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.

Ginger Thyme Tea

I woke up Thanksgiving morning with the beginnings of a cold. Black Friday was even worse, with the irrepressible urge to nap setting in a mere three hours after I woke up. Yesterday, after getting over ten hours of sleep the night before, I spent the hours between six and eight pm dozing off on the couch with a purring cat on my stomach and a scarf wrapped around my head. I've gone through two pocket packs of tissues and finally had to cave and buy a full-size box.

Since I know a lot of people get sick around the holidays, I thought I'd share my favorite homemade remedy: a simple ginger tea.

Roasted Vegetable Soup (Paleo, Gluten-free, Vegetarian) and Pompeian Olive Oil

I know what you're thinking, but there is no pumpkin in this soup.

Parsnips, turnips, and sweet potatoes, yes, but no pumpkin.  See?  I'm branching out into other fall flavors.

This soup is sweet, creamy, and comforting.  Roasting the vegetables with thyme and olive oil gives them great flavor (as does a generous splash of wine).  In my opinion, though, serving the soup with a dollop of tangy creme fraiche and drops of rich olive oil is what really makes it so fabulous.

This recipe is inspired by a bottle of Pompeian extra virgin olive oil that I was given and asked to review.  I often cook with olive oil, but I had not given a lot of thought to what makes a particular olive oil special.  So, since this is a product review, I tasted some of Pompeian's olive oil plain, and also tasted some of the other brand of olive oil that I've been using for the past few months.  Both of the oils were very flavorful and robust, but I preferred the taste of the Pompeian.  It had a smoother flavor than the other oil, which tasted a little more jarring to me.  Since I liked the taste of Pompeian plain, I knew I would love it in the context of a delicious soup.  Click here if you'd like to learn more about Pompeian and get a coupon for $1 off.  Also, you can click here to like Pompeian on Facebook, and click here to take a survey and be entered to win $200!

Here, olive oil is used for roasting the vegetables, sauteing the onion to make the base, and for finishing the soup.  I love this olive oil as a finish because you can really taste the earthy goodness of it, which is a great counterpoint to the sweet roasted veggies.  I hope you love this soup as much as I do!

P.S.  Pompeian extra virgin olive oil is monitored for quality by the US Department of Agriculture, and quality-certified by the North American Olive Oil Association.  Did you know there's a lot of fraudulent olive oil being imported and sold in our country?  Sometimes olive oil labeled as "extra-virgin" has lower-quality olive oils mixed in, or even other oils altogether (like canola).  Tom Mueller has written a whole book about it called Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. You can also read a blog post about it here.