Chicken and rice, out of the Box!

Today is MY day off...no hub, my agenda. On this day it was sleep, because I do shift work and got called in last night for graveyard shift. When I woke up, I just wanted to read and browse recipes online...so relaxing! I also read up on Mark Sisson's 21-Day Total Body Transformation. That is the catalyst for all of this change...trying to make the shift toward a more Primal-style of eating and exercising. According to Mark's plan, "Primal foods include meat, fish, fowl, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds, high quality fats, a moderate intake of high-fat dairy products and supplemental carbs and occasional sensible indulgences such as red wine and dark chocolate." The whole point is to create a leaner, stronger body that burns fuel (food) more efficiently and thereby increasing energy and health benefits overall.

It doesn't sound to difficult, until you realize there are no grains here, no beans or legumes either. I am having a hard time wrapping my head around that one. I am just not ready to give them up completely, although I think I can limit them. Like today, I wanted to make some chicken tenders for tonight's dinner, and pair it with a beets and greens salad. The perfect accompaniment? Rice! So I am making some Old World rice pilaf and even mixing in some of the salad sprouts from Mt. Olive into the pilaf for an extra nutritional kick.

I can have eggs every day for breakfast, eat vegies and salad and lean meat for lunch, have fruits and nuts for mid-meal snacks, but I still want my carbs for dinner. Speaking of dinner, I am planning on making some kind of a green salad using those beautiful golden beets from the box. Giada had a recipe that sounded pretty good: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/beet-and-goat-cheese-arugula-salad-recipe/index.html?ic1=obinsite
SLO Veg also has a similar recipe on their website.

I had already roasted the beets over the weekend, so I just peeled and diced them and put them in a little oil, vinegar and honey marinade for now. I have a lot of lettuce blends right now, so a bed of greens with the beets is an easy out. I added some purple and orange carrot curls, feta cheese and walnuts that I candied with my Pomegranate Blueberry Vinaigrette.

I never worry if I am following a recipe exactly. I learned early on from my mother that you can substitute things in a recipe according to your preferences and your supplies. One time she substituted Special K cereal for cornflakes in some cookies, and it became our favorite cookie ever! I haven' t made those cookies in years, and if we go completely primal, I won' t be making them anytime soon.

The chicken had marinated in a honey and Balsamic blend seasoned with red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Chicken tenders then were browned in acocado oil and finished baking in the oven while we ate our salads. I almost added some steamed broccoli to the plate, but after eating the salad with several large chunks of beets, I figured we got enough vegetables for one meal.