By Greg B. So, as some of you readers know, I’ve been keeping myself more or less on a paleolithic diet for some time now.  I’m not really strict about it, but I do make a conscious effort to avoid refined starches (pasta, breads) as well as rice, and I have really cut down my consumption of beans and dairy. You might think this is a big dietary shift for someone, but honestly… most of my normal diet is meats and vegetables anyway.  So no, instead of supplementing that with bread, I use fruits and nuts, which are much better sources of vitamins and other nutrients.  But I’ve been keeping track of some of the better paleo  meals I’ve made in the past few weeks, and I’m going to write about them.  Here’s one I made tonight that turned out very well.

Start ahead of time by brining a chicken breast.  It’s not a hard procedure, but you’ll thank me later.  For the rest of the ingredients, you’ll see

• 1 brined chicken breast
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into whatever size portions you want to eat
• 1 red pepper,  very rough chop
• 1 green pepper, also very rough chop
• A supply of black walnuts (I got mine from an Amish market)
• bacon or duck fat (I used both, once my supply of bacon fat was used up)
• bit of salt
• few pinches of ground black pepper
• a good teaspoon of ground ginger

This is a very simple recipe that is easy to throw together and doesn’t take very long to cook at all.  In a large skillet (10″), heat a solid tablespoon of bacon fat.  While that melts and heats, cut up your vegetables to the size you want to eat them, and begin to add to the fat.  At first, don’t stir.  For me, this is a very important technique which I’ll now explain. I love both the smell and the taste of slightly burnt broccoli.  If you’ve ever wondered what it is about your stir fry that just doesn’t cut it, try cranking up the heat slightly and stirring less.  let your broccoli get a little singe and then see if that helps.  I think it adds a nice flavor to the dish.  You may disagree, and in that case, stir more often.  Cook the vegetables on high until they’re just starting to soften, then turn the heat down to low.

In a separate frying pan, eat some more bacon fat (duck fat this time) and drain your chicken breast.  I like to slice it in half to aid in cooking time, and I slice it in half lengthwise but also not through the thick part of the chicken.  I want two wide slices, and a thinner breast.  Add this to your fat, and cook on medium high until golden brown.  Add some salt and black pepper if you’d like.

Now, when the chicken is browning, turn that heat up on the vegetables.  The chicken should only take a few minutes per side, so turn up the veggie heat and add your spices. Some salt, some pepper and a good amount of ginger.  Once your chicken is browned, add that to your vegetable mixture, as well as a cup of water and your black walnuts.  How many?  That’s up to you to decide.  Cover, and simmer for 5 minutes before mixing.  Re-cover and simmer another 5 minutes.  Depending on how much ‘sauce’ you want, you can either remove the lid and serve yourself and eat, or give it a few minutes to boil off some of that liquid.  Either way, you’re minutes away from a delicious meal.

And that’s it!  Brining the chicken breast helps it retain moisture during the frying, and slightly burning the broccoli is the key to adding some flavor depth to this dish.  That said, the black walnuts go a long way to add both a nuttiness to the dish, as well as that more aromatic and specific black walnut aroma, which mixes nicely with the ginger.  This is simple cooking and eating, but it’s a meal packed full of a meal’s worth of protein, fat and a ton of nutrients.  Happy Paleo meal!