My three biggest dessert weaknesses are chocolate, cookies and ice cream. These three treats make paleo-living for me pretty difficult. I mean, my family literally refers to me as the cookie monster. If there are chocolate chip cookies in sight … no mercy!!! Those suckers are goin’ down! Good thing there are such options as Paleo Treats and Paleo Bakehouse, otherwise I’d be in paleo-faileo trouble more often than I’d like. Paleo ice cream on the other hand … not so readily available, and even if it were, would be tricky to buy/ship. Even the coconut ice creams in stores, although dairy-free are still chock full of chemicals and preservatives.

SO! I recently bought a Cuisinart Ice Cream/Sorbet Maker [no, they are not paying me to review or endorse their product but they should LOL] and it’s seriously one of the best culinary investments I’ve made. I love this thing! Not only is it simple to use and clean but it provides me with fresh, delicious paleo ice cream in 30 minutes or less! Dream come true!!! [FYI I got mine from Costco for about 30 bucks cheaper.]

I’ve only experimented with three flavors so far but I’ve gotten the “custard base” down so other flavors will pretty much be a spinoff of that and super easy to execute. Well, at least I think I do lol.

So here are three paleo ice cream recipes that I hope you enjoy as much as I do!

1 & 2. VANILLA / CHOCOLATE COCONUT MEENUT BUTTER ICE CREAM

2 cans full-fat coconut milk

½ – ¾ cup pitted dates [more or less to taste]

* ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder*

2 tbsp vanilla

pinch of sea salt

3 tbsp Paleo MeeNut Butter

Directions: In a Vitamix: blend coconut milk, dates, *cocoa powder*, vanilla, and sea salt. Pour into completely frozen ice cream bowl and start machine. Let churn for about 20-30 min. When ice cream is almost done, drop in 3 tbsp of MeeNut Butter to swirl. How much you want the MeeNut Butter fully incorporated or just swirled into the ice cream will be dependent on how early/late you add it to the mix. The finished consistency will be more of a gelato; throw into the freezer for a couple hours for a harder ice cream.

*add the cocoa powder for a CHOCOLATE COCONUT MEENUT BUTTER ICE CREAM

3. CHOCOLATE COCONUT BANANA ICE CREAM

2 cans full-fat coconut milk

1 ripe banana

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla

pinch of sea salt

3 tbsp MeeNut Butter [optional]

Same directions as above except sub a banana for the dates. Note I do not add as much vanilla to this recipe. Add MeeNut Butter to this ice cream as well for more nutty deliciousness!

I recently got inspired to revisit my korean roots in all my cooking, thanks to this really cool show, Kimchi Chronicles. Take a peep if you dare, but it pretty much makes me want to eat gallons of rice, kimchi and short ribs LOL

In case you don’t know, kimchi is fermented napa cabbage [or cucumber, scallion, or radish] that has a distinctly pungent aroma and taste to match. If not eaten for it’s unique taste, one can take to its many health benefits, one of which includes introducing helpful probiotics which can help improve digestion and absorption of nutrients.

The success of your kimchi fried cauliflower rice is determined by your … KIMCHI! Make sure your kimchi is delicious and legit. If you aren’t sure, make a korean friend and get some from his/her mom. No korean household is without jars of this spicy treat, if not possesses a dedicated refrigerator just for hoarding an unlimited supply of it. In fact, my parents, who live on the east cost, visit us in SoCal about once a year, and my K.M. always makes sure to re-stock us with fresh homemade kimchi before she leaves. It’s pretty ridiculous and amazing at the same time. In the end, I can’t complain, because ain’t nothin’ that tastes as good as my momma’s kimchi.

So, thanks for your patience all! Here’s my recipe for a somewhat paleo-fied version of Kimchi Bokumbap, a staple in korean cuisine. I’ll tell you now, it’s not as good as the real deal, but it’s pretty darn good. I’ve tweaked it with some unconventional ingredients so modify as you please.

RECIPE: MEE’S KIMCHI BOKUM-CAULIFLOWER-BAP

The finished product

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Serves about 6

Disclaimers:

I love to cook with a LOT of garlic, ginger, and heat so taper down to your liking.

Also when cooking the pork belly take care not to over-salt since kimchi is very salty. How much salt you use will be determined by the kimchi you use. All kimchi is slightly different so adjust accordingly.

Gochugaru

Aji-mirin is a sweet cooking rice wine. If you’re strict paleo, leave this ingredient out.

Gochugaru is dried red pepper flakes. Spicy.

I advise not cooking with sesame oil but every once in a while it’s ok to drizzle to dress for flavor. Just my two cents.

Cauliflower Rice Ingredients:

Cauliflower Rice

1 head of cauliflower chopped and stemmed

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 tbsp minced ginger

1 tbsp minced jalapeno [optional for extra kick]

Tropical Traditions coconut oil [it's the only one I use]

pinch of sea salt & pepper

Pork Belly & Kimchi Ingredients:

2 cups cubed pork belly [feel free to use something else but I’ve found pork belly tastes best]

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp minced sweet pepper

1 tbsp gochugaru [red pepper flakes]

3 tbsp minced cilantro [optional]

1 cup kimchi juice

1-2 cups chopped napa cabbage kimchi, drained

1/2 chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped scallion

1 tbsp Aji-mirin [optional]

Tropical Traditions coconut oil

sesame oil [optional]

sea salt & pepper

individual fried eggs per serving [optional]

Cauliflower Rice Directions:

1. Chop and stem the head of cauliflower into about 1 inch chunks
2. Using a food processor chop the cauliflower into pieces resembling grains of rice
3. Heat a pan with some coconut oil and lightly sauté garlic, ginger, and jalapeno. Add the cauliflower rice into the pan, season with just a pinch of salt & pepper, sauté to desired consistency, then set aside.

Pork Belly & Kimchi Directions:

1. Cube the pork belly into 1/4 inch pieces
2. Heat a HUGE pan or wok with some coconut oil and lightly sauté garlic and sweet pepper.
3. Add the cubed pork belly, 1/2 tbsp gochugaru, salt & pepper to taste and sauté on high heat just until you start to get a nice light brown on them. Add cilantro near the end if you like. [You want to cook the pork belly through but not over-cook it because you still have to mix it in with the kimchi and cauliflower rice later.]
4. When the pork belly is almost done, incorporate 1/2 cup kimchi juice and complete sautéing until the juice is nicely incorporated into the pork belly, then set aside.
5. In the same pan in the leftover pork belly juice/fat sauté the kimchi and onion for a few minutes then add the aji-mirin [optional] and the leftover 1/2 cup kimchi juice and sauté until most of the liquid is gone or thickened.
6. Add the pork belly and mix into the kimchi.
7. Add the cauliflower rice, 1/4 cup chopped scallion and sauté until everything is incorporated evenly and quickly remove from heat.
8. Dress with a fried egg [optional, and missing from my pic!] some of the remaining scallion and gochugaru, drizzle with some sesame oil [optional] and enjoy!