Lebanese Lemon Chicken #30MinuteMondays

Fast and flavorful Lebanese lemon chicken with shallots, fresh herbs, 

and a touch of turmeric--a comforting paleo dinner for fall.

There was a touch of fall in the air this weekend, especially in the early mornings. So, even though the highs will be in the 80s all next week, I've decided it's time for fall comfort food. And this Lebanese lemon chicken fits the bill exactly. The flavors of lemon, rosemary and thyme hint at cooler weather, but the dish is fast enough not to heat up your entire house if the temperatures outside are still hot.

This recipe is inspired by the Lebanese chicken dish I had for lunch from the hot bar at Whole Foods last week. I don't do well if I grocery shop hungry, so when I arrive at the store not totally full, I get something to eat from the prepared foods section and sit down and eat it before doing my shopping. Whole Foods' version of this dish was made with bone-in, skin-on chicken, and also had potatoes, olives, and a few other ingredients. I loved the overall taste of the recipe, but wanted to simplify it a little.

Basil Lime Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

 

An easy basil lime compound butter makes crispy chicken 

and roasted vegetables extra special.

Happy Friday! Are you ready to slather your dinner in an irresistible basil lime compound butter?

I love this meal because it's simple and flavorful. The basil lime butter makes the chicken and vegetables more delicious without making them taste any less like themselves. Instead of obscuring the flavors of the main ingredients like heavy sauces sometimes do, it just kisses them with a little herbal, citrusy richness that still lets their natural essence come through. 

For the roasted vegetables, you can use whatever you have on hand. I used beets, carrots, summer squash, and onions. They need different amounts of time to roast, so I added the beets to the baking sheet first, then the carrots, and finally the squash and onions. If you want to sub in other vegetables and aren't sure how long they need to roast, check out this handy chart.

Rainbow Salad with Grilled Chicken and Raspberry Walnut Dressing #30MinuteMondays

All the colors of the rainbow are represented in this quick paleo salad with a creamy, dairy-free raspberry walnut dressing.

I've been wanting to make a rainbow salad for a while now, but this seemed like an especially opportune moment. Summer produce is everywhere in all its resplendent hues, and more Americans are able to get married than ever before. Let's celebrate with this salad!

This healthy salad has pretty much all the colors of the rainbow (if you kind of merge indigo and violet together) plus pink. Pink is my favorite color and it's not really fair that it's not a part of the official rainbow, so I made sure it was included by making a nice pink dressing. Despite how creamy it looks, the dressing is dairy-free--the creaminess comes from the walnuts and shallots, and the color is thanks to the raspberries. It's inspired by the creamy shallot dressing from my pan-seared chicken, orange, and walnut salad, but this one's even better because it's pink.

Crispy Chicken with Fig and Shallot Compote

So, there may or may not be a poem at the end of this post, entitled "Ode to Figs" and written in the style of Pablo Neruda. (Have you read his poem "Ode to the Artichoke"? I'm not very into poetry but I'm very into artichokes--it's one of the few poems I truly appreciate. Here it is in Spanish and English.) Figs are special, so I'm sharing a special but easy recipe that showcases them in all their glory. Plus, my ridiculous poem.

I got so excited when I discovered fresh figs at the market earlier this week. It seems that figs have a short season in early summer and a longer season in the fall, so if you can't find them now, hopefully you'll bookmark this post for later.

Chorizo Chicken with Olives and Roasted Peppers + Yellow Rice

Most people love simple recipes. I'm actually the opposite--I want the things I cook to be a little bit of a process. Nothing insane, but a few different components. I love the act of cooking, and I usually don't want it to be over too quickly.

This chorizo chicken is the best of both worlds. If you want it to be super simple and quick, you can buy a jar of roasted red peppers or even leave them out. You can also serve this with a tossed salad instead of the rice. If you're looking to have a little fun, though, you can roast your peppers on an open flame.

This genius recipe comes from Karen of Lavender and Lovage. I was assigned Karen's blog for this month's Secret Recipe Club reveal day, and had so much fun perusing her recipes. She lives in England but also spends a lot of time in France, where she has a cooking school. Karen has a huge selection of recipes on her blog, including several tempting choices like Scottish rhubarb and ginger crunchy streusel cake and bacon-wrapped turkey breast, which I want to make when the holidays roll around.

