My favorite Paleo recipes: Braised Chicken with Mexican Spices

I eat Paleo-style.  But I love food and cooking, in general.  My favorite magazine is Bon Appetit.  So I'm always happy when I stumble across a Paleo-friendly recipe at a non-paleo source.  I found this recipe for Braised Chicken with Mexican Spices at A Little Bit Burnt: A small Brooklyn kitchen, and an electric stove.  I love the idea behind this blog, which is making due with the space you have to make fantastic food.  It's very close to home, being a Navy wife and living in military housing.  You never know what you're gonna have to work with until you get to your next duty station.

Braised chicken with Mexican spices

• About 4-5 lb. or approximately 8 whole chicken thighs
• Drizzle of olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 3 Tbsp. kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp. ground pepper
• 1 Tbsp. crumbled Mexican oregano 
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder, ancho chili powder or a mixture of chili powders
• 2 x 14.5 oz. or 1 x 28-30 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 3 Tbsp. Mexican hot sauce

Season each thigh with 2 Tbsp. salt and pepper on each side.  In a large dutch oven or heavy pot, heat up a good drizzle of olive oil over medium high heat.  Add chicken thighs skin side down, without crowding the pot, and sear for a few minutes until nicely browned.  Flip thighs and brown for a few more minutes.  Remove chicken thighs and set aside and repeat with the remaining chicken, and remove after browning.  Add diced onions and garlic and saute for a few minutes.  Add spices and the other 1 Tbsp. salt and saute for a minute until fragrant.  Add tomatoes and hot sauce and stir well.  Add chicken pieces back to pot, nestling them into the tomato mixture.  Cover and reduce heat to medium and cook until chicken is cooked through and tender, about 25-30 minutes.

Remove thighs and when they are cool enough to handle, discard skin and shred the chicken.  Put a few spoons of the tomato mixture and mix together, adding more tomato mixture until your desired level of sauciness.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Serve with  salsa verde, pickled red onions, chopped cilantro.  I like mine on top of fried bell pepper strips and greens.

Nutritional info*: Calories 384  Fat 33.4g  Sat Fat 4.8g  Chol 46.8g  Sod 2592g  Carb 9.6g  Fiber 3.5g  Pro 13.7g

*All nutritional info was not provided in the original recipe.  I use the Recipe Calculator at Sparkpeople.com to calculate nutritional value.