Chicken and Hummus Bowl with Flatbread and Sweet Potato

|Katie Layland

All your favourite things in one bowl, what more could you want in one recipe. This dish makes the perfect midweek dinner and features ingredients from my Eczema Detox Program packed with nutrients for skin health that are full of flavour.  

The health benefits:

Sweet potatoes are rich in vitamins C and B, manganese and beta-carotene which is an important antioxidant that can increase your skin's hydration and improve the health of your skin. Beta carotene is converted to vitamin A in the body which encourages skin cell turnover.

Chickpeas are packed with protein and provide a great source of insoluble fibre which helps to keep your gut healthy. Chickpeas are also a rich source of folate, iron, manganese, copper and zinc all of which are beneficial for healthy collagen formation in the skin. 

NOTES:

If you are following the FID (Food Intolerance Diagnosis program from The Eczema Detox), you can substitute sweet potato for white potato and cos lettuce for iceberg lettuce. 

Amazing tip: If you suffer from histamine intolerance or amine intolerance, you should favour steaming or 'water frying' your meats (instead of frying, baking or grilling), as this greatly reduces the amount of amines produced during cooking. If your intolerance to histamines is severe you may want to steam your vegetables too. You will feel the difference!

This recipe makes 2 chicken bowls, double or triple the recipe if serving a family or more people.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 good quality fresh chicken breasts
  • 1 small to medium sweet potato (peeled)
  • 2 teaspoons of fresh chives (chopped)
  • 2 teaspoons of shallots (sliced)
  • 2 teaspoons of garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
  • 2 teaspoons of maple syrup 
  • 4 cos lettuce leaves
  • 1 batch of homemade Sesame-Free Hummus (p. 132 in The Eczema Detox, or The Eczema Diet)
  • 1/2 cup of chickpea flour
  • 1/2 cup of filtered water
  • 1/2 teaspoon of GF baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon of good quality salt (such as Celtic sea salt)
  • Extra shallots for serving

METHOD:

Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F).

Cover a baking tray with baking paper and set aside. 

Grab the peeled sweet potato and cut into circles about 1 cm thick. Place chicken breast on a chopping board, cover with baking paper and pound it at the thickest part so it is even to about 1.5 cm. Place the chicken on the tray and surround with the sweet potato circles {or cook your chicken last via these water methods if you suffer from any kind of amine intolerance: steam the chicken in a steamer for about 5 minutes; or add a tablespoon of water to a good non-stick frying pan and lightly cook the chicken on both sides until the chicken is cooked through and there are no uncooked pink bits}. 

In a small bowl, mix together the chives, shallots, garlic powder and maple syrup and coat each side of the chicken breast with the marinade. The chicken will take about 18-20 minutes to cook so if you have made the flatbread and hummus before this should be enough time to do both while the chicken is cooking. If this is your first time make the batch of hummus up first and then place the chicken in the oven while you make the flatbread.  

Here is the recipe for Sesame-Free Hummus, set aside 

For the chickpea flatbreads, in a bowl mix together 1/2 cup of chickpea (besan) flour, 1/2 cup of filtered water and salt until the mixture is combined and silky. Place a medium-sized non-stick pan on medium heat and drizzle with a little rice bran or sunflower oil. Once the pan has warmed add half the batter into the pan making a sort of naan looking shape. Once lightly browned on one side, flip the flatbread over and continue cooking. Remove and place onto some baking paper then continue with the second flatbread. Leave to slightly cool while you remove the chicken from the oven. 

Once the chicken is cooked (check after 18 minutes, but it may take up to 23 minutes), remove and place chicken on a chopping board. If the sweet potato needs a little longer you can place these back in while you assemble the bowls. 

Grab 2 bowls and place 2 large cos leaves into each bowl. Cut each chicken breast lengthwise and place upright in the bowl then follow with the flatbread. Place a big dollop of hummus and top with the sweet potato circles and some fresh shallots. 

Products 

At Eczema Life, we recommend nutritionist Karen Fischer's low food chemical program (The Eczema Detox) along with additive-free supplements for skin health and wellbeing. Click on the images to view more details:

    

Food photos and recipe by Katie Layland  

The Eczema Toolkit

the holistic way to clear skin

The Eczema Detox is Karen Fischer's latest best-selling eczema manual designed to help you find relief. Through her work she found some patients needed a special program to identify personal triggers, so the FID Program was created. The Eczema Clear Skin Toolkit combines gut health and nutrition with soothing, barrier repair skincare and supplements to calm the itch and support skin repair, the immune system and more. If you’ve tried everything and nothing has worked, this is the skin calming toolkit you've been praying for.

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Eczema Friend

the itch buster  |  rash cream

The low pH eczema cream that helps to relieve itchy skin, red skin rash and mild eczema and dermatitis. Suitable for all types of rashes. It's the cream you'll wish you had tried first.

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Frequently asked questions

Does food allergy trigger eczema?

Food allergy and eczema are closely linked, and allergies can absolutely make eczema worse, but they're often not what starts it in the first place. In fact, research suggests the reverse may be more accurate: eczema itself may come first and increase the risk of developing food allergies, rather than the other way around (Tsakok et al. 2016). One study found that babies with eczema were up to six times more likely to become
sensitised to foods compared to those without eczema. In children with established eczema, up to 66% showed food sensitisation, with confirmed food allergy in up to 81% of cases (Tsakok et al. 2016).

If you or your child has a diagnosed food allergy, those foods should be avoided for now. For additional guidance, the Food Intolerance Diagnosis (FID) Program in The Eczema Detox book can help identify food intolerances that do not show up in allergy tests (see next FAQ).
Do food allergy tests help eczema?

Skin prick tests and other food allergy tests including blood tests and patch tests can be unreliable on their own, so an oral food
challenge (supervised by an allergy specialist if you are prone to anaphylaxis), is the most accurate way to confirm whether you or your child is reacting to a particular food. For additional guidance, the FID Program in The Eczema Detox book can help you to identify your personal triggers.
About the authors

Ren Karen Fischer is a nutritionist, mother of two, and award-winning author of seven books, including the bestsellers The Eczema Diet and The Eczema Detox. Fischer is also a peer-reviewed published researcher, and is currently undertaking eczema research as part of a Master's by Research at Bond University. Combining clinical research with real-world experience, she is dedicated to advancing evidence-based care for eczema.

Nutritionist Bonnie Taylor holds a Bachelor of Health Science degree and helps people with eczema identify their individual triggers through the FID Program. Taylor has worked alongside Fischer for many years and offers nutrition consultations by appointment.