Chicken Clear Soup

Try this recipe on a cold and windy weekend to warm your heart. It's a dish that will take a little longer time to cook on stove, but very little time off your schedule! :)

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
2 medium sized carrots, cut in big chunks
5 celery stalks, cut in big chunks
1/2 leek
2 bay leaves
One bunch cilantro stalks
10-15 thyme leaves stems
2-3 tbsp peppercorn, lightly crushed
5-6 cloves
Salt to taste
Chopped cilantro leaves for garnish
Water

Method:
1. Tie bay leaves, cilantro stalks and thyme leaves in a small bundle.
2. In a big stock pot, place sliced carrots, celery stalks, leek, herb bundle, peppercorns and chicken with skin on(pat dry the chicken with paper towel before using it).
3. Fill the pot with with water until the chicken is barely covered, no more(otherwise soup will not be flavourful).
4. Bring the water to boil and then lower the heat. Partially cover the soup with a lid and simmer the soup for 90 minutes on medium to low heat such that there is a constant gentle simmer.
Note: You can remove the white scum that forms on the top of the soup during the initial boil.
5. After 90 minutes, take out the cooked chicken carefully in a big plate. Strain the soup and set aside. Check the soup seasoning for salt, pepper and thyme. Adjust seasonings according to taste.
6. Remove the meat from the chicken bones and put the bones back in the soup. Bring the soup to a boil and then simmer with a lid on for another 40 minutes.
7. Strain the soup through a paper towel to remove any access fat and serve hot!

Tarragon Chicken

Tarragon chicken - is it than intense, laborious French tarragon Chicken.. No! Does it have the same flavour?? Absolutely yes... In less than half the cooking and cleaning time it would take me otherwise, I came up with this classy dish for quick, weeknight entertainment and dinners.

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Fresh Tarragon
Dried Tarragon
Some Butter
Some regular oil
Salt
Black Pepper Powder
Some Vodka
Chicken or Vegetable Broth/Warm Water
An egg
Some plain white flour
Couple of cloves of minced garlic
Some cream
Some Dijon Mustard
Crushed red pepper(optional)

Method:
1. Cut the chicken breast in half and pound it into thin cutlets. This ensures cooking time speeds up.
2. In a deep dish, mix an egg with some salt, dried thyme, black pepper powder and crushed red pepper.
3. In another deep dish, mix some flour with salt and pepper.

4. Now dunk the chicken cutlet in the flour, then egg and then flour again, shown in the video.
5. Then shallow fry it in a pan, with some oil and butter - about 3-5 minutes each side.
6. After the chicken cutlets are cooked, use the same pan and add some minced garlic, fresh chopped tarragon, dried tarragon, pepper and salt. Saute for a few seconds.
7. Deglaze the pan with some chicken/vegetable broth or water. Add some dijon mustard and vodka to the pan. Let the mixture come to a bubble. Please refer to the video for the sauce technique.
8. Once the mixture has reduced to half, turn off the gas and add some cream.
9. Serve sliced chicken breast cutlets and spoon over the sauce in a big platter.

Dunking Chicken Cutlets in egg and flour

Tarragon Cream Sauce

Enjoy this classy dish with a side of salad and roasted veggies!

Herbed chicken with blue cheese sauce

This is a very simple and easy dish if you are looking for a quick lunch or workday entertaining dinner option! Try this out and fall in love with cheese...

Ingredients:
Some butter
Chicken breast tenders
Salt
Pepper
Herbes de Provence
Blue cheese wedge(not the crumbles)
Dijon mustard
Water
Salad mixture(lettuce, chicory, spinach etc)

Method:
1. Pound the chicken breast tenders in thin cutlets and season with salt, pepper and Herbes de Provence on one side.
Note: If you don't have Herbes de Provence at home, use some dried rosemary, thyme and oregano mixture.
If you get a full size chicken breast, then slice it in half and then pound the halves in thin cutlets,

2. In a non-stick pan, heat some butter and put the chicken tender with the seasoned side down. Cook the chicken on medium heat for about 4-5minutes.

