Coconut Curry Chicken

I've never tried any version of coconut curry chicken before but have been trying to find new healthy meals for my family and I don't want to get in the habit of making the same dinner night after night.  So tonight I made this.  I'm not a big fan on Indian food but I really liked this.  I left the spice out of the kids but gave mine and my husband's some real heat that had me sweating by the time I was finished.  It was delicious and I definetly will be making this again.  It was a really quick and easy dinner to throw together too which is always nice.  I found this recipe at Fast Paleo though I did modify it a bit.  My family ate theirs over rice but I ate mine just as is.  Next time I'm going to try to make some cauliflower rice and see how that tastes. 

Coconut Curry Chicken 

1 lb. chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cubed
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons Curry Powder
1 tbsp. Turmeric
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 tbsp. coconut flour
1 cup baby spinach, rough chopped 
Salt to taste

In a saucepan over medium high heat add the olive oil and chicken and sear chicken until golden brown.  Add in the onions and garlic and turn the temperature down to a medium heat.  Allow to cook for a few minutes.  Add in the curry powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper and salt and stir to coat everything.  Now add in the coconut milk and chicken broth and allow to simmer covered for about 15 minutes.  Remove lid and allow to simmer another 5 minutes so the sauce can thicken.  Sprinkle in about 2 tbsp. of coconut flour to help thicken the sauce if needed.  Toss in chopped (or torn) spinach leaves and give a stir for about a minute to allow them to wilt.  Serve. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is Chicken Tortilla soup with no tortillas!  This soup is absolutely delicious and is definitely one of my new favorites!  This recipe is from PaleOMG.  My husband doesn't like chunky vegetables so my soup is a smooth soup whereas the original recipe is delightfully chunky.  The avocado mixed in when serving is so ridiculously creamy and amazing but then again I'm avocado obsessed these days and could just spend all day every day eating avocados.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken:

3-4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2.5lbs worth)
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil

Soup Base:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 poblano pepper, diced
1 jalapeño, finely diced
1 (4oz) can diced green chiles
1 (14oz) can fire roasted tomatoes
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
32 oz fluid chicken stock (I used low sodium, no sugar added)
juice of 2 limes
chopped cilantro, to garnish
crushed plantain chips, to garnish
sliced avocado, to garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place chicken on a parchment lined baking sheet. Pour on some olive oil and then sprinkle with cumin, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and salt and pepper.  Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending on the thickness of the chicken breasts). Once your chicken is done baking, use two fork to shred the chicken. While your chicken is baking, get your soup ready. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat then add your minced garlic. Add onions, red bell pepper, jalapeño pepper, and poblano pepper. Mix around to help coat. Once your onions begin to become translucent, pour in your green chiles and diced fire roasted tomatoes, along with the rest of your spices. Mix together. Then add your shredded chicken and chicken stock to the pot. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. When your soup has simmered, add in your lime juice and a bit more salt and pepper.
Add your soup to a bowl along with avocado, cilantro, and plantain chips.  YUM!

Spicy Italian Sausage - Paleo

-Hmmm, not sure what is wrong with the color background on here, will have to fix that later!

So I can't eat regular sausage anymore because of my new diet.  It has added sugar and nitrates which are a big no-no.  So since I can't live without sausage I decided to make my own.  My husband and I looked at a ton of recipes and found bits and pieces from different ones we decided to use to come up with our own sausage recipe.  I use lean pork with vinegar and spices and it is absolutely divine.  I could eat this all day and all night.  I will honestly never buy sausage again.  I make this in big batches and freeze them in logs like the ones you buy in the store.  That way I always have sausage on hand.  Since I'm unsure of the fat content in the ground pork at my grocery store I buy a pork tenderloin and grind it myself then I know it is a lean meat.  I bet this would be really good with ground turkey as well.   

Spicy Italian Sausage 

1lb lean ground pork
3 tbsp. red wine vinegar
3 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. salt
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1-tbsp. fennel seed
1/8-tsp. crushed chili peppers
1-tbsp. paprika

Combine all ingredients and allow to rest at least 30 minutes before cooking.  Or roll into logs in plastic wrap and freeze for later use.  

Beef Vindaloo

I'm not gonna lie, I don't like Indian food.  Not even a little bit.  My husband and I have been to quite a few Indian restaurants over the years and neither one of us like anything but the Naan bread.  But I love this dish.  Probably because I absolutely love vinegar.  I could drink it.  When I make sandwiches I don't use mayonnaise or mustard I use straight up vinegar on them.  My homemade dressings don't need oil unless I'm sharing it with someone.  I'm a vinegar-holic.  So I was drawn to this recipe because of the vinegar.  I've made it probably about 4 times now and I really really like it.  It is spicy with that nice vinegar taste in the background.  I love making flatbread with this and soaking up all that sauce with it.  I got this recipe from Aarti Party on Food Network.  My only problem was finding certain ingredients.  I had to make my own masala spice mix as I couldn't find one in a store but I had most of the spices on hand to easily do that anyways. 

Beef Vindaloo

2 pounds boneless beef top sirloin steak, trimmed of all excess fat, cut into 1-inch cubes


Wet Masala (spice blend):


1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or 1/2 tsp. cumin)


2 (1-inch) pieces cinnamon bark (or 1 tsp. cinnamon)


6 cloves


4 peppercorns

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoon paprika


1/2 teaspoon cayenne


6 cloves garlic, peeled and roughly chopped


1-inch thumb fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar


3 tablespoon canola oil


1 medium red onion, very thinly sliced

1 serrano pepper, sliced in half


Kosher salt


In a small skillet, over medium-high heat, toast the cumin seeds, cinnamon bark, cloves, and peppercorns until fragrant, about a minute or so. (Skip this step if you are using already ground spices.)  Pour into a spice grinder, and process until powdered.

  In a small food processor or blender, combine the toasted spice mix and rest of the wet masala ingredients (which is the garlic and ginger). Process until smooth. Place a large, preferably nonstick pot over medium heat, and add oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the onions and serrano pepper. Stirring frequently, saute onions until golden brown, about 12 minutes. 

Add the ground wet masala, taking care because it will sizzle wildly. Stir quite vigorously, and turn down heat if it's bubbling too furiously. Don't wash the food processor cup yet. Keep stirring, with short pauses, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the masala comes together as one mass, about 2 minutes. Also, you may see little droplets of oil on the perimeter of the masala. That's a good sign!

Quickly add the meat, and stir, coating the meat in the masala. Stir and cook about 5 minutes until the meat browns.

 Remember that dirty food processor vessel? Fill it with 1 cup of hot water swirl it around so it picks up any leftover masala, and pour that into the pot. Add 1 teaspoon salt, stir and bring the curry to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer. Cover and cook 45 minutes. Then cook with the lid ajar for another 15 minutes, to thicken the gravy slightly.

Check the meat at the end of the cooking time; it should be tender, and not chewy at all. Adjust salt if you like, and serve over rice over with flatbread.