Chicken, Bacon and Leek Casserole

This meal is not pretty. At all. It is, however, delicious. Sometimes I want pure comfort food but I don't want to feel bloated and guilty afterwards.  This meal hits that spot.  And  more.  Plus it has stupidly high amounts of protein. I can't emphasise enough how much you need to cook this meal. It tastes so so naughty but is so so nice.

Portuguese Chicken and Lentil Casserole

It is Winter here and we are loving warming casseroles. Who doesn't?  This meal was born out of having chicken and lentils ready to be used and having wanted to try Portuguese spices for some time. The flavour is fresh and hearty.  The first time I made this we served it as a casserole on top of rice, but lately I have found that adding rice to casseroles bulks them out well, reduces the amount of rice you eat over all and tastes great! Plus you don't need to spend the time cooking rice the next night. Much simpler.

Kasundi Chicken Curry

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may remember the amazing Indian relish that I made about a year and a half ago after being inspired by (of all things) a tasty mid-flight meal.  Who'd have thought it?  Anyway, I have had a hankering to make some more kasundi to put some into a curry and freeze some in my fancy new deep freeze *dances happily*. I'm keen to learn to do canning, and in time I want to make and can big batches of this stuff because it is so tasty and works in so many different ways.  We have used it in a butter chicken curry before, but tonight it will be a different kasundi curry and it will be high protein deliciousness.

Greek Chicken Rissoles

Rissoles are such an easy old timey favourite dish.  Sometimes you get bored of the same-old-same-old, and need to spice them up a bit.  A while ago I posted my favourite lamb rissoles which always go down a treat.  In our kitchen, we had some chicken mince, a few veggies and some Greek Yiros seasoning which were itching to be used, so I came up with a new spin on an old favourite.  It was SO GOOD! I shouldn't be surprised.  Lately I've been just rolling chicken breasts in Greek Yiros seasoning and cooking them and they have been De.Licious.

We served the rissoles with quinoa tabouleh because our parsley, mint and spring onions were ready for harvesting from our balcony garden, and it is one of my all time favourite sides.  We made these rissoles earlier in the week without the feta and tomato paste, then immediately made it again with the additions once we finished the first batch.  We loved the original recipe, but knew that those couple of additions would take it to the next level.  Love. These. Rissoles. We will have them again!

Mediteranean Chicken and Sour Cream Pasta

So this meal does not exactly match up with my lower-carb focus of late, but it is incredibly delicious and easy.  It does require a little time in the oven, but it is oh-so-worth it.  Despite being high in carbs, this meal is actually pretty healthy. I can promise you that it tastes like the creamiest naughtiest thing off the menu at your favourite Italian restaurant, without the extra fat.  Don't believe me?  Give it a whirl.

Stir Fried Chicken with Egg and Noodles

One of my favourite lunches to make for myself as a teenager was two minute chicken noodles with an egg stirred through in the hot pan. As weird as it sounds, I loved it so so so much.  I wanted to create a (healthier) blast from the past for dinner one night this week, and this is what I came up with.  It made use of some bok choy, shallots and cayenne chilli which we have been growing in our balcony garden, which was even better.  Cooking with food you have grown yourself feels so grounded and beautiful.  This meal takes all of 10 minutes to make and serves 4.  I loved it.  The egg adds protein, holds everything together, and tastes great.

Chicken Gumby - a healthy and delicious Gumbo

Traditional gumbo is an amazing Louisiana casserole with Creole flavours - smoked paprika, cumin, coriander seed and dried oregano.   Yum.  It is to Louisiana as Chilli is to Texas.  Naturally this makes me curious.  While onion, celery and carrot make the basis of much French and Italian food, the trinity of Louisiana cooking is onion, celery and green capsicum, and is central to making a good gumbo.  This meal is economical and delicious.

Gumbo is basically a casserole made with some sort of thickener (roux, filé or okra), veggies and delicious herbs and spices.  For most modern Louisiana cooks, gumbo starts by making a roux using a cup of flour and a cup of butter.  To begin, you melt the butter and slowly add flour (stirring constantly, being careful not to burn the roux).  Once the roux turns a red-brown/chocolate-brown colour, it is ready to go and the vegetables can be added.  This process takes approximately 45 minutes to an hour.

