Chicken, Mushroom and Radish Roast

Never roasted radishes? 

Neither had I, until last week. 

Now I can’t get enough of them. 

You know the peppery, almost spicy flavour you get with crunchy, raw radishes? Well when you roast them, the flavour becomes really mild – there’s no spiciness – just a sweetened, nutty flavour. And they have a texture a bit like water chestnuts. 

Anyway – they’re lovely with roasted chicken breasts as I discovered when I made a very purple roast using red onions, radishes and garlic. 

Here’s the recipe. 

Chicken and Radish Roast
Serves 4
Ingredients
about 2 tbsp avocado oil (or use a mild, flavourless coconut oil if you want to)
2 large handfuls of radishes, washed and trimmed – try and get the different coloured ones, if you can
4 cloves of garlic, with the skin on
200g chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and trimmed and sliced
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
4 chicken breasts, skin on

Method
Heat the oven up to gas mark 6/200ºC/400ºF. 

Get out a roasting dish and scatter in the bottom of it the radishes, onions, garlic, mushrooms and the onion. Drizzle with the oil.  

Lay the chicken breasts on top and sprinkle over a pinch of salt. 

Roast for 20 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked through and the skin crisp. Cut into one of the chicken portions to check and cook for a bit longer if you see any pink. 

THE AIP BURGER

I know. The title’s completely in capitals, because this is totally amazing. I love it. 

It’s a beef burger, but the bun is made out of two mushrooms, and then I’ve filled it with a juicy beef patty, zesty guacamole, bacon and a softened chunk of red onion. As you may have seen if we’re friends on Instagram, I’ve been playing about a bit with AIP and Paleo burgers, lately.

You can pick this up and eat it with your hands, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but if you do, you’ll want to have a load of napkins handy because although the lovely juices give flavour to the beefburger, roasted mushrooms do give off a heck of a lot of liquid. You’ve been warned. Want to unleash your caveman tendencies? Go ahead. Cooking this for a date? Best keep a knife and fork handy. 

This burger is dairy-free, gluten free and fully AIP-compliant. I hope you love it as much as I do. Oh, and if you like (although this makes it paleo and not AIP) swap out the red onion for a fried egg. I know how you all love a bit of egg porn…

The AIP Paleo Burger
Serves 4
Ingredients
8 large flat mushrooms (try and get them all a similar size, but that’s not super important)
1 tsp avocado oil
8 rashers of smoked, streaky bacon
400g minced beef
pinch of salt
1 red onion

For the guacamole
1 avocado
juice of half a lime
good pinch of salt

Method

So. Here we go. 

First, preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas mark 6. 

Get out a roasting tray or dish that’s large enough to hold the mushrooms in – they will shrink once cooked. Tip the teaspoon of avocado oil into the palm of your hand and rub the oil over the mushrooms, over both sides. Sprinkle over just a pinch of salt. Arrange the mushrooms in the tray with the brown (underside) facing up and slide into the oven. Roast for about 20 minutes, until the mushrooms are softened and sizzling. Take them out and leave to cool. 

While the mushrooms are roasting, lay the rashers of bacon in a dry griddle or frying pan and cook, turning them over, until they are golden and slightly crisp. Lift them out with tongs and put on a plate, leaving to one side. 

Shape the beef mince into 4 large burger patties and then season with salt on both sides. Fry them in the pan you cooked the bacon in, about 5 minutes per side, turning a few times, until they’re cooked through and the juices run clear. Peel and thickly slice the onion horizontally – add this to the pan and cook on a medium heat, turning, until the onion is soft and slightly caramelised. The onion is pretty amazing because it’ll take on the bacon and beef flavours from the pan. 

Once everything’s cooked, it’s time to put the whole thing together. Quickly mash together the ingredients for the guacamole with a fork. 

On a plate, place one of the cooled, roasted flat mushrooms underside up. (You might want to tip out some of the moisture before you do this if it’s especially juicy). Carefully place the cooked burger on top, followed by the bacon rashers and the guacamole. Top with the onion slice and then another mushroom, underside-down on top. 

