Category: Chicken

Paleo Challenge 2017

1/6/2017

Well, it's that time of year again. Holidays are over and I had my way with them, and I enjoyed myself immensley. Now it's time to get back to this lifestyle thing and I am energized and ready to go. I don't know what it is that feels so good about letting loose during the holidays, but I do know that once it's over, I feel cruddy and sluggish. So here we go with a Whole30 kickstart and then a transition back into a more practical, sustainable way of eating and living. A Whole30 can be challenging, but when you are fueled by endless post holiday motivation, it seems to go by pretty fast.
I am leading a group from my gym, CrossFit St. Louis through a 6 week nutrition challenge and thought this post would be helpful when people ask, "What should I cook". Here are a few things I did this week to make the first 4 days go as smoothly as possible.

SUNDAY - New Year's Day. After cleaning up all the Christmas stuff and putting away our attic firs, I cleaned out the fridge and the pantry. Tossed all things that tempted me or were expired. Apparently that weird chutney that I had on my pantry shelf expired in May of 2008. Cleaned out the fruit and veggie drawer and readied my shopping list.

MONDAY
Prep day. I went to the store and stocked up on Whole30 approved items and lots of fresh veggies. I wanted to make an easy grab and go breakfast for those mornings when I had to be at the gym early to teach my rowing class. Here's how it all panned out.

Mexican Breakfast Muffins
9 eggs
1 lb chorizo from Lucky's Market (no sugar or bad ingredients added)
3-4 large handfulls of spinach
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1/2 onion chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Saute chorizo and set aside reserving a small amount of grease for the veggies. Sautee onions and mushrooms till soft and add spinach. Saute until greens are wilted.
In a non stick muffin pan, layer chorizo and sauteed veggies in 12 cups. Meanwhile, whisk the 9 eggs together until blended. To the eggs, add about 1/2 t. salt and pepper (or to taste.) It's hard to know how much because sometimes the chorizo can be salty. Pour the eggs evenly over the sausage/veggie mixture. I fill until it almost reaches the top.
Bake at 350 about 20 min or until firm and set in the middle. They will come out nice and fluffy, but tend to deflate a little while they cool.
After I made these, I realized that adding about 1/2 cup rotel to the egg mixture would make them taste even better. I'll do that next time.

Here is a video of how I put everything together: https://youtu.be/IxaCrcxs4wMyoutu.be/IxaCrcxs4wM

While those were cooking, I made a batch of tuna salad. Used two large cans, 4 hard boiled eggs, chopped celery and onion, celery seed, and some homemade paleo mayonaise. I like to have that in the fridge and ready to go.

Once the egg cups were cooling and the tuna was made, I also cooked up some plain breakfast sausage from Lucky's meat counter. After inquiring, they said there was no added sugars, fillers or wheat products so the ingredients looked pretty clean. I like to have that on hand for quick egg scrambles. Makes the morning go quick. Below is a video summary of my food prep.

Dinner on Monday night was a new recipe I found from Zenbelly. I have their cookbook too and it is amazing. The recipe was called "INSTANTPOT CRISPY MOJO PORK SHOULDER WITH SPICY SLAW and it was delicious. I made the pork and the slaw to go with and it was good for leftovers as well. I used my Instantpot which I LOVE. If you don't have one, you can order one on amazon. It's part electric pressure cooker, part slow cooker and part saute pan all in one. For more on an Instantpot, go here.

Tuesday
Breakfast was my easy egg cups that I made on Monday. I had two with my coffee. Lunch was some rolled up turkey with paleo mayo and mixed greens. For Dinner, we had "Salad Surprise" which was basically your choice of egg salad, tuna salad or ham salad (all made ahead) along with a green salad. The ham salad was easy. I bought a half of a Boar's Head tavern ham and chopped about 3/4ths of it in my food processor. I added whole ground mustard and the rest of the paleo mayo I made the day before. I chopped some dill pickle and some onion and mixed it all in. It went fast.

Wednesday We went to see Arrival at the movies at 7:45 that evening so I knew I needed something quick. I went to my old reliable favorite Sweet Potato and Kale Chicken Patties from this blog in recipes. These have it all...kale, sweet potato and white and dark meat chicken fried up in a little ghee. They are wonderful and I love them for breakfast as well.

This Dijon mustard made by Annie's is Whole 30 approved as it is not made with wine or other alcohol.

