Chipotle BBQ Wings with Avocado Cream

It's rare I find myself cooking a "typical" American dish like wings. For some reason all of those typical dishes fall outside of my arsenal of recipe skills. Take mac and cheese--I have never, not even when I was at my height of pasta eating- made mac and cheese from scratch. (Saying that out load makes me want to make some, just for the hell of it).

Making a stir fry, taco bowl, or curry feels more intuitive to me, but when the Super Bowl rolls around I feel this need to make something more classic. It is, after all, pretty much the only day of the year that I tune in to one of pop culture's most iconic events. Still... I can't help but flex some creative muscle and make an avocado cream sauce on the side, but since these wings themselves are sauced in a sticky and sweet chipotle barbeque sauce, it feels miles away from anything ethnic.  

Even though this recipe sits outside of my typical comfort zone, I'm crazy for it. And who wouldn't be? These wings are the type of wings that require plenty of napkins because their sticky sauce is destined to cover your fingers. I learned quickly that quadrupling the recipe would be wise: a dozen wings is never enough (for two, or for a group). 

Chipotle BBQ Wings with Avocado Cream

Paleo, Primal, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Chipotle gives the BBQ for these wings a bit of a kick, while avocado cream cools it down.

Yields: 12   |    Total Active Time: 60 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup barbeque sauce (I used Stubb's Smokey Mesquite Bar-B-Q Sauce)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/3 cup chipotles in adobo (canned)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• A dozen chicken wings
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Avocado Cream Sauce:
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 cup milk of choice
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves (loose, not packed)
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

1. Prep the wings: use a paper towel to remove any excess moisture from wings, and place in a bowl.
2. Make the sauce: combine barbeque sauce, coconut oil, chipotles in adobo, cayenne (if you like things really spicy, you can add more cayenne), and salt in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour half of the sauce over the wings, and allow to marinate for 8-24 hours, in the fridge, covered.
3. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 450°F. Remove wings from bowl and discard extra sauce. Place a wire cooling wrack on top of a baking sheet, and place wings on wire wrack, with about 1 inch between each wing. Place in oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, until internal wing temperature reaches 165°F and skin is crispy on the outside.
4. Using tongs, place wings in a mixing bowl. Pour about 1/4 cup of sauce over top, and toss to coat. Add more sauce as desired.
5. To make avocado cream sauce: Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.
6. Serve wings on a platter along side bowl of cream sauce. Optional: garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

When there is Tortilla Soup on the menu, I'm the first person to notice and there's a pretty high chance I will order it, no matter the weather. I've been in love with Tortilla Soup for as long as I can remember. 

Despite my appreciation for what is a really simple soup, I've never mastered making it at home — I always over think it, adding something extra or missing some key ingredient.

But I’ve done lots to try to learn the magic sauce, and each experiment gets closer and closer. What I’ve learned: simple poblano chilis, sautéed with the onions and garlic, and freshly made chicken broth. Oh, and not over thinking it. Tortilla Soup should be simple, like a tortilla.

It’s comfort in a bowl for me — this cozy bowl of broth-y goodness and full of Mexican flavor.

And the best part of any tortilla soup? The toppings! Cheese, avocado, crispy tortilla strips (or tortilla chips, which is much faster and less labor intensive), cilantro, and on and on.

Instant Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

Published September 24, 2016 by Caitlin Sherwood

Serves: 4   |    Active Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients:

1 tablespoon coconut oil

1 poblano chili pepper, diced and seeds removed

1 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound boneless chicken breasts

1 28-ounce can diced fire roasted tomatoes

2 tablespoons minced cilantro, plus more for garnish

6 cups bone broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

Optional: 1 16-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

Optional, for serving: avocado, cheddar cheese, corn toasted tortilla strips or chips, lime wedges

Directions:

1. Heat coconut oil in the bottom of an Instant Pot on Sauté setting. Add diced onion, minced garlic, and poblano pepper.
2. Add chicken, tomatoes, broth, cumin, lime juice, cilantro and optional black beans to pot and stir. Place lid on Instant Pot and turn to slow cooker setting (to use soup setting instead, see step 4). Set timer for 10 hours with vent turned to the sealed position.
3. When soup is done, open Instant Pot. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove chicken from soup and place in a bowl. Use a fork to shred chicken, and then return to soup and stir. Season with additionl salt to taste, and serve hot with toppings of choice.
4. To make this soup more quickly, use the soup setting instead of the slow cooker setting: In step 2, set Instant Pot to “soup” setting and set timer to 10 minutes with the vent in the sealed position. When timer goes off, release pressure, and the move on to step 3.

Chimichurri Chicken

The fridge is often a sad place for bunches of cilantro and parsley, in my kitchen, at least. I loooove fresh herbs, and if a recipe calls for fresh cilantro or parsley, there's no way I'm skimping, but it's been a long--looooong- time since I've bought a bunch of cilantro or parsley and used it all before it began to wilt. 

Some times I'll sort out a bunch of cilantro straight from the beginning, and place in it a vase with water to keep it fresh for a few extra days. And it works, for a few days, but the last remaining stems always hang around until they're far past "usable". 

This recipe, though, is perfect for those just-beginning-to-wilt bunches of cilantro and parsley in your fridge. The only real problem is you'll fall in love with using Chimichurri sauce and you'll being buying parsley and cilantro just to make this recipe, and well, the vicious cycle of buying bunches of fresh herbs, using half, and letting the other half wilt will begin. At least, that's how it happened with me. Luckily, this sauce stays nice an fresh in your fridge for at least a week, so you can make a BIG batch (go ahead, use the entire bunch of parsley!) and then put it on everything you eat: eggs, sandwiches, burgers, chicken, fish--the list goes on. 

My number one favorite use of Chimichurri sauce right now: using it as a marinade for chicken and throwing it on the grill. Then topping that chicken with even more sauce. It's vibrant and fresh, making it the ultimate grill-out dish, when you tire of standard BBQ sauce. Plus if you, like me, have be wishing for a little vacation lately, this meal will remind you of somewhere south of the border... a little bit of South America in a bite! 

Chimichurri Chicken

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free,    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Use up bunches of cilantro and parsley to make this recipe!

Serves: 4   |    Total Time: 25 minutes

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Ingredients:

Sauce:
• 1/4 white onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup cilantro, packed
• 1/3 cup parsley, packed
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 jalapeño
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Optional, for extra-spice: dash of cayenne

For the chicken:
• 1 pound boneless chicken (cutlets, breasts, or thighs)

Directions:

1. Please the onion, jalapeño, and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until minced. Next, add the cilantro and parsley, and drizzle in the vinegar and oil. Pulse until the herbs are minced. Add a few cracks of salt and pepper, and the oregano. Pulse 2 or 3 more times. Taste, and add additional salt/pepper to your preferences. If you prefer a spicier sauce (or you find that the jalapeño you used was quite mild), add a dash of cayenne to taste. Use a spatula to scrap sauce into a jar.
2. For the chicken: Place chicken in a zip lock or shallow dish for marinating. Pour 3/4 of chimichurri sauce into container, and give it all a shake to ensure all of the chicken is coated. Cover (or seal zip lock) and place in fridge for 8-12 hours to marinate.
3. When ready to cook: heat grill to 375-450°F. Place chicken on grill and allow to sear on one side for 5 minutes. (Discard any marinade that remains in the container). Flip chicken, and sear on the second side for 5-10 more minutes. Check that the chicken is cooked through before serving: cooking time will vary greatly on thickness of cut of meat. Juices should run clear and meat should no longer be pink. Serve hot, with reserved chimichurri sauce as a topping.