Done! Serve with salad, or sweet potato fries or plantain chips. 

This burger is entered into Phoenix Helix’s 75th Recipe Roundtable. 

The New Paleo Cajun Lady eCookbook

Do you know Tara, from the Paleo Cajun Lady blog? Well, as you might have heard, she’s just released a new ebook, full of her favourite AIP-compliant recipes. 

There are more than 60 recipes in the book – all of them AIP compliant, and there’s also advice on batch cooking, freezing and handy links for shopping, too. 



I cooked some of the recipes from the book over the course of a week and I can tell you this:

Talk about a shed load of veggies for dinner tonight! Turkey burgers, with asparagus and broccoli and @paleocajunlady ‘s creamy artichoke and leek fettuccine – I made it with carrots, courgettes (zucchini) and added bacon. #AIP #autoimmune #autoimmunepaleo #autoimmunedisease #autoimmuneprotocol #paleo #paleouk #paleofood #glutenfree #green #grainfree #moreveggiesthanavegetarian #veggies #eatmoreveggies #eatupyourgreens #eatclean #primal

A photo posted by Jo Romero (@joromerofood) on May 6, 2015 at 9:24am PDT

• This is a fantastic tool to have if you’re looking for different recipes and more general food inspiration on the autoimmune protocol. All the recipes are dairy, nut, egg, soy, grain, nightshade and gluten-free. So they’re good if you suffer from food allergies with any of these ingredients, too. 

• Tara’s roast duck recipe is REALLY easy to cook and was probably the best roast duck I’ve ever made. It got lots of compliments, but it only took me a couple of minutes’ actual work. Fab stuff.

• The instructions are all clear and simple to follow, and each recipe has a photo alongside. 

• You NEED to make the ice cream – cinnamon and maple ice cream to be exact – with those baked apples. It’s gorgeous. And the reason I now always keep a mug of coconut milk in the fridge and a handful of bananas in the freezer. Honestly, it’s good. 

A photo posted by Jo Romero (@joromerofood) on May 7, 2015 at 6:53am PDT

• Oh, and there’s some veggie noodles in a leek and artichoke creamy sauce. I loved that. Tara says to make the noodles with squash and courgette/zucchini but I made it with courgettes and carrots. It was lovely. And so good to be able to enjoy a kind of ‘pasta sauce’ on AIP. 

Want to find out more? Course you do.  

Click here to view more details

(affiliate link – read about what this means here)

My Kids Try Amy’s Kitchen Gluten-Free and Vegetarian Meals

Although I eat mostly paleo foods because it’s doing good things for my autoimmune disease *does high five*, my kids don’t eat 100% paleo. But I do try to get them to stay gluten-free, wherever I can. Just one problem. They HATE gluten free foods. 

I was contacted by Amy’s Kitchen to see if I would like to try some of their range of gluten-free and vegetarian foods. And, seeing as the children seem to be able to sniff out and identify a gluten free meal from a mile away (and they don’t always like it) I thought it would be a good experiment, especially as the delivery coincided with Coeliac Awareness Week here in the UK (11-17 May 2015) and National Vegetarian Week the week after (18-24 May). 

Although I always generally cook everything from scratch, I can see that there’s a market for ready meals that cater for allergies and food intolerances. It’s quick and convenient and if you’re a busy family with people coming in and out in the evenings just before you pop out to Zumba or whatever then this kind of thing is going to be useful from time to time. 

First up was the breakfast sandwich, which they had a nibble of as we sliced it into quarters before school. After a few minutes in the microwave (handy) the bun was still sturdy, but soft and with a chewiness that was kind of addictive. Because it’s a vegan sandwich, the ‘egg’ part was actually tofu, with a veggie burger that tasted earthy and herby with a bit of curry (that’ll be the turmeric). There was a smidge of richly-flavoured tomato sauce in there, too. They loved it. And didn’t guess that it was gluten free. For me though, it did taste a bit salty. Great. Next. 

