Best Chicken EVER.

My husband and I LOVE the Chicken Bryan from Carabba’s, or a similar dish from Bonefish Grill (pictured here).  On Saturday, I went to the Farmer’s Market and picked up some fantastic local goat cheese.  I knew right away what I hoped to do with it…  so last night I began my re-creation of the expensive chicken dish we love to order.

 I have to brag… MINE WAS BETTER!  

Try it.  My husband agrees that this is the BEST chicken EVER!  We were literally gasping and sighing with almost every bite.  The tangy goat cheese works perfectly with the lemony chicken and the savory mushrooms and bacon.  Oh my word… I cannot wait to make this again!

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Best Chicken EVER

10-16 chicken breast tenderloins

1/2 C grass-fed butter, divided

1 white onion, diced

1 lb. mushrooms

1/4 C coconut aminos

salt and pepper to taste

1 TBS garlic powder

2 C grape tomatoes

1/4 C lemon juice

goat cheese (as much or as little as you like)

1 pound bacon

Start by baking your bacon (see HERE for instructions!).

While the bacon is cooking, begin by melting 1/4 C of butter in a medium skillet.

Add onions, and saute until they begin to soften.

 Add mushrooms and coconut aminos.

Cook on high heat until onions are soft, and liquid is almost completely evaporated (you want a little caramelization here.

Meanwhile, melt the other 1/4 C of butter in a large skillet.

Add the chicken tenderloins and lemon juice, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.

Cook until chicken is about half-way done.  Then add the grape tomatoes, and turn up the heat.  Cook on HIGH until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees, and the liquid has completely evaporated (you may need to pour a little liquid out if the chicken cooks faster than the liquid evaporates).  You should have some caramelization on the chicken, and the tomatoes will be very soft.

Finally, it’s time to plate!  Layer the onion/mushroom mixture on top of the chicken/tomato mixture.  Using kitchen shears, cut your bacon into pieces as a delicious topping. Finally, spoon a little goat cheese onto the plate.

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This made enough for dinner, with leftovers for lunch today.  Enjoy!

Food Diary: Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

I have to be honest… there is rarely a time when I am not craving bacon.  I love bacon.  It is delectable.

On Friday night I decided to do a little experimentation to come up with an amazing bacon-wrapped chicken recipe.  Here is what I came up with… it was DELICIOUS!!!

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

6 chicken breasts

1 (1lb.) package bacon

healthy sprinkle of sea salt

healthy sprinkle of black pepper

1 TBS. garlic powder

1 TBS. onion powder

1 TBS. chili powder

1 TBS. Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute (or your favorite poultry seasoning)

Around 1/2 C red wine

Directions

Preheat oven to 425, and line a 9×9 baking dish with aluminum foil.

Mix all seasonings together and then distribute evenly on chicken breasts.

Wrap each breast with 2-3 slices of bacon, and place them in the baking dish.

Pour wine into the bottom of the dish (it should make about 1/4 inch of liquid at the bottom of the dish). This really moistens the chicken as it bakes, and adds a tantalizing flavor!

Bake (uncovered) for 40 minutes, or until each breast reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

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Enjoy!  We certainly did!

Food Diary: Roasted Broccoli and Bacon

I made this last night as a “side dish” for Sliders.  I was going to include it in my post about the delicious Sliders (that’s coming later tonight!), but this recipe deserves a post of its own, as it almost became our man dish!!  We finished off the entire batch (and there are only two of us!).

If you read this blog with any regularity, you probably know that one of my FAVORITE Paleo recipes is Brussels Sprouts with Bacon.  I love it.  I could eat it every single day.  I didn’t think it was possible for any recipe to compare to Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, but this recipe compares…  It might even be on the same playing field!

I saw this recipe for roasted broccoli as I was going through NomNomPaleo.com (LOVE her stuff!).  I love broccoli and I love bacon, so this was sure to be a good one!  I had never roasted broccoli before, so I was very curious as to how it would turn out.

It was delicious.

The broccoli gets a little crispy/crunchy, and the bacon gives it a pretty intense flavor.  Make it.

(I actually forgot to add the garlic, but it was still amazing, even without it!)

Click Here for the recipe!

Food Diary: Oven Bacon

A few weeks ago, I posted the following thought on Facebook: “on-the-stove bacon > microwave bacon. no comparison.”