Thursday - Egg cups for breakfast, leftover tuna salad and mojo pork for lunch.
Dinner was a pleasant surprise. I had a pack of 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs that I bought on sale at Lucky's the day before. I didn't know what to do with them so I simply googled "boneless skinless chicken thighs paleo recipe" and the first thing that popped up looked so tasty that I made it. It was called Mustard Balsamic Chicken Thighs by PaleoHacks and it was a keeper. I roasted some sweet potato, multi colored carrots and turnups in olive oil and salt and pepper to go along with it.

I've found that if you prepare well a Whole30 can go very smoothly. Have a breakfast made ahead of time or something easy enough to prepare quickly in the morning. Outline a few dinner recipes and use a crockpot or instantpot. And have some snacks ready to go like avocados, coconut chips, jerkey, boiled eggs or veggie sticks. You won't go hungry and you'll enjoy all the goodness that whole foods have to offer. Weekend, here we come!

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Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2/24/2016

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I was craving Thai lettuce wraps and was looking for a good paleo style recipe. I found a recipe from "Once Upon a Chef" and modified it to include paleo ingredients. This is an amazing recipe with so much flavor. You have to try it!

What you need:
2 lbs ground chicken (I use one lb dark meat and one lb white)
3 T. coconut oil
1 large red onion, chopped
2 T. finely chopped fresh ginger
3-4 cloves minced garlic
2 T. coconut aminos
2 T. Red Boat fish sauce
1 T. honey
2 t. lime zest
3 T. fresh squeezed lime juice (from zested limes)
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
2 large scallions, white and green parts, finely sliced
1/2 C Chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 C chopped cashews
1 large head iceberg or butter lettuce

How to do it:
Heat the coconut oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and ginger and cook, stirring frequently until soft about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one more minute. Add ground chicken and turn heat up. cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon or spatula, until partially cooked through. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, honey, lime zest, lime juice and red pepper flakes and continue to cook, stirring frequently to break up the meat until the chicken is cooked through. Off the heat, stir in the scallions, cilantro and nuts. Salt and pepper to your liking.

To prepare lettuce, place on cutting board and cut off stem and then cut around the inner core of the lettuce and remove the base part of the core. Discard the ragged outer leaves . Rinse the lettuce on the outside and inside and drain slightly. Gently pull apart the leaves and place on a paper towel to dry.

Spoon chicken mixture into lettuce cups and serve with sriracha, finely sliced carrots, lime wedges, cilantro and mint sprigs.

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Buffalo Chicken Egg Cups a la Leeny

1/7/2015

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I was flipping through facebook a while ago and came across Diane Sanfilippo's Balanced Bites site. I love her book Practical Paleo and the thoughtful way she has implemented 30 day plans for almost anyone who is looking for something specific. Her book is a great paleo resource as well as a wonderful cookbook. On her Facebook page, she had a recipe for Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins and I was intrigued. I have made veggie egg muffins and sausage egg muffins, but had never embarked on a buffalo chicken egg muffin adventure before. So with her recipe as inspiration, I made the muffins, but with little changes to suit my hot N spicy taste buds. I used ground chicken instead of shredded and added 4 cups of spinach to up the veggie count. I also like a little more hot sauce. These are delicious and when made ahead, an easy breakfast to grab on the go. These are also Whole30 compliant in the event you are doing a 30 day challenge.

Buffalo Chicken Egg Cups a la Leeny
1 lb ground chicken
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 dozen eggs
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. Penzey's California seasoned pepper or plain black pepper
4 T. Kerrygold butter (clarified if doing a Whole30) or ghee
1/3 Cup Frank's Red Hot hot sauce
4 cups spinach (or 4 big handfulls)
1 bunch green onions, sliced

In a frying pan, saute ground chicken with chopped onion and garlic till cooked through. Set aside to slightly cool. In a large bowl, blend together 1 dozen eggs, garlic powder and pepper. Slowly add the chicken mixture stirring into the eggs to temper the egg mixture slightly.

In the frying pan, melt the butter and add the Red Hot. Stir to blend. Add spinach and wilt. It will shrink up considerably. Add spinach mixture to the egg and chicken mixture and stir to blend. Spoon mixture into two muffin pans filling each cup about 3/4 full. You can line cups with non stick parchment cups or use a good non stick pan like Sur la Table's Platinum muffin pan. Nothing sticks to this and you can bake in it unlined. Sprinkle tops of muffins with chopped green onion. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until egg muffins are set. Makes about 18.