Next up was the Red Thai Curry. I was actually worried about this one, thinking it might be too spicy, but it wasn’t. I tasted a spoonful before I passed it over to them. It came with a small portion of Jasmine rice, which was pleasantly and rightfully soft and bouncy. The only thing they weren’t sure about was the small tofu chunks in the sauce, along with the veggies, but then we don’t eat tofu as a family, so they didn’t know what it was. Obviously the curry is gluten free and also dairy free too. It was sweet, but pleasant. Not spicy. Win number 2. 

Macaroni cheese is their favourite dinner, and I only cook it for them – using mozzarella cheese and creme fraiche – about once a month. So they were quite excited one dinnertime when they saw this coming out of the kitchen towards them. “It smells like rice pudding,” said my 6-year old. I have an ongoing struggle with my girls when it comes down to gluten-free pasta. The texture and flavour is just nothing like the regular stuff. But smothered in a cheese sauce, would they notice? Yep. They both agreed it didn’t taste like rice pudding after all. “Is this gluten free?” called out my 9-year old. 

Yep. Yep, it is. They still schnaffled up the lot. 

Finally, they tried the lasagne. It took a little bit longer to heat thoroughly than it said on the pack, but that was a minor thing. They didn’t ask me if it was gluten free and they ate it all up, asking for seconds. It had a rich flavour, with plenty of cheesy sauce and topping. 

Result
Basically, my two children HATE anything gluten free. I tempted them after school one day with some gluten free scones, with lots of enthusiasm, dishing it up with lashings of butter and jam. My nine-year old took a bite, made a face and refused to eat the rest. My six-year old followed suit. But they did like these meals, only guessing that one of them was gluten free. 

As I mentioned, I usually will cook everything from scratch, because what I eat for dinner, they usually eat with me. But these freezer meals would be handy if you are feeding one or two people in the family that are coeliac or otherwise have a gluten intolerance. You don’t have to worry about cross-contamination, and in a rush you can whip one out of the freezer and cook it in just a few minutes. And, amazingly, my children actually liked them (they don’t usually). They are made from ingredients you’d probably have at home – I didn’t see anything in there that was artificial or that I couldn’t pronounce. 

But, I couldn’t help but be slightly concerned at the saltiness of the foods. Obviously they’re not marketed at children specifically, but if, as an adult, your allowance for the day is 6g of salt and one of these smallish meals packs almost a third of that then it’s obviously not for every day. But, then, this is typical of ready meals in general. But if you’re looking for a gluten free, vegetarian ready meal option to fill a gap occasionally in a busy week, then these, I think, wouldn’t be a bad place to start. 

Cinnamon-Dusted Fried Sweet Plantains

I’m not much of a dessert person, to be honest. 

I’ll have the odd pancake or square of chocolate brownie if it’s going, but I’m not that much into making cheesecakes and trifles and things like that. Not everyday. 

So when I get a sweet-tooth craving, I’ll reach for a piece of fruit. Or, if I’m lucky enough to have a black plantain on the kitchen worktop, I’ll make these. 

When a plantain has gone completely black, the skin becomes much thinner and easier to peel. The plantain inside turns a soft, creamy yellow – almost custard-like. But whereas an over-ripe banana would turn very mushy and difficult to slice, a plantain keeps its shape and stays a bit starchier. The flavour is toffee-like, kind of like banana but with a tropical flavour in there somewhere and kind of appley and a bit like honey. Yes, I realise my description is somewhat vague and wordy. You’ll just have to try it for yourself, and then you can make your own mind up.

This makes a quick dessert that my six-year old loves – some of my toasted coconut ice cream would be lovely alongside it, too. 

Cinnamon Dusted Fried Sweet Plantains
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 very ripe plantain, the skin turned completely black
1 tbsp coconut oil (I use the mild unflavoured kind)
couple of pinches of coconut palm sugar
small pinch of cinnamon

Method
Very easy. Peel your plantain to reveal the custardy yellow flesh underneath. Slice it into chunks, as you would if you were making tostones, and heat the oil in a frying pan. 

