Orange, chicken, almonds and vegetables really do make a delicious mix of flavours, especially with a few sprigs of thyme thrown in.

I had some chicken thighs needed to be used up so used these instead of breasts.  I also increased the zucchini to a whole one as I didn’t have any squash.   I probably used far more spinach than 1/2 cup as it cooks down so much.

The lovely orange flavour really came through and added a zing to the vegetables and almonds.  It also smelled fantastic whilst it was cooking.

INGREDIENTS:

2 farm organic chicken breasts
1 orange (keep a slice for decoration)
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
Small amount of olive oil

INGREDIENTS FOR ALMOND PILAF:

1 cup slivered almonds
½ red pepper
½ green pepper
½ each yellow squash and green zucchini (I used a whole zucchini and no squash)
½ cup fresh spinach, chopped

METHOD:

Cut chicken breasts in half lengthways.

Heat olive oil in pan over a medium heat then add chicken.

Squeeze half of the fresh orange over the chicken and place 2 springs of thyme on top.

Cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes.

Turn chicken breasts over, squeeze the remaining half orange over them and add remaining thyme. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Whilst the chicken cooks, prep your vegetables for the pilaf.  Dice the peppers and squash/zucchini and chop the spinach; mix in the almonds.

When the chicken is cooked, remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add the pilaf to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes.

Arrange the pilaf on a plate with the sliced chicken on top. Garnish with some orange.

Orange Chicken with Almond Pilaf

This is one of the recipes adapted from Primalpaleo.com.