Paleo recipe Quick & Easy Chicken Curry Indian-min

Recipe: Quick & Easy Chicken Curry

This is one of my favourite dishes to make, some chicken, a few veggies and some coconut cream are all that's needed to make this dish. I always make a big batch to give leftovers for a few days – and another lunch option to take into work. This curry is great served with a side of Paleo cauliflower rice.

I used to make this with coconut milk, but I now use coconut cream as it's exactly the same – just not watered down. There are lots of different brands of coconut cream, but my favourite is Ayam. This brand contains just coconut and not guar gum and the other additives which many brands have.

Ingredients:

  • Coconut oil
  • 2 onions
  • Two free range chicken breasts (organic if possible)
  • 2 cans of coconut cream
  • 6 mushrooms
  • Zucchini
  • Carrot
  • Raisins
  • 1.5 teaspoons of ginger
  • 1.5 teaspoons of curry powder
  • Sea salt to taste

Method:

Dice the onions and fry in a pan in some coconut oil over a medium heat.

Meanwhile slice the chicken into strips and add to the pan once the onions turn soft.

Dice the mushrooms, zucchini, carrot and raisins.

Once the chicken is cooked thoroughly add in the coconut cream and water as necessary

Add in the vegetables, spices and season to taste.

Allow the curry to simmer for 20 minutes or so, until cooked, then serve with a side of cauliflower rice.

Paleo recipe Quick & Easy Chicken Curry Indian-min

Paleo iodine wraps nori-min

Paleo Iodine Wraps

Since my new supply of himalayan salt arrived with a big warning on the outside “this does not contain iodine”, I've been craving salty foods.  I'm sure this is psychosomatic, but it has lead to quite a lot of reading about iodine deficiency in the last week.

Himalayan-Salt-Iodine-paleo iodine wraps-min

It does appear to be quite possible to become deficient in iodine when eliminating regular iodised salt and conventionally raised animal products.  Apparently they started adding iodine to salt many years ago – and to animal feed, as many people were deficient in the mineral.  Iodine plays a crucial role in thyroid function and is an essential mineral.  I had quite extensive blood work a couple of months ago but for some reason, despite my thyroid function being tested, iodine levels were not part of the tests.  I will get my levels checked out, but in the meantime, I need to make sure I get enough iodine, be it from my diet, or supplements.  Kelp Supplements seem to be quite popular, so perhaps they will be a good choice?

Wild caught fish is a good source of iodine, but I don't incorporate this in my diet regularly – this is probably something I need to change.  Seaweed is supposed to be an excellent source of iodine, so to that end, I created “Paleo Iodine Wraps” for dinner this evening, using Nori sheets.

The wraps were going to contain beef, but I actually found some fresh turkey today – and it was on sale, so I had to buy it (I've got no idea why it's so hard to find turkey in Australia – it's got such a fantastic nutritional profile!).  As you might have noticed I'm quite keen on putting fruit in with savoury dishes, so thought I'd experiment with some apricot to go with the turkey and seaweed flavours.  I'm really enjoying coconut aminos at the moment, so I used it to marinate the turkey and beef in.

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Ingredients

Fresh Turkey
Thinly Sliced Beef
Onion
Capsicum (bell pepper)
Zucchini
Mushrooms
Tomato
Lettuce
Avocado
Nori Sheets
Coconut Oil
Coconut Aminos
Coriander (Cilanto)
Himalayan Sea Salt
 

Method

I cut the turkey and beef into thin strips and let them marinate in the coconut aminos for a few minutes, whilst I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

I cut the onion, capsicum, zucchini, mushrooms and apricots into strips and then stir fried the meat in the coconut aminos and a spoonful of coconut oil.

Once the meat browned off I set it aside, and stir fried the vegetables and apricots in the same oil.  I added the salt and some coriander to this and kept the vegetables on the heat for a few minutes.

Whilst the vegetables finished cooking, I cut the lettuce, tomatoes and avocados into strips, since these did not require cooking.

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When the vegetables were ready, I assembled all of the ingredients on one edge of the nori sheets, and rolled them until they resembled (paleo!) sushi rolls.

I was pleased with this impromptu dinner and will add it to my list of good foods to make for on the go!  I think these would store fine in the fridge overnight, so would be another good option for work lunches – or even as a grab and go breakfast.  I really liked the contrast of the seaweed taste with the sweetness of the apricot.  I think next time I'll use fish instead of turkey and beef to full embrace a sea theme for this dish – and to get in a bit more iodine!

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I've not checked yet, but hopefully if I incorporate Nori a few times a week, I won't have to worry about iodine deficiency.

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on Iodine intake and deficiency, is this something you actively address in your diet?

Paleo iodine wraps nori-min

Paleo diet chicken stock bone broth how to make recipe-min

Chicken Stock

I had a big cooking session at the weekend and thought I’d use the leftover chicken I had to make some Chicken Stock.  When I have the time to cook I like to make things like stock or bone broth, as I can freeze large amounts and use them as the basis for many dishes over the next two or three months.  Stock forms the basis of so many meals, such as soups, sauces, stews and curries.  I always separate the stock into small batches before I freeze so I can just defrost the amount I need.Bone Broth Recipe Book Chicken Beef StockThere seem to be a lot of different ways of making stock and bone broth.  I like to keep mine as uncomplicated as possible as I’d rather add herbs and spices into the meal I use the stock for – not be limited by how I made the stock.