Fry the plantain slices for about 3-4 minutes per side, until they look golden on both sides – and soft. 

While they’re cooking – keeping a watchful eye on them so they don’t burn – mix the coconut sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. 

Once the plantains are cooked through and golden, transfer them, still hot, to plates and sprinkle a little of the cinnamon sugar over the top. Let them cool to just warm and then serve. 

Tuna, Coriander and Pumpkin Seed Salad

Ever since I started getting migraines (something my neurologist tells me I inherited from my Mum – thanks Mum) I’ve started eating pumpkin seeds. 

It’s a good job they’re good for you – and quite yummy, too. 

I was throwing together a salad the other day for lunch and I wondered if these little nutty beauties would taste good with tuna – and coriander leaves – in a salad. 

They did. 

Some people find that eating pumpkin seeds can set off a migraine, so if you’re a fellow sufferer then go careful – but other people find it does help make attacks less likely. Strange, right? But lucky for me, they help. 

They give a lovely nutty crunch to the salad, which is needed with all those veggies and tuna. A quick drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and you’re good to go. 

Tuna, Coriander and Pumpkin Seed Salad

(paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free, nightshade-free)

Serves 1

Ingredients

two big handfuls of salad leaves – your choice

half a can of tuna (preferably pole and line fished)

small handful fresh coriander leaves

a handful or two of pumpkin seeds

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

a pinch of salt

Method

Rip up the salad leaves with your hands and dump them in a large serving bowl that you’ll eat out of later. 

Drain the can of tuna and flake the fish in and around the leaves. Give the coriander leaves a wash under the cold tap and shake off the drips – then scatter them around the tuna in the bowl. Finish with the pumpkin seeds and drizzle over the olive oil and add the pinch of salt. Give everything a good stir together and eat straight away. 

Indian-Style Goat Curry (AIP, Gluten Free, Paleo, Primal, Dairy-Free)

When I was in my early twenties, I went to an Indian wedding with my boyfriend at the time. It was in a hall just outside Leicester. It was all kinds of beautiful. The canopy where the bride and groom sat, the constant music, all the families coming together – and the lunch. It was amazing. 

Once the ceremony had finished, we were summoned to long trestle tables where ladies came around and kindly ladled out dark, aromatic curry into bowls for everyone. The curry was rich and dark, and full of meat and bones. Nothing wrong with bones, they add a lot of flavour.

So. 

That curry, for me, is the benchmark of how my perfect curry should look, feel and taste. I still remember it now. It should be dark, with a thick sauce – with slow-cooked, tender meat that clumsily drops off any bones that happen to be lurking within. The meat should be preferably beef or lamb. And as well as having a bit of spice (but not too much that you’re fanning your open mouth and gasping for water), it should be aromatic. In other words, it should have other flavours, too, other than HOT.

It is a challenge to create a curry without nightshade spices (paprika, chilli) or seed spices (mustard seeds, garam masala). But this one really did hit the spot. And when Farmer’s Choice, an online butcher that specialises in free-range meats, sent me some goat to cook, I knew it was going into a curry. 

When I posted this on Instagram, people loved it. There were compliments mostly about the sauce – about its colour and texture – nice and dark, due to the fact that there’s no coconut milk in it and a few colourful vegetables blended in to colour and thicken it. In fact, this curry is absolutely coconut-free.  It does contain lean goat meat, beautiful onions, healing turmeric and beef broth. Basically, there’s a lot of good things in this curry. You’re going to love it. 

I did cook the goat very slowly, as it’s very lean – but it didn’t melt down as diced lamb or beef would. Maybe if I’d cooked it slower (say, at gas mark 2 for 2-3 hours it might have melted down more). But never mind – the goat meat was still tender and had a flavour like lamb but not as strong, and much less fatty. If you can’t get hold of goat, a good stewing cut of lamb or beef would be perfect, too. 

And the naan bread, also in the pic? That’s AIP too – get the recipe for these AIP chapatis at Adventures in Partaking – I added some chopped coriander leaves to the batter before frying. 