I've chosen to skip the roux (sacrilege I know!) to make a tasty version which is easier on the old arteries.  I've also made it quicker to throw together on a weeknight.  Basically, I love traditional gumbo, but it loves my hips too much.  I've made my own version, by shaking wholemeal flour and spices with the chicken rather than doing it the traditional way.  I've always found that this thickens the sauce well and results in a nice tender chicken.  Basically I've created something akin to the flavour of gumbo, but I call mine gumby because it is not completely authentic.  Plus I do love that little green slab of clay.  This meal serves 4-6.

Hunter's Stew (Chicken Cacciatore)

When I was a kid, chicken cacciatore was a common family dinner and I loved it.  It consisted of cooked chicken in a jar of pre-made sauce on rice.  It was an easy meal for my busy Mum to throw together mid-week for her picky kids (well to be honest I was the picky one, my brother was the easy kid).  Recently I started craving it again after many years, but I wanted to make a more authentic version of this Italian nomfest.  After cooking from scratch for the past few years, I just can't go back to sauce from a jar - it just tastes like preservatives, sugar and salt to me.  I've gone and spoiled myself.

Traditionally, Cacciatore means Hunters Stew.  It can be made from chicken, bunny (eep!), pork, pheasant or any other white meat and refers to cooking how a hunter would.  Traditionally the whole carcass would be chopped up and used, however while I wanted to do this semi traditionally, I couldn't be bothered going to quite that level of authenticity.  I have just used four large lean chicken breasts.  It has been argued that Cacciatore is the Italian version of the French Poulet Chasseur, but I personally love the Italian style.  

The base ingredients are: white meat, onion, capsicum, garlic, white wine (Northern Italian style) or red wine (Southern Italian Style) and herbs. In my opinion most Italian and French food is better when started with a mirepoix, so I have added celery and carrots to the onion base. A lot of recipes will include mushrooms (which a hunter could easily gather from the forest) but I hate them  so you won't find any mushrooms here.  Rosemary and other woodsy herbs are also more traditional, but I was keen to harvest some of our basil so I opted for this instead.  The other non traditional addition was asparagus, just because I love it so much and couldn't help myself.  Omit it if you want to stick to a more authentic recipe. I also threw in some leftover cherry tomatoes, but did not include this in the recipe because they are not necessary. This meal is traditionally served on pasta or polenta, but we chose to serve it on brown rice.  It adds a nutty flavour and doesn't bloat me up like a balloon like pasta does.

I made this in big batch style on a Sunday night to serve both of us for three to four week nights (depending on serving size), but just halve the recipe if you don't want to make such a big batch.  Alternatively just freeze the leftovers.

Tandoori Chicken on Sweet Potato Pizza

 

I've discovered that tandoori chicken and pizza are a match made in heaven.  I've made this a few times now and it is always yum.  It is a blend of my two favourite foods - curry and pizza...drools.

Nom.

Years ago a friend shared her vegan pizza base recipe with me.  I have been tweaking and using it ever since.  It makes for a very unique pizza experience. Using this base it totally optional.  This is my first time of pairing the toppings with this base.  I've made this pizza on normal base multiple times.  I really wanted to try these flavours together and was very happy with how well they worked together.

Greek Baked Chicken

Moist, flavoursome, easy.  These are words that should always accompany chicken.  I hear people say that chicken is bland from time to time but I totally disagree.  Done right it can be downright mouth watering.

One of my favourite meals is Greek lemon potatoes. I love their lemony garlicy noms.  I had a craving recently, but am watching my waistline at the moment so decided to bake some Greek style chicken to serve with a side of (or on top of) quinoa tabouleh as a delicious and healthy dinner.  This was so easy to throw together and we adored the flavour.  Scoring the chicken means that the marinade can permeate it more fully.  The chicken was moist and tasted so good.  This recipe will go down in your list of regular go-to meals.

