Roasted Chicken

This is one of my favourite dishes to make when I'm strapped for time with prepping.  I always want a nutritious dinner on the table but sometimes, I don't have a lot of time to spend making an elaborate dinner.  Roasted chicken is quick, simple and delicious.  You can serve it with rice and a cooked vegetable or two, or serve warm chicken with a nice green salad and simple vinaigrette.  At the end of the meal, I separate the leftover meat to use for the next day's lunch or dinner and freeze the carcass.  Once I have three carcasses, I make a delightful chicken broth.  Nothing goes to waste with these little free-range chickens!  Oh, and the chicken tastes amazing infused with these flavours.  I have to draw the line on the amount of skin my youngest son eats, he simply can't get enough!

roasted chicken

6-10 lbs free-range chicken
olive oil
salt
pepper
thyme
3 garlic gloves, peeled and whole

1. Brush whole chicken with olive oil.
2. Rub salt, pepper and thyme all over the skin (don't forget the underside).
3. Sprinke salt, pepper and thyme inside the cavity and add the garlic cloves.
4. Put chicken on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  This makes the clean-up a bit easier.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Pierce the chicken with a skewer where the leg meets the body.  If the juices run clear, it's ready.  It's that easy!

I'll take this opportunity to mention that I've stopped following the SCD diet.  If I was a stay-at-home mom, I think I would've been able to go much longer, but gave it a good go for a month and a half.  I've discovered so many new recipes that have become new staples, however, wasn't able to go for the 1-2 years it probably would have taken to get rid of my kids' dairy intolerances.  Thank goodness for the multitude of substitutions available today, the don't really have to go without. And, given that so many people are intolerant to dairy nowadays, it's probably telling of how our bodies just aren't able to 
digest dairy as easily as other products.  I'll still keep on labelling foods that I make that are SCD friendly, in case it can help someone visiting this blog come up with new ideas.

For now, we are back at school and in the full swing of things.  Packing healthy snacks and lunches and keeping it simple!

Famous Chicken Fingers / Tenders (Gluten-Free, Paleo, SCD, Wild Rose Herbal D-Tox, Candi)

Occasionally, while on a specialized diet, a person only wishes to have "normal" food.  You know what I'm talking about: pizza, a fresh sandwich, moist chocolate cake, and the list goes on... for the most part, it's possible to replicate close to and sometimes, better than,  the original comfort food.  Yes, it comes with more steps than taking it out of the box and baking!  That is just something we can't get away from when trying to eat healthier.  You know that secret ingredient "love"?  Well it comes with loving preparing your own food.  There's no love in taking a chicken nugget out of the box and baking it.  The love comes when I'm chopping my chicken breasts to just the right size, measuring my spices, thinking how I feel so good about putting turmeric in my chicken tenders, knowing my kids will be loving their dinner that is going to nourish their growing bodies and give them the energy they need.  Cheesy?  Maybe, but it makes my world go round.

These are Famous Chicken Fingers.  That's what they're called at my house anyways, and I am proud that they have been so-called!  They disappear in a fraction of the time it took to make them, but I'm one of the four not able to help themselves!

famous chicken fingers / tenders

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast (chopped to chicken finger size)
2 cups almond flour
4 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons pecorino romano, grated OR 1/3 cup parmesan, grated
2 teaspoons parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 cup olive oil (or more) for frying

• Now this step will make it a much smoother process: having a good production line happening.  
• In medium bowl, beat eggs.  Add chicken pieces to beaten egg and mix well.  Set aside.
• In another medium bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients.  Mix well and transfer to a dinner plate.
• Pour at least 1 cup olive oil into your frying pan.  Heat to medium/high.
• Take out a clean plate where  you will put your coated chicken pieces while waiting for your current batch to cook.
  
  
  

• While your oil is heating up, coat your first batch of chicken pieces and place in clean plate.
• When a drop of cold water sizzles in the oil, it's ready.  Gently place chicken pieces in oil, one at a time.  Oil should cover the sides or else the sides will be soggy.

•  Cook for 3 minutes first side, then turn with tongs and cook for another 2 minutes.  When this batch is cooking, get your next batch of chicken fingers coated and ready to go.
• Removed cooked chicken fingers and place on paper towel covered cookie sheet.  Place in 150 degree oven to keep warm.
• Once I remove my cooked chicken fingers, using a slotted spoon, I remove the foam and grits from almond flour that have accumulated.  I add a little more olive oil and repeat the process until they are all cooked.
• Serve this with a homemade honey-mustard sauce(unless on D-Tox or Candida diet).  Just mix honey and mustard in a bowl and adjust to taste.  
• Enjoy!!!

Butter Chicken with Chickpea Flatbread

I'm surprised I haven't posted this recipe yet.  It has been a family favourite for a few years now.  I've made it in Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.  I've made it for many friends and it's always a big hit.  Gluten-free, very healthy, hearty, what more can you ask for? 

