Healthy Eating: Yogurt Marinated Chicken With Chickpea Tagine & Israeli Couscous

In continuing my efforts for Chris and I to eat healthy rounded meals, I decided to go Mediterranean/Moroccan. I was inspired by a recipe I saw in the Sunday Yes! Essential Shopper mailer, distributed by the San Jose Mercury News. It was a recipe for a Chickpea and Date tagine. The recipe called for a mix of spices including ground cumin, coriander, ginger and cinnamon. These are very common Moroccan spices that can really warm up a dish. They can fill a dish with so much flavor that you won’t need much salt (making it healthier!). I wanted to make the dish a bit heartier which is why I added the chicken.

Yogurt marinated chicken makes for very juicy, moist meat. It’s a method used around the world including India and the Mediterranean. I originally wanted to use Harissa (check out this recipe). Sadly, it’s not that common in the States so can be hard to find. Instead I did a combination of other spices (paprika, cumin, cayenne, garlic salt). The yogurt creates a nice crust as well. Reserve some on the side for a nice cool topping. The fresh cilantro and lemon juice brightens the entire dish up as well.

I added in the couscous to lighten all the flavors and make the dish a bit heartier. I’ve recently gotten hooked on Israeli couscous. I find its texture is similar to orzo pasta but without being too heavy. The couscous is even better when it’s been toasted and made with chicken stock instead of water. Good quality extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon zest and juice are key ingredients. This citrus couscous is so universal and could go with mixed greens or tossed with feta and olives.

This is a great dish for using up leftovers as well! You can add chicken stock to all the ingredients to make a really nice, filling soup for leftover lunch. You could add the chicken and tagine into a flatbread with some cucumber mint yogurt for a wrap. You could opt to make this dish slightly healthier and use chicken breast as well. Or go vegetarian and add some eggplant or zucchini to the tagine.

Here’s my recipe for Yogurt Marinated Chicken with Chickpea Tagine & Israeli Couscous. Hope you enjoy!

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Healthy Eating : Grilled Chicken and Portobello

After a weekend of eating with my family (which is often done way over the top), my hubby and I were keen to be super healthy. Over the past couple of years I’ve learned to accept the fact that I am not very good at dieting. If I feel deprived, I will just eat more of something really naughty like brownies or penne alla vodka. So I’m constantly trying to think of healthy recipes that are also filling. Also, as always, I try to cook meals that are great as leftovers or can be altered to make a ’round-two’ meal.

One thing I would like to mention is that my mother has always taught me to look out for the best deals (in all aspects of life really). And that’s no different when it comes to grocery shopping. The shops in the States are great at sending out weekly deals in the post. They often run Wednesday to Tuesday and usually include items that are in season. This should be a clue for what to cook fresh. It’s a great way to get ideas for soups or fruit salads etc.

Recently a new grocery store opened down the street from me called Sunflower Market which (I think) is a joint venture or merger with Sprouts Farmers Market (a HUGE favorite of mine in Arizona). They had some crazy deals going on for their grand opening which included trays of three insanely large chicken breasts (about 2″ or 2.5″ inches thick!!) for something nuts like $1.99 per tray. So my sister and I both loaded up on chicken. You can’t really go wrong with having chicken breast in your freezer. When you do buy in bulk like this, I highly recommend butterfly-ing the breasts (slice in half lengthways). In my case I had to butterfly twice for certain pieces! Then freeze them in a few Ziploc/freezer bags (maybe 2-3 pieces per bag). Then to defrost them, either toss them in the fridge in the morning or place them in a bowl with ice cold water and another pot on top to submerge them. The key is to defrost them at a cool temperature to avoid bacteria.

So this week, I used up about four pieces of chicken breast to make Grilled Chicken and Portobello with Farro Salad. For those of you who follow my blog, you might remember when I first discovered farro at a small Venetian restaurant in Brooklyn (post on my NY trip). I immediately fell in love with this grain that was slightly chewy, slightly nutty and (I think) way better than its similar-looking friend barley. I was delighted to find they sell it at Whole Foods in bulk so you can buy a little if you don’t want to try it out. It’s incredibly filling and heart healthy. You can serve farro as both warm or cold really. I’ve made it before as a hearty winter dish with butternut squash (recipe here). This time around I wanted it as a side rather than the main ingredient. I made a bit extra though for lunch the next day. You can easily skip the cheese like I did for dinner and sprinkle in some feta for lunch!

