Category Archives: Chicken

Maple Lime Chicken

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Super easy meals are awesome.  Especially this one…it’s THREE ingredients, people.  Well, four if you count salt.  But some people don’t salt their food nearly as much as I do…and “three ingredients” just has a nice ring to it.  So much less intimidating.  Especially on a Tuesday night when you get home late from school and the gym and still have calc homework and you’re just beat.  Seriously…I prepped these while I was in the shower and baked them while I finished homework/watched Arrested Development.

maple chicken

I know like, everyone has already finished the new season…please don’t spoil it for me.  We only got the Roku working a few days ago so I’m SO far behind.  Pathetic, just pathetic.  Know what else is pathetic?  Realizing my undergraduate education…AND my master’s degree are worthless.  Utterly.  I’ve been sitting in math class for the last 2 weeks with the dumbest looks on my face.  Seriously, no clue what’s going on.  I guess that’s what happens when you’re an Art, Philosophy, and Literature major and decide to be a doctor.  Totally makes sense, right?  …Right…?

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Maple Lime Chicken
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Serves: 2-4
 

Ingredients
  • 2 lbs Bone-In, Skin-On Chicken Thighs
  • 2 Limes
  • ¼ c Maple Syrup
  • Salt, to taste

Instructions
  1. Juice the limes and pour over the chicken in a bowl with some salt. Cover and allow to marinate for 30 mins at room temperature.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  3. Place the chicken in a baking dish.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.
  5. Remove and brush each thigh generously with maple syrup.
  6. Return to the oven and bake 10 minutes more.
  7. Brush with additional maple syrup and serve.

 

30-Minute Chicken Fingers

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I actually did these in like, 25 minutes.  No big deal.  I was hungry, whatever.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve had any “fast food.”  I don’t like gutting myself with commercially fried crap.  God, I’m such a snob.  But seriously.  I grew up on McDonald’s Chicken Nuggets and Coke and French Fries done up in rancid peanut oil…I think my body is still purging 22 years of crap from its delicate little system.  Did you know there’s more than 20 ingredients in a Chicken Nugget?  That’s bananas.  Mom, I love you…but really?!  It’s OK.  These ones here have like, FIVE ingredients.  Well, more than that if you count “salt and pepper to taste”–whatever…maybe you don’t even use salt and pepper!!–oh, and dipping sauces and stuff.  I went all European with grainy mustard and mayo–but you could go all retro and do honey or BBQ sauce, too.

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30-Minute Chicken Fingers
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Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 4
 

Ingredients
  • 2 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
  • 2 c Almond Meal (or other ground nuts…macadamias would be heavenly!)
  • 2 Eggs, beaten
  • ¼ t Nutmeg
  • ½ t Cumin
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. C’mon…let’s race! Can you beat 25 minutes?!
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  3. Pat your chicken dry with paper towels.
  4. Place the beaten eggs in a bowl next to the chicken.
  5. In another bowl or dish, mix up the almond meal and seasonings.
  6. Slice the chicken into strips about ½ inch wide.
  7. One by one, dip the chicken strips into the beaten egg, then into the almond meal mixture. Shake off the excess and arrange strips on a greased baking sheet.
  8. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

 

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

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You know what’s super cool about this recipe? I ground my own chicken for it…in my very own meat grinder!! How cool is that?

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Don’t worry, though, you don’t have to be all cool like me and grind your own chicken. Store bought is fine. If you must.

If you haven’t tried the Tessemae’s line of dressings and marinades yet, you’re missing out. Even Whole9 has endorsed it and there are so many awesome favors. Wing sauce, though, is my absolute favorite…on these burgers, on wings, on steak, on eggs…so good. It’s probably going to be one of my only nice memories left in a couple months when I’m unemployed. Yeah, I’m being a little negative about the whole getting out of the Army thing. Finding a job is HARD. The totally pretentious part of me just wants to be like, “But I’m a VETERAN!! HIRE MEEEEEEE!” Yeah…well, I mean…might be worth a shot, right? Or maybe living below an underpass really isn’t that bad?

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Buffalo Chicken Burgers
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Cook time: 
Total time: 

Serves: 8
 

Ingredients
  • 2 lbs Ground Chicken
  • 2 Grated Carrots
  • 2 Green Onions, chopped
  • 2 Eggs
  • ½ c Tessemae’s Wing Sauce

Instructions
  1. In a large mixing bowl, mix the chicken, carrots, onions, eggs, and ¼ c wing sauce until just combined (Don’t overmix or burgers will be tough).
  2. Shape into 8 Burger patties and arrange on a baking sheet.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
  4. Remove from the oven and brush with the remainder of the wing sauce.
  5. Bake for 5 minutes longer.

