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Spanish Style Baked Chicken and Asparagus Salad

31 Jan

Greetings all!  Hope all are well.  Tonight I took my basic baked chicken recipe and changed it up by using spanish smoked paprika, or Pimenton as the major flavor.

Start by putting together a marinade with 2 chopped shallots, 1 garlic clove, 2 T Sherry Vinegar, 2 T Olive Oil, and your chicken pieces (I used 6 Drumsticks and 4 Thighs) which I seasoned liberally with salt and the Pimenton.  Put in all in a ziplock bag and marinate for a few hours to overnight.

When you are ready to start cooking, Pre-Heat the oven to 400 F Convection,  divide up a head of cauliflower into florets, quarter a container of mushrooms, and roughly chop a yellow onion.  Place these at the bottom of a large oven safe casserole, season with salt and pepper, and top with the chicken pieces skin side down.  Add a scant 1 cup of chicken stock to the dish making sure to pour between the chicken pieces as to not take the seasoning off the chicken. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then flip the chicken over for an additional 35 minutes in the oven.

While the chicken bakes, hardboil an egg and peel it.  In a bowl combine a tablespoon of grainy mustard, 3 tablespoons of good Sherry Vinegar, and a little salt and Pepper.

Whisk in 4-5 Tablespoons of good olive oil until you make a very loose vinegarette.

Cut and trim some relatively thin asparagus spears and get some water boiling in a shallow pan that has a cover you can use.

Steam the asparagus till just tender and plate.  Pour the vinegarette over the top while they are still hot so they absorb it better, and sprinkle the chopped up egg over the whole mess.  It’s so YUM!

Once the chicken is done, remove it from the pot and let the veggies cook in the oven for around ten minutes, replace the chicken on top, reheat in the oven a few minutes, and take it to the table!  The chicken is perfectly done, and the cauliflower and mushrooms have absorbed all the delicious fat from the chicken baking above.

Whole family gave it an A Plus, hope yall can try it!  I’m telling you guys, eating Paleo does not have to be boring.  It’s also not hard at all to put together these recipes.  Can’t wait to figure out what to make tomorrow night!

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2012 in Main Entree, Recipes, Side Dishes

 

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Paleo Dinner, Kid Style

29 Jan

Hope all had a great weekend!  I’ve been on call…so not the most exciting weekend, but I can’t complain.

Decided to make a more Kid centered dinner tonight, and get the kids involved as well.  After I got home, I put together another batch of my Curry Agave Jerky as the first batch did not last very long!  I also experimented with some beef bone marrow stock in the pressure cooker, and it actually came out really good!  I’ll post on that later after I use it in a soup and make sure it’s suitable.

I’ve been pumping the kids up in the last week about the homemade chicken nuggets we were gonna make.  Little man bought in right away, while little lady proved wise and proceeded with caution!  So here we go.  These recipes were based loosly on the Paleo Coconut Chicken Nuggets from Health-Bent.com, and some Latin Fries that I actually turned into more like thick plantain chips.  I’m very wise in the ways of the plantain given that I’m Puerto Rican…so I got serious plans for plainains in the future.  But I digress….

Preheat the oven to 400 F

Start by putting 2 pounds of ground veal (yeah, no ground chicken at the store), two egg yolks, 1/2 cup almond flour, a teaspoon each of garlic powder and onion powder, and some salt into a bowl.

Mix it all up and ideally, get a 2-3 Tablespoon disher ready.  In a shallow plate stir together 1/2 cup of almond flour and 1/2 cup of dried coconut (not sweetened!) along with a little S&P.  Dish up consistent scoops of the meat mixture, roll into balls, and drop into the dish.  If you have kids, have them roll the balls around to cover in the almond and coconut mixture.

Heat up your FOC (Fat Of Choice) in a frying pan and put half the nuggets in.  Rotate every few minutes until all sides nice and golden.  A good crisp nugget is key to your kids buying into this whole thing.  Once they are done, transfer to a warm holding dish and finish the second batch.

