Takeout food, or comfort food—let’s be honest, we all want it some days and even more, need that convenience in our life many days!  Paleo Takeout: Restaurant Favorites Without the Junk gives you just that…classic take out favorite meals made quickly, simply and most importantly with good quality ingredients.  So you can taste and feel great!

I got to meet Russ at Paleo F(x) this past spring and he honestly is one of the most down to earth people. We obviously had that Navy and Hawaii connection and chatted about North Shore and favorite Thai restaurants.  If anyone is qualified to write this book, it would be Russ as he not only has working in the restaurant industry but also lived and traveled all over the world.  There are recipes for everyone in this cookbook from all of the Asian classics to a section dedicated to the American classics—burger and pizza party anyone?

Russ has designed his cookbook to make take out practical—he provides graphics for time management and preparation and all the dishes can be made in about an hour.  So if the thought of re-creating some of your restaurant favorites scares you, this book is truly for you, because it honestly is so simple!

Living here in Hawaii has opened up my mind to so many different types of food, flavors and ingredients, however most often these foods are fried, breaded or swimming in a sugary sauce, so I can’t eat local foods too often!  If you have food sensitivities, health issues, trying to eat healthy or just love good food full of flavor, Paleo Takeout has you covered and will open up a whole new world of gourmet cooking, without the junk or stress! So get your taste buds ready, because these dishes will wow!

I made the honey sesame chicken, pan fried it in a bit of sesame oil to give the chicken a crispy texture and served it with cauliflower rice (yes all you people with access to Trader Joes, I am majorly jealous!).  Ok so truth be told, I totally forgot that I had run out of chicken broth when I started making this recipe, but I was hungry and determined, so I actually made the sauce with a bit of fresh orange juice and water.  It was delicious and did have a slight orange flavor to it, but still so simple and tasty too.  And keeping in true takeout fashion, this was eaten on the couch with Netflix running!

Paleo Honey Sesame Chicken

Recipe from Paleo Takeout by Russ Crandall

Honey Sesame Chicken is a Chinese-­American favorite sold in a variety of forms, from breaded and fried to char-grilled. Many home recipes call for the addition of ingredients like ketchup or white sugar to make a sweet and tasty sauce, but the combination of broth, honey, and Chinese cooking wine makes for a perfect takeout flavor.

Sauce

• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1 tsp tamari
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• dash of black pepper

Chicken Meatballs

• 2 lbs ground chicken
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp tamari
• 1 tsp coconut palm sugar
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger

Slurry

• 1 tbsp arrowroot starch
• 1 tbsp cold water
• 2 tsp sesame seeds, divided

*I used arrowroot instead  for the meatballs as tapioca upsets my stomach

Directions

• In a saucepan, combine the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently to allow the flavors to marry while you prepare the chicken.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken meatball ingredients with your hands, then transfer to a food processor and pulse until the mixture turns into a tacky paste. With wet hands, form 40 balls.
• You can either pan-fry the chicken meatballs in batches over medium heat or grill them over direct medium-­high heat. If pan-­frying, put the cooked chicken in a warm (200°F) oven while you make the other batches.
• Once the chicken meatballs are cooked, stir together the arrowroot starch and cold water to create a slurry, then stir half of the slurry into the sauce. Increase the heat to medium, bring to a simmer, and cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, adding more slurry if needed. Taste and add salt if needed, then stir in half of the sesame seeds.
• In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken meatballs with the sauce, then transfer to a serving dish. Sprinkle the remaining sesame seeds over the chicken and serve.