 

Creamy Tomato Basil Chicken Pasta

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Sooooo who else has about a megaton of leftover chicken in the fridge?  Where does this sh*t come from??

Oh, well…if you must know Ross and I went all Game of Thrones and had roast capon on Sunday night.  It’s basically a really big, really rich chicken.  Then Ross left town for work.  And I had the mangled carcass just…staring at me for DAYS.

Oh, yeah.  There was also the tray of chicken thighs I cooked up for lunches last week…I had one and then discovered this meal.  Chicken is utterly useless in my life right now.

I’ve never been the biggest fan of chicken.  I mean, you can do some pretty fun stuff with it, but I hate it on its own and if you want to make it all fun and stuff, it just takes work.  And frankly I’m just not in the mood.

Originally I had wanted to use some Italian sausage in this meal (got a lot of that hanging around, too…oops) but I was in a charitable mood and decided to give all my extra chicken another chance at tastiness.  Man-oh-man.  This was not only an effective use of leftovers, it was a chicken dance in my mouth, y’all.

INGREDIENTS

**Printable Recipe**

1 Large Spaghetti Squash, roasted and cooled

28 oz Tomato Sauce, canned or home-made

1 c Canned Coconut Milk

1 t Garlic Powder

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 c Fresh Packed Basil, finely chopped

2 lbs Cooked Chicken, shredded

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a pot over medium-high heat.  Add the tomato sauce, coconut milk, seasoning, and basil.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Add the chicken.  Let simmer for 15 minutes.

De-seed the spaghetti squash and fork out the strands into a serving bowl.  Pour the hot sauce on top and toss to coat.

Baked Pumpkin Gnocchi

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Oh hey, Cappello’s Pasta.  It’s me again.  I should probably stop stalking you, but I just can’t get enough.  Especially when this recipe popped up a couple weeks ago.  #meanttobe

Being able to eat real food again is pretty much the best thing ever.  Even though I think I went a little nuts the last couple of days…turns out when you lose 15 pounds, your stomach shrinks and can’t hold as much food as it used to and trying to clean your plate *might* cause a little digestive distress.  Ooops.  But it’s so GOOOOOOOD!!!  Why is life so unfair?!

Had to Primal-ize the original recipe, naturally, but Jessica is crazy talented and it’s hard to change too much for fear of insulting her genius.  I actually had a pack of Cappello’s fettuccine but I had only thawed the gnocchi and left the fettuccine frozen, no biggie.  Also used mozzarella instead of fontina cheese since I try to only eat raw and pastured dairy products and couldn’t find any good quality fontina, coconut milk instead of cow’s milk, arrowroot instead of flour, and naturally I had to mess with proportions to accommodate the ingredient changes.  So maybe I butchered it completely.  Geez, now I feel like a total jerk.

INGREDIENTS

(adapted from this recipe)

2 pkg Cappello’s Gnocchi, thawed but uncooked

2 T Butter

2 T Arrowroot Powder

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1 Can Coconut Milk

2 T Mascarpone

1/2 c Fresh Grated Parmesan

1/2 c Pumpkin Puree

Salt and Pepper to taste

Pinch Nutmeg

Pinch Cinnamon

2 c Chopped Pre-Cooked Chicken (optional…but a great way to use leftovers!)

Fresh Slices of Mozzarella

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once melted and slightly browned, whisk in arrowroot and create a roux, stirring till bubbly. Add garlic and stir for a minute or so, then add in coconut milk, stirring constantly and increasing heat to medium-high.  When the mixture has thickened a bit, add in mascarpone, Parmesan  pumpkin, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon.  Continue to whisk until it is a thick sauce.

Grease a large baking dish and add gnocchi and chicken. Pour sauce over top and stir well to coat evenly with the sauce.  Arrange slices of fresh mozzarella on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until bubbly.

Pumpkin Chicken Soup

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So I was having some MAJOR digestive issues all week—and still am.  It’s awful.  Not sure if it’s nerves about the competition or some of these bizarre herbs I’ve have to take to make me pee out these last five pounds before show time, but it blows.  Literally.  TMI?

I figured a nice chicken soup would do the trick (pretty sure chicken soup cures EVERYTHING), so I threw some chicken, stock, and ginger in my crock pot and let ‘er rip.  And then I threw in some pumpkin because..you know…it’s Fall.