Parrilla Mixta Italiana

This Italian summer grilling post is sponsored by Colavita.

To me, a mixed grill is the epitome of summer eating. When I spent a semester in Buenos Aires during college, I loved to go out with friends and order a parrilla mixta, which usually consisted of grilled steak, chicken, chorizo, and often organ meats as well, with a big bowl of herby chimichurri sauce and an even bigger bowl of french fries on the side. Add a bottle of wine and you have yourself one happy evening!

I don't know why it took me so long to recreate a parrilla mixta at home, but when Colavita asked me to write a post on the theme of Italian summer grilling, this was the first thing that came to mind.

Here I've given the Argentine parrilla an Italian twist, marinating the steak and chicken with Italian seasonings and adding capers to the chimichurri. Argentine cuisine is heavily influenced by the food of Italy to begin with--even the Spanish spoken in Buenos Aires sounds uniquely reminiscent of Italian--so Colavita's oils and vinegars work really well with all the components of this South American meal.

Easy Baked Chicken with Sherry Vinaigrette

Remember my rant about chicken breasts from last week?

I may have to retract some of it. After accidentally buying chicken breasts when I thought I was buying thighs, I was forced to give my least favorite cut of chicken another chance. Spoiler alert: it came out really well!

This baked chicken is really easy to make and stays moist thanks to a quick vinaigrette and a piece of parchment paper tucked around it when it cooks. It's great for adding to salads, tossing with some zoodles, or just eating plain with a side of veggies. I tossed a couple of handfuls of greens with some extra sherry vinaigrette, sliced up half an avocado, and enjoyed my chicken in this simple salad.

Today I also wanted to let you all know about an awesome program called Paleo Rehab. Laura Schoenfeld of ancestralizeme.com and Kelsey Marksteiner of healthyguthealthylife.com, both registered dieticians, developed this comprehensive program to help people suffering from adrenal fatigue. (If you're not familiar with adrenal fatigue, some of the symptoms are brain fog and persistent lack of energy. Check out the paleo rehab site to learn more!)

The program is on sale with a special bonus until May 4th--in addition to the videos, meal plans, and worksheets included in Paleo Rehab, you'll get exclusive access to office hours with Laura and Kelsey twice a week. If you're eating a paleo diet, getting enough sleep, and still feeling exhausted, this program could be perfect for you. (I'm a paleo rehab affiliate and also contributed one of my recipes to the program.)

Grilled Adobo Chicken & Sweet Potato Bowls with Jicama Guacamole

I have a bone to pick with boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

I mean, there aren't any actual bones in there to pick, but I'm trying to say I have a problem with them. Ninety percent of the time I eat boneless, skinless chicken breasts, they're no good! Dry, flavorless, and boring. One hundred percent of the time, I would much prefer chicken thighs.  

(Side note: Back when I was a kid and McDonald's still used dark meat in some of their chicken nuggets, I would refuse to eat the white meat ones. I would actually take a bite out of each nugget to check and only eat the ones that passed muster, which was usually 2-3 per order. I was a super fun kid. Thanks, Mom, for putting up with me!)

Anyway, chicken thighs are one of my go-tos (and luckily, McDonald's chicken nuggets no longer are). I love bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs for pan-searing and roasting or braising. I am even willing to go to the trouble of deboning thighs myself to make Nom Nom Paleo's amazing cracklin' chicken. And I love boneless, skinless chicken thighs for grilling and making curries. They're moister and more flavorful than breasts, and won't dry out even if you overcook them slightly. I'm super paranoid about making sure my poultry is fully cooked, so I like that extra flexibility.

Crispy Chicken with Spring Vegetables

Remember when Dorothy threw a bucket of water on the Wicked Witch of the West? And the witch screamed in agony: "I'm melting! Melting! Oh, what a world!" 

As I walked to the train station yesterday afternoon, I could almost hear my city's dirty snow screaming the exact same thing. Boston is not free of snow yet, but we sure have a lot less of it.

The thaw seemed like my cue to start celebrating spring in the kitchen by making a dish with bright green veggies. For the protein I went with crispy chicken thighs, because truly crispy chicken skin is the best thing ever. Ben only likes skin-on chicken when it's as crunchy as possible and not moist at all, so I practiced and practiced and now have my routine for chicken-crisping down pat.