 For the Plaintain chips, peel the plaintains and slice them into 1/2 inch rounds.  Toss them in some oil (I didn’t use enough this time, and they came out a little dry) and salt.  Put them in the oven for half an hour or so till they are golden.

The dinner was a hit with the whole family!  My always perceptive Syd took one bite of nugget and said “I’ll tell you two things daddy…first, that’s not chicken, second, you can make these any time you want, cause they are delicious.”  Like I said, the plainains were a little dry, but we can fix that with more oil.  I hope yall try these soon!

Oh, and I’ve stopped using my iPhone for the pictures and picked up the Digital SLR.  I’m ATTEMPTING to learn how to use this thing right to get better pictures….but the manual is longer than most textbooks….LOL

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2012 in Uncategorized

 

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Curry Agave Beef Jerky

29 Jan

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I love beef jerky, and it makes so much sense from the Paleo standpoint. Problem is that almost all the jerky you can find commercially has tons of preservatives, and almost always soy sauce. So, I stole my mom’s food dehydrator and this what I got! Was tasty indeed.

Marinade:
2 T Coconut Aminos
2 T Pure Agave Syrup
2 T Warm Water
2 T Apple Cider Vinegar
1 t Curry Powder
1 t Salt
1 t Pepper

Slice up any cut of lean beef into thin strips and marinate them for a few hours. Then put them on the food dehydrator and dry until you like the texture. Much cheaper, much healthier, and much better tasting than what comes in a bag!

 
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Posted by on January 29, 2012 in Recipes, Snacks

 

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Steak and Slaw

28 Jan

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Simple dinner tonight. Mixed up a little dry rub for some strip steaks and grilled them up. On the side I got a bag of broccoli slaw, some thinly sliced mushrooms, and sautéed them up in a little ghee and olive oil. Simple and tasty…just the way we like it!

 
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Posted by on January 28, 2012 in Pictures

 

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Madeira Chicken with Mushrooms

27 Jan

Saw a recipe on the web for a baked chicken, and I kind of changed it up to my liking. Seriously yall, try this recipe…it’s the bomb. Kourt and the kids took it down in no time. If you could only smell what my kitchen smells like at the moment…

Paleo Chicken Madeira with Mushrooms

INGREDIENTS

5 to 6 Organic Chicken Drumsticks
4 Organic Chicken Thighs (Bone In)
3 Shallots
1 Clove Garlic
6 oz Mushrooms
3 T Madeira Wine (Or Marsala)
3 T Olive Oil
2 T Sherry Vinegar
1 T Coconut Aminos
Salt and Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 F Convection (400 F conventional) with the rack in the middle of the oven.

2. Peel and roughly chop shallots and garlic clove. With food processor blade running, drop in the garlic clove, and sections of shallot one at a time to achieve a fine consistency. Salt and Pepper the chicken. Place chicken into a gallon size ziplock bag along with the shallots/garlic mixture, sherry, Madeira, olive oil, and aminos. Let marinate in the fridge from 30 minutes to overnight. I only let it sit half an hour, and it was awesome.

3. Once you are ready to make the chicken, place the pieces skin side down in a large oven proof baking dish and place in the oven. After 20 minutes flip the chicken pieces over and top them with the mushrooms. Place back into the oven for 25 more minutes or until crispy. Serve hot with your choice of side and plenty of the resulting sauce spooned over the chicken.

 
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Posted by on January 27, 2012 in Main Entree, Recipes

 

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Paleo Spaghetti and Meatballs

25 Jan

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Paleo Spaghetti and Meatballs

Paleo friendly version of everyone’s favorite!

INGREDIENTS

Spaghetti:
Medium Spaghetti Squash
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground veal
1 egg beaten
1 T Herbs de Provence
1 t Garlic Powder
1 T Salt
1/8 t Pepper

Tomato Sauce:
1 Medium Onion
1 Carrot
1 to 2 Garlic cloves
28 oz can Crushed Tomatoes
1/2 t Dried Basil
Salt and Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pre-Heat Oven to 400 F

2. Cut Squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds with a spoon. Rub the surface with olive oil and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place directly on the oven rack and back for 45 Minutes, or until tender. Once tender remove and use a fork to scrape out the squash into a bowl. Add a drizzle of EVOO and season with salt and pepper.

