Grilled Chicken and Bulgarian Salad

Some friends of ours invited us over for dinner last weekend. They are from Bulgaria and there was a lot of food talk at the dinner table. I picked their brains about some traditional Bulgarian food. That same night we ate a traditional Bulgarian salad consisting of tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, scallions, feta, olive oil, and salt. We liked it so much that we have had this salad twice since then. It is simple and delicious.

If you haven't made your own meat marinade, I suggest you start. You can control what goes into the marinade and the flavors are savory and fresh. I may not buy a bottled marinade again. Because of this warm weather, we have been using the grill frequently. Using the grill makes it easy to eat healthy. Marinade your favorite meat (veggies too), grill, and serve it with a fresh salad. More marinade recipes to come!

Chicken Marinade

3 T. fresh finely chopped dill
1/4 c. olive oil
3 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 shallot chopped
juice of 1 Meyer lemon
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts

In a large bowl whisk together all of the marinade ingredients. Add chicken, cover, and put in the refrigerator. Marinate anywhere from 2 to 8 hours.


Preheat the grill. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the grill rack with olive oil to prevent the chicken from sticking. Grill the chicken 4-5 minutes each side on medium heat or until the internal temperature reaches 165.















Salad

3 vine ripen tomatoes chopped
1/2 cucumber peeled and quartered
1 scallions
1/2 c. green pitted olives
2 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
Olive Oil
Salt

Combine these ingredients in a medium sized serving bowl. I would add more scallions, but Ben is not convinced. Also, buy feta cheese that is fresh and still reserved in the liquid. The flavor is loads better and the cheese is moist. Be liberal with the salt and olive oil. This is a great salad to add more of what you do like and omit what you don't. Ben eats olives, and I eat onions. We compromised by having a little bit of both, but still picked out what we didn't eat.

Thank you Veny and Lozan for a delicious meal!

Grain Free Gumbo

I have made this recipe several times in the past couple years. Previously I used quinoa in place of the long grain rice. Now I've replaced the quinoa with cauliflower rice. I used a hot andouille sausage, which made it extra spice. If you're not into spice, use kielbasa or a mild andouille. You can always add the heat later with some hot sauce or cayenne pepper. I'm not sure if this recipe should be labeled gumbo or jambalaya. I used Rachel Ray's recipe as a guide, and she called it jambalaya. Whatever you call this meal, this gumbo taste good!

Need

1 T. ghee or butter
2 T. olive oil
3/4 lb. chicken breasts cubed
1 lb. andouille sausage
3/4 lb. shrimp, deveined and tails removed
1 small onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
2 ribs celery chopped
2 T. arrow root powder or flour
1 can diced tomatoes
1 carton chicken broth (4 cups)
1 T. chicken flavoring (I used Organic Better than Bouillon)
1 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
4 Springs Thyme
Salt & Pepper

Prepare

1. Using a dutch oven or a large soup pot, heat the ghee and olive oil on medium heat.
2. When the oils is hot, add the chicken and sausage to the pot. Cook for about 4 minutes. The meat does not need to be fully cooked because it will cook more when the soup is simmering.
3. In the same pot saute the onions, peppers, and celery. Salt and pepper everything and cook until the onions are translucent.


4. Sprinkle on the arrow root powder or flour just so everything is lightly coated. This will thicken the soup.
5. Combine in the tomatoes, chicken stock, chili powder, cumin, chicken flavoring, and Worcestershire sauce.
6. Bring the soup to a simmer and add the sprigs of thyme. Taste to see if any more salt and pepper needs to be added. Simmer for 10 minutes or longer.


7. To make the cauliflower rice, use the shredding attachment on your food processor to finely grate the cauliflower. You can also use a cheese grater to shred the cauliflower.
8. About 3 minutes before serving, add in the shrimp. The shrimp will cook very easily in the hot soup.

Serve the gumbo over a large helping of cauliflower for an easy midweek meal!

Chicken Curry with Cauliflower "Rice"

This dish was quite a risk for me. I'm not a huge coconut or curry fan, but I was inspired by a recipe I pinned on Pinterest. I read a variety of curry recipes and adapted them to my taste. I was scared to have Ben try it because Thai is not on his list of favorite cuisines. What a nice surprise! We both loved it! It felt like we ordered Thai takeout. We were both impressed at how the cauliflower rice tricked our brains into thinking we were soaking up the juices with white rice. This is a new recipe added into our "favorites" rotation.

Need

1.5lb chicken breast
2 chicken legs
2 tbspn ghee
2 c. chicken stock
3 large gloves chopped garlic
2 tspn curry plus a pinch
1 c. unsweetened coconut milk
2 large carrots sliced
1 lb. green beans
1 red bell pepper chopped
1/4 tspn fresh ginger
2 tbspn fresh chopped basil
One large dried chili pepper- I used Guajilla
Salt and Pepper
Head of cauliflower

Prepare

1. Heat ghee in dutch oven pot on medium-high heat.
2. Liberally salt and pepper both sides of the chicken.
3. Brown the chicken on high heat for about 4 minutes each side. Transfer the chicken to a plate. You may have to brown in two batches.