3. Season the other side of the chicken, turn and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked through,

4. Remove the chicken from the pan. Then add a little blue cheese, some Dijon mustard and some water to the pan. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes till the sauce starts to thicken.

5. In a plate, put salad as a base and top that with the seared chicken, Spoon over the sauce on the chicken. The sauce will also act as a warm salad dressing.
Serve and eat immediately!

For lunch option, you can store the dressing separately and warm it just a bit in microwave before assembling your gourmet salad.

Quick&Easy Chicken curry with Greens and Roasted vegetables

Looking for a quick meal that is easy to make, delicious and healthy at the same time??
Try this plate package - you'll be in and out of the kitchen in 30 minutes with amazing food and guilt free dinner :)

Ingredients:
2 chicken breast tenders
2 potatoes medium sized
2 tomatoes medium sized
1 cup chopped greens(kale and spinach mixture)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp Greek Yogurt
1/4 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tbsp garam masala
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Cut the potatoes lengthwise in four parts. Preheat the oven to 450F/230C and start roasting the potatoes.
2. Chop the chicken breast tenders in small cubes.
3. In a non stick pan, heat the oil with minced garlic.
4. Put the chicken in the pan, cover and cook for 10 minutes stirring once or twice in between.
5. After about 10 minutes, add garam masala, salt and a little water to the chicken. Cover again and cook for another 10 minutes.
6. At this point, start roasting the tomatoes in the oven for these last 10 minutes and check on your potatoes.
7. When 10 minutes have passed, adjust water in the curry and add the greens. Stir the mixture until the greens wilt(about a minute).
8. Add the yogurt to the chicken curry and mix well. Turn off the gas, cover and set aside.
9. Remove the  vegetables from the oven.
10. Serve the curry with the roasted vegetables.

You can also serve the curry with rice or chapati.

Asian salad with grilled cottage cheese

This is another party pleaser salad that can be converted to a grilled chicken salad anytime based on the people it is serving! Marinade for the cottage cheese and chicken remains the same.

Ingredients:
Salad
1 head of Romaine lettuce(or salad leaves of your choice)
Fat bunch of cilantro - used as a major salad leaf for flavour
Couple of Radishes - sliced
Couple of Cucumbers - diced
Some spring onions - sliced
One carrot - cut into julians
One red bell pepper - cut into julians
Handful of mint - cut into julians
Quarter red cabbage - thinly sliced

Dressing
Some toasted sesame oil
Some peanut oil(or vegetable oil of your choice)
1-2 lime juices(this is the main ingredient of the dressing)
Some dark soya sauce
Some smooth peanut butter
Some Chinese hot sauce(optional)
Grated ginger
Salt
Black pepper
Little honey for balance

Marinade
Some grated ginger
Generous dollop of honey(for caramelization)
Some peanut oil
Some soya sauce
Salt
Black pepper
Some red chilly powder
Generous amount of lime juice

Method:
1. First thing is to get all the marinade ingredients in a zip lock bag and soak cottage cheese or chicken pieces in it. Leave it aside for at least 30 minutes(up to overnight).
2. After 30 minutes, grill the cottage cheese for a couple of minutes on each side on a hot griddle(or cook the chicken until done).
Note: If you are using the cottage cheese - I'd recommend putting the cheese back in the marinade so it can keep absorbing the marinade and stay moist till you use it.
3. In a bowl whisk together the ingredients for dressing. Mix with the vegetables and salad leaves in it.
4. Cut the grilled cheese or chicken diagonally and garnish the salad.

Serving suggestion - right before serving add some lime on top of the salad to enhance the flavour.

Herbed Chicken with spinach-micro celery salad

This is a very light and healthy dish that pairs nicely with red wine and beautiful sunset. You can bake or grill the chicken in home or do it my way - BBQ the marinated chicken while enjoying a quite evening in the spa ;)

Ingredients:
Chicken breast
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic clove
Some rosemary
Some thyme
Some marjoram
Some Lemon juice

Chopped spinach
Micro celery
Diagonally sliced beans
Diagonally sliced spring onion
Capers
Some finely chopped red chillies


Method:
1. Marinate the chicken breast with olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice and chopped fresh herbs(rosemary, thyme and marjoram) and set aside for 30 minutes.

