Paleo Spicy n' Sweet Blood Orange Wings

Superbowl countdown is on. I’d love the attend the game some day, but preferably when it is in a warm location like Miami. I love NYC, but I’m not sure how I feel about sitting outside for 3+ hours to watch a football game. During college, I could barely handle November games in Kansas. My aversion to cold runs deeps. I thought of moving to Chicago or Denver after college, but in a snap decision chose Los Angeles purely based on the nice weather. 

I’m on my last day of Whole30!! Yeah. I’m feeling very accomplished but at the same time want a paleo brownie right at midnight. This month has truly reignited my passion for eating healthy. I didn't set out to lose weight, but I can tell I did because my jeans fit looser. I wanted to get back on track and stop taking so many little cheats. I feel so much better. Now that I don’t have wearing glasses as an excuse, I’m also ready to get back into yoga. I’ve let my practice slide and miss it.

While gathering ingredients for my Superbowl party, I realized blood oranges are in season! Their peak growing time is in winter to early spring. I didn’t really get into blood oranges until moving to California, where they are readily available at the farmers market. To best describe the flavor it is almost like a regular orange with a hint of raspberry. I like adding them to dishes not only for the flavor but also an awesome pop of color. I love this recipe because it works for both spicy and sweet fans, but if you only want to make the spicy or sweet simply double the sauce recipe!

Ingredients 

chicken wings

2 lbs chicken wings, separated

2 tbls ghee, melted

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

spicy sauce

1/2 cup blood orange juice

1/2 tsp chipotle powder

1/4 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp sea salt

sweet sauce

1/2 cup blood orange juice

1 tbls raw honey

1/8 tsp sea salt

mint dipping sauce

1/2 cup paleo mayo, recipe to follow

1/4 cup fresh mint, minced

1 tbls lemon juice

1/4 tsp chipotle powder

1/8 tsp sea salt

1/8 tsp pepper

mayo

1 egg

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 cup light tasting oil olive (not extra virgin)

Directions

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Pat wings dry with a paper towel. Toss with ghee, salt and pepper. Arrange wings on a wire rack on top of a rimmed-baking sheet. Pop in the oven and cook for 20 minutes. Flip and cook for another 20 minutes. 

While the wings are cooking, mix up your two sauces. Pour each into separate small sauce pots. Cook on medium-low until the sauce reduces and becomes thicker, about 10 minutes. Once the chicken wings are done and crispy, toss into each sauce pot and thoroughly coat. 

To make your mayo, you will need an immersion blender.Crack egg into tall jar wide enough to fit your immersion blender. Squeeze in lemon juice. Pour in oil and let egg settle to bottom of jar. Place blender into the jar until it hits the bottom. Blend for 30 seconds then slowly pull the blender up until all the oil is incorporated about 30 more seconds. Make sure you turn the blender off before pulling it out of the jar. You will only need 1/2 of this portion for the dipping sauce. Save the remaining in an airtight container. It is good for a week after the date on your egg carton. 

Mix in mint, lemon juice, chipotle, salt and pepper into 1/2 cup mayo. Serve with the spicy or both flavors of wings! It also makes a fantastic dip for sweet potato chips! 

Serves 4. 

Enjoy!

x vanessa