Pain, Pain, Go Away!

I've cooked a lot of meat, but I've never made any meat dish that smelled so good from the moment I started putting it together. The fragrance of the soy sauce, wine, cinnamon and orange said this dish was going to be a winner. The only thing I'd do differently is cook it longer. (I live in the Denver area, where everything takes a little longer to cook because of the altitude.) This dish takes awhile to make and takes some planning since it has to marinade for six hours or overnight. But if you make a double-batch as I did, you'll have many easy meals for your effort. Braised Pork Belly with Cauli-Rice. The recipe is by Australian chef Cheong Liew and appears in the book Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient  by Jennifer McLagan. You can see it here . ETA: I used Splenda instead of brown sugar, and only half the amount called for. I turned out just right for my taste.

I love Mexican food, but the tortillas, beans, rice and corn chips are too carby. Green chili (or chili verde) doesn't have to be, and if you simplify the steps in 500 Paleo Recipes, it doesn't have to be hard or time consuming to make. I started with 12 oz (by weight) of thawed medium chilies, two pounds of chopped pork, and a few other ingredients... ...and had green chili 90 minutes later.

It tastes just like the San Francisco treat! Shred and steam some cauliflower, fry with a few other ingredients, and you have a side dish much better than a game show consolation prize. (I cheated a bit and used store-bought chicken bullion.) It's almost all vegetables and nuts, but I can't quit eating it. How would Dr. Food Reward account for that? Oh yes--it tastes good. Since there's only five net grams of carb in one-third of the pan, only the strictest low-carbers will have to watch it. Recipe from 500 Paleo Recipes by Dana Carpender. Serve with eggs or meat for a meal.

I got the idea from a coworker: Fry-days. Someone in the office got a burger, whose smell inspired someone else to get a burger, and so on. I didn't get a burger (I was already out to lunch), but the story inspired me to make this: Pastured hot dogs, napa cabbage and mushrooms fried in real lard. It's delicious and it only took a few minutes to make, which is perfect since I'm leaving for karate practice in 15 minutes.