Hi there! I’m Michelle from over at The Lucky Penny Blog. I was so excited when Arsy asked me to guest post while she enjoys her fabulous vacation. I love Arsy’s blog because it offers great paleo options while still maintaining the feel of a personal blog! When I complimented Arsy on this, her and I developed an email friendship and now I get to post on Rubies and Radishes for you! I’m so excited!
A little bit about me and The Lucky Penny Blog. A blog mainly about food, but also a few crafting and lifestyle posts are thrown in there as well. But food is my passion. I love to eat and I love to cook. I’ve dabbled in all different thoughts and schools of eating. I’ve tried being vegetarian, I’ve tried the vegan thing, I’ve tried low carb, and I’ve tried cleanses. More as a means to learn about food and its affect on my health than to be a part of a “fad” diet. Although, I always didn’t mind if I lost a few pounds. Currently, for almost a year now, my husband and I have been eating mainly paleo, which we consider a lifestyle change NOT a diet. We aren’t terribly strict, I would say 60-70% of the time we eat paleo. You can read more about my thoughts on it on my about me page. But I love food that makes me feel good and eating paleo makes me feel good. And when you do it right, by finding great recipes, you quickly learn that really all the stuff you “can’t” eat isn’t anything you are missing out on.
The recipe I’m going to share today illustrates that point perfectly, it’s so well balanced and delicious. It was born out of an impulse buy of a very large box of those little Cuties. You know, those clementines that they sell by the boat load. Seriously, who can eat that many of those things?! Well, I put them to good use and made Crispy Chicken Thighs with Kale in a Clementine Sauce. This is seriously one of my favorite recipes ever. It’s completely paleo and just darn delicious. Plus, it’s a one “pot” wonder. All the cooking is done in your cast iron skillet, making for minimal clean up! Those meals are the best!
I hope you enjoy! And swing my my blog and say hi anytime! 🙂
4 bone in skin on chicken thighs
1 tablespoons coconut oil
kosher salt (about 1 teaspoon)
fresh ground pepper (to taste)
3 peeled garlic cloves
2 cuties (clementines) peeled and segmented
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup orange juice
1 bunch lacinato kale, destemmed and sliced thinly
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a large (I use a 12 inch) cast iron skillet over medium heat. While the skillet is heating up, trim your chicken thighs of excess fat. Sprinkle both sides of thighs liberally with kosher salt and pepper, I used just about 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt for 4 thighs on each side.
Add coconut oil to the hot pan, allow oil to heat up until it starts to shimmer. Once oil is hot, carefully add the chicken thighs – skin side down. Do not move them after placing them in the pan. Add the garlic cloves to the pan. Cook for about 7 to 10 minutes until the skin on the chicken is golden and crispy. Flip the garlic around occasionally.
After 7 to 10 minutes, flip chicken thighs and check the skin, cook longer if needed to get the chicken skin crispy. If skin is crispy and golden, flip the thighs to the over side. Add the peeled and segmented clementines. Move them around to get them lightly browned. Cook for about 2-3 minutes.
Add 1 1/4 cup chicken stock and transfer the cast iron skillet to the oven. Cook for 25 – 30 minutes (depending on size of thighs) or until the juices run clear when chicken is pierced with a knife.
While chicken is cooking, prep your kale. Wash and dry your kale. Cut or tear away the stems and thinly slice the leaves.
Once chicken is cooked, take skillet out of the oven. Remove the chicken thighs to another plate and cover with foil to keep them warm. Place the skillet over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon smash up the clementine segments and garlic cloves. Add the orange juice and kale and cook until sauce thickens up. About 3-5 minutes. You want the sauce to reduce by over half and get sticky, not liquid-y.
Divide kale and sauce among two plates. Top each plate with 2 chicken thighs.
Enjoy!
Love, Luck, and Happiness!
Thanks Arsy for having me guest post! I hope your vacation was great!