Brussels and Candied Carrots Bowl

The specific effort in this one is the raw kale: working the dressing into the leaves with your bare hands for a minute or 2 until they stop fighting you and start being something you'd genuinely reach for cold, straight out of a container at your desk. That small effort is what turns this into a bowl you look forward to instead of one you push through.

Carrots give you beta-carotene here, a nutrient the body leans on for the health of the tissue lining the gut, at least as far as current research suggests, and brussels sprouts contribute glucosinolates, compounds the body can turn into substances studied for supporting detox pathways. Neither one is doing anything dramatic by itself. Eaten regularly, together, over the weeks this protocol asks of you, that is where the real value sits.

Roast the chicken thighs with a little more care than a weeknight usually allows, sourced from an animal raised decently when that's within reach, since a meal you're building to last the week deserves that much respect at the start.

Ingredients

For the bowl:

• 2 small boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 cups brussels sprouts, halved
• 2 medium carrots, cut into rounds
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp avocado oil, coconut oil, or olive oil
• 1/3 bunch kale
• Sea salt, to taste

For the dressing:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 pinch mace

Method

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place the chicken thighs on the first pan. Drizzle with a little oil and season with sea salt. In a bowl, toss the halved brussels sprouts, carrot rounds, and raisins with the honey and 2 tablespoons of oil until everything is coated. Spread the vegetable mixture on the second pan in a single layer - crowding will steam rather than roast them.

Place both pans in the oven. Roast the chicken for 25 to 30 minutes until cooked through with an internal temperature of 165 F. Roast the vegetables for 20 to 25 minutes, turning once halfway through, until the brussels are crisped at the edges and the carrots are tender and beginning to caramelize.

While the oven works, strip the kale from the stems and tear the leaves into pieces. Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt, and mace in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the kale and massage firmly with both hands for 1 to 2 minutes, until the leaves darken, soften, and shrink. Massaged kale is a different vegetable from raw kale - this step matters.

Assemble the bowls at room temperature or cold: massaged kale as the base, then the roasted vegetables, then the chicken sliced or left whole. The components keep well in the refrigerator for 2 days stored separately.

*Adapted from Thriving On Paleo*