Spicy Drumsticks. I tend to socialize quite a bit, both with people following a Paleo diet and people who don’t.
As I am sure most would agree, a very large part of socializing happens to involve food. This can be quite difficult when I visit with those who do not lead the same lifestyle as I do. The one thing that I have noticed with this circle of friends is that they spend way too much time concerning themselves with how to play host to me and my dietary needs and they do not realize just how easy it really is. More times than not, the dish they were planning to prepare is already perfectly healthy and Paleo, or very few adjustments have to be made to a dish to make it Paleo friendly.
I try to bring this to their attention when I wear the chef hat by preparing simple, yet popular dishes. Chicken drumstick preparations are a classic American finger food that are enjoyed by many, but are more often than not prepared with very unhealthy ingredients. Serves 3 Ingredients Preparation. Orange Chicken. Sweet and crunchy, with just enough spicy zip to make it interesting, this recipe is the Paleo answer to Chinese takeout on Friday night.
For a healthier version of fried chicken, it uses almond flour as the “breading” to get that crispy exterior, and coconut oil for the fat. No vats of mysterious “fryer oil” that you can literally use to fuel a car; no questionable meat or gloopy sauces, just real, fresh-tasting food. Jerk Chicken. A real treat for spice-lovers everywhere, the full jerk chicken experience makes your mouth sting and your eyes water – and that’s what makes it so special.
On the other hand, not everyone craves a spice mix quite that intense. If you prefer a slightly milder flavor, you can tame this chicken down by reducing the allspice or bonnet pepper. You can also experiment with this recipe by changing the meat. I like to buy different pieces of chicken, but you could also use a whole bird and cut it into pieces yourself. Instead of the typical soy sauce in this recipe, I used coconut aminos, a Paleo-friendly soy sauce alternative made from the sap of the coconut tree. Chicken Drumsticks with Orange Glaze. If you’re feeding a Paleo family on a budget, chicken drumsticks are your very best friends.
They’re cheap, quick, lunchbox-friendly, and easy for little hands: what’s not to love? Baked Asian Chicken Wings. Sticky and crispy on the outside, juicy and toothsome on the inside, and packed with flavor all the way through, these wings are perfect for watching a game, throwing a party, or just enjoying the pleasures of delicious and healthy food because it’s a day that ends in ‘y’ and you feel like cooking something yummy.
The marinade is really the secret to making the wings work: it’s got typical Asian flavors like ginger and red pepper flakes, but the kiwis add a fruity twist to keep things interesting. Balsamic Glazed Chicken Wings. Chicken Club Wraps. Nobody knows for sure where the club sandwich came from or how it got its name, but it’s certainly popular, and it’s not hard to see why.
Crispy bacon and tender chicken with juicy tomato slices and creamy mayonnaise make for a pretty delicious combination – even better here in a lettuce wrap instead of between two slices of bread. There’s no hard-and-fast rule about what type of lettuce is best for wrapping. Iceberg is a classic, but butter lettuce is also very nice because the leaves are a little more flexible, which minimizes the chance of tearing. Err on the side of making many smaller wraps, instead of trying to make them too big. Orange-Mustard Chicken. Baked chicken doesn’t have to be boring: ramp up the flavor with a fresh combination of spicy mustard and tangy orange flavor.
This particular variation features chicken breasts, but you could use the same sauce for any chicken parts you have: it’s an easy way to do something a little bit different with ingredients you probably have around anyway. For the orange juice, make sure to get a kind without a bunch of added junk (read the ingredients labels. Twice.) Roasted Chicken Legs With Vegetable Kabobs. Vegetable kabobs are a fun way to mix up the basic combination of chicken with roasted vegetables: somehow everything is just a little bit more exciting on skewers.
A combination of classic summer vegetables like zucchini and juicy cherry tomatoes is perfect with a simple sprinkle of dried herbs and some lemon juice, and you can just pop the vegetables in the oven to finish with the chicken so it’s all ready at the same time. Sweet Mustard Chicken Wings. Honey-mustard sauce is a favorite for a reason; try it on chicken wings here with just a little bit of chili sauce if you like them extra-spicy.
The honey is optional in a lot of Paleo recipes, but in this one it really is necessary: without it, the Dijon is just too bitter. If you really can’t handle even the small amount of sugar from the honey in the sauce, you’d probably be better-off finding another recipe for your chicken wings. If you can manage ¼ cup of honey, though, this recipe is a very tasty Paleo treat, and so easy to make. Cook the wings of the most of the way through without the sauce, and then broil them for just a few minutes with it on, to get the sauce warm and crisp them up a bit. Balsamic Chicken Thighs with Asparagus. This one-pan dinner gives you juicy roasted chicken (with irresistible crispy skin!)
And tender asparagus all on the same tray, and all drizzled with a tangy balsamic marinade. Bone-in chicken thighs would give every other chicken part a run for its money for a balance of flavor and affordability, and they’re much less fussy than breasts when it comes to cooking them. In this recipe, the marinade doubles as a sauce for the chicken and asparagus later in the recipe.
