Curried Chicken w/ Sweet Potatoes & Plantains

This one’s from a reddit post on r/paleo – thanks to u/shelovesbier for this! 🙂

• 1.5 lbs cubed chicken breast
• 1 green plantain, sliced into 1/2″ rounds and quartered
• 1 large white sweet potato, peeled and cubed
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
• 3 small carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
• 1 medium red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 jalapeno pepper w/ seeds, no stem, minced (optional)
• 2 cans coconut milk, shaken
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 c. water
• 1-2 Tbs sea salt
• 1 Tbs pepper
• 3 Tbs coconut oil
• 1 c. packed baby kale leaves

Suggested spices:

• curry powder / curry mix / garam masala / other Indian spice mix / whatever makes you happy
• cilantro (optional)

In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat coconut oil over medium/low heat.  Once shimmery, add chicken and cook thoroughly, tossing frequently to avoid sticking and burning.  Once cooked, move to separate bowl.

Add onions, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and ginger to skillet.  Cook until softened & onions are transparent around the edges.

Add carrots, sweet potato, and plantain.  Cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.

Add water, tomatoes, and coconut milk.  Add minimum amounts of spices (curry powder, curry mix, garam masala, cholla masala, cilantro if you’re in to that kind of masochism, whatever you want).  Stir well, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Add kale, stir to incorporate.  Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more spices as desired.  Simmer for another 30 minutes, or until starchy vegetables are soft.

 

 

Pineapple Chicken Bake

This recipe is great with rice, because there’s lots of juicy sauce to soak into the rice! 🙂

• 1 20-oz. can pineapple bits in juice (NOT IN SYRUP, bleh)
• 1/4 c. honey
• 1 Tbs cider vinegar
• 1 Tbs soy sauce (or, in my case, I was out of soy sauce, but I found some teriyaki sauce with soy sauce as the first ingredient, and it worked juuuuust fine)
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless, trimmed, yadda yadda)
• salt and pepper
• 1 Tbs warm water
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/3 c. sliced almonds or chopped cashews

Adjust oven rack to top position and preheat oven to 450 F.

Spray 13×9″ baking dish with cooking spray.

Drain 1/2 c. pineapple juice from can into medium bowl.  Drain the rest of the juice into a small cup and drink it, because who wastes pineapple juice?  But seriously, you only need 1/2 c. of it for this recipe.

Mix honey, vinegar, soy sauce, and curry powder into reserved pineapple juice.  Simmer, whisking often, about 8 minutes.

Pat chicken dry with paper towels, and season with salt and pepper.  Lay chicken in prepared baking dish.

Whisk warm water and cornstarch together in small bowl (or the small cup that previously held the excess pineapple juice, if you want to save dishes).  Whisk cornstarch-water into pineapple-curry-honey mixture.  Stir in drained pineapple chunks.  Pour pineapple mixture over chicken, then sprinkle with almonds (or cashews).  Bake 15-20 minutes and serve.

Un-authentic Chicken Tikka Masala

This recipe isn’t authentic because A) it’s not spicy and B) it didn’t take 6 hours to make! 😛

But both of those factors are pluses in my book, so I approve! 😀  This is one of few recipes that I like that’s full of tomatoes, but the other flavors cover up the tomato enough that Tikka Masala always has my stamp of approval (unless it burns my tongue off and I can’t taste anything).

• 6 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 Tbs garam masala
• 1 Tbs grated fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 2/3 c. heavy cream
• 1 c. plan Greek yogurt (full-fat is best, 2% is okay, but don’t use fat-free)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander (I used ground cardamom instead, because that’s what I had, and it turned out nice!)
• 1/2 tsp paprika, cayenne, or spicer spice if you like that numb-tongue sensation
• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

Move oven rack to bottom, or 6 inches from the broiler element and preheat to broil. Set wire rack in aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheet.

Combine oil and chopped onion and cook over medium-high heat until onion is softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in garam masala, ginger, and garlic.  Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes, cover, and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.  Stir in cream, cover, and keep warm.

In medium bowl, combine yogurt, salt, cumin, coriander, and paprika (or other spice).

Pat chicken dry with paper towels.  Cut into large strips (I cut my chicken breasts in half, and the largest one I cut into thirds) and dip in yogurt mixture.  Chicken should be coated in a thick layer of yogurt; by the last strip, I was using the chicken to wipe yogurt off the sides of the bowl.

Broil chicken 10 minutes, then flip and cook another 7-10 minutes, until lightly charred in spots and chicken registers 160 F (if you have an internal thermometer).  (To be honest, I kept setting the timer in 5-minute increments until it was browned; the total time was probably closer to 30 minutes.)

Cut chicken into bite-size chunks and stir into warm sauce.  Do not simmer chicken in sauce!  Just stir it in and serve.

Lettuce Wraps, a la P.F. Chang’s

I don’t actually know how similar this recipe is to P.F. Chang’s, but it sounds good regardless! 😀

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 lb ground chicken breast
• 1 large onion, chopped (or one tub of chopped onion & shallots from Trader Joe’s)
• 2 Tbs minced garlic
• 1 Tbs soy sauce (preferably low sodium, I guess)
• 1/4 c. hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
• 1 8-oz. can water chestnuts, finely chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• salt (optional)
• lettuce of choice – I like romaine or butter or Bibb or something colorful and curly and red – gah, anything but Iceberg, really

Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat.  Add chicken, cook for ~5 minutes, breaking chicken into small pieces as it cooks.

Add onion, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce; stir well.  Continue cooking until chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 2 minutes.

Stir in water chestnuts and green onions.  Add sesame oil, and salt to taste.

Serve over lettuce leaves.

If you’re evil, garnish with cilantro.  *twitch*

Source: http://eat-drink-love.com/2013/02/copycat-p-f-changs-chicken-lettuce-wraps/
Definitely check out this website if you like spiciness and/or the devil’s weed, which I removed from this recipe. 

Fruity Chicken & Pasta Salad

• 2 c. mini pasta (bowties or whatever you want)
• 1.5 c. cooked chicken, cubed
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced (white and green)
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• coconut oil (just a little)
• 1 c. mayo**

~the next day~

• 8 oz. can pineapple tidbits, drained (optional: save juice for Pineapple Bread)
• red grapes, halved (as many as you can bother to halve)
• 1 large or 2 small apples, diced about the size of the pineapple tidbits
• 1/2 c. cashews (pieces, not halves – NO SALT)
• 1/4 c. pine nuts
• 2 Tbs sweet relish

**nomnompaleo’s good homemade mayo: In large bowl, mix 1 large egg yolk, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard, 1.5 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp white vinegar until homogeneous.  Then, stirring continuously, add 1/4 c. avocado oil in a steady stream, and whisk ~30 seconds.  Then add the last 1/4 c. avocado oil all at once and whisk to emulsify the mayo completely.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Boil chicken breasts or shred leftover chicken – do whatever you need to prepare the chicken.

In small skillet, caramelize shallot in coconut oil.

In small skillet, dry roast the cashew pieces and pine nuts.  Stir frequently.  When finished, set aside for tomorrow.

Mix cooked pasta, cooked chicken, green onions, shallots, and mayo.  Stir well.

Refrigerate overnight.  Stir in grapes, apple, pineapple, sweet relish, and roasted nuts.  Add more mayo of necessary.

Adapted from caramelpotatoes.com.  I’m not a big fan of the Hidden Valley Coleslaw dressing they use, along with a few other changes.
http://www.caramelpotatoes.com/2012/02/17/chicken-pasta-salad/