Paleo Recipe: Saffron Chicken with Cauliflower "Rice"
My boyfriend’s mother (who I hear enjoyed cooking as much as I do) passed away recently, and left a treasure trove of spices behind, including an abundance of saffron. So I started to think about how we could put some of those precious red threads to good use, and here’s what came to mind. 🙂
Another great thing about this dish is that it is 100% Paleo. I am so encouraged to find more and more people locally who are curious about/have started the Paleo diet. Here I am approaching ten months, and I don’t see any reason to stop now. I am healthier mentally and physically than I have ever been, and I know it is due to my diet and workout routine.
Saffron Chicken with Cauliflower “Rice”
Ingredients:
2 large organic skin-on chicken breasts or chicken thighs (about 14-16 oz of meat)
2 Tbs of lime juice
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 Tbs of tomato purée
2 portions each of 1/2 cup of saffron infused water
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat your oven to about 310°F.
Quarter the onions, and then fry in 1 1/2 Tbs clarified butter or coconut oil until transparent.
It’s Organic Produce Delivery Service and Homemade Paleo Dinner!
Every other Tuesday, I receive a box like this from a company called It’s Organic Delivery! They are one of a few produce delivery services available in the greater Sacramento area.
Here is a peek of what comes inside an all-vegetable box. It serves a family of 2-4 and costs $34.99 per delivery or $31.99 with promo code.
A mixed fruits and vegetables box serves a family of 2-4, is $34.99 per delivery or $29.99 with a promo code, and contains between 10-12 varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables.
A fruits only box serves a family of 2-4 costs $34.99 per delivery or $31.99 with promo code and is packed full of organic fresh fruits.
As a reader of cakegrrl.com, I’d like to offer you the promo code to enter when you sign up! It is “organic5off”
If you are still considering a produce delivery service, but aren’t sure what to do with a lot of things that come in the box, please stay tuned to my website because I’ll be throwing out lots of ideas for you!
To sign up to receive your produce from It’s Organic, please follow the link here.
There are many reasons I have gone organic for nearly all of my fruits and vegetables. Yes, it is a little more expensive, but I believe that buying organic will eventually pay off in the long run. I hope I don’t have to tell all of you how toxic pesticides are. If you are trying to be healthy and getting in all your servings of fruits and vegetables, what is the point if they have loads of poison on them from pesticides? It is so very important to avoid putting chemicals into your body. The best thing I heard today that really puts things in perspective is… “if they have to wear gas masks to grow your food, what are you supposed to eat it with?”
Beyond that, buying organic is important because it creates a demand for organic. Why is this important? Have you considered the farm workers who harvest your fruits and vegetables and their daily exposure to toxins in the pesticides? What about the fact that when you buy local and organic, you help to stimulate your LOCAL economy? 🙂
And, yes, you DO have to actually wash, cut and MAKE SOMETHING out of what is in the box, but the best part is that they deliver it straight to your door! It’s kind of like Christmas Day for me when my produce box arrives. It’s fun to play a little game of Iron Chef and make meals out of whatever comes to me for the week.
 Chili “Fries” with Avocado Sauce
This is what I had for my Easter dinner. Why? Because it’s perfect food for a ballgame, and that is exactly what I watched this evening! Sunday night Major League Baseball on ESPN! 🙂 And, why blow my diet when I have lost 10 pounds so far? Stay the course, of course. With food like this, it’s EASY to do. Yum. One of the things I do miss (admittedly) is beans! But, I threw in some baby portobello mushrooms diced up and they had the look and “umami” (if you will) of black beans.
Here’s how to make some delicious ball game watching, yet very PALEO grub:
“Fries”
1 or 2 butternut squashes (400g is about one serving)
salt
To prepare the “fries”, it is helpful to have a food dehydrator. This is to dry out the squash as much as possible before you bake it in the oven. I cut my squash into “fry” pieces, then stacked in the dehydrator and set on the vegetable setting for about an hour.