Bill Staley, co-author of Make it Paleo, commented: “Additionally, oven-baked bacon > stovetop bacon. MMMM… 350 for 20-30 min (depending on thickness). You can do it right on a cookie sheet, or if you have one, a roasting rack (which is better). I also like it because it makes collecting the bacon grease (for future cooking) very easy!“

I was intrigued.

Today I tried it.

WOW, was it easy!  I used a cooling rack on a cookie sheet, and baked at 350 for 20 minutes.  It was so much easier than cooking it on the stove (no grease splatters, flipping each piece, etc.).  Also, Bill was completely right about easy grease collection.  I just poured the drippings into a jar… easy peasy!

Best of all, the bacon was light and crisp… the flavor was sweeter than stovetop bacon too.  I’m not sure I’ll ever make bacon on the stove again!

Thanks Bill!

Note: I use Applegate Organics Sunday Bacon.

Food Diary: Coconut Flour Pancakes

Last weekend, I finally got a copy of Make It Paleo, by Bill Staley and Haley Mason.  I immediately spent about an hour drooling over the spectacular photos and recipes.  I had no idea which to make first, so I consulted my Facebook fans.  The first recommendation was from Deborah, so I accepted the challenge!  Deborah said that these were the best pancakes she’d ever tried, and that she had almost given up on pancakes, but these were awesome!   I am already a sucker for pancakes, so I couldn’t wait to get started on this recipe!

Finally, over a week later (hey- it’s been a busy week!), I got a chance to throw these together!

They were quick and easy, and best of all… DELICIOUS!  I have to say, these are the best Paleo-Pancakes I’ve ever tasted (and I’ve tasted alot!).  The banana/pecan topping, drizzled with a little pure maple syrup, perfects the entire recipe.  I’m in love.

I gathered my ingredients and got started.

Mixing all ingredients…

In the meantime, I got some bacon going.  Bacon smells SO good!

Time to pour the pancakes!

I was really excited to make the banana-nut topping.

Just toss it on the skillet, and wait for the delicious caramelly yumminess begin!

Bacon is ready!

Time to eat…

My favorite bite… nuts, banana, pancake, and a little bacon.  Oh, the deliciousness!

Just in case you needed a closer look.  :)

Food Diary: Savory Fall Bake

I love FALL!  I have been super-inspired by the wonderful weather to make several fall dishes, including  some amazing Beef Stew, and lots of pumpkin recipes.

This recipe is just a combination of some of my favorite “Fall ingredients.”  And really- what could be better than sweet potatoes, apples, and bacon?

This bake could be a main dish if you include the chicken, or a side dish without it.  Either way, it’s savory and delicious!  And it makes the kitchen smell amazing too!

Here’s the recipe:

Savory Fall Bake

Ingredients:

1/2 white onion, diced

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 apples (I used Pink Lady apples), diced

2 chicken breasts, diced

salt and pepper to taste

2 TBS cinnamon

1/2 cup coconut oil

8 strips bacon

Directions:

In a large glass baking dish, layer the onion, sweet potatoes, apples, and chicken.  Salt and pepper the chicken, then sprinkle the contents with cinnamon.  Melt the coconut oil and pour over the top.  Top the dish with the bacon (this allows the flavor of the bacon to drip down into the rest of the ingredients- yum!).

Cover with aluminum foil, and bake in a 375-degree oven for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil, and bake for another 15 minutes.

This is a perfect Fall-weather meal!  Enjoy!

Food Diary: Can Brussels Sprouts REALLY be Delicio...

Answer: Yes.  Yes, they can.  Now, trust me, Dustin and I were not huge fans of brussels sprouts before we learned of this recipe.  I would eat them occasionally because they’re so healthy, but I never really enjoyed them.

The way to make brussels sprouts DELICIOUS is to bake them in a glass baker with bacon AND bacon grease.  The recipe is, of course, from Sarah Fragoso.  Try it, and tell me if you don’t love it.  We paired our brussels sprouts with diced chicken and seasonal yellow squash.

Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

6 slices of bacon

1 lb Brussels Sprouts

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

Back pepper to taste

Cook the bacon in alarge skillet until crispy, then cut into squares.  While the bacon cooks, wash the sprouts, cut off the ends, and quarter.  Steam sprouts for 4 minutes.  Pour sprouts into a glass baking dish, and top with bacon AND bacon grease.  Season with pepper and dill.   Bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.  Enjoy!

Food Diary: It’s Friday!

It has been a busy week.  Today I came home feeling completely exhausted, starving (I didn’t pack enough snacks today), and ready to lie down.  I decided that I needed to whip something together somewhat quickly, both to keep from collapsing into a dead-sleep on the kitchen floor, and to keep my stomach from eating itself.

