Smoky Crockpot Chicken Soup

This recipe is based off of The Freckled Foodie

Into a crockpot, put:
~ 3 lbs. chicken thighs (I shredded them after they were done cooking - they fall apart)
2 small onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
2 small sweet potatoes, chopped
spoonful of garlic paste
1 T dried basil
2 T tomato paste
2 T South African Smoke Seasoning from Trader Joe's.  (It's Paprika, basil, salt, and garlic.  And it's amazing.)
28 oz. can diced tomatoes (fire roasted)
Can of coconut milk

Cook for 8 hours.

It's delicious, but I didn't do well with the veggies/meat ratio.  I'll add more veggies to the leftovers.

Scooter

Tandoori Chicken

I wanted to make the Easy Tandoori Chicken from Nom Nom Paleo.  I didn't have Penzeys tandoori seasoning, but I looked up the ingredients online, and guessed at what to put in.

So:
A couple lbs. of chicken thighs (boneless, skinless), sprinkle some salt and pepper on them.

In a bowl:

1 can coconut milk
lemon juice from one small lemon

Unmeasured amounts of:
garlic powder
paprika
turmeric
cumin
coriander
cardamom
cinnamon
ginger


Pour over the chicken and let marinate for up to a day.

Bake in the oven, on a racked pan, at 375 for 45 ish minutes.  The instructions said to flip them half way through, but I neglected that part.

Scoot

Baked Chicken Breast

Took chicken breasts that I'd cut of into slightly-less-huge pieces.  Tried 2 different marinades:

#1:
Olive Oil
Coconut White Balsamic Vinegar
Lime Juice

#2:
Olive Oil
Dark Espresso Balsamic Vinegar
Salt
Pepper


Baked at 375 for about 40 minutes.  Pretty good.  I think I like the espresso balsamic vinegar better.  I was surprised about how much the coconut flavor came through, though.

Scoot

BBQ Chicken in a Crockpot

Tried this one from http://www.alphamalefts.com/sweet-bbq-chicken/

In a crockpot:
put a few slices of bacon
1-2 red onions
bunch of chicken (I'm pretty sure mine were boneless thighs)
BBQ sauce - I basically made my own of a can of tomato sauce and BBQ spice from Penzey's.

Cook on low for 8 hours.  Made a ton, so I froze some in individual portions for lunch.  I liked it a lot.

Another version of Chicken Chile for Backpacking

So, this time around, I mostly followed this recipe.

But, I used turkey breast that I sauteed with the onions instead of canned chicken.

Added parsnips and sweet potatoes.  Didn't add celery.  (For no particular reason).  Which I now realize wasn't in the original recipe anyway.  Whatever.

Pureed it with the immersion blender, slammed it into the dehydrator, will test dehydrate soon!

Scoot

Superbowl game changer appetizers

So not paleo:
Cherry tomato + cheese (either fresh mozz or smoked gruyere in this case) + leaf of basil + salame = heaven on a toothpick.

So paleo:
Chicken wings maybe 2 lb package: put in salt, pepper, 1/4 cup chipotle olive oil, 1/4 cup garlic olive oil.  Put oven on broil. Broil on middle rack for about 50-60 minutes total on a cookie sheet covered in foil, turning half way through, or when house-mate says "is something getting scorched?".  Thoroughly neglected to make a sauce for these, but they were crispy and delicious.  Way easier than expected.

The bomb:
Cook a bunch of bacon.  Pit and smush (chunkily) a bunch of avocados with a little bit of salt, pepper, and lime juice.  Halve and core out a bunch of tomatoes on the vine.  Crumble bacon into avocado, steadily increasing bacon-to-avocado ratio as the day goes on.  Fill tomatoes with bacon/avocado mixture, and revel in deliciousness.  The avocado did start to turn brown by the end of the game, maybe more lime juice is in order.

Very pleased with these appetizer selections, although once again it took me twice as long to make anything as I had planned.