While you have them in the dehydrator, you can prepare the chili.
Chili:
1 pound grass fed ground beef
1/2 teaspoon dried sage leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 shallot, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, halved, seeded chopped
4 baby portobello mushrooms, diced stems and caps
Spice Mix:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper, or to taste
After you have prepped all your ingredients, preheat your oven to 385°. You’ll be baking the squash after it has dried out a bit. The dehydrator helps to get the squash pieces more crispy.
Prepare the tomato base (recipe below)
Tomato Base:
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water (if you aren’t counting calories, you can use red wine in place of the water)
1 (16 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
Blend the tomatoes in the blender or food processor, and add the tomato sauce and water. Add the spices into the tomato mixture, then set aside for later use.
Cook the onions and meat:
In a medium pot, brown the beef with the thyme, sage and garlic. When browned, remove and drain beef. Set aside. Heat the olive oil and add the onion, garlic, shallot, red bell pepper, jalapeno, and mushrooms. Saute until vegetables begin to brown, about 7 to 10 minutes.
At this point, you can remove the squash from the dehydrator, and place it on an oiled sheet pan. Bake in the oven until brown and crispy. (This will probably take as long as it does to finish the chili, so it works out well!)
Put the meat back in the pot with the vegetables, and pour the tomato base with spices over them. Stir to coat everything and combine it. Reduce (cook for 5-10 mins on a lower heat) to intensify the flavor. While the chili is reducing, and the fries are crisping in the oven, you can make the avocado sauce.
Avocado Sauce
1 whole avocado
Juice of one lime
1/4 cup chicken broth
salt
Mash the avocado with a fork and add the juice of one lime, the chicken stock and salt to taste. Mix well and set aside. You will use it as a topping for the chili on the “fries”.
When the fries have browned and crisped up, take them out of the oven and place them on your plate. You can salt them if you like, but I find there is enough salt for me in the chili and avocado sauce. Top the fries with the chili and then pour the avocado mixture over the fries.
If you try this recipe, let me know! All recipes I post here will be fully endorsed by me, which means if I haven’t cooked it, eaten it (and liked it) I don’t expect you to either. Happy cooking and Happy Easter!! 🙂
Summer Sipping & Cinnamon Basil Pesto
Summer is here with a recipe from the patio and Yellowtail Reserve Pinot Grigio.
First, I’ll let you in on the wine. The kind people at Yellowtail sent me two bottles of their reserve to sample. I’ve been really into whites lately, so I opened the Pinot Grigio first (last Sunday) to drink with some grilled chicken and vegetables we made.
The Yellowtail Pinot Grigio is a 2008, 100% pinot grigio, 100% stainless steel. 11.5% alc. And the bottle is very attractive. I like the label with something I am going to call “wine cleavage” showing through. Look at the label in the picture above and you might see what I mean.
For more information on this wine, go to www.discoveryellowtail.com
Now, about the recipe! I made pesto with cinnamon basil instead of traditional basil. Cinnamon basil is wonderfully fragrant and a little more spicy on the nose.
It makes a really bright colored pesto, when the leaves are first crushed. In the pesto I made I used almonds instead of pine nuts. We have three basil plants and I have them on harvest rotation. Week one, I pull from one plant, week two from the second plant and so on, so each plant has three weeks to grow back so that I can have basil something every week. Here’s what became of the cinnamon basil:
2 1/2 cups cinnamon basil leaves
(you will want to pack them down in the measuring cup)
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup almonds
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese (um, not the kind out of the green Kraft can, but just about any hard cheese will work…pecorino is commonly used as well.)
Pulse all the ingredients in a food processor until well blended.
I ended up making a salad and using the pesto as a dressing ingredient.
Also, the pesto is great on vegetables. If you don’t have fresh basil available on your patio, I highly recommend buying a few plants (I found mine at Trader Joe’s in Roseville). It was a $10 investment that has been well worth it.
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