I don’t think I’ve met a single person in my entire life who doesn’t like takeout food.
I LOVE takeout. Back in high school when I was swimming or playing volleyball every day and didn’t know how to cook, my family got takeout at least a couple times a week. Chinese food was probably my favorite. Sesame chicken or crispy shredded beef? I’m there. Pizza delivery? Heck yes.
High school metabolism + swimming/volleyball for multiple hours a day = bottomless pit of a stomach. Which means you’re ravenously hungry IMMEDIATELY after you get out of practice. I may or may not have snuck a few bites of pizza on my way home from swimming…every Tuesday when my family got it. Since then I’ve expanded my takeout loves to sushi, indian, thai…you know, all the standards that everyone loves so much but never wants to take the time to make at home.
Since then I’ve also developed host of severe food intolerances, so most takeout options have been sadly off my menu for a while (pun intended. Bad, I know. It had to happen). No more are the days of ordering that delicious, crispy, sweet and juicy sesame chicken or other chinese food, laden with MSG, crazy amounts of sugar, gluten and tons of other chemical ingredients I can’t pronounce, which all would plop me in the fetal position for days, feeling like absolute sh*t.
Which is exactly why I was beyond ECSTATIC when Paleo Takeout: Restaurant Favorites Without the Junk
All those takeout foods I had craved so badly since my gluten/lactose/all of the things food related struggles…I could eat again?? HELL to the freaking YES. The book is divided into sections by regional cuisines: Chinese Kitchen, Japanese and Korean Favorites, Southeast Asia and Beyond (Thai, Indian, Filipino, Mexican, Greek), American Classics, and various Sauces, Condiments and Sides.
Let me give you a small teaser of some of the amazing recipes you can now easily make AT HOME in the cookbook:
Sweet and Sour Chicken
Honey Walnut Shrimp
Bulgogi
Pad Thai
Indian Butter Chicken
4 kinds of (grain-free) Pizza!
Caribbean Jerk Wings
Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Teriyaki Chicken & Sauce
Is your mouth watering and your mind blown yet?? Because mine are. And you haven’t even seen the gorgeous photography in this book yet!! Not gonna lie, I almost drooled on some of the recipes because my mouth was hanging open for so long while I flipped through the cookbook. Totally normal.
And the best part?
Not only are the recipes absolutely delicious, they are authentic. There are your standard Americanized versions of chinese food like Orange Chicken and Italian American food like Chicken Parmesan (which are both insanely tasty and people love them, obviously), but there are also recipes that Russ has picked up from his extensive travels around the world to these countries, like different kinds of ramen, Chicken Katsu, Banh Xeo, Chicken Long Rice, Lamb Vindaloo, and the like.
Russ is a genius. He knows that one big reason people love takeout is because it’s so damn fast. So all the recipes in Paleo Takeout
Basically what I’m saying is:
If you want to eat your favorite, extremely delectable takeout dishes (without any of the junk ingredients or feeling like garbage after you eat them) that look, taste, and make you feel great, in about the same amount of time that it would take for you to order and get delivery, Paleo Takeout
And now let me give you an actual taste of Paleo Takeout
Remember how I said Sesame Chicken used to be my favorite? Well, Russ has done it again.
This recipe for Honey Sesame Chicken is so on point, if you closed your eyes and took a bite you wouldn’t know the difference between the Chinese takeout favorite and these flavor-packed chicken meatballs. Holy WOW is all I can say to these little babies. I also made them with ground turkey – equally delicious.
- 1 cup chicken broth
- ¼ cup honey
- 1 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine*
- 1¼ tsp coconut aminos
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper**
- dash of black pepper**
- 2 lbs ground chicken
- ¼ cup tapioca starch
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp coconut palm sugar
- ½ tsp white pepper**
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- 1 Tbsp arrowroot starch
- 1 Tbsp cold water
- 2 tsp sesame seeds, divided**
- In a saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium heat.
- Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently to allow the flavors to marry while you prepare the chicken.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken meatball ingredients with your hands, then transfer to a food processor and pulse until the mixture turns into a tacky paste.
- With wet hands, form about 40 balls. (I used a rounded tablespoon to scoop out meatballs).
- You can either pan-fry the chicken meatballs in batches over medium heat (in a skillet with 1 Tbsp coconut oil) or grill them over direct medium-high heat. If pan-frying, put the cooked chicken in a warm (200 F) oven while you make the other batches.
- Once the chicken meatballs are cooked, stir together the arrowroot starch and cold water to create a slurry, then stir half of the slurry into the sauce. Increase the heat to medium, bring to a simmer, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, adding more slurry if needed.
- Taste and add salt if needed, then stir in half of the sesame seeds.
- In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken meatballs with the sauce, then transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds over the chicken and serve.
**AIP if you omit the pepper and sesame seeds!
You know you don’t want to (you cannot!) miss out on more recipes like this one. Go get Paleo Takeout: Restaurant Favorites Without the Junk
! Your wallet, stomach, tastebuds, and whoever your share these recipes with (if you’re nice enough to share!) will thank you. The only person that will be sad is your weekly takeout/delivery guy. Sorry not sorry.
What’s your favorite takeout food?
Couldn’t think of where exactly to comment but here are my suggestions for your CO trip!! Blooming Beets in Boulder (100% paleo), Mod Market (Boulder, Denver, there are a few other locations too) – effing delicious food esp. salads and the pear proscuitto GF pizza is on point, The Med in Boulder is amazing too, if you can handle the sugar/other allergens (can’t quite remember what you can/(‘t) have) try Boulder Baked’s gluten free cupcakes….especially the strawberry shortcake or Heath bar!! Denver and Boulder are blessed when it comes to gluten free options!! Let me know if you are craving anything specific though! Have the bessssst trip
I’ve been wanting to try Blooming Beets for so long! I helped fund their kickstarter campaign 🙂 And ooooomg that all sounds amazing thank you so much for the suggestions!! I’ll have to hit them all up!
I don’t know how I missed Snooze!! Try a half and half benedict and the pineapple upside down GF pancake. Blooming Beets in Denver also has really good GF donuts which are a must. I like the maple walnut the best!! Sorry think I’m done for now 🙂 🙂
Ohmygosh YES! Breakfast is my favorite. Don’t be sorry, this is all super helpful! Thank you!!