Melissa Joulwan - Well Fed Weeknights : Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less

The ideas and opinions expressed in this book are intended to be used for informational purposes only. The book is provided with the understanding that the author and publisher are not rendering medical advice of any kind and that the information is not intended to replace medical advice or to be used to diagnose, prescribe for, or treat any disease, medical condition, illness or injury. The author and publisher of this book claim no responsibility to any person for any liability, loss, or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application, or interpretation of the information within. Before beginning this or any diet program, please consult your physician or health-care professional. The US Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated any of the statements contained in this book. Published by Greenleaf Book Group Press
Austin, Texas
www.gbgpress.com Copyright 2016 Melissa Joulwan.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the copyright holder. Distributed by Greenleaf Book Group For ordering information or special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Greenleaf Book Group at PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709, 512.891.6100. Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less
Author: Melissa Joulwan
Copy Editing & Proofreading: Peggy Paul Casella, Walker Fenz Palecek
Photography & Illustration: David Humphreys, istockphoto.com, vectorstock.com
Design and Composition: Michel Vrana
Cover Design: Michel Vrana Cataloging-in-Publication data is available. Print ISBN: 978-1-62634-342-9 Printed in the United States of America 16 17 18 19 20 21 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition TO MY
HUSBAND DAVE,
WHO MAKES
MY LIFE MORE
DELICIOUS AND
ALWAYS GIVES
ME THE LAST
FRENCH FRY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS To Mom and Dad, for your unwavering support, keeping me company on the phone during my walk breaks, and all the meals weve shared. To Tillie Walden and Kelly Swann, for making our weekly family dinners the highlight of my week.

You are two of my favorite taste-testers ever! To Steph Gaudreau, for the text messages that kept my spirits up, for setting the bar for humanship so very high, and the tortillas. Ah, tortillas. To Melissa Hartwig, for introducing me to the Whole30 and championing the program thats changed so many lives. To Cameron Siewart, for helping me wrestle this thing into shape and for delivering the perfect encouragement, just when I needed it. To Michelle Tam and Henry Fong, for the Skype visits that buoyed my spirits and your unwavering encouragement of our work. To Eileen Laird, for making sure my AIP-friendly recipe adaptations are compliant as well as delicious.

To Michel Vrana, for making the book so beautiful and far exceeding how great we imagined it could be. Youre the tops. To Walker Palecek, for never missing a detail and for swooping in with grace and good humor at the eleventh hour to save the day. To Salakjit Getbamrungrat, a.k.a. Sandy for refusing to let me wash dishes and for being there with what I needed before I knew I needed it. Cheers to you with pineapple juice! To Peggy Paul Casella, for polishing my manuscript and sustaining the illusion that I have perfect spelling.

To Andrew Zimmern, for enriching our travel and food lives with your recommendations and evocative stories. To Mark Sisson, for always being so kind to me and for continuing to represent the heart and soul of the primal/paleo movement. To Heather Cocks, for the daily joy of Go Fug Yourself and for sharing your brilliant, funny, engaging writing. To Jennifer Thomas, for the noble Chinese Kitchen God who kept watch over our cookbook production. To Dianne Jacob, for being the angel on my shoulder while I write and edit. Will Write For Food is an essential tool for all food writers.

To the Brooks Group PR, for always having the time to listen to my silly ideas and encourage me when my spirits are flagging. Youre the best combo of supportive team and killer tigers. To Bang Printing and Greenleaf Book Group, for helping produce our books and ensuring they travel from our warehouse to bookstores around the world. Youre first-rate partners. To the readers of my blog, for your enthusiasm for this book, keeping me company online, and inspiring me to keep trying to find new ways to delight you in the kitchen. FOREWORD
BY HEATHER COCKS Let me begin with a confession: Im not Paleo.

What I am is a creature of habits. Bad ones. No, lets say sub-optimally healthy. I get stuck in eating ruts, and theyre usually tied to foods that only involve the word vegetable if its followed with oil. I used to blame this on working from home. Right. Right.

Lets be real: My job didnt cause that. I did. My permissive laziness made me a prisoner of my own cravings. (But peanut butter! So sweet, so glorious, so simple, with just enough proteinread: more than zeroto pretend its good for me.) After years of making the quick and easy choice, Id created a culinary monster. I could rationalize any snack. I put my comfort foods on pedestals, which gave them a dysfunctional power over me, like a song that wont get out of your head until you give in and listen.

Id tell myself, Not today, and my cravings responded, Youre fine! Do better tomorrow. Lather, rinse, repeat. My stomach is a jerk, and it always won. I woke up one day undeniably heavier and sluggish, and in need of a jolt. But Im lousy at elimination diets; besides having two picky kids, a person with habits like Ive described rarely does well going cold turkey. Thats how you end up weeping into a pile of actual cold turkey, which you are only devouring because you already mowed through everything in the house thats dusted with artificial cheese powder.

Instead, I wanted something I could execute incrementally, one lasting better choice at a time. No big drama; just no more excuses. Well Fed and Well Fed 2 were my answers. Melissas conversational, empathetic style was the partner I needed, and her cookbooks treat food like the treasure and pleasure it is. Her recipes arent about self-denial or sacrifice. Theyre about flavor.

They teem with it. Theyre meals I want to cook, not as homework, but as hedonism. The Well Fed pad thai is so flavorful that I wont eat the original anymore; the plantain nachos, a snackers and taco lovers paradise. And what are noodles, really, but handy delivery systems for mouth-watering sauces? Its not the starch, but what you plonk on it. Zucchini spirals can totally hang with a rich Bolognese, without the pants-popping consequences. Well Fed Weeknights makes those battles even easier to fight. Well Fed Weeknights makes those battles even easier to fight.

When life gets in the way and I have to whip up dinner fast, its too easy to revert to Sandwich Hour. I need healthy, tempting variety that I can still make even if I only went to the store 15 minutes ago. Melissa to the rescue. Again. If youre already Paleo, I admire you. I havent gotten there.

But if youre not, these books are still your best weapon. Paleo can be a fantastic lifestyle, but that doesnt mean its your lifestyle, and Mel gets that. Instead, start slowly. Pick a