Indian-Style Goat Curry 
(AIP, Paleo, Gluten-Free, Primal, Dairy-Free, Coconut-Free)
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
For the sauce: 
2 tbsp avocado oil
2 red onions, peeled and sliced thinly
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
good pinch of salt
1 small carrot, peeled and coarsely grated
1 small beet (I used a peeled, ready-cooked one from a vacuum pack), chopped
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of ground cloves
1 tsp ground turmeric
500ml beef stock/broth

For the goat:
1 tbsp avocado oil
1 red onion, peeled and sliced thinly
1kg stewing goat (I used bone-in pieces)
fresh coriander leaves, to serve

Method
Set the oven on to gas mark 3/325F/160C. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions gently until golden and beginning to brown. This will add colour and flavour – but make sure they don’t burn. Once the onions have coloured nicely, add in the garlic, the ginger and a good pinch of salt and stir until softened and aromatic. 

Stir in the carrot and the chopped beet, along with the cinnamon, cloves and turmeric and then pour in the stock or bone broth and leave to simmer for 3-4 minutes. Pour the sauce, scraping down the base and sides of the pan, into a large bowl. Blend until smooth. 

In the now empty pan, brown the goat meat in a little more avocado oil. Tumble in the onion slices and fry until golden. Once the meat is browned, lift it (and the onion) out and place in the base of a casserole dish with a lid. Pour over the blended sauce and replace the lid. Slide into the oven and cook for 2 hours. 

When you’re ready to serve, taste and check for seasoning and then ladle out the curry into bowls, scattering the fresh coriander leaves over. 

I received a contribution towards the ingredients for this recipe from Farmer’s Choice. 

I’ve entered this recipe into Phoenix Helix’s AIP Recipe Roundtable. 

How to Get Started on AIP

I get it. 

Going from a pasta, bread and pizza-rich Western diet to one that eliminates grains, dairy, nightshade veggies and spices, seeds, eggs and refined sugars isn’t easy. What are you going to eat for breakfast? (No toast, or croissants, you see. Not even eggs). 

How are you going to eat grass-fed, quality meats and fish on a budget? 

And how the heck do you get started? 

Like this, that’s how. 

Turkey and Cavolo Nero Meatballs with Courgetti Zoodles

Bone Broth
First, you’re going to have to make friends with bones. It’s cheap – you can pick a bag of beef bones up from the butcher for a few quid – he might even chuck them into your weekly order for free if you’re lucky. The reason you’re going to need to incorporate this into your life now is that bone broth contains gelatin, which is super good for healing. It’s also thought to be rich in collagen and magnesium. It’s nutrient-dense, healing food. I always put a load of ginger and garlic in mine, for flavour – but check out this bone broth recipe from Autoimmune Paleo, too. Just cool it all down, store it in the fridge (covered) and then dollop a mugful into a cup and warm up thoroughly before drinking. It’ll seem weird, at first, but you’ll get used to it. Some people even say it helps them sleep, if they have a cup in the evenings… 

Sweeteners
Forget table sugar, ice cream syrups and sprinkles. That’s not happening any more, and isn’t very good for healing, anyway. Sweeteners should be super-moderated on AIP. Seriously, I’ve been healing for nearly two years on AIP with my reintroductions – but eat a few too many AIP-approved treats and I get a flare up that sets me back months. You can have maple syrup, coconut sugar, honey, pomegranate molasses. In moderation. 

Slow-Roasted Aitchbone Joint of Beef

Get to know what foods you’ll be avoiding (there are plenty, at least in the beginning)
Print a list out and stick it on your fridge. Here’s a good one, from Autoimmune Paleo. And don’t be disheartened, you’ll be able to enjoy loads of lush foods and recipes. I promise. More on that later.

Get used to cooking. From scratch. 
Let’s face it, you’re not going to be enjoying healing, nutritious foods if you eat completely out of packets. Make your own sauces – and yes, you can even make Thai and Indian-inspired curries. (Hurray!) Even if you’re not used to it, you’ll find chopping veggies quite therapeutic. I do. And don’t feel overwhelmed. Remember, you’re not on Masterchef. You’re just making some dinner. Preparing your foods (chopping veggies in advance, covering it and putting it in the fridge) will help you save time, as will cooking extra and eating the leftovers the next day. 