This whole recipe freezes very well.  Double the recipe and store some in the freezer!  I put it in individual containers with rice on the bottom and sauce on top.  The flatbread freezes very well also, I put them in ziplock bags, separated by parchment paper.

butter chicken

3 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons ginger, freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon crushed chilies (optional for heat)
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken (thighs or breasts), cubed
1/3 cup almond flour (you can also use almond meal)
1 1/2 cup tomato puree (or 10 oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes)
1 cup tomato, chopped
curry powder, and salt to taste

1. Heat a large saucepan and melt butter until frothy.
2. Fry onions and cinnamon for 5 minutes, until onions turn soft
3. Add garlic, ginger, turmeric, chili powder, crushed chilies and cilantro.  Stir for a couple of minutes.
4. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken turns white
5. Add ground almonds and tomatoes.  Mix well, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
6. Taste, and add curry powder and salt to taste.

Yield: 5-6 servings

The best way to prepare this recipe is to get all the ingredients measured and combined in bowls in the order they are added to the recipe (garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli powder, crushed chillies and cilantro in one bowl, etc.)
This tastes even better the next day.  If you're having friends over, make this the day before, then store in the fridge.  Come the next day, cook your rice and flatbread and re-heat the butter chicken.  More time for drinking wine with your friends!


chickpea flatbread

3/4 cup chickpea (gram) flour
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup water
small handful fresh coriander, chopped
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon

1. Put the flour in a bowl and pour olive oil into a well in the middle.  While whisking, add the water. 
2. While still mixing, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and coriander.
3. Drop by spoonfulls onto a oiled frying pan on medium high and cook a couple of minutes per side.

If on Candida diet or Wild Rose Detox program, you might want to omit the flatbread until you've reintroduced flour.

Curried Rice Salad

This is one of the recipes I made this past weekend on one of my power cooks.   It was a productive weekend that resulted in healthy desserts, guacamole, soups, pakoras and this wonderful rice salad, in my fridge, ready to eat.  For a gal like me, spending hours in the kitchen is time well spent and enjoyed!  I realize not everyone enjoys cooking or have the time to spend hours in the kitchen:  this salad will take minutes(not counting cooking the rice) to make and you'll have this in your fridge ready for easy lunches or side dish to your meals.

I've been making this salad regularly for the past two years, and I still relish at the flavour of this dish.  I make a large batch and place in two-cup containers for easy lunches.  Mornings for most of us are already hectic enough.  Being able to go in the fridge and grab a couple of containers that contain my healthy breakfast and lunch to bring to work is worth so much to me!  I've never frozen this salad as peppers would get soft, but it lasts a good week in the fridge.  If using meat instead of almonds, which I've never tried, would shorten this time for sure.

curried rice salad

6 cups brown rice, cooked (2 cups uncooked)
1 cup roasted almonds, chopped (bake whole raw almonds at 350 degree oven on cookie sheet for 15 minutes)
1 cup celery, diced
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1/2 red onion, diced finely
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. In a large bowl, combine rice, almonds, celery, peppers, onion and cilantro.
2. In smaller bowl, mix lemon juice, olive oil, curry powder, salt and pepper together.
3. Pour dressing into salad mixture and stir well.
4. Taste and adjust seasoning to your taste(add more curry powder, salt, etc.)

Yield: 10 cups.  If this is too large an amount, especially when trying it out for the first time, just cut the ingredients in half!

Note: For nut allergies, try using 2 cups of cooked diced chicken instead of the almonds.

Turkey Meatballs With Rice

This recipe has been part of our family menu for a couple of years now, and it's one of those meals that is guaranteed to end with empty plates all around.  I  use organic ground turkey and brown rice.  The sauce is my gluten-free, sugar-free interpretation of a honey garlic sauce.  

To make this recipe candida diet friendly, bake the meatballs for an additional 5 minutes in the oven.  Skip the "honey garlic" sauce and use a bit of Bragg's soy seasoning.

meatballs

1 lb ground turkey, dark meat

1/4 cup onion, grated

3 garlic cloves, grated

2 tablespoons oat bran

1 egg, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put all ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. Mix well.
4. Form meatballs, about 1 inch in diameter and place on a greased cookie sheet
5. Bake for 25 minutes
6. Remove from oven

"honey garlic" sauce

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons Braggs soy seasoning

3 tablespoons agave nectar

2 tablespoons water

1. In a large saucepan, sautee garlic in oil on medium heat for 2 minutes.
2. Add soy seasoning, agave nectar and water and bring to a simmer.
3. Add cooked meatballs to sauce and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring gently every couple minutes.
4. Serve meatballs on a bed of rice with a bit of the sauce and some steamed vegetables.
5. Enjoy!

     Makes 24 meatballs.