3. While the Squash is in the oven, make the tomato sauce. Peel and roughly chop the onion, carrot, and garlic. With the blade spinning on your food processor drop the garlic in the top and let it chop up. Open the lid, add the onion, and turn the machine on. While running again, add the carrot until you achieve a fairly fine consistency. Scrape the sides of the bowl once and pulse the blade a few time to make sure you have an even consistency. In a medium pot add one tablespoon of EVOO and add the vegetable mixture once the oil is hot. Cook over medium heat till the mixture just starts to soften. Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Lower the heat to a simmer and cover. Let simmer 15-20 Minutes, adjust the seasoning and serve.

4. Once the sauce is simmering, combine all the ingredients for the meatballs into a bowl and gently mix with your hands, being careful not to over mix. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a metal rack on top to keep the meatballs off the surface of the sheet. Form the meat mixture into 8-10 fairly good size meatballs and place in the oven. Cook until done, when the internal temperature reaches around 155-160 F.

5. To assemble: Spoon some Squash onto a plate, top with a few meatballs, and finish it off with some sauce. I’m certain you won’t even miss the pasta you are used to in this dish!

 
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Posted by on January 25, 2012 in Recipes

 

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Breakfast

25 Jan

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People ask me all the time what I eat for breakfast…just not fathoming a life without bagels, English muffins, pancakes, or toast. Well, I don’t miss them at all 🙂

 
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Posted by on January 25, 2012 in Pictures

 

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Old Clothes for Dinner?…ABSOLUTELY!

24 Jan

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Ok guys, absolute success tonight for dinner! I believe my kids may have actually (and unknowingly) eaten some onion and bell pepper with the meat…LOL. I’ve been cooking this old Cuban recipe for years known as Ropa Vieja (old clothes in English). Funny thing is, this recipe is as good as any I have made and much less labor intensive. Please try it, it is sure to please the whole family.

I paired it with some simple roasted sweet potato and turnips…yes TURNIPS!! They are creamier than a potato and Paleo friendly.

Get cooking everyone, and post those pictures. Here is a link to the recipe.

Health-Bent Ropa Vieja

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Pictures

 

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Helpful Paleo Recipe Sites

24 Jan

Hello all, just wanted to check in with everyone on a few things.

First of all, everyone be sure to check out Trayce’s post on the exciting happenings at the Alexandria Museum of Art’s Second Saturday market. We will soon have several local vendors offering fresh organic produce and livestock at the market! Please do all you can do to support our local vendors so they continue to have a good reason to supply our family tables with the freshest and healthiest ingredients around. The Paleo community alone can show their support for these wonderful people and their efforts and make a big difference.

I also want to thank everyone so far for getting involved in the blog. Whether you have just visited, commented, or published your own posts…I appreciate everyone. I will continue to try and grow the blog into a community we can all use and enjoy.

Lastly, I wanted to point ya’ll to a few of my favorite Paleo recipe sites on the web. In fact, the recipe that is cooking away on my cooktop came from one of these, and I’ll post the results later!
Good luck to all on continued success and health following the Paleo lifestyle!

Nom Nom Paleo

Health-Bent

The Clothes Make the Girl

The Food Lover’s Primal Palate

Ernie

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2012 in Recipes

 

Paleo Chicken Pot Pie

22 Jan

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So here is my attempt at Paleo Chicken Pot Pie out of the book Paleo Comfort Foods. I’m pretty exhausted from the Calvary D-Now event, so I’ll post more about it later. Bottom line is I think the almond meal topping was too strong, and overpowered the chicken mixture on top. I think using blanched almond flour for the topping would have been better. None the less, it was fairly tasty!  As you can see, I almost toasted the top!  It went from mildly brown to almost black in less than a minute…so beware!

 
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Posted by on January 22, 2012 in Pictures

 

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