Tag: chicken

Roasted Cauliflower with Shallot Oil

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This isn’t the least fussy thing I’ve ever made, but it’s ready in under an hour and is freaking delicious.

Inspired by this Instagram post by Heidi Swanson at 101 Cookbooks. I’d forgotten just how inspiring I find her take on flavors. /swoon

gluten-free, paleo, keto, vegetarian, vegan

Roasted Cauliflower with Shallot Oil

1 small head cauliflower
Fat of choice
1/2 head garlic split into cloves
1/2 tsp. yellow mustard seeds
1/4 tsp. black cumin seeds
1 Tbsp. minced garlic & ginger
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1-2 large shallots
Salt & pepper
Optional: pulled rotisserie chicken

Preheat your oven to 400F/200C.

First, peel and finely slice the shallots. Add to a small pot with enough fat to cover the bottom. Place over med-high heat until simmering, lower to med-low, and let go until the shallots are crisped up.

Break your cauliflower up into florets and spread in 1 layer on a baking sheet. Add the garlic cloves on one end – it’s ok if they are still in the paper skins. Drizzle everything with a generous hit of the fat you’re using and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake 20 minutes or so or until the shallots are done and the cauliflower is to your desired brownness.

While those two are working, make some curry-ish paste by frying the mustard and cumin seeds in 2 Tbsp. fat over medium-high heat in a small pan. When the seeds start to pop, add the garlic & ginger and turmeric. Stir quickly until the mixture is very fragrant. Set aside.

To serve, scoop out some cauliflower and top with pulled chicken if desired, a couple garlic cloves (take out of the skin), a Tablespoon or so of the shallot oil, some fried shallots, and a Tablespoon of the spice mixture.

Serves 2 – 3, depending on the size of your cauliflower and whether you’re including meat – would also be delicious with golden raisins and/or toasted nuts (I’m thinking sliced almonds, pine nuts or pistachios)

Japanese Style Chicken & Cabbage Noodles

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This is a simple weeknight meal that can be expanded to feed a crowd easily – or can feed just two.

Gluten-free, paleo, keto

Japanese Style Chicken & Cabbage Noodles

1/2 lb. ground chicken
1/2 inch fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic
3 tsp. sesame seeds
4 Tbsp. neutral oil
1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. sesame oil
1/4 head green cabbage
4 tsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce
2 tsp. rice vinegar
2 stalks celery
2 eggs
Salt
White pepper

Heat 2 Tbsp. Neutral oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken.

Press or grate the fresh ginger and garlic and add. Hit with salt and white pepper.

While your chicken is cooking, core and shred the cabbage into long ribbons.

When the chicken is cooked 3/4 of the way through, add 2 tsp. sesame oil & 2 tsp. sesame seeds.

Set aside when cooked through.

In the same pan still over medium-high heat, add 2 more Tbsp. oil. When the oil is up to temperature, add the cabbage noodles.

Stir-fry until soft and beginning to brown.

While the cabbage is working, cut your celery on the bias into 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide pieces. Break your eggs into a small bowl.

When the cabbage is just about done, season with salt & white pepper. Add 2 tsp. soy sauce and 2 tsp. rice vinegar at the end of cooking.

Set aside.

Put the pan back on the heat and add 1 Tbsp. sesame oil. When the oil is up to temperature, add the celery. Stir fry until tender and beginning to brown, adding a couple Tablespoons water if necessary.

When the celery is done, add the eggs. Let sit a few seconds, then gently start to scramble. Season with 2 tsp. soy sauce and 1 tsp. Sesame seeds.

Add the noodles and the chicken back into the pan and give a good toss. Hit with a sprinkle white pepper and some more salt if needed.

Serves 2 for dinner

Turkilada Bake

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This is not the keto enchilada I set out to make – this right here is a teachable expat moment.

I swear I saw enchilada sauce – at least a case worth – in my local grocery last week. It was right there in a whole section of (American) Mexican foods.

Well, serves me right for not grabbing it there and then – it’s no longer in stock and there is zero evidence that it ever existed in the first place. Neither is salsa. Or green chilis. Or Choula. Plenty of queso, though.

So … we improvise.

Instead of Philadelphia cream cheese (which they have, but I don’t trust my stomach to not revolt at), I grabbed a spreadable cheese from Turkey (basically the same thing). Instead of the enchilada sauce I was craving, I grabbed something called Biber Domates (also from Turkey) – a pepper/tomato paste that comes in a variety of spice levels. Instead of the green chiles I was hoping for, I used frozen spinach (mostly because I needed a green vegetable to make this a meal and was in a snit because of the tiny size of all bags of frozen broccoli on offer here).

This meal wasn’t Mexican, but it was good and still goes great with my hoard of Choula. Seriously, I shipped myself two magnums of the stuff knowing DH would go through at least a quarter of one before I arrived.

Gluten-free, primal, keto

Turkilada Bake

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 bag frozen spinach
Onion powder (or granulated onion)
Garlic powder
Cumin powder
Salt & pepper
1/2 cup some form of cream cheese
1/4 cup Biber Domates (tomato/pepper paste)

Preheat your oven to roughly 375 F.

In a baking dish, spread a layer of frozen spinach. Top with the chicken thighs. Note: My spinach was frozen and chicken was mostly frozen). Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Sprinkle really liberally with garlic and onion. Sprinkle less liberally with cumin.

In a separate bowl, mix the cream cheese and paste together.

Spread on the dusty chicken. Top with the rest of the spinach.

Bake 40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

Serves 4 as a light main – you may want to grab a heartier side if you’re not keto

Thai Chicken Burgers

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This burger comes together quickly, and brings a hint of Thai flavors to dress up what can otherwise be a boring weeknight staple meal.

Gluten-free, paleo, Whole30, keto

Thai Chicken Burgers

1 lb. ground chicken or turkey
1 green onion
1 Tbsp. fish sauce (Red Boat is Whole30 compliant)
1 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy (coconut aminos are Whole30 compliant)
1 tsp. lime juice
1/2 inch fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. sambal olek (spicy garlic sauce – check your labels of Whole30 or keto!)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 an avocado per person
Fat of choice
Salt & pepper to taste

Mince your green onions, garlic and ginger. Add to a large bowl with everything but the avocado and fat of choice. Mix, form into 4 burger patties. Hit with salt and pepper to taste.

Heat the fat in a large pan over medium-high heat. Fry your burgers about 3-4 minutes per side or until cooked through.

Serve over sliced avocado.

Makes enough for 4 burgers

Thai Red Curry Meatballs

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Yay! Back to cooking – and hopefully back to regular recipe-posting.

This move has been rough, and it’s really taken a toll on my desire to cook, eating habits, and creativity in general. I’m hoping this first “real” dinner in the new place is a start in the right direction health and blog-wise.

Gluten-free, paleo, Whole30 if you source your ingredients right

Thai Red Curry Meatballs

1 pound ground chicken
1/2 small red onion
Juice + zest of 2 limes
1/2 inch fresh ginger, peeled
Big pinch chili powder (hot chili – red pepper flakes would do)
2 cloves garlic
Hand full baby carrots
1 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce
Big pinch ground cumin
Salt & pepper to taste

For the sauce

1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp. red curry paste
2 Tbsp. nut butter (or a hand full of nuts, a sprinkle of salt + 2 tsp. coconut oil)
Juice of 2 limes
2 cloves garlic

First, make the meatballs by combining all meatball ingredients in a blender or food processor (minus the chicken) and process to a mush. Mix in half to 3/4 with the chicken and form into ping pong to golf ball sized balls. Warning: this mixture will be a bit wet. It’ll firm up in the oven.

Bake at 400f for 20 mins. Flip; bake an additional 15 mins. or until cooked through. Note: Since the mixture is so wet when it goes into the oven, perfect balls aren’t happening, but they’re still damn tasty.

While your balls are a-cookin’, make the sauce by blending all ingredients together and adding to a large pan. Simmer until the meatballs are ready.

When the meatballs come out of the oven, add to the simmering sauce to combine.

Serve with mixed veg of your choice.

Serves 2-3 for dinner with a hearty side of veggies. 

Coconut Curry Chicken

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This chicken is simple to prepare and makes a great little addition to salads, zoodles or a simple broccoli bowl.

gluten-free, paleo, keto


Coconut Curry Chicken

2 large chicken breasts
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup sugar free apricot preserves
1/3 cup green curry paste
Juice of 1 lime
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
Zest of 1 lime
Spicy peanuts
Zoodles

Add all ingredients but lime zest, peanuts and zoodles to a Ziplock and marinade 3 hours to 1 day.

Bake the chicken at 400 degrees F for 25 – 30 minutes, or until cooked through.

Serve with the zest of 1 lime and a hand full of chopped cilantro + peanuts over zoodles.

Makes enough chicken for 4 if your breasts are large

Pizza Chicken

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This is a simple yet satisfying weeknight meal – healthier than pizza – and light enough to not bog you down on a warm night.

Gluten-free, primal


Pizza Chicken

1 large chicken breast
1 jar your favorite marinara
1 small spaghetti squash
4 slices bacon
2 cloves garlic
2 shallots
2 Tbsp. capers
1 – 2 Tbsp. red chili flakes
About 1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs – I used a mix of basil, parsley and chives
Fresh mozzarella
Salt & pepper

First, cook your spaghetti squash using your favorite method. I halved mine width-wise, scooped the seeds, plopped on a lipped plate cut-side down, poked with a fork a few times, added a Tablespoon or so of water to the plate, covered with plastic wrap and zapped in the microwave for 20 minutes. However you cook, let cool before handling. When cool, shred with a fork into “noodles”. Set aside.

While the squash is working, chop your bacon, garlic and shallots. Add the bacon to a large pan over medium heat and cook until cooked through but still floppy. Add the shallots and garlic about halfway through and cook until soft. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 425 F.

When the bacon and aromatics are done, add the capers & red pepper flakes and hit with salt and pepper.

Pound out your chicken breast so it’s one thickness – I sandwiched between two sheets of plastic wrap and went to town with the bowl of my heavy mortar.

In a large oven-safe skillet (cast iron is perfect), layer some marinara, the spaghetti squash “noodles”, the bacon mixture, the chicken, the rest of the marinara and top with thin slices of mozzarella.

Bake at 425 for 25 – 30 minutes or until the chicken is done and the cheese is bubbly. Broil 5 minutes or until the cheese has browned a bit. Top with the fresh herbs.

Serves 2 for dinner

Low Carb Crack Chicken

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, lots of dishes are called “crack chicken”. Why? Do the other authors, like me, just love hyperbole? Or is it that chicken is usually so ho-hum that any effort to turn it into a highly addictive substance that will invade your dreams and have you fighting the urge to sleep-binge-eat is just so compelling — and so utterly undeniably delicious — that it engenders not only love, but addiction?

I’m going with the latter explanation.

This chicken is just such a chicken. I spent the evening separated from its tantalizing smell due to poor time management, and spent the entire time I was out thinking about it. And couldn’t resist picking at the pan leftovers when I got home.

I’m eating it for two meals today, and I’m super bummed I only made three servings + tossed the rest of those pan drippings.

gluten-free, keto


Low Carb Crack Chicken

3/4 lb. – 1 lb. chicken (I used precut tenders)

1/4 c. mayo (I used Sir Kensington’s avocado oil mayo)

1/4 c. parmesan (I used my favorite flaked parme and shredded by hand – you want small bits so it will mix in with the mayo well)

2 Tbsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp. onion powder

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice)

Salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 375F.

Pat your chicken dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper on both side.

Arrange on a baking sheet in a single layer, making sure the chicken doesn’t touch too much.

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients but the chicken, salt & pepper.

Spread over the chicken, making sure each piece gets a nice liberal coat.

Bake at 375F for 25 – 35 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the top is browning.

Serves 3 – 4 if you have self control. Fights may happen. Late night snacking is also a worry.

Paleo Thai Spaghetti & Meatballs

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This paleo version of spaghetti and meatballs brings the classic flavors of Thailand to your plate in a relatively quick to throw together dinner that’s both hearty and tasty.

gluten-free, paleo


Paleo Thai Spaghetti & Meatballs

For the spaghetti

1 spaghetti squash

For the meatballs

1 lb. ground chicken
1/2 bunch chopped scallions
1/2 inch grated ginger
2 clove grated garlic
1/2 grated shallot
2 Tbsp. sesame seeds
1 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1 Tbsp. warm water
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. coconut aminos

For the sauce

2 Tbsp. sunflower seed butter
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 Tbsp. coconut aminos
1/2 inch grated ginger
1 clove grated garlic
1/2 grated shallot
1 Tbsp. sesame seeds

First, halve your spaghetti squash (lengthwise for shorter noodles; widthwise for longer), scoop out the seeds and stringy guts, poke a couple holes per side, add cut-side down to a dish with a little water standing in it and cover tightly with saran wrap. Microwave on high 30 minutes or until tender. Uncover (carefully!) and let cool. Shred with a fork when cooled to make the noodles.

While the spaghetti is going, make the meatballs.

Combine all meatball ingredients in a large bowl and knead to combine.

Heat a Tablespoon or two of your favorite fat (I used coconut oil) over medium-high heat in a large pan.

Take the meatball meat, form into one-inch meatballs (as well as you can – my mix was a little wet and sticky so my meatballs were more like formed splats than round balls but were still tasty), and saute until browned and cooked through.

Set aside on a paper towel and cook batches until you are out of meat mixture.

While your last batch is going, make your sauce by whisking all sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.

To serve, toss the spaghetti with the sauce and portion, topping with meatballs.

Serves 2 for dinner with enough meatballs left over for lunch

Dairy-Free Creamy Keto Chicken Casserole

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This low carb and dairy-free take on a comforting casserole was creamy, delicious, and lasted great for a weeks’ worth of lunches.
gluten-free, keto, dairy-free, paleo


Dairy-Free Creamy Keto Chicken Casserole

1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
15 oz. bag frozen broccoli
2 c. frozen spinach
1/2 package sugar-free bacon
This dairy-free cauliflower cheese

Crisp your bacon and drain. Crumble and set aside.

Cube your chicken and set aside.

Defrost your veggies and set aside.

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

In a large casserole dish, combine the chicken, spinach, broccoli and bacon. Stir to combine. Top with the cauliflower cheese.

Bake at 400 for 35 minutes or until the top begins to brown and the sides are bubbly.

Serves 5 – 6 for lunch