Scooter

Mustard Balsamic Onions and Chicken

Thinly slice several onions (I used 5 small ones).  Chop up 4 cloves of garlic.  Add a couple grinds of salt and pepper.
Saute in olive oil until the onions start to carmelize.

Add about 1.5 pounds chicken - I used tenderloins that I'd cut up into about 1" square cubes.  Added about 2 heaping tablespoons of dijon mustard (but next time will do more), and a couple tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.  Cook until chicken is done.

Very easy and good.  Took about 15 minutes total.  I also think that adding some chicken broth would be good.

Cuisine mode!  Favorite Pan!

Scooter

Baked Basil Pesto Chicken

Pesto:
In a food processor whir together:
Olive Oil
Roasted Red Bell Pepper (about half a jar)
Couple big handfuls of basil
Couple garlic cloves

In a pyrex-type pan, pour it over chicken tenderloin pieces.  Stir it all together to make sure everything is coated.

Bake at 400 F for 30 minutes.

Really good!

Scooter

Rosemary Baked Chicken

After some boring and failing adventures in the kitchen, this one turned out mostly right:

(If you're using frozen chicken, make sure that it is all the way defrosted before you try to use it.)

Brush some olive oil (I used a tuscan herb blend) onto four chicken breasts.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Add 2 T chopped fresh rosemary.  Add a whole handful of smashed garlic cloves.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Yay, back at it!

Chicken Chile Soup

Based on the Chicken Chili Soup at Everyday Paleo.

Saute a couple of onions and some garlic in olive oil infused with cilantro and onion.
Add a couple cups of diced carrots.
After a little while
Add 4 cans green chiles (diced)
Some cumin, black pepper
Some chicken broth and water
Bring to a boil, simmer until the carrots are tender-ish
Add a rotisserie chicken, shredded
Cook for a little while longer.

Eat.

Baked Chicken

Got this one from Denver Paleo Eating who got it from Food Lover's Primal Palate.

Had a family pack of boneless/skinless chicken breasts.

Put into a pyrex-type glass pan.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Sprinkle on: salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and smoked paprika.

Bake at 425 for 45 minutes.

Easy!
Scooter

Herbed Chicken

Got this little gem from CFSCC: Eat This!

I had a package of chicken pieces, which happened to be boneless.  The original recipe calls for thighs with bone, I don't think it truly matters.

So, heat oven to 400 degrees.  Put the rack on the top one or two places it could be.  (You'll want the baking dish about 6-8 in. from the top.)  Bake chicken, with some salt and pepper on top for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile:
Combine some dijon mustard and olive oil (equal parts) in a small bowl.

In another container that will have a lid that fits tightly:
Combine approximately:
1/2 cup almond flour
2 T of parsley
Several Tablespoons total of some combo of favorite spices.  I went with a random Tuscan blend I have, thyme, basil, marjoram.  Dash of cayenne.  Put the lid on and shake it up to mix it.

After 15 minutes, pull the chicken out of the oven and change the oven from bake mode to broil mode.  Coat the pieces on one side with first the olive oil mixture, then sprinkle the spice mixture on top.  Try to cover the pieces, but don't make it too thick.  Broil for 5 minutes on one side, pull the chicken out again, flip it over with tongs, and  coat with the two mixtures.  Broil that side for 5 minutes.

Delicious!  Juicy, tender chicken.  The "crust" got deliciously crispy in some places, but in others was too thick to get crispy, but was still yummy.  Stamp of approval from TG and the Driver at work!

Scooter

Easiest Roast Chicken, Spinach-Egg "Bread", Apple-Cinnamon-Walnut "Cookies"

Warning:  all measurements are educated guesses.

Easiest Roast Chicken:
Heat oven to 350, put the whole chicken in the roasting pan with some onions, sprinkle olive oil, garlic, and salt on it.  Cover, cook for 3 hours.  Fall-off-the-skin moist chicken.  No chicken stock out of this one - my freezer is full up.

Pre-bake.  And upside down.  Whatever.

