The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More Than 150 Recipes for Paleo Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Beverages [Paperback]

Loren Cordain (Author), Nell Stephenson (Author)

Book Description

Release date: December 7, 2010

Dr. Loren Cordain's The Paleo Diet has helped thousands of people lose weight, keep it off, and learn how to eat for good health by following the diet of our Paleolithic ancestors and eating the foods we were genetically designed to eat. Now this revolutionary cookbook gives you more than 150 satisfying recipes packed with great flavors, variety, and nutrition to help you enjoy the benefits of eating the Paleo way every day.

• Based on the breakthrough diet book that has sold more than 100,000 copies to date
• Includes 150 simple, all-new recipes for delicious and Paleo-friendly breakfasts, brunches, lunches, dinners, snacks, and beverages
• Contains 2 weeks of meal plans and shopping and pantry tips
• Features 16 pages of Paleo color photographs
• Helps you lose weight and boost your health and energy by focusing on lean protein and non-starchy vegetables and fruits
• From bestselling author Dr. Loren Cordain, the world's leading expert on Paleolithic eating styles

Put The Paleo Diet into action with The Paleo Diet Cookbook and eat your way to weight loss, weight control maintenance, increased energy, and lifelong health-while enjoying delicious meals you and your family will love.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Selected Recipes from The Paleo Diet Cookbook

Greek Chicken Breast Kebabs
Everyone loves a kebab. This easy-to-prepare and fun-to-eat dish makes a festive presentation and will impress your guests. Be sure to make plenty as there will be many requests for seconds. Serves 4.


• Ingredients
  1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
  2 teaspoons dried oregano
  1 tablespoon olive oil
  1 garlic clove, crushed
  4 6-ounce chicken cutlets, cut into 1-inch cubes
  8 skewers, wooden or metal


• Directions
  If using wooden skewers, soak in water for one hour.
  
  Combine lemon juice with oregano, oil, and garlic in a small jar and shake well. Pour over chicken and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours.
  
  Thread chicken onto skewers. Grill or broil at medium heat for twenty minutes, turning at the halfway point.

Wild Salmon Basil Burgers
These seafood burgers are sure to be a big hit at your next barbecue. Cook them on the grill or broil them in the oven for a mouthwatering delight. Serves 4.


• Ingredients
  1½ pounds boneless wild king salmon fillet
  ¼ cup minced fresh basil
  1 garlic clove, minced
  1 omega 3 egg
  1 teaspoon onion powder
  
  
• Directions
  Heat grill to medium or oven to broil.
  
  Place salmon in a food processor with basil and garlic and blend until smooth. Place mixture in a medium bowl. Combine with egg and onion powder and shape into patties. Cook for fifteen minutes, turning once.
  
  Dress with your favorite Paleo condiment and wrap with lettuce leaves.

Caramelized Broccoli with Orange Zest
For a sweet twist on this vitamin-packed veggie, we toss broccoli with orange juice, resulting in a lovely caramelized dish. Serves 4.


• Ingredients
  2–3 broccoli heads, cut into bite-sized pieces
  2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
  1 tablespoon orange zest
  1 tablespoon walnut oil
  
  
• Directions
  
  Preheat oven to broil. Place broccoli in large bowl and toss with olive oil and pepper. Drizzle with orange juice and orange zest and mix thoroughly. Arrange broccoli pieces evenly spaced on a rimmed baking sheet.
  
  Broil for ten to twelve minutes, until bright green and slightly tender. Remove from oven and toss with walnut oil.
  

Review

'...some intriguing recipes in the new cookbook guaranteed not to leave you feeling hungry.' (Jewish Chronicle, December 2010).

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1 edition (December 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470913045
• ISBN-13: 978-0470913048
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (156 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #630 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diets & Weight Loss > Paleo
  • #8 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diets & Weight Loss > Low Fat
  • #27 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Special Diet

