Chicken & Israeli Couscous in Pan Gravy Sauce

This was a huge hit at my house. My husband gave me 5 stars on it, and even compared it in deliciousness to our at-home-honeymoon lobster dinner.

I use all organic ingredients and local whenever possible. While its not necessary to make this recipe, I strongly suggest it and personally feel its the best way to eat anything =)

For the chicken:

2 pastured chicken legs*
2 chopped cloves of garlic
1 chopped tomato
1/2 an onion
A big pinch of oregano
3 tsp. dried cilantro
1 tbsp. cumin
A big pinch of cayenne pepper and paprika
2 cups water
2 tbsp. coconut oil
Generous pinches of salt and pepper

(*We generally don’t eat this much meat in one sitting, for a less meaty version, you can make 1 chicken breast and shred it into small pieces and mix it into the couscous.)

Over a medium heat put everything but the water and cook until the chicken is browned on both sides and has started to cook through (easy, huh?).

Add the 2 cups of water, cover and let it simmer until the chicken is cooked completely. Which should be between 20-30 minutes. Take the chicken out and set it too the side, but save all the water you cooked it in and all the drippings/scraps/juice in the pan.

For the Couscous & Gravy:

2 cups Israeli couscous
4 cups homemade chicken broth
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour

Bring the broth to a boil, add the 2 cups of couscous and remove it from the heat. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes to let the couscous cook.

In a separate pot melt the butter and mix the flour in. Whisk constantly until it starts to bubble then (while still whisking) cook for 1 minute. For those of you that don’t know, this is called a roux. Add all the cooking liquid from the chicken and stir until it starts to thicken.

Mix the gravy and the couscous together.

It may not look the prettiest, but man oh man, its delicious.

Oven Baked Green Beans:

Even though these aren’t in the post title, you gotta have your veggies and these are amazing. I absolutely can’t stand cooked veggies 95% of the time. But I love these so much I scarf them down the second they’re cooked.

Coat the green beans in coconut oil then add generous amounts of salt and pepper (I like to add a pinch of cayenne pepper for heat, but this is totally optional). Bake them in the oven at 400 degrees. Bake them for 7 minutes, stir them around and bake them for another 5, or until they start to get brown.

SO GOOD!!!

Enjoy!!

~Courtney, The Crunchy Delinquent

Garlic, Greens and Sprout Pizza with Rosemary Crust

Mmmm, doesn’t the name just sound delicious??

I think it speaks for itself, so I’m gonna skip all the flamboyant adjectives on how yummy it is and go right to the recipe.

For the crust you will need:

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1 teaspoon organic coconut palm sugar (Buy here)

1 cup of warm water

2 1/2 cups of organic unbleached flour (Buy here)

2 tablespoons quality organic olive oil  (Buy here)

1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt (Buy here)

2(+/-) tablespoons of dried organic rosemary (Buy here)
(The amount of rosemary you add is based on how much you like or dislike rosemary, some people really like the flavor, like me, and others only kind of like the flavor. Its very distinct, but definitely complements this pizza!)

4 tablespoons of garlic infused olive oil
(Put 4 tablespoons of olive oil and a few cloves of roughly chopped garlic in a bowl and let it rest for a few hours before you start cooking)

Non-GMO cornmeal

Coconut oil

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Dissolve the yeast with the sugar in warm water and let it rest for 10 minutes. Then, stir in the flour, salt and oil and let it rest for another 5 minutes. Split into 2 equal parts. Grease your cast iron skillet with coconut oil and sprinkle some cornmeal on top to keep it from sticking.

Press the dough into the bottom of the skillet and make sure it fills the whole skillet and has started a little up the edges. Poke holes in the crust (not all the way through, just superficial holes) with a fork, brush half of the garlic olive oil on it and place it in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until it has started to cook on the outside. Pull it out and add the toppings.

