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Chermoula Chicken Legs with Cumin Roasted Beets and Tomatoes paleo recipe-min

Recipe: Chermoula Chicken Legs with Cumin Roasted Beets and Tomatoes

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Chermoula is a North African flavour blend traditionally used for fish, but it’s zingy and fragrant flavours mean it is also the perfect accompaniment for roast chicken. My chicken recipes are always popular, so I thought I'd create a chicken version. Both the chicken and the vegetables rely on the cumin, which makes this dish wonderfully earthy and aromatic. The chicken is best if marinated overnight, but it’s not essential.

Recipe: Chermoula Chicken Legs with Cumin Roasted Beets and Tomatoes
 
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Recipe type: Dinner
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Ingredients
  • 2 large chicken legs
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • ½ small white onion
  • 1 large handful coriander
  • 1 large handful parsley
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 4 medium beets, chopped into quarters
  • 1 large red onion, chopped
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • Juice half lemon
  • 2 tbsp cumin seeds
  • Salt and pepper
  • 10 – 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
Instructions
  1. Lightly toast the cumin seeds until fragrant. Grind them in a food processor, before adding the garlic, onion, coriander, parsley, lemon, pepper and paprika. Spoon the marinade (chermoula) over the chicken and massage it in. Leave to marinade for as long as you can – preferably overnight, but a couple of hours will do.
  2. When you’re ready to cook, heat the oven to 180C / 375F. Transfer the marinated chicken to a foil lined roasting dish, and cook for 45 to 50 minutes, basting once or twice.
  3. Meanwhile, combine the beets and onion in a roasting dish. Toss in the olive oil and lemon juice, and sprinkle over the cumin seeds, salt and pepper. Roast for 40 minutes, before adding the tomatoes for the final 10. Serve alongside the chicken.

Have you tried many North African recipes, like this Chermoula? I'd love to hear how you got on, and which are your favourite flavours!

Chermoula Chicken Legs with Cumin Roasted Beets and Tomatoes paleo recipe-min

Secret Green Smoothie vitamin c paleo diet recipe primal juice juicing-min

Recipe: Vitamin C Secret Green Smoothie

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Not only is this delicious smoothie bursting with over 100% of your daily requirement of vitamin C – you’d never know it was hiding a bunch of greens in there too! When I made it, it came out a wonderful deep red, thanks to just a touch of beetroot and a dash of pomegranate juice. A great way to load up on greens without drinking something, well, green! This is very low sugar for a smoothie as well, as it’s a good balance between fruit and veg.

Green Smoothie Ingredients:

  • 200ml water
  • 50ml pomegranate or acai juice
  • 1 large handful fresh spinach
  • 1 handful fresh blueberries
  • ½ cucumber, peeled and chopped
  • ½ orange, peeled
  • ½ raw beetroot, peeled and chopped

Green Smoothie How To:

1) Whizz together all ingredients in a high powered blender. Serve over a touch of crushed ice
2) Enjoy!

Secret Green Smoothie vitamin c paleo diet recipe primal juice juicing-min

Tomato-Free Bolognese Recipe paleo diet dinner lunch spaghetti-min

Tomato-Free Bolognese Recipe

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As I wrote about yesterday, I'm currently trying to avoid tomatoes and undertake a low-salicylate Paleo diet. I usually use a lot of tomatoes in my cooking, as they are a great base for sauces and meals. My favourite dishes, ragu, bolognese and chilli all use lots of tomatoes, so I've been experimenting to find an alternative.

Since tomatoes are a nightshade, this recipe will be helpful to those avoiding nightshades too. I've also just realized that tomatoes have quadrupled in price in the last few months – so this is also good for the budget!

I used carrots and beetroot to make the “tomato” sauce, which I then used exactly as I would a real tomato sauce with the rest of the ingredients in this bolognese. I'm not that keen on beetroot on it’s own but in this dish with all of the other flavours, it was a great addition.

Tomato-Free Bolognese Recipe
Recipe type: Dinner
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
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If you avoid salicylates or just don't tollerate tomatoes very well, this tomato-free bolognese recipe will meet your needs for a tomato based sauce - but without the tomatoes! It tastes great, and LOOKS very tomatoey!
Ingredients
  • Carrots (I used about 9)
  • Beetroot (I used 4)
  • Leek, diced
  • 3 diced onions
  • Parsnip
  • 7 mushrooms, sliced
  • Pork mince (500g)
  • Beef mince (500g)
  • Coconut oil
  • Coconut aminos
  • Garlic powder
  • Oregano
  • Cinnamon
  • Cayenne pepper
  • Ground chilli
  • Salt & Pepper
Instructions
  1. I peeled and roughly chopped the carrots, beetroot & parsnip and added them to a large pan of boiling water
  2. Meanwhile, in another pan I sautéed the onions in some coconut oil until they turned translucent
  3. Next, I added the mince and a splash of coconut aminos
  4. Once the meat had all browned, I added the leek, mushrooms and a small amount of each of the herbs and spices (I don’t use very much, but adjust according to how hot you like it – and how little you like beetroot!)
  5. I allowed the meat mixture to simmer on a low heat, stirring regularly, and adding water from the carrot & beetroot pan as it dried out
  6. Once the carrots and beetroot's started to soften, I turned the heat off and puréed in the blender
  7. With the tomato-free “tomato sauce” ready, I added it to the meat pan and allowed it to simmer for a few minutes before serving

If you have any suggestions for alternatives to tomatoes, please share in the comments below…

Tomato-Free Bolognese Recipe paleo diet dinner lunch spaghetti-min