Chicken Karahi - a divine Middle Eastern meal

Given how much I've discovered that I love cooking Middle Eastern flavours, it struck me that I've not been to many restaurants to try some authentic meals.  We went to a local restaurant which specialises in Afghani food but includes a few recipes from some other middle eastern countries and I was. In. Love.  There was literally no one else there which was both odd and a shame, and there were no visible wait staff so we had to say "hello?" loudly a couple of times to get the attention of the waitress.

We ordered a Bulani  (a beautiful savory potato pastry with herbs and spices) to share as our entre and I want to learn to make it.  Then we shared a tekka kebab meal (zomg the spices blew me away - I have yet to figure out what they were) and a Chicken Karahi. (NB - Karahi, not Koshari - these are very different recipes).

Karahi was soooo good.  Now to make it for real you need to use a bunch of ghee (clarified butter) and given that I am trying to lose weight for my wedding I was keen to find out if I could make a tasty version of this without all of the excess fat.  The restaurant we visited served it with eggs on top, but none of the recipes online that I have encountered do so.  I wanted to try to re-create our restaurant meal, so I've included them for funs :)

Here is what I came up with after much research. And Zomg. Yum. Messy fun, like my Spiced Lamb with Quinoa Tabbouli recipe.  Gotta say I love a share-meal with pita bread.  There's something bonding about the experience of eating together this way. Yum yum yum.

Caprese Chicken with Proscuitto Asparagus

I made this meal for a romantic dinner with the Dragon. It went down a treat. He loves Mediterranean  flavours and I thought this would be a fun and different meal to make him.  Caprese salad is a traditional Italian side of tomato, mozzarella and basil, sometimes drizzled with olive oil and/or balsamic vinegar. It is fresh and beautiful.  The first time I made this for my own lunch while home by myself and feeling fancy, I stuffed the chicken with boccocini, basil and cherry tomatoes.  It was good, but I thought it could be more flavourful using sun dried tomatoes and feta instead of boccocini/mozarella.  Asparagus and cured meats like proscuitto or even bacon are a match made in heaven and seemed a perfect accompaniment.  It made for a lovely candlelit dinner for two.

Lemon Chicken and and Edamame Salad

Who said that salads are less tasty and hearty than other meals?  Who said they have to leave you feeling less than satisfied? Whoever said that was telling a big fat lie.  This dinner will blow your socks off with flavour and leave you feeling full and happy in the process.  I am a little bit in love with it to be honest.

We have news.....the Dragon and I are engaged!!!!!! We are both thrilled to bits and so excited to be planning a wedding in August(ish) - date not yet finalised.  I will probably post more updates about that as we begin the planning process.  So excited!!! Unfortunately, we have both suffered the contentment spread in our relationship and packed on quite a few kilos, so we both plan to aim for buff wedding status.  So you may see more healthy meals posted up here for a while.  I want to feel good about how I look in my wedding photos.  So I have a whopping 15 kg to lose - eep!  Wish me luck!

This delicious meal is a step in my desired direction - healthy yet delicious.  I am so not interested in deprivation dieting.  Stepping up exercising, less alcohol and upping the health content of meals is needed and maintainable, but diets only slow your metabolism and cause more problems long term.  I want to learn to cook meals we love that are in line with our goals.  I just know that you will love this one as much as we do!  It is so worth a try.

Chicken and Bacon Burgers

Sometimes the simple things in life are the best.  There are few things tastier than chicken-and-bacon-anything.  Pizza, pasta, anything.  So I wanted to make a chicken and bacon burger that was quick to throw together and tasted fresh and beautiful.  When I was in Vanuatu many years ago, I encountered the dijon mustard and mayonnaise combination on a number of chicken recipes.  I found it to be a fresh and delicious flavour combo that I would not have considered myself.  I've found dijon mustard to work well with chicken generally (and of course mayonnaise works with everything) so I should not have been surprised.  This is a simple to throw together and reasonably healthy burger that works for us.

