Pork | Mark's Daily Apple

Warm Coconut and Pancetta Kale
By Worker Bee | April 09 2016
13 Comments

When you want something green on your plate but don’t feel like salad, then this warm coconut and pancetta kale is a go-to side dish. It pairs well with any type of meat or seafood. It’s easy to make. And although kale can taste good raw with just a drizzle of lemon and olive oil, it tastes really good with crispy pancetta, creamy coconut milk, and lots of garlic.

In fact, if you want to make these greens the main course and serve a small portion of protein on the side, go for it. Prepared this way, kale is filling and satisfying. Meat and seafood always have a place on the Primal table, but optimally, so does mineral-and-antioxidant-rich plant matter.

Eating leafy greens is like taking a whole food “supplement” with naturally safe and well-balanced vitamin and mineral levels. In this particular case, it’s an incredibly delicious supplement.

Is your vegetable crisper is full of greens that you have good intentions to eat before they go bad? Then use them in this recipe. In addition to kale, this recipe also works well with greens like collards and Swiss chard (or, a combination of greens).

Polish Hunter’s Stew (Bigos)
By Worker Bee | April 02 2016
30 Comments

There are a lot of different recipes out there for Polish Hunter’s Stew (also called Bigos). But in the end, it’s always about two things: meat and cabbage. Hunter’s Stew is a hearty dish made from bacon, kielbasa, a pound or more of meat, plus both fresh cabbage and sauerkraut. If you’re a real hunter, the stew meat in Bigos is whatever you’ve hunted. If your “hunting” is done at the meat counter, then buy what you’re in the mood for or what’s on sale. Venison, pork, beef, lamb…they’re all good in Bigos. This can be a clean-out-your-freezer type of meal.

Slow-Simmered Cabbage Soup
By Worker Bee | November 28 2015
24 Comments

Cabbage is rarely described as tasting rich, but when simmered long and slow with plenty of butter and olive oil, that’s exactly the outcome. Although buttery, slow-simmered cabbage can be a dish in itself, add broth and sausage and you’ll get a very simple soup with incredibly rich, comforting flavor.

When cooking cabbage this way, high-quality butter and olive oil make a difference in flavor and healthfulness. Use grass-fed butter, if possible. Buy olive oil that’s as local as possible, has real flavor and has been put through the “fridge test.”

Primal Baked Pasta
By Worker Bee | October 10 2015
33 Comments

All the comfort and flavor of baked pasta, without the carbs or gooey cheese? Sign me up! This recipe for Primal baked “pasta” uses a favorite noodle substitute, celery root, as a stand-in for the texture of penne pasta. Italian sausage, mushrooms and marinara fill out the dish, along with a sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano on top.

The marinara sauce is homemade and it’s a keeper, for its perfect simplicity and rich flavor. It’s a sauce that can be used for all your pasta-like dishes, from zucchini noodles to spaghetti squash.

This recipe uses canned, whole tomatoes because they have a more consistently intense flavor than fresh tomatoes do as the seasons change. Canned whole tomatoes also tend to taste better than diced/chopped or pureed canned tomatoes. Unfortunately, they’re harder to find in BPA-free packaging, but not impossible. If you can’t find BPA-free whole tomatoes, then use a good brand of BPA-free chopped tomatoes instead.

Pork Debris
By Worker Bee | September 12 2015
22 Comments

Pork Debris is a brunch dish that’s usually a happy accident. A pork shoulder is roasted the day before for dinner, there happens to be leftovers, so why not fry the pork up with an egg for breakfast the next morning? However, there’s nothing wrong with making Pork Debris a deliberate meal, either. As in, a pork shoulder goes into the Crock Pot at bedtime so you can wake up to the aroma of slow cooked pork for brunch.

Pork Debris is a great recipe when you’re having people over for brunch and don’t feel like making much of an effort. The food basically cooks itself; you just have to fry a few eggs to throw on top. It’s a big, satisfying meal that will keep you well fueled through the afternoon.

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites
By Guest | June 06 2015
12 Comments

This is a guest post from Louise Hendon, the co-author of the Essential Paleo Cookbook and co-founder of PaleoMagazine.com. She used to hate cooking, but that changed when she started a Primal/Paleo lifestyle over five years ago and discovered how food could taste delicious without spending hours slaving in the kitchen.

And in this recipe, Louise shows us how just a few simple ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time can result in such a delicious and healthy snack.

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes