simple | The Paleo Mom

Greek-Inspired Baked Chicken Breast

March 2, 2013 in Main Dishes, Meat and Poultry

This simple chicken dish is quick to put together and makes a perfect mid-week meal when time in the kitchen is not the easiest thing to find. It has a souvlaki-inspired flavor and works really well with salad, simply steamed or roasted veggies, and cauliflower rice. This dish works really well with boneless skinless chicken breast or thigh meat, but you could use any chicken pieces/parts you like for this dish (with or without the skin). You will have to cook about 10 minutes longer for thighs or breasts with bone. Serves 5-6.

Ingredients:

3 lbs chicken, cut into parts (boneless, skinless breast or thigh works particularly well)
zest of 1 lemon
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp dried oregano (or substitute 3 Tbsp fresh oregano)
1/4 tsp salt to taste
2 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil (or substitute butter or ghee) plus a little extra for greasing the pan

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease the bottom of a large casserole dish or deep roasting pan.
Pat chicken dry with paper towel and place in the prepared casserole dish.
Combine lemon zest, garlic, oregano, and salt. Melt coconut oil and mix with spices. Pour over chicken and mix to coat (this is easiest using your hands).
Arrange chicken in a single layer and bake for 30 minutes, or until fully cooked.
Optional: drizzle fresh lemon juice over the chicken before eating.
Enjoy!

Tags: bake, Breast, chicken, Dairy-free, easy, garlic, Gluten-Free, Grain-free, greek, lemon, oregano, paleo, Paleolithic, primal, quick, Recipe, simple, souvlaki, thigh
1 Comment »

Mustard and Rosemary Roasted Chicken (21DSD-friendly!)

January 3, 2013 in Meat and Poultry

What do I love most about roasting whole chicken? It’s easy, takes very little time to prepare, makes several meal’s worth (I always cook two at a time), the cooked meat freezes really well for future meals, it’s a fairly cheap meat (even free-range and pastured chickens can be found relatively inexpensively), you get to save the bones for bone broth, and it’s delicious! Is it okay to have seven favorite things?

Where do you buy fully pastured chicken? Both US Wellness Meats sells it and GrassFed Traditions sells it (both for similar prices). You can also buy free-range chicken at Trader Joe’s (for only $2.50/lb) and many other grocery stores and specialty food stores (like Whole Foods).

This particular seasoning for roast chicken is amazing—especially if you want to make gravy with the pan juices! I know that making pan gravy can be daunting for many, but it really isn’t that hard and it’s so worth the effort with this chicken! It takes a little practice to eyeball how much thickener you need, when it’s as thick as you like it, how to handle clumps—but the great part is that gravy is good stuff even if it’s too thin, too thick, or slightly lumpy.

To make pan gravy, place the roasting pan (without the cooked chickens or rack on top) onto a large element on the stove. Turn to medium-high heat (or slightly hotter) and bring the juices to a simmer (if it’s more of a boil, turn down the heat a little). Meanwhile, mix about ¼ cup of arrowroot powder or kuzu starch (my favorite two paleo-friendly starches for making gravy) with about ¼ cup cold water (to dissolve it, this helps with the clumps). Pour the starchy water into the pan while whisking like crazy with a wire whisk. Keep whisking until the gravy has thickened (takes 3-4 minutes). If it’s not thick enough for you (this depends in large part on how much juices you have in your pan), repeat with more arrowroot powder or kuzu starch (if it’s close, just try 2 Tbsp). If you end up with some starch lumps, simply pour your gravy through a strainer before serving. If your gravy ends up too thick, thin it out with a little hot water. Just don’t try to make gravy for the first time at the same time as you are minding other pots on the stovetop.