4. There will be some juices and chicken pieces left in the pot. Pour 1/4 cup of the chicken stock to deglaze your pan. Reduce to medium heat.
5. Add the garlic, peppers, and carrots. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a pinch of curry. Cook for about 4 minutes.
6. Add the green beans and cook for another 3 minutes.


7. Return the chicken to the pot.
8. Put in 1 cup coconut milk, remaining chicken broth, and bring everything to a boil.
9. Season with curry powder, fresh basil, ginger, salt, and pepper.
10. Place the chili pepper in the pot.
11. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 2 hours. The chicken should pull apart.

Using your food processor shredding attachment, shred the raw cauliflower. You should end up with small pieces of cauliflower that resemble white rice. Heat the "rice" in a microwave covered with a damp paper towel for 2 min.

Serve the chicken curry over the cauliflower rice.

Italian-Style Chicken with Fresh Tomatoes

Because we are on the Paleo diet train, we are trying to stay away from breads, pastas, and anything that is not, natural, raw, and eaten by cavemen. (Emphasis on trying for me, Ben is doing awesome) A few months ago I was making this same recipe, but I used Panko bread crumbs instead of almond flour. Today I used almond flour and I kid you not, Ben did not even know the difference! I created this Paleo approved meal without sacrificing flavor!

Need for Chicken

1.5 lb of chicken tenders
Olive oil
1 tspn dried parsley
1 tspn basil
1 tspn oregano
1 tspn black pepper
1 tspn garlic salt
1 c. almond flour
2 eggs

Need for Topping

3 fresh tomato chopped
3 leaves basil chopped
1 large garlic minced
1 tbspn olive oil
1 tspn sea salt
dash of fresh pepper

Prepare

To make the "bread crumbs" for the chicken, combine almond flour, garlic salt, basil, pepper, parsley, and oregano. Beat the two eggs in a shallow dish. Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to a pan, set to medium, and heat. Meanwhile, create a set up so that you have the chicken tenders, beaten eggs, and crumbs in a assembly line. Once the oil is hot, dip the chicken in the egg, then coat with the bread crumbs. When the chicken has a coating of bread crumbs, add the chicken to the hot oiled pan. Depending on how big your chicken tenders are, cook for 5 minutes each side. If the pan looks dry and the chicken starts to smoke, just add some more olive oil. If you're not sure if the chicken is done, use a meat thermometer to check. USDA guidelines recommend cooking your poultry to 165°F.

While the chicken is cooking, combine the tomato mixture. Feel free to add more basil or salt according to your taste. Place the tomato combination in the fridge until you are ready to serve the chicken.

Top the chicken with the fresh tomatoes and serve. Sometimes I serve some fresh Parmesan cheese on top, which makes it extra tasty! Tonight, I served the chicken with a side of roasted asparagus.

I will no longer be using Panko crumbs for this dish. Instead I will use the almond flour "bread crumbs" and be paleo-tastic and gluten free!

Lemon Pepper Chicken Wings

Ain't no thing, but a chicken wing, and these chicken wings are delish!

Need

2 1/2 lbs chicken wings (drums and flats)
1 head of fresh minced garlic
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tbspn olive oil
1 tbspn of melted ghee or butter
2 tspn of fresh ground pepper
dash of salt
1 tspn of dried parsley
Preheat oven 425

Prepare

I started by rendering off some of the fat on the chicken wings. I wanted to make sure they were crispy. That is really hard to do when baking and without drying the wings out. I borrowed Alton Brown's method of steaming the wings first. (click on picture to the right) I didn't have a steamer, so I just created one with a colander and stock pot. I boiled the water and set the colander with wings inside on top. I wrapped the entire creation in foil and let it get for 13 minutes. It got the job done!

1. Once the wings are steamed, dry them off.
2. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Place a cooling rack on top of the cookie sheet and put the dried wings on top.
4. Refrigerate for one hour.
5. Place the cooling rack with cookie sheet in the oven for 20 minutes.
6. Turn the wings over and cook for another 20 minutes.

While the wings are cooking, make the sauce. Because ghee conceals quickly, I would make the sauce when the wings have about 5 minutes left. Combine all the lemon juice, melted ghee, pepper, lemon zest, salt, olive oil, and garlic in a large bowl and whisk. Toss the hot wings in the bowl until all the wings are coated. Plate the wings on a large platter and sprinkle with fresh ground pepper, lemon zest, and parsley. Feel free to add extra pepper and zest according to your taste.

Ben said, "make again," as he licked his fingers clean!

They are healthy and delicious!