Paleo Baked Chicken Thighs With Carrots and Olives

Paleo Baked Chicken Thighs With Carrots and Olives

The end of 2016 crept up rather quickly on me.  The beginning of 2017 did also.

For the past three months I have been troubled by pain in my right shoulder.  One night the pain was excruciating and I finally made it to the doctor’s office. Suffice it to say that I am in physical therapy now and recuperating.  It feels like forever since I’ve posted on this blog although it’s only been a month.

I am currently in downsizing mode ~ getting rid of things I haven’t used in awhile.  And so I went to the cabinet that holds all of my cookbooks and started going through them one by one.

One of my favorite books is Cooking Light and that’s where I found the inspiration for this recipe.  I have tweaked it a bit to make it more simple and have removed grapes from the recipe also.

The main ingredients are carrots, kalamata olives (or regular olives if you don’t like the kalamata ones), onion, chicken and spices.

Carrots & Onion
Carrots & Onion
Kalamata Olives
Kalamata Olives

Throughout my short cooking life, I have learned to substitute spices for what I already have ~ well, assuming I like them.  (laughing)

Spices
Spices

I chose to use the smaller carrots and sliced them in half.  Then I sliced the onion, added them to the carrots along with a tablespoon of olive oil and salt then mixed it all together.

Sliced Carrots & Onion
Sliced Carrots & Onion

I used a handful of kalamata olives that I added to the carrot mixture after it had been roasted for a little while.  I really like the taste of these olives ~ they make my mouth happy.

Kalamata Olives
Kalamata Olives

The spice mixture of cinnamon, red pepper flakes, coriander and cumin can really be adapted to whatever spices you like. Go ahead ~ be bold!  I also added a splash of salt and pepper in the spices.  It doesn’t look like a lot but it was enough to coat both sides of four chicken thighs.

Spice Mixture
Spice Mixture

Once I cleaned and trimmed the bone-in skin-on chicken thighs, I patted them dry with a paper towel then sprinkled half of the spices on them.

Spiced Up Chicken Thighs
Spiced Up Chicken Thighs

The chicken thighs will be put in an oiled skillet skin side down so they can become crusty-ish. While in the skillet, I seasoned the other side of the chicken thighs.

Seasoned Chicken Thighs

Once the veggies roasted a bit in the oven, I removed them and added the olives to them along with the chicken thighs to bake them together.

Add Chicken Thighs to Roasted Vegetables

Sound easy enough?  Okay then, here’s the recipe for you.

Paleo Baked Chicken Thighs With Carrots and Olives

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

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Beef Short Ribs with Carrots, Onions and Garlic

Beef Short Ribs with Carrots, Onions and Garlic
Beef Short Ribs with Carrots, Onions and Garlic

During the holiday season, I always try to make easy recipes so I don’t feel stressed.  Simple recipes take less time ~

I found this paleo recipe (although they don’t call it paleo) in a magazine called Real Simple and the only thing I changed on it was using Beef Short Ribs instead of Strip Steak.

The vegetables are tossed together with 1/4 cup or less of olive oil then seasoned with salt and pepper and anything else you’d like.  Some of the carrots I had looked a little sad but they were still good ~ no need to throw them out just use them right away, yes?

Side note:  My mother always said to do your best not to throw food away because there are people starving in China.  I believe the phrase was used in “the olden days” because at one time there was a famine in China and people were literally starving.

Veggies
Veggies

The veggies will be put into an oven to roast and while that’s happening, you can season the meat with a combination of coriander, cinnamon, cayenne, and ½ teaspoon salt in a small bowl.  Then you’ll be cooking the meat on a skillet to whatever “doneness” you’d like.

Here’s the final product which was quite delicious …

Beef Short Ribs with Carrots, Onions and Garlic
Beef Short Ribs with Carrots, Onions and Garlic

Oh, I see you noticed that the cloves still have the skins on them ~ well, that’s intentional.  When you go to eat the garlic whole, the skin will peel right off.  Pretty cool!

Now ~ since this wasn’t my original recipe, I’ll direct you to where you can see the original one.  Just click below.

Strip Steak with Carrots, Onions and Garlic

We really enjoyed this recipe and it couldn’t be much more simple.  I hope you enjoy it also.

Have a good day!

 

 

 

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Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa

It may sound unusual to some people, but I had never tasted Mahi Mahi until recently.  And you know what?  I really like it!  I even like it better than salmon, halibut or cod.  It doesn’t seem to get dry as easily as salmon does.

