’m not happy, well rested, and well fed.

This past year was a hectic one for me. At the tail end of 2014, just over a year ago, Ben and I got engaged. In the first few months of 2015, I finished up the last few photographs and edits for my cookbook, which came out in November. At the end of August I completed my master’s program in speech and language pathology. One week later we got in the car (well, I got in the car and Ben and Smitty got in a U-haul truck) and drove from Boston to Chattanooga, and one week after getting here I started my new job. I’m doing speech and language therapy with kids four (extra long!) days per week, and for the other three days I’m doing as much recipe development, food photography, and writing as I can. I love both of my jobs, but they sure don’t leave me with a lot of down time. (In case you’re wondering how much wedding planning I’ve managed to squeeze in so far, the answer is none at all!)

I have a counterproductive tendency to be harder than usual on myself when there’s a lot that I need to get done. Of course, it would make much more sense to up my self-care game when the going gets tough, so that’s what I’m aiming to do in 2016. I’m starting with doing a Whole30 (read all about it here if you’re not familiar), trying to spend time exercising outside three days a week, and continuing to work on eating more vegetables (like these ones from my Big Sycamore Farm winter CSA).

If you feel like sharing, I’d love to hear about your resolutions in the comments! And if you’re doing a January Whole30, too, I’d love to connect so we can give each other moral support.

To celebrate the end of 2015 and get pumped about cooking even more healthy food at home, I dug into Google Analytics to see which of my paleo recipes from last year were the most popular. Since I’m on Day 1 of a Whole30, though, I turned a blind eye to all of the desserts and any other recipes with added sweeteners or off-plan ingredients. (Of course, you can still find all the desserts I’ve ever posted over in the recipe index–I just didn’t feel right sharing photos of treats on the first day of a squeaky-clean challenge!) This year’s roundup includes only recipes that comply with the Whole30 rules, but make sure to read the recipes carefully for notes about details like sugar-free bacon. Also, some recipes list two ingredient options, one that’s not Whole30-approved and one that is (for example, heavy cream or coconut milk).

Without further ado, here are the recipes. Happy cooking!

Roasted Jerk Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes

Okay, you caught me: this recipe was actually published in 2014, but it came out in December so it didn’t have a chance to make it into last year’s roundup. Plus, it’s my most popular paleo recipe of all time! It’s perfect for winter nights and is the cheapest replacement I’ve found for a Caribbean vacation.

16 Paleo-Friendly Fig Recipes

September 2, 2015 By Becky 11 Comments

A roundup of 16 grain-free, paleo-friendly recipes using fresh figs,

from breakfasts and snacks to dinners and desserts.

Figs are in season now, and while they’re great eaten just as-is, I also love cooking with them. I’ve been especially excited about figs this year, even writing a poem about them in the style of Pablo Neruda (scroll down in this post to read my ode to figs). My fiancé and I just moved down to Tennessee and, since my campaign to get him to raise goats with me has been unsuccessful, I now have my heart set on planting a fig tree or two. Hopefully in a few years I’ll be able to make all these recipes with homegrown figs!

For now, store-bought figs will have to do. My local grocery store has plenty of black mission figs (pictured above in the top left of the collage), and I’ve also seen brown turkey and calimyrna figs. I wanted to round up all of the most delicious paleo-friendly fig recipes in one place in order to inspire us all to take full advantage while they’re still around. I scoured all my favorite blogs and websites to find mouth-watering ways to use figs at every meal of the day. The recipes below should work well with any kind of fresh fig, or even a mix of more than one variety!

All of the recipes linked to here are gluten free and grain free, but some do contain dairy. If the original recipe doesn’t list substitutions, I’ve noted ways to make the recipe dairy free. From breakfast bowls to pizza, salad to chocolate tarts, and smoothies to chutney, there’s something figgy here for everyone!

30 Easy Paleo Dinners (in 30 minutes or less!)

June 13, 2015 By Becky 14 Comments

Hungry but short on time? Here are 30 easy paleo dinners that can be made in 30 minutes or less!

Anyone meal planning this weekend? I have 30 quick, flavorful, and easy paleo dinners for you to consider. Seafood, chicken, turkey, beef, and even breakfast for dinner–there’s a little bit of everything here!

This summer is a busy one for me. In addition to finishing up the last few classes for my master’s program, I’m working long days at a hospital for my final clinical externship. The last thing I want to do when I get home is spend a lot of time getting dinner ready (or worse, end up ruining my Whole30 by succumbing to the temptations of takeout). I scoured the web for tasty paleo recipes that can be made, start to finish, in 30 minutes or less, and asked some of my blogger friends to share their favorite recipes as well. Almost all of these recipes are Whole30 compliant as written, but for the ones that aren’t, I’ve noted an easy substitution for you.

Do you have a go-to quick dinner? I’d love to hear about it. Let me know in the comments!