More About the Author

Dr. Cordain is a Professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. His research emphasis over the past 15 years has focused upon the evolutionary and anthropological basis for diet, health and well being in modern humans. Dr. Cordain's scientific publications have examined the nutritional characteristics of worldwide hunter-gatherer diets as well as the nutrient composition of wild plant and animal foods consumed by foraging humans. Over the past five years his work has focused upon the adverse health effects of the high dietary glycemic load that is ubiquitous in the typical western diet. A number of his recent papers have proposed an endocrine link between dietary induced hyperinsulinemia and acne. Currently, Dr. Cordain's research team is exploring the connection between dietary elements that increase intestinal permeability (primarily saponins and lectins) and autoimmune disease, particularly multiple sclerosis. Dr. Cordain is the author of more than 100 peer review publications, many of which were funded by both private and governmental agencies. He is the recent recipient of the Scholarly Excellence award at Colorado State University for his contributions into understanding optimal human nutrition. He has lectured extensively on the "Paleolithic Nutrition" concept world wide, and has written three popular books (The Paleo Diet, John Wiley & Sons; The Paleo Diet for Athletes, Rodale Press; The Dietary Cure for Acne) summarizing his research findings.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#93 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting

#93 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

583 of 627 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars The only book I've ever returned July 31, 2011

By B. French

Format:Paperback

What a disappointment. I've never returned a book before now, but honestly, this one was a dust collector right off the bat. Baked apples? Seriously? I don't know many people who don't know how to put some cinnamom and nutmeg on an apple and put it in the oven. I need a recipe book for that? Maybe it's because of the incredibly strict rules that Cordain follows. Get off grains? Oh yes. Loose the sugar? Absolutely. Avoid soy, corn and other processed oils at all costs? Too right. Toss the processed food? You bet. Try to find grass fed, pastured, free range and organic? I'm with you. But if you then remove all dairy (cheese, butter, cream) and go low fat (why you would do this I have no idea), it's pretty darn hard to create a dessert.

Here's my take on paleo eating in a nutshell (it'll save you the price of a cookbook): Cook some grass fed, free range or pastured meat or wild fish (the size of your palm is about right), put it on your plate and fill the rest of the plate up with organic veggies and salad (raw is always good). Snack on nuts. Easy on the fruit (berries are the best!) and heavy on the veggies. Stay far, far away from sugar, grains, beans, soy, processed stuff and food covered in chemicals. Don't eat animals that were fed these things, either. Dairy? Some say no, some say okay. Honey? Same thing.

Want to approximate your old favorites? Cauliflower is life's wonder food: use it in place of rice or potatoes. Spaghetti squash is pasta, as is zucchini. Cabbage can be lasagna noodles. Romain lettuce leaves = wraps for just about anything you could put in a sandwich. Turnip and rutabagas do just about anything potatoes can do. High heat frying can be done in pork fat, beef tallow or (to some extent) coconut oil.

Want to make desserts?... Bake with almond meal and coconut flour. Use stevia or xylitol to sweeten (both are natural sweeteners). Use coconut oil, butter and olive oil. Eggs and cream help a lot. Organic feta and cream cheese can be found. That's if you eat dairy. If not, you can still do some baking with coconut oil and eggs. You can make SUPERB ice cream with premium coconut milk (the high fat stuff), stevia, eggs and some melted Lindt 99% chocolate. No sugar, no dairy, total paleo, and you won't believe your taste buds.

Anyway, this book offered nothing new, and certainly nothing worth writing (or reading) about. No pictures, no new ideas, no fun, some items really hard to find...just not much there to love.

Pick up The Primal Blueprint Cookbook if you're looking for paleo meals, or a good low carb recipe book. Read more ›

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars I Love The Paleo Diet, But This Is Not A Great Cookbook December 2, 2011

By Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Paleo diets are certainly nothing new under the sun as they've existed for tens of thousands of years. Modern-day advocates of Paleo/primal/traditional diets are simply trying to get people to hearken back to the nutrition and fitness principles of early man as a means for avoiding the modern epidemics of obesity and chronic preventible diseases that plague us. The influx of highly-processed garbage that has been passed off as "food" in the 21st Century has taken us further and further away from what Paleolithic man was really all about. Thankfully we have people who are championing what it means to be Paleo like Dr. Loren Cordain. His 2002 release The Paleo Diet put the Paleolithic diet front and center in the health debate and it has only gotten stronger from there.

His follow-up book The Paleo Diet Cookbook: More than 150 recipes for Paleo Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Beverages is a response to this increased demand for titles with a Paleo bent as more and more people are looking to eat this way and want to try some delicious recipes for themselves. Dr. Cordain teamed up with his wife Lorrie and well as Paleo nutrition enthusiast and athlete Nell Stephenson to make these Paleo-friendly dishes available in book form. The book itself was written over the span of one month and unfortunately you can tell. While the recipes are not horrible and certainly fit within the mold of the Paleo basics (grain-free, dairy-free, and sugar-free), there are no photographs of the recipes at all. WHAT?! I realize this is likely a cost-saving measure used by the publisher, but a good cookbook will ALWAYS show you pictures to make you drool over which dish to make first....

