Whole30

Sri Lankan Lamb Curry

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(Gluten Free, Dairy Free | Whole30 & Paleo-Friendly) Summer is saying goodbye. As sad as it is to see the sunny, blue-sky days of summer go, I do have a sweet spot for autumn. Not only is it my birthday season, but it also is filled with chunky sweaters, pumpkin spice and comfort food. Three of my favourite things! This curry is the perfect comfort food: flavourful, filling and fantastic. I especially liked changing things up a bit with the lamb, but if you’re more of a beef person, just switch out the lamb for beef. If you’d like to make this a meat-free dish, just skip the meat and substitute with lentils (or another favourite source of protein)–most of the flavour comes from the amazing spice mix so you won’t miss much!

Ingredients for Lamb Curry

  • 1 tbsp ghee or coconut oil
  • 2 onions, halved and finely sliced
  • 3 garlic cloves, grated
  • A thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger, grated
  • 500g (1 lb) stewing lamb, cubed (I used lamb steak and cubed it)
  • 1 tin of full-fat coconut milk
  • 500ml water or vegetable broth
  • 2 large carrots, diced
  • 2 courgettes, diced
  • 1 red pepper, roughly diced
  • Juice of 1 lemon or lime
  • 2 large handfuls fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Ingredients for Sri Lankan Spice Mix

  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tbsp ground coriander (cilantro)
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • ¼ tsp chilli powder or fresh chilli, to taste
  • ½ tsp ground turmeric
  • ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp ground cloves
  • ¼ tsp ground cardamom

Directions

  1. Heat the ghee or coconut oil in a large casserole dish over low heat and gently fry the onion, garlic, ginger and all the spices for the Sri Lankan spice mix for 10 minutes until soft.
  2. Add the cubed lamb, coconut milk and water (or vegetable broth), then turn the heat up and leave to simmer for 2-3 hours until the lamb is tender.
  3. Add the carrot and turn up the heat to a medium simmer. After 8 minutes, add the courgette and red pepper.
  4. After another 8 minutes, check all the veg is tender and season, if needed. Squeeze in some lemon or limejuice to taste and add half of the fresh coriander.
  5. Serve each bowl with more fresh coriander on top.

Tip: Serve with cauliflower rice (recipe below!).

sri-lankan-lamb-curry-with-cauliflower-rice

Cauliflower Rice Ingredients

  • 1 cauliflower
  • 1 tsp ghee or coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp water
  • Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Cauliflower Rice Directions

  1. Remove the cauliflower leaves and the tough end of the stalk. Use a food processor or the coarse teeth on a grater to grate the cauliflower into rice-sized pieces.
  2. Add the ghee or coconut oil to a pan with the grated cauliflower and the water. Stir to mix.
  3. Cook over medium heat, lid on, to let the grated cauliflower steam for 4-6 minutes until tender. After a few minutes, check to make sure that there is still enough water on the bottom of the pan to stop it catching. Once the cauliflower is tender, season to taste and serve.

Source | Hemsley Hemsley, ‘The Art of Eating Well’

Sweet Potato, Broccoli Chicken Bake

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(Gluten Free, Dairy Free | Whole30 & Paleo-Friendly) This dish is awesome for a lot of reasons. First, it is YUM-MY! I was really surprised what a fantastic flavour combo came out of the oven with this gem. Also, it is so, so simple. Chop everything and throw it into a baking dish?! Yes. It’s a one-dish wonder! Finally, because the dish has a healthy source of protein (chicken), carbs (sweet potato and veggies) and fat (olive oil and nuts), it means you really don’t need a side dish. Now that is a recipe I can get on-board with!

Ingredients

  • 450-500g (1 lb.) boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cubed
  • 1 large head of broccoli (stems and florets), chopped
  • 1 large sweet potato or yam, cubed in small pieces
  • ½ of a red onion, chopped (I actually had just run out of onions in my pantry so I skipped this, but I imagine it would add even more goodness!)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp raisins (I’m not a huge raisin fan so I don’t normally have them around, I diced up about 5 dates instead)
  • 2 tbsp chopped walnuts (or nuts of choice- I used walnuts)
  • 75 ml (⅓ cup) olive oil
  • 1 ½ tsp Italian seasoning, dried
  • ¼ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • ¼ cup soft goat or feta cheese (optional- I skipped this to keep it dairy free)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 °F.
  2. Grease a large casserole dish with olive oil.
  3. Place cubed chicken on the bottom of casserole dish. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
  4. In a bowl combine broccoli, sweet potatoes, red onion, garlic, raisins, chopped walnuts, olive oil and herbs. Toss to coat.
  5. Top chicken with herb and vegetable mixture.
  6. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and sweet potatoes are soft. Top with optional cheese just before serving

sweet-potato-and-broccoli-chicken-bake-2

Source | The Real Food Dieticians

Tip: I put the leftovers on a bed of greens for my lunch the next day, and it was a tasty treat! See!

sweet-potato-and-broccoli-chicken-bake-lunch

 

Rosemary Date Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

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(Gluten Free, Dairy Free | Paleo and Whole30-Friendly) Finding simple, tasty and healthy meals is a must –especially during the workweek! Many years ago when I was trying out the Paleo lifestyle for the first time, I found an amazing slow cooker chicken recipe. It was so good it became a ‘go-to’ recipe when friends came over for dinner during the week, and I was low on time. But, one day I woke up, and my beloved recipe link went missing on the internet! Nightmare! Luckily, I had made it so many times; the recipe was written on my heart (too dramatic?) -so I can share it with you today! You’re welcome.

Ingredients

  •  2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 4-6 sweet potatoes (depending on size of potatoes and slow cooker)
  • 1 whole (organic) chicken with skin on
  • 10 whole dates
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) water
  • 60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
  • 4-5 sprigs of fresh rosemary, mashed and ground for more flavour
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • Black pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Spread coconut oil in bottom of slow cooker.
  2. Chop sweet potatoes into chunks and lay them on the bottom of slow cooker (make sure you don’t put too many sweet potatoes on the bottom –you want to be able to put chicken on layer of sweet potatoes and still put the slow cooker lid on).
  3. Lay chicken on top of sweet potatoes in slow cooker.
  4. Put dates and water in bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes to soften dates.
  5. Mash dates with fork. Add olive oil, fresh rosemary, and salt/pepper. Mash mixture together until it’s a type of paste.
  6. Put half of date and rosemary paste under skin of chicken. Rub the second half of chicken onto outer part of chicken. It should look something like this: Rosemary Date Chicken Prep
  7. Cover slow cooker and cook chicken on low for 4-8 hours. (When I used a 4 lb chicken, it took about 6 hours. The time will depend on the size of the chicken and your slow cooker.)

Tip: This also makes for a delicious, modern Sunday roast! Oh, and the leftovers are awesome in a salad for lunch the next day.