When I first saw it, it looked a little odd to me ~ beefy. I had never seen a beefy looking fish.  hehe

Uncooked Mahi Mahi
Uncooked Mahi Mahi

I didn’t want to put too much seasoning on it, so I just sprinkled salt, pepper and a little paprika on top.

Uncooked Mahi Mahi
Uncooked Mahi Mahi

I decided to try it with a Mango Salsa.  It tasted great!  Simply easy ….

 

Mango Salsa
Mango Salsa

The Mahi Mahi doesn’t take long to bake ~ approximately 10-15 minutes.

Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa
Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa

I served this recipe with a carrot/parsnip side dish.

Truly delicious!  Ready to see the recipe?

Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa

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Paleo Chicken Casserole

Every 6 weeks or so I head over to Costco and purchase the bulk items I need.  Then I pick up a roasted chicken so that dinner can be a little easier but we always have chicken leftovers.  And that is how this recipe came about ~ how to use leftover chicken.  This recipe can be used with any meat though but it tasted really great with chicken.

Using leftover chicken makes this a very simple and easy recipe along with the fact that it uses ingredients that most people already have in their homes.

Ingredients for Paleo Chicken Casserole
Ingredients for Paleo Chicken Casserole

I used Trader Joe’s Chicken Broth ~ just open and pour what you need out.

Trader Joe's Chicken Broth
Trader Joe’s Chicken Broth

And to thicken the sauce I use Arrowroot Powder instead of flour ~

Arrowroot Powder
Arrowroot Powder

Then of course there’s your shredded chicken ~

Shredded Cooked Chicken
Shredded Cooked Chicken

Looks like a lot of chicken, doesn’t it?  This recipe is so good though that it will be gone in a heartbeat.  Alright, alright, not that quickly or you’ll choke.  hehe

You’ll basically saute the veggies, toss the tapioca flour over them, add the broth and stir  ~

Saute Vegetables
Saute Vegetables

Then add the chicken and whala!!!!   (You’ll notice the whala doesn’t apply to how wonderful the picture came out ~ not sure what happened there.)

Paleo Chicken Casserole
Paleo Chicken Casserole

But, that’s pretty much what you’ll be doing. I served this dish on a bed of mashed garlic sweet potatoes with a side of avocado.  Scrumptious!

Ready to see the recipe?

Paleo Chicken Casserole

 

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Chicken Fillets with Vegetables

Chicken Fillets with Vegetables ~ Paleo
Chicken Fillets with Vegetables ~ Paleo

Here’s another easy and tasty paleo meal ~ Chicken Fillets with Vegetables.

I should tell you upfront that I purposefully did not cook my vegetables all the way through as I wanted them to be crisp when bitten into.  Feel free to cook them first before adding them to the chicken if you prefer them well cooked.

What I like about this recipe is the ginger, Braggs liquid aminos and garlic taste.  It leaves a burst of flavor in your mouth.

Braggs Liquid Aminos
Braggs Liquid Aminos

But before you start prepping anything, you need to marinate your chicken once it’s cut up in bite sized pieces.  It’s a simple thing really ~ cut then add the chicken pieces to a bowl, sprinkle it with the liquid aminos, salt and pepper then set it aside for at least 20 minutes.

Marinated Chicken Tenders
Marinated Chicken Fillets

While the chicken is marinading, prep your vegetables and spices.  (The small glob of yellow is the grated ginger …)

Prep vegetables and spices
Prep vegetables and spices

Once the chicken is ready, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet set on medium then add the minced ginger and garlic.

Add garlic and ginger to skillet
Add garlic and ginger to skillet

Allow this to simmer for a minute or so before adding another tablespoon of olive oil then the chicken.

Add Chicken Fillets
Add Chicken Fillets

Next, and this is important, you need to make sure the chicken is cooked almost all the way through so toss it around ~ turning each piece to make sure it’s not going to be raw.  Raw is NOT good. The chicken below is only halfway cooked.

Stir Chicken Fillets until almost cooked
Stir Chicken Fillets until almost cooked

Next add your vegetables ~ broccoli and carrots ~ and stir.  When the chicken is thoroughly cooked, add a handful of cashews, stir and then …

Chicken Fillets with Vegetables ~ Paleo
Chicken Fillets with Vegetables ~ Paleo

Enjoy!

