1. Tyler native returns home for book signing

Tyler native Lea Hendry Valle has a love for good food.

But after being diagnosed with Celiac disease in 2011, she knew she would have to make a big lifestyle change.

“After struggling with persistent health issues for several years, I was convinced that diet was a significant factor,” said Valle. “During time spent searching the Internet for news, information and clues about my condition, I became deeply intrigued by one particular word that kept popping up on my computer screen: Paleo.”

Valle’s diagnosis prompted her to begin experimenting with recipes and broadening her taste palette. After coming across a few good ideas, she wanted to share them.

Valle’s cookbook, “Sweet Paleo: Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Delights,” is filled with recipes for breakfast goodies and desserts. The cookbook has full-page color photographs, taken by Valle herself, throughout. Each recipe is free of gluten, grains, legumes and refined sugars. Out of 90 different recipes most are dairy-free or list a dairy free option.

“A lot of parents are interested in the nut free cake recipe,” said Valle. “I’ve had many people make the nut free cake for their child’s first birthday because they like that it’s sweetened with fruit.”

Valle’s Paleo Chocolate Beet Cake is nut and dairy-free and uses fruit as the sweetener.

Paleo Chocolate Beet Cake Recipe

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 35 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 10 servings

Decadent rich chocolate cake sweetened only with fruit. Paleo, dairy-free and nut-free

Ingredients

½ cup (56 g) coconut flour

¾ cup (90 g) unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon finely ground sea salt

10 large, moist Medjool dates, pitted

¾ cup apple juice

¾ cup chopped roasted beet (about 1 large beet, roasted until very soft) (can substitute applesauce or mashed banana)

4 large eggs

½ cup liquefied coconut oil, or ghee or unsalted pastured butter, melted, plus more for pan

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

½ cup strong brewed coffee (accents the chocolate flavor but you can substitute water)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch round cake pan with coconut oil and line with parchment paper. Weigh the coconut flour and cocoa powder and sift together with the baking soda and salt into a medium-size bowl; set aside. Place the dates in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Slowly add the apple juice to moisten the mixture. Add the beets and continue to pulse until pureed and combined with the dates. Process until the beet puree is completely smooth.

Transfer the beet puree to the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs, coconut oil, vanilla and coffee and mix on medium-low speed, using a whisk attachment, until well combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until you have a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it with the back of a spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes (depending on pan size), or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

To Make Mini-Bundt Cakes (pictured):

Grease mini-Bundt pans and bake for 20 to 28 minutes, depending on the size of the pans, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cake comes out clean.

Recipe by Lea Valle www.paleospirit.com

Valle will be in Tyler this Saturday at Barnes and Noble, 4916 S. Broadway Ave., from noon until 2 p.m. for a book signing for her new cookbook.

Twitter: @TMTMelissa