Paleo Blackened Chicken

It can be difficult to find healthy recipes that your family will like.  So when I had some blackened chicken cravings and wanted to make it even healthier with a side of quinoa, I knew that my kiddos wouldn't go for just that.  I had to "oomph" it up a bit.  I had a couple of avocados hanging around and I knew they'd go bad soon.  So a variation of my Avocado Dipping Sauce was the result.

The nice part of this recipe is that the chicken has just enough spice.  A lot of times blackened chicken can be spicy.  So I toned down the cayenne pepper (not too much though, you still want it to have a little zing) in order to be kid friendly.  And I'm kind of a sucker for Cilantro Lime Rice.  But with paleo recipes, you need to convert your rice over to quinoa.  It turned out to be a fantastic dish that was gone before I was even done taking pictures.  Yup, I ate my meal by myself.  But that's okay, it was a hit, and the kids had no clue how good it was for them.  SCORE!

Paleo Blackened Chicken

with Quinoa and Avocado Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 lime, zested and juiced
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro

Avocado Cream Sauce:
1 avocado
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1 Tbs. milk
2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. white vinegar
1/2 Tbs. lime juice

Directions:

1. Place quinoa and chicken broth in a medium saucepan.  Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer.  Cook quinoa until opened, all liquid has cooked off.  While quinoa is cooking, preheat olive oil in skillet over medium high heat.

2. Combine paprika, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, onion powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.  Sprinkle half of the spice mixture over the top of the chicken breasts and place spice side down in skillet.  Sprinkle remaining spice over chicken and cover.  Cook chicken for approximately 8-10 minutes on each side, or until no longer pink in center. Remove from heat but leave cover on pan.  Let rest until ready to serve.

3. While chicken and quinoa are cooking, prepare avocado sauce.  Put avocado, greek yogurt, milk, 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, vinegar, and lime juice in a food processor.  Process until smooth.

4. Fluff quinoa and add lime juice, lime zest and 2 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro.  Serve chicken over quinoa and top with avocado cream sauce.

Serves 4

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Spiced Grilled Chicken with Zucchini and Avocado Pasta

Paleo.  It's a word that probably makes you cringe on a certain level.  It might make you think of bland food.  Or difficult to make.  Or too expensive because of the ingredients used (which by the way, this meal cost me about $4/person to make) Or maybe you just don't like the idea of a diet fad.  Well, let me tell you this, Paleo is simply a clean way of eating.  Low simple carbs and simple proteins.  And yes, it can taste amazing.  If you are willing to cook with herbs and spices, you can have a fantastic Paleo meal.








This recipe is a grilled chicken, marinated in herbs and spices, olive oil and lemon juice.  Nothing fancy, right?  But the spices that are used make it taste so good.  The part that might be a little intimidating is the zucchini noodles.  But don't be.  As long as you have the right julienne tool, which is inexpensive (a simple version can be under $10), you can make these.  And are they kid friendly?  YES!  My girls LOVED the zucchini pasta.

The sauce, what about the sauce.  Will you like it?  Yes.  If you think about it, a typical white pasta sauce is based on a fat - butter and cream.  Avocado is simply a MUCH healthier fat.  Add some basil, lemon juice, and warm it up and you have a tasty alternative to a simple carbohydrate.  That's all this is.  You are getting healthier food because they are complex proteins and carbohydrates.  Don't be scared.  Try it!

Spiced Grilled Chicken

with Zucchini and Avocado Pasta

Ingredients:

Chicken:
3 lbs. (approx. 4 pieces each) chicken legs and thighs
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp. pepper
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1 Tbs. paprika
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. turmeric
1 Tbs. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano

Pasta:
4 zucchini
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. salted butter
2 avocados
1 bunch fresh basil
1 tsp. salt
Dash of pepper
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Prepare chicken.  Combine olive oil and lemon juice in a ziploc bag.  Add chicken pieces to bag and toss to coat.  Combine spices in a small bowl.  Add to chicken and toss again to coat.  Place in fridge to allow to marinade for 6-8 hours.

2. Preheat grill on medium high heat.  Grill chicken for 30-35 minutes, rotating 4 times, until juices run clear.

3. While chicken is grilling, make pasta.  Julienne zucchini. Place in a colander and toss with salt.  Allow to sit for 20 minutes.

4. While zucchini is resting, make sauce.  Combine avocados, basil, salt, pepper, garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice in a food processor.  Process until smooth.

5. Melt butter in a large skillet.  Add zucchini.  Saute for a few minutes.  Add sauce and heat through.  Serve immediately with chicken.

Serves 4

*TIP: To Julienne zucchini, you can use a julienne slicer/peeler, a mandolin, or an awesome little contraption called a spiral vegetable slicer.  I have added all three to my Amazon store.

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