Stuffed Grape Leaves ("Dolmas") from Well Fed 2

I've seen a few different recipes for paleo dolmas floating around and in cookbooks, but I've never had the courage to try any of them.  I knew when I saw Melissa Joulwan had included Stuffed Grape Leaves, a.k.a. Dolmas, in Well Fed 2 that it was time to face my dolma fears.  I was curious about this recipe both from a technique/difficulty aspect and a taste aspect.  Due to a tragic mistake on my part, I ended up making this recipe two times and learned some lessons that I can now share with you if you are new to dolma making.  

I gathered my ingredients and got to work.  

Garlic Topped Flank Steak Roulade from Make Ahead Paleo

If you've been around my blog for a while, you'll know how I like recipes that involve a roulade.  I was about to type meat roll, but that just sounds wrong, and well, I guess I've typed it anyway.  While looking through Tammy Credicott's Make Ahead Paleo for a final recipe to try out before doing my summary book review post, I could not pass up her Garlic Topped Flank Steak Roulade.  

I was excited to see how long this recipe would take to prepare as it looked like it could potentially be a new weeknight dinner for me.  I define a weeknight dinner as one that takes around an hour or less to prepare and cook (emphasis on the less).  This recipe comes from her Make & Freeze chapter of the book.  She suggests you can prepare the roulade, freeze it, and defrost and cook whenever you're ready.  I won't be freezing it this time. 

I read all of the text on the page of the recipe and gathered my ingredients.  It was a cold morning before work when I made this so I turned my oven on to pre-heat as soon as I got started preparing the dish.  

Taj Mahal Chicken from Well Fed 2

I was so excited to have received a copy of Melissa Joulwan's Well Fed 2!  It really is a beautiful cookbook, but will the recipe's turn out as well as the pretty pictures promise?  I figured the Taj Mahal Chicken was a great recipe to start my exploration of this cookbook.

This recipe has a few things that I typically exclude from recipes, but as the recipe is Whole30 approved, I decided to live a little and allow myself some applesauce and raisins.  In fact, only two recipes in the book aren't Whole30 approved.  This is my kind of cookbook.  

I've actually made this recipe twice now.  The first, I made for a friend and the second time, just for me. I gathered my ingredients, and got to work.  

Imagine chicken thighs in this picture.

Coffee Cup Eggs from Make Ahead Paleo

While looking through Make Ahead Paleo for recipes I wanted to try, my mind was blown by this recipe.  Have you ever been running late in the morning (or anytime of the day really), have nothing ready to grab and eat but still want a quality filling paleo meal?  Three words:  Coffee Cup Eggs.

This recipe is in the "Room Service" section of the book.  She suggests this for when you're in a hotel room that has a microwave and refrigerator.  Genius!

It's simple and I'm sure that if I did an internet search, I might find other versions of this but I had never thought of this on my own, so thank you Tammy!