Mark's Daily Apple

Heritage Turkey and Mashed Parsnips

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Thanksgiving is only a few days away and in the United States this means one thing: turkey. No other foods seems to dominate a holiday like this large bird and the mind-boggling demand (an estimated 45 million turkeys are eaten for Thanksgiving) has created some unsavory practices amongst turkey producers.

Beginning in the 1960s grocery stores started selling a breed of bigger, plumper turkeys known as Broad-Breasted Whites. This turkey is bred for one main reason: it’s cheap to raise, primarily because it’s genetically modified to grow quickly. Turkey producers can maximize their profits and provide what they think consumers want: birds with more white meat. But the thing is, all that white meat makes a turkey cook and taste different. In fact, it is probably Broad-Breasted Whites (not your mother’s cooking skills) that are to blame for decades of dry, flavorless Thanksgiving turkeys. Even worse than dry meat, the genetic modifications to Broad-Breasted Whites leave them unable to fly or reproduce without artificial insemination.

Posted By: Worker Bee

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Omelet Muffins

In a perfect world, we’d all sit down every morning to a leisurely, healthy breakfast. In the real world, however, we’ve all done our share of eating breakfast in our cars, on the bus or at our work desk. Sometimes, where you eat the breakfast you grabbed on your way out the door can’t be helped. What can be helped, however, is what you eat.

A grab-and-go breakfast is exactly what Amy Schoenherr had in mind when she submitted her recipe for Omelet Muffins to the Primal Cookbook Challenge. This easy and clever variation of a regular old omelet can be made in batches of a half-dozen or more and eaten throughout the week. Amy’s muffins, made almost entirely from eggs, are little powerhouses of protein, fat, nutrients and flavor. Mixing in a little water and mayonnaise keeps the eggs fluffy and moist while they bake. Other than that, what you mix in for added flavor is up to you. Anything you love adding to an omelet – diced vegetables, meat, and some cheese if you’re so inclined – you can add to this recipe to create your own personal omelet muffin.

Posted By: Mark Sisson

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Frittata Aleta

Eight-year-old Aleta is already thinking like a chef. Not only did she create a frittata packed with nutrients and flavor but she also chose vegetables with a stunning array of colors. Waves of dark green kale, purple cabbage and red pepper will brighten your morning when you sit down to Aleta’s frittata. A frittata is basically an Italian take on an omelet. The main difference is you avoid all the tricky folding and flipping and just let the eggs cook into a round, flat pancake. Almost any combination of vegetables and meat can be sautéed into a frittata, although we’re especially fond of this combination.

Posted By: Worker Bee

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Italian Sausage Meatballs with Fresh Herbs

Perhaps there is a more eloquent way to say it, but Shalon perfectly describes the flavor of the meatballs she entered in the Primal Blueprint Cookbook Contest with this quote: “They satisfy my mmm, goodness requirement.”

It’s true. “Mmm” is likely to be the first thing out of your mouth when you take a bite, thanks to a flavorful combination of ground beef (or bison) and sweet Italian sausage. Italian sausage is traditionally made from pork but chicken and turkey varieties are also out there. Fennel seed, which has a slightly sweet and very faint licorice-like flavor is the distinguishing characteristics of sweet Italian sausage. The Italian sausage perfectly matches other ingredients in the meatballs like fresh herbs, garlic and red pepper flakes. You can dip the meatballs in ketchup or mustard if you want, but with so much satisfying flavor packed into them you’ll be completely satisfied eating the meatballs unadorned.

Posted By: Mark Sisson

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Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s Pie is comfort food at it’s best. Flavorful ground meat is mixed with a simple blend of peas, carrots and green beans, and in the recipe Cherie Randall submitted for the Primal Blueprint Cookbook Contest, topped with a creamy layer of buttery cauliflower puree. Once you’ve tasted the smooth texture and rich flavor of cauliflower whipped with butter you’ll want to start eating it straight out of bowl with a spoon. But for this recipe in particular it’s worth waiting to experience the whole dish together. Alone, ground meat and frozen vegetables may not seem like anything special. But when combined with the cauliflower puree into Shepherd’s Pie, the result is the type of home cooked meal all of us wish was waiting for us at the end of a long day.

Posted By: Worker Bee

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