Balsamic Vinegar, Peach, Apricot and Honey Chicken Thighs

Back when I was doing AIP (the autoimmune protocol diet) full time, this is one of the recipes I absolutely loved!  I managed to find it and change it up a bit, and it was every bit as good as I remembered.  Savory with a touch of sweetness, subtle and delicious...and relatively easy!

Ingredients

• 4-6 chicken thighs, bone in, with skins
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or oil of your choice)
  
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup chicken broth  (I didn't have ny one hand that wasn't frozen solid, so I made my own with water and Better than Bullion Chicken Flavor)
  
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 peaches, sliced thin or 1 can of organic peaches
• 1/4 cup sliced dried apricots (optional)
  
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, sliced
  

---

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

 

I used a a large oven-safe skillet to cook the chicken--they JUST fit in my big square cast iron frying pan.

 

Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel so they won't spatter too much in the hot oil.

 

Heat the oil in the skillet over medium-high heat, add the chicken thighs to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side to lightly crisp. Set aside.

 

Reduce the heat to medium and saute the garlic for 2-3 minutes.

 

Mix the chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, honey, and salt and pepper; stir to combine. Pour into the skillet and heat until the mixture reaches a low simmer.

 

Add the sliced peaches (drain if using canned peaches) and apricots to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes more.

 

Add the chicken thighs back to the pan, snugging them amongst the peaches and apricots and spoon the liquid over top.

 

Transfer the pan to the oven and allow to cook for 18-20 minutes uncovered or until the internal temperature of the chicken thighs reaches 165 F.  (Two of our thighs were much bigger than the others, so we ate the small ones and let the others cook till done.)

 

Serve with fresh chopped basil--it really did add a nice flavor punch, but it's not really necessary if you don't have fresh!

---------------

We served them with steamed broccoli, buttered and sprinkled with fresh Parmesan cheese--and I have a confession to make.  The photo above was the leftovers, we dived right in the first night, and reheated everything in a skillet the second night, served this time with roasted cauliflower...delicious!

The original recipe was from the Unbound Wellness blog, but as usual I tweaked and changed things around...

 

Low-carb Savory Zucchini Bread

 We usually go for the "normal" zucchini bread, dark and spicy with raisins, etc., almost like my mom's old "fishing trip cake."  But I've been exploring other options for low carb bread--Joseph is big on that--and I love any way to get additional vegetables into us, so I was pleased to find a recipe that I could adapt, from Kelley Herring's Keto Breads cookbook.  This one uses coconut flour, too, rather than almond flour--I'm allergic to the latter and usually have to substitute something or other...

We're not doing Keto, per se, but we're okay with saving carbs and using them where they count--like chocolate!

This recipe is also pretty easy and fast, unlike some rather complex Keto breads.

Grate about 1 1/2 cups of zucchini, skin on...dump into a clean cloth and squeeze to get excess liquid out...or you can just drain for a few hours in a colander, but squeezing's quicker and oddly satisfying!

Ingredients:

1 C. coconut flour (though I'll admit next time I plan to use 3/4 C. and 1/4 C. of cassava flour...coconut flour is WEIRD.  It'll have a few more carbs but maybe be less...odd.  Tastes fine, but funny texture.)

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. sea salt

1-1/2 C. grated zucchini, drained

6 eggs  (Yes, 6.  That's what I thought!)

1/2 C. coconut oil, melted, olive or other oil.  Or like I did use bacon grease because we have a LOT.

1 T. apple cider vinegar

1 t. lemon juice 

(No, I don't know why those last two.  But what the heck...)

I'm betting it would be good with herbs or a half cup of grated cheddar, too...next time...

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a bread pan well with coconut oil, butter, whatever, then make a sling of parchment paper for the bottom and sides.  

Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl

 Mix eggs, oil, zucchini, etc. in a larger one, then combine well.

At this point I had to taste the batter. Yum.  Probably the bacon grease!

Plop the batter into the prepared pan, and level the top somewhat

Bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes, check for doneness with the point of a knife--it should come out clean.  Let the bread cool before slicing (if you can!) (okay, mostly cool...) and enjoy.  

Because of the coconut flour, it has a kind of coarse texture, almost like cornbread...as I said, next time a bit of cassava flour, or if you're not allergic, you could try almond flour.  

I liked it with butter and honey (so much for low carb, right?  Hush!) and it makes wonderful skillet toast.  It's a bit tender, so I'm not sure how it would work for sandwiches.

DO store in an airtight container, for only a few days.  If you can't eat it all up within 3-4 days, slice and freeze for later...it tends to get moldy fairly fast, especially in warm damp weather.