Here’s the recipe ~

Chicken Fillets with Vegetables ~ Paleo

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Greek Stuffed Meatballs ~ Paleo

Paleo Baked Greek Stuffed Meatballs
Paleo Baked Greek Stuffed Meatballs

Not too long ago I received an advertisement in the mail for a subscription for two magazines for $10 for a whole year.

I don’t normally jump on offers like this but after mulling it over I decided, why not?  It’s cheap and it will give me a chance to check out the magazines which I don’t normally purchase.

One of the magazines is Better Homes and Garden and recently they had a recipe for Greek Stuffed Meatballs that are made in a crockpot.  Well, I am normally prepared.  Really, I am.  But on this day I was a little lazy and didn’t read all of the instructions until a couple hours before I needed to make the meatballs.  So ~ I had to improvise as I would have to bake them instead of “crockpotting” them.  (Is that a word?)

The other change I made in the recipe was to paleo-ize it which was quite simple ~ I merely changed out the bread crumbs for almond meal and it worked great!

I’ve seen this exact same recipe on other internet sites so I’m not sure who the original owner is but here is it for you to check out with my changes.  I must say, they turned out fantastic!  I even put them on my “favorites” list.

First, let’s talk about cheese.  I used Kerrygold sweet cheddar (which has just a touch of sweetness) for this recipe.

Kerrygold Sweet Cheddar Cheese
Kerrygold Sweet Cheddar Cheese

You can use any cheese you like although you want to be able to cut it in cubes (large or small).

Cut cheese up in small chunks
Cut cheese up in small chunks

Keep in mind that these cubes will go in the middle of your meatball.  I made large meatballs so sometimes I used two small pieces in a ball.

At first the recipe felt like it might have too many olives.  Is that even possible?  Well, you really don’t taste the olives as much as you would think because they are diced so don’t be afraid of that.

The mixture with the egg, almond meal, olives, parsley, garlic, salt & pepper will look like this.

Egg Mixture
Egg Mixture

And after you add the lamb and the beef it will look like this.

Greek Meatball Mixture
Greek Meatball Mixture

Now, it’s really a personal preference, but I like to use my hands to mix everything together and form it into balls.  If you decide to do this, please make sure your hands are really clean.  No use spreading any more germs in this already germ filled world.

I picked up enough of the meat mixture to put it in the palm of my hand, flatten it then add a piece or two of the cheese in it.  Then I covered the cheese with the meat mixture.

Making a Greek Meatball
Making a Greek Meatball

I had prepared a casserole dish for the meatballs by putting a couple tablespoons or so of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish.

Cover bottom of casserole dish with tomato sauce
Cover bottom of casserole dish with tomato sauce

Then I added the meatballs to the dish.  You really don’t need to oil the dish as the meatballs let out enough grease on their own but I like to have the meatballs covered in sauce ~ both bottom and top.

And then ~ whala!

Unbaked Greek Stuffed Meatballs
Unbaked Greek Stuffed Meatballs

Next you spread the rest of your tomato sauce over the top of the meatballs, put aluminum foil over the casserole dish and plop it in the oven.

They will come out looking like this … not too pretty but that’s because of the grease that comes out of the meatballs.  You can pretty it up once it’s on the plate, eh?

Paleo Baked Greek Stuffed Meatballs
Paleo Baked Greek Stuffed Meatballs

Okay then ~ ready to see the recipe?  Enjoy!

Paleo Baked Greek Stuffed Meatballs

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

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Baked Chicken With Broccoli & Cauliflower

Paleo Baked Chicken with Broccoli & Cauliflower
Paleo Baked Chicken with Broccoli & Cauliflower

I knew I wanted to have chicken today but wasn’t sure exactly what to have with it.

Looking in the refrigerator, I noticed some leftover cauliflower from last week’s meal along with broccoli and mushrooms.  Hmmm … I thought.  That’s a nice combination.

Taking the veggies out of the refrigerator, I rinsed them with cold water and cut them up into bite sized pieces.

The now defrosted bone-in skin-on chicken thighs sat waiting to be prepared.

I wanted this paleo Baked Chicken with Broccoli & Cauliflower recipe to be simple and easy so I decided to use only a few items to prepare it:  white pepper, onion powder, salt and toasted sesame seeds.  I tossed a little of each over the chicken thighs.

To give this meal a little flavor, I used toasted sesame oil to toss the veggies in ~ just enough to make them glisten.

Spices
Spices

I added the prepared chicken to a greased casserole dish then arranged the veggies around it.

