Spicy Chicken Vegetable Chili

I think my taste buds are changing again. Lately all I want is to make my food spicy. Not like "burn your tongue and now you can't even taste the food because it's so hot" spicy, but just a good flavorful spicy. I've been sneaking in some cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, or hot sauce wherever I can. Tonight I'm making stuffed jalapeños wrapped in bacon for a potluck we're going to. I've never been a big jalapeño fan, and don't usually go out of my way to buy them unless a recipe calls for them, but we had a bag full of them in our CSA share and I've been craving them all week. I've never actually made them before, so I brainstormed what I thought would taste good stuffed in them. I guess we'll see what happens!

Speaking of spicy, this chili definitely satisfied that craving. I've been covering some evening classes at the gym while one of our trainers studies for the bar exam at the end of the July. That means I'm not getting home from the gym on those nights until after 8:30. Not really a lot of time for getting crafty in the kitchen, so I thought chili one night would be pretty easy. I wanted to switch it up from my usual three meat (beef/pork/bacon) chili, and decided chicken would be a fantastic option. I was right! I love it when new ideas pay off! 

Spicy Chicken Vegetable Chili

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 6-8 hours
Serves: 4-6

Special Tools:
Crockpot

Ingredients:
3 pounds of chicken breasts, cubed (about 4 pieces if using organic, free-range)
1 large zucchini, halved and chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3 medium (or 2 large) carrots, chopped
1 jalapeño, deseeded and chopped
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lime, juiced 
1 (14oz) can of fire-roasted tomatoes
1 (12oz) jar of salsa authentica (red), no sugar added
1 (12oz) jar of salsa verde (green), no sugar added
1 tbsp of chili powder
1 tbsp of cumin
1/2 tbsp of course sea salt
1/2 tbsp of coriander
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes (optional, for more heat)
3 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
guacamole, for garnish
extra lime, for garnish

Instructions:
1. Start with cubing your chicken. I like mine to be somewhat still frozen because it makes it super easy to chop up into cubes and since it's slow cooking all day anyway, time isn't of the essence! Add it to the crockpot when done. *Kitchen safety tip: If you want to defrost your chicken a little, don't do it in hot water (which causes bacteria to grow), do it in cold.
2. Chop your veggies and add it to the crockpot with the chicken. 
3. Top everything with the broth, lime juice, tomatoes, salsas, and seasoning. Give it a good stir.
4. Set the crockpot on low for 6-8 hours. The chicken should be fall apart tender!
5. Serve on top of cauliflower rice and garnish with guacamole and more lime juice, which helps to cut the heat a little but definitely enhances the flavor. 

Shrimp Scampi

I have a small victory to celebrate. Yesterday's metcon portion of the workout consisted of push-ups, ring rows, and ring dips. Ring dips have been something on my bucket list to accomplish unassisted since I started CrossFit. I've been using the same purple band to help me through the range of motion for at least two years. I arrived at the gym yesterday just before the class before mine started their workout and decided to go chat with the other athletes over by the rings while they set up for their WOD. I make attempts all the time to complete a strict ring dip, but to no avail. Well, yesterday, for the first time, it just happened! I couldn't believe it! I thought No way this will happen again! But sure enough, I tried again and I totally locked out and completed a second ring dip without any assistance! Three years of CrossFit and I can FINALLY do a ring dip. I did a couple more, just to be sure I wasn't dreaming, lol. Sadly though, when we got to the WOD, the push-ups put my ego in check and reminded me that being able to do them in isolation is one thing, but add in other movements and they become extra hard. Haha. So that purple band came out again to assist. But I still walked away yesterday with a great feeling. Hopefully when I walk back into the box today, I'll still be able to do them ;o)

Switching gears on you, let's talk food! Pasta is one of those things that I really want to miss because I ate it so often growing up. But in truth, I really don't. It sits so heavy and makes me feel like garbage just thinking about eating it. I can't even tell you the last time I had a big bowl of pasta! But there are some beautiful dishes that just wouldn't be the same without noodles. I really like using zucchini noodles because it keeps the dish very light and adds a bright color to it. Toss them in a lemon-butter sauce with some shrimp scampi and voila! you've recreated a popular Italian dish. 

Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles

Prep Time: 1 hour (inactive) 45 minutes 
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Serves: 2

Special Tools:
Spiralizer, or julienne slicer (which will take a little longer)
Colliander
Large bowl the colliander will sit in
Large saute pan

Ingredients: 
2 large zucchini
1 lb large wild caught shrimp, peeled, deveined, and tails removed.
2 1/2 tbsp of ghee, divided
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 small lemon, juiced
1 tbsp of white cooking wine
1 tbsp of fresh parsley, chopped or 1 1/2 tsp of dried parsley
salt

Instructions:
1. Use the spiralizer to turn your zucchinis into noodles. If you don't have a spiral machine, you can use a julienne slicer to make your noodles. 
2. Place the noodles into a colliander and sprinkle with salt to draw out the moisture. Let it sit for about 30 minutes. Then rinse and pat dry the noodles as best you can with paper towels. 
3. Leaving the noodles in the colliander, place the colliander inside a large bowl (to collect the draining liquid) and place the bowl into the fridge for an hour. This allows you to have really dry noodles. Take them out and let them sit on the counter while you prep your garlic and lemon. 
4. Place a large saute pan over medium-high heat and allow the pan to get hot. Add 2 tbsp of ghee.
5. Toss in the garlic and move it around to let it become fragrant, about 30-45 seconds. 
6. Add the shrimp and half the lemon juice. Saute until the shrimp are cooked through and the liquid has nearly entirely evaporated, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove the shrimp from the pan.
7. Deglaze the pan with the white cooking wine and the rest of the lemon juice. 
8. Add the zucchini noodles and the remaining ghee. Toss well to coat and continue cooking until the noodles are heated through, about 3-5 minutes. 
9. Return the shrimp to the pan and season with parsley and salt, to taste. Toss well to combine. Serve immediately. 

Asian Ground Beef Stir-fry

How was everyone's Fourth of July holiday weekend? Mine was super relaxing and a total blast! The hubs and I took off on a 7 hour drive for my in-laws on Thursday. They live down in Pembroke Pines...that's between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami if you don't know South Florida too well. AKA the land of crazy drivers, beautiful beaches, and O.M.G...Cuban food!! Let me count the ways I did NOT eat paleo this weekend. Thursday night was a plate of citrus chicken, rice, beans, a fried egg, a piece of REAL Cuban bread, and plantains maduros (ripe plantains...the sweet, sticky ones). Sweet Jesus, it was incredible. Friday morning, Papi brought home Cuban pastelitos (little pastries) with guava and cheese from the cutest authentic Cuban bakery in Pines, Vicky Bakery. Better than any sort of American pastry...EVER. I think I ate three. #sorrynotsorry. Then we ate vaca frita and grilled chicken wings for lunch...with more rice and beans. Though I will say, I was pretty reserved on my rice and beans portions since I didn't want to go off the deep end. Bahaha, too late! My in-laws make enough food to feed an army, so we got to eat leftovers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...which again, I'm really not sorry about. Add an egg and anytime can be breakfast time! I made sure to get my fill of maduros before I left. Man, those little babies are dangerously delicious. All in all, I'd call it another successful trip down south. I'm sure you're thinking, But wait Nicole, all you talked about was eating? And to that I say, Yeah, exactly. It's what I live for! I guess I could tell you that the sunshine was also amazing, both in the pool and our three trips to the beach. Ahh, I miss the days when you didn't have to drive hours to get to a beach. My husband does too, which is why we went to the beach twice in one day. ...don't ask. #worthit  

Well because we didn't get back into town until late Sunday night, dinner had to be quick and easy on Monday after I went grocery shopping. Behold, ground beef stir-fry. Easy prep work, nothing overly complicated in the cooking process, but the flavors are awesome! 