What I got was not only a nice, clean soup that went down easy but was a pretty damn good soup, period.  Sick or not, it’s warm, fragrant, tastes like fall…yep, WIN.  If a chicken and a pumpkin pie made wicked love, this would be their sweet, savory baby.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs Organic Free Range Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts (when sick, quality of ingredients is extra important)

1 12 oz can Organic Pumpkin

4 c Sodium-free Chicken Stock

2 T Fresh Grated Ginger

1 T Cinnamon

Salt and Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Whisk the stock and pumpkin together in the crock pot until well-combined.  Add the ginger, cinnamon, and chicken.

Cook on LOW for 7-9 hours.  Shred the chicken with a fork, serve, and get well soon!

**Enjoy and feel better soon! Love, Dr. Camilla**

Good News of the Day:

Almost without exception, the fruits, the vegetables, the nuts and the seeds you come across and which form the foundation of many of your meals and snacks are not GMO. No need to worry about those. If you’re eating processed foods, however, even so called “healthy snacks,” you’ll likely be eating GMOs.

Booze-Infused Rosemary Chicken

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OK, so it’s no secret that my crock pot is my absolute most valuable possession.   Like…it’ll totally be the first thing I grab in a fire.  (Wedding rings can totally be replaced.  And upgraded.)  I also love wine.  And I was so lazy last night that I dumped a bottle of wine in my crock pot…then threw some food in there, too.  I mean…my two favorite things in the world are bound to make something extra special delicious, right?

I was right.  Duh.

This is the most tender, moist chicken I’ve ever had.  It’s actually based on one of our go-to recipes we found in a Men’s Health magazine and doctored a bit over the years.  If you’re not keen on booze, rest assured that all the alcohol cooks out.  I actually don’t know if that’s true.  You can sub chicken broth.  Why the hell don’t you like wine?

INGREDIENTS

1 Whole Chicken

1 Onion, diced

1 pint Cherry Tomatoes

1 c Fresh Green Beans

2 Medium Turnips, diced

1 Bottle (yes, BOTTLE) White Wine

2 T Rosemary

1/2 t Sage

Salt and Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the chicken in your crock pot.  Leave the gizzards in or take them out, it really doesn’t matter.  If you take them out, shove a lemon up it’s butt…you won’t be disappointed.

Toss everything else in the crock pot on top.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours or so.  Don’t try this one on high.  The long, slow cooking allows the alcohol to tenderize the meat like nothing you’ve ever seen before.  Holy Crap.

Enjoy!

Sesame Chicken Bibimbap

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When it comes to barbeque, I rank Korean BBQ above both Texan and Carolina.  Sorry.  Chalk it up to my being so completely delusional from this whole egg-white-and-plain-skinless-chicken-dealio if you want.  I don’t care.  Korean BBQ = RadSauce.

Yeah, my presentation skills could use some work.  Don’t hate.

What’s even better than a nice, juicy plate of bulgogi?  Bulgogi served atop a bed of rice and veggies with warm egg yolk swirling through this bowl of love.  Bibimbap is pretty simple–it’s literally meat and veggies on rice with egg on top.  Boom.  And it’s totally customizable.  Seriously.  You can get CAH-RAYZZEE with it if you want…I’ve been on a bibimbap rampage this week.  This recipe, by far, was my most successful creation–Ross agreed weakly from his food coma.  So did the dogs.  I’m such an enabler.

I opted for chicken because a) I wanted to take a new spin on the whole thing since I’ve never seen chicken in bibimbap and besides, who doesn’t like chicken?, b) I’m on a diet that forbids red meat/most foods that make my life worth living and c) traditional bulgogi is too much effort for me.  So chicken = win.

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast

1/4 c Sesame Oil

2 T Rice Vinegar

1/4 c Coconut Aminos

1 t Chili Powder

2 t Fresh Grated Ginger

1/4 t Dry Mustard

1 t Salt

1 t Black Pepper

1 Head Cauliflower

6 Eggs

Hot and Cold Veggies/Toppings of Choice

INSTRUCTIONS

Pound the chicken breasts to 1/2 inch.  Place in a dish along with the sesame oil, vinegar, coconut aminos, chili powder, ginger, mustard, salt, and pepper.  Allow to marinate for at least 1 hour…but longer is better!

Bake COVERED at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Uncover, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.  Let rest for 5 minutes out of the oven, then cut into strips.

Grate the cauliflower by hand or in a food processor.  Place in a microwave-safe dish and nuke for 8 minutes or until tender.

Cook the eggs sunny side up (you want nice, runny yolks!) while the chicken is still in the oven.

To assemble the bibimbap, place a layer of cauliflower rice in a bowl or on a plate.  Assemble toppings and veggies of choice, then top with the chicken pieces.  Top everything off with the sunny side up eggs.

