There’s not a lot of complicated fiddling around to make this chicken – it’s pretty much as basic as Paleo recipes get. Take some protein, add some spices and oil, apply heat until cooked. But it doesn’t need a lot of complicated fiddling, because it’s good exactly as it is.
Star anise is a spice native to East Asia, but it’s popular all over the world for use on meat, in baking, and in flavorful drinks like chai tea. Here it tag-teams with fennel seed and cinnamon to give the marinade a new and interesting flavor. Add some honey if you want it spicy-sweet, or leave it out for a more savory taste.
This chicken would go really well with a salad that had something sweet and crunchy – pears, orange slices, maybe thin matchsticks of jicama. But the picture up top is just a suggestion: you could also try it with pureed soup or anything else that sounds good for bringing out the flavor of the chicken. (And if you want something a little richer, there’s no reason why you couldn’t use the same marinade on chicken thighs or wings!)
Oven-Roasted Star Anise And Cinnamon Chicken Recipe
SERVES: 4
PREP: 10 min.+2h. 
COOK: 30 min.
Protein: 56g / %
Carbs: 24g / %
Fat: 6g / %
Values are per portion. These are for information only & are not meant to be exact calculations.
Ingredients
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/3 cup coconut aminos
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 4 tbsp. raw honey (optional)
- 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp. fresh ginger, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 tsp. ground fennel seed
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- To make the marinade, whisk together all the ingredients except for the chicken, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Place the chicken breasts with the marinade, and marinate for 2 to 4 hours. (To save dishes, you could do this in an oven-safe dish, like Pyrex)
- Preheat your oven to 400 F.
- If your marinating container wasn’t oven-safe, transfer the chicken breasts to a baking dish with the remaining marinade.
- Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through and no longer pink, basting every 10 minutes.