Quick Shredded Chicken Provencal with Cauliflower Rice - AIP elimination compliant

The elimination phase gets easier once you accept that not every dinner has to start from zero. This one starts with chicken you already roasted for something else. Shred what is left, chop 4 vegetables, and in about 30 minutes there is a full dinner with a real sauce, not a reheated plate.

Chicken, especially bone-in and skin-on with the drippings kept, gives you glycine, the amino acid most tied to gut lining repair, the same barrier that plays a role in how an overactive immune system settles down. The carrots, celery, fennel, and leek cooking alongside it are a steady source of fiber, feeding the microbes that live in the gut and shape immune behavior over time.

Make the cauliflower rice in a separate pan while the sauce reduces, and let both hit the table together. Scatter the reserved fennel fronds over the top. It takes the dish from something you assembled to something you plated with a little care, and that care is not a small thing on a day when you did not have much of it to spare.

Ingredients

For the chicken and sauce:

• 2 tablespoons solid fat (lard or coconut oil)
• 2 medium carrots, grated
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 small fennel bulb, chopped
• 1 leek, sliced
• 2 teaspoons dried Herbes de Provence (check your blend - it must be an all-herb mix with no seed spices, no lavender seed; thyme, rosemary, marjoram, and basil are fine)
• 1 cup sweet potato puree (or pumpkin puree)
• 2 1/2 to 3 cups broth (or water)
• generous pinch salt
• 12 oz shredded leftover roast chicken
• 3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• a few fennel fronds

AIP note: Omit any optional cumin, coriander, or fenugreek seed the source recipe may suggest - those are seed spices and are not permitted on elimination phase.

For the cauliflower rice:

• 2 tablespoons solid fat (lard or coconut oil)
• 1 medium head cauliflower, riced (pulse in a food processor or grate on a box grater)
• pinch of salt

Method

1. Warm 2 tablespoons of fat in a large skillet or saute pan over medium heat. Add the grated carrots, sliced celery, chopped fennel, and sliced leek. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly, until the vegetables have softened and reduced in volume.

1. Stir in the Herbes de Provence and cook for one more minute to bloom the dried herbs in the fat.

1. Add the sweet potato puree and 2 1/2 cups of the broth. Stir well to combine everything into a sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes, adding the remaining 1/2 cup of broth if the sauce looks too thick.

1. Stir in the shredded chicken. Let it warm through in the sauce for 3-4 minutes. Taste and add salt as needed.

1. While the chicken warms through, cook the cauliflower rice. Warm 2 tablespoons of fat in a separate skillet over medium-high heat. Add the riced cauliflower and a pinch of salt. Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is tender and any moisture has cooked off.

1. Remove the chicken pan from heat. Stir in the chopped parsley. Serve the chicken and sauce spooned over the cauliflower rice, topped with a few fennel fronds.

*Adapted from healingfamilyeats.com*