Here's how you do it: sear the chicken skin side down in a very hot skillet for a little longer than it seems like you should, and then flip it over and finish it in a 450 degree oven. While the chicken roasts, you'll have just enough time to fry some bacon and chop your veggies. Then, while the chicken rests, the vegetables cook in the fat from the chicken infused with a bit of lemon.

Tahini-Glazed Chicken Wings

My only appreciation for winter comes from the fact that it's pretty much a prerequisite for spring, at least in this part of the world. And, in my optimistic opinion, we're on the road to spring beginning on December 22nd, when we start getting an additional minute or two of light each day. Spotting a vestige of light in the sky after 5 pm gives me hope.

Even when a blizzard comes through, dumping two feet of snow on my city and leaving my street virtually impassable for days afterward, I know that we are on the up and up, the unstoppable vector leading to spring.

In the meantime, let's eat some chicken wings!

Roasted Jerk Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes

As winter settles in, I'm trying to remain focused on the few cold-weather activities I actually enjoy-- namely, roasting things, making hot drinks, and baking cookies. (Don't even try to get me excited about skiing, snowboarding, or sledding. I'll just meet up with you in the lodge for some hot chocolate when you're done freezing your nose and toes on the frigid slopes.)

There is one other winter activity I enjoy, though, and that is going on Caribbean vacations. I don't have the money for a trip anywhere warm this year, but Ben and I had an amazing time in Jamaica year before last. Today we relived some of those good times by eating this paleo roasted jerk chicken with carrots and potatoes. It's no trip to the islands, but it does taste really good.

Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

I love to read.  It's actually somewhat of a problem.

Whenever I read fiction or a memoir, one of two things happens.  I either put the book down because I can't get into it, or I'm so into it that I can't think about anything else, and end up reading the whole thing within a day or two.  The latter happens much more frequently than the former, and everything else I'm supposed to be doing falls by the wayside.  I fall into reading rabbit holes so easily that I usually don't allow myself to read anything other than my school textbooks during the semester itself.  (Of course, I'm very interested in speech and language pathology, but books with titles like Understanding Voice Problems and Preclinical Speech Science never really end up being page-turners.  Instead of keeping me up all night like a suspenseful novel, they're uniquely capable of sending me into a sudden nap if I read them anytime after the sun sets.)

Cilantro Lime Chicken

Do you like cilantro?  It's my favorite herb by far, and I love it because it's capable of totally perking up almost any food, both in flavor and appearance.  If you're a cilantro hater, though, you're definitely not alone.  According to The New York Times, many people's aversion to cilantro may be due to the fragrance of certain substances in the herb that are also found in soap and bugs.  (Make sure to read through until the end of the article, when the author describes how he converted himself into a cilantro lover.  Here's one hint: this recipe of mine might be a good place to start.)

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned the blog Angels Homestead.  It's written by April, a mom, homesteader, and frugal cooking expert who was the owner of the SRC for several years.  April recently began cooking without grains for health reasons, and you can read a bit about her story here.  Everything I make is grain free, so I was excited to find many recipes on April's site that fit my dietary requirements.  I was also excited to find several recipes featuring cilantro, my go-to herb.  I can only assume that April must be a fellow cilantro fan!

Braised Chicken with Leeks & Scallions

Coq au vin is one of my favorite classic French dishes.  Chicken braised slowly in wine of any kind is almost guaranteed to be delicious, and I've made this coq au riesling recipe several times over the past year.  It's become my go-to dish for whenever company is coming.  However, wine is not truly part of a paleo diet, and many people try to avoid all alcohol, even in cooked dishes.  The question on my mind was this: can you make coq au vin without the vin?  Without any wine, is braised chicken still something exceptional?

You may have guessed that my answer is a resounding yes. This recipe is proof: wine is not necessary for making delicious braised chicken.  In fact, I liked this dish even more than the coq au riesling I've been making, and to me, the chicken and sauce still had all the flavor benefits of dishes made with copious amounts of wine.  I'm eager to see if you agree, so if you try this recipe, please let me know what you think!

