This week I was getting all my ducks in a row to start back on round 2 of Whole 30. I do best when I begin if my fake ketchup, permitted mayo, salad dressings and a few things for breakfast are made and in the freezer. This diet is a protein/veggie based diet with some fruits and some fats but little else. For someone like me who is not a big fan of eggs, unless we have leftovers from the night before, I have a difficult time with breakfast. I do not like to eat in the morning anyway, but trying to concoct something from scratch is just about beyond my capabilities unless I drink 4 cups of coffee and wait until nearly 11 to eat. When I do that it screws up the timeline of every other meal, and I don't want to eat dinner every night at 9.
With my lack of egg fandom, I have been relying on other meats for breakfast and have made paleo chorizo, turkey-blueberry sausage and this new breakfast sausage I tweaked from several online paleo blogs. I am not trying to avoid crediting any of them but I truly combine ideas from 3 or 4 of them and make what I think will suit my tastes best. This one at Heartbeet Kitchen comes closest to what I finally made.
3/4 lb. ground chicken (I actually weighed the chicken so I could give an accurate amount)
1 small red onion, minced
1 small mango, minced
1 pinch powdered garlic
1 small jalapeno, seeded, ribs removed, and minced
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 pinches chili powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped finely
dash of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste (I used a pinch of each)
1 small egg, beaten
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted in a frying pan.
If you want to, buy the chicken pre-ground. At 4 bucks a pound I just was not going to do it. I had boneless skinless chicken breasts (purchased for 1.77 per pound) in the freezer so I thawed them and tossed them in the food processor using the blade. It took a few quick pulses and it was ground fine enough for my needs. Transfer to a glass mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients except for the coconut oil.
Mix well. According to everything I read I should have put on gloves to mix the ingredients with my hands. I figured since I wash my hands prior to cooking and wash them several times during the prep time I would live life on the edge, mix with my bare hands and wash them thoroughly once everything was together. Pat the chicken mix into patties (I went a little larger rather than smaller, 2 1/2-3 inches in diameter) and cook in the coconut oiled frying pan on the stovetop using a medium high setting. I cooked them for about 3 minutes, flipped them and cooked until the chicken lost its pink color. Then I lined a baking sheet with parchment and popped them in the freezer until they were frozen.After that they were transferred to a zip lock freezer bag. I did slightly undercook them so that I can serve them nice and hot without becoming overcooked during the warming process.
To cook from frozen, I simply put them on a plate and nuked them in the microwave until they were piping hot and cooked through. (about 1 1/2 minutes for 2.)
Everyone in my inner circle has tried them and loved them, from my 87 year old mother to GF2. TheHub thought they were great and not one person had any clue they were paleo and whole 30 compliant. (They think anything whole 30 must lack flavor. Silly people!)
I promise these are delicious. In fact, my first trial batch disappeared before I even got them to the freezer, so I had to make more. I am lucky my freezer is stocked so I could defrost anther chicken breast, and I had extra mangos just to nosh on this week.
I know some of you don't like hot stuff, so I cooked one patty before adding the peppers and chili powder. It was still delicious and now Mom wants me to make her some (sans heat) for her freezer. Since she rarely eats anymore I will be more than happy to make something she will enjoy.
Though I have only been eating these for breakfast, they would be delicious on a bun for a lunch or dinner sandwich. They would also be tasty made as small meat balls and served with a chili mango dipping sauce (maybe, but I would have to experiment with the sauce)
Do yourself a favor and give this a try. It is seriously delicious!
p.s. And yes, I do eat leftover tossed salad for breakfast.
With my lack of egg fandom, I have been relying on other meats for breakfast and have made paleo chorizo, turkey-blueberry sausage and this new breakfast sausage I tweaked from several online paleo blogs. I am not trying to avoid crediting any of them but I truly combine ideas from 3 or 4 of them and make what I think will suit my tastes best. This one at Heartbeet Kitchen comes closest to what I finally made.
1 small red onion, minced
1 small mango, minced
1 pinch powdered garlic
1 small jalapeno, seeded, ribs removed, and minced
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
2 pinches chili powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped finely
dash of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste (I used a pinch of each)
1 small egg, beaten
1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted in a frying pan.
If you want to, buy the chicken pre-ground. At 4 bucks a pound I just was not going to do it. I had boneless skinless chicken breasts (purchased for 1.77 per pound) in the freezer so I thawed them and tossed them in the food processor using the blade. It took a few quick pulses and it was ground fine enough for my needs. Transfer to a glass mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients except for the coconut oil.