Recipe inspiration courtesy of Diane Sanfilippo of Balanced Bites.
www. Balancedbites.com

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Chicken Nuggets

6/9/2014

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Every once in a while, a recipe comes around that is so good, it must be shared. Mind you, this is not a recipe I came up with. I happened to come across it in internet paleoland, but knew I had to give it a try. Well I did, and the results were dramatic. My son who is a die hard Chic-Fil-A connoisseur gave this a thumbs up...and he rarely gives anything I make his approval. These nuggets were meant to taste similar to what you'd find at the fast food chain. The recipe is from the Domestic Man and it needs to be part of your paleo rotation! This website has amazing recipes so take some time to cruise around and check out all it has to offer. I am doing my due diligence over here and am going to share his recipe because it must live on. I figured that research scientists replicate other's experiments to improve the validity of the findings. Well that's what I did here. I validated Domestic Man's paleo chicken nugget findings. Spoiler alert...the chicken is brined in pickle juice, dipped in arrowroot powder and THEN in egg before it is fried in coconut oil. But he had me at Pickle Juice.

Ingredients

Gluten Free, Paleo Chicken Nuggets
from The Domestic Man

Servings: 4
Time: 30 minutes (plus 1-6 hours to marinate)
Difficulty: Easy
Print

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
(or use chicken tender strips)
1/2 cup dill pickle juice
1/4 cup arrowroot starch or tapioca starch
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup lard or refined coconut oil, more if needed

1. Combine the chicken pieces and pickle juice in a resealable plastic bag; marinate for at least 1 hour but up to six hours. When the chicken has finished marinating, strain it through a colander to drain out the extra pickle juice. Move the chicken around to make sure it drains properly. As the chicken drains, prepare your breading by combining the starch, paprika, black pepper, and salt. Beat the eggs in a wide bowl and set aside.

2. Preheat your oven to 250F. On your stove, warm the lard or coconut oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes. In a mixing bowl, toss the chicken pieces with the starch mixture until evenly coated. With your fingers, dip a starchy chicken piece in the egg, shake off the excess egg (eggcess!), then carefully add it to the oil. Repeat until you have filled your skillet; be careful not to overcrowd the chicken pieces. Fry the chicken until cooked through, flipping every 2 minutes, about 6-8 minutes per batch.

3. As you finish each batch, place the cooked pieces on a plate lined with paper towels; put them in the oven to stay warm. You should be able to cook the chicken pieces in about 3 or 4 batches, depending upon the size of your skillet. The oil should reach halfway up the chicken pieces while cooking, add more oil if needed. Be sure to watch the heat, as the skillet will get warmer over time; adjust heat as needed. You’re looking for an oil temperature around 350F. Use a splatter screen to prevent splattering.

4. Serve warm with ketchup, barbecue sauce, or honey mustard.

** Use this technique as a basis for other nugget-like recipes, like what you’ll seen in Thursday’s recipe. Some recipes would taste better without pickle juice; in those circumstances, marinate the chicken in 1/2 cup water mixed with 1 tbsp kosher salt.

(I have completely cut and pasted the recipe off his site so again, I want to give credit to THE DOMESTIC MAN).

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Chicken Salad

1/30/2014

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One of my favorite things to eat is homemade chicken salad. I've had lots of versions with a variety of mix ins, but I keep going back to this. The celery and apples give it a nice crunch with a hint of sweetness to offset the onions. I love adding sliced, roasted almonds for another type of crunch. And lemon juice brightens the whole thing. For the chicken, you can boil your own, pick the meat off the bones, and save the delicious broth for a later use. Or you can take a shortcut and buy a roasted chicken from the deli and pick the meat from it. Be sure to boil those bones to create a delicious stock as well. Nothing goes to waste.

Ingredients
6 cups chopped chicken
2 T. chopped parsley
1 C chopped celery
1 Honey Crisp apple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup roasted almonds
1 C. paleo mayonnaise
1 t. salt
1/2 t white pepper
juice of one lemon

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, parsley, celery, apple, green onions and almonds and mix to combine. In a smaller bowl, combine mayo, salt white pepper and lemon juice and blend. Pour the mayonnaise mixture over the chicken and mix well. Taste and season with more salt and ground black pepper if needed.

Variation 1: Chimichurri Chicken Salad
Everything is the same, except you add about 1/4-1/2 cup chimichurri sauce to the chicken. Blend well. This gives it a nice flavor twist. Serve with limes over a bed of lettuce.

See recipe here.

Variation 2: Fast and Easy Chicken Salad

Ingredients
2 cans white meat chicken
1/2 cup chopped pickles
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/2-1 cup paleo mayo, depending on how creamy you like it
salt and pepper to taste
squeeze of 1/2 lemon

Mix all ingredients together until blended. Finish with a squeeze of half a lemon.

