Recently, I received a review copy of Russ Crandall’s newest paleo offering, called Paleo Take Out: Restaurant Favorites Without the Junk. It was charmingly packaged with a couple of pairs of branded chop sticks and a marketing piece designed to look like a Chinese take-out menu. If you’re a lover of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Indian foods, but have eschewed them, since adopting a paleo lifestyle, here’s your chance to indulge in a pretty guilt free fashion.
The recipes in Paleo Take Out sometimes use a bit of honey (which, though the author would disagree, could in theory be replaced by more stringent low-carbers in most instances with a bit of xylitol or stevia or eliminated altogether if added sweetness wasn’t key to the dish) and some thickening starches, potatoes, yams, and rice, but in most instances, the author gives some great substitutions for those.
All your take-out favorites are here: Moo Goo Gai Pan, Mongolian Beef, Kung Pao Pork, Pepper Steak, Shrimp with Lobster Sauce, Dashi, Kibchi, Kalbi, Tom Kha Gai, Lamb Vindaloo, more. And, for me, the piece de resistance… a good recipe for Hot and Sour Soup, which all by itself is worth the price of admission!
In short, this one is a keeper!
Mr. Crandall is also the author of another one of my paleo favorite cookbooks, The Ancestral Table: Traditional Recipes for a Paleo Lifestyle, that I confess I have long meant to review and somehow hadn’t gotten around to. I intend to do that soon.
Thank you, Dr. Eades, for the recommendation. We LOVE our Chinese and Indian foods. The biggest issue for us in modifying the recipes is finding alternatives to eschew the distinctive soy sauce flavor of Chinese foods. Does this author, or do you, have suggestions for eliminating soy products in the Chinese recipes? Like you, our very favorite is hot and sour soup, so I’m really looking forward to this book.
[MDE replies: You could certainly try Coconut Aminos in place of the soy sauce, which is what the author recommends. He’s also OK, as am I, with occasional use of tamari and miso, which are fermented soy products.]
Sounds great! I like Chinese & Thai making, thanks for pointing book on paleo tips.
Is that fair in use honey?
Great Eades! Love to read, awesome paleo dish!