For the toppings you will need:

Cheese

Precooked, organic, pastured chicken in small pieces/shreds

Uncooked alfalfa sprouts (or any sprouts you like)

Freshly cooked organic greens
(I used purple kohlrabi greens, but you can use anything you like, I also really like spinach and stinging nettle!)
(* Side note I put mine in a skillet with some coconut oil and cook them until they are totally wilted. Kohlrabi greens cooked like that with a little sea salt on top are DELICIOUS! They make a great nutritious snack*)

Mmmm, toppings!!

Spread a generous amount of cheese, greens, sprouts and chicken on top and return to the oven. Cook for another 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is cooked through. Repeat with the remaining dough and toppings. This recipes makes 2 8” pizzas and serves 2 people. I like to put a little crushed red pepper and oregano on mine when I eat it.

Holy YUM!!

Enjoy!!

~Courtney, The Crunchy Delinquent

Shared on Party Wave Wednesday and Mary’s Kitchen Real Food Challenge Linky!

Real Food Teriyaki Chicken!

In my daily routine of opening the refrigerator and staring blankly  trying to decide on something to eat, I decided to try and make some teriyaki chicken with mushroom and arugula rice.

Only thing, store bought teriyaki sauce is full of crappy things and tons of high fructose corn syrup… And I had no idea how to make homemade.

So I decided to make it up as I went.

I seriously thought it was going to be insanely awful and I was gonna be so mad I wasted so many ingredients… But it turned out soooooo good!!

So, without further ado,

Homemade Teriyaki Chicken, with organic rice, mushrooms and arugula

You’ll need:

2 chicken breasts (pastured and local would be the best option)

1/2 tsp. chopped ginger

1/4 cup organic apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup honey (I used raw, but that’s just cuz that’s what I have around the house, it will be heated up so raw is not necessary)

1/4 cup Bragg liquid aminos (soy sauce alternative, GMO free!)

Organic black pepper

1 tbs. arrow root powder

Organic shitake mushrooms (I used shitake purely because it sounds kinda like teriyaki)

Organic arugula

1 c. of organic brown rice

I’m a huge nerd… my pepper is in the TARDIS =)

Step 1: Get a super adorable baby and strap it to your chest**

(**This step is optional, but it adds extra cuteness to your meal, and cuteness melts hearts!!)

Once your baby is sufficiently strapped on, combine the ginger, vinegar, liquid aminos, honey, arrow root powder and pepper in a sauce pan over medium heat.

Whisk while cooking until it starts to thicken and bubble. (the arrow root powder is a corn starch alternative, it will thicken the sauce without all the GMOs regular corn starch has)

It should look like this, bubbly and thick and sticky

Once the sauce has thickened, you can remove it from the heat and put it in a separate bowl for later. It’ll look like this-

At this point I’d take a break to talk to the little bugger strapped to your chest and have your heart melted by some big ole eyes before continuing.

Cute your chicken into cubes (or leave it whole, its really just your preference) cook it on medium heat until its almost cooked through.

Put half the sauce on and finish cooking it all the way through. It should look similar to this when your done

Do to the fact that there’s not artificial colors, flavors or corn syrups, it won’t look dark brown once its on your chicken like the stuff you get at the store.

In a separate pot (or if your me, the same pot because your only have one….) add 2 cups of already cooked organic brown rice and half a pound of sliced organic mushrooms and cook over a medium heat until the mushrooms are as cooked as you want them. I wanted more of a salad so I didn’t cook it very long. Add in a very huge handful of arugula. I just cooked the arugula until it was slightly wilted.

And viola!! The most delicious teriyaki chicken ever!!

Use the rest of the sauce on the finished product and over your rice =)

X’s and O’s

~Courtney, The Crunchy Delinquent

This post is linked to Party Wave Wednesday, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, The Gathering Spot, Teach Me Tuesdays, Thank Your Body Thursday, Old-Fashioned Friday, LHITS DIY Linky, Natural Living Mondays, Fresh Bites Friday and Mary’s Kitchen Real Food Challenge Linky!