Hot Booby Chick - Roasted Chicken with Lemon and a Herbed Butter

This is a meal I just had to make.  I haven't really done all that much roasting but I couldn't resist this.  I based this recipe on a meme I had seen a long time ago involving a roast turkey with lemons for boobs.  We really don't need a roast that big, so we decided to create a roast chicken instead.  A common method of infusing delicious, moist flavour is to boil a lemon for a minute or so then stick it into the cavity along with fresh herbs and garlic while roasting.  This recipe changes things up just a little.   The lemons will make the breast meat beautiful, and the herbed butter will moisten the meat. Please feel free to swap the herbs we used for anything else you enjoy (eg sage, marjoram, oregano, even taragon).  If you want a lower calorie version, just leave out the herbed butter.

If your Sunday dinners have been a little on the boring side lately, then get this saucy chick into ya!

Enjoy.

Beef, Vegetable and Feta Medley

This week we were aiming for low carb healthy dinners to help us fight the rising waistline situation we have going on around here. I was planning to make my old favourite side salad which I haven't had in yonks with various meats for the week. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy all the ingredients. Then I couldn't face a cold side salad on a Winter's night.  This meal eventuated out of slowly changing my mind about what I wanted to make (multiple times along the way), and oh my gosh it ended up so yum.  I've made it twice now, and found it is equally tasty making it a simpler way in the second attempt. First go I had two nights worth of cheap steaks and had decided to cook up a veggie side stew. Then I chopped the meat, sealed and stirred it through toward the end. Second time around I just bought a 500g pack of diced beef and added it just after the onions and garlic. Of course the steak meat was a little tastier (and medium rare) but it was much simpler to just throw everything  in early on and leave it go.  Plus the meat is tender and slow cooked this way.  As much as this sounds like a hodge-podge meal from how I am describing it, let me assure you that this meal made on instinct is absolutely fabulous. It is totally healthy - just meat and veg and seasonings. Plus it is low cal, high protein, low fat and low carb. What else could you hope for? Of course you can serve it on rice which will add carbs and make it last six rather than four serves, but we were more than happy with this as a stand alone dish. This is a new regular!

Balsamic Glazed Pork on Warm Lentil Salad

This meal was a Friday at home date night meal I made for the Dragon. I found a good special on pork fillet and wanted to do something special with ingredients we had on hand in our pantry and fridge.  The result was a pretty easy meal to make over a glass of wine before retiring together to the balcony to overlook the city lights with our chimenea burning to set the mood. Toasted marshmallows made for a perfect desert.

I literally licked my plate clean. This meal is A.May.Zing. The pork is moist and soft, the glaze is beautiful and the lentil base is a perfect compliment. This is a great special dinner at home/date night meal.

Love Pizza

Who needs it to be Valentines Day to do a cheesy romantic gesture? These are always much more fun every other day of the year.  Around Valentines Day this year all of my usual amusing picture websites were flooded with images of terribly constructed heat shaped pizzas which people ordered for home delivery on V Day. We all know that V Day is a completely commercialised venture, and it would seem that a variety of (primarily American) franchise pizza establishments required their franchises to create something "romantic" with very limited training. This did not work. We can do better.

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.

Smokey Chicken Basque

Oh my gosh sometimes I just need smokey deliciousness for a few nights.  This meal hits that spot within me so so well.  I first made this about 8 years ago without the smokiness, and with chorizo instead of sausages and ham instead of bacon.  It worked perfectly well.  Recently I dusted off the old recipe and decided to try giving it some new life.

Pizzata: Pizza Frittata

Because - Why not?

I really want pizza.  But it blows my tummy up like a balloon and leaves me bloated and yuck.  So I thought I'd try something a little different as an experiment.  If the carby crust doesn't sit well with me, I may as well try another kind of crust.  I'm not going to pretend this is super healthy, but it could be if you made a few little changes. Plus it does have high protein and a few veggies.

Meatzza worked a treat! Sweet potato pizza base worked. Why not a pizza frittata? Even better - a pizzata! Badum tish!

Individual Healthy Cottage Pies

This is a delicious meal that the Dragon made for us this week.  It is comforting and warming, which is great because it is just starting to cool down.  I love the slight smoky edge to it.  It has been a bit of a stressful week, so this meal hit the spot.  Plus its packed full of vegetables, has high protein, low fat and a good amount of carbs.  Hitting all the boxes! Boom!

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!

Murgh Makani (Butter Chicken)

Buttery creamy flavoursome goodness - Butter Chicken (aka Murgh Makani) is the ultimate comfort food.  Unlike my Chicken Palak recipe, there is nothing healthy about this curry. Let's not fool ourselves.  But it is absolutely beautiful and everyone loves it.  We wanted to use some of the  leftover Kasundi that we made recently and I found out that you can make a mean butter chicken with it!  So why wouldn't I?

This meal is one of the best sellers at most Indian restaurants in my area, and from what I understand people love it all over the world.  Mine won't be 100% authentic.  Traditionally the chicken is marinated overnight, partially grilled, diced and then added to the sauce to complete the cooking process.  I am feeling a little lazier than that this week.  I'm still including overnight marination, but I prefer to pre-dice it and to cook the chicken in the same pan as the rest of the cooking (I like one pot, simple recipes where possible).  I think it still tastes amazing.  I've also included diced onion and tomatoes which is not traditional but I can't make a curry and not add at least one vegetable.  I had to add the onion and the tomato to feel a little less naughty ;)

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.