Asian Ground Beef Stir-fry

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Special Tools:
Large saute pan

Ingredients:
1 lb of grass-fed beef
1/2 large onion, sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1/4 green bell pepper, sliced
3 heads of baby bok choy, sliced, about 1 cup
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
2 carrots, sliced
1 tbsp of ghee or fat of your choice
2 tbsp of minced garlic
2 tbsp of minced ginger
1/4 cup of coconut aminos, divided
1 tbsp of rice vinegar
1 tsp of fish sauce
salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Place the sauté pan over medium-high heat and melt the ghee. Add the garlic and ginger and stir around until fragrant, about 30-45 seconds. 
2. Add the beef and begin browning the meat, breaking it up into small bites with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper.
3. When it's nearly cooked through, add in 2 tbsp of coconut aminos, the rice vinegar, and the fish sauce. Continue sautéing until the meat is no longer pink. Strain off the beef onto a plate and set aside, leaving the fat and juices behind.
4. Add the onion, peppers, carrots, and mushrooms to the pan and move around to coat in the juices. Season with salt and pepper. 
5. Add the remaining 2 tbsp of coconut aminos and continue sautéing for 7-10 minutes. Add the bok choy and continuing cooking until the leaves begin to wilt.
6. Return the beef and any juices that settled on the plate back into the pan and stir well to combine. 
7. Enjoy with some chop sticks. You'll just feel more cultured ;o)

Balsamic Maple Glazed Wild Alaskan Salmon

I had an interesting conversation this evening. Typically when newcomers come in to inquire about CrossFit and the facility, there's one, maybe two people...friends or a couple. Well today a family of four shuffled in; mom, dad, a teenage older daughter and teenage son. As they came in, both trainers were busy with other athletes, I decided to introduce myself and see what they wanted. Mom spoke up first and said they were in vacationing in Georgia and decided to drive down and check out college campuses, however, the daughter's main concern was actually what the [CrossFit] boxes were like in town. That should have been my first clue that they were already super into CrossFit, but clearly I'm oblivious to things like that, so I started on my story about the history of our box, our other locations, the set up of our classes and how they run, etc. Come to find out, both kids have been doing CrossFit for like two years and the daughter is looking into getting her L1 certification! How cool is that?! Not even out of high school and kicking ass already! She goes on to talk about how she competes and just finished a competition last weekend down in West Palm Beach. She's already a little badass in my book. They haven't made any decisions yet on where she wants to go to school, but somewhere away from home (Port St. Lucie). I hope she heads our way. I'd love to be able to see her in action. 

In other news, this salmon is also badass. Make it soon. It's delicious! That is all. :o)

Balsamic Maple Glazed Wild Alaskan Salmon

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 2-3

Special Tools:

Small bowl

Basting brush

Foil lined baking sheet

Ingredients:

3 wild salmon steaks, about 6-8 ounces each, skin left on

2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp of dark grade maple syrup

1 tsp of garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp of dijon mustard

salt and pepper

Instructions:

1.Preheat the oven to broil on low. Make sure the rack is positioned in the middle of the oven, at least three rungs down.

2. Rinse the salmon under cold water and pat dry. Then put them skin side down onto a foil lined baking sheet and season with salt and pepper to taste.*

3. In a bowl, add the oil, vinegar, syrup, garlic cloves, and mustard. Mix well to combine. 

4. Use a basting brush to coat the tops and sides of the salmon, reserving more than half of the glaze.

5. Put the baking sheet into the oven and broil for 5 minutes. Then brush the glaze onto the salmon again. Repeat after 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and let it rest for 2-3 minutes. 

Serve it up with your favorite veggies. I sautéed up some butternut squash and zucchini and also steamed a head of broccoli. 

*If you or your significant other freaks out about fish skin like mine does, I will say it's much easier to remove once the salmon is cooked. Just hold down one of the corners with a fork or knife and slowly start lifting it up. It should come off fairly easy. 

Golden Roasted Chicken

This week was brutal at the gym. My husband and I both woke up Friday and were convinced that our arms were just not attached to our bodies. 
Monday we did Fran. Always a torturous, fun WOD. Yes, I used those two adjectives in the same sentence. 
Tuesday we did shoulder press work and a 14 minute AMRAP of 100 doubleunders and 5 deadlifts at 75% of our 1RM. Who needs their calves anyway. 
Wednesday was heavy back squats and a 10 minute AMRAP of Cindy. More pull-ups. Yay! 
Thursday we did a Bear Complex.
This is one cycle:
1. Power Clean
2. Front Squat
3. Push-Press
4. Back Squat
5. Push-Press
We do that cycle seven times for one round and 5 rounds total. If we put the bar down during any of the seven cycles, we had to complete ten burpees before continuing. Misery. Absolute misery. Props to those athletes that never put the bar down. That damn sure wasn't me! But I finished with a cheer squad around me, which is always nice. 