2. Then cook the chicken on low heat in a pan or BBQ grill. Alternately you can cook chicken in oven at 370F for 40 minutes/until done.

2. To make the dressing - mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, red chillies and drained capers.

3. In a bowl, add spinach, micro celery, diagonally chopped beans and spring onions and lightly coat with the dressing.

Squeeze some lemon juice on chicken and serve hot with the salad!

Spiced-up Chicken sandwich

This sandwich is one of my favourite lunch items. Once you have prepared the spiced up chicken mixture, it can serve as a sandwich filling for up to three lunches!!

The spiced-up chicken mixture is also very versatile - it can be served as an appetizer over a salty biscuit, filled in pastry shells, eaten in lettuce wrap or filled in rolls with other veggies.

Here's the super simple recipe for making it.

Ingredients:

5-6 pieces chicken tenders

Vegetable oil

Salt

Pepper powder

Mayonnaise(optional)

Greek Yogurt

Raisins

Roasted cumin powder

Red chilly powder

Garam masala

Dijon mustard

Method:

1. Season the cleaned chicken tenders with some salt and pepper. Put some oil on them so they do not dry out while baking. Bake these in preheated oven at 350F/177C for 30 minutes(or until cooked).

2. In a bowl add yogurt, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, raisins, cumin powder, chilly powder, pepper powder, garam masala and salt. Mix well. You can add very little milk or water to ease mixing and make it thick running mixture.

3. Shred the cooled cooked chicken tenders and add them to the yogurt mixture.

4. Take a rustic baguette and warm it a bit in the oven. Add some lettuce and chicken mixture and pack to-go for office or picnics!

Tip: I chopped the lettuce finely and dressed it up with some homemade blue cheese dressing. The sandwich tastes even better with it! You can substitute lettuce with arugula or spinach. Enjoy...

Chicken Moussaka

This is a great one pot dish - oven to table - that is also one of my favourite dishes to entertain.
I think it is a little time consuming since it involves cutting and layering and a little bit of cooking as well.

Ingredients:
1 pound ground chicken
2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
1 big eggplant - slices thinly, ~2cm in thickness
2 potatoes - slices thinly
1 medium sized onion - slices thinly
1 medium courgette - slices thinly
3 tomatoes - chopped
Dried thyme
Dried oregano
Salt
Black pepper ground
Olive oil
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
3 cup milk
1 cup Parmesean cheese - grated
Nutmeg powder
1 cup Mozzarella cheese - grated

Method:
1. Marinate: Marinate the vegetables in three separate bowls - poatoes and onions, eggplant and courgettes - with olive oil, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.
2. Potatoes: In a deep baking dish, layer the potatoes and onions in a single layer and start baking at 375F/190C oven for 15 minutes.
3. Chicken: While that happens, in a sauce pan heat some olive oil with garlic in it and then saute it for a few seconds. Now add ground chicken and cook for 5-8 minutes.
4. Once you have broken the meat pieces into chunks, add dried thyme, oregano, pepper and chpped tomatoes. Keep cooking until the mixture is dry.
5. Eggplant: After 15 minutes, take the dish out of the oven and layer it with eggplants and cook for another 15 minutes.
6.  Bechamel sauce: While your dish is baking and chicken is cooking, take another sauce pan to prepare the bechamel sauce. In this start melting your butter with some olive oil over medium to low flame. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Now start adding milk slowly so that no lumps are formed. Once the sauce thickens, add parmesean cheese, pepper and nutmeg. Season with salt cautiously.
7. Courgettes: Take out the pan and layer the courgettes. Cook for another 7-10 minutes.
8. Final layer: Add some of the sauce to ground chicken to keep it moist while it bakes. Finally layer the ground chicken and top it with the Bechamel sauce. Bake this for another 15 minutes.
9. Final step: Finally layer the dish with mozzarella cheese. Increase the oven temperature to 400F/200C and bake until the crust is brown, around 10-15 minutes.