Ingredients:

2 4-5lb whole chickens
2 Tbsp lard, extra virgin coconut oil, or unsalted butter (I used lard)
2 Tbsp brown or Dijon-style mustard (check ingredients)
1 ½ Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (measure after chopping, or use 1 Tbsp dried)

Preheat oven to 350F.
Remove chickens from packaging, pat dry with paper towels, remove any giblets (save these for making bone broth!) and place on your roasting pan, using the rack insert that comes with the pan.
Melt lard or coconut oil and mix with Dijon and rosemary. Baste the entire surface of both chickens with the mustard sauce (I just use my hands).
Roast chickens for 20 minutes per pound (or until a meat thermometer reads at least 165F—it’s standard to cook until breast meat reads 180F).
Make pan gravy with the juices if desired. Carve and serve!

Tags: 21, 21DSD, arrowroot, baked, chicken, day, easy, free-range, freeze, gravy, juices, kuzu, leftovers, mustard, paleo, Paleolithic, pan, pastured, poultry, roast, rosemary, simple, starch, sugar detox, thicken, whole
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Spaghetti Squash with Sage and Brown Butter

October 22, 2012 in Side Dishes, Starchy Staples, Veggies

Sage and brown butter is one of the classic simple pasta sauces and one that adapts extremely well to paleo noodle substitutes. My favorite noddle substitute to use with this simple sauce is spaghetti squash (something about the flavor of spaghetti squash that marries really well with butter). This dish is absolutely divine as a side to steak, but works great beside just about any grilled meat.

It is a slightly different flavor, but this also works very well with lard instead of butter (along with omitting the pepper, this makes it autoimmune protocol-friendly too!). A mix of tallow and coconut oil would probably work as well.

I have tried a variety of different methods to cook spaghetti squash. They all work. My favorite is to cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and bake upside down on a cookie sheet in the oven for 30-40 minutes at 375F. I feel like the spaghetti squash is the most firm (and thus noodle like) with this cooking method. You could also cook it whole (pierce all over with a fork first) in the oven at 375F for an hour (this has the advantage of being easier to cut and scoop out the seeds). You could also cook it whole in the microwave (pierce all over with a fork first, and place on a plate or in a large bowl) for 10 minutes (again, super easy to cut and scoop out the seeds). Microwave is the fastest method and one I end up falling back on when I don’t plan ahead enough.

This serves 4-5 as a side dish. If you are going to make this dish the star of the show with some sliced grilled meat for protein, it serves 2-3.

Ingredients:

1 small spaghetti squash
3 Tbsp unsalted butter (add 1 Tbsp of butter if your squash is on the larger side)
10-12 whole fresh sage leaves
1/8 tsp salt, to taste
1/8 tsp cracked pepper, to taste

Bake the spaghetti squash by your preferred method (see paragraph in the recipe intro). Let cool until it can be handled easily.
Scrape out the strings of the spaghetti squash with a fork and set aside.
Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Once melted add the sage leaves and cook until the sage is crisp, about 4-5 minutes. Watch closely so the butter doesn’t burn.
Remove the crisp sage leaves and aside.
Add the spaghetti squash strings to the butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and gently mix together to coat the squash. Cook 2-3 minutes, just long enough to reheat the squash.
Crumple sage leaves and mix back into the squash. Serve!

Tags: brown, butter, Diet, paleo, Paleolithic, pasta, Recipe, sage, Side, simple, spaghetti, squash
4 Comments »

Roasted Butternut Squash

September 28, 2012 in Side Dishes, Starchy Staples, Veggies

This squash is so simple to prepare, it feels like cheating because it is so tasty! It gets this little bit of crisp on the outside, and sweet soft middle. And the combination of thyme and butternut squash is classic for good reason! Yum! Serves 6.

Ingredients:

2 lbs butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1½” pieces
2 Tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped (or dried whole leaf thyme)

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil.
Melt coconut oil. Toss with butternut squash and thyme. Spread out onto prepared baking sheet.
Place squash in oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until slightly browned and tender. Shake pan (and maybe flip squash chunks) every ten minutes during baking.

Tags: baked, butternut, oven, quick, Recipe, roasted, simple, squash, Thyme
7 Comments »