Want to know why this recipe is so good, even though there's no wine in it?  My theory is that it's because of the following three reasons.  First, this recipe uses Pure Indian Foods' organic, grassfed ghee.  Ghee is by far my favorite cooking fat, because it has all the delicious flavor of butter paired with the higher smoke point of oil.  In fact, I think ghee tastes even better than butter, and it's also a much healthier choice than canola or vegetable oil.  If you haven't heard me talk about the wonders of ghee, you can read more about what it is and how it's made here.

Cashew Chicken with Asparagus & Shiitake Mushrooms

It's finally spring, which means it's asparagus time.  I love asparagus, and usually just roast it or dip it raw into some hummus.  This time I decided to change things up and add it to a paleo version of one of my favorite Chinese stir-fries, cashew chicken.  I love the taste of roasted cashews coated in a savory sauce, and crisp asparagus spears add another level of freshness and flavor.  The shiitake mushrooms and a tiny bit of fish sauce give this recipe plenty of umami, which really takes things over the top. (Are you as obsessed with shiitake mushrooms as I am?  You could use any mushroom in a recipe like this, but I find the meaty flavor and tender texture of shiitakes totally irresistible.)

Pan-Seared Chicken, Orange, & Walnut Salad

Next Friday is the one-year anniversary of my very first blog post (note the cringe-worthy photos).  Even though I didn't know much about blogging back then, I totally stand by that first recipe--the lemon curd is so delicious.  It's amazing that this site, which is such a big part of my life now, didn't even exist just one year ago.

To celebrate, I made us a salad.  If you don't think a salad is the proper way to celebrate a blogiversary, you're right--I don't think of salads as celebratory, either.  I totally have plans for an over-the-top grain-free cake for next week, but thought I would balance things out by making this nutritious salad first.

My favorite part of this salad (other than the gorgeous hue of the Cara Cara oranges) is the creamy dreamy dressing.  I'm pretty boring with dressings, and usually just make a simple balsamic vinaigrette, perhaps with a touch of honey or Dijon mustard if I'm feeling fancy.  However, I do have a soft spot for rich, creamy dressings.  I wondered if I could make a great creamy dressing without any dairy, so that people with allergies (or people doing a Whole30 or strict paleo) could eat it.

Chicken Meatballs with Garlic Kale Marinara (Whole30 Day 4)

I've always been more of a baker than a cook, but I'm working hard to change that, especially since starting my Whole30.  It's exciting to try lots of different meats in lots of different forms.  Yesterday I made pork belly (you can see the before & after pics on Instagram--it was good, but not quite good enough to share with you!).  Today I used ground chicken to make meatballs.  I am so happy with the way this dish turned out--it's one of the best savory recipes I've made!  The meatballs are moist and rich, and the sauce provides the perfect level of tart tomato and roasted garlic flavor.

Caldo Tlalpeño (Paleo, Gluten-free)

When I lived in Houston, I loved to stop at El Rey Taquería for a big bowl of their tortilla soup, which was packed with chicken, shredded cheese, corn, avocado, and crispy tortilla strips, and also called caldo tlalpeño.  The restaurant is open until 3 am on the weekends, and has a drive-through.  I miss living the easy life in H-town, with all the drive-throughs, cheap prices, and delicious Mexican food!  I decided it was time to make my own caldo tlalpeño up here in the frosty north.

A little research revealed that caldo tlalpeño and tortilla soup are not really the same thing.  Tortilla soup usually has tortilla strips in it (shocking, right?), and caldo tlalpeño often has chickpeas and other vegetables like chayote.  This is my version of the soup, which combines the best of both worlds.  If you can't find chayote (I found mine at the Vietnamese market), you can use zucchini instead or leave it out.

Orange Ginger Chicken Thighs & Yu Hsiang Eggplant

Chicken thighs are my new favorite dinner.  They are easy to make, not very expensive, and very hard to overcook.  Since I'm paranoid about undercooking chicken, I like a cut that can stand up to my tendency to cook things a little bit too long.  Chicken thighs are also delicious, and the perfect size--not huge and dry like chicken breasts often are.

Indochinese Chilli Chicken with Cauliflower Fried Rice

I LOVE Indian food.  Luckily for me, my mom's apartment is just blocks from Singh's Cafe, which has a fabulous lunch buffet every day of the week.  I go more than anyone should go anywhere, but I just love it so much.  One of the best parts of going to lunch buffet is that there is no waiting: you show up, you sit down (or not), and you go get your food!  I also love it because you can try some of everything.