The Paleo Chef

December 15, 2014
Currently leading the pack of fashionable eating regimens, the paleo diet promises good health through a return to a diet that predates the beginnings of agriculture. It posits that all manner of modern-day malaises derive from prehistoric humans' learning to cultivate grains and those grains' present-day ubiquity in so many things we eat. A new variation of the long-popular high-protein diet, the paleo diet proscribes any sort of grain products, even low-gluten ones. It relies on meats, fish, vegetables, and fruits. Coconuts, both their oil and flesh, are a major source for dairy-like substitutes, and Australian chef Evans inventively uses a wide spectrum of herbs and spices to ensure full flavors from his recipes. Gathering some ingredients may be a challenge to those without an organic grocer nearby, but they may be found through Internet sellers. Evans' enthusiasm makes it appear painless to adapt the paleo diet to modern lifestyles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)