Let the Moussaka to rest for 10 minutes after it comes out of oven while you enjoy a glass of nice red wine. Enjoy the fruits of your love and labour! :)

Moroccan Chicken Tagine

This is a main attraction for any party - a dish that is super easy to cook and will make you look like a star chef!!
If you don't have a tagine, then you can cook the chicken with the same method in any heavy bottomed pan over low heat. The key to develop those flavors is slow cooking.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into medium sized pieces(skinned)
2 onions - sliced finely
2 tbsp coriander powder
2 tsp turmeric
3 tsp black pepper
1-2 tsp chilly powder or paparika
4 tsp sumac powder
2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp clove powder
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 tsp cumin powder
1 zest of lemon
1 lemon juice
4 garlic cloves - just peeled and crushed(not chopped)
Regular olive oil(or any other oil, like peanut oil)
Salt to taste

Method:
1. In a deep pan, heat some oil and brown the chicken pieces from all sides. Make sure they don't cook, just get colored.
2. In a tagine, layer the chicken at the bottom and put the sliced onions and garlic cloves on the top.
3. In a bowl, mix all the  spices, zest, lemon juice and salt. Pour some water to make sure spices quote the chicken pieces well. The mixture should be a little runnier than a paste.
4. Pour the spice mixture over onions and chicken and mix well.
5. Cover the tagine and cook the chicken at 350F/177C oven for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Note: If you are cooking over a pan, then add a little chicken stock or water, about half cup, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour at least. Then check until the meat falls off the bone.
6. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Serve this with warm pita or lavash or you can eat with rice pilaf and salad! It's delicious just the way it is :)
To check out more ideas: Elegant Moroccan Dinner Party post.

Note that I did not add any oil in the tagine itself. That is because first, it's was already lightly coated in oil when I browned the pieces and second the chicken has enough water to prevent it from being dry. If you add oil, the dish will become too oily. Now that's not a pleasing thing for guests to gulp is it ;)

Curry chicken with mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast cut in small 1" pieces

2 green chilly

2 cloves of garlic

1" piece of ginger

2 tsp red chilly powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp roasted clove powder

2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 medium onion(cut into julians)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp of peanut oil

salt to taste

Method:

1. Make a paste of chillies, garlic and ginger.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Once the oil is warm, put in the ginger-garlic-chillies paste and saute for about half a minute.

3. Add the onions and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Now add chicken, salt, red chilly powder, cumin powder, clove powder and turmeric and mix well.
Cover chicken and cook for 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes, remove the lid, mix the mushrooms and stir the chicken. Again cover and cook for 10-15 minutes till the chicken is cooked.
6. Finally garnish with some chopped coriander. 

All the cooking to be done on medium flame.

You can serve this with roasted fingerling potatoes with yogurt sauce(check out my next recipe).

Enjoy! :)

Chicken Keema

Ingredients:

1 packet of ground chicken breast

1 onion cut in Julian style

1 tomato cut in Julian style

2 green chillies

1/4" piece of garlic

1/2" piece of ginger

1 tsp red chilly powder

1 tsp turmeric pwd

4 tsp coriander pwd

1-1/2 tsp garam masala

6-8 black peppercorns

4-5 cloves

2 bay leaves

2 black cardamom

1 stick of cinnamon

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tbsp of vegetable oil

salt to taste

Method:

1. Make a paste of green chillies, ginger and garlic.

2. Heat the oil in a deep vessel. Once the oil is heated, put black peppercorns, cloves, bay leaves, black cardamom, cinnamon and cumin seeds in it. Saute for about 30 seconds.

