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!

"Riced" Cauliflower

This is a wonderful substitute for those who want rice but are trying to limit their carbohydrate intake (I wouldn't try it in rice-pudding though ;-)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Chop fresh cauliflower florets into rice-sized pieces. You can use the shredder attachment on your food processor to make this process quicker. Place chopped/shredded cauliflower into an oiled cast iron frying pan. I used coconut oil, you could also use butter or regular (not extra-virgin olive oil).

Roast cauliflower until it starts to get brown flecks, stir and then continue roasting. Keep an eye on it you do not want to burn your cauliflower. It may take as long as 25 minutes to complete, quicker if you are using a convection oven.

 Once browned, remove from oven and season as you would rice, I used butter, sea salt and pepper.

Surf and Turf Dinner

Usually Surf and Turf means seafood and steak. We had seafood and chicken instead, it was so good I just had to share. On the menu: Honey-glazed Salmon, Asparagus and Tomka (Coconut Chicken soup).

A little citrus was used in all of the dishes so they complemented each other very well.

Honey-glazed Salmon (by Bob Martin)
Salmon Fillets
Sea Salt
1 stick of Butter
3 tsp Honey
Lemon

Pat a little sea salt on the fillets and grill until done to your liking. While the Salmon is cooking melt the butter add the honey and simmer to make the glaze. Squeeze some lemon into the glaze and top the cooked fish. Finish the top with lemon slices.

Asparagus
Slender fresh Asparagus
Olive Oil
Lemon Pepper

Trim the tough part of the stalk from the asparagus and place into a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lemon pepper all over. Toss to cover well, then roast the vegetables in a 400 degree oven until tender, about 25 min (watch carefully, do not burn!)

Tom Kha (Coconut Chicken Soup)
2 pounds chicken, cut into bite size pieces
2 Tbs coconut oil (you can use butter)
6 Green Onions, slice thinly (trim roots from bottoms and use entire stalk)

1 Tbs. Turmeric

2 Tbs. Ginger, Fresh Grated
1 cup water
1 tsp. Sea Salt
2 - 14oz cans coconut milk
1 cup Snow Peas, cut in half
1 cup Carrots, sliced thinly
1 cup Mushrooms, sliced
4 Tbs. Fish Sauce
1 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (add more if you like it spicy!)
1/4 Lime Juice, fresh squeezed

Saute the chicken in the coconut oil until no longer pink, add the green onion and saute 2 minutes longer. Add turmeric, ginger and salt. Stir well, make sure all the chicken is coated with the spices.   Add water and bring to a boil. Add the coconut milk, just before it returns to a full boil lower the heat and simmer until the chicken is tender (about 30 min). Turn heat up to medium and add vegetables, fish sauce and cayenne pepper, cook (do not boil) until veggies are tender (about 10 min) then add the lime juice.

This dinner served 6 with leftovers. Enjoy, but be careful you just might stuff yourself.

Creamed Garlic Cauliflower

Here is a recipe that you will really enjoy, especially if you are a mashed potato lover. Todd and I have reduced the amount of carbohydrates that we eat,  we completely avoid all refined carbohydrates and most starchy carbohydrates. As a result we have both lost over 20 pounds since March.

We do not however avoid vegetables, and one of the vegetable we have been loving to prepare is cauliflower. This cauliflower recipe is as easy as 1, 2, 3!

Recipe:

1 head of fresh cauliflower (I could probably use frozen, I just never have).
2 Tablespoons butter (use the real stuff, not margarine).
1/4 cup of cream
1 clove of garlic
salt & pepper to taste

#1. Cut up and boil your cauliflower until tender, this will take about 10 minutes or so. Then drain.

#2. Place the cooked cauliflower, butter, cream, clove of garlic and salt & pepper into the food processor and blend until creamy. You can also mash it with a fork, I have done this before; you have to put the garlic through a garlic press and it won't be creamy but it is still good.

 #3. Serve, we had our cauliflower along with a tossed salad with goat cheese, and grilled chicken sausages from Trader Joe's (the pesto chicken sausage [top one in the picture] was a little salty to me but good, the roasted tomato and peppers was just too spicy to eat, but Todd and Cort thought they were both great.