Paleo Slow Cooker Chicken Vegetable Curry

Speaking of slow cookers, they are nearly impossible to buy in Brazil. Someone said they found one online, but it was several hundred dollars. I've tried to find one, but it's difficult because they don't even have a name for it. The closest I can come is "forno electrico" which means electric oven, but really that is more of a toaster oven than a crock pot. I was lucky enough to be back in the US a few weeks ago and picked one up for $30.

So, if you're moving to Brazil and like to cook with your crock pot because you're lazy like me, bring it with you! Just make sure to check your voltage in your new Brazilian home before you plug it in and fry the wiring. There is no way to fix that.

A fellow blogger here in Brazil (Qualidade da Vida) just recently returned from a trip to the US and brought home a crock pot. He made up this recipe and called it a success, and was nice enough to send me the recipe. I took out a few non-paleo ingredients, but the basic recipe remains the same*. (Thank you Jim!). He has a four quart crock pot, but I have a six quart and adjusted his recipe up a bit. Yay for leftovers!

Hello little blue caterpillar hiding inside my cauliflower!

Here's what I did:

2 full skinless chicken breasts, cut into medium chunks**
2 white sweet potatoes, scrubbed, cut into medium chunks
2 onions, chopped
2 red peppers, cut into medium chunks
3 lg carrots, scrubbed, cut into medium chunks (diagonal cuts look nice)
2 cups cauliflower florets (remember to check for caterpillars)
5 cloves garlic, minced
400 ml coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth***
4-5 Tbs. curry powder
2-3 tsp cumin
2 tbs grated fresh ginger****
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp salt
1 cup raisins(optional)

Saute onions and garlic in a bit of coconut oil until nearly clear. Add chicken and brown it up a bit**. Put it into the crock pot and cover with chopped vegetables, hardest types first.

Combine liquids and spices. Pour over the rest and stir a bit, but do not mix all your soft veggies down into the mix. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or so (I’m still getting the hang of the time thing). High for 3.5 - 4 hours or so. 

Add the raisins shortly before serving, or even sprinkle them over the top of each dish.

*Jim's recipe called for regular potatoes and peas. I substituted sweet potatoes and left out the peas.

**I used a bone-in whole skinless breast and didn't brown it first (because it's what I had).

***I happen to have chicken bone broth leftover which I made from the leftover liquid and bones of my whole roasted chicken. Win!

****Jim used 1 tsp ginger powder

How it came out:

It's been cooking for about two hours and it smells so good.

A few hours later...
OK, I just finished a bowl and it was fantastic! SO GOOD.

I had to remove the whole chicken breast and shred the meat while removing the bones. Once I put the meat back into the pot, it was ready to go. Took me about five minutes.

What I would do different next time:

Put the carrots and potatoes in first, before the chicken. I almost forgot about the potatoes (oops) and had to put them on top. I don't think they took on as much of the flavor, but they're still really good.

Starting with boneless, skinless breasts as Jim did would be much easier to serve. 

You could also make this without the potatoes and serve it over rice (if you eat rice).

Paleo Whole Chicken and Sweet Potatoes in the Crock Pot

I didn't lug that crock pot five thousand miles for nothing.

Yesterday I picked up a whole chicken in the market with the express purpose of roasting it in my crock pot. This will be the first time I've used it, so I have all my fingers and toes crossed that the plug adaptor does it's job properly, and that I don't hear a POP-ZZZZ while the circuit fries.

Don't worry, I have verified that the power in our apartment is compatible with the slow cooker. I'm too emotionally attached to it not to be as careful as I can.

Now I just need to find a good recipe. I got poking around online today and found this one from Bless This Food as inspiration, and figured out the rest on my own.

Here's what I've done:

1 whole chicken
1 lg white sweet potato
1 white onion*
Onion powder
Garlic flakes
Celery salt
Salt
Black pepper

Peel and chop the sweet potatoes and onion into big chunks and season with as much of the above seasonings as you want. I sprinkled a bit of each (minus the onion powder) all over the top of the lot. Fold the whole pile into a foil packet which will fit into the bottom of your crock pot.

Rinse and pat dry your chicken. Combine about 1/4 tsp of each seasoning into a small bowl (you may want to use about 1/2 tsp of the salt, totally up to your tastes) and rub it all over the beastie, including inside the cavity.

