Low-carb food can sometimes have a disappointing tendency to feel a tad on the ‘anaemic’ side! Well not so with this dish! Few recipes can feel more heart-warmingly substantial and filling than this one! Not only do all the ingredients possess that definitive ‘comfort factor’; but the spices used are warm, aromatic and ‘earthy’; producing the kind of rich, moreish ‘soul-food’ you just want to ladle into large bowls and eat on your lap!
Turnip is categorically one of the great, unsung low-carb food-heroes. Much like celeriac; it’s amongst the only root-vegetables not packed to the gunnels with starch! At around 4g of net carbs per 100g, you’d be hard pushed to beak the daily carb-bank with such low levels…
It can require careful cooking however. What do I mean? The traditional turnip has a slightly sharp, peppery taste, much like a radish (next time you cut into one, eat a tiny slice raw and you’ll soon see what I’m talking about!). This means that it often needs to be accompanied by warm flavours such as bacon, butter or aromatic spices to detract from the sharpness. On the flip side however, this also makes it great in oriental dishes, where its pepperiness serves only to accentuate the finished result! Another huge boon is that it’s quick to cook; softening in half the time of things like celeriac or carrot. For all these things then, it’s an everyday winner in my book!
Because of the ‘low-carbohydrate’ nature of everything in this dish, the recipe is perfect for diabetics or those on a ketogenic-diet. There’s also nothing that a paleo-protagonist or gluten-intolerant can’t eat, so it’s a true ‘meal-solution’ for anyone and everyone. As such, I can’t recommend this recipe highly enough. Give it a try and make sure to tell me how you got on!
Start by roughly dicing some smoked bacon. Add some butter to a pan and sauté the bacon until it starts to brown. At this point, tumble in one finely sliced onion and stir well to coat. Crush in two cloves of garlic, then add your chicken breasts (one per person). Seal these on each side, then sprinkle in a generous teaspoon of cumin. As soon as then mixture starts to panic, pour in a cupful of water and crumble in two chicken stock-cubes. Follow this with half a can of full-fat coconut-milk, add a flourish of dried oregano, then leave to pan to simmer on a low heat for 25 minutes until the sauce is thick and creamy.
Now you can start on your turnips. Peel about 2 per person and chop into a 1.5cm dice. There’s no need to top and tail the vegetable; it’s quite soft enough to peel directly over the root-line and sprout-top. Slice another onion and soften this again in butter. Whilst this is cooking, finely chop a jalapeño chilli and two cloves of garlic. Add these to the onion and pile in the diced turnip. Sprinkle a large teaspoon of turmeric on top and stir the mixture well to ensure that everything is well coated. Then crumble in two more chicken stock-cubes and pour on sufficient boiling water so that the pan’s contents are at ‘chin-height’ in liquid. Now simply simmer on a medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has all but evaporated and the turnip is meltingly soft.
Once the turnip is cooked, stir through a large tablespoon of double cream and taste to adjust the seasoning. Ladle the chicken into bowls, ensuring a generous spoonful of coconut sauce per portion. Spoon the turnip mix to one side and garnish the lot with chopped fresh coriander leaves and toasted almond-slices. Then simply dig in! Truly sublime in every way!
Browse this and other recipes by picture on my pinterest page: country walks in ketosis pinterest.
Thanks for reading and bon ap!
Adam.