Out of interest, I had a look at the ingredients in the ready-made supermarket Chicken Stocks.

Campbell’s Real Chicken Stock

Chicken Stock (97%) (Water, Chicken, Herb Extracts), Glucose, Salt, Yeast Extract (Contains Barley), Natural Flavour.

Continental Stock Pot Chicken

Concentrated chicken stock (67%) (vegetables (onion, carrot, garlic), water, chicken, herbs, spices), salt, flavours (contain wheat), sugar, vegetable fat, yeast extract, thickners (xanthin gum, locust bean gum), natural colour (carotene)

Massel Chicken Stock

Water, Maltodextrin (Corn), Sea Salt, Natural Vegetable Flavours, Dehydrated Vegetables (Onion, Red Bell Pepper), Vegetable Proteins (Soy), Sugar, Yeast Extract, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Black Pepper.

Coles Chicken Stock

Chicken Stock* (97%) (Water, Chicken, Onion, Carrot, Celery, Bay Leaf), Natural Flavours, Yeast Extract, Sugar, Salt, Vegetable Powders (Onion, Garlic, Sweet Corn), Black Pepper, Vegetable Extract Powder

*Reconstituted from concentrated stock

The shop-bought varieties have so many more ingredients than my home-made version.  I can’t understand why sugar and flavours need to be added to stock, never mind “vegetable” fat, soy and colours (dare I ask what colour is it before they add the colouring?)  I might be wrong, but I’d be surprised if the manufacturers went to the same lengths I do to get good quality free ranged chicken…

I much prefer making my own as it uses up leftovers that could otherwise be wasted – and as it pretty much looks after itself, it isn’t much effort to make at all.

Chicken Stock
Recipe type: Poultry
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Ingredients
  • Left over roast chicken carcass
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 onions
  • 2 sticks celery
  • 2 bay leaves
Instructions
  1. I had already roasted a chicken and had a few other pieces left over, so I broke it up and put it in my largest pan.
  2. I roughly chopped up a couple of carrots, a couple of onions and some celery – without peeling them.
  3. I added a couple of bay leaves to the pot and added water until the pot was almost full.
  4. I then bought it to the boil, before reducing the heat to a simmer and then I reduced the heat further.
  5. Every so often I skimmed the top with a spoon to get rid of any residue that rose up.
  6. I let this continue for three or four hours whilst getting on with the rest of my cooking, adding water as required.
  7. I then strained the mixture and discarded the bones and vegetable remains, leaving the stock.
  8. I cooled this quickly by putting the pot in a sink of cold water before refrigerating it.
  9. Once cool I separated it into individual sized portions to freeze until I need them.

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I’d love to hear how you make stock and what you use it for?

Paleo diet chicken stock bone broth how to make recipe-min

Avocado, Chicken & Cashew Curry Recipe paleo diet dinner lunch-min

Recipe: Avocado, Chicken & Cashew Curry

My housemate bought me the best birthday present – an enameled cast iron casserole dish, which I've been itching to try!  I had the idea last night to make a curry with one of my favourite ingredients – avocado.  I hoped the avocado would work as a creamy base for the chicken curry, which seemed to work well.  I love cashew nuts too, so added in a few, which was a good contrast to the texture of the avocados.  I think next time I’ll add some more curry powder – I'm always wary of adding in too much!

Avocado, Chicken & Cashew Curry Recipe
Recipe type: Dinner
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Oh yes - you CAN cook with avocado...
Ingredients
  • 2 Organic Chicken Breasts, diced
  • 2 Ripe Avocados, mashed
  • 1 Zucchini, diced
  • 2 Mushrooms, diced
  • 1.5 tins of Coconut Milk (I use Ayam)
  • 1 tablespoon Coconut Oil (I'm using Melrose at the moment)
  • 1 pot Tomato Paste
  • 2 Onions (I used one white, one brown), diced
  • 1 Handful of raw Cashew Nuts, roughly chopped
  • 2 Cloves Garlic, crushed
  • 1.5 Teaspoons Grated Ginger
  • 1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
  • Salt (I’m using Pink Himalayan Sea Salt)
  • Half Teaspoon of each Cumin, Cinnamon, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika
Instructions
  1. I browned the chicken in the coconut oil in the casserole dish; then put it to one side.
  2. I sautéed the onions until soft on a medium heat, and then added in the garlic, zucchini, mushrooms, coconut milk and tomato paste.
  3. I mashed up the avocados and stirred them in. I then added the chicken, spices, seasoning and cashew nuts and left it to simmer on a medium heat for 20 minutes.

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I though it turned out really well, but could have been a bit spicier.  I don’t think dinners like this need anything to go with them, but I’m sure it would go well with some cauliflower rice.

This should serve at least four, which means lots of leftovers!

Avocado, Chicken & Cashew Curry Recipe paleo diet dinner lunch-min