Oven-Roasted Star Anise And Cinnamon Chicken

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.

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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

1. To make the marinade, whisk together all the ingredients except for the chicken, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. 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)
3. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
4. If your marinating container wasn’t oven-safe, transfer the chicken breasts to a baking dish with the remaining marinade.
5. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through and no longer pink, basting every 10 minutes.