3. Now put the paste(from step 1) and saute for another 30 sec.

4. Put the onions in it and cook until soft and golden-brown.

5. Put turmeric pwd, red chilly pwd, coriander pwd and tomatoes and cook for 2-3 min.

6. Put the ground chicken. Mix well and cover with a lid. 

7. Keep stirring and breaking the big chicken chunks while cooking the mixture through.

8. After the chicken is cooked through. add garam masala in the end and cook for about a min or two with lid open.

You can have this with a wheat wrap, you can use this as a filling in lettuce wrap or you can eat this with multi-grain bread.

Enjoy! :)

Christmas Glazed Chicken

Ever wondered what you can cook apart from grilled chicken and still retain that christmassy feeling.... something that will keep you on your healthy chicken diet yet help you get over that "missing ham" feeling....

Here's a small recipe that I tried(inspired from a glazed ham recipe that I saw online, but experimented that with chicken). Hope you enjoy your holidays and eat healthy! :)

Ingredients:
Three chicken breasts
For Glaze
2 tbsp orange marmalade
2 tbsp yellow mustard
3/4 tbsp ginger powder
1 tsp light brown sugar
salt to taste

Method:

1. Make three slits over the chicken breasts and place them in the oven preheated at 385 F for 15 minutes.
2. Now take out the breasts and apply half of the glaze on the 3 breasts evenly and place in the oven for another 10 minutes.
3. Now take out the chicken, turn it and use the remaining glaze over the 3 piece evenly. Place it in the oven again for 10 minutes.
4. In the end, broil the chicken so as to darken the caramelized sugar and give a nice crunchy crust to the chicken.

Tried and tested meal:
Serve hot with  a rosemary bread toast and roasted sweet peppers!

Happy holidays! =)

Chicken Buscuits

This is an unusual dish that resembles chicken nuggets with a difference that it is much more healthier than the deep fried nuggets.... you can call them baked nuggets! :)
This does involve a little bit of carbs mixed with proteins, but sometimes cheat meals can be really really healthy as well....

Ingredients:

Ground chicken breast
2 tbsp flour(~10 gm of carbs)
1 cup milk
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp nutmeg powder
1 tbsp black pepper pwd
salt to taste

Method:

1. Warm the oil in the pan and then add flour to it. Cook the flour till its raw aroma subsides.
2. Now add milk and stir.
3. Add salt, black pepper and nutmeg powder to this and stir the sauce till the mixture thickens.
4. Add this mixture to the ground chicken and mix well.
5. Refrigerate  the mixture for at least 2-3 hours and preferably overnight.
6. Spray some canola oil on a baking tray and lay down small cutlets of this mixture on this tray.
7. Bake these for 15 minutes at 380 F.
8. Now turn these small puffed up biscuits and again bake them for about 15 minutes at the same temperature.

Remove from the oven and serve with ketchup or green chutney or red cabbage salad(see Vegetarian recipes).

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ever bored of eating the same salad with side of grilled chicken breast?

I do get bored - in fact I cannot eat the same food for more than two days(tolerance to same food increased from one time meal to two days, courtesy the strict diet recommendations :) ).

This is an equally healthy twist to your dinner - super easy to cook and fun to eat :)

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp of fresh ginger paste
3 tsp of fresh garlic paste
3 green chillies(suit your spice level)
Chopped coriander for serving
Some oregano for optional seasoning

Method:
1. Take a healthy looking chicken breast and cut it into small chunks(as small as possible and cut it for as long as you have patience :) )

2. Optional step - heat 1 tsp of olive oil in a wok.

3. Put ginger-garlic-chilly paste in the wok and cook for about 40-50 seconds.

4. Add your chicken to it. For seasoning add just a little freshly ground black pepper and salt.

5. Cook for about 3-4 minutes.

6. Then add 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar to chicken and cover the wok.

7. After 5 minutes you will see that the chicken has oozed out the water. At this point, cook it till the chicken is tender and juicy and the water is almost evaporated.

8. Add chopped coriander and some dried oregano. Your filling is ready!

Serve this in a fresh and crisp lettuce leaf. You can add finely chopped cucumber, green or red pepper, celery, green onion or cabbage if you'd like :)

Enjoy!