Unbaked Chicken with Broccoli & Cauliflower
Unbaked Chicken with Broccoli & Cauliflower

One thing I noticed while preparing the chicken is that one of the pieces was a lot smaller than the other three.  That’s important because it means they will bake differently, i.e., the small one will be very well done.  Oh well, I won’t worry about it.

I used the convection baking setting on my oven to bake this casserole.  If you decide to make this recipe and use the regular baking setting, just know that it will take a little longer so you’ll have to check on it periodically  (I usually poke a chopstick in the chicken to see if blood comes out ~ no blood means it’s ready.)

Alright then, enough of my chatting here.  Ready to see this recipe?

Paleo Baked Chicken with Broccoli & Cauliflower

Enjoy!

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

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Easy Roasted Cauliflower

Easy Roasted Cauliflower
Easy Roasted Cauliflower

Finally!  An easy paleo roasted cauliflower recipe. Just can’t get much easier than this folks.

I have not been a fan of cauliflower (are you?) but when roasted, it actually tastes pretty good.

I headed out early this morning to pick up my full head of cauliflower at the grocery store. And what a beautiful Minnesota morning it was.

Next, to prep for dinner. I took my head of cauliflower and, with a large knife, cut it into small pieces.  Although, once you start cutting into it, the cauliflower starts coming apart and you can use your hands to separate it easily. I then threw it in a mesh basket that I have hanging over my sink and sprayed it with cold water to clean it.  I let it drip dry for a few minutes.

Cut and Clean Cauliflower
Cut and Clean Cauliflower

Next I placed my fairly dry cauliflower in a large bowl, sprinkled it with olive oil and pepper then salt and tossed it all together.  You don’t want too much olive oil but you want enough that the cauliflower glistens (looks a little shiny).

Toss Cauliflower in Olive Oil, Pepper and Salt
Toss Cauliflower in Olive Oil, Pepper and Salt

Next you’ll be spreading the cauliflower out on a cookie sheet ~ no need to oil it as the oil that you added to the cauliflower will suffice.

Spread cauliflower out on a cookie sheet
Spread cauliflower out on a cookie sheet

Then you’ll be roasting it.  I used my convection oven but this can be roasted in a regular oven so no worries there.  In the convection oven it took 13 minutes and I took the cauliflower out at the 7 minute mark and tossed them about.  In a regular oven, you would roast it for 20 minutes and toss it at the 10 minute mark ~ but I would check your oven as some of them heat hotter than others.

I served the cauliflower with my Indian Chicken with Gravy recipe (although I substituted skinless chicken thighs for the skinless legs) and a Tahini Sauce that I found over at the Minimalist Baker site.  It all came out pretty pretty good.

Ready to see the recipe?

Easy Roasted Cauliflower

Enjoy!

For additional paleo recipes, click here.

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Paleo Fresh Spring Rolls

Paleo Fresh Spring Rolls
Paleo Fresh Spring Rolls

The spring rolls I’ll be presenting can be considered a paleo “cheat”  to some people as they use rice paper.  The inside of the spring roll can have a variety of ingredients added to them so it’s a versatile recipe.

There are a lot of strict paleo-ites who would not eat rice at all as they have no nutritional value.  Instead, the rice adds empty calories to your diet so if you’re trying to lose weight, rice should not be in your diet.

For my ingredients, I used lettuce, carrots, cucumber, scallions and cilantro.  Pretty simple, no?

Ingredients for Fresh Spring Rolls
Ingredients for Fresh Spring Rolls

Our local grocery store had rice paper which surprised me but I was glad I didn’t have to search all over town for it.  They had two different kinds and I purchased the Banh Trang Rice Paper.

Banh Trang Rice Paper
Banh Trang Rice Paper

The springs rolls I have eaten at restaurants have a peanut sauce either inside the roll or else it’s served with an outside peanut dip.  I decided to use cashew butter instead (paleo-ites don’t eat peanuts).  What I did was take a couple of large tablespoons of cashew butter then I added a little bit of water to liquify it so I can pour it on top of the veggies in the spring rolls.

Trader Joe's Cashew Butter
Trader Joe’s Cashew Butter

In order to prepare the rice paper, you need to have a bowl of water that’s either cold or warm that you will put the rice paper in (so it has to have a wide bottom).

Water for Rice Paper
Water for Rice Paper

The rice paper is very thin.  I put it in my cold water for a couple of seconds then took it out and put it on a plate in preparation to fill it with the veggies.