One of the things I love about Paleo is that you can have a big and hearty meal ready in minutes.  Here’s a look at how we grubbed this evening…

Brussels and Bacon: I started cooking the brussel sprouts first.  Now don’t wrinkle your nose… if you don’t like brussel sprouts, you probably haven’t had them like this.  I love Sarah Fragoso’s recipe, so I make it often.  Prep takes about 7 minutes, then you just throw it in the oven.  All you have to do is cook up 6 strips of bacon while you steam a pound of brussel sprouts for about 5 minutes.  Cut the brussels into quarters, and toss them in a big bowl with bacon, bacon grease, salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder.  Then dump it all in a glass baking dish, and bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes: While the brussels were cooking, I peeled 3 taters, quartered them, and placed them in the pressure-cooker for 12 minutes (I LOVE MY PRESSURE COOKER!).  When they finished cooking, I added about 1/2 a can of full-fat coconut milk, and about a tablespoon of cinnamon, then creamed with a hand mixer.

Pan-Cooked, Grass-Fed NY Strip with Mushrooms: Finally I got started on the steaks.  I just cooked them, with the mushrooms, in the bacon skillet with a little salt and pepper for about 6 minutes on each side.

Everything was ready at about the same time (love it when that happens!), it was all delicious, and I was only in the kitchen for about 35 minutes.  Yay!

I’ve had a number of people ask me to also mention what we have for breakfast and lunch (which honestly cracks me up).  I probably won’t be posting pictures of these meals on a regular basis, but okay!  Today for breakfast we had Paleo Apple “Muffins,” and coffee.  For lunch we had leftover Garden Meatballs and big salads with deli turkey and loads of diced vegetables.

It’s been a yummy day.

Food Diary: Cooking Day!

I had a day off today.  Dustin was off 1/2 the day, so I spent the morning with him.  When he left for work, I decided to spend the rest of my free time in one of my favorite places: my kitchen!  I had a list of things I’d been wanting to make, and today was the day.  I had a ton of fun…

We started the day with a nice breakfast: bacon, scrambled eggs, avocado, and coffee.  I like to drink my coffee with about 1/4 can full-fat coconut milk, and a healthy sprinkle of cinnamon.  Swirly goodness… yum!

My first project was Sarah Fragoso‘s “Garden Fresh Meatballs.”  I love this recipe because it includes a TON of vegetables.  Check out this picture, taken BEFORE I added the meat.  That’s a pretty large mixing bowl filled with zucchini, sweet potato, roasted red peppers, spinach, and garlic.  By the time you add ground turkey and grass-fed beef, you’ve got a perfect ball of hearty deliciousness.  Perfect for dinners, breakfasts, or snacks. I make enough to freeze for crazy days when I don’t have time to cook.

Here are two pictures of the meatballs just before I put them in the oven.  I always have to cook them longer that the recipe says.  After 45 minutes covered, I remove the aluminum foil and allow some of the juices to steam out in the oven for another 30 minutes.  This also allows a nice crispy glaze to form on the tops.

My next project was “Paleo Apple Muffins” (another one from Sarah Fragoso!).  I hate cleaning muffin pans, so I like to make this recipe in a shallow glass pie dish.  It requires a little longer in the oven, but it is so much easier to clean!  Just slice it like a pie, and enjoy!

Next, I started on Spicy Okra.  This is one of Dustin’s favorite snacks.  The okra are BEST right out of the oven, but they’re good leftover too.

Moving on to Bacon-Wrapped Dates… I actually thought that this recipe sounded a little weird when my friend Erienne told me about it, but I decided to try it anyway, for the love of bacon.  There is a recipe here in my Recipe Tree, but I used one from my new cookbook, Paleo Comfort Foods.  The only difference is that the cookbook version had me place an almond inside the pitted date, then bake the bacon-wrapped package for about 12 minutes in a 475-degree oven.  Let me tell you something: these are insanely delicious.  The sweetness of the date creeps into the saltiness of the bacon, and then completely melts in your mouth.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I will definitely be making these again!

By that time, I needed to start thinking about dinner!  We had Gazpacho with Avocado Cream, with a side of meatballs and spicy okra.  Delish!

And earlier in the day, I made a chilly dessert.  I forgot to take pictures of it, but you can find the recipe here.  Chocolate Custard… the perfect way to end a wonderful day.