So I’ve mentioned a few times before that Tim and I are eating “mostly” Paleo these days. We’ve cut out dairy, soy, legumes, carbs, grains and sugar.

That sounds pretty terrible, am I right?

But in practice, it isn’t so bad (except for breakfast…breakfast is admittedly really tough). And I feel significantly better, physically, which was the main goal of cutting out some of those products. My sugar intake pre-Paleo was out of control, people. I had to cut it out cold turkey!

One of the cuisines that is a bit challenging for folks on Paleo is anything Mexican. Cheese, beans and tortillas are all off the table. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still be inspired by the great flavors. In fact, I recently put together some tacos that not only had a lot of influence from Mexican dishes, but also gave a nod to Indian cuisine. It was a global fusion fiesta, right in my kitchen! 🙂

I used McCormick products to add spice to my dish. Here’s exactly what I put in my dish:

And here’s the recipe I used, largely the same as this recipe on the McCormick site, with a few tweaks to make it Paleo-friendly.

Turmeric Spiced Chicken with Tomato Avocado Salsa

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 16 minutes

Step 1:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp McCormick Garlic Powder

1 tsp McCormick Gourmet Collection Sicilian Sea Salt

1 tsp McCormick Ground Turmeric

1/2 tsp McCormick Chiptole Chile Pepper (can substitute crushed red pepper, as well)

2 pounds chicken thighs

Step 2:

6 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, cut into small chunks

2 avocadoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (splurge for the fresh stuff…totally worth it!)

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp McCormick Gourmet Colelction Sicilian Sea Salt

1/2 tsp McCormick Ground Turmeric

8 large iceburg lettuce leaves to serve as the “tortillas”

Mix together all the spices and oil found in step one. It should look like this:

Then place your chicken thighs in a large resealable plastic bag and add the marinade to it. Give it a good squish in the bag to make sure all the chicken is coated well. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes (I let it sit for about 3 hours).

To make the salsa, chop up your onion, tomatoes and cilantro to your liking. To chop up an avocado easily, run a butter knife through it several times. It should look like this:

It will easily go right into your bowl if you just run your knife or a fork all along the edges of the avocado. Easy!

Your salsa also needs to get the lime juice and the spices at this point. It should look like this when you are finished:

Muy bonito, no? 🙂

Now it is time to grill up your chicken! I take the lazy route when it comes to grilling and just plug in my George Foreman! I was able to fit 5 chicken thighs on my machine at once (with a little creative arranging!). Look at how the turmeric has colored the chicken. So pretty!

After your chicken is done (I’d give it anywhere from 14-18 minutes…no pink should be left!), let it cool and then chop it to your liking. Now it is time to build your tacos! This is what the finished product looked like for us:

I was still in the kitchen when I ate my first one. Tim asked me how they tasted and I didn’t answer him at all until I was completely finished. I seriously didn’t want to stop eating for the few seconds it would have taken me to respond to him! Yeah, they were THAT good!

The turmeric spice adds a whole new dimension to taco night. I will be making this regularly. I honestly didn’t even miss beans, chesse and tortillas, which all would have been necessisities for us on taco night just a month ago.

Pinterest Challenge!

Are you in the mood to spice up your dinner routine? Perhaps try something just a little different for your next taco night? Check out the McCormick Pinterest page for lots of great ideas to get you started! And right now McCormick has a great Pinterest Challenge going on with 30 spice kits up for grabs for the winners! See below for all the details!