Banh Trang Rice Paper
Banh Trang Rice Paper

The picture below appears that I was a bit chintzy with my vegetables.  I added more after I took the picture though.  (Don’t be so judgmental ~ laughing)

Filling the Rice Paper with Veggies
Filling the Rice Paper with Veggies

After the rice paper is filled with your veggies and sauce, you simply fold it from the bottom to the middle then fold the sides over and finally fold the top over it.  I’m not a pro at it yet but what I did worked for me.

Paleo Fresh Spring Rolls
Paleo Fresh Spring Rolls

I decided to have a light supper and served these with baked chicken wings.  Yum!!!!

Paleo Fresh Spring Rolls with Baked Chicken Wings
Paleo Fresh Spring Rolls with Baked Chicken Wings

Here’s the recipe for you to view and/or print out.  I know you’ll enjoy them.

Paleo Fresh Spring Rolls

For more paleo recipes, click here.

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Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Vegan Coconut Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream
Vegan Coconut Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream

This paleo & vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream recipe was sent to me by a friend who happened to come across it.

I thought “Hmmm … it sounds interesting and I have an ice cream maker.  Why not?”  And so began my interesting journey to make this ice cream.

I thought my first challenge would be finding purple sweet potatoes, but I found them at the local grocery store.  It’s funny I had never seen them before.  Have you seen one?  The ones I found were small so I purchased a few of them not knowing how many I would need for this recipe.

Purple Sweet Potatoes
Purple Sweet Potatoes

I cleaned, peeled and diced them until I had enough for 3/4 cup.

Purple Sweet Potatoes
Purple Sweet Potatoes

I found I had too many so I set the others aside and used them in another recipe.

Next, I boiled the diced potatoes.  (Yes, I know I have too much water in the pot for the amount of potatoes.)

Boil the purple sweet potatoes
Boil the purple sweet potatoes

Once the potatoes were soft, I added them to a blender along with the full fat coconut milk, the maple syrup and the arrowroot powder.  Then I whizzed it all together until it was nice and smooth.

Next I threw (well, not literally) the smoothed ingredients back in the pot and brought it to a boil.  After boiling, I took the saucepan off the stove and whisked it until it was thickened.  I then added the vodka along with the vanilla and blended it all together.

Whisk the ingredients together
Whisk the ingredients together

Ahhh ~ did you see the odd ingredient I added to this?  Vodka.  I do not drink alcoholic beverages and will occasionally use wine in some recipes so this was a stretch for me to use it.  However, the vodka helps to keep the ice cream soft when it freezes.  Unfortunately, when I asked my husband to pick up some vodka on the way home, I forgot to tell him I only needed two tablespoons.  Guess I’ll be making a lot more ice cream.  (smile)

Vodka Bottle
Vodka Bottle

Now the waiting began as this has to chill overnight.  And this is where it became quite interesting for me.

The next day, I took the container with the smoothed ingredients out of the refrigerator.  I already had my ice cream maker ready to go.

I took a spoon and mixed it up a little.

P1140508

It seemed a little hard to me but I figured it had to be chilled before going into the ice cream maker.  Still, it seemed stiff.

P1140510

But, I decided to plod along and started adding it to the ice cream maker base before it started to get warm.  Unfortunately, something was not right.  The ice cream maker didn’t seem to be moving exactly as I expected.  So, I stopped it and looked inside.

The ice cream had frozen at the bottom.  My refrigerator apparently made the ingredients too cold for the ice cream maker.  Blah.

P1140497

Undeterred, I put the ingredients back in the refrigerator and, after cleaning it I put the ice cream base back in the freezer and decided to try again the next day.

Knowing that my refrigerator must be colder than Aimee’s at Wall Flower Kitchen whose recipe this is, I took out the ingredients from the refrigerator and every 15 minutes (for about 45 minutes) stirred the ingredients until they were a little more liquid-y and soft.

Then I got the ice cream maker out again and started it.

This time, success!!!

The ice cream came out smooth and tasted quite good!  Two out of three people in our house really liked it ~ the one person (who shall remain nameless) kept comparing it to “real” ice cream and said it tasted a little grainy.

But this is a great and healthy recipe.  Really!

Coconut Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream
Coconut Vegan Purple Sweet Potato Ice Cream

Are you ready to try this recipe?  If so, head over to Wall Flower Kitchen and check out Aimee’s full recipe.

For other paleo recipes, click here.

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