Pollo al Forno Con Puttanesca

Baked Chicken with Puttanesca Sauce

Spicy. Salty. Fragrant. Delicious.  Sugo alla Puttanesca is an Italian pasta sauce whose name literally translates to "whore's sauce". There are a few theories about the origins of this sauce's name.  One story claims that 19th century French working girls cooked it between clients, while another claims that judgemental women threw this sauce on prostitutes in the streets while insulting them. All interesting stories, but likely myths. The sauce seems to have actually originated in the kitchen of Sandro Petti, one of the owners of a restaurant and popular night-spot Rancio Fellone in Italy in the 1960s. This story goes that he had nothing but jarred or tinned olives, capers, anchovies and a few tomatoes left in the restaurant's pantry by the end of the night.  So he threw these together to "make any kind of garbage - facci una puttanata qualsiasi" - for late night customers.  This sauce bcame sugo alla puttanesca and grew in popularity.

Traditionally the sauce includes tomatoes, garlic, olives, capers, anchovies (omitted in Napolitan versions as well as my own) and chilli.  The sauce is quickly cooked in a fry pan and takes only anout 5-10 minutes to prepare.  It is usually served over spaghetti as a beautiful vegetarian pasta dish.

I've been dreaming, however of using this sauce with a soft and moist baked chicken breast because I thought the flavours would go beautifully. The name of this dish translates to: "Baked Chicken with Puttanesca". Nom.

West African Ground Nut Stew (Maafe)

Who doesn't love peanuts? When I think of using peanut flavours in cooking I think of a few things - pad thai, satay sticks, largely Asian cuisine.  Alternatively it evokes thoughts of biscuits, peanut brittle, peanut and chocolate treats.  What doesn't instantly spring to mind is African cooking. And yet peanut is a major player in African cuisine.  Add chicken and sweet potato to the peanuts and you have a match! Yum.

The following is my take on a West African Maafe (peanut butter stew).  Maafe was originally made by the Mandinka and Bambara people of Mali, and regional recipes vary somewhat.  It can contain any meat.  Some even use hard boiled eggs in it, which could be a good option if you are cooking vegetarian.  I'll leave them out of my stew this time.  The dish varies from region to region.  It typically includes tomatoes, onion, garlic, root vegetables, cabbage, and leaf vegetables.  It is either served on rice, couscous or on mashed sweet potatoes (eg in the ivory coast).  I have elected to substitute the  cabbage for capsicum because, well, yum, and to use sweet potatoes in it. I'll serve it on brown rice to add to the nutty flavour.

I've elected to try to use up some food in my pantry fridge and freezer, and this meal was a good way for me.  I already had canned tomatoes, peanut butter, chicken stock, garlic, ginger, rice, the spices and frozen chicken.  So shopping was really just sweet potato, spinach, onion and capsicum today.  Go go gadget budgeting!

Chicken Chili Bean Pot - an easy fiesta for the mouth

Chicken Chili Bean Pot

In case you haven't noticed, I love beans!  Mexican flavours tickle my fancy and are always so easy to throw together.  They make a nice meal which is easy on a weeknight.  

When cooking Mexican flavours, the aromas fill the air and the atmosphere alights. Add chili to it and ... vayamos de fiesta! (let's party!)

It always makes for the start of a good evening.  If nothing else, for your tastebuds.

Here is a nom, easy and healthy chicken recipe which is a great winter warmer and easy to throw together on a  week night. It serves 6.  That made three nights for us which made for easy no fuss dinners after gym.

Chicken Palak

Chicken Palak on a bed of basmati rice with turmeric stirred through the cooking water

Indian food……mmmm……it makes me drool.  Aromatic, filling, decadent, calorific noms.  Its always a treat and the food coma by carbicide afterwards is always worth it.  But it is often high in bad fats and fraught with post dinner guilt and bloating.  So I thought I’d play around with making a tasty curry that doesn’t incur too much guilt.  

I’ve made this a couple of times now and I really enjoy it.  The first time it came out perfectly. The second time I was cooking for the dragon (who despite what his name would suggest) does not have a high heat tolerance. When adding chili flakes, I opened the direct-pour side of the shaker instead of the let-a-little-out-at-a-time side and flooded it with crazy amounts of spice.  This was not so nice.  Much milk and tissues were consumed with that dinner I can tell you.  This time I’ve added a real chili with the seeds removed to make up for his last bad experience.  I’ve promised him it is actually nice when you can taste the flavour rather than just feel the burn on your tongue. Here goes!