So, clearly not everyone has the time to roast a chicken…
but places like Bouley Bakery or Dean and Deluca (here in NYC) do a good job at that for you, and the chickens are free range and/or organic!
Place like Whole Foods and Citarella also offer roast chickens that are pretty tasty if not totally ethically farmed and raised.
Anyway, pre-roasted chicken is an incredibly versatile protein that is crazy delicious. Here is one of my favorite ways to get my fill of this yummy bird.
Chicken Tarragon Salad with Olive Oil
Serves 2 to 4.
½ small head frisée lettuce (this is mostly for presentation, but it’s pretty tasty stuff)
½ whole roast chicken, (or for carb types, 2 breasts)
¼ cup dark raisins (I like the big and plump Monukka raisins)
2 tbsp lightly toasted pinenuts
1 ½ tbsp chopped fresh tarragon
1 medium shallot, minced
olive oil
dash of Dijon mustard (optional, but I like the acidity)
Celtic sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
Pick the leaves from the frisée and cut into pieces, if necessary. Set aside.
Remove the skin from the meat. In a large bowl, shred the meat into bite size pieces with your hands
(works better than a fork).
Add the raisins, pine nuts, tarragon and shallot to the meat and mix (again, with your hands!) to combine.
Add as much olive oil, bit by bit, combining thoroughly after each addition, until you reach the desired
moisture of your salad.
Add mustard, if desired.
Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.
To serve the salad, lay the frisée on serving plates and top with salad.
This awesome free range chicken recipe comes from one of my newest and most inspired, incredibly intelligent and soon to be world famous organic foods chef Julia Kouyoumdjian.
Julia came to me after following a raw foods vegan diet. Like many of my clients, she fell for this trendy fantasy that vegan raw foods will save the planet and is the optimal diet for all humanity. This diet, which does not exist in nature, wreaked havoc on her body and brain chemistry as did all my other clients who followed this.
Now, I’m not a raw foods vegan hater, don’t get me wrong. I was a vegetarian for 18 years and my closest friends are vegan or vegetarian, but…
After discovering her genetic requirements for food, we found out that she is, in fact, a protein type (her body works better on darker meats and less carbs), so she started eating accordingly, is now getting amazing results and feels better than ever!
‘Life in all its fullness is Mother Nature obeyed.’ Weston A Price
Remember my #1 Law of Real Nutrition: You Are Unique! What works for one person, will not work for another and may be harmful to a third person.
Anyone pushing a ‘diet for all’ people, whether its raw food vegan, Atkins, jenny Craig, my personal favorite Weight Watchers or ANY plan, is either lying to you, overly zealous or simply has no clue.
Since we are on this topic of nutriton laws, here is my #2 Law of Nutrition: Calories In = Calories Out is an outdated, oversimplified mathematical equation that simply doesn’t make sense and does not deliver awesome results. It might be sufficient for lab technicians or scientists who don’t operate in the real world or journalists in mainstream media, but it won’t help you live an awesome life of true health, vitality, longevity! Even the Huffington Post promoted this idiot idea recently.
Real health and wellness requires first, that you can think for yourself and not believe most of that which is published in mainstream media.
Secondly, you need fresh, high quality, nutrient dense whole food which is naturally raised, organic produce and grass fed animals & eggs. Raw dairy for some, but not for all. Drink nothing but water.
These are foods that you find in nature that have sustained the healthiest cultures on the planet and have brought the human race pretty far throughout history. Don’t fall for the marketing hype promoting ‘one size fits all’ diets (whether from mainstream or alternative sources), engineered foods or formulas that come from a lab.
You are unique. Don’t let anyone tell you different.
You are much more than a mathematical equation. Don’t fall for it.