And we finished off the week with a descending ladder of bench press 10-1, coupled with a 250m run between each set.

But I'm not complaining. I made it through and I know I'm better for it! 

Hard work calls for hearty meals. This chicken turned out so amazingly flavorful and juicy. Sometimes the breast can get dry, but not this bird! By rubbing the seasoning and butter under the skin, and stuffing the cavity, it stayed nice a moist (stop grossing out at that word...lol). I also cut up a few carrots and roasted those with the chicken, but you can make whatever side you want with it.  

Golden Roasted Chicken

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Special Tools:
Roasting pan
Kitchen twine
Small bowl

Ingredients:
4-5 pound free range organic whole chicken, at room temperature
1 large onion, sliced into thick rings
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1 large or 2 small lemons, cut into 1/4 inch slices
2 tbsp of grass-fed butter, divided (I like Kerigold) and at room temperature
1 tsp of Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute
3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme
salt and pepper

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
2. Remove and discard the giblets from the chicken cavity. Rinse the chicken inside and out under cold running water. Dry chicken with paper towels. 
3. Tuck the wing tips under the body. Sprinkle the cavity of the chicken liberally with salt and pepper.
4. Insert the garlic, lemon slices, and thyme into the chicken. 
5. Place the onion slices down into the roasting pan and lay the chicken down on top. 
6. Bring chicken legs forward, cross them, and tie together.
7. In a small bowl, mix 1 tbsp of butter with the 21 seasoning salute. Use your fingers to massage this under the skin of the chicken without tearing it. 
8. Rub the other tbsp of butter over the entire surface of the chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 
9. Place the roasting pan in the oven and roast for 45 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 400 and continue roasting, 45-60 minutes, until skin is deep golden brown and crisp and the juices run clear when pierced. 

Dill-Tarragon Chicken Salad

I love summer! Everything just seems to slow down a little and it gives me a chance to enjoy the things I don't have time for during the hustle and bustle of the school year. And even though I'm finding that I'm waking up around the same time every day, it's giving me a chance to really enjoy my mornings sipping on coffee or chai leisurely, watching Today on NBC. Even going to work doesn't seem like work. I'm able to tackle jobs one at a time without interruptions. But probably my most favorite thing about summer so far has been my ability to get creative in the kitchen. I can't seem to get enough of those smoked grilled chicken burgers, I branched out and tried two new vegetables that I ended up loving, collards (that were crispy, not slimy...I don't do slimy very well) and bok choy (which went into this amazing Vietnamese Paleo pho soup). Those will definitely have to make an appearance on the blog soon, so keep a look out. I also roasted a beautiful chicken last week that came out golden and crispy on the outside and completely moist and juicy on the inside. My husband and I devoured most of the 4 pound bird the first night. I have been craving a good chicken salad though, so I purposely saved some of it and made this wonderful chicken salad the next day. There is something about tarragon and almonds that I can't get enough of, but the fruit and bacon just put it over the top for me! It's really hard to share, so if you're planning to, make sure you divide it out right away or you may end up eating the whole thing right out of the bowl...like I did!


Dill-Tarragon Chicken Salad

Prep Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 2

Special Tools:
Mixing Bowl

Ingredients:
2 cups of shredded leftover golden roasted chicken
1/4 cup of paleo mayo (I used a variation similar to this)
3 strips of crispy bacon, chopped
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1/2 an apple, diced (I used a pink lady and left the skin on)
2 tbsp of dried cranberries, sugar free
12 grapes, halved
1/4 cup of sliced almonds
1/2 tbsp of dried dill
1/2 tbsp of terragon
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1/2 tsp of cracked black pepper

Instructions:
1. Combine the chicken, mayo, and bacon in a large bowl and toss with a spoon to mix well.
2. Add the celery, apple, cranberries, and grapes and stir again until coated.
3. Add the seasonings and mix well.
4. Cover and let the chicken salad chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to combine.
5. Eat right out of the bowl or serve in lettuce cups.