For the chicken, I went super simple. Sadly I don’t have a grill at the moment. So I call this recipe grilled because that’s what I would do if I had one! Instead I simply pan seared it. Try to turn the chicken only once like with steak. Know your stove and keep it at medium/moderate heat as you don’t want it to burn before it’s cooked through. And the key is to let it rest!! It’s just like steak in that way too in that the juices need to get back into the meat. This is how you get super moist chicken breast. If you’re worried about over cooking, then check it early. It’s always better to be able to continue cooking. You can’t undo it! Simple season it with garlic salt (or salt and garlic powder) and freshly cracked black pepper. Use this simple yet tasty chicken for many leftover dishes! Here are some ideas for leftover grilled chicken breast:

• Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad : you can be quick and just buy the salad kit with croutons and dressing ready made.
• Grilled Chicken Quesadilla : on low/medium heat, toast tortillas with chicken and shredded cheese or melt it in the oven to make a ‘Mexican’ pizza. Serve with salsa, sour cream and/or guacamole.
• Grilled Chicken Pizza : buy ready made pizza crust, add store bought marinara, cheese, chicken. This would be great with some caramelized onions and blue cheese! Or even skip the marinara and use BBQ sauce.
• Vietnamese Chicken Sandwich : using either sliced bread or a baguette (toasted preferably), put some mayonnaise on both sides, add a bunch of fresh cilantro/coriander sprigs, layer the chicken, add freshly cracked black pepper and drizzle some Maggi or light soy sauce.
• Leftover Chicken & Farro Salad with Spicy Yogurt Sauce : to the leftover farro salad, add some fresh arugula/rocket leaves and the sliced chicken. Then make a yogurt sauce with plain yogurt, bit of fresh lemon juice, salt , bit of hot sauce (Sriracha recommended!) and a bit of cumin/coriander/garlic powder. Or if you have it, just yogurt, lemon and harissa. Serve the sauce as a dollop right in the center.

I could go on.. But you get the idea! Grilled chicken is sooo universal! One more thing about this meal is the garlic lemon olive oil ‘sauce’. This came from one of my favorite dishes of slow roasted lamb, a recipe by British Chef Andy Bates who features on the Food Network UK. This olive oil infused with garlic and lemon is also another universal ingredient. I would recommend making a cup or more and keeping it on the side next to your other oils. If you add some lemon juice or white wine vinegar to it, you have salad dressing! Heat it up on a low heat and melt in some feta cheese and you have a sauce. It’s SO delicious and tastes incredibly fresh. I would definitely recommend though that you use a zester or grater for the lemon zest. You could peel it and remove the zest later if need be too.

Hope you like the dish and leftover other ideas! Happy eating 🙂

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Seasonal Summer: Ricotta Toast with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Sometimes your body just craves fresh, clean ingredients right? Do you ever notice when you’ve had a meal with ingredients that are in season? Or can you taste the difference between fresh fish versus frozen? I think most of us couldn’t tell the difference. You know what you know right? I’ll tell you though.. Once you’ve tasted the good stuff.. and I mean the highest quality of something, you will know.. and everything else will just seem mediocre. But, hey, I guess that makes it that much more special when you do have the good stuff.

This week I was craving ricotta cheese for some reason. I was being a bit lazy and didn’t want to make it myself. But I knew I wanted a dish where you could actually taste the ricotta.. not something like lasagna where the flavor gets lost. I was excited to find that my local supermarket (Sunflower Market, joint with Sprouts) had freshly made ricotta. So I bought some sweet cherry tomatoes on sale. They’re nearing the end of their season I believe. And I grabbed a fresh French baguette and some garlic. I wanted super simple.

• The Bread – thick slices, drizzle extra virgin olive oil, kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper, toast in oven after you’ve removed the garlic to cool
• The Garlic & Tomatoes – slice the very top off whole bulb of garlic so the cloves are exposed, put in center of large foil pouch (~size of paper), slice tomatoes in half, arrange around garlic, throw in 2 bay leaves, drizzle extra virgin olive oil all over (especially garlic), kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper, seal the foil, roast at about 400F for about 30-40 min depending on your oven.
• The Ricotta – it should be great on its own, but you can always add a bit of salt and pepper
• The Assembly – once the toast is out, spread the ricotta, squeeze the garlic out of the bulb and smash it with your knife (if not soft enough), layer on top of ricotta and spoon on some of the tomatoes.

