Happy Easter! And some recipes.

Happy Easter everyone! I hope you're all enjoying this day!
When it comes to Easter food, I made myself a couple of nice meals, not too different from what I normally eat, but I put a little more effort in it than usual.
Yesterday afternoon I suddenly had a craving for Asian food, I think the warm weather caused that. As you might now, spicy food makes people able to cool down a little. (sounds unlogical, but it makes sense when you think about it) So I ended up going to the Asian supermarket and stocked up on some good curry paste. I bought Patak's Vindaloo Paste (which is generally very hot) and some Mae Ploy Thai Yellow Curry Paste along with some Thai coriander, baby bok choy and a huge bag of dessicated coconut. So I can start cooking spicy as soon as I feel like it. Somehow shopping at the Asian supermarket always feels like a small holiday to me, I love everything about it!

This morning I went for an Easter morning run, which went pretty well. My knee didn't feel bad at all, quite a relief! I did however have lots of hay fever symptoms.. I always hate that. It's as if I can't breathe as easily anymore (which probably is true..) and makes me tired. I already upped my dose of MSM and Quercetine so I hope it'll start working soon.

For breakfast I had chicken spinach muffins; I simply used this recipe for chicken meatballs, but instead of turning the chicken mixture into meatballs I stuffed it into some muffin cups and baked it for approx. 45 minutes at 175 degrees Celsius until golden brown and done.
I combined them with a salad that I made out of my roasted cauliflower, that I had leftover from yesterday.

Roasted cauliflower salad (serves 1)
- 1/2 batch of oven roasted cauliflower (see this recipe)
- 1 carrot, grated
- 1 handful raisins
- 1 small handful almonds
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped

1. In a bowl, combine cauliflower, carrot, raisins and almonds.
2. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice and toss to mix.
3. Serve with coriander leaves on top and enjoy!

Halfway through the afternoon my roast chicken was ready! Yum!
This time I used some different spices which worked out very well. However, I think the lemon made all the difference. My Dutch oven did a wonderful job once again. I have a huge amount of shredded chicken in my fridge now, and have already been thinking about some ways to use it.
For 'dessert', I halved a big chocolate egg (I just inserted a knife along the seam, and it split right away, very easy) and scooped a generous amount of chocolate pudding in it that I'd made out of some avocados, banana, coconut and cocoa, then put it in the fridge for a few hours and served it with some dessicated coconut. The egg was made out of dark chocolate, so all dairy free, however it did contain sugar. Not all the way Paleo, but it's Easter after all!

Roast chicken with pumpkin (serves 4-6)
- 1 chicken (approx. 1500g)
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 small pumpkin, seeded and diced
- 1 lemon, halved
- 2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp dried thyme leaves
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp caraway seeds
- 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
2. Heat coconut oil in a Dutch oven and season your chicken inside and out with the black pepper and thyme, and stuff the cavity with the lemon halves.
3. Brown the chicken on all sides and transfer chicken to a plate.
4. In the remaining oil, fry garlic, onions and pumpkin for about a minute until coated with fat. Stir in the ground coriander and caraway seeds.
5. Put the chicken on top of the veggies and cover the pan with a lid.
6. Transfer the pan to the oven. Bake for approx. 90 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the juices run clear. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
7. Carve your chicken and serve the pieces with some of the vegetables. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and enjoy!

Chocolate avocado pudding (serves 2)
- 1 banana
- 2 small avocados
- 2 tbsp creamed coconut
- 2 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
2. Divide over 2 bowls and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
3. Serve plain or with topping of your choice (dessicated coconut, chopped walnuts or hazelnuts, berries, etc) and enjoy!