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!

Salmon with Asian sauce and rice

This is a dish that is literally prepared and served in 30 minutes. You can make this for a quick lunch or a weeknight entertaining dinner. This is healthy, super quick, delicious and low on utensil usage too!

Ingredients:
For Salmon:
Salmon fillet
Some oil
Salt and pepper

For Asian Sauce:
3-4 dashes of Fish Sauce
1/2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
6-7 tsp of  Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Peanut Butter
1/2 tbsp Maple Syrup
1/4 cup Sake (optional)
1/2 cup Vegetable Broth or Water
1 inch piece of Ginger
3-4 tsp Chinese Spicy Chilly Crisp Sauce

Leafy Vegetable Salad:
Two Scallions
Some coriander
Some Romaine Lettuce

Rice

Method:
1. Heat some oil on a non-stick pan. Once the oil is heated put the salmon fillet on the pan, skin side down.
Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the salmon and cover the pan with a lid.
Cook salmon on low-to-medium flame with the lid on for 15 minutes.

2. On the side, put some rice for cooking.


3. While the salmon is cooking, prepare the sauce in a bowl. Mix soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sake, vegetable broth, chilly crisps, peanut butter, grated ginger, salt and pepper.

4. Thinly slice two scallions. Chop coriander and some romaine lettuce. Mix these vegetables and keep on side.

5. After 15 minutes, remove the salmon from the pan and wrap in an aluminum foil. Seal this wrap with another aluminum foil to make a double insulation around the salmon. Set aside on a wooden chopping board for 10 minutes.


6. While salmon is resting, put the prepared sauce in the same pan with the salmon juices. Boil the sauce for 5-6 minutes or until it thickens.

7. In the end assemble the dish by placing some rice at the bottom of the plate, top with the flaked salmon and vegetable salad. Dress up the dish with the Asian sauce.

Entertain!

Or take a carry out for lunch!

Lamb chops with Grilled Pear Salad

Another super easy and quick lamb chops recipe.

Ingredients:
Lamb Chops
Salt
Black Pepper Powder
Dried Oregano
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Parsley
Fresh minced garlic
Fennel Powder
Groundnut oil
Baby kale(any salad leaf of your choice)
Pear
EVOO
Balsamic Vinegar

Method:
1. Marinate the lamb chops with fresh minced garlic, fresh parsley, fresh thyme, salt, pepper, fennel powder, oregano and some oil for minimum of 15 minutes.
2. On a hot grill, cook the chops for 4-5 minutes each side.
3. While the lamb is cooking, prepare salad dressing by mixing some balsamic vinegar, oil, salt and pepper.
4. For the 2 minutes, put pear quarters to grill on both the sides.
5. Assemble the dinner by dressing the salad leaves, arranging the grilled pear in a ring and topping with juicy lamb chops.

How to prepare lamb chops and have fancy dinner ready in under 30 minutes...

Indian Masala Lamb Chops

Try these quick and easy succulent Lamb Chops with bold Indian Spices. It's easy to prepare, quick to cook and provides for elegant plating for weeknight parties.

Ingredients:
Lamb Chops
Turmeric
Red Chilly Powder
Black Pepper Powder
Coriander Powder
Dried Oregano
Minced Garlic
Minced Ginger
Groundnut oil
Salt
Greek Yogurt
Lime Pickle
Scallions
Fresh coriander
Cooked Basmati Rice

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients in a ziplock bag to make a paste.
2. Marinate the lamb chops in the paste for  minimum of 15 minutes.
3. On a hot grill/pan, cook the lamb chops for 4-5 minutes each side.
4. To make the yogurt sauce, mix  Greek yogurt, lime pickle, scallions and fresh chopped coriander,
5. Serve with hot rice and yogurt sauce.

How to marinate lamb chops?? It's super easy...

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!

Salmon marinated in tamarind sauce with millet

This was a spontaneous dish that I pulled together when I was missing my home during the days of navratri. My parents and grandparents used to prepare special meals rather humble feasts for us, all these nine days. Millet was a special part of our diet that we had almost  everyday - either for lunch or for supper. Here I tried to recreate something similar to what I had, with some of my twists.
First, instead of making a traditional sauce, I used my speed power and used a ready-made tamarind sauce and secondly, I added a little fish to the mixture to just make the dish more date-likey! :)

Ingredients:
Clarified butter
2 Potatoes
~3/4 cup Millet
~5 cups of water
6oz Salmon fillet
1 cup Maggie Tamarind Sauce
Some roasted peanut powder
Cumin seeds
Red Chilly Powder
Salt

Method:
1. Marinate: Marinate the salmon in tamarind sauce and a little clarified butter and set aside for about 15-20 minutes.

2. Millet: While the salmon marinates, cut the potatoes in small cubes. Heat some butter and saute cumin seeds and red chilly powder for a few seconds. Then add the potatoes, millet, salt, some roasted peanut powder and about 2 cups water. Cover and cook on low for about 20 minutes on medium to low heat.