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Chimichurri Chicken Salad

11/12/2013

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The other night, I made a wonderful chimichurri sauce (credit to The Refined Chef) to go over flank steak. The sauce had an incredible flavor and did the meat just right. I ate it again the next night and when the meat was gone, I wondered what to do with the leftover chimhicurri sauce. I also happened to have some leftover roasted chicken so I decided to whip up Chimichurri Chicken Salad. It's a twist on traditional chicken salad and the unexpected flavor pairings make this a memorable recipe.

Ingredients:
4 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
1 apple (I used honey crisp, but fuji or granny smith would work too), peeled and chopped
1/4 - 1/2 cup sliced, roasted almonds
3/4 cup paleo mayonnaise
1/4 cup chimichurri sauce (see recipe below) or to taste
fresh pea shoots or salad greens
lime wedges

Chimichurri Sauce (From the Refined Chef website)
1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley
1/2 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar (I love Vom Fass vinegars)
1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves, peeled
3/4 t. dried crushed red pepper
1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt
Combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and chimichurri sauce and mix well. In a large bowl, add the cooked chicken, chopped apple and roasted almonds. Toss with the mayo/chimichurri sauce until creamy and the consistency you prefer.
Serve atop fresh pea shoots or mixed greens. Garnish with lime wedges to squeeze over the top.

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Herbes de Provence Paillard of Amish Chicken (Vin de Set)

11/11/2013

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Here is another delicious course we had at our cooking class courtesy of Paul Hamilton, owner of Vin de Set. This was amazing and the flavor comes from simple but quality ingredients. Don't be discouraged by the steps involved. The broth is rich, nourishing and delicious and worth the extra effort. This is a wonderful dish to serve family or to impress guests! Serves 6-8.

Chicken Broth
1 whole free range chicken
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
3 quarts water
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 T. herbes de provence seasoning

Directions
Butcher whole chicken by removing both breasts, tenderloins, and skin. Remove thighs and separate from legs. De-bone thighs. Place breasts, tenderloins and thigh meat in the refrigerator. (Another option would be to boil the whole chicken, and when it is finished, pick cooked chicken meat off bones to save for chicken salad or to make Tex Mex Green Chicken.)

Place remaining parts of the chicken including the body, legs, neck, gizzard and heart in a stock pot with all remaining ingredients and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook on low 3-4 hours.
Strain broth through a metal sieve removing all bones and solids which can be discarded. Chill broth in refrigerator. Skim off fat layer from the top. (You can save this fat or "schmaltz" for use in sauteeing or adding flavor to veggies. Store in fridge).

Chicken Paillard
2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 carrot, peeled, julienned lengthwise 4" long
1 parsnip, peeled, julienned lenthwise 4" long
1/4 rutabega or turnip, peeled julienned lenthwise 4'' long
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
6-8 sprigs fresh parsley

Heat chilled broth mixture up to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Taste broth and season to taste or continue to reduce liquid until desired taste is achieved. (If you did not make your own broth, you can sub store bought broth.)

Cut breasts crosswise into 6 or 8 equal portions. Pound out into 1/2" thick medallions. Season the chicken lightly with salt and pepper and saute with oil (olive oil, clarified butter, or even the leftover chicken fat will work) over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
While chicken is cooking, blanch the julienned veggies in the broth for 3-5 minutes. Remove veggies with a strainer and place evenly in a mound on the bottom of 6-8 large soup bowls. Place sauteed chicken on top of the vegetables with a sprig of fresh parsley. Pour 6-8 oz of hot broth over each bowl and serve immediately.

Our "chef" and restaurant owner, Paul Hamilton, cooked up some tasty treats for us at our paleo cooking class at Vin de Set.

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Vietnamese Chicken Soup

9/15/2013

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One of my favorite places to go to lunch is a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Long on Olive. Their mein ga is a delicious chicken soup with rice noodles served up with a plate of bean sprouts, thai basil, cilantro, limes and jalapenos. The broth is rich and savory and I've tried to recreate that flavor at home. I make mine without noodles, which just makes more room for all the other goodies I put in the bowl. Part of the trick is simmering the chicken on low for
a few hours which adds richness to the broth. You will love this soup!