And there you have a super simple dinner for one or appetizer for a few. Add some freshly torn basil if you have it! And remember another drizzle of good quality extra virgin olive oil is always delicious! Now doesn’t that just look like summer on a plate?!

PS. You’ll have a nice sauce from the cherry tomatoes. After removing the foil to cool, take out the bay leaves and garlic. Then gently pour all the sauce and cherry tomatoes in a small bowl and dip your toast! This is also a great way to start a marinara sauce. Just add to some sautéed onions and you’re done!

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had a lovely holiday season. I’ve been crazy busy the past month with a new role, Christmas and even my very first professional experience! While I didn’t intend on it – my new year’s resolution has become to plan as many of our weekday dinners as possible. So here’s a sneak peek of what I’ve been cooking.. Recipes to follow!

* Sweet Potato, Caramelised Onion, Goats Cheese Quiche
* Moroccan Meatballs
* Huevos Rancheros
* Slow Roasted Pulled Pork Sandwich with Cole Slaw
* Creamy Chicken Tarragon Pasta

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Some Vegetarian Delights

As you know I am a major meat lover. However, every once in awhile I try to do a Meatless Monday for my husband and I. It’s usually planned with the intention of being healthy but somehow there’s always Lots of cheese involved! Here’s a mix of different vegetarian dishes I’ve made recently. Enjoy!

First up something I’ve raved about before – Farro. Farro is an “ancient wheat” that is very similar to spelt or bulgar wheat. It’s nutty, chewy in texture and very hearty. The great thing about it is that it soaks up liquid really well, so it goes well with a vinaigrette. Sadly it’s not the easiest item to find. Your best bet may be an Italian delicatessen or health food store. Crazily enough, I bought my small bag in an Italian shop in New Orleans where they’re famous for their Muffaletta sandwich. I brought it back to Arizona and then all the way to London with me! Using seasonal butternut squash, I made a Farro Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese in a Sherry Vinaigrette.

Warm Farro Salad with Butternut Squash and Goats Cheese

Next up was a simple started of Fried Halloumi with a Red Onion, Caper, Coriander Vinaigrette. Halloumi is this delicious, salty white cheese from Cyprus. It can be made from either cow’s, goat’s or sheep’s milk and has a semi-hard, chewy texture. I find it’s nice crumbled in a salad, hot off the grill as a kebab or coated in flour and pan fried. I did the latter and it was incredibly easy.

It comes in a block about 4 or 5 inches long, about 3 inches wide and 3 inches high. Slice into pieces as thin as you can get it (maybe half a cm). Since it comes with a bit of water in its package (much like mozzarella), just dip it in flour and it will coat easily. Then fry in a bit of oil in a pan. Serve with a simple white wine vinaigrette with finely chopped red onion or shallots, chopped capers and chopped coriander/cilantro. If you have some lime, add the juice from half. You don’t need to add salt to this dressing as the capers and cheese will be salty. Enjoy!

Fried Halloumi with Red Onion, Caper, Coriander Vinaigrette

Next up is a Vietnamese Carrot Salad. This dish isn’t entirely vegetarian as it uses fish sauce, but this can be substituted for salt. But this salad isn’t meant to be served as an appetizer/starter. It’s more of a side dish. While it’s not

Traditional Goi Tom Vietnamese Shrimp Salad

entirely ‘traditional’, even the BBC has a similar version with cabbage. This is really a quick easy version of the actual traditional salad Goi Tom which has shrimp, daikon and cucumber. My mom makes this salad all the time. It’s really refreshing and she does a great presentation. She’ll mound the salad on a plate, slice the shrimp in half length wise and place them all over the salad ‘dome’. It looks gorgeous. She’ll also use green papaya at times. Check out this recipe for Goi Tom or this recipe for green papaya salad.

This quick and easy use of carrots is great with some grilled or pan roasted prawns/shrimp and some rice noodles. Or with some grilled Vietnamese style pork (lemongrass) and steamed rice.

Peel and then julienne or grate your carrots. Finely chop some red onion or shallots. Cut some mint in chiffonade (thinly slice) or chop some coriander if you don’t have mint. Add some chopped chilli if you have it. Gently toast your peanuts in a pan if possible, otherwise just crush and toss in. Make enough dressing (nuoc mam cham) with this ratio (2 parts water, 1 part sugar, 1 part fish sauce, 1 part lemon or lime juice, 1 clove garlic, chilli pepper). Go easy when adding the sauce to the salad though. It’s very strong! But just toss it all together and serve!

