This ketogenic dinner recipe makes good use of your leftovers

The beauty of the ketogenic diet is that it doesn’t require over-the-top careful meal planning and prep.

You can still throw a meal together on a busy weekday night while sticking by its guidelines of being 80 percent healthy fats, 15 percent protein, and five percent carbs. Want proof? Look no further than Vivica Menagaz’s new cookbook, The Keto Paleo Kitchen, which features recipes that are easy, affordable, and follow both keto and Paleo principles.

Switching to a keto diet transformed Menegaz’s life in a major way: “About five years ago, I was finishing my nutrition studies, was eating Paleo, local, and organic,” she says. “I had just overcome long-term gallbladder disease. I should have been at my best!”

Instead, she kept gaining weight and had constant pain from inflammation in her body. She was also pre-diabetic and very insulin resistant.

“Within a year I had lost all the extra weight, reverted my insulin resistance, and felt and looked younger than ever.”

“It was a slap in the face, but an awakening as well,” says Menegaz. She believes that, after years of high carbohydrate intolerance and overconsumption, a Paleo Diet alone just wouldn’t cut it, so she incorporated the macronutrient ratios of the ketogenic diet to find the right balance. “Within a year I had lost all the extra weight, reverted my insulin resistance, and felt and looked younger than ever,” she says.

Her new cookbook has 80 recipes that all incorporate whole foods you can easily find at the grocery store and strategies that make cooking and eating easy. Take, for example, the one below: a slow-cooker ratatouille that is higher in fiber than most keto recipes and a French shakshuka recipe that uses up all the ratatouille leftovers in a completely new way. Want to get your tastebuds on both dishes? Keep reading for the recipes.

Scroll down for two easy keto-Paleo recipes.

Slow cooker ratatouille

Serves 8

Ingredients
1 medium eggplant2 medium zucchini1/2 tsp unrefined sea salt, plus more for sprinkling1 small onion4 cloves garlic1 medium turnip, peeled1/4 cup white wine3 Tbsp olive oil2 small tomatoes2 Tbsp herbs de Provence
1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Wash all of the vegetables. Cut the eggplant into half-inch slices, then cut each slice into four quarters. Cut the zucchini in rounds. Sprinkle the eggplant and zucchini with sea salt, then place in a colander and let drain for at least 15 minutes.

2. While the eggplant and zucchini are draining, chop the onion and the garlic, and cut the turnip into small cubes. Place the onion, garlic and turnip in the bottom of the slow cooker with the white wine and olive oil.

3. Chop the tomatoes, and add them to the slow cooker. Add the eggplant and zucchini, then the herbs, salt and pepper. Cook on high for three hours, then remove the lid, stir well and cook for another hour, or until the liquid has completely absorbed and the vegetables are cooked.

French shakshuka

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 cups slow cooker ratatouille (above)1/2 cup water4 eggs1/4 tsp sweet paprika1/4 tsp unrefined sea salt

1. In a medium nonstick skillet, over medium heat, warm the ratatouille with the water, mixing well, until it starts to simmer, about three minutes.

2. Make four indents in the ratatouille with a spoon, so the eggs will stay in place and not run or break. Crack the eggs into the ratatouille, making sure the yolks stay intact, and sprinkle the egg yolks with the paprika and salt.

3. Cover the skillet with a tight-fitting lid and cook until the egg whites are set and the yolks reach desired consistency. For runny yolks, cook for about eight minutes. For hard yolks, cook for about ten minutes.

Recipe from The Keto Paleo Kitchen by Vivica Menegaz, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017.

If you’re hungry for more keto ideas, try these avocado fries or these sugar-free ketogenic dessert bites.