Ingredients:
1 Whole Chicken (preferably free range or organic)
10 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 large yellow onions
salt and pepper
1 bunch green onions
2-3 cups bamboo shoots
1 bunch thai basil
1 bunch cilantro
sliced jalapeno
1 lime cut up

Place chicken in a large stock pot and add about 4 quarts water. Peel garlic. Set garlic piece on cutting board and place broad side of knife over it. Place your palm on the flat side of the blade and press down on garlic, smashing it. Throw smashed piece into the pot with the chicken and water. Continue with all the garlic pieces. Smashing it releases the flavor. Slice an onion into quarters and add to pot along with 2-3 t. salt. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer on very low for about 2-3 hours. Simmering on low helps keep the broth clear. When cooked, strain the broth into another container. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pick the meat from the bones. Return all broth and meat back into stockpot. Slice another onion into thin rounds and add to pot. Slice up green onions into small rounds halfway up to the green part. Add to soup pot. Taste broth and season with more salt and pepper. Simmer on low until onions are soft and clear.

The broth.

Broth with cooked chiken and onions.

The mix ins.

On another plate, arrange bean sprouts, cilantro, basil, jalapeno slices and lime. Serve along side bowls of hot soup. Add herbs, sprouts and jalapenos to your bowl and finish with a squeeze of lime. Delish!
(As an added bonus, this recipe is Whole30 compliant!)

The final product!

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Tex Mex Green Chicken

5/27/2012

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I wanted to share a delicious recipe with you that I make all the time and I call it Tex Mex Green Chicken. This recipe was inspired by the amazing green chicken enchilada filling that I always enjoy at some of my favorite Mexican restaurants. At El Mirador in San Antonio, a wonderful lady named Olga makes this amazing jalapeno green salsa (recipe below) and she gave me some tips on how to make it myself. There are shortcuts to the green sauce if you are in a hurry (a can of Herdez green tomatillo sauce) but if you take the time to make your own sauce, the taste is out of this world.

I will break this recipe down into three steps. First you have to boil and pick your chicken, then make the green sauce, and finally assemble all the parts together to make the Tex Mex Green chicken.

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
2 onions; one quartered and one diced
1 bunch fresh cilantro
5 cloves peeled garlic
ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
1 recipe Jalapeno Green Sauce (see below)

Step 1: Place whole chicken in a large pot. Add quartered onion, garlic, and cilantro. Add about 4-6 cups of water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water. Cook on medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and continue to let chicken simmer for about an hour or until it is very tender.
When chicken is cool, drain chicken broth and set aside. Pick the meat from the chicken and dice up the larger pieces. Set aside.

Jalapeno Green Sauce

Step 2:
This Jalapeno Green Sauce is easy to make and tastes wonderful with the chicken, adding a subtly spicy flavor.

Ingredients:
10 jalapenos
1/2 bunch cilantro
6-8 cloves garlic
1 onion, quartered
Put all ingredients into a pot.

Add about 2 cups of water or enough to partially cover the jalapenos and onions. Cook on medium and cover.

The jalapenos are simmering nicely. Cover and simmer about 30-45 minutes until they are soft.

When done cooking, drain the water and save the boiled jalapenos, onions, garlic and cilantro. Place in a food processor and puree.

This is what the green sauce should look like when you are finished. Add about 1/2-1 teaspoon salt or to taste and blend one more time.

Ahhh, the finished product. This sauce is delicious as a dipping salsa for plantain chips, or as a condiment to serve over eggs or meat. But for our purposes, we will use it in our Tex Mex Green Chicken recipe.

Step 3:
In a saucepan or large saute pan, saute remaining diced onion in 1 T. olive oil on medium heat until onions are tender, about 2-3 minutes. Add about 3 T. chopped cilantro and stir. Add reserved chicken meat and about 1 cup reserved broth along with 1-2 teaspoons of cumin (or to taste) and stir. Finally, add about 1 cup of the Jalapeno green sauce and stir. Season with salt and pepper.

The chicken was a little runny at this point so I simmered it until the liquid reduced to my liking. However, if you wanted it more soup like, feel free to add more broth.

This is the consistency I prefer. Thick, yet still deliciously juicy. Serve on a plate with fresh cilantro and fresh, sliced jalapenos.

This is the salsa verde you can use if you don't have time to make the homemade green sauce. This is also the cumin (ground comino) that I use. I love the fiesta brand spices.

If you do corn from time to time, this chicken is great rolled into corn tortillas. However, if you are grain free, this recipe also stands great on its own.
Serve with Mexican cauliflower "rice" and Watermelon Ceviche.

NOTE: Be sure to use any of the delicious leftover green sauce as a condiment for eggs, tacos, or atop plantain chips. If your tongue can stand the heat, it will thank you!

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Paleo Challenge 2017

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Buffalo Chicken Egg Cups a la Leeny

Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients

Chicken Salad

Chimichurri Chicken Salad

Herbes de Provence Paillard of Amish Chicken (Vin de Set)

Vietnamese Chicken Soup

Tex Mex Green Chicken

Jalapeno Green Sauce

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