LAURA'S ZINGY CHICKEN: a guest post Laura from Paleo in Comparison

This week we’re visited by Laura of Paleo In Comparison, a wife and homeschool mom with a passion for Paleo living and cooking.  In 2011 she began following a Paleo lifestyle, which lead her to a 60lb weightloss.

Today Laura shares her delicious Zingy Chicken recipe as well as her journey to a healthier lifestyle.

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I’ve been living the Paleo lifestyle for about 2 years now. I actually fell into Paleo by accident. I decided to only eat whole foods in a last ditch attempt to finally reclaim my physical and emotional health after struggling with weight, food addiction, and eating disorders for years. So, it wasn’t until a few months into my journey that I discovered I was unintentionally following the Paleo lifestyle, and it took even longer after that to discovered how many options there are in Paleo cooking and baking.

When I first switched to the Paleo lifestyle, I felt like a fish out of water in the kitchen. I have always loved cooking and baking. It’s in my blood. All the women on my mother’s side of the family were/are great cooks. However, the loss of pre-made sauces, wheat, dairy, and refined sugars left me completely lost.

Needless to say, I ate a lot of herbed chicken and grilled steak with steamed spinach and broccoli--more than I want to admit! I love all of those foods, but the flavor boredom finally got to me. Before Paleo, I only used recipes as loose references for my savory meals, coming up with my own ideas to make unique recipes. I wanted that excitement back in my kitchen. I was challenged by a fellow Paleo friend to experiment more in the kitchen. I needed to use the tools I already had in my cooking arsenal to come up with great Paleo meals.

I started slow, and one of my first experiments was a sauce for chicken. There is a reason we tend to eat chicken frequently. First, it is one of the cheapest and most accessible pastured meats. Second, it’s loaded with protein and if you eat the dark meat with the skin, it provides us with plenty of healthy Paleo fat. And, it’s generally liked by all. Overall it’s a great meat, but a person can only eat herbed chicken so many times!

This recipe is a simple sauce consisting of ingredients most Paleolithic eaters, and most SAD eaters, will have in their kitchen, but it really takes chicken up a notch. I knew I found a keeper when my non-Paleo husband when nuts over it. I had no way to describe it other than “zingy,” so with that, a recipe name was born.

If you want to take this recipe even further, wrap your chicken in bacon before adding the sauce!

 LAURA'S ZINGY CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:

1. 5 chicken leg quarters (or any of your favorite cuts of chicken)
2. 2 Tbs melted ghee (grass fed butter or duck fat will work as well)
3. 1 c balsamic vinegar
4. 2 Tbs garlic powder
5. 1 Tbs onion powder
6. 2 Tbs paprika
7. 1-1/2  tsp sea salt
8. 1/2 tsp pepper

 INSTRUCTIONS:

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and it allow it to reach room temp (usually around 20-30 minutes). I do this for two reasons: First, meat that starts cooking from room temperature will be juicier. Second, melted fats that are usually solid at room temp tend to solidify quickly when you try to coat cold meat, making it difficult to really coat it well.

 

Preheat oven to 375* F. Place chicken legs on a cookie sheet or pan (one that has sides as there will be a lot of juice). Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. With a basting brush (or even just using a spoon) coat the chicken with the thick sauce. Do all of this quickly, as your fat will want to solidify at room temperature. Place in the oven and cook until chicken reaches 160*F (it will continue to cook to 165*F as it rests out of the oven), or until juices run clear. This can be anywhere from 25-45 minutes depending on the cuts of chicken you use, it’s size, and how much of it you’re cooking. You can baste the chicken again half way through cooking with the pan juices & sauce if you wish.

 

Remove from the oven, and allow the chicken to rest for 15 minutes. Grab a napkin, and  chow down!