Healthy Eating: Cumin Chicken with Avocado Salsa

After my carb binge, I needed to go back to something healthy. It’s funny now that I’ve been eating so healthy, my body can really feel it when I eat rich and heavy foods. So I was craving some clean, fresh flavors. Since chicken breasts were on sale ($1.99/lb), I stocked up again. I butterflied them and froze all but one half for dinner.

Cumin Chicken with Avocado Salsa on Israeli mint couscous. This was a super fast, simple dish. And as you know from my earlier post, I am now in love with Israeli couscous!

• Sprinkle the chicken breast with (kosher) salt, black pepper and cumin (light dusting). Pan fry in a bit of olive oil on medium heat for a few minutes on each side, depending on thickness.
• Heat a bit of olive oil and toast about one cup of couscous for a couple minutes. Add just over a cup of chicken stock. Bring it to a boil and reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes. Let cool few minutes and add fresh lemon juice and zest and chopped mint.
• Finely chop red onion and cube a ripe avocado. Squeeze fresh lime juice and add salt and fresh black pepper. Then plate up!

For a bit of creaminess and just a little indulgence, I added some crumbled feta to top it off! Happy healthy eating.

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A LITTLE CALIFORNIA LOVE

There are two things I absolutely love to eat when I go to LA – sushi and Mexican food. It’s a Mexican breakfast that I often day dream about – some huevos rancheros, chilaquiles or a breakfast burrito. Growing up in California I obviously love Mexican food, but when I moved to LA I was delighted to find such a variety of good quality Mexican places from gourmet to hole-in-the-wall. Even better, it’s not just Mexican restaurants that have good quality Mexican food. Since the ingredients are so widely available and so many Californians have grown up with Mexican influence, you can eat pretty decent Mexican food at places that have “California cuisine” or “American cuisine”.

For lunch one day in LA, Adi took me to Toast Bakery Café on 3^rd Street. I had driven past this place a lot and the line was always around the block for brunch. So I was excited to finally try it. I was really torn between the breakfast burrito and the Oscar (thin strips of chicken, guacamole, fresh salsa, eggs over medium and melted cheese, sit atop grilled corn tortillas), but I didn’t want to eat too heavily so I went for the Oscar. It was the perfect portion size. Every ingredient tasted incredibly fresh and natural. The corn tortillas tasted authentic and the dish in general wasn’t over salted. It made me really consider getting that tortilla press I’ve been thinking of… Because so far I’m capable of making everything that goes into a Mexican breakfast except for fresh tortillas. And I know when I go back to the UK, I won’t have easy access to homemade tortillas like I do in Arizona (a little corner shop 2 minutes down the road).. Ah well you make do with what you have right!? Maybe that’ll be a Christmas present from Mom and Dad?

The Oscar @ Toast

 ** For all my former NBCU friends working on the Universal lot, please have a breakfast burrito at the commissary for me, with extra salsa.

Now SUSHI.

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Cooking For One – Part 1

This past Tuesday, my parents headed out for a little trip down under and left me in charge of our three little dogs. Of course, I was very excited since this meant I had the kitchen all to myself for 10 days. It was only after they left that I realized I’d be cooking for one. This is quite a challenge, but I was determined to take advantage. I wanted to balance making things I’ve been craving and be healthy at the same time. Also since I’ve been eating loads of Vietnamese food recently, I absolutely had to feed my craving for Italian. Now my real craving for Italian would be Carbonara with homemade pasta at Mario Batali’s Otto Pizzeria at One Fifth or the gnocchi with marinara and roasted garlic cream sauce at Supper in the East Village (both in New York). Sadly, I couldn’t magically transport myself to NY and those dishes aren’t exactly healthy.  

First, I searched the kitchen to see what my parents left behind for me. It is SUCH a difference using a kitchen in a house versus a flat, especially my family’s house. The pantry never ends AND they have two refrigerators!  

Using just items in the kitchen, I was able to whip up a nice salad.  

• Red Beets (canned)
• 1 Apple
• Shallots
• Avocado
• Blue cheese
• Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Croutons (made with olive oil, not butter)

While it doesn’t sound like the healthiest salad in the world, I was getting lots of dietary fiber and vitamin B with my beets, one of my five-a-day with the apple, and good monounsaturated fat with the avocado. * Note – my salad recipes will start going up in my Recipes section. 

Beet, Apple, Blue Cheese Salad

Next up for breakfast was fruit. As part of Tet, there was loads of fresh fruit around the house. Strangely, I realized I had never cut up a pineapple before. So I had a little fun trying to avoid poking myself. The smell of fresh pineapple is so delightful. We also had a fresh mango which usually makes my throat itch but I absolutely love. Since there was so much pineapple I figured I’d only add a little banana and orange juice then blend away!  

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