Budget
So. The good news is that you’re not expected to eat fillet steaks every day. In fact, on AIP, you’re encouraged to eat organ meats like liver, heart and kidney – they’re nutritious and cheap. The bulk of my meals are actually made up with veggies – about three-quarters of the plate, so that cuts costs a bit, too. Opt for cheaper ingredients like offal, as well as sardines, mackerel, seafood. Go for unusual cuts like tongue, hocks, trotters and buy mince instead of chops and steaks. Some people say that they find going AIP expensive but then realise they didn’t think about foods like this. Oh, and for the best nutrition it’s recommended you go for organic, grass fed meat. But if your budget doesn’t stretch that far, don’t worry too much – eating this way will be a good start. 

Mutton and Spinach Curry

Use Social Media for Ideas
Honestly. I hear people all the time complaining that they can’t find AIP recipes or they’re bored and want to give up – two days in. There are 29 blogs (including this one!) that have been approved by Sarah Ballantyne, aka The Paleo Mom, that post recipes that adhere to the autoimmune protocol. Add in hers, and that’s 30. If each blog is posting on average, say, 3 posts a week – that’s potentially 90 new blog posts on AIP each week. Even if half of those are recipes, that’s enough to keep you meal planning for quite a while. Follow these AIP bloggers and fellow readers on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. I regularly share my own recipes as well as those from other AIP bloggers on my Facebook page. Come and find me on Instagram and you’ll see what I’m cooking up each day.

It’s not just diet
Be prepared to make time for yourself as this is really important to heal. Mindfulness, yoga, meditation… meditation doesn’t have to mean sitting cross-legged with twinkly music on, it can be simply sitting in the garden on a sunny day, listening to birds in the trees or feeling the breeze on your skin. 10-15 minutes is a good start. Try not to think about the gas bill or what you’re cooking for dinner. Think about nothing. Just for 15 minutes. Getting daylight (for your body to convert into vitamin D) is also important, as is managing stress and regular exercise. You might find this post helpful on AIP and balance. 

Don’t expect results overnight
Although I noticed my psoriasis patches were slightly calmer after 2 days of strict AIP, I didn’t see anything that got me excited until 8 months in. And now, almost two years later, I’m almost (but not quite) in remission. Give it time. Your body has a lot of work to do. You might find this post interesting. It’s based mainly on psoriasis, but refers a lot to the journey I went on and the AIP lifestyle. 

Recipes to get you started: 
These are some of my most popular recipes and posts – and ones I wish I’d had when I got started on AIP. They’re easy to make and really good. They’ll be perfect to get you started. I hope you find them useful 🙂

Pork Liver and Bacon Pâté
Thai Meatball Turkey Curry
Breakfast Pork and Leek Burgers
AIP Breads and Wraps
Blueberry Topped Sweet Potato
Slow Cooker Lamb Shanks with Lemon Dressing
55 AIP Recipes From Around The World (curries and noodles!)

Just one more thing… 
In the beginning, you’ll probably find yourself asking a lot of questions and that’s great. Going on AIP is such a change from the regular Western diet and it’s natural to want to know about new ingredients and why certain foods are excluded. And you’ll be going on a heck of a journey – you may find your mind is calmer and less foggy after a few weeks on the diet. You’ll be making more time for yourself, which is such a precious thing in our busy, modern world. There are AIP sweet treats, but don’t go overboard in the beginning – get yourself established first and satisfy your sugar cravings with a cup of camomile tea or a banana. Personally, I feel like a different person since I’ve been AIP and as well as clearing my skin, it’s given me a whole new outlook on life, along with more confidence and health. I’m excited to find out what it’ll do for you too! Keep in touch 🙂

Good luck! 

Some things you might find useful for your AIP cooking (affiliate links):