I was trying to plan this such that I could have all three things in the oven at once, and pull them all out at the same time, but I didn't quite get the other two things ready in time.

Spinach-Egg-Basil "Bread*"
based off of this on Mark's Daily Apple.  Planning on using it with leftover chicken in tomorrow's lunch.  Maybe in a sandwich-type way....

16 oz. package of frozen spinach, thawed, and drained as well as you can by squeezing out the liquid with paper towels or a cheesecloth.
Handful of fresh basil leaves.
Whir the green stuff together in a food processor.
Somewhere a little bit south of 1/4 cup of almond meal.

In the pan.

4 whole eggs, 3 egg whites, beaten, with a pinch of salt.
(I was hoping the additional egg whites and almond meal would make the thing a little bit stiffer and a little bit drier after baking.)

Slices

Beat everything together, spread it out in a pyrex 9" round baking dish.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.



As one might guess, this tastes egg-y and spinach-y.  (Which I like).  It ended up being still moist (which it's supposed to be), fairly stiff (which was good), but also fairly thick (~ 1/2").  Next time I make it, I plan on getting even more liquid out of the spinach, and divvying this out between two pans to make the slices thinner, and see how that goes.  Potentially only bake it for 20 minutes.  Maybe drop an egg.  We'll see.

"Cookies"
Based on Paleo Foodie
1 3/4 small gala apples, chopped
~ 1 cup almond meal
pinch of baking soda
lots and lots of saigon cinnamon.  Probably like 1+ Tablespoons (Or regular, of course).
Handful of chopped walnuts
2 eggs.  (I tried with just one egg, but it didn't seem moist enough, so I went with two.)
Mix everything together.
Plop onto a parchment-covered baking sheet.  Since I was trying to get all of this onto a small baking sheet, to only take up 1/2 a rack in the oven, I made 6 giant ones.  It really should have been like 10-12 smaller ones.  So much for space efficiency.

Yes, these are giant.  And more delicious than the picture indicates.

I like these a lot, but I like apples, cinnamon, and walnuts.  Depending on how sweet your tooth is, they are either just right, or not sweet enough.  (Or perhaps too sweet, but I don't know many people in that category.)  They could use some honey, if you like.  Or perhaps butter.  Which isn't sweet, exactly, but it is delicious.

Can't wait to eat one with some tea!
scooter

* I recently became annoyed at a local breakfast place that was advertising "scrambles."  The place is vegan and there are no actual eggs in the house.  The menu also included "chicken tenders" and other "meats."  I fumed (mildly) a little bit, wondering why that can't just call things what they are - tofu, some other form of tofu, and more other form of tofu.  (I don't eat tofu.)  At least use "chicken-like."  And here I am calling something "bread."  Ah, well, I didn't invent it.

Chicken Cauliflower Soup

Time for.....more soup!  Based off of this one on Orie Shafer's Eat Move Thrive blog.

Saute two onions and a handful of baby carrots in olive oil.  For like 10 minutes.
Add shakes of: cumin, pepper, turmeric, coriander, chili pepper, and cayenne pepper.
Add a chopped bell pepper.  Saute for a few more minutes.
Add chicken broth/water.  I think I added a total of around 8 cups of liquid.
Turn up heat, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.
Add a head of chopped up cauliflower.
After 10-15 minutes or so, add some pre-cooked chicken.
After another 5 minutes, add a bunch of spinach.
When everything has been heated through, enjoy!

Basic but good.  Got to use the chicken stock I just made!

Garlic-Lemon Crockpot Whole Chicken

Back again, with more crockpot whole chicken.  This time I was making it for a little work luncheon.  You may be wondering why I seem to be awash in whole chickens.  The answer - I've bought several local, pastured chickens from: This local SLC farm.  I also bought 1/4 a grass-fed cow from them last November, and it's all delicious.  I also get a fresh chicken every other week through the winter from Heritage Valley Organics. 