Yes, it’s true that the marinade touched the raw chicken, but after you put it on the chicken and asparagus, it all goes back in a 400-degree oven before it goes in your mouth. So it’s no riskier than recipes that have you cook the chicken right in the marinade – the reason for adding the marinade later is just to get optimal skin crispiness on the chicken. This recipe just so happens to be AIP-friendly as-is: with so much flavor from the balsamic, who needs extra spices? PREP: 15 min. + 4h. COOK: 50 min. Ingredients. Jerk-Style Chicken Wings. Fresh mango and just a little bit of honey add some sweetness to the spicy jerk seasoning on these wings. Jerk seasoning originally comes from the Caribbean, so it goes really well with the tropical fruit and a dash of lime juice for some extra flavor. This recipe also features a clever tip to make it easier to eat the wings without getting the sauce all over your hands and face. Before marinating, remove the tips and separate the rest of the wing into two pieces by cutting through the joint with a very sharp knife.
They’ll marinate and cook separately, and then when it comes time to eat them, you don’t have to tear the joint apart with your bare hands. Buffalo Chicken Wraps. Lettuce wraps roll spicy Buffalo chicken and fresh homemade Ranch dressing into convenient, finger-friendly packages just waiting for you to pick them up and sink your teeth into them. If you want more vegetables involved, you could always doctor up your wraps with some extras. What about white mushrooms, bell peppers, or matchstick carrots? You can also do it without the Ranch if you’d rather, or if you just don’t want to fuss with making mayonnaise (we’ve all been there). For the wrap lettuce, you could theoretically use any kind, but butter lettuce is one of the best because it’s naturally soft enough to wrap, but strong enough to resist breaking when you pick it up. Duck With Raspberry Sauce.
Duck might technically be a bird, but it’s a lot more like red meat than it is like chicken or turkey, which makes it perfect for this sweet raspberry sauce cut with a bite of balsamic vinegar. The thick cap of fat in a skin-on duck breast might otherwise be a little overwhelming, but the sauce gives you enough of a flavor contrast that it just ends up being rich and delicious: if you’re trying to get a little more healthy fat into your diet, this is a recipe to save. In terms of fat quality, duck really does beat out chicken: it’s mostly monounsaturated fat, with some saturated and fairly little PUFA. And if you don’t quite want all the fat on the breasts (it can really end up being a lot of fat), you could always trim some of it off and save it to render for roasting vegetables or cooking other things.
This would be a great recipe to serve with some roasted (or grilled) asparagus, or anything else quick and light. PREP: 15 min. COOK: 25 min. Ingredients Preparation. Homemade Pork Rinds. Pork rind is simply roasted or fried pork skin. Also called cracklings, they are a snack enjoyed all over the world. Most people think of them as an unhealthy indulgence, but we know very well that there is nothing wrong in eating fatty pork skin. However, making it yourself it probably the only way to go because you can control the amount of salt you use and you’ll know there won’t be any other nasty ingredients. Cinnamon Pork Chops with Spiced Pear Chutney. Cinnamon and chili powder give these pork chops a nice warm tingle underneath the heat, and a sweet pear chutney is the perfect way to top them off. This isn’t an obvious harvest-season type of recipe, but it does have a lot of seasonal spices and flavors, so it would be nice as an understated way to appreciate the season without going into full-on pumpkin mode.
Old-Fashioned Slow Cooker Pork Chops. Time to add pork chops to the roster of dinners you can make in the slow-cooker! Greek-Style Meatballs. Meatballs: stick them on toothpicks, throw them over a plate of Paleo noodles, slather them in sauce, or wolf them down straight off the pan (hey, if you’re the cook, who’s going to know?). Steak Zucchini Boats.
Baked zucchini “boats” make a tasty vehicle for delivering a big pile of roast beef, onions, and peppers straight into your mouth, and they’re not bad-looking, either. Mini Hamburger Bites. Did you know that there are whole cookbooks dedicated to miniature food? Somehow, shrinking everything down to bite-sized proportions makes even ordinary recipes new and irresistible. Oven Baked Beef Fajitas. High-strung fajita purists, look away now, because this recipe is about to get creative. Instead of being grilled or pan-seared, this version is baked in the oven, with the meat and the vegetables all together. Ribeye With Caramelized Onions And Mushrooms. Thai-Style Steak Salad. Steak salad, meet Thai flavor. Grilled Steaks With Herb Butter. How do you make butter even better?
Ginger, Beef, and Mushroom Stir-fry. Steak and Cucumber Salad. Aussie Burger. BBQ Meatballs. Veal Stuffed Bell Peppers. Fish Cakes. Spiced Grilled T-Bones. Skirt Steaks With Fresh Mango Salsa. Ground Beef And Cabbage Skillet. Spicy Beef And Bok Choy. Beef Tenderloin And Shrimp. Spicy Cranberry Meatballs. Beef-Stuffed Butternut Squash. All-American Burger. 10 Recipes to Keep Ground Beef Interesting.