Paleo in PDX

It has been such a great week and there’s a lot of exciting things happening! I know I often express my gratitude on here and I’m doing it again: I am SO grateful for the life I’m living and what I’m creating for myself. I owe a lot of my happiness to eating optimally, which has made me a more sound thinker, more decisive, motivated, optimistic, positive, creative and sane. I am not the incredibly indecisive (only a little now and much, much less), worried, satisfaction seeking (and never reaching), argument-prone and unstable person that I used to be. My brain, gut, cells and body are now healed, happy and supported.

Anyway, moving on, I started working at Clackamas Physical Conditioning this week! I’m not officially training anyone yet, but am being trained first by the master himself, Jason Seib. So far, it’s been very informative, fun and interesting. Again, another job that I did not apply for. It feels good to be wanted and offered opportunities. Yes, I’m still at Recreate, doing freelance writing/PR and making treats for the paleo food cart too. Then, on another exciting note, Jesse and I registered for a Mobility Wod movement and mobility seminar with Kelly Starrett himself (AKA K-Star). Not only are we stoked to learn from Kelly in person, but we get to do so in Honolulu! Holy rad, right? A mini vacation and an amazing learning opportunity! You see, Jesse mentioned the seminar to me last weekend and ever since, I’ve been diligent in looking into travel options. Each day, the cards seemed to be more in our favor, so we committed to making it happen yesterday. We’ll be headed to Honolulu November 9-13 and the seminar is all day on November 10. If you have no clue what I’m talking about and don’t know who Kelly Starrett is, I suggest you learn. Go buy his book, Becoming a Supple Leopard and check out his Mobility Wod site, linked above.

**********

As for this recipe, it is very German inspired and true to my heritage. It’s one of the stinkiest meals I’ve ever cooked, but dang it’s good and worth the stench in the kitchen (or in our case, the whole house since it’s very tiny). Honestly, the smell really isn’t too bad — I just like to exaggerate sometimes.

Meanwhile, go forth, love life and have a great weekend!

For the caramelized onions:

• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced into half moons
• 2 tsp Fatworks pasture-raised duck fat
• 2-3 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1. Add the duck fat to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and allow to sizzle in the duck fat.
2. Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook onions, stirring occasionally. After a few minutes, once softened a bit, add some of the vinegar. Continue to cook the onions, tossing occasionally.
3. Once the onions begin to caramelize, add a little bit more vinegar if needed and toss again. Keep cooking until they are caramelized to your liking. This takes a bit of time, so be patient. Once done, remove the onions from the pan and set aside.

For the brat saute:

• 2 Niman Ranch bratwursts, sliced
• 1/2 small head red cabbage, chopped
• 3 kale leaves, stemmed and torn
• 1 Tbsp Kozlik’s Sweet & Smokey Mustard
• Pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1. In the same pan you cooked the onions, place over medium heat and add the sliced bratwursts. If needed, add a little bit more duck fat for cooking.
2. Saute the brats for a few minutes, allowing them to get a little brown. Then, add the chopped cabbage and pepper. Give everything a good stir and then add the mustard and chicken broth. Place lid on the skillet and reduce heat to medium-low.
3. After a few minutes, remove the lid and stir in the torn kale leaves. Once the kale has wilted down a bit and the cabbage is softened, remove from heat.
4. Serve with the caramelized onions on top.

Yields: 2-3 servings