After a traditional Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to make some aromatic, and spicy ethnic food. I pulled out a “somewhat Paleo” recipe book, written by Dr. Mark Hyman called “The 10-Day Detox Diet Cookbook“, based on his book “The Blood Sugar Solution“. It’s basically a healthy cookbook with a lot of Paleo recipes. This dish called out to me with all of the aromatic spices, like turmeric, cumin, and coriander. I made some slight modifications and spiced it up a bit. Warning: It did take a while to prep, approximately 40 minutes as I like to chop the ingredient a bit smaller than Dr. Hyman recommended, but was well worth it. I did not include the recommended eggplant, as my husband “claims” that he is allergic to it. (What REALLY happened: when he was in college, after a dinner of eggplant parmesan, and bit too much to drink, he threw up, and now claims it was the eggplant he was allergic to). Ha! Anyway, you can always add one chopped eggplant to this dish. Oh, and this dish is also called “Tagine”. Also, if you want to go vegan, substitute the chicken for firm tofu and reduce cooking time by 15 minutes.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 yellow onions, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp pureed ginger (I use this one)
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground ginger (powder)
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (use 1/4 tsp for less heat)
- 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into 1″ pieces and trimmed of fat (if going vegan use firm Tofu)
- 1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
- 10 crimini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
- 1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 large zucchini, cut into 1/4-inch half circles
- 2 cups of chicken broth (or vegetable broth is going vegan)
- 10 grape tomatoes, cut in half
- 1/4 cup sliced green olives
- chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish
Directions:
In a dutch oven or heavy stock pot (I used a cast iron dutch oven), heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger and saute gently until the onions begin to caramelize, 10-15 minutes. Turn the heat to low, and add 3/4 teaspoon of the salt and all of the dried spices. Saute the spices and onions about 2 minutes. Salt the chicken (or tofu) with the remaining salt, and add to the pot. Turn heat up to medium, and saute for 3 minutes, until all of the chicken (or tofu) is well coated with spices. Add the cauliflower and mushrooms and saute about 5 minutes. Then Add the bell peppers and zucchini, and saute until they soften about 5 minutes. Add the chicken (or vegetable) stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer the stew gently, stirring occasionally, until all of the vegetables are tender and the liquid is thickened and reduce approximately 15-20 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 1 more minute. Stir in olives. Plate and serve with cilantro garnish. Serves 4
