I am relieved to say that my exercise science midterm is over! It is such a relief to have that thing off my mind or at least not to have to study for it anymore. I admit that it is still on my mind a little bit. I can’t help but wonder how I did and have gone over some of the questions in my head (and even checked an answer in my book…don’t let me do that anymore. It made me upset!). I realized I made a couple dumb mistakes, but in the moment, I took a chance because I was unsure. Whatever. I know I passed and I studied my buns off, so hopefully it paid off and at least scored me a B. I’m pretty confident that I got at least that, but who knows, maybe I did even better!
Studying for that blasted exam is what the majority of my weekend consisted of. The weather was so nice and sunny, which made it challenging, but I took advantage of studying outside on the patio. Really, I just wanted to hang out outdoors, bum around on my bike and drink wine. I got the outdoors, did ride some on my bike (commuting), but didn’t drink wine. I needed clarity, so I stuck with kombucha and memory boost tea. As you probably know by now, I very rarely drink, but there’s something about warm weather that makes me want to, particularly when the weather first starts turning summery.
Jason’s event at Whole Foods on Saturday was a lot of fun and a nice break from studying. There ended up being a smaller group than expected because a couple people cancelled last minute and some didn’t show up, which I attribute to the warm weather, but it was a success among those there and nice to have a small group. Naturally, it ran over because there was a lot of questions and much to talk about in only one hour’s time. Everyone was very engaged and Jason was entertaining and brilliant, as always. Honestly, that guy cracks me up, but man he knows his stuff! It’s always a pleasure to listen to him speak. To all my readers and followers who have not bought his book, The Paleo Coach, I strongly encourage you to do so. His message and information is too valuable not to share.
Here are a couple pictures from the event. Ashley, Whole Foods Pearl District’s Healthy Eating Specialist and blogger at Craving4more, also put together a neat picture from the talk on her Instagram, which you can check out here.
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Meanwhile, I’m still really loving mustard, particularly Dijon. It makes a difference in so many recipes and is often the missing flavor I’m looking for. It tantalized my taste buds once again, in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
Ingredients:
- 1 Tbsp grass-fed beef tallow or fat of choice
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3 medium carrots, chopped
- 1.5 cups chopped broccoli
- 1/2 cup zucchini, chopped
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 3 Tbsp chicken bone broth
- 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
Directions:
- Melt tallow in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, and saute for a minute. Then, add the chicken and season with a bit of sea salt and pepper.
- Continue to cook for about 5-6 minutes, and then add the spices, carrots, broccoli and a bit more sea salt and pepper. Stir well and continue to saute.
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut milk, broth and Dijon. Add mixture to the chicken and vegetables; stir.
- Continue to cook for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. The sauce will thicken up a bit as well.
- Serve as is or with steamed leafy greens, cauliflower rice or zucchini noodles.
Yields: 3 servings
Alisa, when a recipe such as this calls for coconut milk, does that mean the beverage that is made from raw coconout shreds and water or the far creamier “coconut milk” that is available commercially in cans (e.g., Thai Kitchen’s canned Coconut Milk)?
Lots of recipes online include this ingredient, but very few state it as “canned coconut milk.”
To make myself absolutely clear, if this was a non-paleo recipe, would the ingredient in question be listed as “1/2 cup [cow’s] milk” or “1/2 cup evaporated (or sweetened, condensed) milk”?
–Confused %)
I always and only refer to the pure, full-fat canned coconut milk. Natural Value and Aroy-D are the brands I use because they contain no gums, thickeners, additives, etc. It’s just coconut and water. Paleo recipes are pretty much always referring to the pure, full-fat canned stuff.
If this was a non-paleo recipe, it could be heavy cream or whole milk. Not sweetened, condensed though because that’s only used for desserts. Even if you eat dairy milk, I recommend making this recipe with the canned coconut milk because of the flavor it adds.
Does that help? Don’t let it confuse you too much!
Thank you so much, Alisa, for your thorough answer. I have been confused about the different terms for coconut products almost since they initially hit the market! So many cooks–novices and trained chefs alike–use those terms interchangeably or worse, unknowingly, via the dreaded (though almost ubiquitous now) “c & p method” for blogging *free* recipes.
Also, thanks for the heads-up regarding canned coconut milk brands and superfluous ingredients. Wouldn’t you know it? Now that I’m no longer confused about coconut milk, the only canned stuff I have on hand is the “ad-ditives-infinitum” kind. Darn. I’ll tell the cashier at my supermarket you said, “Hi!” ;D
–Mae, OTP in The ATL
I’m glad I could help clear things up for you, Mae! I’m always happy to help 😉
Looks super yummy! 😀 Where do you or what kind of Dijon do you use … I have been trying to figure out a good one.
I just use plain ol’ Dijon. I get mine from Whole Foods or one of our local co-ops.
ok … thanks.