Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Chicken and Asparagus Stirfry

Usual deal - this serves two. Double for more.

1 chicken breast - cut into stirfry chunks
1 onion sliced
1/2 red capsicum sliced
bunch of asparagus chopped into chunks
clove garlic crushed
teaspoon (or slightly more) fresh ginger grated
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon low salt soy sauce

Stirfry chicken and onion in a little oil.
Add vegies and garlic/ginger and continue to stirfry.
Add the lime and soy mixture, continue to stirfry until the volume of liquid is reduced and the asparagus is tender.

Serve on rice if you wish but it doesn't really need it if you are trying to cut carbs.

The original recipe called for fresh basil in place of the soy but I didn't have any. Adding some extra chilli or a swig of sweet chilli sauce to the sauce mix would be nice too. You could substitute green beans for the asparagus.

This recipe was really fast to cook and prepare (making it perfect for after gym) and was really delicious.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Balsamic Chicken (or steak) with mushrooms

Usual thing - enough chicken breast or lean steak to feed two people
1 tbl of balsamic vinegar
1 clove of garlic
a tiny splash of oil
1/2 a cup of mushrooms
1/2 cup of stock (chicken or vegie)
1 tbl of thyme leaves (fresh)
1 tbl of parsley (fresh)

Coat the chicken with the balsamic/garlic/oil mixture. Cook in a heated pan until just cooked. Set aside and keep warm.

In the same pan you used before. Cook the mushrooms in the stock until the stock is reduced to half. Add the herbs and mix in.

Return the meat to the pan, making sure it gets coated in the pan juices and mushroom mix.

Serve with some steamed vegies.

The recipe was originally for chicken but I tried it with beef tonight and it worked really well. I used some swiss brown mushrooms from the markets and it had a really rich flavour. When I used chicken I used some tiny little mushrooms and it was much lighter. So I suppose it really depends your mushroom preference.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Baked Lemon Chicken

Baked Lemon Chicken
1 chicken breast (1 large usually is enough protein for both of us)
ground pepper
sprig of rosemary (chopped)
1/2 lemon (juice and zest)
tiny splash of olive oil
small amount of stock (about 1/8 cup)

Rub the chicken with the pepper, rosemary, lemon juice and zest and olive oil. (you can add salt if you prefer but I don't think it needs it)
Sear the chicken breast in a pan so both sides are sealed and add the stock, bake in 180c oven for about 10mins until cooked.

I usually like this with ratatouille.

Helpful Hint
Freeze commercial or homemade stock in icecube trays (the silicon ones work best). When you need to cook onions/garlic/other vegies in oil, use a cube or two of stock. It still cooks the ingredients without sticking and eliminates another source of fat in the form of the oil you'd normally use and taste wise at the end you won't notice the difference. Just reduce your pan heat a little otherwise it will evaporate before you finish frying.