This time:
Take a rinsed, dried, giblet free whole chicken.  Put a little olive oil on it, squeeze 1 lemon over the thing, sprinkle with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Put in the crockpot, surround with onions and garlic cloves.  Take another lemon, cut into thick slices.  Place several slices on top of the bird, put another couple slices (along with some onions and garlic) in the cavity.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Delicious, juicy, and tender!

Scooter

Curry with Chicken

I love curry, and it's been at least a week and a half since I've had some.  Tsk tsk.

In mongolian fire oil or other oil, saute chopped onion, garlic, and a good sized hunk of ginger.
Add some curry paste (I used the green curry paste from Thai Kitchen).  Add some spices - curry, coriander, cumin, turmeric, and chipotle. Add some cut up chicken pieces.  Cook until the chicken is done.
Add some vegetables like chopped bell pepper, zucchini, and bok choy.  Cook for a few minutes.  Add a can of coconut milk.  I also added another canful of water to cover.  Simmer for around 10 minutes.  Add a large bunch of torn up spinach.  Simmer until wilted.  Serve over steamed cauliflower:

Pre-spinach simmer phase

This took a while to cook, probably around 35-40 minutes.  It was, however, delicious.  I think adding the chipotle spice helped with the flavor, as I've never added it before.  I also used a type of coconut milk I had gotten at an asian store, but had never tried before.  Good price, good flavor:

Yeah, that brand.

Happy munching!
Scooter

Fast Chicken Soup

Usually soups for me are somewhat protracted affairs.....a bunch of ingredients and chopping, simmering for many minutes, etc.  Didn't have the time or patience for that today.  Super fast soup:

Heat olive oil in a pot on med.  Chop an onion and a few cloves of garlic.  Saute in the olive oil for like 5-7 minutes.  Add a can of diced tomatoes, a can of chicken (Costco-sized), broth or water to cover, and some italian spices (like basil, oregano, marjoram, sage, or any blend you like).  I also added some dried garlic.  Stir everything together, turn up the heat, and start to bring it to a boil.  Grab some greens (like kale or spinach), tear 'em up, and throw them in.   

There's some sort of adage that says "A soup boiled is a soup spoiled."  Not in this case!  If the soup comes to a rolling boil, you can turn it down some, but I just let roll away until the greens were wilted and all the ingredients were definitely hot.  

Prep-start-time to blowing-on-food-trying-to-get-it-in-mouth time: 20 min.

Review:  I'd probably add two cans of chicken next time to up the protein content.  This is definitely not high gourmet, but it was good and easy.

Roasted Whole Chicken and Brussel Sprouts

With racks on bottom two levels of oven, preheat oven to 450:
Put a rinsed, dried (with paper towels), and devoid of giblets whole chicken in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle generously with freshly ground salt, pepper, and I threw on some thyme.  Place on the upper rack.  Turn oven down to 400 after 15-20 minutes.  Take dog on a walk and enjoy the actual sunshine happening.  I'm going to let it roast for like 1.5+ hours, since it's a big chicken (6 lbs).  I think smaller chickens would take about an hour.

The kitchen now smells delicious, this might make it smell decidedly less so, but will taste delicious:
Triangle Girl taught me this one: put whole brussel sprouts on a cookie sheet.  (Take off yellow or brown-ish leaves, a few of the really large ones I cut a slit into.)  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.  Put on the bottom rack of the oven for like 35-45 minutes, until they seem done.  Stir them around occasionally. Some leaves will fall off and get caramelized and rather crispy.  These ones are especially delicious.   I'm trying to time it such that the brussel sprouts and chicken will be ready at the same time.

The whole chicken will give me plenty for several meals/snacks this week, maybe some to freeze.  I haven't tried it yet, and I'm not going to today, but my next chicken, I will take the carcass and make some chicken broth with it.

Scooter

Update 1/16/11:  I should warn you, this can make a MESS of your oven.  Maybe put a cookie sheet on the rack below to try to catch spatters?  You could also cover it, but the skin won't come out as crispy and delicious.  Weigh the options....