Theme Nights

I love cooking.

I love teaching people how to cook Paleo style and helping clients make the transition from being afraid to try their hand at preparing anything more difficult than a cup of tea to becoming a chef in their own right.

Often, those who are relatively new to cooking can find themselves getting comfortable with some of the basics, but then feel as though they’re getting in a rut.  Learning how to grill chicken, sautee some greens and prepare a lovely fruit salad to finish off a lovely Paleo meal is a fantastic first step, but if that turns into the same old meal every night, it can become a bit mundane.

One fun remedy to this dilemma is to try a theme night, all the while keeping within the Paleo friendly foods to eat.   You choose the theme; it might be a regional type of cuisine or a style of eating, such as a ten course tasting menu.

Last week, after listening to Buena Vista, I decided on a lark to do a Cuban theme night and prepared my Paleoista version of Vaca Frita (using a paleo-ized recipe with grass fed chuck, rather than the traditional flank), Coconut Baked Yams (weekend dinners at the Stephensons always tend to have the yam component in some capacity to prepare for our training!) and of course, greens- I chose collards.   A little bit of appropriate music was all we needed to complete the theme.

It’s fun, easy and a great way to continue to make time spent in the kitchen something you enjoy, which is key to making sure it becomes something you do regularly, rather than approaching it as a chore you’ve got to complete begrudgingly.

What’s your next theme going to be?