There are MUCH better options for Paleo-friendly recipes if you want to find a cookbook that fits your Paleo lifestyle:

Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen

Make it Paleo: Over 200 Grain Free Recipes For Any Occasion

Everyday Paleo

The Primal Blueprint Cookbook: Primal, Low Carb, Paleo, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free (Primal Blueprint Series)

Primal Blueprint Quick and Easy Meals: Delicious, Primal-approved meals you can make in under 30 minutes (Primal Blueprint Series)

Don't let this less-than-spectacular Paleo Diet Cookbook turn you off from trying healthy Paleo living. It's an incredibly healthy way to eat that has helped improve the weight and health of millions of people. And the evidence supporting it continues to grow. Get on the Paleo bandwagon and experience the benefits for yourself! Read more ›

93 of 103 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Unoriginal and uninspired May 18, 2011

By Gen of North Coast Gardening TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

There are so few paleo cookbooks out that I hesitate to slam this one. I mean, any paleo cookbook is helpful, really.

But this cookbook seemed to take the tack that he was teaching people to make very basic food without using grains. There are zero photos (!!!), and the recipes consist of things like deviled eggs, kebabs, and salads with nuts, fruit or meat added. As a 30 year old person, I am well able to adapt my favorite burger recipe to a different type of ground meat. I am able to add a single herb to meat to make it taste better. I'm able to stuff a vegetable with other vegetables and meat. And I'm able to stick fruit in a blender and make a smoothie.

I read cookbooks to give me the creative solutions that I would not think of myself. How to make familiar foods that I miss, in a paleo, healthy style? And this book offered none of that. I dog-ear the recipes I want to try in cookbooks, and at the end of reading this one, I had two dog-ears. The other recipes just seemed, well - fine. It's just I eat simple stuff like that all the time. That's why I bought a cookbook, is to mix it up a bit and try something new. And this was just more of the same.

I'll give it two stars just because it is paleo, everything is lean and low-fat, and if you are brand new to cooking, this might help you. However, if I were new to cooking, I'd want photos, so I'd choose Mark Sisson's Primal cookbooks or Sarah Fragoso's Eevryday Paleo instead.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Cordain success in making Paleo another boring and dull "diet" September 30, 2011

By Ben

Format:Paperback

I was getting excited to receive my copy of this book when it just came out because I started following a Paleo lifestyle just 6 months ago and my friend and I have hit a very comfortable weight that we were never able to accomplish with other types of diets. Most of all Paleo allowed me to be happy with what I ate and feel full, satisfied, and energized after every meal.

After opening this book, it was apparent the quality is disappointing. The paper was rather cheap, no pictures or diagrams, only orange and black text.

The information presented in the first few chapters is very confusing because it goes against the mainstream belief of what Paleo foods are acceptable. The book for examples only lists 4 oils to consume (Olive, avocado, walnut, flaxseed) which is nothing wrong with those itself. But the book does not include coconut oil on the list and butter has been banned in this text. There has been a heavy amount of research that shows benefits of cooking with coconut oil compared to cooking with olive oils and the book does not reflect those findings.

Ask any Paleo individual and they will tell you how important animal fats are to the lifestyle and they'll even go as far to explain the importance of saturated fats and how there has been heavy research showing that there is no relationship to heart disease and saturated fats. The book again, fails in this area: it forbids bacon and fatty cuts of meats. To make it even more confusing the book says to throw out any salty meats including ham, sausage, etc. However later in the book it says to make your own beef jerky. Cordain needs to make it clear what his intention is towards elimination of foods because he certainly did not succeed in this department....

As for the recipes themselves, they weren't half bad. I've seen cookbooks that are presented in much more interesting and attractive ways and this book was one of the most dull. Just recipe after recipe with little to separate them or make them unique.

To summarize, I wouldn't really recommend this book to anyone unless they want some more random recipes to add to their collection. Information isn't anything new that you can't already find online so you aren't getting you money's worth from purchasing this item. Read more ›