*If you really like onions, you could quarter a second one and stuff it inside the cavity at this point

Plop it in the crock pot on top of the potato packet.

Let it cook on high for 4 to 5 hours. If you have a meat thermometer, or the little pop up button to tell you when it's done you could use that. I don't have one, so I'm winging it.

The juices from the chicken (and there will be a lot of juice) will drain down and cover your potato packet, and if you're like me and poked a couple of accidental holes in it while wrapping it up, they'll soak into the potatoes as well. I think this is a good thing.

How it came out:

Fantastic! I left it in for 4 hours and 45 minutes, and the whole thing fell to pieces when I tried to take it out. So tender! The sweet potatoes and onions were really flavorful. It turns out that keeping them inside the foil packet keeps them from discoloring. The two potato chunks which escaped turned black, but tasted just fine.

What I would do different next time:

More seasoning. I might even put the uncooked chicken in the fridge (with all the seasonings all over it) overnight to absorb the flavors.

What I did next:

I left all the extra juices in the crock pot, added the bones and skin back in, added water and will make soup out of it. I still have about half the meat and will chop it up along with some green onions and add those in as well. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Added bonus:

My crock pot works perfectly here. Yay!

Paleo Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Pineapple is fresh and plentiful here in Brazil, so I think I'll be using a lot of it in my cooking.

I found a recipe for grilled pineapple salsa from Closet Cooking which looked fantastic, but I haven't been able to find any jalapeños here yet. I'm on the lookout, and hopefully I'll find a source soon. Maybe I can even get my hands on some seeds and grow my own plant (Hahahaha! Have you met my black thumb?).

Anyway, I used her recipe as inspiration and whipped up a really tasty dinner tonight.

Here's what I did:

1 pineapple - chopped fairly small (abacaxi)
1 red onion - chopped fine (cebola vermelho)
1 bunch cilantro - chopped (about a half cup of loose chopped bits) (coentro)
1 lime (limão)
2 lg chicken breasts - cut into 1" pieces (peito de frango)
6 pieces bacon - cut into 1" pieces (bacon)

Spread the chopped pineapple into a baking dish and broil at 250 c (480 f) for about 10 minutes.
Chop the onion and cilantro while it's broiling and place into a bowl.
Throw the bacon and chicken in a pan, cook on med-hi heat until chicken is done. The chicken cooked faster, so I picked it out first and let the bacon finish cooking. Let the bacon finish browning to your desired level of crispy goodness.
Top the chicken with the bacon.
Take the pineapple out of the oven and spoon it into the bowl with the onion and cilantro. I drained the juice out first, but you don't have to.
Squeeze the lime into the pineapple mixture and toss it up.

Top the chicken and bacon with the salsa.

Chow down.

Tasty, tasty, tasty!

What I would do next time:
Make more! That was so good! Brian gives it his "I could eat that again" approval. He even went back for seconds.

Hotel Cooking - Paleo Mexican Chicken with Peppers and Onions

We've been staying in a hotel for the last two months with only a small kitchenette. My cooking tools include a micorwave... and that's it.

I've come up with a few simple paleo recipes that I can make using just the microwave, and one glass bowl. This one is a favorite.

Shown here before I added the chili powder and lime

4 large, or 6 small chicken breast filets
1 avocado
1 basket grape tomatoes
1 onion, chopped into large pieces
1 yellow or red bell pepper, chopped into large pieces
Butter
Hot sauce
Dehydrated chili pepper powder
Salt
Lime juice

Cook the chicken until just done. It's usually best to cook them half way, turn them over and cook the rest of the way. Cut them into 1" squares. Set aside.

Chop your onion and peppers,, add a small slice of butter to the bowl with them and microwave until tender, stirring half way through.

Toss the veggies together with the chicken, add hot sauce, a bit of salt and chili pepper powder to taste. Top with chunks of avocado and the tomatoes, and squeeze a bit of lime juice over the whole thing.

I cooked all of my chicken breasts, onions and peppers in advance, kept the meat and veg in separate containers in the mini-fridge, and combined them one serving at a time. It was a great lunch that lasted me for three days.

Easy peasy.