Admire your presentation skills, then mix it all up and dig in!

Bonus Points!!  I found this new hot sauce at Whole Foods last week from Tessemae’s.  It’s good on anything and everything…but ESPECIALLY this!

Peach Chutney Fried Chicken

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So Ross left Sunday (again) for Boston to finish out the summer, but not before we got some quality house hunting done–one step closer to having our own little Colorado Zombie Retreat!  Found a couple little places in the mountains with plenty of acreage for a big garden, and one lot that might be big enough to hunt on.  Kind’ve a Paleo Geek’s wet dream.  No big deal.

Niceness aside, it’s back to little me all by my lonesome for a couple more months…*sigh*  I’m getting way too good at saying Goodbye.  The irony here is that I have a civilian spouse, which was supposed to mean we’d spend more time together…now that’s just silly.

Know what’s not silly?  Like, what’s deadly serious?  This chicken.  It was Ross’s going away dinner and I think we can both die happy now.  Inspired by DDD yet again…are you noticing a trend lately?…except the one on the show was mango chutney on buttermilk fried chicken.  Admittedly looked awesome enough to give up my firstborn.  Though not awesome enough for me to sacrifice my bowels for a week.  Priorities, people.

I re-vamped my go-to fried chicken recipe after I started getting uneasy about cooking with nuts…I’ve been looking back to the archives to find some other dishes that might need a little TLC, too, so stay tuned for some new versions sans baked or fried nuts!

I’d also like to let you know that I did, indeed, make this fried chicken my b*tch.  The breading is all arrowroot this time so it’s a smoother texture than my old almond meal blend, and it’s a much more neutral flavor that let the seasoning shine through and soaked the chutney right up and pretty much made a crispity-crunchity-ooey-gooey-peachy explosion in my mouth.

INGREDIENTS

**Chutney**

1 T Coconut Oil

3 Peaches, pitted and diced

1/2 Sweet Onion, diced

1 Garlic Clove, minced

1 T Fresh Grated Ginger

1 T Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 t Curry Powder

**Chicken**

2 lbs Skin-On Chicken (legs, thighs, etc)

3/4 c Arrowroot Powder

3 Eggs

2 t Paprika

2 t Garlic Powder

1 t Salt

1 t Black Pepper

1/4 t Cayenne Pepper

Palm Shortening or Coconut Oil, for frying

INSTRUCTIONS

For the chutney…

Heat coconut oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and garlic, sauteeing until onions are translucent.  Add the ginger and stir for about 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium.  Add the peaches, vingear, and curry.  Stir for about 4-5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, add the raisins and simmer for 10 minutes more.  Serve hot or cold (can be made ahead of time) on fried chicken.

For the chicken…

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Heat 1/2 inch of palm shortening or coconut oil over medium-high heat in a deep frying pan.

Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl.  In another bowl, combine the arrowroot powder and seasonings.

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Dip in beaten egg, then dredge in arrowroot powder mixture.  Place in the hot oil and fry for 1 minute on each side.  Remove chicken to a baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for 30 minutes more.

Serve with chutney.  Enjoy!

Sausage Stuffed Chicken Roulades

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I got the idea for this on the episode of Iron Chef America – Battle Sausage when the challenger made something like this…only with rabbit instead of chicken.  I was too lazy to couldn’t find rabbit, so I got chicken.  There ya go.

I almost scrapped the idea because I got home so late and leftovers sounded oh, so appealing.  But oh, wait.  I had nothing leftover.  God.  Dammit.

BUT!  These are super easy.  Don’t let the fancy French name or the fact that it involves the use of exotic kitchen implements like kitchen twine (thanks, Jasmine and Geoff!!) deter you…total prep and cook time was less than a half hour.  Really.  And people will totally think you’re a five star chef.  Or something.

Ingredients

1 lb Ground Sausage of choice (I used mild Italian)

1 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1/2 Large Onion, diced

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

6 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat some olive or coconut oil over medium-high heat.  Saute the garlic until lightly browned, then add the sausage.  When sausage is browned and crumbly, add the veggies and seasonings to taste.  Continue stirring until veggies are slightly softened and remove skillet from heat.

Butterfly the chicken breasts and pound to about 1/8″ thick (check out a how-to here) with a kitchen mallet or just the heel of your hand.  Lay out the butterflied chicken and spoon some of the sausage mixture into the center of each–not too much or it won’t stay together but enough to cover the surface of the chicken breast.  Gently roll up the chicken breasts from the long side and secure with kitchen twine or toothpicks.  Continue with remaining chicken and sausage.

Arrange roulades on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper (or any other seasonings you’d like).  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.