Mix well. According to everything I read I should have put on gloves to mix the ingredients with my hands. I figured since I wash my hands prior to cooking and wash them several times during the prep time I would live life on the edge, mix with my bare hands and wash them thoroughly once everything was together. Pat the chicken mix into patties (I went a little larger rather than smaller, 2 1/2-3 inches in diameter) and cook in the coconut oiled frying pan on the stovetop using a medium high setting. I cooked them for about 3 minutes, flipped them and cooked until the chicken lost its pink color. Then I lined a baking sheet with parchment and popped them in the freezer until they were frozen.After that they were transferred to a zip lock freezer bag. I did slightly undercook them so that I can serve them nice and hot without becoming overcooked during the warming process.
To cook from frozen, I simply put them on a plate and nuked them in the microwave until they were piping hot and cooked through. (about 1 1/2 minutes for 2.)
Everyone in my inner circle has tried them and loved them, from my 87 year old mother to GF2. TheHub thought they were great and not one person had any clue they were paleo and whole 30 compliant. (They think anything whole 30 must lack flavor. Silly people!)
I promise these are delicious. In fact, my first trial batch disappeared before I even got them to the freezer, so I had to make more. I am lucky my freezer is stocked so I could defrost anther chicken breast, and I had extra mangos just to nosh on this week.
I know some of you don't like hot stuff, so I cooked one patty before adding the peppers and chili powder. It was still delicious and now Mom wants me to make her some (sans heat) for her freezer. Since she rarely eats anymore I will be more than happy to make something she will enjoy.
Though I have only been eating these for breakfast, they would be delicious on a bun for a lunch or dinner sandwich. They would also be tasty made as small meat balls and served with a chili mango dipping sauce (maybe, but I would have to experiment with the sauce)
Do yourself a favor and give this a try. It is seriously delicious!
p.s. And yes, I do eat leftover tossed salad for breakfast.
Thanks for trying them without the hot sauce to see if they still had flavor. My husband is getting tired of the way we've been preparing chicken breasts on his diet, so this is a definite must-try. He likes hot, spicy food so we'll see how they turn out. That will probably depend on who's making them.
ReplyDeleteI preferred them with the addition of the peppers but we all know I like hot stuff. They were really tasty without it also.
ReplyDeleteThey sound delicious! I wouldn't have thought of adding mango to a meat dish!
ReplyDeleteI would not have thought of it either, but it works really well.
DeleteThey do sound good. And tasty. Himself would enjoy these. Thank you. Re the tasteless diet thing - my carniverous family frequently assumes that vegetarian food has no taste. Sigh.
ReplyDeletePS: And how excellent that they tempted your mother to eat.
DeleteI do so understand the vegetarian taste thing too. Good tasting food is just good tasting food, no matter what food plan it follows.
DeleteIf your mother will eat them, they are a success. I have no idea why people think vegetarian is bland. I would be the person wanting food without any heat at all. I refuse to eat store ground poultry, so maybe I need a food processor. When I need to put my hands in food to mix, I put a bowl of very hot water and Dawn in the sink, then I don't have to touch anything to get my hands clean. Of course, if you are cooking the food, you have not contaminated it. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteI have one of those faucets with just one handle. I set it to hot than all I have to do is elbow it to get the water running. I have a dishwashing liquid dispenser built into the sink so it just takes a quick brush of the forearm and I have detergent. If I had to actually touch things I might be more diligent and use gloves.
DeleteI have the one-handle faucet, too. You detergent dispenser is motion activated? I like the bowl of soapy water because I want to put my hands in water to clean from under my fingernails with hands in water. I suppose that sounds extra fussy. Oh, well.
ReplyDeleteI'm sdding these to my list. I wonder if ground turkey would be good? I like spice.
ReplyDeleteI would have I would think there would be very little difference
ReplyDeleteOh those look good. Wouldn't have thought to put the mango in but that sounds tasty
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought of it either but they were great!
DeleteWe're going to have to try these, but I may skip the mango part.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing about something like this is the ability to add or subtract whatever you want.
DeleteThis sounds really good although I'd rather face eggs in the morning than meat. I have trouble with paleo type diets as I eat very little meat so am looking at the Mediterranean diet instead in order to lose a few pounds and try to get eating a bit more healthy.
ReplyDeleteThe Mediterranean diet is fantastic too!
DeleteThose look delicious! I really can't face meat and veg for breakfast so when I did whole 30 i ate cashews, banana and coconut and put coconut milk over it just like cereal.
ReplyDeleteI really don't like food at all in the morning but I am finding I can tolerate something like this at about 9:30
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