Chocolate on the Paleo Diet

So, big disclaimer here... if you are trying to lose weight/lean out on the Paleo diet, you should probably obstain from eating chocolate altogether... but if you are at a healthy weight, or at a weight you are comfortable maintaining (maybe you get a lot of "dee-ammns" when you walk by the opposite sex?), then OK, you are allowed to have a little chocolate in moderation on the Paleo diet.

I am really not that much of a dessert person anymore, unless it's fresh or dried fruit and almonds. I even used to do a small cheese arrangement, but in the past few months I have been more strict than ever doing Paleo, so I rarely even have cheese anymore. Practice what you preach, you know? :)

But recently, my boyfriend and I went to the Winter Fancy Food Show, and one of the vendors present was TCHO Chocolates. I made a connection with the company because I think it's important to buy products from companies who make it a point to sell organic and free trade items.

Organic and fair trade, and the highest concentration of cacao that you can find in this bar, the 99%... which, is spectacular with a port or a late harvest zinfandel.

TCHO also sent me some other samples to try, such as these Dark Chocolate Organic (yes!!) Baking Drops. They clock in at 68% cacao.

I melted them down and used them to make a classic treat: Chocolate Covered Strawberries.

And if you are going to have chocolate on the Paleo diet, that's just about the best way to do it. You can go with a chocolate that is not as sweet and it's portion controlled because there is only so much chocolate that can fit on the berry. How many berries you eat, however, is up to you. The best thing about this dessert is that the chocolate is so intense, you wind up not eating that many.

To melt the discs, I heated some coconut milk in a bowl in the microwave (not boiling, but hot enough to melt the chocolate. Depending on how many strawberries you plan on making, place some of the chocolate discs in another bowl and add the heated milk (about 1/4 cup per 6-8ozs of chocolate). Stir the chocolate until it is smooth and add 1/2 to 1 tsp of your favorite liqueur.

Then dip the strawberries and set them on parchment or wax paper and allow the chocolate to solidify. To speed up the process, set them in the refrigerator for 10-20 minutes. Share with someone special. ;)

You can find TCHO on Facebook here and on twitter here.