Vietnamese Carrot Salad

Last but not least is a quick and easy Beet and Apple Salad with Blue Cheese. I’ve done a similar salad before (click here for recipe) with avocado as well. But this one was even easier. In the UK, you can buy cooked whole beets in water in the salad section but in the States canned beets are just fine. Some people find this salad a bit too sweet but you can offset that by adding the blue cheese, lemon juice or some rocket/arugula leaves.

Slice the beets into matchsticks. Similarly slice the apples (skin on). Toast some walnuts and crush. Make a simple lemon dressing (lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper) with finely chopped shallots if you’d like. I like to toss the beets and apples in the dressing separately so that you can maintain the color contrast. Serve with a few knobs of blue cheese (I like Gorgonzola for this) and sprinkle the walnuts on top!

Beet, Apple and Blue Cheese Salad with Walnuts

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When It’s Cold Outside.. Soups Galore!

As the autumn season kicks into full swing, there’s nothing better than a bowl of warm, hearty soup! My husband and I have also been really conscious that the holidays are not far off and that cozy, hearty MEALS are going to be in abundance. So not only are soups comfy, they’re (relatively) healthy! What really elevates a soup from bland to brilliant is a good stock and good seasoning. It also helps to use in season vegetables, so that they’re bursting with flavor. I found a really cool website that tells you what’s at their best and in season from vegetables to meat and seafood (for the UK) : eat the seasons (dot) com. And at their best right now are butternut squash, parsnip and leeks (to name a few). Try them as a soup or even as a veggie pasta bake (or lasagna if you have the sheets).

Soups are so incredibly easy to make and a great way to get a non-vegetable lover to get their veggies in. To make them even easier, I highly recommend investing in a hand blender. It is SO handy for soups, pasta sauces, mashed potatoes, potato or parsnip puree, sauces, etc. I use a Philips Hand Blender like this one you can buy on Amazon.co.uk. They’ve been using this exact one on Masterchef The Professionals this week (for those unfamiliar with this UK show, they’ve brought it to the States with Gordan Ramsey.. check it out!). Lots of sauces and bisques being made with it!

I make all my soups with chicken stock, but they can easily be substituted for vegetable stock. I also try to use homemade chicken stock whenever possible. Click on the SOUP link below for a recipe. I usually separate my stock into medium sized plastic containers and freeze for perfect soup-for-two portions. They can keep for a couple months in the freezer but only a couple days in the fridge.

So without further ado, here’s my week’s worth of soups! I started it off with a chicken chowder which helped me make enough stock to use all week! Click here for all the SOUP recipes.

1. Chicken, Corn and Ham Chowder
2. Roasted (Bell) Pepper, Tomato and Feta Soup with mint coulis garnish
3. Classic Cream of Broccoli
4. Classic Cream of Mushroom
5. Roasted Butternut Squash, Fennel and Carrot Soup with coriander/cilantro garnish
6. Roasted Parsnip, Carrot, Coriander/cilantro and Curry Soup with bacon garnish

Making some 'chowda' !

Hearty chicken, corn and ham chowder

When roasting changes everything..

Roasted Pepper, Tomato & Feta Soup

Classic Cream of Broccoli Soup

Classic Cream of Mushroom Soup with Garlic Parmesan Toast

Roasted butternut squash, fennel & carrot soup

Carrot, Parsnip, Coriander/Cilantro, Curry Soup with Bacon Garnish

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Vegetarian Recipe Suggestions

For my sister whose future in laws are vegetarian – I found some great recipes. I haven’t made them but they look pretty good with options to put your own spin on it!

1. Ricotta-Spinach Tacos
2. Chile Cheese Casserole (like chilaquiles)
3. Tofu Tacos

For the ricotta-spinach tacos, you could easily replace the ricotta with maybe feta, cotija, goat cheese or even halloumi. To make it heartier you could add zucchini/courgette or even mushrooms. Add some kick with some chipotle powder.

For the casserole, you could easily make this non-vegetarian by adding some chorizo or diced ham. If you wanted it to be heartier you could add a layer of pinto/refried beans before adding the tortilla chips. Some sliced green/spring onion as a garnish might also add some nice bite to it. Or you could even add them with the last layer of cheese and let them melt in.

The tofu taco is a pretty straightforward one. They simply replaced meat with tofu. You could look into other veggie options such as soy meat. I know Trader Joe’s Meatless Meatballs are delicious. They’re recommended for Italian dishes, but there’s nothing stopping you from using it in a Mexican dish!

Hope you enjoy!

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