3. Tamarind broth: In another pan, heat clarified butter and saute cumin seeds for a few seconds. Add tamarind sauce and remaining 2-3 cups of water. Mix well and set it to bubble on medium to low heat for about 10 minutes. After that add, some roasted peanut power and let it bubble on low until ready to serve.

4. Salmon: Cover and cook the salmon fillet in some butter for 12-13 minutes. After that, double wrap the salmon in aluminium foil and let it rest for another 10 minutes.

5. Assembly: use a bowl as mound and put the millet in the middle of the dish. Top the millet with flaked salmon. Gently spoon the tamarind broth on the side to create a moat effect.

Millet that I used for this dish

Salmon with spinach in coconut milk and rice

A must try salmon recipe for every salmon fan! The salmon flakes are irresistibly succulent and coconut milk and sake sauce sauce just takes the dish to another level.

Ingredients:
~6oz filet of Salmon(with skin on)
Vodka/Sake
Soy sauce
Dijon Mustard
Toasted Sesame Seed oil
Salt
White Pepper
Butter (ghee)
Spinach
Coconut milk
Cooked white rice

Method:
1. Marinate the fish filet in some vodka/sake, sesame seed oil, soy sauce, dijon mustard, salt and white pepper for about 15-20 minutes.
2. In a non-stick pan, add some butter and put the filet skin side down. Cook in the pan, covered, for about 10-12 minutes over medium heat. Reserve the marinade.
3. Then take off the cooked salmon and wrap it in an aluminium foil(double wrap preferred) and set aside for 10 minutes.
4. While the fish is resting, add the reserved marinade to the pan and reduce the alcohol. Don't add any more salt or butter to the pan.
5. Add a few table spoons of  coconut milk and bring to boil.
6. Once the milk starts to boil, add spinach leaves and allow it to wilt.

For assembly of the dish, put the cooked rice at the bottom of the plate. Top that with flaked salmon and spinach with coconut milk sauce. Enjoy this dish while it's still hot!

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.

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.

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 ;)

Rice with Shrimps and Arugula sauce

I know this sounds like a crazy combination but trust me - it works.
Rice, shrimps and arugula - a combination that is surprisingly delicious and very easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 cup cooked rice
10-15 shrimps
Chopped parsley to garnish


Arugula sauce:
3 cup arugula
1/4 cup roasted nut mixture(walnuts, almonds and cashews)
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
1 medium size lemon juice
1 medium size lemon zest
1/4 cup olive oil
1 avocado
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. To make the sauce add all the sauce ingredients to the food processor and grind to a coarse paste.
2. In a pan cook the shrimps in olive oil.
3. In a serving platter add shrimps to the rice. Add a couple of table spoons of the sauce and reserve the remaining sauce in the fridge in an airtight container.
4. Mix and garnish with some parsley and grated cheese.

The reserved sauce can be used to dress pasta, cooked meat and veggies and also as a spread on toast for breakfast. It is a multipurpose sauce after all!! :)

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! :)

Tilapia baked with marathi spices

Ingredients:

2 fillets of Tilapia

Marinade:

1 green chilly

3 cloves of garlic

1/2" piece of ginger

2 tsp red chilly powder

1 tsp turmeric pwd

4 tsp coriander pwd

1-1/2 tsp garam masala(all spice powder)

3 tsp black pepper powder

2 tsp roasted clove powder

2 tsp cardamom powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

3 tsp roasted cumin powder
2 tsp dried mango powder(amchur powder) -- most important ingredient :)

1 tbsp of vegetable oil/mustard oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp sugar

salt to taste

Method:

1. Make a paste of marinade ingredients(you can ad a little water or increase the quantity of lime juice to aid the blending process).
2. Make small cuts on the fillets so that the marinade can reach the inside of the thickest part of the fish.

3. Rub the marinade on the fish fillets and set aside in the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes (up to maximum one hour).

Cooking the fish:
1. Pre-heat the oven up to 425 F.
2. Cook the fish in baking dish for 30 minutes.

The way to know the fish is cook is if the fillet had completely turned opaque white in the middle of the thickest part.

You can serve the fillets over brown rice with some green coriander chutney.

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! :)

Baked Salmon

This is a traditional recipe that one of my close friend shared with me. Before this, I never knew how to cook salmon properly and so I missed on all the rich nutrients that salmon had to offer... but not anymore!!! :)

Ingredients:

4 oz salmon filet

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp basil

salt to taste

Method:

1. Marinate the salmon in lemon juice, thyme, basil and salt mixture for at least 2-3 hours or overnight. The fish will half cook in the fruit's acid.

2. Put the salmon in a baking dish and cover with the aluminium foil. Cook the fish at 350 F for 20 minutes.

3. Now remove the cover from the salmon and cook it for another 20 minutes.

4. In the end broil the fish for 5 minutes to get a crisp crust and a juicy filling.

Enjoy this with a side of red cabbage salad or baked eggs!

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!