American Style Pulled Pork 'n' Beans

My original plan was to make a home made baked beans recipe, however as per usual I got excited when I saw a pork shoulder in the grocery store.  So I decided to make something a little different.  I've been posting a lot of vegetarian food here lately.  I LOVE a good vegetarian meal and try to eat veggo at least 1-2 nights a week lately.  I think it has helped my weight loss actually.  But tonight I wanted to make some good hearty old fashioned American fare that could be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Traditional pork and beans uses haricot beans, but I have a soft spot for butter beans and kidney beans, so please forgive me this transgression. It is a great meal to make on a Sunday when you have time to slow cook some meat and take your time with the beans.  The recipe will feed 6-8 depending on your serving size, and it really does taste better each successive night as the flavours infuse more into the sauce.  Served with a piece of crusty bread or just on its own, this is a heart and tummy warming treat.

Sweet Potato, Asparagus and Feta Frittata

If you are looking for a quick and easy meal to throw together that will taste gorgeous, then look no further.  We've had too many eggs so I wanted a yummy main to use some of them up, as well as some other veggies I had in my fridge.  This balance of flavours is absolutely lovely.  The sage and the sweet potato make the dish hearty, the feta adds some tartness, red onion adds a peppery kick and the cayenne pepper brings a little spice to the table.  We used about double the amount of cayenne pepper than I've listed in the recipe because we just love spice.  This fed the two of us for three nights with side veggies or salad (pictured above with a side of quickly stir fried spring onion, asparagus, garlic and wilted spinach topped with a squeeze of lemon juice...nom).

Chickpea and Vegetable Curry of Dreams

We first made this slow cooker curry on a Sunday when we were home all day (such a rare treat!).  While technically a vegan dish, its original intention was to become a side dish for meat.  Bwahahahaha.  We had so much meat in the fridge, and I wanted to make up a big batch of side vegetables that could easily go beside any other meal we were serving up.  I'd had a lot of salad recently so wanted something that felt like carby comfort food but was really just veggies and beans.  We made a big batch and it lasted five nights for the two of us :)  As a main rather than a side dish, it serves three nights for two.  After bite one on night one, we were in love.  This curry is beautiful served over rice, as a side, or even as a stand alone meal.  It is creamy and healthy.  Even the most carnivorous person will love this vegan delight.

Curried Sausages: Traditional Australian Dinner

Ask any Australian of my generation what their Mum used to make them growing up, and a lot of them will include curried sausages with Keen's curry powder in their list.  It is a nostalgic Australian classic.  Every family has their own recipe, and the official Keen's recipe is here.  Mine differs from Keen's because I use stock and no cream, no peas (yuck) and include more veggies.  It is beautiful.

To be honest - unlike half of Australians, I stumbled upon this traditional recipe as an adult.  My Mum did her best to get me interested in food as a child, but (and this may sound odd given my diverse and expansive taste now) I didn't really like food growing up.  My poor Mum had very few meals she could tempt me with, and I was routinely sitting at the table for who knows how long (it felt like forever as a child but was probably not that long) after everyone else finished, pushing my partially eaten cold food around my plate disinterestedly, waiting for permission to leave the table.  Peas were the worst. The WORST.  I will occasionally eat peas now but only if it is in something really worthwhile.  My own favourite food memories of childhood were Spaghetti Bolognese, cheerios and baked beans (a real treat meal combo), and something Mum called a "picnic" which was a sliced apple, a slice of cheese, a boiled egg, ham and something else (fuzzy memory of Sunday nights).  Mum tried all sorts of other meals but I didn't eat much.  Poor thing had a terrible time making me eat.

But all that has changed now - perhaps too much!  Now I love pretty much everything, barring a few specific items.  Despite not having grown up with this beautiful dish myself, I adore it as an adult as ultimate comfort food.  Who could not? You know it is Australian - because after we finished I found myself saying to the Dragon - "It was bloody good wasn't it?"

Paprika Polenta with Black Bean Salsa

The words that come to mind for this meal are "fresh" and "hearty" - not two words that you often put together.  The salsa is so fresh and delicious.  The polenta is creamy and full flavoured.  It is a match made in healthy vegetarian heaven.  Not only is it a rainbow on a plate, it is a divine meal after a good workout.   Polenta is quick to make and makes a beautiful base for all sorts of meals.  The spices in the polenta take it to another level.  Yummo.

Lamb Burgers with Minted Yogurt

We have planted a herb garden!  We love it so much.  I wanted to use some mint and what goes better with mint than lamb?  This recipe is a beautiful Greek inspired meal that is thrown together in a jiffy. The lamb patties are even more delicious than you would imagine.  The mix itself is so versatile. This week we are in the mood for burgers, but they also make great lamb patties with a side salad (even better than burgers, unexpectedly - because it lets the flavour really shine), or as meatballs on matchsticks with side yoghurt garlic dipping sauce.  These are HANDS DOWN my favourite rissole/burger patties.  I absolutely love them.