I’m akin to the withered bone structure of winter and how the simplicity gives you longer quiet stretches to savour belonging to yourself whilst becoming an observer of the human condition.

During the seasonal cold weather in Sydney, Sunday has now become my favourite day of the week.  That’s because it’s my batch cooking day, a day I look forward to as I start to become the architect, anticipating and planning my menus for the upcoming week. It’s a cost effective way to cook and eat and by sweeping prodigality under the carpet you can whip up a few recipes in unison using bulk ingredients.

Another highlight of batch cooking day is the need to clean the kitchen only once and alleviate the necessity of constantly preparing meals throughout the week.  I adore the wonderful aromas that waft out of my kitchen as my cast iron pot is simmering on the stove top.

This is a beautiful big-on-flavour chicken casserole I chanced upon last Sunday that I will happily enjoy with my family and friends over the coming week.  The casserole can be added to with spontaneity with any ingredients you may pick up along the way to bulk it out.

I played with a few flavours and spices in this recipe and used sumac which pairs wonderfully with chicken, then added to the spice mix paprika, cumin and turmeric for its powerful anti-inflammatory benefits. It really is a simple and effortless dish to make and one that is enhanced flavour-wise with time.

If you are doing my Heal Your Gut program this casserole can be blended at the final stage for easy digestibility.

I also threw in a combination of green vegetables for iron and fibre then flavoured it up further with an injection of alkalizing apple cider vinegar, freshly squeezed lemon juice and a couple of sprigs of fresh thyme.

To really enhance the texture of the casserole I coated the chicken thighs in almond meal with the spice mix and wrestled and rolled them around until they were completely covered.  By the way mums and dads, in the process I discovered a much healthier version of KFC which you could add brown rice krispies/bubbles to for a crunchy snack for the kids!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
• 3 garlic cloves sliced
• 1 brown onion chopped
• 1 heaped tsp cumin
• 1 heaped tsp sumac
• 1 heaped tsp of sweet paprika
• 1 TBS turmeric
• ½ cup almond meal to coat
• 6-8 skinless chicken thighs
• 2 cups green vegetables chopped, I used bok choy, zucchini, spring onion and spinach
• 2 large mushrooms sliced
• 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 2 TBS wheat free tamari
• 2 TBS freshly squeezed lemon
• 1 litre chicken stock or home-made broth
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• Celtic Sea Salt and black pepper to taste

Method

• Set oven temperature to 170 degrees Celsius
• In a casserole dish heat one TBS olive oil and add garlic and onion and cook over a medium heat until browned then set aside
• Meanwhile places spices in a small tray or on a plate and stir with a spoon then add almond meal
• Coat the chicken thoughts with the almond and spice mixture
• Heat remaining two TBS olive oil in a frying pan and seal off the chicken thighs over a medium heat then remove and place into the casserole dish with onion and garlic and mushrooms
• Add all vegetables, mushrooms, ACV, tamari, lemon and chicken stock and stir gently and bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer for 5 mins
• Add thyme and season to taste then place in oven for 30 mins until tender
• Remove from the oven and serve with quinoa