Mediterranean Chicken (in the pressure cooker of course!)

I prepared Mediterranean Chicken for our Nutrition Connect meeting this month. I am trying to win others over to pressure-cooking, it is safe, easy and so fast. I am amazed at the great meals that you can put together in very little time.

Ingredients:

• A 3-4 pound chicken
• 1-2 TBSP. Coconut Oil (or cooking oil of choice)
• 2 1/2 cups frozen, bell pepper/onion mix (you can use fresh as well)
• 2 cans of diced tomatoes (you can use fresh, you will need 8)
• garlic powder
• dried basil 
• dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• sea salt

I did not put down measured amounts of the spices because you can adjust to personal taste, start with 1 tsp of everything and you can add more or less as desired. 

 I cut the chicken up, it is easiest to put the cutting board in the sink and cut it up there. After you are finished, you can wash your cutting board and sink, rinse then sanitize both. (Sanitizer recipe - 1 cup water, 2 drops of plain un-scented bleach, spray or slosh over the entire surface of the sink, don't forget the back splash, water handles and sprayer attachment, leave on for two minutes).

Season the cut up chicken with the garlic powder, basil, oregano and sea salt.

Heat 1 TBSP. of coconut oil in pressure cooker pot and melt over med-high heat.

 Saute bell pepper/onion mixture until onions are translucent and water is mostly reduced (do not completely dry it out). Remove peppers from pot and set aside.

 Add one more TBSP. of coconut oil to pot if needed. Brown seasoned chicken pieces.

Once chicken is browned, add peppers/onion mix, tomatoes and bay leaf.                                                                                                                                                        

 Place lid on cooker and build pressure over high heat. Once pressure has built start timer for 8 minutes and turn heat down to medium (this will vary according to type and model of cooker).  When timer goes off, remove pot from heat and vent. When venting is complete the lock will disengage and you can remove the lid (be careful of steam, the contents are very hot). Remove bay leaf. You can serve as-is or over "Riced" Cauliflower.

Enjoy!

Low Carb Pie Shell

My co-worker Lori inspired me to make Quiche for dinner. Even though Quiche is a Recipe I have covered before, I needed to change the shell to fit into a low-carb eating plan. This shell  has about 2 grams of Carbohydrate per serving (1 shell serves eight). 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup shredded Unsweetened coconut
1/3 cup coconut oil
2 eggs
1 tsp sea salt

Mix ingredients, it should form a soft dough, if it is too loose add a little more flour.





Mix dough by hand for about 1 minute until a ball is formed. You are going to roll the dough out. It is easiest to do this between two sheets of waxed paper. I didn't have waxed paper so I used plastic wrap. Wrap a cutting board  with the plastic wrap, put the ball on top and cover with another piece of plastic wrap.

Roll out the dough between the two sheets of waxed paper (or plastic wrap).  Then you need to flip it onto the pie dish and peel off the plastic wrap. Be careful because the shell might crack and fall apart.








Fit the shell into the pie plate, press out any cracks and replace any pieces that may have fallen off. Smooth out the shell into dish.

Now you can follow the quiche recipe. DO NOT PRE-BAKE THIS SHELL. Coconut flour cooks a whole lot faster than wheat flour. Bake in the center of the oven and cover the filled shell with aluminum foil to protect against burning.